James really enjoyed having Renata around the home as soon as he got used to the idea of having the woman around nearly all day. He definitely put the alarm clock she had given him to use as he didn't bring himself to oversleep and to ensure that he didn't flash Renata again, he placed a mirror on the back of the door so that he could always see himself before walking out of his room. It worked and after the awkwardness died down between the two of them, they were moving forward and things were honestly great.
It became a nightly routine to spend an hour or more in the hammock out in the garden. Harry absolutely loved it as he would travel back and forth between the two. James took to pointing out some of the stars, at least, the ones he could remember from his time at school. But Harry's and James' favourite part of the evening was learning the Italian version of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." Renata would sing it every night while James would keep his leg out of the hammock and sway them back and forth. It actually worked to put Harry to sleep nearly every night as he would fall asleep on either one of them.
Brilla brilla una stellina
Su nel cielo piccolina.
Brilla brilla sopra noi,
Mi domando di chi sei.
Brilla brilla la stellina,
Ora tu sei più vicina
Not to mention, James found it precious whenever he heard Harry singing "Brilla Brilla" to himself while playing with his toys. James couldn't ignore how attached Harry had become to his nanny as he often followed Renata around the home or accompanied her when she went out to run some errands of her own. He had trusted her to take Harry out alone because he really couldn't find any reason not to trust her. Sometimes he would accompany her because he always felt like he missed out on the adventure whenever they came home and told them about their day.
Renata had made the connections she needed, contacting Molly and even contacting Augusta Longbottom to set up playdates for Harry. James knew that Molly wouldn't have a problem with it, but he was always surprised when Augusta agreed to meet up, whether it was at the park or invite Renata and Harry into the Longbottom home. He assumed that after the war, after losing so much that Augusta wouldn't want anything to do with anyone besides take care of her grandson and visit her son and daughter-in-law in hospital.
But apparently, Renata was a lot more convincing than he gave her credit for because one afternoon, she came back asking if it was alright if the boys had a bit of slumber party at the Potter household. It would just be Harry, Ron, and Neville and she swore that James wouldn't have to do anything that she would take care of everything.
"No, I want to help," James told her, "I want to be involved actually. It sounds like a lot of fun. You know what I could do?"
He was actually feeling excited about his proposal as Renata stood before him, ready to send the owls to Molly and Augusta that the slumber party was set to go.
"What would that be, Mr Potter?" she asked, trying to hold back her smile as the man was practically bouncing in place. "Are you going to dance in the form of entertainment?"
James realised that he was moving quite a bit and stopped himself immediately, blushing as Renata let out a small laugh.
"Uh, no, not unless it's requested, which I doubt it will be, " he said, " but I can cook dinner tonight. I think I'm ready to handle a meal on my own."
He saw her raise a brow, whether she was questioning his abilities or impressed that he was offering, he wasn't sure, but either way, he felt like he had a point to prove. Renata had been including him every night when they cooked a new meal, showing him what he needed to do in order to create a simple, yet tasty food.
"Alright, " she said with a nod of her head, " I'm looking forward to seeing what you decide to make. Do you want me to help you at all or is this going to be your first solo mission?"
James puffed his chest out slightly, a confident smile appearing on his face as he was ready to take on the task.
"I'll be doing this all by myself."
"Well, I have full confidence that you'll do a wonderful job, Mr Potter," she told him. "While you're prepping, I'm going to get things set up for the boys. I think they'll be spending the majority of their time playing out in the garden, but I'm so excited for Neville and Ron to meet finally. I think they're all just going to have the best time and-"
She stopped as soon as the two of them heard the sound of something sliding across the wooden floors. They turned their head and saw Harry pushing a basket full of his favourite toys towards them as he was making his way to the kitchen door that led to the garden. Although he only stopped about halfway to take a breather as he sat down on the pile on his toys and let out an exaggerated huff.
"Whew, I tired," he said wiping at his forehead. Renata snorted as she covered her mouth with her hand, while James shook his head.
"Yeah, you've been spending way too much time around Uncle Sirius, Harry," James said before walking over and grabbing the basket with Harry in it to carry them outside. As they ventured out, Renata shook her head as James had given into exactly what Harry wanted and he wondered why Harry put on the dramatics? She didn't say anything though, just smiling to herself as she left outside as well to help Harry set up his toys before the other boys arrived.
James decided that he was going to start with one of the earlier meals that Renta had taught him to make and with magic at his side, he was sure he could get the job done. However, while he had initially settled on the idea of Chicken Pathia, he did remember the spicy factor and he didn't know the taste pallet of Ron and Neville. The last thing he wanted was to make something that the boys wouldn't eat, so he decided it was probably easier and safer to go with spaghetti. What little boys didn't like tomato sauce and noodles to make a mess with?
As he got started inside, Renata took on the task of keeping all three of the boys occupied outside, which seemed easy enough since they all played with each other quite well. Neville was a bit shy when it came to the other two boys, he spent the majority of the beginning hiding behind Renata and peeking out to watch Ron and Harry play. He didn't have a problem when it came to interacting with Harry on his own, but he seemed to be wary of Ron in his own way.
But eventually, as James watched Renata whisper things back and forth with Neville, the boy found the courage to move forward and start playing with the others. Harry and Ron were, of course, very inviting as they all started to chase each other around, making monster noises. They all giggled and let out shrill screams when one of them came too close to the other, but they were definitely shrieking and laughing when Renata decided to start chasing all three of them.
It was precious to watch, but James had to remind himself after he started smelling something burning that he had to focus on his own task at hand. Getting rid of the evidence of the burnt noodles, James started over again and kept his eyes focused on everything in front of him. He monitored everything so carefully with his wand in hand just to make sure that everything came out perfectly.
He had to admit, hearing everyone playing outside, it was rather tempting to look away and he found himself wanting to join in on the fun as well. But he was definitely committed to his meal, he wanted to show Renata that he paid attention to her instructions when she was cooking with him. Pulling out some clean spoons to taste his sauce, he was confused as to why it wasn't coming out the way Renata had made it, in fact, it was coming across as awfully sweet. Thinking that he had screwed something up with the batch, he decided to start over, so determined to get it right.
Yet, each time he did, the sauce was just coming across as sweet and it was slightly off-putting with the rest of the mixture. Running his hands through his thick hair and scratching at his scalp in confusion, James honestly couldn't figure out what he was doing wrong. Out of desperation, he knocked on the window to gather Renata's attention. She peered over and he motioned her to come inside, feeling as though he had already failed.
Guiding the three boys in, Renata entered behind them and looked over to see the disappointed look on his face.
"What's wrong, Mr Potter?"
"I don't know," he confessed, " honestly, I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I followed each step with the proper amounts and it's just coming across as sickeningly sweet. I don't understand-"
"First off, Mr Potter, I'm going to need you to calm down," she said, " because it's really not that big of a deal. Next, I want you to look at your ingredients, one by one, and I want you to look over them carefully, alright?"
James made a face, feeling as though she was talking to one of the children that were watching the scene. He had collected the ingredients, he knew what was there, what was the point of going over them individually, so he could feel like more of a fool? However, he obliged and picked up each ingredient. Of course, he decided to be a smart arse about all of it, picking up each thing and reading it slowly.
"OREGAAAAANOOOOO," he read, bringing Harry to laugh before Ron and Neville joined in. He picked up the next piece. "SAAALT-"
"Stop," Renata held up her hand and spoke in a firm voice, reminding him of Professor McGonagall. " Stop, and actually read what's in your hand."
He peered down, wildly confused as to what she was talking about until he definitely read that he was holding sugar and not salt. Renata reached over and handed him the salt, in which he took lightly out of her hand.
"Well, what do you know," he said with a nervous laugh, " problem solved."
After the sugar and salt incident was resolved, the sauce was actually coming out perfect, just the way Renata had made it and James' pride returned in full swing. The noodles were perfect, the sauce mixed well and as it mixed it all together, he wore such a bright smile on his face before he brought it over to the table. He served the boys first and waited for their reaction before serving Renata and himself.
Harry picked up one of the long spaghetti noodles with his fingers and dangled it over his mouth, allowing the noodle to lightly smack him around the face before it made its way into his mouth. He slurped it up and the clear sign that he enjoyed it was the fact that he went for another. Ron and Neville marvelled at the idea that Harry was allowed to eat with his hands because it was normally something they were scolded for within their household.
Seeing as the adults had yet to say anything, they decided to take their own chances by grabbing their own noodles with their hands and shoving it into their faces. When no one stopped them, the party commenced among the three.
"Well, I think that's their way of saying compliments to the chef," Renata mused as James served her a plate, "it smells delicious, Mr Potter, and it looks fantastic."
"Then you should take a bite and tell me what you think," he encouraged her. Doing as she was told, Renata took a forkful and placed it in her mouth before her eyes lit up and a smile appeared on her face.
"Well done, Mr Potter. Please sit down and enjoy some yourself, I think you'll be really proud of what you made."
Joining her at the end of the table, James sat with his own plate and Renata was right, his meal had actually been extremely successful because it all tasted delicious. He went back for seconds, as did Renata and even Ron requested more.
It was the first successful meal he had ever cooked in his life and even though it had taken him until the time of his adulthood, James could sleep soundly that night, knowing he had actually accomplished it. He had tackled the simple, so he was hoping to tackle a few more of the simple dishes before he requested Renata showing him the more complex recipes.
Once the boys were fed, they were all in desperate need of a bath as they were all covered in sauce. Renata was in charge of the baths while James was in charge of getting them dressed and ready for bed. After they were all bathed, Harry, Ron, and Neville were placed in the hammock outside where Harry pointed at the stars, mimicking James. He didn't know the names, but he pretended that he did.
James and Renata sat on the ground outside of the hammock, both of them taking turns to swing the hammock lightly to rock the three to sleep.
"I think this was a very successful first slumber party for Harry," Renata said, " they all had a good time."
"Yeah, they did, we should host more of them. I'm sure Molly would appreciate it, one less head she has to worry about running around and it might take some of the stress off of Augusta."
Suddenly, Harry looked over the side of the hammock at Renata with a toothy grin and a request.
"Brilla, brilla?"
With a light laugh, Renata began singing the nursery rhyme lightly and Harry joined her in the small parts that he knew, mostly the "brilla, brilla" parts. She sang it a couple of times and then her voice trailed off at the end, waiting to see if Harry would poke his head out, signalling that he was still awake. But the hammock remained silent and as both adults pushed themselves up to look, they saw that all three of the boys were cuddled up and sound asleep.
"Oh Mother of Merlin, that is too cute for words," Renata whispered, " I almost don't want to move them."
But it came the eventual time where James lifted Harry and Ron in his arms, while Renata lifted up Neville to bring the boys to Harry's room. All three of them were small enough to share Harry's bed, and they settled under the covers where they remained asleep. Slowly, they both tiptoed out of the room and closed the door over slightly to let them sleep.
"Are you heading to bed?" James asked her as she was moving to head towards her room.
"No, I was just going to change into something more comfortable," she answered, " then I was probably going to go back to the hammock and read or something. Are you off to bed?"
James wasn't feeling all that tired as he shook his head. "Mind if I join you in the hammock? I'll bring my own book, I promise."
She smiled and gave a nod. "See you out there."
As agreed, James grabbed his own book, a random one off the shelf as he hoped there actually wouldn't be much reading done. He hoped it would be like the other nights where they would just stay up talking. He rather enjoyed that. He would tell her stories about Hogwarts or the trouble that he and his brothers got into. He asked her questions about Italy and her life growing up. They both made fun of the fact that it was incredibly obvious that Sirius was falling in love with Adelmo but Adelmo remained clueless to the fact.
He liked their little nightcaps, they were peaceful and they helped him sleep at night once he talked about everything that was one his mind that evening. That's what he was hoping for, that he could distract Renata from her reading and picked up where they left off. He made his way outside first and had actually managed to get into the hammock without any assistance.
He opened up the book, although he was not interested in anything written down. His heart skipped a beat in excitement as he heard the door from the kitchen open, but Renata didn't close it, just to make sure that they could hear if one of the boys woke up. James looked up from his book, only to feel his heart stop completely.
Renata approached casually, but if James wasn't mistaken, she was definitely wearing one of his flannel shirts. Of course, it was possible for her to own her own flannel shirts that ran oversized on her body, but that held specific marks on it that James recognised from the time he wore back when he was still in school.
The burn marks from when he had nearly fallen completely into the Gryffindor fireplace when wrestling Sirius one evening. The tear in the left sleeve elbow from where he had ridden his broom into a tree because Remus bet that he wouldn't do it. It couldn't be a coincidence that Renata owned a shirt just like it.
"Uh hey," he greeted her, his voice already cracking, " nice shirt, where'd you get it?"
Renata peered down. " It's not mine," she confessed, " back at Adelmo's place, I used to do his laundry and mine because he never had time. Sometimes our clothes got mixed up, so I do have quite a bit of his shirts. I sort of just wear them as substitute pyjama shirts whenever they come into my possession until he asks for them back. But judging by the state of his shirt, I don't think he'll be asking for it back. It's a bit of a wreck, but it's so soft! If he asks for it back, I'm going to pretend like I never saw it."
James swallowed, unsure of what to do at that moment. Would it be appropriate to ask for it back? After all, it was just a shirt, sure it held sentimental value to him, but what was she really going to do with it? Plus, wouldn't she feel uncomfortable if she realised she was wearing one of his shirts by accident?
They had just gotten over the "penis fiasco" and James didn't want to cause any more awkward moments between them. He wanted to enjoy his evening, strike up a conversation with Renata so that he could sleep well.
"Well, it looks good on you," he blurted out, bringing Renata to pause as she was about to climb into the hammock. "I mean, Adelmo's shirts are going to look better on you than your shirts are going to look on him."
"I think Sirius might fight you to death on that one, Mr Potter."
A/N: Okay, but baby Harry speaking Italian. Teaching Ron and Neville Italian, so they grow up and whenever shit goes down with Malfoy, the three of them just run off their mouths in Italian and Malfoy is like "wHaT aRE yOu SayInG, PoTtah?"
Harry : Ciao.
Neville and Ron : Arrivederci
Trevor : Squad Goals.