Lullaby

After a tiring day of work and watching both Sirius and six-month-old Harry, Remus was more than ready to sink into bed with a nice book and relax. As he snuggled under the blankets and started to read The Scarlet Letter for what must have been the twentieth time, he thought life couldn't get any better.... Well, maybe it could with a pound of Honeydukes finest chocolate.... Or Sirius in nothing but a smile.... Or Sirius covered in said chocolate.... He shook his head to try to clear it and went back to 1666 Boston and the misfortunes of Hester Prynne, Pearl, and the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale.

He was just about to put his book down and turn in for the night when a frantic Sirius Black flung their bedroom door open, a squalling Harry in his arms. The dark-haired man looked worse for the wear with dark circles under his tear-rimmed eyes and was that mushy peas in his hair?

"Moony, James and Lily are going to kill me," he said over Harry's screams. "I broke Harry!"

Remus sighed. "You can't break a baby, Sirius. Why's he crying?"

"If I knew that would I be asking you?" Sirius bounced Harry up and down as he pounded his godfather's shoulder with a tiny fist. "I've tried everything! His nappy's dry, he won't take a bottle and even Padfoot wouldn't cheer him up. Why the bloody hell did Lily and James leave him with us? Torture, this is."

Remus crawled out of bed and crossed the room. He took the crying baby from Sirius and held him snugly against his chest. "They left him with us because you're his godfather and a baby would put a hamper on a nice 'romantic getaway,' as Lily so desperately put it."

"But he won't stop crying, Remus!" Sirius ran a hand through his hair.

"And it won't do any good if you start crying too, you big girl," Remus teased as Harry kicked at him and screamed. "Go take a bath, Sirius, and I'll see what I can do with him."

Sirius nodded and disappeared into the bathroom with slumped shoulders. Remus sighed and turned his attention to Harry. Tears were raging like waterfalls from his tightly shut eyes and his podgy, pinchable cheeks were flushed red. Remus shifted him to his shoulder and started to walk back to Harry's room where Sirius had insisted on hanging moving Quidditch wallpaper; all it did was make Remus dizzy.

Remus flicked on the lamp by the old rocking chair and sat down, hoping the gentle back and forth movements would help to calm Harry, but he continued to cry at the top of his lungs.

"It can't be that bad, Harry," Remus said over his wailings. "Sirius can be an insufferable git sometimes, but he's really not that horrible." He attempted to smile; Harry continued to cry.

"Okay, maybe it's not Padfoot you're mad at. Was it something I did? I'm sure leaving you at home with him all day may seem cruel and unusual, but someone's got to put those wonderful mushy vegetables you like so much on the table when you visit us."

Harry stopped crying for a moment and opened his tiny eyes to look at Remus. The man started to let out a breath of relief, but the baby scrunched up his face again and started crying anew.

"Yes, those yucky vegetables would be enough to make me cry too if I had to eat them every meal."

Harry continued to cry. Remus sighed and got to his feet. He walked across the small room, dodging the baby toys strewn about the room. Remus shifted Harry to his left arm and started to root one-handed around in the giant toy chest he and Sirius had picked out before Harry had even been born.

"Here we go," Remus said over Harry's cries and tried to get his attention with the stuffed black dog he had pulled from the chest. "Do you want Mr Snuffles?"

Harry took the dog and threw it to the floor.

"Fine," Remus joked, "next time you want your dog I won't get him." He took a look at the toy and nudged it out of the way with his toes. "Yuck, Harry. Mr Snuffles needs a bath--did Padfoot get a hold of him again?"

Harry screamed and grabbed a handful of Remus' hair and pulled.

"Okay, babanod. Will you please let go? That's mine, you know, and it's quite attached to my head." He pried Harry's hand from his head and shifted him back to his right side.

Harry kicked at his chest as Remus placed a hand behind his head and cradled him against his shoulder.

"Shh, Harry," the man said gently. "It's not that bad, honest. You're just sleepy, aren't you lad?"

Harry squirmed and took a breath before starting his wailings again. Remus sighed and sent up a frustrated prayer. Bouncing Harry gently, he carefully and slowly walked to the window. As Harry continued to cry, Remus cradled him in his arms and started to hum a lullaby he half-remembered from his own childhood.

After a moment, Harry stopped crying and stared up at him with his shockingly emerald eyes. Remus stopped and smiled, but one look at Harry's quivering lips made him start humming again. He gently rocked Harry back and forth in his arms and made his way back to the crib. Once sure Harry was asleep, he gently set him down and pulled his fuzzy blue blanket up over him. Still humming, he retrieved Mr Snuffles and placed him in the crib next to Harry after a quick "Scourgify."

Remus placed a gentle kiss on the top of Harry's head and whispered a "good night" as he left. He sighed when he closed the door to his and Sirius' bedroom. He noticed Sirius, dripping wet and in his shorts, was snoring bloody murder. Remus smiled as he slipped back into bed. He turned off the lamp on his side of the bed and kissed Sirius' shoulder as he settled down next to him.

"I love you, Sirius," he said and draped his arm across the other man's waist.

"Love you too, Moony," Sirius said sleepily and entwined their fingers. "Harry finally calm down?"

Remus smiled. "All the poor lad wanted was a lullaby."

"That's nice..." Sirius trailed off as sleep took him.

Remus smiled and kissed his shoulder again before succumbing to a deep, dreamless and restful slumber.