NEPENTHE ⟶ James Potter

Chapter Five

Everyone, Dumbledore included, had told him that he had to get his life back on track, that he needed to start living normally again but James wasn't sure how he was supposed to do that when he was always given constant reminders of what had happened. The way everyone spoke about his son, he knew Harry was not destined to grow up living a normal life. In a way, he would always be a celebrity of sorts because of the scar that plagued his forehead.

Thinking about officially calling it quits and just heading home, James lifted Harry into his arms. Perhaps he would amuse the boy by summoning the Knight Bus, he always seemed to get such a rise out of that. But before he could go for his wand that was tucked in his sleeve, Harry let out a cry that involved his tiny fingers gripping James' hair and tugging it with such strength.

"Ow! Harry!" James cried out as he could feel the burning sensation of his scalp from where Harry practically had a death grip. "We've spoken about this! The hair is off limits!"

Harry didn't give two shits to what James was saying at the moment, the only thing he knew was his father wasn't listening to him, so he continued to pull the hair harder to get the man's head to turn. The two were practically fighting each other as James was trying to get Harry to let go but throughout the fuss, Harry was able to speak as he cried out.

"Nanata!"

Prepared to tell his son that Renata was not around, James turned around only to see that Harry had been correct. Standing outside one of the Diagon Alley shops, was Renata, looking through one of the windows. Harry was practically pushing his father away by the face, demanding that James set him down and for a few starstruck moments, James placed Harry down on the pavement and watched as the toddler waddled over to the woman.

He kept close but Harry was moving at lightning speed with his arms stretched out and happy grin on his face.

"Gets rid of parasites that turn your crup into a grump..." Renata read one of the bottles through the window, her hand resting on her chin as she was trying to find something for Enzo. "Well, that certainly sounds like what we need."

Too busy reading the ingredients that were labelled on the bottle, Renata didn't hear her name being called by a small voice, nor did she notice anyone approaching her until she felt tugging on the bottom of her skirt. Startled, Renata jumped in place and let out a small squeak, which clear amused her "attacker" as she was met with the sounds of giggling.

Peering down, Renata caught sight of little Harry Potter, beaming up at her, which instantly brought her to smile as her heart settled in her chest.

"Were you trying to give me a fright?" she laughed, giving into the request of lifting him up as his arms were stretched out to her. "That wasn't very nice!"

"Nanata!" Harry cheered, hugging her, surprising the woman quite a bit since it had been quite some time since she had last seen the little boy. However, seeing as he had approached her on his own, it left her somewhat worried with the idea of him wandering around alone.

Someone seemed to read her thoughts as they called out to her. "Don't worry, he's not window shopping Diagon Alley on his own, " James said as he approached them, " I'm not that bad of a father."

Renata wasn't sure if that was an attempt at humour or if James Potter was really trying to tell her that he wasn't that bad of a father. but she didn't take him to be a bad one at all, she just wanted to make sure that Harry was fine.

"I would never think that you were one," Renata explained to him, even if it was a joke, " Diagon Alley is just a busy place where anyone can get turned around. Just the other day I found myself on the wrong strip in Horizont Alley and I know little ones are fully capable of slipping away very easily. I used to give my mother such a fright all the time because I would get lost in a crowd. I could see Harry doing just the same, there's a little flicker of trouble and mischief in those eyes. Does he get that from you?"