Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the known characters.

I tried to research the difference between cookies and biscuits since I know cookies are usually called biscuits in England, but when asking a British friend, she told me they call the ones the boys make cookies.

In case my Intel is wrong after all, my sincere apologies.

Warnings: None.

Summary: James finds Sirius and Harry in the kitchen while the two are baking cookies.

This story is part of my A Bond of Family series, but can be read alone.

Special thanks to Kitty for proof reading and beta-ing this. I can't thank you enough for both your patience and help.

Also an extra thank you for beta-ing this so quickly so that I could post it in time for Harry's birthday, today.

This one is written specifically for you, Kitty. As an apology for all the abuse I put our favourite Marauder through in my stories, a bit of fluff; just for you.

Baking with Padfoot

Loud giggles drew James to the kitchen and he burst out in laughter at what he found.

"What in Merlin's name is going on in here?" the counter top looked like an explosion had taken place.

"Hey James, want to help us make cookies?"

"I think I'll pass. Are you sure you are making cookies and not trying to become one?" he teased as he watched Sirius.

His best friend was covered in flour and there were several smudges of what James suspected was butter on his face and shirt.

Another giggle drew his attention to what he'd initially thought had been the flour bag, but now realised was his thirteen month old son, covered in flour.

"Harry?"

"Daddy!" the white mess cheerfully moved, spreading a small cloud of powder everywhere and Sirius laughed. "Siri and Harry make cookie!"

"So it seems, buddy," James smiled to his son before turning to Sirius questioningly.

"He turned the flour bag over himself," his best friend answered his unasked question with a shrug.

"I see, Lily is going to kill you."

"Not if we bribe her with delicious cookies," Sirius grinned. "How's that mix going, pup?"

"Sticky," Harry held up two filthy hands proudly, grabbing onto Sirius' shirt when the man moved closer to inspect his hands and James grinned as he now realised where the smudges had come from.

"Think it's sticky enough?"

"Yah," Harry reached up to Sirius as the man leaned in, his movements upsetting the sugar bag beside him and James watched it spill over the counter top.

"Whoops, we don't need that much sugar, kiddo," Sirius pulled Harry up into a standing position one handed and James grimaced as those sticky fingers wrapped around the man's neck, but Sirius gave no indication of being bothered by it as he dropped a kiss in Harry's mass of dirty hair.

"No sugar?"

"Only a little bit," Sirius answered. "You only just got teeth, don't want to lose them so soon again, do you?"

"No!" Harry agreed wholeheartedly and James hid another laugh behind a cough as his son jumped up, spreading more flour around.

"Then we better start making the cookies now."

"Yay!" the toddler cheered and James watched interested as Sirius re-seated the child onto the counter top, making him lean back against him as he dropped the contents of the bowl he'd been kneading in before him.

"How are you making cookies when you can only use one hand?" James asked curiously as his best friend began to spread the dough over the counter top with his left hand as the right was still wrapped in bandages and in a sling.

"Three hands and some cheating since you refuse to help," Sirius grinned as he magically levitated the griddle to the counter top.

"You do realise that when the Healers told you to take it easy, they did not mean baking cookies, right?" James moved forward to clear a space for the griddle to land.

"I am taking it easy, Harry's doing all the work, aren't you, pup?"

"Siri easy," Harry nodded in agreement, holding up part of the dough. "Make cookie now?"

"Yes, we're going to make cookies now," Sirius nodded. "We need to spread this out so it's just as thick everywhere, like this see?"

Harry babbled something in reply that James didn't get and watched as the toddler happily began to try and help his godfather spread the dough around.

Sighing, James glanced at Sirius, not surprised to see the man was paler than usual underneath the flour and his fingers trembling slightly.

It had only been a little over a week since Death Eaters had ambushed Sirius while he was babysitting Harry, before torturing him at Potter Manor.

And although the Healers had managed to get him on his feet again in no time, he was still sore, unable to use his right arm and easily tired.

"Move over," he ordered after washing his hands, deciding to lend a hand after all.

"Look Harry, daddy's going to help us."

But Harry wasn't interested in his father as he tried to smooth out the dough, the tip of his tongue sticking out of his lips as he worked.

"Well done," Sirius praised him, distracting him by blowing a raspberry into his neck so he could quickly even out the dough Harry had been working on.

"Now, what's the first thing we do?"

"Eat!" Harry piped up happily.

"That's right. We eat a small piece just to be sure it is yummy," Sirius nodded, breaking a tiny piece off for the toddler and handed it over before doing the same for himself and James.

"You made that rule up, didn't you? Mum never let me eat raw dough when she made biscuits," James made a show of popping the small piece into his mouth, squashing the sudden sadness at their mother´s memory down as his son watched him curiously before copying him.

"The store clerk said it wasn't harmful for him to eat a small bit of cookie dough and would help him learn to eat new things. I specifically asked because I know Lily always got sick if she ate raw biscuit dough and cookie dough isn't that different," Sirius squeezed his hand in silent comfort. "Which reminds me, what food can you just eat like this, pup?"

"What adults give me," the boy spoke the difficult word proudly, clearly having heard it repeatedly.

"What adults?" Sirius quizzed him.

"Mummy, Daddy, Siri and Remy," Harry summed up.

"Atta boy," Sirius patted his head before grabbing the cookie cutters from the side.

"Still no Pete?"

"No. Frank's mother suggested we'd force him to allow him and Moody close, but I don't agree with that approach."

"What kind of woman is that? If we force Harry to put up with unwanted touch, just because it is polite, he'll get the wrong image," James snorted.

"I know. It would send the message that it's impolite to not let people do things that you don't want them to do, even when he himself doesn't like it. I never, ever want him to feel uncomfortable and feel forced to let people close when he doesn't want them to be," Sirius shivered and James brushed a hand over his back as he knew he was remembering his own relatives.

"Which is why we'll dump that plan into the garbage before it's even formed. If he doesn't want certain people close then he'll either grow over it or not. It's his choice and I'm sure Lily will agree. We raise our boy our way, not Augusta Longbottom's way," he pulled Sirius close for a moment as Sirius tried to give Harry the cutter of a duck, but the toddler refused to take it.

"Star!" he pointed to the other cutters and James grinned.

"You want to make Sirius cookies, Harry?"

"Yah!" Harry squealed in delight as James stepped away from Sirius to retrieve the star-shaped cutter and exchanged it.

"I blame you for that, you know?" Sirius chuckled, accepting the duck-shaped cutter when James handed it to him.

"Oh come on, it's cute," James laughed.

When Harry had been too fussy to go to sleep and Sirius unavailable when the child demanded him, James had taken the grumpy toddler outside to look at the stars.

He had pointed out the Dog Star and told his son how that star shared his godfather's name and would always watch over him when his godfather wasn't there.

It had been enough to settle Harry as the child had become enthralled with the sight of the star, clearly liking the link to his precious godfather.

But it had also had the result that Harry wanted everything with stars when he spotted the shape, hence the cookie cutter now.

"You didn't have to deal with Moony when he found out about the kid's new obsession," Sirius smiled as Harry held the star up to him for approval.

"Go ahead, buddy. You know how it's done."

"I never did thank you for finding these," James gestured to the cookie cutters.

"Seemed more fun than general biscuit cutters, those are rather boringly shaped, don't you think? Not too hard, pup," Sirius warned as Harry stabbed his star into the dough as hard as he could, almost bending his fingers double.

"You can just press it in lightly so it won't hurt your fingers, like this," he took Harry's hand to guide him through the movement.

"See?"

Harry nodded, happily leaning against his godfather as the man had moved closer again and insisted on helping pick up the shaped cookie from the counter top.

"Do you have a good hold on it?" Upon his nod, Sirius lifted Harry up to place the cookie onto the griddle.

"There, that's one. Let's let daddy put the rest onto the plate so you and Siri can focus on making them," James spoke up as Sirius' expression tightened with the movement as the child's full weight rested on his tender ribs.

"Because Siri is still hurt and we don't want to hurt him more, right?" he quickly added when Harry's face fell but at his words the child looked up to his godfather.

"Harry hurt Siri?"

"Not if we do as Daddy says," Sirius smiled, dropping a kiss onto his temple as he placed him back into his previous position. "He's right, why don't we make the cookies and let daddy do the boring work?"

"Kay," Harry readily agreed and refocused on pressing his star into the dough, taking care to be gentler now.

"Siri?" he looked up to his godfather with big green eyes.

"Yes, pup?"

"Moon for Moony?"

"Better not, sweetheart. Remy doesn't like the moon very much. I think he would like a heart, though," Sirius ruffled his hair as the toddler grinned.

"Mummy likes heart, too!"

"Why don't we make a few hearts then, hmm? Want to trade?" James handed his son the heart-shaped cutter, fondly shaking his head when Harry refused to give up the star one.

He bit his lip to stop from smiling as the tiny hands fumbled to hold both cutters, looking confused as to how to proceed now and he waited, curious to see how the kid would solve it.

"Siri, hold," apparently by making his godfather hold onto the star as he thrust the star towards his godfather, almost hitting him in the mouth with it.

"Careful, kiddo or I might just bite you," Sirius grabbed his hand and teasingly faked biting him, making the child giggle.

"Siri don't bite!"

"No? Then don't put your hand so close to my mouth," Sirius teased, placing a kiss on his palm. "You'll need a bath once we're done."

"He's not the only one," James laughed, accepting the hearts his son held out to him and placed them on the griddle.

"So, we've got stars, ducks and hearts. What more do you want, pup?" Sirius asked as Harry handed the heart cutter to his father again, clearly done with it.

"Pumpkin!"

"Pumpkin?" Sirius feigned disbelief. "But Halloween is still two whole months away!"

"Pumpkin!" Harry repeated, laughing at his godfathers antics.

"All right, then. Daddy, do we have a pumpkin cutter?"

"We do now," James teased; quickly transfiguring the moon shaped one into a pumpkin and handing it over to his son. "Here's the pumpkin, buddy. Why a pumpkin, though?"

"Siri drink pumpkin juice!" came the happy answer as Sirius scrapped the remaining dough together so Harry could make new forms.

"Of course, should have known," James hid another laugh behind his hand. "Padfoot, are you truly sure you didn't enchant my son?"

Sirius stuck out his tongue. "Be careful, Prongs. Or I might just steal him from you. What do you think, pup? Want to come with me?"

"Yah!" Harry cheered, clearly having no idea what they were talking about but always happy to go with Sirius.

"You're lucky I am rather fond of my brother, or I'd kick you," James wrapped his arms around his best friend from behind and leaned his chin on the other's shoulder as it suddenly occurred to him that their parents would never get to see his son grow up and have fun like he did now.

"Likewise, or I truly would steal the kid," Sirius leaned back into him in silent comfort, clearly sensing the shift in his mood and correctly interpreting it as he rested the arm not in a sling on James' arms around him.

They watched like that as Harry pulled together the last bits of dough, clearly having learned from what Sirius had done before.

"You know Mum and Dad are extremely proud of you and what you've accomplished, right?"

"Just as proud as they are of you," James murmured into Sirius' ear, tightening his hold when the other squeezed his hand for a moment, the trembling better detectable like this.

"You should get some rest after this," James murmured into his ear, smiling when the younger man nodded in agreement.

"I will, while the cookies are baking I'll take Harry for a bath and I think that after that it's time for a nap for both of us."

"Siri, Daddy, dough gone," Harry called their attention and Sirius stepped forward to inspect what was left of the dough.

"Let's eat this last bit, shall we?" James suggested, splitting the small piece left into three, Harry happily accepting the piece and munching on it.

"Now Harry, what are the rules for the oven?" he asked as he turned to the oven when his son's mouth was empty again.

"Bad, no touching. Hot and ouch," Harry immediately replied as he threw his arms around Sirius' neck. "Get adult when ping."

"That's right. You're to stay away from the oven," Sirius agreed as he pulled him to his feet so the toddler was standing against him. "Now, why don't we clean up our mess while daddy puts the cookies into the oven?"

"Kay," Harry nodded.

"Why don't the two of you get cleaned up while Daddy cleans up the mess, just this once?" James suggested as he glanced at their flour and butter covered bodies. "Don't want mummy to see you like this, do you?"

"No!" Harry's eyes widened and he lightly tugged on Sirius' dog collar, clearly aware not to pull too hard. "Siri, bath now?"

"Yes, pup. We'll go have a bath now while daddy cleans up."

"Be sure to wash behind your ears!" James called out teasingly, grinning when Sirius' answering laugh boomed up as the two left the kitchen.

Once they were gone, James quickly cleaned the kitchen and his now dirty clothing with magic and put the cookies into the oven, setting the timer.

He smiled at his son's laughter and the splashing of water that was just detectable from the kitchen and listened to the sounds of the two having fun as he waited for the cookies to be done.

"Look at you, all clean!" he cooed when the two returned just after he'd removed the cookies from the oven, completely freshened up. "Nice shirt."

"Yeah, Harry picked it out for me," Sirius grinned, glancing down at the old Quidditch Jersey that bore the name Potter on the back.

He stood still as James fixed the clean fabric he held into a new sling for him and helped him into it while Harry rested on his left hip, impatiently waiting for him to finish.

"Look, pup, the cookies are already done!"

Harry cheered as Sirius carried him over to the now clean counter top where James had spread the cookies out, so Harry wouldn't burn himself on the still hot griddle.

"Can eat?"

"Just one for now. We want mummy and Remy to see the results when they come home, don't you?"

"Yah," Harry nodded, looking at the cookies with care before picking out a star and holding it up to Sirius.

"Daddy and Siri eat too?"

"Daddy and Siri will share one," Sirius decided, placing Harry back onto the countertop as he sat down.

"This one," Harry decided for them, pointing at a large star.

"This one?" James asked, pretending not to be sure as he pointed at the star beside the one indicated.

"No, Daddy! That one!" Harry giggled, leaning forward to be able to point better.

"Oh, that one?" James smiled when Harry nodded enthusiastically.

"Yah!"

"All right," James picked up the approved star and broke it into two, sitting down beside Sirius and handing him half.

"Let's see if they are yummy, huh, buddy?"

Harry grinned around a mouthful of cookie and James laughed, ruffling his son's hair as the child leaned against Sirius, clearly spent after the eventful morning.

"What do you think? Want to help Siri take a nap after the cookie is eaten?"

"Daddy nap, too?" Harry asked questioningly as he looked up to his father.

"Why not, we'll all take a nap," James decided, making Sirius laugh.

"Lazy bum," he muttered into his ear as he bumped into him lightly so Harry wouldn't overhear and repeat the words.

"You know me," James grinned, picking Harry up when the cookie was eaten. "Let's give Siri's ouwie arms some rest, okay?"

"Kay," Harry readily agreed, snuggling in his father's arms as they made their way to the bathroom, not putting up a fuss as James brushed his teeth when Sirius brushed his own before they made their way to Sirius' bedroom.

It didn't take long for all three of them to settle into the cosy bed and James wrapped an arm around Sirius and his son as the two curled up together at his side.

"Now, remember what we always say?" Sirius whispered around a yawn, smiling when Harry nuzzled close. "Good night..."

"Sleep tight," James continued and Harry grinned as he finished the familiar rhyme.

"And don't let the bedbugs bite!"

Nothing more was said after that as both Sirius and Harry were knackered and quickly drifted off to sleep beside James and he smiled as he stared at the sleeping forms of two of the three people he loved most in the world.

Shifting so that he could place a kiss onto both of their temples, he pulled them close and let his eyes fall shut on their own.

Decided to catch a bit of a nap himself until the woman he loved would no doubt wake an overenthusiastic toddler with the noise when she returned and they'd have to run after the little bouncing ball again.