A/N: Writting for the Quidditch Fanfiction League Round 3
Position- Chaser 1
Team- Wigtown Wanderers (woo!)
Prompts- 4. (word) bench
5. (word) Unravel
10. (picture)
...
He was sat on a bench outside a white marble building, gently rocking the pram in front of him with his foot to soothe the blue- haired baby inside. He stared down at the paper he held in his hands and cleared his throat.
"Remus was one of the most amazingly strong people I had ever met. He was courageous and compassionate and…" Harry stopped reading and sighed.
"Actually I'm pretty sure my dad would be wondering why you aren't sticking with your own kid,"
Harry thought about these words and how Remus had stormed out afterwards. Remus had only been scared of being a father, but he had been too wrapped up in finding the stupid horcruxes to see that. Those could have easily been the last words he ever spoke to Remus, and they were laced with venom and anger. He was silently thankful that Remus had been able to come to Shell Cottage and announce the birth of Teddy.
Harry looked down at the sleeping child. His hair was a light shade of blue at the moment. It was always blue when he was sleeping or relaxed. Harry thought about that night at Shell Cottage. Remus had been so happy, smiling and laughing as they raised their glasses to Remus' new adventure as a father. Now Remus would never get to see him grow up. Remus, who desperately loved his son, would never see him take his first steps, hear his first words, or wave to him as he boarded the Hogwarts Express for the first time. And it was all because of him.
Harry thought about that room full of laid out bodies. Fred and Colin, neither would ever get to live their lives out. Once full of laughter, the joke shop was now in darkness because George couldn't bear to go in. Harry had personally gone to Colin Creevey's parent's house, sat down with Dennis, and told his family of Colin's bravery. They had cried and given Harry a picture of him and Colin that Colin had taken during Harry's second year at Hogwarts.
Harry felt his stomach twist and tears began to well up in his eyes. He turned and looked down at the piece of paper.
"Remus Lupin was..." Harry stopped. "A hero? So was everyone else. Remus was- Remus was a good man. And he never let anyone down."
"That sounded good," said a voice from behind him. Harry recognised the voice and allowed himself to be kissed on the head.
"It's not. It sounded like something that the ministry would read out," sighed Harry. He crumpled up the piece of paper and threw it into the nearby pond.
"Just talk from your heart," soothed Ginny.
"How can I? It was my fault, Ginny! Mine! I was the one who caused the battle! I am the reason that Remus and Tonks were there! I am the reason that Teddy has no parents!" shouted Harry, waking Teddy up.
Teddy's hair immediately turned bright pink, and he began wailing. Harry slumped back down onto the bench with his head in his hands. Teddy always changed his hair colour depending on who he wanted to pick him up. Ginny crossed over and picked the baby out of his pram, pulling him into her arms. The baby continued to wail as Ginny tried to rock him back to sleep.
"Listen to me. This was not your fault. This was V- Voldemort's fault, " she stuttered. "He caused this, and Remus and Tonks knew exactly what they were getting into and they would be devastated knowing that you blame yourself for this."
"It's not just them! I ruined everyone's lives, Gin. Everyone lost someone! You lost Fred," shouted Harry, stopping abruptly at the mention of Fred's name. He had allowed his thoughts to unravel and had gone too far. Ginny stiffened. Since the battle of Hogwarts, she had not allowed herself to cry openly, and she hadn't spoken about Fred's death to Harry.
"Don't you dare make yourself guilty of Fred's death," she said coldly, tears pouring over the edges of her eyes. " Fred died bringing down death eaters and he died bravely because he was fighting for what he believed in, not because of you. Fred would have done the same even if you had died long before that."
Harry looked up at his girlfriend. The last few weeks he had been so busy with the new ministry, attending funerals and Ginny had been his shoulder through all of it. It was only then he realised that she was going through the exact same pain as he was. She had lost friends and her brother too.
"I'm sorry, Gin. I didn't mean it like that. And I'm sorry I haven't really been there for you," he said sadly. Ginny's expression softened as she gazed at Harry. Somewhere in that grief-stricken face, she saw the small boy, with bright green eyes and a big heart who came to her rescue and fought a basilisk just because he believed that it was the right thing to do. She gave him a small smile.
"It's okay, we've both had a lot to deal with, but we've got to be strong, especially for Teddy."
The baby had not stopped wailing through the entire exchange. Harry took him from Ginny's embrace and cradled him on his shoulders, rubbing circles into his back. Gradually, the baby began to calm down and his hair briefly turned black then to its original blue colour. Teddy once again fell asleep in Harry's embrace.
"Me and you little man, we can do this," he whispered in to the baby's ears. Harry turned his gaze to Ginny. "We can all get through this together."