Harry was horribly, terribly frightened. And, quite frankly, very confused.

One moment he had simply been enjoying a bit of fried egg, quietly thankful for the reprieve from auror training that Saturday morning brought, and the next he had a handful of baby. Or, to be more precise, two handfuls of multi-coloured, squirmy baby.

He looked up with eyes as wide as saucers to find a satisfied looking Molly and an anxious Andromeda Tonks.

"A-are you sure he'll be alright, Molly?" she asked quietly.

Molly nodded. "Teddy will be just fine, dear. And Harry has hardly spent any time with him at all, have you Harry?" She smiled kindly. "It's time Teddy got to know his godfather."

Andromeda's mouth was a thin line as she surveyed the bit of egg that was smeared on Harry's chin, and saw just how pale he had turned. "I wasn't talking about Teddy…"

Molly turned and gave Andromeda a look that was not unlike the ones she frequently gave her children. "You listen to me, Andromeda Tonks," she began firmly, "Teddy is nearly seven months old. You have not been away from that child for more than an hour since he was born." She took Andromeda's hands in her own. "You need this. Teddy needs this. Harry will be fine."

"But what if—"

"No, no 'what if's. It will be fine."

"But Molly, I—"

"Fine. Now go." And with that she pushed Andromeda through the open door. Then she glanced at Harry.

"I mean it, dear. Everything will be fine." And in a whirl of colour, Molly Weasley was gone, leaving Harry all alone.

Harry looked at Teddy. Teddy looked at Harry. Harry gulped.

"…Ron?"

Ron bounded down the stairs, towards Harry. "Yeah, mate? Did you leave me any breakfast—" He stopped short. "Wha…?"

"I know," said Harry.

"But – But we were going to play quidditch."

"I know," said Harry.

Ron hurried to the front door and peered out into to yard. "They've gone!" he cried. "They've actually left us in charge of a human being!"

"I know," said Harry

"It's a bit of a stretch from yesterday when she didn't trust us to do the de-gnomeing properly, innit?"

"Quite."

"Sooo…" Ron started slowly. He stared at Teddy who was now chewing on his own hand. "What are we going to do with him?"

Teddy pressed a drool-drenched palm to the lens of Harry's glasses, making sure to smear a good bit of the mushy cereal that clung to his sleeve on them. Harry shrugged. "I have absolutely no idea. What does one do with a baby?"

"Feed it, maybe?"

"Andromeda said he just ate."

"Oh." Ron scratched his head. "And we're sure he's too young for Quidditch?"

Harry shot Hermione's patented 'Oh dear Merlin, please tell me you aren't that stupid' look over the rim of his glasses.

Ron put his hands up in defense. "Ok, ok. It was just a suggestion, no need to get your wand in a knot!"

In the end, they ended up heading outside to the garden. Teddy seemed quite content to roll around on the blanket they had brought with them and blow spit bubbles at the plush lion toy Harry had found in his bag. This, Ron pointed out, was perfect; the Cannons were playing Puddlemere United and the wireless could easily be set between them on the ground. They could watch Teddy and have quality Quidditch time simultaneously. Really, sometimes he amazed himself.

In was nearing eleven when Harry suddenly sat up with a startled look. "Did you hear that?"

Ron was supremely unconcerned as he took the lid off another butterbeer. "Hear what, mate?"

Harry cocked his head to the side. "That. Listen."

Ron turned down the wireless and was silent for a moment. "…I don't hear anything. You're loosing it, Harry. I don't kn—"

Hic

They both turned abruptly to the source of the noise. Teddy.

Hic

Teddy's shoulders shook slightly at the force of his hiccup. Ron snorted. "It's just the hiccups. He'll be fine in a moment."

Harry looked worried. "But shouldn't we… I dunno, do something?"

"Like what? Make him hold his breath?"

"Yeah, something like that."

Ron laughed, "Oh yeah, that'd be a great scene for Mum and Mrs. Tonks to come home to." He rolled his eyes, "Us practically smothering the baby."

Harry sighed, frustrated. "Well, not holding his breath then. What else do you do for hiccups?"

"Seriously Harry, calm down. They'll go away in a minute, I swear. He'll be fine."

But when half an hour had passed and Teddy was still hiccupping, even Ron had to admit he was a little worried.

Teddy, now tired because he had missed his morning nap and supremely agitated due to the strange phenomena constantly racking his small frame, began to wail.

After twenty minutes of failed attempts to humor the child and cure his hiccups, including an ill conceived lullaby by Harry and copious tablespoons of sugar, Ron put his foot down.

"That's it," he said, raising his voice above Teddy's cries. "There's nothing for it, we've got to find Mum and Andromeda."

Harry looked as if he too was on the verge of tears. "What? No!" He shook his head emphatically, still rocking Teddy ferociously. "Ron, they'll never trust us with him again!"

At this point, Ron didn't quite understand how that was a problem.

"He's my godson, Ron. He needs me." He looked at the green haired infant in his arms. "I need him."

Ron rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Ok, I get it," he sighed. "What do you propose we do?"

Harry's face lit up. "Hermione!"

Ron turned quickly, hardly daring to believe it.

"Oh. No, sorry Ron, she's not here, I meant she'll know what to do."

Ron rolled his eyes.
"Yes, brilliant plan, Harry, except for the fact that, as you pointed out, she's not here."

Harry smiled slyly adopting a mystical sort of voice that he couldn't help but associate with Sybil Trelawney. "Ah yes, my friend, but you forget: Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it."

Ron sighed again. "I'll get the nappy bag."

"Don't forget Joey!"

"Joey?"

"The lion, Ron."

"The li— oh, right."

Hermione had experienced a perfectly normal morning. She had awoken early as always, gone down to the library to help Madam Pince as always, and then had headed to class with Ginny as always. She wondered if it could be classified as a good thing that all the staring and the whispers hardly fazed her anymore. In any case, Hermione hardly noticed the students chatter as she made her way to the prefects meeting.

Things had generally gone smoothly in the few first weeks of her headgirlship. Aside from having a few disciplinary issues to look after (it had come to her attention that the 6th year Ravenclaw prefects had been using their nightly rounds as an excuse to become better acquainted in several deserted classrooms) she hadn't really had much to deal with. Such were the joys of delegating, she supposed.

The only thing that bothered her about her new position was the obvious hate with which Erica Butler regarded her. She had learnt from Ginny that Erica had been slated to be head girl before Hermione had announced her intention of returning to school. Hermione, who was used to being disliked, nevertheless avoided the younger girl's gaze, quite unnerved by the unadulterated loathing she would find there.

To top things off, her headaches had been getting much worse. They had started at Shell Cottage after the incident with Bellatrix. Back then, Hermione had been sure that they were just the after affects of the curse and that they would eventually fade. She had been wrong. The last one had been so strong that she had blacked out and awoken hours later at the Owlry, uncertain of how she had gotten there and so completely terrified that for a moment she hadn't been able to remember her own name.

Hermione shook her head, hoping to rid herself of some of the pain. When it didn't work, she exhaled sharply, annoyed at her weakness, and hurried to the Great Hall for lunch. Neville had mentioned a new article in the Prophet about giants he thought she would like.

Lunch was progressing normally enough, what with Ginny ranting on about the horrible state of this year's Gryffindor Quidditch team, Neville searching his bag frantically for the newspaper article he had mentioned and Luna floating over from the Ravenclaw table to tell them the story of the new creature she had discovered in the back of greenhouse five.

"…I put it right here, I know I did…"

"– He can't even fly properly! I have no idea how he expects to be able to block shots – "

"It looked like a cross between a plimpy and a mandrake, although I'm not quite sure yet just how that would work…"

Hermione smiled happily to herself.

Suddenly there was a great crashing bang from the other side of the Great Hall's large oak doors. Several students screamed and Hermione spun, pulling her wand from her sleeve fluidly. She vaguely registered the others following suit. She stood, poised for attack; every muscle straining as the door slowly creaked open.

She nearly dropped her wand.

There stood her two best friends. They looked awful. Both were splattered with what Hermione sincerely hoped was strained peas, Ron had a nappy bag swung over his shoulder and seemed to be throttling a stuffed lion, and Harry was frantically rocking a screaming baby with fire engine red hair. The two of them looked like them were about to cry themselves.

"Hermione?" Harry cried desperately in the dead silence of the hall. "Hermione, where are you?"

Hermione finally got over her shock and hurried forward. "What's wrong? What happened?"

Harry thrust the baby towards her, obviously begging her to take him. "Teddy has the hiccups," he sniffed. Behind him Ron nodded for emphasis. "He has them really bad."

Hermione fought the urge to roll her eyes as she cradled the infant to her chest. "Hiccups. Really. Honestly, you two. Deatheaters are no problem, but god forbid a baby start to cry!"

The boys began to protest but Hermione simply raised a hand and they fell silent. She began to pace, gently humming softly and cooing to Teddy. Soon enough, the exhausted boy had fallen asleep.

"How do you do that?" Ron whispered reverently.

"Do what?"

"That," answered Harry, seemingly in awe. "He's actually asleep."

"Well, I did used to babysit back home, you know" she answered.

"Natural instinct," declared Ginny as she arrived beside the little group. "And we might want to move this outside."

It was then that Hermione remembered that they were not at the Burrow, but in the Great Hall and that thousands of eyes were upon them. She blushed furiously. Yes, the sooner they got out of there the better.

Sometime later, when Teddy had been laid down for his nap in Hagrid's humongous bed, hiccups now merely a memory, and Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione were visiting with their half-giant friend, it occurred to Ron that Hermione was being unusually quiet. He stood and excused himself, stating that he fancied a walk should she like to join him.

Hand in hand, they waked towards the lake, pausing at the water's edge to watch the Giant Squid sun himself.

"Ok," he said, "What's wrong?"

"Ron, nothing's wrong-"

"Don't lie, Hermione," he interrupted, "You don't have to pretend for me."

And so they lay back in the grass and she told him. She told him about the stares and the gossip. She told him about Slughorn's favoritism and the how awful the new DADA professor truly was. She told him how she has so discouraged by the destruction in the library, about how she hated that Erica hated her. She told him about yelling at Ginny and the guilt that had followed. She told him of her horror at slowly learning just what had happened to the students at Hogwarts the year they had been gone. About how much she had missed Harry and the family. How much she had missed him.

He, in turn, spoke of his fight with George and the crushing weight the encounter had left with him. He told her about his parents, how his mother was trying so desperately to claw her way out of depression, trying to act normally and be brave, only to collapse into grief again with one glance at the family clock. About his father who stoically got up and went to work everyday, determined to make a better world, only to return each day a little diminished, eyes red and swollen beneath his glasses. About his worries for Harry. About how much he loved her.

She smiled up at him softly. "And the nightmares?"

Ron swallowed. "Practically the same. Yours?"

She sighed. "The same."

"The headaches?" he ventured tentatively.

"Much better."

Ron was not fooled. "You should ask Madam Pomfrey about it."

Hermione ignored him and he, for once, took the hint. "Fine." He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Let's get back to Hagrid's. Harry must be going spare, Mum and Andromeda'll probably be home any minute."

Hermione laughed. "Isn't it great?" she said happily.

"What?"

"Harry can sacrifice himself for the good of mankind, he can face evil without showing a bit of fear – and then you hand him a baby and he goes completely nuts." She pulled him towards Hagrid's. "It just makes me happy. It seems so normal."

Ron laughed and kissed her. "Yeah, normal. That's the exact word I'd use to describe Harry."

A/N: So a lighthearted chapter to make up for the fact that I'm rather negligent when it comes to chapter fics. If people are willing to read this, I honestly will try to update more frequently - just keep in mind that as it's summer I'm currently working like 40+ hours a week in preperation for University in September. Read and Review PLEASE! -Sloane

Disclaimer: None of it is mine; even the grammar and spelling. That's all Mollu.