Disclaimer: All characters and things associated with Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers. This writing is for pure entertainment only.
Summary: Set right after the Second Wizarding War. Harry and Ron have just become Auror's, and Harry has taken Teddy into his home. But when Harry goes missing, who is left to take care of Teddy? Ron, with the help of Hermione, is forced to pick up the broken pieces, bringing the new couple only closer together.
CHAPTER 2
The next morning, Ron was sitting in the kitchen alone, eating breakfast. He scoffed down some eggs, wanting his stomach full for the day ahead. Today, he would be moving into Grimmauld Place with Harry, and now, with Teddy.
Ron was still unsure how he felt about living with a baby. He always assumed it would do that in years, when he was married, and had a family, but not fresh out of a war, fresh out of school, just beginning his career.
It was not that he did not adore Teddy; he did, but he also had a feeling it interfere with whatever little social life he and Harry would have outside of their work.
As Ron continued to think on it, Mrs. Weasley entered, smiling at her youngest son.
"Ready to move, Ron?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
Ron shrugged. "Wish it didn't have to be today…I was supposed to go with Hermione to see one of those Muggle movies…"
"Oh shut it. You have almost a week left with Hermione. I've got less then three days with Harry…" Ginny grumbled as she entered the kitchen.
Ron cocked an eyebrow. His sister was unusually cranky today.
"Well, dear, there is no need to get bent out of shape at Ron over that. Its nothing anyone can control." Mrs. Weasley told her daughter.
Ginny just shrugged and dug into her own eggs.
A knock on the door startled them all, though no one bothered to answer as whoever ti was let themselves in.
"Ron?" Hermione's voice called out.
"Kitchen!" Ron yelled with a mouthful of food.
Hermione frowned at Ron's mouthful when she entered. "Chew that…"
"Yes, mum…" Ron rolled his eyes at her, though he got up and kissed her sweetly.
"Good morning, Hermione…have you had breakfast?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"Yes, at home. Thank you though." Hermione smiled at Mrs. Weasley and was about to say hello to Ginny when Ginny suddenly got up and walked out of the room.
Hermione's brow furrowed. Was Ginny mad at her?
"She's just upset about Harry leaving, dear…nothing to worry about." Mrs. Weasley said, moving out of the kitchen to give Hermione and Ron some time alone.
"Oh…right…" Hermione nodded and then glanced at Ron. "Are you ready to head over to Grimmauld Place?"
Ron nodded, though his excitement was not apparent.
"What's wrong?" Hermione asked him.
Ron shrugged. "Nothing really…just not as excited as I was."
"Because of Teddy?" Hermione guessed. She had seen Ron around Teddy, and she knew he was fond of the infant, but also seemed just as uncomfortable around a crying baby as she did.
"Not just that…just…all of it. It's all changing now…I mean, in a few days, you will be off at Hogwarts—" Ron started.
"And you will be starting your job…" Hermione reminded him.
"I know, I just…I didn't want to spend the last few days with you moving into a new place." Ron admitted. "I wanted them to be special."
"Ron…we are only going to be apart a few months…and I will try and come visit on a few weeks, and you can come up for some Quidditch Games, and—" Hermione started.
"I know all that, Hermione…its just going to be different." Ron said.
Hermione smiled at him and ran a thumb over his forearm. "Of course it is. We are growing up."
Ron shrugged. Hermione had a point, though it didn't mean he had to like the idea of not seeing her everyday.
"Come on, let's go move you into your house, you adult." Hermione joked, causing Ron to cock a small smile. She could be funny when she tried and he liked to take some credit for that.
Hermione and Ron arrived at Grimmauld Place a few minutes later, boxes in hand, though Mrs. Weasley had many of Ron's things put threw the Floo Network earlier in the morning. They quickly stepped into the hidden house and were greeted by the sound of Teddy crying and Harry sprinting past them up the stairs.
"Good to see you too, Harry…" Ron cocked an eyebrow.
"Sorry…he just woke up from a nap…I'll be right down…" Harry said.
Ron just laughed a little as Hermione raised an eyebrow. This was going to be interesting to see Ron and Harry with a baby around the house.
"Well…let's get this stuff in my room…" Ron said, leading Hermione up the stairs into the bedroom that he had shared with Harry when the Order had occupied Grimmauld Place. Harry now was using Sirus' room and it seemed, from the direction Harry had headed in, that Teddy would be using the room Ginny and Hermione had shared.
The pair stepped in and Ron quickly closed the door behind them, muffling Teddy's cries.
"That's gonna get annoying…" Ron motioned out the door toward the direction Teddy's cries had come from.
"Ron, if you aren't comfortable with Teddy, you can always tell Harry. I am sure he would understand if you wanted to stay at the Burrow—" Hermione said, sitting down on the bed in the middle of the room.
"Stay at the Burrow? Bloody hell, no. I'm ready to be out of there…I can't…I cant stay there, not with mum the way she's been since Fred." Ron said, looking down at his feet. "She and George and dad need each other, and I don't want to get in their way…"
"Ron, I am sure you wouldn't be in their way…" Hermione reasoned.
"Yeah, but…I'm ready to live on my own…with Harry…so what if it means I've got to deal with Teddy's cries?" Ron shrugged.
"I doubt it will be for long anyway…" Hermione said.
"What do you mean?" Ron cocked an eyebrow at his girlfriend.
"Well, lets be reasonable. There is no way that Harry is going to be able to work as an Auror and take care of Teddy…not right now in his life anyway…" Hermione said.
"You think he would just give Teddy back up to someone?" Ron asked.
"I don't think Harry has thought this threw. Do you?" Hermione asked in return.
Ron sat down next to her Hermione. He hadn't really thought about it. In all honesty, he hadn't thought much about Harry taking Teddy. He had been so occupied with the little time he had left with Hermione as well as his slight jealousy over Harry leaving for a mission before he was assigned one. "Dunno…he must have. He wouldn't just take Teddy in—"
"You don't think he would? Harry doesn't always think everything through, not to mention he certainly feels guilty about Remus and Tonks…and he can relate to Teddy…not having parents…" Hermione said quickly.
Ron smiled a bit as she rambled but then shook his head slowly. "I don't think Harry is doing this because he responsible. He loves Teddy…"
"So do I, but I certainly couldn't take care of an infant now…" Hermione said, reasonably.
Ron grew silent for a moment and then gave a little shrug. "I guess…I don't know. I haven't talked to Harry much about it."
Hermione sighed, glancing back at the door. "I just wonder…I just think it's a bad idea to have Teddy here. Not that you two aren't responsible but…a baby is different…a lot of a attention…"
"I'm sure Harry knows what he is doing." Ron said, taking Hermione's hand in his.
"I hope…" Hermione sighed, looking down at their adjoined hands.
Ron suddenly brushed a piece of Hermione's hair that had fallen out of her braid behind her ear and moved in for a kiss. "I don't want to talk about Harry anymore…"
Hermione giggled as Ron kissed her again and pulled her down onto the bed, the kiss deepening as Ron's hands moved down her sides, resting near her hips.
Finally, Hermione pulled away as Ron's hands roamed a little more. "Ron…we said we would wait…"
"I know…" Ron sighed, pressing his forehead against Hermione. "Just sometimes I get a bit carried away with you."
"Seven years you've spent around me and now you get carried away?" Hermione asked, a small smile on her face.
"Well, haven't been able to properly snog you for six and a half of those…" Ron smiled back at her.
Hermione rolled her eyes and playfully slapped Ron away before sitting back up and glancing around at the boxes. "Well, lets get you unpacked."
"Fine…" Ron grumbled, getting to his feet and moving to grab a box of clothes that his mother had packed for him.
Hermione had nearly unpacked all of Ron's room within a few hours, and he could't complain. Sometimes, she reminded him of his mother; the way she liked to be organized and worried about him. He found it almost cute, especially now as she dusted off the top of his nightstand and placed down a picture of the two of them with their perfect badges from fifth year.
"You look amazing cleaning that, did you know?" Ron asked, sneaking up behind Hermione and wrapping his arms around her waste, kissing her cheek softly.
"Oh do I?" Hermione laughed at Ron's comment.
Ron grinned and nodded, kissing her again.
Hermione turned her head and captured Ron's lips in hers, but the moment was short lived, as a knock on the bedroom door interrupted the couple.
"Oh bloody hell…" Ron mumbled, glancing at the door.
"Just open it! You can snog her later!' Ginny's voice came through the door.
"Its open.." Ron shook his head, realizing his sister must have arrived at some point during the day to help Harry.
A second later the door opened and Ginny entered, followed closely by Harry.
"Room looks good…" Harry commented, glancing around.
"Thank you." Hermione gave a small smile to Ron as she took credit for the work she had clearly done that day.
Harry gave a small smile and then took a deep breath, glancing at Ginny.
Ginny rolled her eyes and glanced back at Ron and Hermione. "We have a question to ask you two…"
Hermione and Ron glanced between each other and then back at Harry and Ginny.
"What is it?" Hermione asked.
"Well…we just put Teddy down, and we wanted to go grab a bite to eat. We were wondering if you could just keep an eye on him while we were out?" Harry asked.
Ron and Hermione passed an uneasy glance between one another. Neither were exactly comfortable around Teddy without the help of Harry or Mrs. Weasley.
Harry could see the unease on his friends faces and so he spoke quickly. "He shouldn't really wake up at all. We will be back before he does…shouldn't be more then an hour…"
Hermione sighed, she could see the pleading look on Ginny's face and she understood exactly how Ginny felt. She knew Ginny just wanted to spend as much time with Harry before they headed off to Hogwarts and the boys went to work, just like she wanted to spend as much time with Ron as possible.
"Yes, that's fine." Hermione said, giving a quick smile at the other couple. "We will see you when you get back."
"Thanks a lot, Hermione." Harry said as Ginny grinned at her friend.
Hermione nodded again as the other couple left Ron's room. She then turned to see Ron raising an eyebrow at her.
"What?" Hermione asked, moving back to Ron's nightstand.
Ron shrugged. "Just surprised you offered to watch Teddy. Thought you wanted Harry to understand what he was doing…babysitting for him on the first night isn't doing that much, is it?"
Hermione was surprised at Ron's train of thought and narrowed her eyes at him. "He only has a few days left with Ginny. Harry will learn…we won't babysit all the time, but I didn't do it just for Harry…I did it for Ginny as well."
Ron just nodded, flopping back down on his bed.
"Ron, I just made that!" Hermione scoffed.
Ron just laughed. "I'm going to crawl into it later and unmake it anyway…"
"So?" Hermione put her hands on her hips.
"So…" Ron sat up and pulled her down on the bed, wrapping his arms tightly around her and kissing her square on the lips.
Hermione giggled and kissed him back, but again the kiss was broke up by the sound of a baby crying.
"Oh bloody hell…" Ron let Hermione go and ran his hands over his face. "So much for him sleeping…"
Hermione sighed and got off the bed. "I've got him…"
Ron laughed a bit.
"What?" Hermione turned on her heel, an eyebrow cocked.
"Are you going to be alright? You always seem nervous with him." Ron said.
"I'm not nervous! I just…well…I'm not used to being around babies…that's all…but its good practice…" Hermione said.
"Practice? Practice for what?" Ron called after her, but Hermione was already out the door and down the hall.
