Chapter 2
PETER POV
Remus was changing the cub’s diaper minutes before the beginning of the class almost one week later. While changing it the first time, they found out that their baby was a she. Their baby. It was still a little bit weird, but Peter was getting used to it. After all, the cub was the cutest think he had ever seen. The Marauders divided the tasks in shifts and, in the end, it was decided that everyone would do everything. Today was Sirius’s day to change the diapers, but Moony was the best at it and they were already late so there he was and it was kind of funny to see his face while doing it. Remus was actually the best with the baby in general. He would never agree, of course, but despite his initial doubt about keeping the cub, Moony was absolutely born for it. To be fair, the rest of them wasn’t doing all to bad. Sirius talked and played with the baby so much that she would cry when he left her side and sleep exhausted at night and for most of their class time. But of course Pads would be the one engaging the most. He wanted to show to himself and everybody else that he wasn’t his parents and there is no other way than being good with the baby. James and himself were the ones good with finding openings to take food to the cub, make her a little bit of company, reinforce the silencing spells, and making sure that no one would be suspicious of them. It had been a stressful week, with too little sleep and too many worries. Taking care of a baby demanded a lot of time and patience, but Peter already knew that. Taking care of a baby while studying for tests was something he hadn’t calculated with accuracy. There was no time for pranks, no time for Hogsmead, and (almost) no time for Quidditch. Still, they were all happy. And this was weird. How could they be so happy with a secret baby they found on the woods that didn’t allow them any free time? But they were. They dedicated their time to her because it meant she would be safe and happy and that made them so satisfied that nothing could overcome it. Peter spent what would be his free time studying some healing spells with James. Some to do an occasional check-up on the cub. Other to see if they could determine her age. She couldn’t walk nor talk yet, meaning she couldn’t be more then a year old. The spells told them many things, that her biological parents weren’t genetically English, but a mix of latin and african ethnicities, that her bite was 42 days old, meaning that she had spent one full moon as a werewolf before meeting them, and that in disregard of the lycanthropy she was completely healthy. But it gave nothing on her age. Remus’s baby researches told them that babies start to crawl arround 7 months and walk between 9 and 18 months. Since she was already crawling really well but couldn’t stand by herself just yet, they decided to give her 9 months and live with it. Nine months would give her a nice birthday in mid February, an Aquarius. — Ok, it’s done — said Remus while washing his hands. — Take the cub to the crib. James had transfigured a box into a wooden crib that stayed between his and Remus’s beds. They filled the crib with Griffindor blankets and a little pillow. In a trip to Hogsmead in the middle of the night, they stole/bought (the owners didn’t know they had been there but James paid for everything they took) some baby clothes, bath things, diapers, and toys. Although everything was pretty much improvised, Peter thought it was a very good start for their baby. They all started to say their quick goodbyes with a kiss on her head. — Bye Cub! Behave. — See you later, Cub! — Please, don’t cry, darling, we’ll be back soon, Cub. — Bye bye, Cub! Everthing was perfect. Except for the fact that the cub still didn’t have a name. «»«»«»«»«» — We need to get her a name — said Peter as they left DADA class, the only one the four of them had together. It was starting to get ridiculous to just call their kid “baby” or “cub”. These things are supposed to be nicknames for a little child not their names. And they couldn’t avoid this decision forever like they wanted. Nobody said anything, but to Peter it was clear what they thought. Moony was still afraid of committing with the cub so no name meant less commitment. James spent the last week searching for baby names but was scared of choosing the wrong, so he was testing all of them before choosing (he also thought it was funny, and depending on the name Peter agreed). Pads had the Black family tradition so names had always been a big thing for him, no matter his choice it would mean something. Peter wasn’t creative enough to come up with baby names. He just couldn’t see a person and think of a name. He has three very creative friends who should gladly do this job. But they needed a little push and that was what he was doing all day. — If you want a name so badly, come up with it yourself! — Sirius huffed, anoyed, because he was always anoyed if he didn’t know an answer. He rolled his eyes. — If I had one, I wouldn’t be asking. — Well and if we had one, we would have said. Ask someone else! James stopped as he saw Lily, Marlene, and Mary passing by. — Actually, that might be a good idea. — What? — Sirius seemed confused, but followed James when he approached the trio. — Hello, ladies — they looked confused and, to be honest, so did the boys. It’s been more than a year since James advanced towards the girls like that. A year since the “Lily crush funeral” happened and Prongs promised them that he was totaly over Lily, would never approach her again, and would only talk to her if she talked to him first. Then he proceeded crying on Sirius’s shoulder for the night, but this is a story for another moment. — Hey, James. Boys — it was Marlene who answered. She was a blonde tall girl who played Quidditch with Prongs so they were friends. Like them, she had seen him during and after the Lily Era. — What’s up? — So, Wormy’s sister is having a baby girl — he started and received some awes and congratulations for Peter’s sister. His only reaction was to murmur. — Oh, is she now? — And she asked us all for baby names ideas. “Smooth”, Peter thought, curious to where this would lead them. — What are you thinking about? — this time it was Mary who engaged the conversation. She was a black Hufflepuff who loved to style her uniform, obviously friends with Sirius. — That’s the problem, we don’t have any ideas, so we thought we could ask the most brilliant women in Hogwarts their opinion. James, always the charming one. And if only he wasn’t talking to the one girl who was too stubborn to see who he really was, that would have won him a whole list of names. Instead he received one name from each. Marlene said her own name, jokingly, but didn’t give any other ideas after. Mary said Emily, which is a pretty name, but had nothing to do with their cub. Lly was the last one. — I like Jane — she said, and Remus left a laugher escape. — What? — It’s just that… well that’s Tarzan’s wife. — That’s my grandmother’s name! — And I’m sorry for all the jokes she heard because of it. — Actually, people always say “Oh, Jane? Like Jane Austen and Jane Eyre?”. — Ok, so it’s not just the cartoon, the name is also 2 centuries too old. — Shut up, Rem! — but Lily was laughing, because she liked Moony’s sarcastic and depressiative sense of humor. — Well, these are our ideas, if you didn’t like, come up with better names. They walked away, leaving them without a name and probably being the new joke of the group. Just as they were about to follow the path to the Great Hall for lunch, Lily stopped and came back. — Look, giving a name is very hard, but my mom used to tell me that she named my sister and I as flowers because flowers have meanings and this way she could express what she felt about who were going to be. Tell your sister that it’s easier to look for a meaning and then for a name than the oposite — she gave them all a small smile, like she knew something was going on but didn’t exactly know what. — I hope this helps. She officially goes away and only then Padfoot manifests his opinion. — Oh great, so now it doesn’t only has to be a pretty, but also a meaningful name! We’re screwed.