Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Harry Potter was scared.
Wasn't that odd? Harry Potter killed Voldemort as a baby. He battled the man a total of seven times, came face to face with the evil wizard, and survived. He went through War and Death and horrors that would give anyone nightmares. He was the Savior of the Wizarding World.
Yet, as he stood in his room, nervously fixing his tie in the mirror, he couldn't help the tinge of terror running down his spine. His fingers shook as he messed with the object, trying desperately to make it look perfect. His hair was not in its usual messy state, but had been spelled to look decent for once. His skin was clean shaven and pale with nervousness. Bright green eyes stared out behind a pair of rounded glasses.
Today was his wedding day.
It was a day that he'd been waiting for, and dreading, though he wasn't sure why. He was excited, overwhelmingly so, but also more scared than he ever felt in his life. He'd talked it over with Arthur, and the man, who had become a father figure to him over the years, assured him that everyone was scared on their wedding day.
It was a change. Changes, no matter how good, are always hard and frightening.
"Dad?"
Harry glanced up and saw the door open through the mirror. A child, hair a bright blue, peeked in with curious eyes. He was dressed in a suit, a Muggle one, and fiddled with the sleeves nervously.
"Teddy," Harry said, turning to the child, "How'd you escape your Grandmother?"
Harry had been raising the child since the War ended. Andromeda, his grandmother, had kept him for the first few weeks as Harry recovered, and then a mutual decision between them granted Harry custody. Andromeda was elderly, and racked with grief over the loss of her husband and daughter in the span of a year. She wasn't fit to raise a child. Harry, likewise, was in his own grief, but he was Teddy's godfather. It was his responsibility, and Andromeda knew that Harry needed Teddy just as much as Teddy needed him.
Andromeda was still a big part in Teddy's life. She came over to the Burrow (where Harry was living) every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. She always went to Teddy's birthday party, and was over for Christmas and Easter and any holiday that came up.
Teddy walked in slowly. He looked adorable in his little suit. At three years old, he was tall for his age and skinny, though nowhere near as skinny as Harry had been as a child. His hair color changed nearly every day, depending on his mood. As of yet, he hadn't managed to master his metamorphmagus genes, though he was working on it. Lately, blue seemed to be his favorite color.
"She was helping Uncle Won with his suit," Teddy said slowly, carefully pronouncing the words. He talked pretty well, but he had trouble with his "R's". Andromeda was helping him with that.
Harry smiled and nodded. He walked over and picked the child up in his arms, grinning at him. He couldn't help it, "You were supposed to stay with her, Ted. Daddy's busy."
It had taken Harry an entire year to realize that he was Teddy's father. Remus was Teddy's father and he was perfectly content being Uncle Harry. He didn't want to take that position from Remus.
It wasn't until Andromeda had heard him trying to get Teddy to say "Uncle Harry" that she had taken him aside and set him straight.
Teddy needed parents, not an Uncle. Harry should know that more than anyone. Remus and Tonks would want Teddy to have someone to call 'Dad'.
And of course, the first time he heard Teddy call him 'Daddy', he knew that he could never have the boy call him anything else.
"Sorry," Teddy said sheepishly, "I was bored."
"Of course you were," Harry shook his head and laughed lightly. He turned his head, caught sight of himself in the mirror, and his face fell back into the previous nervousness.
A pause, then Teddy spoke, "What's wrong, daddy?"
Harry glanced at his son, and thought about what to tell him. Lying was the obvious choice. Teddy didn't need to know that he was terrified of being married, because it was such a silly thing.
Yet, he found himself answering truthfully, "Just a little nervous for tonight."
"Why?" asked Teddy, staring up at him with wide eyes as if that was the most absurd thing on the planet, which it probably was.
He shifted awkwardly, "Well, it's a change. I'm getting married."
A grin appeared on Teddy's face and he nodded, repeating the word slowly to get it right, "Married."
"She'll be my wife," Harry continued on. He chewed on his lip for a short moment, "I'll be her husband. Merlin, I'm going to be married."
"Yeah," Teddy said with a nod, "And you're friends!"
It was that short, simple little sentence that caused Harry to pause. Teddy probably didn't know the meaning those words held.
Because they were friends. They were best friends. That was why their relationship worked so well. Yes, after today, they would be married, but it wouldn't change anything except documents. Both of them were living at the Burrow for the past three years, anyway. It wouldn't be any different except that they could call each other Husband and Wife.
Harry smirked and ruffled the child's hair, "Why don't you go see how Aunt Hermione is doing?"
There was a pause as Teddy considered this, and then he asked, "Can I call her Mummy now?"
A wide smile appeared on his face. Hermione had recently discussed that little fact with him. After that evening, she would be raising Teddy alongside Harry. She'd been in his life since he was born, anyway. She'd always been his mother figure.
"I think she would like that very much," Harry told him with a grin, "Make sure to call her that when you go see her."
Author's Note: Well, here's a short little One-Shot. I was thinking about it the other day and just had to write it. Actually, I was imagining what Harry's life would be like if he married Hermione instead of Ginny, but this is what came out of it. I ship Hinny a lot, but I also ship Harry/Hermione... I ship a lot of people with Harry, actually...
I might continue on with this... or I might post another story that's a flash forward. If you liked this and want to see more, leave a review with suggestions. I think if I do it, I might keep the kids from the epilogue but have them be Harry and Hermione's kids. If I do that, though, I might tweak some ages and stuff to make it work right.
So, leave a review for things like what Harry and Hermione's jobs could be, details about the kids, what kind of story I should write/events that could occur, and other things like who does Ron and Ginny marry and if they have any other kids.
Thanks for reading!
