A/N it's remus and teddy, everyone!
warning: DEATHLY HALLOWS SPOILERS.
When she fell asleep, he lay and listened to her breathing. After a while, when he was sure that she wasn't going to wake up, he pushed himself up out of the bed and walked to the cot which was pushed to the side of the room. He stands there now, looking down at the baby. The baby is awake, staring curiously, with wide eyes, at his father. Both of them are in silence – the baby seems to realise that he shouldn't make any noise and the man is grateful for that.
His name is Remus Lupin and the baby, named after his late grandfather and father, had been born only a few weeks ago and already he has grown. Remus looks at him in silent awe. Only a few weeks ago ago had he been so small Remus had been scared of holding him, yet now he seems to have doubled in size. He isn't sure whether it's his imagination or not, this sudden growth, and yet still he finds it amazing. The fact that this baby is part of him is overwhelming. Never has he thought that he may have a child, simply because he could never bare to think of what would happen to it. After a while he accepted that he would never have children, which was where his desire to teach was born from. And yet here, against all odds, lies a healthy baby boy which he helped to create, with no sign yet of the curse which his father bears.
"Hello, Teddy," he murmurs, so quiet that he himself has to strain his ears to hear. The baby continues to stare at him, something inquisitive in his wide eyes. Now, because he isn't being excited, Ted Lupin's hair is its natural dark colour, with the angled face of his father, yet more filled in due to his age, and the natural brown eyes of his mother. He raises a hand towards Remus, who hesitates before holding his own hand close to his son's. The baby closes his fat fingers around one of Remus' and he marvels for a moment at how small he is, gently stroking the back of Ted's fat fist with his thumb.
The baby lets out a delighted sound and his grip tightens on Remus' finger. Despite himself, despite everything that is happening and all the people that have died, Remus smiles. Ted's grip is incredibly strong for one so young. Remus knows why, he knows how the babies of apes cling onto their mothers' backs to stay safe and human babies seem to have inherited the grip, and yet he still finds it astonishing. Ted pulls his hand to his mouth, Remus' finger still in it and he feels the small, warm lips around the tip of it. He stands like that for a moment, smiling at his child as he drools over his finger.
Carefully, Remus pulls his finger out of Ted's grip and carefully picks him up, knowing he probably shouldn't, that he probably should have just left him to sleep, and leans him carefully against his shoulder. He places one hand on his son's back, his fingers also supporting his head, and the other hand underneath him. His hand is nearly the size of Ted's back, he finds, but now it doesn't cover as much as his back as it did before. Remus closes his eyes and his son wraps his fingers in his hair, tugging it towards him. Although it hurts, he finds that he doesn't mind. Leaning his head foreword, Remus breathes in his son's smell, nearly knocked back by the strength of it. He can hear his heart beating, loud and strong against his own chest. His hand moves back and forth as Ted breathes and he stands there for a moment, clinging to his son and still not making a noise.
He is surprised that Teddy hasn't opened his mouth and wailed to the heavens that he needs food yet, nor that he didn't mind being held after waking up. In fact, his son is usually making some noise, be it screaming or giggling or gurgling. For some reason, though, Remus doesn't suspect that his son is ill or dying like some new fathers may do, but he treasures the silence. Ted's breathing has slowed, his grip slackening slightly on Remus' hair, and Remus thinks he may be dropping back to sleep. But he notes that his own breathing has adjusted to match his son's and that he can feel his heart thumping softly against his chest, and his own heart is beating messages back to it just as strongly. He closes his eyes again, breathing deeply.
"Remus."
Nymphadora's voice doesn't make him move, but he makes a sound to let her know that he heard her. He can hear her swinging her feet out of bed and still Remus doesn't move. Ted's hand is so loose in his hair now, and his breathing so deep that he is sure that he's asleep, although he doesn't dare move to check. He feels Dora's arm around his waist, her body close to his.
"He's asleep," she says quietly. Remus still doesn't say anything, but continues to hold his son, feeling so passionate about him that he's frightened he'll wake him. Dora's arm drops and she walks in front of him, smiling sleepily. He smiles briefly at her and then bows his head into his son's shoulder again. He can sense his wife's sad look toward him, but he still doesn't do anything. It's only when she's gone back to bed and he can hear her even breathing again that he puts the baby gently back into the cot, careful not to wake him. When he crawls into bed again, it's only when he turns on his side and watches his son through the bars of his cot that he realises it's the heat of his body pressed against his shoulder that he misses.