The house was quiet, and Ginny was sleeping peacefully in her warm bed. She rolled from her side onto her back, and turned to look at her sleeping husband. She saw his side was mussed and empty. She wondered where he could have possibly gone.
She slipped out of the covers and slid her feet into her waiting dragon slippers. She shuffled out of the room. She opened her door, and saw the door down the hall was slightly ajar with a faint glow coming from inside. As she approached, Ginny could hear a soft whimpering coming from inside. She pushed open the door with a small squeak and found Harry standing overtop their newborn son, who they had brought home only hours earlier.
Harry looked up at his wife with the most panicked expression she had ever seen him wear. She looked at him closely, and saw there was a glimmer of tears in his emerald eyes.
She rushed over to him and put her hand on his back. "Harry what's wrong!" She heard him exhale heavily. "I heard him, so I came in, and he looked like he was going to cry, but I didn't know what to do, and I didn't want to wake you, and I can't pick him up cause he's so little, and I kept trying to calm him, but he won't stop, and I don't know what to do!" He inhaled deeply after rattling off his panic.
Ginny gave him a wide-eyed look. He was watching her intently, waiting for her to help him somehow. She gave him a soft smile. 'Are you telling me that the great Harry Potter, who defeated the most evil wizard, is afraid of a baby?" She quietly chuckled at his panic. His face was full of fear.
"I didn't know what to do…" he whispered her as a tear trickled down his cheek. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "Shhhh…don't worry its fine. You don't need to be afraid. He's your son, nothing you should be afraid of." She felt his body shudder and heard him breathe shakily.
She pulled away from him and turned to the crib, gazing down at her snuffling baby boy. "Come and pick him up. I'll show you how to calm him down." Harry looked at her with trepidation. "How about you pick him up and I'll watch?"
Ginny looked at Harry, eye-brow raised. "Are you afraid to pick him up?" Harry looked down at his feet. "I'm afraid I'll hurt him…he's just so little," he mumbled to the ground.
Ginny grinned to herself. She grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the crib. "You'll be fine. I'm here. You held him at the hospital. It's no different than that." He gave her a look. "The nurse put him in my arms." She nodded. "Yes she did, but someone won't be around to hand him to you all the time. Now, make sure you cradle his head when you pick him up. That's important."
She watched as her husband looked at their son as if he was one of Hagrid's dangerous pets that might bite his hand off. Harry slowly reached into the crib with shaking hands, and cradled James' head carefully, before scooping him off the bed. She chuckled as he held the baby away from his body, afraid to move him. At that moment, James let out a wail that made the new parents jump. Harry looked over at Ginny helplessly, his eyes begging her to take the baby.
"Oh no, you're just going to have to deal with this yourself!" she said as she slowly backed away from her two men. "Bring him to your chest and start to rock him gently," she shouted over James' cries.
Harry pulled his son towards him, but refused to move. Ginny rolled her eyes. "You're not rocking him at all. Go sit in the rocking chair." Harry slowly walked to the chair, crying baby in tow. He sat down so carefully making sure not to move James and started to rock. Ginny smiled at the picture in front of her.
It was almost instantly that James stopped crying, and started to whimper softly again. She watched as Harry whispered to their son. James gave a huge yawn, and his little eyes slowly shut. Harry looked up at his wife, beaming. "I did it!" he whispered softly.
"Yes you did," she grinned at him. "I always knew you could do it." She watched as Harry's face slowly fell. "What if I'm not a good dad…I don't know how to be a dad…I didn't really have one to teach me…"
She walked over to him and kissed the top of his head. "You'll be an amazing father. I've watched you with Teddy. I know he's not yours but he might as well be. You can be whatever kind of father you imagined you might have had."
He looked up at her and gave her a sly grin. "I always thought I'd be a nice dad. I guess that means you'll have to deal with punishments…" Ginny smirked at him. "In your dreams, Daddy…" She laughed as she went back to her bed, leaving her boys to get to know each other.