Rearing
A/N: A prompt from the lovely ThisIsMegz! (Seriously, she is amazing!) Teddy being adorable with the Potters. A Teddy/Victoire fluff story. One-shot. Rated T. Everything belongs to JKR.
"You're serious?!" Teddy gawks at Vic. "Honest to Merlin, you're not joking?"
Her smile is wide across her face and her eyes glisten with happy tears, she nods and Teddy feels his chest explode. He wraps Vic in a hug and spins her around and around and they're laughing and crying because she's pregnant and they're going to be parents and they're just so in love.
They wait a few weeks to tell anyone, Vic explains why, and Teddy doesn't really like that these first few weeks are that fragile, that something could go wrong. But they make it through those scary weeks and hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time and Teddy is just on cloud nine. That is until his idiot mate goes and makes a stupid comment.
He doesn't think Zach meant anything by it, he's still single - by choice, and probably always will be - and he doesn't really fancy himself a parent ever, so it makes sense that Zach would ask him how on Earth, at the ripe age of twenty-seven, Teddy feels ready to have a kid. He's sure Zach was teasing, Vic agrees as well, but Teddy suddenly feels ill-prepared. He still feels like he's learning to be an adult; what does he know about being a parent?
Teddy's mildly freaking out about it at his desk while he's supposed to be filling out paperwork for the case when Harry walks by.
"Hey Ted," he smiles at him but Teddy is so wrapped up in his worrying he doesn't hear.
Harry stops and looks down at him, face betraying his concern.
"Teddy?" Harry places his hand on Teddy's shoulder and Teddy jumps so hard he nearly knocks over the inkwell.
"Oh! Sorry, Harry! I was thinking and I didn't realize anyone had come up behind me." Teddy tries to force a smile, he really tries, but based on how Harry is looking at him he's failing miserably.
"Come to my office?" Harry asks, and it's really an invitation to talk in private, which Teddy isn't surprised to find seems wholly needed. He stands and follows Harry into his office, closing the door behind him.
"What's got you so concerned mate?" Harry asks as they both take a seat. "Everything alright with you, Vic, and the baby?"
Teddy sighs and starts to fidget with his wedding ring, "They're fine, great even; especially now that Vic is passed the morning sickness and the fatigue. I just..." He trails off and shakes his head. "Harry, what the hell do I know about being a dad?"
Harry gives him a nostalgic smile, "You know, I had a very similar feeling about this point when Ginny was pregnant with Jamie."
Teddy leans forward, resting his arms on Harry's desk. "What did you do?"
"Well," Harry laughs sheepishly, "At first I panicked about it to Gin."
Teddy scoffs, "I'm sure that went over masterfully."
Harry nods, "She told me I was being ridiculous. I didn't think she really got it, but she was under enough pressure at the time so I backed off. I actually ended up talking about it with Bill at a family party."
"What did Bill say?" Teddy watches as Harry as mirrors his position.
"He pointed out that I already had a lot of experience as a 'godparent'." Harry smiles wide at Teddy who grins back at him. "That helped me to see that I wasn't nearly as unprepared as I originally thought I was."
"Well, I'm still screwed then. I've got no experience." Teddy lets his grin fade. "I'm going to completely screw this kid up, aren't I?"
Harry chuckles, "No Teddy, you're not; because while you don't have 'godparent' experience, you do have 'older brother' experience."
Teddy stares at his godfather, struck dumb for a moment.
"You're quite a bit older than your god-siblings and so you've been there to help Gin and me guide the three of them. And I couldn't be more proud of you for it." Harry's voice is a bit thick and he clears his throat.
Teddy still isn't sure how to respond. He's never felt like being an older brother was anything like parenting, they're his family, and he'll do anything for them.
"Tell you what," Harry's voice pulls Teddy out of his internal monologue. "I want you to take the rest of the day and find someplace you can think this all through. Try and think about how being there for Jamie, Al and Lily has prepared you for your own child."
Teddy nods dumbly before standing and heading out of the office. He transfigures his work robes into his favorite Muggle clothes before apparating to Greenwich Park. He finds a spot to look out at the river and plops down.
Harry's words still run through his head, and Teddy can't seem to find any comfort in them. Sure he's been there for his siblings, but that's completely different from having your own kid, isn't it?
He remembers going to the hospital with Gran to meet Jamie for the first time. Teddy was six. Jamie had been so small, and Teddy wasn't exactly sure what was going on but he liked seeing everyone so happy. And when Gran told him that Jamie was his little brother, Teddy remembers feeling very protective of the little creature wrapped in the blue blanket.
"We'll be amazing mates," he promised Jamie as Ginny held the baby's head and Teddy cradled his tiny body in his arms.
Teddy remembers when he and Jamie went to meet Al. Jamie was only two and he'd been more interested in running full speed down the hospital halls than the baby, but Teddy was eight-years-old now, and he liked having siblings.
"Al is my brother too, right?" He'd asked Ginny as he sat on the bed with her, feeling proud that he was big enough to hold Al all by himself.
"That's right dear," Ginny had smiled at him and he'd felt so proud. He had two little brothers!
Teddy remembers how it was different with Lily. Sitting at the hospital, Teddy had felt bitter that day, at least at first. It had occurred to the ten-year-old Teddy that since Harry and Ginny were not his biological parents, their children were in fact not his siblings. Teddy chuckles as he remembers how his ten-year-old self had sat moping in a chair in the room. Harry had brought Lily over and knelt on the floor next to the chair.
"Don't you want to meet your sister?" He'd asked.
Teddy remembers the angry tears starting at that moment. He'd cried to Harry about how none of them were his family because his parents were dead and he only had Gran and he was all alone. Harry had been an amazing godfather that day. He held Teddy until the crying stopped before looking him in the eye and making it very plain that he had promised his parents before they died that if anything happened to them, he'd treat Teddy like he was his own. True, these siblings weren't blood siblings, but Harry told him that they were as good as. That even though he wasn't his son, Harry would always look at and treat Teddy that way. Teddy had cried again for completely different reasons after that speech. Then Harry put Lily in Teddy's arms and when ten-year-old Teddy looked into those blazing brown eyes just like her mother's, he knew she really was as good as any biological sister.
Teddy leans back on the grass by the river and looks up at the clouds, smiling as he remembers how the Potter kids always saw him as part of the family. The scene they made when he left for Hogwarts was mental. Jamie was begging him not to go. He had clung to Teddy's legs and cried his eyes out. Al was three and probably didn't understand what was going on, but because Jamie was freaking out, he took his cue and followed suit. The two cried and begged him not to leave them. Lily slept through the whole thing in her pram. Teddy isn't as embarrassed now to admit that he'd cried a bit too. He had finally decided to embrace the Potter's as his family, and then he went off to Hogwarts. He swore to Jamie he'd write him every week, and he'd been true to his word. Jamie, now twenty-one, admitted to Teddy that when he found his mum had kept all those letters, he'd taken them home to his flat with him. One day Teddy would have to go read through them again with Jamie and Al.
Teddy remembers trying to teach them all to fly when he was thirteen. It had seemed like a grand idea. He'd taken Lily in his arm and flew low to the ground with her so that she'd get to experience it. Then he'd set about actually teaching a seven and five-year-old Jamie and Al. Honestly, Teddy is still grateful that it was his own arm that broke that day and not Jamie's or Al's. Harry had kindly pointed that out to him after getting his arm fixed, and Teddy realized then that he was the example, Jamie and Al would go along with whatever he did, regardless of how safe or good it was.
Teddy closes his eyes and breathes in the cool breeze that wafts over the river as the warm sun shines down on him. He likes to sit out here and think. There's a level of calmness that he can't seem to find in the wizarding world. Teddy remembers calming Jamie down on the train to Hogwarts for his first year, and Teddy's last.
"But Teddy," Jamie was panicked, "I don't know anyone, and what if I don't make friends? I'll be the weird loner kid and I'll never be cool!"
Teddy had bit his tongue to keep from laughing at his eleven-year-old brother. "Hey, you already know Allie Longbottom really well. And you definitely have been introduced to a bunch of other kids in your year at Auror family days, so they aren't total strangers." Jamie looked unconvinced.
Teddy gave him a wide grin, "Besides, how much cooler can you get being the Head Boy's little brother?" Jamie's eyes had brightened.
"You really think so?" He'd asked hopefully.
"I know so," Teddy had wrapped his arm around Jamie's shoulders before sending him to go find Allie and extracting a promise to try and make friends.
Vic had been eavesdropping and she'd snogged Teddy senseless after Jamie had gone off. Teddy thinks he's coming to understand why.
Teddy remembers the letters from Al his first year at Hogwarts. He'd been struggling with Jamie a lot that year, and he'd turned to Teddy for help. It was Teddy's first year of Auror training and he was writing Vic and trying to visit and it would have been easy to tell Al to just figure it out. That Teddy was overloaded and exhausted. But he hadn't. There were so many nights where Teddy slept less than four hours because he was writing Al and trying to get Jamie to write him while maintaining everything else on his plate. But it had been worth it. By summer Al and Jamie were as thick as thieves again.
Teddy laughs out loud when he remembers Lily's first year at Hogwarts. She wrote him every day and asked if he'd proposed to Vic yet. She'd been so torn up about Vic taking him away until he pointed out that she'd get Vic as a sister when he married her. She'd changed her mind entirely at that point, becoming the biggest cheerleader for his and Vic's relationship. He'd used those letters to help him propose to Vic, all 262 of them.
He'd been married to Vic for a little over a year when Jamie and Al sent him an urgent owl. It had been Jamie's owl and Vic had happily retrieved the letter while Teddy made sure the gravy didn't burn. She died of laughter reading it out loud to him, but Teddy just remembers the pit in his stomach at the realization that Lily had her first boyfriend. His brothers had written him because they didn't know how to proceed. The boy was a third year like Lily but in Ravenclaw. Al had found them sitting outside the castle holding hands and Lily happily informed him that she and Xavier were dating. Jamie had wanted to hex the boy, and though Al agreed, he thought they should talk to Teddy first since he's the oldest.
"Stop laughing, Vic, this is a big deal!" Teddy had snapped at his wife.
"Oh come off it!" She laughed harder. "The three of you are ridiculous!"
"No, we're worried about her. She's only thirteen and who knows what this boy is on about."
Vic somehow quieted her laughter, "First, his name is Xavier. Second, they're young and learning how to handle all these new feelings of discovering that boys and girls aren't repulsive anymore. Third, you're going to tell Jamie and Al to stay out if it."
They'd argued for a while, but Teddy finally managed to come up with a solution that he liked and that Vic approved of. The next morning Jamie and Al got a letter explaining the plan - unless Lily gets hurt stay out if it - and Xavier received a small note, informing him that if he hurt Lily in any way, Teddy would not only unleash Jamie and Al, he would come and speak with him personally. That thankfully hadn't been needed, since Lily broke up with Xavier about three months into it. Teddy had never been so relieved.
Teddy sits up and stretches, noticing a young couple leaning into each other as they watch the sun move across the sky. He remembers bringing Jamie here to Greenwich Park a few months ago because Jamie wanted to talk with him about something.
"What's on your mind, mate?" He'd asked when they sat down.
Jamie looked off into the river. "When did you know you wanted to propose to Vic?" He'd asked quietly.
Teddy smiled, "The day she went back to Hogwarts without me."
Jamie nods and is quiet for a long moment. "What made you wait?"
"Honestly?" Teddy chuckled at himself, "I was scared. I knew she loved me. She told me frequently, still does. But it's a big step, and I was terrified of doing anything that would make Vic think I was going too fast."
Jamie was quiet again and Teddy had let them sit there in silence until Jamie was ready to start talking again.
"Merlin, Teddy." Jamie hung his head. "How the hell did I end up falling in love with Allie?"
Teddy threw his arm around Jamie's shoulders. "Love is weird, Jamie. I ended up falling in love with my childhood best friend. Your dad fell in love with his best friend's younger sister. We don't get to choose who at first, but once you do fall in love you do get to choose that person every day after."
Jamie nodded and after another long silence he brought his head up. "I got the position with Ellerby and Spudmore. I'll be working under a current broom designer as an apprentice."
"That's fantastic, Jamie! Congratulations!" Teddy had felt so proud.
Jamie had grinned at him, "I'll be able to afford a ring by next year I think." Teddy felt prouder at that comment than any broom design apprenticeship could ever do.
The sun is setting and Teddy knows he needs to get going. Vic will be home soon and Teddy's trying to make sure he's there to help her as much as he possibly can. Having the boss as his godfather had made that a whole lot easier too. This baby is his first grandchild after all.
And then it hits him, what Harry was getting at. Definitely being the big brother hasn't been the same, he doesn't think he'd conspire with his kids to hide that they accidentally set fire to a memorial. But there have been a lot of moments growing up where he's been the one his siblings come to. Lily wrote him first when Nathan had dumped her for a different girl in her fifth year - with his arm around said girl. True to his word, Teddy had unleashed Al and him and Jamie had paid a visit the next Hogsmeade weekend to discuss Nathan's behavior with him. And Al had come to him first when he decided that he wanted to go to a Muggle University to become a better citizen of both worlds. (Teddy's pretty sure Al became Aunt Hermione's favorite that day.)
Maybe he isn't as clueless as he thought he was. Maybe he is mildly prepared for what's ahead. Maybe, with Vic there to keep him in check, he can be as good a dad as his godfather.
Teddy smiles as he walks behind a tree to apparate home. Maybe he can be as good as Harry.