Harry trotted through his flat looking for Teddy's favorite blue cap. He had twenty minutes until Hermione arrived and they left for the evening; all that was keeping him was the hat. They were going to a Muggle populated area and Teddy's widely changing hair needed to stay covered.
The boy was rapidly approaching his sixth birthday. He was growing faster than Harry would've thought possible. He thought Mrs. Weasley had been exaggerating all those years ago when he had taken Teddy home. It was hard to believe it had been so long; so long since he had taken legal guardianship of Teddy, so long since the end of the war, so long since he had lost so many..."
"Found it!" Teddy's young voice yelled clearly.
"Great! And we still have five minutes until Aunt Hermione gets here." Harry was pleased. He headed back to the lounge to wait, at least it wouldn't be a long one.
"Where we going?" Teddy asked yet again.
"New museum," Harry answered for the fourth time in the last hour. He was strangely nervous about the upcoming event. He just never expected to willingly go back there.
"Harry?" Hermione called from the doorway. "You boys ready?"
"Hermione!" Teddy squealed and ran to the young woman for a hug.
"Hi buddy. I've missed you."
"Miss you." Teddy smiled, still holding her waist.
"Hey Hermione," Harry greeted. He hadn't seen his best friend in nearly a month, due to her frequently traveling job. He hugged her tightly, though careful not to squish Teddy. He turned his head a quick kiss on the cheek, but instead met her lips.
They both pulled away, surprised and a little red; Teddy giggled.
"Sorry," Harry mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck.
"No, it's fine," she said, waving it off, though her voice betrayed a little awkwardness. "So, are we ready?"
"Where we going?" Teddy asked, Harry sighed and Hermione grinned.
"We're going to the Grand Opening of a brand new museum," she said, voice making it all sound exciting.
"Wow," Teddy whispered, sounding very impressed.
"Do you know the most amazing part?" He shook his head, eyes wide. "The museum is the house your daddy grew up in."
"...Which one?"
"This one." She touched Harry's arm."
"Wow! Why?"
Hermione laughed, "Because he was very brave and saved us all."
"But Daddy says you and Uncle Ron were braverererer than anybody."
"That's because he's modest," she whispered as if Harry couldn't hear her.
"Molest? I want to be molest."
"Okay, and now we go," Harry interrupted, grabbing Teddy's hand and heading out the door.
"So, why the long way? They've set up a direct floo link."
"I know. I just want to have a look around before we go in." He apparated the three of them to a check point the Ministry had set up several years ago. There were so many people wanting to see where he had grown up that they were being spotted apparating or port keying in. Therefore, a secure house had been acquired. "You don't mind, do you? We've plenty of time."
"No, of course not." Hermione followed him out the door and down the street.
There it was...Privet Drive. It was just as remarkably clean as he'd remembered it. Slowly, Harry walked through the familiar neighborhood. It was strange how similar it was, the colors, the lawn decorations, the only differences were the newer cars in the driveways.
The old playground was still there, although it seemed much smaller. Harry could feel Teddy's eagerness to go slide.
"Harry? Is that you?"
He looked up to see Miss Figg shuffling towards him, handbag clanking. She was smiling at him, he wasn't sure he'd ever seen her truly happy before.
"Good evening, Miss is Hermione and my son, Teddy."
"Oh, what a pleasure," she gushed, shaking their hands with her left. "Such a pretty lady you've got, and a strong son, too. But it's Mrs. Lessum now."
"You're married?" He couldn't keep the surprise out of his voice.
She chuckled. "Oh yes. Old Mr. Lessum finally retired and decided it was time enough for him to take a wife."
"Well, congratulations."
"Thank you, thank you. Oh, but you had best get a move on if you're headed to the Opening. I suspect they're all getting anxious for you to arrive."
He shook his head as the old lady started shoving them in the direction they were already going. When they were out of hearing range, Hermione whistled low.
"Yeah," he agreed. "That was my old babysitter, Teddy. Now aren't you glad you get to go to Grandmum Molly's house?"
The little boy nodded eagerly. Harry smiled, if only Teddy knew how lucky he was. Their lives had begun quite similar, but Teddy's had taken a fortunate turn, because he had family that loved and wanted him.
"There it is," Harry whispered. His stomach knotted as numerous unpleasant memories filled him. The beatings from Dudley and his gang, Aunt Marge and her mean dogs, but most of all, the loneliness.
"Harry?" Hermione was holding his hand.
"I'm fine." He squeezed her fingers gently and led them towards the house.
"This was your home?" Teddy asked as they approached the front door.
"...Yes, this is where I grew up." He wouldn't exactly describe it as 'home', but Teddy was still too young to understand the difference.
Standing on the door stoop, Harry paused, were they supposed to knock or let themselves in? He turned to Hermione and she raised her hand to knock, when the door swung open. A tiny woman in all pink opened the door with a great smile.
"Mr. Potter, do come in." She made a grand, sweeping gesture, ushering them inside.
When he hesitated, Hermione took the lead, pulling him and Teddy lightly behind her. Numerous cameras started clicking and flashing at them as soon as the door closed.
"We are so very pleased to have you," the small woman spoke.
"Thanks for having us," he replied automatically. But already his eyes were surveying the house, it hadn't been changed a bit. "Should we just wander about, or..."
"We would like to give you the tour. This," she slid a pretty young woman forward, "is Cicelly. She's our official guide through The Harry Potter House." The cameras went wild again, but Harry simply nodded his acceptance. Once finished posing, the woman continued. "We were very careful where we got our information. However, if at any point you come across inaccuracies, please do inform us, so we might make the appropriate changes." She smiled widely, but whispered for them alone, "I fear there are some mistakes, some of the stories were just..."
Harry turned sad eyes away from the staircase he had once been nearly strangled on, to the now uncertain woman.
"Are we ready?" Cicelly interrupted politely.
"Yes, ma'am," Minister Shackelbolt said from the corner. "Hello Harry."
"Kingsley." They shook hands.
"Behind you, just beyond the front door, is the step up on which The-Boy-Who-Lived was placed by none other than Albus Dumbledore." Upon saying his name, she flicked her wand, enlarging a photograph of Dumbledore. Harry smiled as the old man in the picture puckered his lips around a lemon drop.
Sounding professional, Cicelly continued telling a very general story of how Harry came to live with the Dursley's. "Now as we move on," she headed in the direction of the kitchen, but stopped short, standing near the stairs, "you'll notice all the Muggle photographs. The observant viewer will also take note that not one of these pictures shows the second young man that grew up in this house. The Dursley's were embarrassed and afraid of what young Harry Potter would become." Her eyes flickered to Harry, testing the truth of that statement.
"They're scared of you?" Teddy asked, big eyed and unsure.
"No, they hated me," Harry explained softly. "They were afraid of all wizards, but they hated me."
"Why?"
How do you make a child understand such blind hatred? He knelt in front of Teddy and took the cap off of his blue hair.
"I don't know, Buddy. They didn't want me, even as a baby. And the longer I stayed, the angrier they got."
"But..."
"We can talk about it more at home, alright?" He handed the nodding boy, his hat back and stood up. "Continue, please."
"Here is young Harry's first bedroom." Murmurs went around the little group. Cicelly opened the door to the cupboard under the stairs. Peeking in, Harry saw it had been tidied up, not a spider in sight. But, god, it was small. "This is where he lived until almost his eleventh birthday." She enlarged an old school picture of ten year old Harry, with his huge clothes and taped glasses.
"Once he recieved his Hogwarts letter, the Dursley's told everyone he would be attending a school for the criminally incurable." They were then herded up the stairs to Harry's later room. "This is the bedroom Harry was moved to for the duration of his Hogwarts career."
She opened the door and Harry ignored the others as he stepped through. He heard Cicelly talking about Dobby and the story of the hovering charm. Harry was fingering his old Gryffindor scarf, draped over a door handle when the woman moved on to the story of Ron, George, and Fred rescuing him in the old Ford Anglia.
Harry grinned at the memory, wishing Ron could have come with them. Then he caught sight of a beautiful white owl in Hedwig's old cage. He stuck a finger through the bars and stroked its soft feathers. His eyes burned with guilt and he had to turn away. There beside his small bed sat a picture of his parents, laughing and holding each other. He smiled sadly and picked it up, perching on the edge of his bed.
"Harry?" Hermione's voice broke through his concentration. "Are you ready?"
He blinked, unsure how long he had sat there, staring, remembering. "Yeah, sorry."
"Next we'll head into the backyard," Cicelly instructed. "Here was the scene of Harry's last case of accidental magic. The summer before his third year, Harry caused his visiting Aunt Marge to inflate and float away." Harry chuckled, it hadn't been very funny at the time. "Fortunately, then-Minister of Magic, Corneleus Fudge," a picture grew from the fence, "knew that sometimes these things happen and forgave the incident. Now, if you'll follow me back in..."
"Wow! That's your treehouse?" Teddy exclaimed, pointing at the structure in the branches. "It's huge!"
"Yeah it is. But that was Dudley's; I wasn't allowed." He steered the boy into the house, trying not to notice the press still watching them.
"Victoire won't let me play with her ball."
"Do you share your toys?"
"Yes!"
"All of them?"
"..."
"That ball is special. She got it from her grandfather in France."
"I know."
"Maybe if you share something special of yours, so will she."
"Did you share special toys with Dudley?"
Harry was aware of the slow progression as everyone attempted to eavesdrop on his conversation with his godson. "I didn't have anything special." They had stopped in the lounge.
"This room was the only one to suffer any real magical damage throughout the years." Harry started chuckling, knowing what story was coming next. She enlarged a picture of the Weasley family as she talked about them trying to use the floo to collect Harry for the Quidditch World Cup. He laughed, remembering the twins' Ton-Tongue Toffee.
Everyone seemed to be smilling, enjoying the light-hearted moment. Harry should have known better, should have known what was coming next, should have prepared himself. Instead, he followed merrily after Hermione, enjoying the warmth of her hand in his. He really missed spending every day with her.
They stopped on the staircase and Cicelly had turned serious again. "Following the Tri-Wizard Tournament and the unexpected return of You-Know-Who, Harry spent the vast majority of his summer here in his Muggle home, secretly being guarded by members of The Order of the Phoenix. The Order collected him and smuggled him into their headquarters."
Sirius grinned from a large photo on the wall and Harry's breath caught just a bit in his throat.
"He was able to spend quite some time with his godfather, Sirius Black, before his demise later that year."
But Harry had stopped listening. Without a thought, he had released Hermione and Teddy and moved closer to the picture. Still, after all this time, he missed Sirius so much it hurt. He brushed a finger over Sirius's face; he looked so happy. If only there had been more time in life for him to see his godfather truly happy.
"Harry?" Hemrione's arms were wrapped around him. He closed his eyes and leaned into her comfort. "Teddy's with Kingsley. Are you alright?" Soft lips touched his temple.
"Yes." He sighed, pulling the woman closer to him. "No. But, yes." He kissed very lightly where her neck and shoulder met. "Thanks for being here. You can't know how much it means to me." He was still holding her, their bodies pressing together.
"Oh, Harry," she whispered, shaking her head. "Thank you for letting me be here. You know I love you."
"I know." Harry squeezed her soft body one more time before releasing her. "Where'd they go?"
"Kitchen."
They walked slowly, Harry's arm slung over Hermione's shoulders. "I'm not sure I want to see what's in the kitchen. Nothing pleasant ever happened there."
"I want to k now where they got their information. Who would talk about the Order headquarters?"
"Dung."
She had one of those ah-hah moments that made Harry grin.
"Here we have the final moments The-Chosen-One spent in his childhood home," Cicelly was already explaining as they entered the kithcen.
"Home," he huffed.
"The night he left its safety, his guard was ambushed in the sky." A picture of Moody grew almost life-sized. "Lost that night, was world-famous auror, Mad-Eye Moody."
"And Hedwig," Harry said softly and Hermione wrapped her arm around his waist with a squeeze. His eyes sought out Teddy, who was staring at a still small picture on the wall.
"Before the war would end, many more of Harry Potter's loved ones would perish on the side of good." She flicked her wand in time with their names. "Fred Weasley, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks-Lupin. All cherished, all lost."
"That's my mum and dad," Teddy announced proudly, looking up at the photos of his parents.
Hermione wiped at the tear gliding down her cheek at the sight of Fred laughing mischievously. Harry kissed her hair; he was pleased to know that the museum had done their homework and included so many of his missing family and friends, but in a way he wished he wouldn't have come.
"They've left off Collin," Harry blurted, trying to distract her emotions.
"And Snape," she cleared her throat.
"I never loved Snape," he sounded offended.
"Did you love Collin?"
"Well, no, but-"
"Well, there you have it."
"What? No-"
"Yes. Teddy's invited me for ice cream; would you like to join us?"
"He has?" Harry turned surprised eyes on his son.
"Yes. It's a date."
"No, if you're going to date one of us, it's going to be me."
"Is that so?" She narrowed her eyes threateningly.
"Yup."
"Fine."
Harry blinked a few times. "Fine?"
"Yes."
"Well...good. Would you like to go for ice cream?"
She grinned brightly, "I'd love to."
"Just so you know," Harry told her as they walked away from Privet Drive, "In case this dating thing goes anywhere, I have a son."
Hermione snorted at him. "Thank you for being so up front about that. I'd hate to not find out until things have gotten serious."
"Hurry up, I'm hungry," Teddy complained, practically dragging them down the road.
"You didn't mention how pushy your son was."
The End.
Weak ending, I know, sorry.
Happy Birthday Creative Touch! Hope you liked this. Sorry it's late.