Disclaimer-Not Mine, Don't Own it.


Harry

The house was just as it was last month. Same fern green shutters against the white boards. Same flowered pathway that led to the bright red door. Same pond in the back with lilies and goldfish. Everything was the same as it had been since I last saw it, except there was now snow covering the flowers, but it all felt differently.

I was going to officially be a father today. It seems stupid because technically I've been a father for eleven years, but in order to be a father you know to 1) know you're a father and 2) actually meet the child up close and not in front of twenty other students.

I wonder if she'll hate me as much as I hate myself right now. Why didn't I just come back like I'd planned? Why didn't I just realize I could have gone through the entire world and all I ever wanted was back home? Why couldn't I just get it? Get that Ginny was all I could ever want and she was what I needed. Why did I have to be such a big idiot?

I've been standing at the door for a half hour, unsure if I've come too early. They left at two and it was now two, which would have given them twelve hours of sleep. I wanted to give them time to open presents and talk and prepare for me. I also wanted to prepare myself.

How does someone prepare for this? I am about to knock on the door and step into someone's life. I am about to become apart of someone's life in a big way. Now I can't skip the country whenever I please and I can't drink and drink and drink until I pass out and wake up still drunk. I can't be a stupid, silly, immature boy anymore. I have to grow up and it has to occur within the next ten minutes.

What if she hates me and decides she's made a mistake, she doesn't need me in her life? What if I don't measure up to everything she's been dreaming about and what if Ginny and I can't work it out? Is it so bad for me to have these feelings for her? These big, recently satisfied feelings about her. Is it weird that I am in love with her? Unadulterated love for this woman who's a mother. Not only is she a mother, but the mother of my child. Is that really so bad?

How long can I stand here, staring at the door and the knocker wondering if any moment I'll get the surge of strength and knock? I could turn around, turn back and go back to school, quit and just leave. Never to worry about this. Never to worry that my daughter may suddenly decide she hated me. Never to worry that maybe Ginny and I are really over, despite everything that has happened. Could I bear it? Could I really be able to stay here, be a father to this girl and know that I may never be able to make it right?

I felt my hand reaching out, extending onto the red of the door. It slowly rose again and I felt my knuckles come down onto the hard surface, making a knock. The clatter of forks and the talking inside the house stops immediately and I know they're all waiting now.

Just, stay calm, you can do this. You talk to Lucy and you talk to Mia and Nathan on a daily basis. This is going to be so…so…

OoOoOoOoOo

"Harry," Ginny says, trying to smile at him. His face looks pale and worried. She tries to act comforting while not thinking about what happened last night, what they had done together. She gulped once and felt Annie in the background. "Won't you come in?"

Harry edged into the room, his heart beating his palms sweaty. He felt Annie's eyes one him and looked over at her. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a red and white sweater. Her long black hair was hanging around her shoulders; her eyes wide with anxiety.

"Hi," she said, unaware of what she was to call him. 'Sir?' 'Professor?' 'Dad?' 'Harry?' 'Professor Potter?'

"Hi," Harry said, also unaware of what to call her. Did she have a nickname or something that she was called at home? Was it simply 'Annie' or was it something else? He couldn't very well call her Miss Weasley, now could he? Well, he could, it just set the wrong tone.

"Um, Harry, why don't you sit down here and we'll get you some breakfast," Ginny suggested, shoving him hard into a chair. She left the room leaving a painful silence. Harry finally worked up the courage to break it.

"So, Annie, how you do you like Hogwarts?" he asked, setting down his cup of cold coffee.

"It's fine," she replied and squinted her eyes at him. "We don't have to do this, you know."

"Do what?"

"Mindless chit chat," she said, sitting down across from him. "We both know that we have some questions and that this awkward period will soon pass."

"Ah," was all Harry managed.

Ginny returned carrying a tray of wonderful smelling pancakes which had just been magically cooked. Harry was just wondering to himself whether Ginny's cooking had changed and become more, how to put it, edible, when Ginny smiled over at him.

"So, catch up?" she asked brightly, handing him some maple syrup.

Is this how it's going to be? Annie thought to herself. The awkwardness was getting almost unbearable; she really had nothing to say to Harry, she didn't know where to start. He hadn't been there for her in her entire life and the worst part was, it wasn't even by choice. They really missed out on something.

Had Harry chosen to leave and never turn back Annie could have yelled at him and banished him from sight for the rest of her life, never having to worry about him again. Had he been some part of her life, it may not have been so awkward. He wasn't there for her because Ginny never told him. It wasn't his fault that he wasn't there so Annie had no reason to be mad at him.

"Annie, I was actually wondering if you would like to go to a Quidditch game with me on Wednesday," Harry said, thinking of the extra ticket her bought just in case.

Annie's face suddenly broke out into a smile and Harry saw that her face changed with the blink of an eye and was now longer sullen and confused, but really an almost identical to Ginny. "Sure, I love Quidditch," Annie said, still smiling.

"Great," Harry said, suddenly thinking about whether or not he should have asked Ginny. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Harry thought to himself.

"That actually fits right in with my plans," Ginny said, "to go shopping and clean the house. What time is the game?"

"Four, and I thought maybe we could go to lunch before that," Harry said, looking back over at Annie who smiled again.

"Sounds great," she replied.

Soon, Annie wasn't sure how, conversation slowly filtered into the room as everyone's tension subsided. Ginny and Annie showed Harry around and the house and they showed him pictures from when Annie was little.

Stories old and recent were told. Harry told them about what he had been up to prior to their knowledge. Annie and Ginny shared stories that they were sure he wouldn't know about. Soon, it wasn't awkward anymore. It was just…different. It was different then talking to her mother or her uncles. It was different to not call him anything but Harry. She wasn't sure how school was going to go and she wasn't sure how their relationship would progress, but she knew that when it happened, when they finally got it, it would be fine. They would be just fine. And that was all Annie needed.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"What am I going to wear?" Annie wailed, throwing around some clothes and charging into her mother's room, a panicked look on her face. "I have no clothes! This is all your fault!" She stomped out of the room, Ginny's hurried footsteps behind her.

"My fault?" Ginny snapped, toothpaste shooting out of her mouth. "How is this my fault?"

"Whoa, say it, don't spray it," Annie muttered, wiping off her face with her thumb. "Ugh, it isn't even the good kind either!" Ginny let out a growl and disappeared. She returned moments later, mouth empty.

"Now, how is this my fault again?" Ginny asked, placing a hand on her hip.

"You never buy me clothes!" Annie cried, gesturing to the rather small pile of clothes.

"You never ask," Ginny retorted.

"Well," Annie said, raising her chin, "now I am. So…now what?"

"What do you mean, 'now what'? Now nothing, babe. You find something in your closet to wear or, I don't know, Annie, I don't know!" Ginny stomped from the room. She suddenly came back carrying something. "Look what I found in my room that I forgot to give you. Open it. I think it's a shirt and jeans."

"Ruin it for me, why don't you," Annie muttered and tore the paper open. She glanced at the baby blue corduroys and the navy blue/baby blue sweater and smiled at her mother. "Thank Merlin for minor miracles." She slammed her door over and dressed quickly, opening it and modeling for her mother.

"Nice," Ginny said, "very stylish."

"Thank you."

There was a moment of silence and Ginny came over to Annie and placed her hands on her shoulders. She smiled brightly.

"We'll start a new chapter in our lives, Ann," Ginny said. "No more secrets, no more lies. The truth from here on out. I will not keep anything from you anymore."

"Great!" Annie said. "So do you want to tell me why you and Harry were in the shed on Christmas Eve for forty-five minutes?"

Ginny gaped at Annie opened mouthed for a minute.

"Wh-How-What?"

"Yeah, I and who knows who else saw you go in and then saw you come out again with your dress all wrinkled! I'm not an idiot mother, I know exactly what you were doing in there and I'm pretty sure everyone else knows too! Thanks for embarrassing me once again!"

"Oh," Ginny whispered, her cheeks bright red, "Annie, I'm sorry! I really am sorry! I'm really sorry we did that!"

"Was it bad?" Annie asked.

"Annie!" Ginny screamed, looking abashed.

"What?" Annie asked, shrugging. "Carrie said you should only apologize if it's bad." Ginny still looked flabbergasted. "What? She told me that day I got my ears pierced."

"When did you get your ears pierced?" Ginny snapped, grabbing her head. "Oh, Annie! I thought we said that I would do it later and-Oh, oh! Don't try and change the subject."

Annie rolled her eyes.

"I don't want you talking like that! Especially about…"

"Sex," Annie prompted.

"Yes," Ginny said, "and shh."

"Mum, I'm almost twelve! I understand that kind of stuff!"

"Is it time we had the talk?" Ginny said, suddenly looking frightened.

"About?"

"Sex, Annie, sex!"

"Mum! I don't want to talk about that with you!"

"Well, you need to know this stuff, Annie, to be safe."

"Don't you think it's a little hypocritical for you to be telling me about safe sex? You got pregnant."

"Hey! I thought we agreed that it wasn't too bad, eh? I had you, my darling daughter." Ginny cupped her face and kissed her cheek. "Let's get downstairs. Your dad will be here any moment." She turned back to Annie. "Your DAD will be here any minute."

"It's weird," Annie agreed, stopping for a moment. "I mean I actually have a father now. And a mother. All we need is a dog."

"We could get a dog," Ginny said, smiling. "We could name him Fido."

"Fido?" Annie asked, crinkling her nose. "I was thinking Cooper. Cooper the Pooper. Catchy, eh?"

Ginny laughed as they entered the kitchen.

"Do you want me to make you something? I could whip something up. I mean…pancakes?"

"It's almost two, mum," Annie said, smiling at her mother. "Do you feel left out about this? Me going off without you…We could all go."

"No," Ginny said suddenly, smiling again. "I think it's best just you and your father go and get accustomed to each other."

"I like how we keep calling him 'My Father' or 'Your Father' instead of Dad or Harry."

"I know," Ginny said, scrunching up her nose. There was a knock on the door and Annie went to answer it. Harry stood there, still looking nervous.

"Hey, it only took you fifteen minutes to knock this time," Annie said, getting her coat. "Kiss me, mum! We're leaving."

"C'mere, Annie! Here-" Ginny ran a comb through her hair and it suddenly looked shinier then it did a moment ago. Harry was once again struck in awe of the bond these two people shared. "Hey, Harry." She smiled at him, a smile he recognized, a smile only he received. "You get her back in one piece."

"I'll try," he said, still smiling at her. She felt a blush coming to her cheeks, still remembering that night in the shed, the heat that had radiated off of them, fogged the windows. Now everyone, including Annie, knew what had happened. "I was thinking maybe before Annie goes back to school we could all go somewhere."

"Sounds great," Ginny agreed. "Let me know the details and we'll be there."

"Ok," Harry said, "ready Annie?"

"Yes," Annie said, checking to make sure she had everything she might need. She was a compulsive packer and tended to make billions of scenarios and make an excuse to take everything in her room with her. She had even managed to convince her mother that taking an extra skillet would have helped them greatly on their camping trip, and it did! They were able to use the other one as an umbrella after the tent caved in with rain.

They walked over to his car and Annie stared at it with slightly anxiousness. She took in the freshly washed look, the clean smell of the seats and turned to her father.

"You can drive…right?" She couldn't get the picture of her mother swerving around the woman out of her mind. Harry looked at the car and back at Annie.

"Yeah, of course I can!" he said, feeling hot around the neck. Today had been the first time in years that he had actually driven a car. "Get in."

Annie slid into the seat and glanced around with interest. Her mother's car was old and slightly banged up, but Harry's was brand new. The side shined, the mirror twinkled with afternoon light, the wheel looked as though no one had touched it ever.

"Is this a new car?" Annie asked, running her hands along the sides.

"Well, not exactly," Harry said, turning to key in the engine, "I bought it a few years ago just in case and it has just sat in Ron and Hermione's garage since then. I figured we could just drive to the restaurant then to the site and use a Portkey to get to the game."

"Great," Annie said, smiling at Harry and looking out the window at the scenery passing by. Harry looked over at her every so often, wondering what he should say.

"So, do you like school?" he asked, knowing full well he had already asked this.

"Yeah, it's great," Annie said enthusiastically. "I especially like Potions."

"Potions?" Harry asked, looking over at her oddly. "With Professor Snape? That Potions class?"

"No, the Potions class taught by John Lupin on the sixth floor. The one where everyone takes a deep breath over a bowl and feels very silly for a couple of hours." The car swerved violently, missing what Annie was hoping was an already dead cat. "I'm sorry, I was kidding!" she cried, holding onto her heart.

"No, it's alright, I'm sorry." Harry felt himself smile. She had the Weasley sense of humor. "I just have to get used to the fact that you're kidding sometimes. You're a lot like your mother, you know. You two kid a lot and sometimes people don't know you're kidding."

"That's what Grandma says," Annie said. "She gets really ticked when mum says something at the dinner table that is considered inappropriate."

"Like what?" Harry asked, interested.

"Well, one night she asked if mum was seeing anyone new, this is always a sore spot between mum and Grandma, so mum said yes," Annie explained, her face breaking into a smile. "So Grandma asked what his name was and mum said Ben Dover." The car swerved again and Harry looked over to see if she was kidding, her face told him she wasn't. "Of course, Grandma didn't know she was kidding, even though Ron had spit out his water and the twins nearly cracked a rib trying not to burst into laughter. So, Grandma asked, 'Ben Dover…sounds like a good chap. Do you like him?' And mum said, 'Well, he's alright, kind of a push over,' and by the time I thought uncle Ron was going to pop a blood vessel. Grandma still didn't get it. This went on for about five minutes until Bill whispered what it meant. She got all red in the face and excused herself. When we went to leave we found out she towed our car."

Harry was blown over and couldn't speak for a moment.

"Molly used a phone?" he finally asked.

"Oh, yes! She uses it quite a lot now," Annie said, nodding. "She says as long as it doesn't kill her, what harm can it do? They were going to install actual plugs into the house, but Grandpa stuck a paper clip into the socket. Ron had to go out and buy protectors to keep Grandpa from doing it again."

Harry tried not to laugh at the thought of Mr. Weasley sticking his finger into a socket like a two year old. Instead, he looked back over at Annie who was smiling and looked out the window.

"You know, your middle name is my mother's middle name," Harry offered. "Ginny said that's why she chose it."

"Really?" Annie said, nodding to herself. "Mum said if I was a boy she was going to name me Heraldo."

Harry chose not to comment.

After lunch they quickly headed out to a small town that seemed to be simply buzzing with excitement.

"What are they all happy about?" Annie inquired as they walked towards town. Suddenly she realized every eye was on them. "Oh, it's because you're Harry Potter! I see!" Harry felt hot in the face again. "Where is the field?"

"About another five minutes," Harry muttered, feeling hundreds of eyes on him. He suddenly spotted a face that couldn't have been more unwelcome at the moment. "Oh, no," he whispered. Annie looked around and saw a woman walking over, dressed in a lime green suit.

"Harry Potter! Fancy seeing you here!" Rita Skeeter couldn't believe her luck. She had been shunted around from position to position ever since that filthy Hermione Granger let slip what Rita had done. Now however, she was standing in front of Harry Potter. "And who's your little friend?" Her eyes widened with realization and shock. She hadn't been aware that Harry Potter had been a child.

Annie glanced at the woman in confusion. She looked like a bad breed of beetle and poodle. Harry stiffened incredibly as he too realized what Rita had.

"Nice to see you, Rita. Excuse me, I must get going."

"Yes, yes, of course! You go on ahead!" she waited until Harry was almost out of earshot before she grabbed Annie's arm. "I don't believe we met. I'm Rita Skeeter. What's your name?"

"Anna," Annie replied. "Anna Linjection."

Harry smirked and took her firmly by the shoulder, watching Rita's scowl deepen. He knew it didn't matter, his picture would be all over the front page tomorrow.

"Who WAS that?" Annie asked incredulously.

"That was Rita Skeeter," Harry replied, ushering them up to their seats. They climbed for a while until they reached a giant box already filling with people. "Alright, here we are. I got four top box tickets for my birthday one year from Remus-you know Remus- so I use them from time to time or give them out as presents."

"Wow! These are ace seats!" Annie breathed, leaning over to railing to see as far down as she could. Harry smiled and took something out of his pocket.

"Here, try these," he said. He had found his old Binoculars in the trunk at home. He hadn't even remembered about them.

"Oh, wow!" Annie said, looking into them. Harry was just thinking that she was probably watching the game when he heard: "Oh, my God! That's mum's boss picking his nose!" Harry made a face and took a look for himself and saw the man Ron had saw almost eighteen years ago. He laughed.

"So it is," he replied, watching Annie scan the rows of people. He was getting antsy, fearing she may suddenly fly right over the edge, when he heard another familiar voice.

"Ah, Potter, fancy seeing you here."

Harry whipped around and came face to face with Draco Malfoy. Ever since the war ended and Draco finally did something useful and gave them correct information, there had been a tense truce between the two.

"Yes, well, can't get too much Quidditch in one lifetime, can you?"

"I suppose not," Malfoy replied, smiling a very rare smile. "I'd like you to meet my son, Miles."

"Hello, I believe you have my class."

"Yeah, it's great. Really. I'm not just saying that," Miles said, looking over at Annie with mild recognition. Malfoy's gaze soon fell on Annie who was flipping through the program.

"Oh, er, I'd like you to meet my d-" He stopped. Was it daughter yet? Should he just come out with it? Could he trust Malfoy? This is Malfoy, same boy who promised to kill Dumbledore. "My daughter. My daughter, Annie." Annie looked up from her article and smiled at Malfoy, glared at Miles. Malfoy seemed shellshocked for a moment, recovering slowly.

"Hello," she replied easily.

"Hello."

Miles simply glared at her. They hadn't liked each other since first day when he had been tossing an ink bottle around with his friends and it smashed into her head. If Harry was being honest to himself, it was almost like James and Lily's relationship all over again.

"Game's starting," Annie said, now looking excited. She smiled over at him. "Thanks for taking me…dad."

Harry felt paralyzed. Dad. She had called him dad. And why shouldn't she? He is technically her dad and supposedly that's what kids call their fathers. He had never expected her to say it to him, though.

The nervous feeling he had been waiting for never arrived. Instead, he smiled over at her and signaled for the slushy man. This could finally be the start of something really fantastic.

A/N Please read and review. And really, four days is not a long time. My muse was off visiting someone else this past week.S