Once they arrived in the centre of the markets where a witch or wizard could buy all of their cooking needs, Renata led the way through the foreign territory because James felt he had no business being there. He didn't even know half of the spices that they were passing, what they tasted like or how one would even use it. Thankfully, Renata seemed to have an understanding as she walked through the rows, talking to vendors that seemed to recognise her as they greeted her with smiles. Harry seemed to enjoy all the new smells and colours of his surroundings as he reached out for Renata to hold him.

With him resting on her hip, she carried him through the rows with no problem as James lingered behind. James didn't know how to feel about how natural it seemed for Renata to take Harry into her arms or how relaxed Harry was around her. She was still in a lot of ways a stranger to them and yet, Harry had welcomed the woman into their life with open arms. He could remember all the times where Harry had been so fussy especially as an infant because he didn't want to be picked up by someone or didn't want to be bothered with.

There were many times where he rejected being held by James, Lily, Remus, Sirius, and others that wanted to hold him, but he was actively seeking out Renata to carry him and that left James uncomfortable. How could a stranger be that comforting to the boy versus people that had been with him since the time he was born? Yet, at the same time, James was scolding himself for making an issue out of it in his mind. He figured he should have been thankful that Harry was not attempting to close himself away, he should have been thankful that Harry seemed happy in those moments.

James had been unaware of the faces he was allowing himself to make and at one point, Renata came to a full stop and turned to him, still holding Harry in her arms.

"Are you upset with me?" she questioned him, rather forwardly he would add. The question caught him off guard to the point where his face went completely blank.

"Wh-what? N-n-no, why would you th-think that?"

"Well, the faces you're making at me, it looks like you want to set me on fire using your mind," she informed him, " if I've done something wrong, you can tell me-"

"No, you've done nothing wrong," he said internally kicking himself, " really. I was just thinking to myself, I wasn't aware that I was making faces. I'm sorry."

The look on her face made James think that she didn't believe him, but she obviously wasn't looking to argue either as she offered a small smile and then returned back to her shopping with Harry. James swore under his breath, disappointed with himself that he was already trying to find fault with someone that was actually helping him. She didn't have to say yes or agree to be Harry's nanny, in fact, she didn't have to do half of the things she had already done for them.

He was facing terrible trust issues, from having Peter's betrayal still affecting him greatly. Due to one man, everything had been broken and shattered around him. People had been killed, friendships had been lost, and James felt that it was all resting on his shoulders to put things back together, even if they would never be the same again.

Perhaps it had been a bad decision on his behalf to welcome someone new into his life when he couldn't even handle the relationships that he previously had. But he had done it for Harry's sake because it made Harry happy and that's all James wanted. He couldn't make others around him happy, but at least he could bring his son to smile in some way.

In the distance, he watched as Renata leaned in towards one of the elder vendors, exchanging a kiss on each cheek with him. Harry seemed to enjoy the interaction and leaned in requesting to also be kissed as well. The adults around him laughed in amusement and James could only smile as Harry exchanged cheek kisses with the vendor and then turned to Renata for another round. Of course, the kisses exchanged with Renata were much more exaggerated as she made louder noises which brought Harry to giggle and clap his hands in an excited manner.

As Renata was picking out several items that the vendor was offering from vegetables to spices, Harry's attention darted elsewhere and James followed his gaze closely. In the near distance, there was a woman with her hands full of boys that James recognised right away. He hadn't seen her in quite some time, Molly Weasley, who was the younger sister of the late Gideon and Fabian Prewett.

She was carrying a girl in her hands, younger than Harry at the time who seemed to be sleeping while the boys around her were all bouncing in place. Harry looked amused as he grinned in the same direction, reaching one hand out as he wanted to go play as well. It brought Renata to turn around, bringing them to face the scene of Molly struggling to get two twin boys to stop wrestling around on the ground while the other boys cheered them on.

James hated to see her struggle, knowing very well that Molly had lost a lot in the war and seeing as Arthur wasn't with her on the shopping trip, it seemed she had no help with her. Making his way over, he quickly gathered the twin boys off the ground and separated them.

"Hello, Molly," he greeted her as he kept the two apart, " long time, no see."

Placing the spices and vegetables on hold, Renata was just as curious to make her way over to the scene where James stood, helping the woman that seemed to be overwhelmed at the time. The witch was rather plump but soft in the face with kind eyes, but even that was overtaken by all the exhausted features from her red hair sticking out all over the place and the dark bags under her eyes. Renata couldn't blame her, she couldn't imagine having that many children, all of them appearing close in age.

However, Harry wasn't paying attention to all the other boys, he was paying attention to one, the youngest that was clutching his mother's skirt in hand, using it as sort of a security blanket. He was watching James, a total stranger, holding his brothers apart and looked absolutely terrified. And if that wasn't enough, he began screaming and crying as a small spider had made the mistake of crawling across his shoe.

He instantly released his hold on his mother's skirt and went to dart off, leaving his mother with little reaction time, but Renata quickly reached out and grabbed him before he could run out into the traffic of people.

Harry rejoiced in the fact that the boy had been caught and was closer now because all he wanted to do was play as he made it clear by tugging on Renata's shirt with his request.

"Go play? Go plaaaay?"

Staring up at Renata who had a hold of his little hand, the red-headed boy peered over at Harry before grinning. "Play!"

All was forgotten about his traumatic event with the spider, not to mention, he didn't seem to care if his brothers were in danger of the strange man anymore. Just as long as there was a request to play with another child his age.

Renata placed Harry down but kept a firm hold of one of his hands, while holding onto the other boy, but it was enough to allow them to interact. Meanwhile, James seemed to know the woman as the two of them embraced in a hug after the other boys had settled down and were in control. He looked over the little one that was resting in her arms and smiled, the two of them both wearing bittersweet expressions on their faces. She felt like she was intruding on a moment before turning her attention back down to the little ones at her feet.

They seemed to be getting along perfectly as the boy had taken to tracing his finger over Harry's scar with a questioning gaze before he started yelling "thunderstorm" in which the two of them were attempting to make noises of thunder and jabbing their hands out to resemble lightning.

"Sorry, dear," the woman finally approached as she was distracted by the noise that came from the little ones, "I'll take him off your hands. Thank you for helping."

"It wasn't a problem," Renata reassured her, " looks like Harry's made a friend."

She could see that the woman was studying her closely, probably trying to figure out who she was and that's when James made his way to intervene to cut down on the awkwardness.

"Uh, Molly, this is Renata," he said, " Harry's new nanny. Renata, this is Molly Weasley, I used to work with her brothers...I mean...I..."

He shot an apologetic look in Molly's direction, but she only offered a small smile before taking her son by the hand.

"It's nice to meet you, dear," Molly said to her, "and if you know of any other nannies willing to work for little pay, please pass the information along to me. I'll be more than grateful."

"Well, if you two are acquainted," she said looking at James before looking back at Molly, " perhaps we could set up a playdate of sorts. Harry already looks like he would get along with your youngest here."

"Oh, this is Ronald," Molly quickly introduced him, " we call him Ron for short though."

"Ron!" Harry called out as Ron made the attempt to call back his name. It seemed the two were confirming that they liked the idea of meeting up again for a playdate, leaving Molly and James to look at each other and shrug their shoulders in agreement.

Harry seemed to be doing well for himself, not only had he gotten himself a nanny, he had also made his first friend.

After quite the eventful day at the markets, Harry ended up falling asleep before they even arrived back at the Potter home. James carried him inside and when he went to call over his shoulder, he saw that Renata was lingering in the doorway.

"Is everything alright?" he asked her.

"I wasn't sure if you wanted me to come inside," she said, " Harry's asleep and you said it yourself that I'm meant to spend my time with him while I'm here. I don't want to be a bother to you."

Earlier, James had convinced himself that he didn't really want Renata around, that she made him uncomfortable with her presence. But now that she was offering to leave, he found himself conflicted because he didn't want her to go. He was sure more than anything that he didn't know what the hell he wanted. But as he carried a sleeping Harry in his arms, he realised that the day was still young and it would just result in him sitting around in the silence until Harry woke up again.

He didn't like the silence because it meant being left alone with his thoughts and he didn't need that. It was bad enough seeing Molly earlier and remembering the horrible fates that Gideon and Fabian had met at the hands of Death Eaters during the war.

"I can just come in and set the bags down for you," she told him, " and then I can get out of your hair."

With a troubled face, James didn't know what to say in order to make her stay, he knew he had brought her into the household to just interact with Harry, but he didn't want her to leave at the moment.

"I'll pay you to stay."

Renata was bewildered by his attempt to get her to stay by offering her money. It wasn't her intention to seek further payment, she just didn't think he wanted her to stay longer than she needed to. She had a feeling that James didn't want her around but was only doing it for the sake of his son, something she could admire. It was going on a couple of years since the passing of his wife and people that he knew, and she could see that James wasn't ready for new people in his life.

It left her feeling conflicted as well because she didn't want to intrude and yet, he was requesting her to stay. She didn't know how to feel about it because she wasn't even sure if James understood what he wanted at the time.

But the desperation that was clearly plastered on his face and weighing heavy in his voice was enough for her to feel something terrible. She wouldn't call it pity but it was almost as if her heart was breaking for the man. He appeared to be so lonely as he stood in the hallway of his home, he looked to be so lost while carrying Harry in his arms, and he looked to be so broken with no one there to help him collect the pieces to put him back together.

Maybe he wouldn't be restored to the man he once was but he couldn't go on living in such a way before he fully crumbled.

"You don't have to pay me," she said entering the home with the bags, " all you have to do is ask or tell me what you want me to do."

"I think it's going to go over the requirements of being a nanny," he told her as she approached.

She tilted her head, curious as to what he meant by that. "How so?"

"I-I-I don't know what I'm doing," he admitted quietly, " I don't know how to do this on my own. It seems pathetic, but I can't function without having someone else here. Playing dual roles, I feel like I fail just holding one. I feel like I'm failing him."

His eyes trailed down to Harry, who shifted in his arms to make himself comfortable.

"I'm scared to be left alone with him, but I'm afraid to ask for help," his voice grew softer and softer to the point where she was straining her ears to hear him. "I just feel like I'm going to ruin things all the time. I can't even cook for him, how am I supposed to raise him without him growing up to resenting me?"

"Mr Potter, I think you're being too hard on yourself," she replied as he finally allowed her to speak, " you're nowhere close to failing Harry. He adores you and it's clear you adore him. You're a fantastic father from what I've seen. I understand...well, I don't understand what it's like to be a single parent, but from what I've already noticed, you're an excellent father. You care about him, you go out of your comfort zone for his sake, some children never get to experience that."

"But is it enough?" James asked her.

"I think it is," Renata said, "I think what you're doing for him is plenty. And it's alright if you need help, it doesn't make you a bad parent at all and it certainly doesn't make you a failure. You don't have to try to get me to stay with the promise of more money, you just have to ask."

"Will you stay?" he quickly asked, his eyes nearly watery as he looked at her with such a pleading gaze. "Will you stay and help me? Even just cooking a quick meal or something? Please? Can you help me figure this stuff out?"

"Of course," she smiled, " now go on inside, Mr Potter. I'm sure Harry is comfortable in your arms, but you should probably put him in his own bed to nap. Then I can show you how to make a proper spaghetti sauce, one that we can get Harry to try when he wakes up."

He nodded his head before turning back around and heading towards Harry's room, leaving Renata to stand in the hallway alone for a few moments. She let out a small sigh, not expecting all of that to unfold on her so quickly. With a swallow, she peered down at the bags in hand of all the ingredients they had purchased that afternoon. She could easily set the bag down and walk out, if she thought the situation was too much for her. She knew she was about to take on the weight of a broken man who needed plenty of help that had been lacking over the years.

Could she do it?

Making her decision by making her way to the kitchen, Renata gave herself the answer.

She could try.