Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.

Challenges listed at the bottom

Word Count - 980

Living In The Moment

"Are you ready, Ted?" Harry asked, smiling down at the excited little boy. Teddy was practically bouncing where they stood.

"Yep yep," Teddy replied.

"Kay, I just have to fasten this up on you."

Harry bent down, clicking all the fastenings into place on the life jacket, seeing the other parents doing the same for their kids. Harry smirked when he saw Hermione checking the fastenings on the life jacket she'd forced on Ron.

Leading the way, holding Teddy firmly by the hand, Harry walked onto the boat. It was big, bigger than he'd expected when he booked the day trip, and he couldn't deny that he was happy about that. He'd been a little bit worried that some of the people in the group would end up hanging over the edges of the boat, green faced with nausea.

"Are we going to see any mermaids, Uncle Harry?" Teddy asked, his head moving quickly around as he tried to take everything in.

"Probably not, kid," Harry replied, glancing at the muggle skipper. Thankfully, Teddy was still young enough to get away with such questions.

He chuckled to himself when he saw Ron being hushed by a harassed looking Hermione.

The Captain called their attention to explain a bit about the boat and general safety rules. Teddy was still bouncing excitedly, but Harry was proud of him when he saw the little boy listening intently.

"... go fiddling with any locks around here, we're going to have a real problem. Any area with a lock means out of bounds, and again, that's for your safety."

Harry smiled at the captain when he told them to take a seat until they got their sea legs, and sat up near the front of the boat with Teddy. Ron and George joined them, Hermione choosing to stay with a nervous Molly and baby Rose.

"Are you excited, Teddy?" George asked, sitting down beside Harry.

Teddy nodded, grinning widely. "We'se going out into the ocean, Uncle George!"

"I know kid, it's fun, huh?" George replied, smiling. Lowering his voice, he added to Harry, "You're lucky mum's even here. She had a bit of a melt down about being on the water this morning. You know, until we reminded her that she's a bloody witch and she can just apparate away if it sinks."

Harry laughed.

"Uncle Harry, we'se moving!"

"I can see that," Harry replied kindly. He couldn't get enough of Teddy's excitement.

They fell into comfortable silence as the boat sailed out, broken only by the talkative child's excited exclamations.

When they'd been sailing for about an hour, the Captain dropped the anchor and told them to enjoy themselves. He even offered to take them out to swim, though the offer was swiftly declined.

Summer sun or not, the water would be bloody freezing.

Teddy say on the top deck underneath a parasol to guard him from the sun, with Molly keeping him company, holding Rosie on her knee.

"Aunt Molly, how do you spell love?" Teddy asked, his pen gripped in his hand.

"Oh Teddy, you don't spell love, you feel it," Molly replied dreamily.

Teddy stared at her for a moment.. "But I's making uncle Harry a card, Aunt Molly. I needs to know how to spell it."

Molly blinked. She'd been daydreaming, the lull of the ocean relaxing her. "Oh, I'm sorry dear. L, O, V, E. Can I see the card?"

Teddy grinned. "When I's finished," he promised, going back to his writing.

On the lower deck, Harry and George were laughing at Hermione and Ron's bickering. Tuning them out, George asked, "Having a good birthday?"

"The best," Harry admitted, glancing towards the top deck. "Teddy makes everything better though."

"Is Andromeda doing better, now that you've taken him full time?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, she's getting there slowly. She misses him, but she seems more relaxed now that the adoption has gone through. And she knows I would never keep her from him."

George grinned. "That's good. I'm glad you're happy, Harry."

"How are you doing?"

"Ah, you know. Good days and bad."

Sighing, Harry could only agree. They were all the same following the war, though as he'd already said, Teddy made it much easier for Harry to live in the moment and to try and move on from the war.

"It's worse at night," George admitted suddenly. "He was always there, you know. I never got lonely in the evening because he was there. And now… it's weird. Being alone. I'm not used to it."

Harry nodded. "You know you're always welcome at my place. Teddy goes to bed at seven and then I'm on my own unless Hermione and Ron visit. So… anytime."

"Thanks, Harry," George murmured, squeezing Harry's shoulder.

"UNCLE HARRY!"

Harry was out of his seat and up the steps in the blink of an eye. "What's wrong?" he asked urgently, the words coming out before he saw the large smile on Teddy's face.

"Nothing, Uncle Harry. I made you a card!"

Harry took the card, taking in the picture of the boat with two blobs on the front. "Is this me and you, Ted?"

"Uh huh! Open it!"

Harry did as he was bid, blinking back tears when he read the message inside.

To Uncle Harry,

Youse the bestest Uncle ever.

Hapy Birfday.

Love Teddy

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"You did this all by yourself?" Harry asked, looking down at the smiling boy.

"Uh huh! Do you likes it?"

"I love it," Harry corrected, lifting the boy in a hug. "And I love you. Thank you, Teddy."

"I loves you too, Uncle Harry. And this is the bestest ever. I likes boats!"

"I'm glad you're having fun. You wanna come downstairs and we'll see if we can spot any fish?"

"YEAH!"

Smiling at Molly, Harry carried the little boy down the steps. He'd never had a better birthday.

Written for;

Disney, Q4 - "(Name), how do you spell love?" / "Oh, (name), you don't spell love, you feel it."

Book Club - My Ibis - Writing / talkative / on a boat.

Showtime - 3. Adoption!au

Build A Bunny - Sunglasses - Going to the Ocean

Auction Prompt - "Go fiddling with any locks around here, we're going to have a real problem."