'No! Nononononononononono! NO!'
Harry grinned as his girlfriend's voice got steadily more shrill and the thud of small footsteps came his way. Sure enough Teddy Lupin toddled into view with a huge grin plastered on his face and waving one of Ginny's more treasured possessions: her pygmy puff Arnold. The puff was the last present she had been given by Fred before he died, and she was very protective of him. His grin getting even wider, Teddy quickly make a beeline for Harry his tight grip eliciting high pitched squeaks from Arnold.
'Harry! Help me out here. He's impossible!'
'I know, but he's so cute' said Harry as he smiled into the cheeky little face looking up at him. The chubby hands were wrapped around his legs, and the smirk on his face told Harry Teddy was sure Harry would back him against the woman.
Looking up and noticing Ginny's furious and distressed glare, Harry put on a stern face and said severely 'Teddy, you need to give that back right now and say sorry to aunty Ginny. Now, Teddy!' he added as the boy kept looking up at him with the cheeky grin plastered to his face and an attitude of 'no, I won't' in his eyes and reflected in his bright orange hair.
The eyes looking into Harry's filled with tears and the tiny lips quivered. Teddy's hair turned a dreadfully dull mousey brown and a wail escaped him. His arms detached from Harry's legs and he backed away, clearly devastated by the betrayal by his 'uncle.'
Harry looked on in horror as the cries became more and more strident.
'Ginny! What do we do? He's crying. I … what?'
Ginny had dissolved in giggles. Arnold had escaped, and was rolling around under a nearby chest of drawers, and Teddy's screams were becoming deafening. Harry's face reflected his discomfort with the situation. What the heck did you do with a child who was screaming and there was no parent to hand him back to? Andromeda had gone out for the day leaving just-turned-2 year old Teddy alone in their care for the first time. Both had been confident that they'd be fine. After all, they'd been around him every week since the battle of Hogwarts and looking after him had been sweet and fun. Harry patted Teddy's head awkwardly in an attempt to calm him down. This did not go over well and Teddy's cries became even more ear-splitting.
'I think you need to cuddle him, Harry. He's shocked that you raised your voice to him.'
Seeing the wisdom in this, Harry dropped to his knees in front of Teddy and held his arms out to the sobbing child. Teddy rushed into Harry's embrace and cuddled into him.
'Tuddle. Unc Harry, tuddle me' he whimpered wiping his eyes on Harry's shirt. Harry looked up at Ginny who had stopped giggling and was watching the two with a tender look on her face.
'Do you think we'll ever have kids, Harry?' she asked.
'I don't know' said Harry. 'But if we do I want to be older and more experienced, way more experienced. This is insane' he added as Teddy hared out of his arms and chased Harry's cat Pickles into the next room screaming with laughter, all tears forgotten. 'Wasn't he crying just a second ago?'
Just as bemused, Ginny watched the boy running around.
'I don't think I'll ever understand kids' she said 'but he sure is cute as a button.'
'He is' agreed Harry. He dropped a kiss on her forehead and followed Teddy to make sure he wasn't traumatising the young cat too badly.
'Hey buddy' he said when he finally caught up with Teddy, finding him poking under the dresser in his bedroom trying to get Pickles to come out. Pickles, being not unintelligent, was ignoring the entreaties. Teddy squirmed out from the dresser and looked at Harry, his lip beginning to quiver again.
'Tat not tum out!' he said in tones of utmost outrage.
'I know' said Harry. 'I think she wants a sleep. Whaddaya say we leave her alone for a bit?'
Teddy's mouth set in a mutinous pout and Harry knew it was time to bring out the big guns.
Wanna go for a fly on my broom?'
'Bwoom! Bwoom unc Harry. Bwoom! Tum on, bwoom now' Teddy chattered excitedly, pulling on Harry's hand trying to get him outside as soon as he could. Harry laughed and allowed himself to be dragged to the broom closet.
'Gin! We're going to go flying. Do you want to come?'
'No thanks Harry. You guys are too wussy for me when you have Teddy with you. I think I'll just watch' she teased him.
'Your loss' he said, poking his tongue out at her as Teddy yanked on his hand and pulled him towards the door. She grinned and took a playful swipe at him as he passed. Their eyes locked and Harry saw a momentary flicker of sadness in the brown depths of Ginny's eyes. He smiled at her gently and patted her cheek as Teddy's insistent voice drifted up to them
'Tum on! Bwoom!'
Smiling again, Ginny followed the two out and watched as they mounted the broom and Harry took Teddy safely in one arm while the other firmly gripped the broom's handle. They lifted off and Harry kept the broom hovering just a few feet above the ground and they moved slowly sometimes doing circles which made Teddy scream with laughter. Even from a distance Ginny could see Teddy's hair flicking through a series of colours as his delighted giggles drifted back to her. Sitting in the warm sunshine Ginny reflected back on the past few years and remembered when she had heard that Teddy had been born. That was before all the horrors of the battle at Hogwarts; before Teddy lost his parents and she had lost a brother and almost lost Harry. These moments of sad memory came less often but they still haunted her. Ginny knew that Harry also had his moments of morose reflection so she knew he understood her. It was funny how one small touch from him, with an unsaid 'I understand' beaming from his eyes, could draw her out of her sadness and help her feel happy again. These small moments, like the one sitting here watching Harry with Teddy, made her appreciate what she had and mourn a little the loss of what she had before.
She saw Harry look over at her and wave, and her heart lifted instantly. One thing she always had to remember and be grateful for was that no matter what, she hadn't lost Harry. She abruptly changed her mind about flying, and returned to the house to collect her broom. Laughing, she swooped rings around Harry and Teddy who twisted in his seat trying to keep her in his sights. Harry smiled at her and reflected that if he could have times like this with Ginny and his own children, there may not be that much point in waiting much longer after all. Then, as they swooped close to the ground, Teddy's twisting pulled him too far around and he slipped off the broom and landed in a heap on the ground.
'Teddy!' screamed Ginny as she pulled quickly in to land.
'What?' giggled an excited Teddy as he bounced up and raced over to her.
'Teddy!' thundered Harry, as he too landed and caught up with the boy. 'How many times do I have to tell you not to wriggle while we're flying? You could have killed yourself!'
Once again the small lips trembled and the hair changed from vivid blue to dull brown.
'Come here, buddy' Harry said, having learned from his previous outburst.
Teddy slowly came up to Harry, anxious about how to react after this second chastisement. He was used to it from Gramma Andromeda, but Harry had never behaved like this to him before.
Harry knelt down and said in a very serious tone 'Teddy, I'm sorry I shouted at you. But you scared Aunty Ginny and me when you fell off the broom. Do you understand?'
Teddy nodded solemnly, staring up into Harry's face.
'Thing is, Ted, you could have hurt yourself when you fell. It's just lucky you didn't. And Aunty Ginny and I would have been really sad if you were hurt. So I shouted at you because I was worried about you, OK?'
Once again Teddy nodded.
'Can we make a deal, buddy?'
'Yup, Unc Harry.'
'I'll take you flying again, so long as you promise you won't wriggle'
Teddy's grin flashed out again and his hair turned a vivid sunshine yellow as he nodded eagerly. Ginny smiled as she watched him dash away to the broom.
'You were wonderful Harry' she said. 'He's eating out of your hand.' She touched his tense face and he relaxed into her hand.
'It's harder than I thought, Gin. I freaked out; I couldn't help but remember all those bodies at Hogwarts …' he trailed off and she nodded sympathetically.
'I know' she said. 'I felt it too, but you handled it so well.'
She smiled mischievously.
'I think you need to go now' she nodded in the direction of the broomstick. 'Someone is waiting for you.'
Turning, Harry saw Teddy struggling to lift the broom off the ground. Laughing, he went to join the boy once again, giving him a hug as he reached him.