The young couple seemed to appear out of no where as they made their way up to the quaint house on the quiet muggle street.
The young man rang the doorbell, and a few seconds later, a voice called out,
"Who's there?"
"It's us." the lady replied.
The door opened to reveal a middle aged woman. She had dark brown hair and eyes, and you could tell that she was once beautiful, but premature age caused by grief had gotten to her over the past couple years.
She smiled. "It's great to see you. Come in." she said kindly, ushering them in.
The couple took seats on the sofa, while the older woman bustled around in the kitchen, making tea for her guests.
The little tot in the corner, playing with a toy wand, saw the guests and began to toddle it's way over to them, laughing.
"Hey there, little Teddy." Harry said, reaching down to pick up his god-son.
The baby's hair immediately changed from bleach blonde to match Harry's jet black. Simultaneously, the soft gray eyes screwed themselves up resulting in a bright green, precisely the same shade as Harry's.
"Look, it's a baby Harry." Ginny said, laughing.
Andromeda reentered, carrying three cups of hot, steaming tea.
She chuckled at the site of her grand-son.
"Yes, figures as much. He's recently taken up to mimicking whoever he happens to be around. Of course, he's always around me, so usually his hair reflects his mood. Bright, happy colors when he's cheerful, and darker colors when he's upset." Andromeda explained.
No sooner had her words gotten out than Teddy had spotted Ginny, and they were all looking down at a red-haired, brown-eyed little boy.
They all laughed at this.
"So how are things with you, Andromeda?" Ginny asked conversationally.
"Oh, I'm faring. Your mother and father were down here the other day, actually, to visit Teddy. You're whole family has been so kind. I really don't know what I'd have done without your weekly visits, and all the random popping-in's of the rest of the Order." she told them, her eyes drifting over to a picture of a smiling, waving Tonks on the mantlepiece. "Yeah, Teddy keeps me on my toes, and laughing. It's hard to be upset when you have such a spunky little ball of life on your hands." Andromeda smiled, but they could still see the sadness in her eyes. She had never really gotten over her losses; who could blame her, really, her husband and only daughter gone all at once.
"You know it's our pleasure to visit you! And we're so excited to take Teddy for the weekend, it'll really give us the hands on experience we'll need when we decide to have children of our own. Right, Harry?" Ginny nudged him, as he seemed to be dozing off into space.
"Errrr. Yeah. Right." Harry said, snapping back to reality.
"So what are your plans? You'll have the whole weekend to yourself, after all." Ginny asked.
"Oh, I was going to stay with an old school friend, and we were going to go down to Diagon Alley and get some shopping done. I may be old, but a girl's never too old to shop, I always said." she answered.
Ginny laughed. "Can't argue there!" she agreed.
"So, you'll take care of him, won't you?" Andromeda asked, worriedly.
It wasn't that she didn't trust them; she trusted Harry Potter and his wife with her life. He did, afterall, conquer the Dark Lord. But Teddy was her last ray of light in her dark and sorrow-filled life. It was more than she could take if anything were to happen to him.
"We'll treat him as if he's our own. He practically is, anyway. Harry's a little nervous, I know, but I have all the faith in the world he'll make a splendid father." Ginny reassured her.
At this, Harry finally spoke. "I'm not nervous! I just-" Harry tried to defend himself, but Ginny cut him off.
"Have not an ounce of confidence in yourself? Lupin wouldn't have made you god-father if he didn't have complete faith in you, Harry, as I've explained a hundred times." Ginny finished for him.
"Oh, Harry! My dear! What's there to be nervous about? You conquered the Dark Lord, afterall. Surely, fending for a child should be a piece of cake, after that?" Andromeda expressed.
"Doesn't he just amaze you?" Ginny agreed. "He walks right into the face of death with not a quiver of fear, and completely chokes up when proposed with the idea of raising a child." she said, amusedly.
Harry turned bright red at this, and cleared his throat loudly. Ginny knew perfectly well he didn't like being praised like this, so he was rather annoyed at this last comment.
"Anyway," Andromeda changed the subject, "You'll find all you need here. Accio bag!" Andromeda said clearly.
A small light blue baby bag came zooming down the stairs towards them.
"I've packed a few of his favorite Muggle children's books, a few outfits, pajamas, diapers, his favorite Teddy bear, and his bottle. Anything else you need, and I'm just a chimney away." she explained to them.
"Gila gila!" Teddy exclaimed, pointing towards the door.
A bright, silvery figure had burst through and was making it's way toward's them.
"Harry, Ginny, it's happening. Family's gathering at our cottage, she wants it done naturally. See you soon." Bill's voice erupted from the large wolf.
As suddenly as it came, it evaporated into the air.
There was a short silence in the room, before Ginny broke it.
She shrieked with joy. "Harry! Harry! We're going to be an aunt and uncle!" She exclaimed, flinging her arms around him and kissing him full on the lips.
Andromeda politely waited for the couple to end their embrace, before joyously saying, "You're brother's wife's having her baby? That's wonderful!"
"We'd better head over there." Harry told them. "Come with us, Andromeda!" he offered.
"But of course! Births are always such happy events."
With that, they all rushed over to the chimney, and one by one, with the exception of Harry, who carried Teddy in his arms, flooed over to Shell Cottage.
When Harry bustled out of the fire, he was surprised to find Bill pacing the sitting room.
"Shouldn't you be up there with Fleur?" Harry asked curiously.
Bill made a face at this. "She told me, and I quote, 'to get the fuck out before she hexed my pitifully scarred head into oblivion."
"Oh." Harry wasn't quite sure what to say to this.
"You didn't take her seriously, did you? The birth process is supposed to be really painful, she's not in her right mind." Ginny reassured him.
"All the same, she could be a bit nicer about it. I was only trying to help, after all. By the way, you and Andromeda can head on up there, she seems not to mind any female company. Mum's already up there, along with Gabrielle and Mrs. Delacour." Bill said bitterly.
Harry looked around and was surprised to see George, Mr. Weasley, and Mr. Delacour gathered around in chairs they had apparently conjured up.
Ginny and Andromeda took no time in rushing out of site.
"Hey, George, Mr. Weasley, Mr. Delacour." Harry said, happily greeting them.
"Hi, Harry." Mr. Weasley seemed distracted. He must have been, because he hadn't even thrown in his usual insistance that Harry call him Arthur.
"Mr. Potter. It's an honor to see you again! I don't think I ever got a chance to properly thank you for saving the wizarding world!" Mr. Delacour said brightly, shaking Harry's hand furiously.
"Errrr thanks. And please, call me Harry." Harry smiled weakly. He was used to this kind of behavior, of course, but his dislike for it remained as strong as ever.
"Of course, Harry! Whatever you please." Mr. Delacour beamed. "And you must be his lovely wife? You were one of Fleur's bridesmaid's, were you not? Imagine that! Harry Potter's wife, my Fleur's bridesmaid!" he said excitedly, turning to Ginny.
"It was my pleasure." Ginny smiled kindly.
"Harry, my man." George said, saving Harry with a clap on the back.
"How goes the shop?" Harry asked, eager to change the subject.
"Excellent. We've got these-" George started.
He was interrrupted by a slight disturbance that was Ron and Hermione's arrival.
They looked rather dressed up for the occasion, Ron wearing midnight blue dress robes, and Hermione in a matching navy blue cocktail dress which poofed out at the waist.
"We were in the middle of dinner." Ron explained, his ears going slightly pinker than usual.
Hermione beamed at him. "Yes, Ronald remembered that my all time favorite dish is salmon, and seems to have done a little bit of Muggle research, because he took me out to one of the finest steak houses in London. Excellent salmon, I must say." she added, looking admiringly at her husband.
There was an awkward silence which George quickly broke.
"No offense, dear Hermione, but frankly, I don't think any of us are interested in hearing about you and Ronald's personal life, or his amateur attempts at romance." Fred told her bluntly. Just than, Fleur had let off a cry of pain so loud they could hear it down in the living room.
"In case you hadn't noticed, Fleur is in excruciating pain, as a little brat is about to emerge from her genital area." he added, raising his eyebrows up at the ceiling.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "And that wasn't vulgar. Leave it to you to make something as beautiful as the birth of a child seem so dirty!" Hermione scolded him.
"Hermione, why don't you go up and join our miss's. Apparently, Fleur's only allowing female company." Harry suggested, before George could open his mouth in a retort.
"Of course! I've always wanted to witness a birth!" she squeaked, than made her way upstairs.
The minutes seemed to pass slowly, and the room was surprisingly silent, considering they were all quite the opposite of strangers. The only noise came from Teddy, who was busying himself with toddling around the room, mimicking each peron's features in turn.
"I wonder where Percy is." Ron said vaguely, breaking the silence. "Charlie and his fiance won't be arriving till later, I expect?" he asked his father.
"Errrr yes, you know how Charlie feels about any form of transportation other than flying, and Romania's a fair distance, I expect he'll be here late tonight or early this morning." Mr. Weasley said, breaking out of his trance.
"As for Percy, your guess is as good as mine."
Just than, Percy appeared out of the fire, shortly followed by Emily, his fiance.
"Am I too late? Has she had it already?" Percy asked, glancing anxiously around the room.
"Nope. Consider yourself lucky. We've all been here a good hour, or more. You can send Emily on up, as she's a girl. Fleur's room is limited to strictly females." George told him.
Emily quickly obliged.
Seconds passed like minutes, and minutes like hours, and finally, when Harry felt as if he would burst from the silent, tension-filled room, Hermione's voice was heard, crying "It's a girl! I have a niece! Ron, Harry, you guys are uncles to a beautiful baby girl! Come on, everyone, you've got to see her, she's simply beautiful!"
Bill punched the air in joy.
"I have a daughter! I can't believe it. Dad, you're a grandfather! I'm a father. Me! A baby girl…" Bill said happily, rushing up the stairs.
"Zere you are, Bill, come see your daughter, Victoire. She ees beau-tee-ful, she 'as your nose!" Fleur said admiringly to her husband. She was lying in bed, and looked paler than ever, but other than that, nothing on her beautiful face would have given away the fact that she had just given birth to a child.
"Victoire." Bill said softly, taking his daughter into his arms.
Harry looked around the crowded room. Mrs's Weasley and Delacour were sobbing into each other's arms; Ron had found his way over to a teary-eyed Hermione and was rubbing her arms soothingly; Ginny seemed to be comforting Andromeda, who was sobbing uncontrollably, probably for more reasons than the obvious one. As Harry took her hand, he saw that she, too, was teary-eyed. Percy was positively beaming, with his arm around Emily, who's eyes, shockingly enough, were glistening.
Mr. Weasley had seemed to finally relax, and was beaming warmly at the baby, and George, in Harry's opinion, seemed to have a sense of lonliness about him, as he looked around at the many pairs. But maybe this was just Harry over-analyzing things, because that was how he would feel.
"She needs a meedle name." Fleur announced.
"How about Fleur, after her mother?" Bill suggested.
"No, no, zat is silly. I want something with meaning, something special." Fleur said.
"Well, what do you mean-" Bill started to ask, looking perplexed.
Just than, Teddy had reached forward with his small hands, gesturing towards baby Victoire.
He began to cry out random nonsense, while gesturing for the baby.
Harry stepped uneasily towards Bill, unsure of what to do.
"A--annn--jull." Teddy piped up, pointing unmistakably at the bundle of joy resting in Bill's arms.
"Anjulll." he said again.
"Harry, I think he's trying to say-" Ginny started.
"Angel! He's saying Angel! I don't believe it! His first word!" Andromeda had exclaimed.
Everyone momentarily turned their attention over to her.
"It's been a right fuss for me, trying to get him to talk. I've talked to him, I've read out loud to him, nothing I did could make a sensible word come out of his mouth!" she told them.
"I wonder where he got angel from than?" Ron asked, curiously.
"It's obvious, isn't it?" Fleur suddenly realized. "My baby eez an angel. Look at 'er, she eez beau-tee-full, like an angel. Zat shall be 'her second name. Angelica. Victoire Angelica Weasley." she said.
"Myyy annn-jull." Teddy said, reaching out a small hand and placing it on top of Victoire's even smaller one.
A/N: so this is a kind of prologue to a story that will be Teddy Lupin's and Victoire Weasley's childhood, where they'll grow up as best friends. I just felt like writing something alongside my other one, and I find Teddy Lupin a fascinating character, so, let me know what you think!
