Tiny
All the grown ups were talking quietly, as if he couldn't hear. But he could hear everything. He was almost four, after all, not a baby!
"Mama?" Harry asked, peeking his head around the bottom of the staircase.
"Harry" she sighed, clearly surprised, "what are you doing up? It's the middle of the night."
"Aunt Dorky is hurt" he said simply.
James, Lily, Remus and Sirius all looked at each other, then back at him.
"She's not hurt, love" Lily assured him, opening her arms in an invitation for him to hop on her lap. "She's having her babies."
Just then, James's walkie talkie kicked on.
Dragon to Nighthawk come in Nighthawk.
Nighthawk here. What's your 20 Dragon?
We're about 8 or 9 minutes from the hospital now and I think- Fuuuuuuuuuuuuccc-
Harry clutched onto his mothers nightshirt for dear life, an audible gasp escaping him as he heard Dorcas groan in pain, cutting herself off in the speaker. Lily gave him a sympathetic pat on the back, then took the walkie.
How far apart are the contractions?
Several seconds went by before she responded, but when she did her voice was clear again.
About 11 minutes. Are you guys coming?
It was Sirius's turn to take the walkie now.
I'm going to stay with Harry so Lily, Rem, and James can come up there now.
"But I want to co-" Harry started to whine, but he cut himself off with one look from his mother. He put on his best pouting face, and crawled into Sirius's lap instead.
... He can't come? It's nearly 4 am...
Then Marlene chipped in from the background...
Yea, and I know for a fact Harry starts his day earlier than this sometimes.
"Pleeeeeeeasssssee daddy?" He begged, giving his best puppy dog face, but only succeeding in making them all laugh.
They looked at each other again.
"He's not going to go back to sleep" Remus offered. "We might as well let him come."
Harry nodded his head. He didn't like being talked about like he wasn't in the room, but he really wanted to go, so he didn't complain.
"He'll just worry if he's here." James nodded.
"Alright" Lily sighed deeply, turning to Harry. "Best behavior, yes?"
He nodded hard.
"Go pack your backpack and change out of your pajamas. Bring a blanket and your game and a coloring book. We might be waiting for a while."
He nodded again and hopped off of Sirius's lap to run up the stairs as fast as his little legs would let him.
Alright we're getting close to the hospital. Ill text with info.
Ok. We'll get ready now.
... hurry.
We will. You got this Dragon.
Thanks Nighthawk. Over and out.
-
The Unlikely Friendship Of Dorcas And Sirius:
(4:02am) Dorcas: Hey
(4:02am) Sirius: hey?
(4:02am) Dorcas: How dare you try and stay behind.
(4:02am) Sirius: They are your best friends. You needed them.
(4:03am) Dorcas: I need you too.
(4:03am) Sirius: I'll be there.
(4:03am) Dorcas: Marlene needs you too. She is pretending she's chill but I can tell she's really freaking out.
(4:03am) Sirius: Well the last time you were admitted to the hospital you were shot. So. I see why she might be a little stressy.
(4:04am) Dorcas: 🖕
(4:04am) Sirius: 🖕🖕
(4:04am) Dorcas: This is why I need you.
(4:04am) Sirius: We're about to leave. I'll be there D.
(4:04am) Dorcas: And you'll take care of Marlene? Right? I need to know she'll be ok no matter what.
(4:05am) Sirius: Always.
-
He got to have a chocolate muffin with chocolate milk for breakfast, pick out two things from the gift shop, and have lunch on the roof of the hospital with Uncle Frankie and Meow, but still it was the longest 11 hours of Harry's whole young life. When Marlene came out into the waiting room though, she was smiling like he had never seen, and he knew his baby cousins were finally here.
"A boy and a girl" she said. "Riley and Kylie. Both healthy, both beautiful. Both with heads already full of hair."
Harry wrapped himself around her leg, and she bent down to his level.
"So, do you want to be the very first to meet them?" She asked, sparing a glance to Lily, who nodded.
He nodded too, feeling very important as he waved to the others and took her hand to leave.
Dorcas was in bed, and even though she looked very tired, Harry thought she looked happy. She smiled when he came in, and shuffled over a tiny bit on the bed so he could fit between her and the side rail.
"This is Kylie" she said, tilting down a bit so he could see the little bundle of blankets over her arm.
"And this" Marlene added, scooping another bundle from a little clear baby bed near them, "is Riley."
"Ohhh" he breathed. "They are so tiny...."
Dorcas chuckled a little and nodded. "Yea. Pretty tiny. But cute, right?"
"The cutest-est" he said, very seriously. "I can touch?"
"Go wash your hands in that bathroom first" Marlene said, pointing to the door near them. "And I want to hear you singing so I know you're washing the full 30 seconds."
He jumped down from the bed and ran to the bathroom. They could hear the water running and him singing Happy Birthday twice. Once with Riley's name in the end, and once with Kylie's.
When he came back Marlene was sitting where he had been, so he crawled up on the other end and sat cross legged between their legs, leaning in to get a better view.
They really did have a lot of hair. Dark brown and feather soft looking, but definitely messy. He expected them to look exactly the same, but even as babies he could tell them apart.
He gently put his hand on Riley's chest and said, in the softest voice Dorcas and Marlene had ever heard from him, "My name is Harry Potter... I love you."
He stretched out and put a little kiss on the blanket just by his shoulder, then moved to do the same thing to Kylie.
He couldn't get over how little they were, or how cute. They looked like baby dolls, except they were breathing and wiggling around now and then. He felt that he could sit and watch them all day.
Everyone would get their chance to say hello, and eventually he would have to leave. Harry knew that. But he would remember this moment for the rest of his life. He wasn't the only kid anymore, and he couldn't wait to teach them all the things.