Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the Avengers.


Hailey woke in the middle of the night to a pounding on her front door. Lightening flashed and thunder cracked. Rain beat against her bedroom window. Wondering who on earth would be at her door in this weather, she jumped out of bed, putting on a robe as she ran to see who it was. She tied it around her middle as she opened the door. A gasp escaped her when she saw who was on the other side.

"Harry?"

There, in the pouring rain with a baby on his hip and a diaper bag on his shoulder, stood the cousin she had never met in person but had exchanged several letters with since the British teen's thirteenth birthday. She ushered him inside, taking the bag and the baby from him as he came in. Placing the child on her own hip, she gently pushed her younger cousin onto her couch before making her way to the kitchen, not caring if the leather got wet. Putting a kettle of tea on to boil, she took the baby to her bedroom and opened his bag, smiling with exasperated fondness when she realized that his clothes had several warming and impervious charms on them. Even when running, her cousin always managed to take care of those with him without a thought for himself. The baby had been dry while Harry himself had not. She changed his clothes and diaper, then transfigured her nightstand into a cot for him. She found a couple of bottles of baby formula and grabbed one, taking it back to the kitchen and putting it in the microwave. She cut off the tea as it started to boil, and, with a flick of her wand, a tea tray fixed itself and began floating towards the living room. After checking that the formula was the right temperature, she put the bottle in the baby's mouth, feeding him as she carried him back to the living room and her cousin. Sighing, she waved her wand again and the teen was dry, he looked up at her, holding his arms out for his godson. Reluctantly, she handed him over. He had written her about Teddy several times before his abrupt arrival and she could tell he adored the boy. However, she did not think it a good idea for him to be feeding the child while he was looking like death warmed over.


When Teddy was finally put to bed, the two curled up on the sofa with a cup of tea each.

"What happened?" she asked softly. Harry sighed and ran a hand through his unruly hair.

"After the war… they sent me back to the Dursleys. They said it was for the best, but they don't know! Then, I got a letter from Gringotts saying that Ginny Weasley had tried to get access to my vaults by claiming to be my wife, along with her mother, Ron, and Hermione. When I went to the bank and read my statements, I found out that Dumbledore had been paying them for years from my vaults and had created a marriage contract between me and Ginny with Mrs. Weasley. Most people don't believe them of course - but there are enough that do that I can't leave Grimauld without being glared at mistrustfully! They've turned on me! Again!"

He put his tea down without touching it and wiped his eyes roughly. Frowning, Hailey set her own tea aside.

"Harry -" she cut herself off when he turned to her with tear-filled eyes.

"What did I do to deserve this, Hailey?" he asked brokenly, his lip trembling, "What did I do wrong? I died for them! Wasn't that enough? Do they have to take my family from me too?"

Violent, heart-wrenching sobs wracked his body. Hailey pulled him into her arms, carding her fingers gently through his hair.

"Shh, baby, you didn't do anything wrong. You did more than enough for those bastards. Dying was too much, sweetheart. There is nothing you could have done to deserve this. You are the kindest, purest, most selfless person I have ever had the pleasure of knowing and I am proud of you, little cousin. You have a heart of pure gold, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise." she murmured softly to him. She tilted his face up wiped the tears from his cheeks. "In the morning, I'm going to call off work for the day, and you, Teddy, and I are going to go shopping for clothes for the two of you."

He blushed, his eyes going wide.

"You don't have to do that -" she put a hand over his mouth, smiling kindly.

"I know I don't have to, sweetling, but I'm going to. You and Teddy are my family and you will always come first. Now, tell me, Mr. Richest-Wizard-in-Europe-and-Russia, is there anything you've always wanted to do?"

He laughed a little at that, before answering shyly.

"I-I've always wanted to open a bake shop."

She beamed at him.

"I think that's a great idea! We'll look at buildings for you to buy tomorrow as well. OK?"

He nodded. She smiled and helped him to his feet.

"Come on, sweet, time for bed. We'll deal with tomorrow when it comes."


As he lay curled around his cousin, a small smile spread across his face. He knew, that no matter what the sunlight brought with it, his cousin would stand by him. For once he would have someone to fight for him instead with him. With that thought in mind, for the first time since he was a small child, Harry Potter fell into a restful, dreamless sleep not induced by potions.


I know, I know, another story. I'm sorry! The ideas just pop into my head and I can't work on anything else until I write them down and submit them to you guys for review! So please read and review!