All That You Leave Behind

Many thanks to all who reviewed. iGlow, we hope you're getting the update alerts now. Yes, the last few chapters have been fraught with smut, but Severus and Harry were in what is termed the "honeymoon" phase of their relationship, where the smex is still new and rampant. This chapter is a little different. Hope you all enjoy, and please remember to review!



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James' wailing brought Harry and Ginny both out of the depths of sleep, both groaning into one another's shoulder. They lay entwined, warm and comfortable in the lingering afterglow from the night before, for a few more moments before Ginny sighed and made to get up.



"No," Harry whispered, kissing her temple, "I'll go. You stay here and catch a few more minutes."



"Sure?" she mumbled, her eyes already starting to flutter closed again.



Harry smiled, kissed her again, and gently extricated himself. "Yeah, it's fine. You deserve a break. We'll be fine."



He pulled on his pyjamas and went to calm his now screeching son, closing the door to his and Ginny's room quietly.



He quietly opened the door to James' room and peeked inside. James sat in his cot wailing lustily at the top of his lungs, but stopped abruptly upon catching sight of his father. Tears and drool dripped down his little face as he smiled wetly at his father and hiccuped.



Harry laughed, and James did too, holding his chubby arms out to be picked up, gurgling excitedly, and bouncing himself up and down. Harry crossed over to the cot and picked his soggy son up, cuddling him close despite the drool and, he wrinkled his nose, the smell.



"James, I think the Ministry could put that nappy of yours to use as a weapon of torture," Harry chuckled, eyes watering. He carried his son over to the changing table and braced himself.



"Aaarrgghh!" he grimaced, turning his head away when James' nappy was opened. "Good God, James! That's disgusting! How can someone so small produce something so.....lethal?!"



James only laughed merrily at his father's face and tried turning over to escape.



"Oh no you don't!" Harry said, wrestling the small and wriggling body back, "we don't need that mess spread!" After a short, but sincere effort on James' part to escape once again, he finally lay still and allowed his father to clean him up and re-nappy him. Harry sat James up, one hand on him, the other delving through the drawers of the changing table for a bib to sop up some of the relentless drool his son was spewing forth. He'd popped his two bottom teeth through a week or so ago, and was now working on the top two, which was the cause of the flood that seemed to constantly flow from his mouth. Harry snagged a bib, fastened it on his son and picked him up, heading downstairs to prepare some breakfast. "Are you hungry, James?" he asked, and James smiled, gurgling his agreement with that idea.



Evidently James had thought he was now being taken to his mother, and began to squawk when Harry headed past his and Ginny's room and down the stairs. He began waving his arms and hands energetically, trying to escape over Harry's shoulder, burbling "MumumumUM!" as they went.



"Mum is having a lie in, James," Harry told him, "let's be quiet and let her sleep a bit, hmm?" James, however, was having none of that, and began to fret, then outright cry when Harry reached the bottom of the stairs.



Harry jiggled James a bit on his hip, trying to soothe him, then put him in his high chair so he could put the kettle on and prepare the mush Ginny fed their son for breakfast. James momentarily stopped crying, watching Harry's movements with interest for a few moments, but then began to fret again.



"Don't worry, James," Harry said comfortingly, "Daddy can handle your cereal as well as Mummy can," but James didn't seem reassured.



He continued to fret, and began banging his hands on the tray of his chair, blubbering, "Mumumum....mumumum..mumum.." again, over and over.



"Come on, James," Harry said, glancing at his son, "give Daddy a break here. We're trying to let Mummy have a few minutes to herself, okay? Daddy can do this, I promise." James remained looking doubtful however, and Harry sighed as he grabbed a baby spoon, the bowl of baby cereal, a mug of tea for himself, and settled down at the table to feed his son.



He scooped up a bit of the cereal and James dutifully opened his mouth. Harry spooned the mush in, feeling rather chuffed with himself, and sipped his tea. James closed his mouth, pulled a face, promptly spit it all back out, and began to wail loudly. "James!" Harry sputtered in surprise, and went to get a towel to wipe his glasses off with.



James stopped his blubbering long enough to laugh at his handiwork, then laugh harder at his father's scowl, and clapped his hands merrily, evidently feeing rather pleased with himself.



"Oh, you think that's funny, do you?" Harry asked a bit sourly.



"Dadadadada!" James replied, banging his hands on his tray again.



In spite of himself, Harry couldn't help smiling at that, and sat down once again. Now that James was in a better mood, hopefully he would eat. Harry spooned up more cereal, and paused before giving it to James. "Okay, I suppose that probably was funny," he chided his son gently, "and I probably would have done the same. But that's it, okay? You need to eat, and you need to let me feed you. So let's work together here, okay?" James smiled wetly again. Harry tried spooning some cereal into him. James clamped his mouth shut and refused to budge.



"Come on, James," Harry wheedled, "open up. Say "ahh"." James did no such thing, only looked at his father accusingly, his little face already screwing up to cry again. "No, no..come on, James," Harry said hurriedly, trying to stave off the imminent wail, "look, open up and Daddy will give you some cereal, just like Mummy does! See? I can do it!"



James wasn't listening however. He began wailing lustily again, shaking his head from side to side, trying to avoid the spoon Harry was trying to shove into his mouth. "James....come.....there!" Harry crowed triumphantly.



It was short lived, however. James spit the cereal back out, spattering himself and his father once more, and continued to cry quickly escalating to mournful howls of "Mumumum....mumumum...mumum!"



No matter what Harry tried, James was determined he wasn't going to eat the cereal, and he and his father were at an impasse, Harry frowning in distress, James crying mournfully, when a voice sounded from the doorway.



"What seems to be the problem here?" Severus asked, eyeing a besmirched Harry and his equally spattered and smeared progeny. He took out his wand, spelled the kettle hot again and reached for a cup.



Harry shrugged, still frowning at his son, and said, "He won't eat for me. Keeps wailing for Ginny. Apparently she's got something I don't."



"Where is she?" Severus asked non- committally. He would have liked to kiss Harry good morning, but not in front of James. Although it was unlikely the baby would even take notice, it just seemed wrong. The child should grow up to images of his parents kissing, not his father and his dirty little secret of a lover. Severus bit back a sigh and sat across from Harry, pushing all thoughts of what they did when they were alone together from his mind, and focusing on the problem at hand.



"I thought I'd give her a break and let her rest awhile longer," Harry said somewhat resentfully, "spend some time with my son, but.....I guess he doesn't agree."



"Harry," Severus said, a little surprised by his lover's tone, "Don't be ridiculous."



"Well.....he's hungry, but he won't eat!" Harry said in frustration, "just keeps spitting it back at me and wailing for Ginny.” Harry sighed and said woundedly, "I just wanted to spend some father son time with him, and give Ginny a break. I thought we'd have a good time, but......well, I should have known better.....I'm at work all the time, and when Ginny goes, he usually goes to the Burrow......I suppose I'm a stranger to him."



“Harry," Severus said, "I think you're being rather harsh on yourself. Did you change him first?”



"Yes," Harry said, wrinkling his nose in remembrance, "and he was fine through that. He was fine when I got him up. He started crying for Ginny on the way downstairs, but I thought he'd cheer up when I started feeding him. But he won't eat. I guess I don't do it the same as Ginny."



Severus chuckled and said, "I do believe you were right the first time, Harry. Ginny does indeed have something you don't. He wants to nurse. Ginny nurses him first, then feeds him his cereal. Of course he wants his mother."



"Oh!" Harry exclaimed happily. "So you don't resent Daddy then!" he said to James, picking him up and cuddling him. "You just want a drink along with your food! Well, I certainly don't blame you for that!"



He laughed, and so did James, and they went off back upstairs, leaving Severus in the kitchen alone, never noticing the scowl on the man's face.

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