A/N: We're almost at the end here! I'd say there's one, maybe two at most, chapters left. The final chapter will be the wedding which I'm both looking forward to and dreading since that means it'll be the end. Thank you once again to all those who've reviewed and read this and all my other stories. And thanks to hal for the beta. Also this is the last of the written chapters. The last two are being written, so updates will be a bit longer, but the story will be completed in a week or two.
Starbuck is the first mate aboard the Pequod in Moby-Dick. But since I can't stand Melville, this Starbuck comes from X-Files. It was the nickname Scully's father gave her.
"Bottles?"
"Check."
"Nappies."
"Check."
"Creepy bunny from Tonks."
"Check."
"Extra nappy pins."
"Er . . . check."
"Formula and baby food."
"Um, Hermione? You're still breast feeding."
"Harry."
"Check," he sighed.
"Teething ring."
"Hemione! Sirius is only five weeks old!"
"Ronnie might need it."
"If Ronnie needs it, Ron and Luna will have one, trust me. It's staying here," Harry said in a tone that brooked no argument. Hermione watched with pursed lips as he dug out the teething ring and placed it on the coffee table.
"Harry!" But he wasn't backing down. He had that stubborn set to his jaw and Hermione sighed. She'd let him win this once as a morale booster. "Fine. But we're taking dummies and the four extra set of clothes."
Harry sighed and nodded. "Ok. Now are we set to go?"
Hermione pursed her lips and ran a quick mental check list then nodded. "Yes. Let's go."
Harry sighed thankfully, picking up the bags of stuff they needed and waddled out of the house. Sirius was too young to floo or Apparate with so they'd bought a Land Rover about a month before Hermione was due. It was a nice car, spacious and drove well, but it could never replace her baby. She cast a longing glance over at her Porsche and sighed softly. She hadn't been able to drive it since she was about five months pregnant and she was itching to open her up on the motorway again.
Harry squeezed her shoulder and kissed her ear. "Tomorrow, why don't you let me keep Sirius for the afternoon and you can go out for a drive," he murmured in her ear while she strapped the baby carrier into its car seat cradle.
Hermione turned her head and smile up at him. "When I go out for a drive, I want you to come with me. Molly and Arthur or my parents can baby sit, but I want Sirius to be a little older."
Harry smiled and squeezed her shoulder again before slipping into the driver's seat. He'd finally learned how to drive the Land Rover at least, but no matter how long or how well he'd been able to drive, the Porsche was and probably would remain off limits, much to his dismay and envy.
An hour later they were greeted at the Burrow with smiles and shouts of welcome. "They're here!" Fred, or was it George, called into the house.
Mrs. Weasley and Mrs. Granger stepped outside and bustled over to the Land Rover. Sirius was out and in Mrs. Granger's arms before Harry and Hermione had their seat belts off. "I think your parents are using us for our baby," Harry teased taking out only one of the bags of supplies from the boot.
Hermione snorted. "I think you're right. I think I actually feel a bit jealous. I guess this is what it feels like to have a sibling."
Harry chuckled, instinctively placing his hand at the small of her back while they walked around to the back garden where everyone was gathered. "I understand what you're saying, but that sentence sounds so wrong on so many levels."
She chuckled softly. "Go drink beer, belch and scratch your crotch or whatever else you do when you hang around in a circle with the other men," she grinned, giving him a quick kiss. "I'll be over there."
Harry opened his mouth to protest when Ron let out a belch that shook the foundations of the Burrow. He could only sigh and shake his head, his defense shot to hell.
_______________
The naming ceremony was short and simple, presided over a teary eyed Minerva McGonagall. Sirius screamed the entire time. Ron and Ginny were named as his godparents even though Ron looked as though he were rethinking it while he stood beside Harry.
Sirius calmed once he had been fed and changed and he was happiest when he was being passed around being coo'd over.
Hermione watched from the kitchen window over looking the garden, a small smile playing at her lips. She had initially left to sanitize one of the dummies that had fallen out of Sirius's mouth, but had decided to loiter a bit, enjoying the momentary quiet and cool inside.
"Hello, Starbuck."
Hermione turned her head and smiled. "Hello dad."
The older man smiled and looked out the way she had been looking. "I'm not interrupting anything am I?"
"Oh, no. I was just cleaning Sirius's dummy and taking a little time out."
"A bit overwhelming isn't it."
"A bit. But I love it and Harry loves it too."
A comfortable silence fell between them before Hermione turned to her father and grinned. "I hope Arthur hasn't scared you off. He can be very enthusiastic."
Her father chuckled. "Your mother and I are fine. I think Arthur got most of it out of his system when Sirius was born. We had nothing to do but talk while we were waiting."
There was another momentary silence where Hermione waited, feeling he had something more to say.
"Starbuck," he finally spoke up and Hermione turned to look at him fully. "I don't think I've ever told you how proud I am of you."
Hermione blinked in surprise. "I -"
"Wait, let me finish. When you went to Hogwarts and entered this world that your mother and I could never have even conceived of, we were afraid of losing you to it. We . . . I was afraid that you wouldn't want to be around us anymore. After a few years I knew you weren't going to abandon us like that but then the war came and I was afraid of losing you again, except for real this time," he said softly.
"Daddy -"
"Once you were safe and alive and I learned what you had done, I don't think I'd ever been more proud in my entire life. Now here you are, with a child of your own and getting married, I just -" he sighed and smiled at her, looking every day of his fifty years. "I just don't think I'd told you how proud I am of you recently and how much I love you, Starbuck."
Hermione launched herself into her father's arms, holding him tight and crying softly. "I love you too, daddy. And I'll never leave you or mum."
"Hermione, are you all right?" Harry asked when she walked out a few minutes later. Her eyes were puffy and she looked a bit of a mess, but on the inside she felt buoyant and refreshed. Her father had stayed in the house to compose himself a bit more and splash some cold water on his face.
"Never better," she replied with a broad smile.
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