Samhain: Family Traditions.
Harry looked around the kitchen of Grimmauld Place, double checking that he had everything he needed for the night ahead. It was Halloween and he had agreed to look after his Godson, Teddy Lupin for the night and he had special plans for the two of them, he just hoped the little five-year-old boy enjoyed himself.
"You've checked all this at least three times now, 'Arry," his girlfriend Gabrielle told him as she entered the kitchen to see Harry nervously fiddling with things laid out on the table. "Teddy is going to love this, trust me," she told him as he came over and wrapped her in his arms, bending down to place a soft kiss atop her head.
"You're sure you don't want to stay, Teddy won't mind," Harry asked her as she linked her arms around his neck, standing on her toes to press a kiss to his lips.
"I'm positive," she told him with a smile. "Today is a special day for you and you need to spend it with Teddy. There are plenty of days for me to join you too, but today isn't one of them," she said with a soft smile. "Now, I'm going to go baby sit our little Victoire, try and find some joy in tonight my love. I'll see you tomorrow," she told him, pulling him down into a parting kiss before turning and heading to the fire, disappearing in a flash of green flames just as a knock sounded from the door.
"Hi Uncle Harry!" Teddy shouted as he jumped up and wrapped his arms around his Godfather as soon as Harry opened the door, nearly knocking them both over with the force of his jump, but Harry didn't mind as he merely wrapped his arms around the small boy and laughed as he hoisted him up onto his hip.
"Hey little man, how are you doing? You been behaving for your Gran?" he asked, looking up at Andromeda to see her smiling softly at the two of them, pride shining in her eyes at their interaction.
"He's been as good as gold and far too excited for tonight," Andromeda told him, reaching up to gently pinch her grandson's cheek. "He's certainly got Remus' sweet tooth, he's talked about nothing but all the sweets he's hoping to get tonight," she added with a chuckle as Teddy tried to move away from her pinching fingers. "I'll leave you two boys to it then Have a lovely time and I'll be back to pick you up tomorrow evening," she told her grandson, kissing his cheek once before leaving godfather and godson alone.
"You're excited for tonight then," Harry asked as he carried his godson into the kitchen, sitting him down on the table next to a couple of pumpkins and a bustle of apples.
"Yeah! Gran made me a rainbow wolf costume," Teddy told him, taking off his backpack and pulling out a rainbow wig with wolf ears attached.
"You'll look brilliant mate," Harry told him, handing him a glass of pumpkin juice before taking a seat next to Teddy. "I know that we're going out trick-or-treating later, but I wanted to do something else special first. You know why today is so important for me don't you?" he asked, taking a sip of his own drink, smiling affectionately when Teddy crawled off the table and into his godfather's lap, wrapping his small arms around Harry in a hug.
"It's the day that your mum and dad defeated Moldywarts and went on their next adventure," Teddy told him quietly, snuggling further into Harry's chest, offering him silent comfort.
"That's right, and a long time ago, a good friend of mine showed me that there are things to celebrate today, instead of mourning for what we can't change, so I thought we could do something like that before we go out trick-or-treating. Does that sound okay?" he asked, hoping the little boy would be willing to share this with him.
"Yeah, because I can say thank you to my mum and dad too, can't I?" Teddy asked, looking up at his godfather, his hair and eyes morphing back to his natural brown and blue, a perfect combination of his mother and father.
"Of course, you can, I think that's a brilliant idea," Harry told him, kissing his hair softly before pulling two big pumpkins closer to the two of them. "You've seen carved pumpkins before, haven't you?" he asked as he pulled some pens closer to them. When Teddy nodded he continued, "Do you know why people carve pumpkins?"
"No, isn't it just because they're scary?" Teddy asked, twisting his pumpkin around in front of him.
"Well that might be true now, but a long time ago, people carved pumpkins and turnips to ward of bad spirits so that the souls of those we've loved and lost wouldn't be disturbed when they visited us for the night," Harry explained, hoping he wasn't scaring the young boy. "I thought that we could carve some pumpkins to protect the house while we're out, do you want to draw yours or use a stencil?" he asked, handing the boy a felt-tip pen.
"I want to draw it, Gran say's I'm good at drawing," Teddy remarked, taking the pen and starting to draw spooky eyes on his pumpkin while Harry started to draw on his own. They worked together in amicable silence and before either knew it they both had faces on their pumpkins and we're ready to start carving. Drawing his wand, Harry told Teddy to put his hand above his and together they carved out their faces and before long they each had a perfectly carved pumpkin lantern in front of them, ready for a candle and to be placed outside for the night.
"Do you want to go and get changed into your costume and we can head out trick or treating," Harry suggested, laughing as the little boy jumped up and ran up the stairs to his room, clearly eager to get dressed for Halloween. While the little boy was getting ready, Harry took the opportunity to prep the apples for the third part of their night. Taking his wand, he began to silently carve the names of his parents and that of Remus' and Tonks' into four of the apples before placing them and a handful of plain one in a bag, placing them by the door ready for later, just as a brightly coloured wolf appeared at the bottom of the stairs. "You ready mate?" Harry asked, grabbing a jacket and placing a strong warming charm over his godson. "Come on then," he told him, the two of them departing for what Teddy hoped was a sweet filled night of fun.
When the returned a couple of hours later Teddy was bouncing with excitement, thrilled with all he's received from the shocked muggles that lived surrounding Grimmauld Place. "That was the best night ever! I got so many sweets, Gran's not going to have to get me any sweets for the rest of the year!" he exclaimed, and Harry could see the wheels turning in the young boys head as he figured out how many sweets he could have a day to last him for the rest of the year.
"I'm glad that you've enjoyed yourself mate," Harry told him, ruffling his bright blue hair. "Now go and get changed into something warm, we've got one last thing to do tonight," Harry instructed him, gathering up all of Teddy's sweets and taking them to the kitchen where they wouldn't get ruined.
"I'm ready, where are we going?" Teddy asked when he came back down, wrapped in a coat, scarf, gloves and a woolly hat, completely prepared to brave the cold British weather.
"We're going to the Forrest of Dean so we'll be apparating, so you need to hold on to me tightly and don't let go until we land, understand?" Harry told him, picking up the bag of apples and grabbing Teddy's hand tightly before turning on the spot, the two appearing seconds later in a clearing in the middle of the forest.
Making sure that Teddy was okay, Harry waved his wand and started to make a small bonfire to keep them warm while they celebrated Samhain. When the fire was lit and burning gently, Harry wrapped his arm around his godson and told him all about Samhain, imparting all the stories and legends that his dear friend Astoria had told him all those years ago. He told him all about the traditions that were slowly dying out amongst their kind, but there were some people trying to keep them alive for future generations. He told him that today wasn't a day of mourning, even for him, but instead a day of celebration where you should thank your lost loved ones for everything they've done for you. How the ones we love never truly leave us, even if they weren't in their lives for very long.
"What are the apples for, Uncle Harry?" Teddy asked as he snuggled further into his godfather, his eyes never leaving the bonfire in front of them, which soon began to be swarmed with faeries as they danced amongst the flames.
Reaching into the bag, Harry pulled out two apples, handing them to Teddy before withdrawing another two for himself. This is something Gabrielle told me about. You're meant to carve loved one's name into the apple and bring them out to the county, where wild animals roam and offer all the good feelings and thoughts associated with those names to nature, passing on all the good deeds they've done in their lives. So that's what we're going to do while the fire burns out," Harry told Teddy as he gently rolled the apples carved with his parent's names away from them, smiling softly when Teddy did the same.
For the rest of the night as the both waited for the fire to die down, they entertained each other with tales from Hogwarts from Harry and ghost stories from Teddy and before long Teddy had curled up on his godfather's lap and was sound asleep, the sound of nature and the crackling fire lulling him into a dreamland that tonight was filled with his future candy lined adventures of Hogwarts. Eventually, when the fire was just embers in the dirt Harry decided it was time to get his godson home, so he gathered him up in his arms and was just about to stand when the sound of snapping twigs caught his attention.
Turning his head, he was shocked to see a pair of deer and a pair of wolves approaching them, stopping just where Harry and Teddy had thrown their apples. Harry couldn't stop the look of shock that came across his face as he watched the wolves eat Teddy's apples, while the deer ate the one's he had thrown. When Gabrielle had told of this tradition, he honestly didn't think much of it, it's similarities to the carved stones that Astoria had shown him meant that he just took the tradition and ran with it.
But now, as he felt a sense of peace wash over him as the animals enjoyed their snack, he thought that maybe there was something more to this tradition. He hoped that next year he could convince Gabrielle and Andromeda to join them so they could celebrate Samhain as a family.
Well there you go folks, Happy Halloween/Samhain. Technically this is a day late here in the UK, but life has been incredibly hectic recently and I didn't have chance to post this yesterday, but it's still Halloween/Samhain somewhere in the world a little longer.
Hope you enjoyed it, only one more Wheel of the Year story to go.