It's all JK Rowlings, definitely not mine.
The house was quiet, Remus thought, almost too quiet. He softly sat down the dog-eared book he was reading and looked towards his son, Teddy, who was lying in his crib, wide awake and cooing, while his ever vibrant hair changed from golden yellows to scarlet reds. At Barely 2 months old, Teddy Lupin had little control over his metamorphic abilities, his hair colour was never constant, even for two minutes, thought Remus ruefully. He had noticed, however, that the shade would often reflect upon Teddy's surroundings, for the last week Remus and Dora had been staying with the Weasley family at the Burrow, the Gryffindor themed bedroom of Bill Weasley to be exact. Remus took great pleasure in Teddy imitating these colours, especially as he chose them over all the Hufflepuff themed rompers Dora tried to dress him in.
Remus sighed and moved towards Teddy, as the small boy began to whimper, Dora was away at the ministry for the afternoon, which left Remus in charge, and while a few hours ago he had confidently assured Dora that they would both survive the few hours without her, Remus began to have his doubts. He had never had much contact with young children, it wasn't that he was bad with them, quite the opposite, but parents were wary of letting a shabby werewolf near their child. The only infant he had ever looked after before had been Harry, and that was during a way when there wasn't much spare time for babysitting. When he had told Dora he would be fine, he said this because downstairs was Molly Weasley, mother of seven children. Silence was not what Remus wanted to hear, silence meant that Molly had left for the ministry event early and his backup had deserted him.
Cradling Teddy in his arms Remus slowly made his way downstairs, hoping that at the very least that Ginny had stayed behind, but there was no sign of anyone in the living area or any sound of life. He stopped as he entered the kitchen, he and Teddy were not the only people at the Burrow, Harry was perched at the table, staring at the clock.
The clock was in Remus's opinion not entirely helpful at the moment, it was most definitely the elephant in the room. The 8 hands that pointed to travelling were harmless enough, but it was that ninth hand, the one Harry was so intently staring at that was the problem.
He made his way over to Harry and pulled up a chair next to him. At the sight of his godfather, Teddy's red and yellow tipped hair changed to ink black and he gurgled in greeting.
"Didn't want to go to the ministry either?"
"Not really, no" Harry responded, Kingsley was unveiling the newly refurbished Atrium at the Ministry of Magic that afternoon, the centrepiece being a memorial to all who were lost in the war. "Peace and quiet sounded a lot better, Tonks' gone has she?"
"She felt she should, as she'll be rejoining the ranks of the aurors in a few months"
"Homemaker Remus, is it?"
"Kind of" laughed Remus, "we thought it a tad safer for Ted when he's older that he not grow up with Dora's cooking." Harry laughed in response, but Remus realised it was half-hearted at best. He surveyed Harry as he fell back into silence, still staring at the clock. He knew Harry still felt guilty for everything, the injuries, the deaths, heck, probably even the damage done to Hogwarts. Remus sighed, standing up he handed Teddy to Harry, and began to prepare a bottle for the child who could currently, based on appearances, actually be mistaken as being Harry's child and not his own.
"It wasn't your fault Harry."
The only sign that gave away that Harry had heard this was the very slight tensing of his shoulders, Remus shook his head and continued anyway. "Most of those who died, knew that it might happen, and they were prepared to face that. We were all fighting for a better future, for our families and friends and the people we loved, and before you say it, I know you've been told this so many times and it doesn't make the fact that Fred died or any of the others. You need to remember Harry, that for many of us, you are included in that, and we don't blame you for anything, we're just glad you're here with us now." Remus handed Harry the bottle for Teddy and sat across from them, watching as Harry settle the baby in his arms with the bottle. Harry was a natural with Teddy, and he was taking his job as godfather very seriously, he read, played and helped fed him, offered to watch him while Dora got a few minutes rest and even willingly volunteered to changed diapers. However he had been withdrawn from everyone else since their return from Hogwarts, if he was not with Teddy he usually spent his time alone, in a manner which would inform everyone else that wanted nothing more than to be left alone.
"And Harry," Remus was pleased to see the messy black head turn towards him, "we're still all here for you, whenever."
