Those 19 Years

Chapter 7 – A Godfather's Duties

"WAAAAHHH!"

The screech of discomfort rang through the rickety home; all rooms however were silenced apart from the one bedroom opposite the bathroom on the first floor. The two occupants of the room groaned and Ginny buried her head in the crook of Harry's neck, while folding the pillow over her ear. Harry sighed before groggily slipping out of bed and shuffling to the door, grabbing his wand and robe as he did so.

Andromeda and Teddy had been staying at the Burrow for little over two weeks. They had settled in rather well, and now were just seen as any other members of the family and not guests. After a week, and seeing Andie looking awfully tired at the breakfast table, Harry had offered for him to check and deal with Teddy during the night. They alternated days whilst silencing the others room (so as to at least allow others to sleep). Andie wasn't as tired, had a bit more energy. Harry loved his godson very much, but he was tired of getting up at ungodly hours.

Harry had just stepped in front of Bill's room, now occupying only Teddy. Fleur and Bill had moved back to Shell cottage last Wednesday to the slight annoyance of Mrs. Weasley, but she understood, grudgingly, that they needed their space. Harry turned the door knob, lifting the door as he did so making sure the door didn't creak, and walked in the room. An old cot of the Weasleys now inhabited the disgruntled baby, his blue hair was sticking up at odd angles and his eyes were red and puffy as he sat looking through the bars. He stopped crying when Harry entered the room, and now was only whimpering. Harry moved over to his godson, lifting him into his arms, wiping the tears from Teddy's cheeks with one hand. His godson shoved his cheek into Harry's palm and clutched his robe in his tiny fists.

"Da," he cooed, tucking his head on his godfather's shoulder. The first time he called Harry 'Da', he kind of freaked out. He loved Teddy, but he didn't want to feel like he was replacing Remus. Molly, however, soothed his worries, explaining that babies only babble sounds until they can learn proper names and how to speak. Andie also told Harry that, because of his rare magical ability, he may develop faster than an ordinary child.

"You're incredibly cute, little man," Harry softly said, swaying and placing his head upon Teddy's.

He remained doing so, until Harry was sure he was asleep – he then placed him back in the crib, stroking his hair, which turned into a black-mop and Harry chuckled. Just as he was about to the leave the room, he heard Teddy again.

"Da!" he called from the crib.

Harry sighed and turned back to the baby, and repeated the swaying again. This time Harry made it to the steps, when he heard his persistent godson.

"DA!"

He groaned quietly and turned back to go to the room. He lifted Teddy and asked him,

"Why do you not want to go to sleep, Ted?" The infant clutched to him tightly.

"Ta," he babbled, chewing on Harry's robes, and looking up with wide eyes. How could he say no to that?

He grabbed Teddy's stuffed wolf from his crib and left the room, stepping back to the first floor landing. He opened the door to his and Ginny's room, and at the noise, Ginny turned to face the door. Tiredly, she raised an eyebrow at him at the sight of Teddy in his arms.

"Got room for one more?" Harry asked, moving towards the bed.

"Sure, why not," she replied, budging over right next to the wall that boarded her side of the bed, allowing him and Teddy to get in the bed comfortably.

Harry placed a spell on his side of the bed, making sure Teddy couldn't and wouldn't fall off the edge, before lying back with Teddy on his chest. The baby nestled his into the crook of Harry's neck, clutching his wolf in his other hand. He popped an eye open, saw Ginny, and his hair turned to a mixture of fiery red and raven black to which Ginny laughed softly.

"Got room for me, Potter?" she teased.

"Always," he replied, holding up his free arm, allowing Ginny to snuggle under it, leaning her head on his arm, and resting her right hand on her boyfriend's stomach.

"Night, Gin," Harry whispered, exhausted.

"Night, love,"

"Love you,"

"Love you, too," she whispered before slipping into a deep slumber.

Teddy woke once more during the night, but seeing and sensing his favourite aunt and uncle's presence, he went back to sleep.

The next morning, Andie walked down the creaking staircase to collect her grandson from his room. When she arrived outside the room on the third landing, she surprisingly heard no noise, nothing, not even his adorable cooing. Worried, she pulled open the door her eyes widened and her face gained a shocked expression. She couldn't see Teddy anywhere, and his favourite toy was also missing. A streak of fear coursed through her body, but before turning into an irrational mess, she decided to check the house first, and then, if necessary, panic. She knew from personal experience that it was particularly straining caring for young metamorphoraguses – raising Nymphadora was extremely difficult, especially for a first-time mother; she tended to disappear, camouflaging with her surroundings, or change her appearance when in public, the most straining times were when herself or Ted, whilst in the middle of doing something, jump at their daughter morphing into a human-shaped hippogriff. She could laugh now, remembering her daughter growing blue tinted grey feathers and sprouting a yellow beak, but at the time, they'd had no idea what to do. It took the pair at least an hour to convince her to change back.

Andie made her way down to the kitchen, intending to work up from the ground floor, to the sixth, but was interrupted by a busy Molly cooking breakfast in the kitchen. Molly, seeing her worry, perhaps, flicked her wand, causing breakfast to continue making itself and walked over to Andie.

"What's wrong, Andie?" she asked kindly, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Teddy's missing," she stated worriedly.

"What do you mean?" Molly asked, confused.

"He's not in his crib, or anywhere in his room," she explained.

"Right – well, we better not stand around then. Don't worry we'll find him, Fr...Fred and George used to hide in all sorts of places," she stuttered over Fred's name, but brushed passed it, smiling reassuringly at a stressed Andromeda.

"I'll check down here, and you work up the floors, I'll join you once I've checked the living room and pantry,"

"Pantry?"

"You'd be surprised how often I had found Ginny or the twins in there, hiding, when they were younger," she smiled as she made her way to the living room.

Slightly baffled, Andie made her way up the staircase, she checked the bathroom, but seeing no Teddy, closed the door. Cautiously, she gently opened the door leading to Ginny's room. The scene before her flooded her body with warmth and a swift sense of relief. Harry was lying with his back flat on the bed, his head resting on top of Ginny's, with one arm wrapped around a sleeping Ginny, who was using his arm as a pillow and resting her hand on his stomach, whilst his other hand was on the back of Teddy, who was lying on his stomach on Harry's chest, one hand clutching his wolf. They looked adorable, and Teddy had morphed his hair to a mixture of black and red, obviously thinking of the other two occupants of the room. She smiled at the three of them and turned when she heard Molly on the stairs.

"He's not downstairs..." Molly trailed off, seeing Andromeda's smile.

"I found him," she said quietly, "I feel stupid – should've known Harry would have him,"

Molly peered around the door and smiled at the scene before her. She sighed, and cupped her hands at her heart, and turned back to go towards the kitchen with a smile gracing her features. Andie followed; Teddy looked peaceful and she didn't want to disturb Harry.

He really is a great godfather, she thought as she sipped her coffee.

The next time Harry woke was at the usual time. He was comfortable, and for the first time in his life, content. He had one arm wrapped around the love of his life, and the other around his precious godson. He breathed in deeply, which caused Teddy to stir on his chest. The baby rubbed his eyes with his chubby fists and his small mouth turned into an 'O' shape as it stretched into a yawn. He blinked his blue eyes for a moment and then looked up to his godfather, leaning on his elbows.

"Hey there little fella," Harry said in a quiet tone whilst rubbing the boy's back.

Teddy smiled at his godfather, and then rolled on top of Ginny. His big eyes then turned to the other occupant of the bed and his hair turned bright red.

"Ga!" he exclaimed loudly, before reaching for Ginny's hair and consequently landing his knee is her gut.

Ginny released an 'Ooof' then gently pried a lock of her fiery hair from the infant's strong grip.

"Hey Teddy-bear," she said, laughing and stroking back his hair.

Teddy bounced up and down on the bed between Harry and Ginny. Harry reached out a hand and tickled Teddy's stomach. Teddy collapsed in a fit of giggles, and Ginny sat up and laughed at the two.

When Teddy screamed, "Da!", he stopped his mad tickle attack. When Harry's stomach growled, Teddy giggled again and poked Harry's middle. Harry swept Teddy into his arms, standing and sliding on his slippers.

"Alright, Mister, time for some breakfast," he held out one hand to Ginny, who grabbed it and used it to pull herself out of bed. She stood on her tiptoes and gave Harry a quick kiss, before slipping on her robe and walking towards the door. Harry smiled after her.

"Well, are you just going to stand there or are you gonna go and get some food?" she smirked at him and made her way down the stairs.