A/N: Thanks for all the reviews lately! It's so much more motivating to write knowing that people enjoy your story, so positive or negative, I want to hear from you! Even if it's corrections or suggestions of where the story should go. Enjoy :)
Autumn that year was one of the most beautiful that Harry could ever remember. Slowly their lives returned to normal, Teddy spent a few nights a week at Gimmauld Place, they would occasionally go up to The Burrow for lunch or dinner, but Harry never stayed the night. In September, Ginny made the Holy Head Harpees, not that either of them were very surprised, but by the end of the month, she was told that she would be the lead Chaser for the upcoming match against the Shooting Shamrocks, a team based out of Northern Ireland.
So, on an unseasonably warm October morning, Harry found himself, holding Teddy, being led up to the top box of the Harpee's stadium. Taking his seat a few rows from the front he looked to his right to see a lime green quill, held by a dragon-scale hot pink manicured hand. He did his best to casually turn to one side so the blonde woman in glasses wouldn't notice him. Too late.
"Harry!" She exclaimed in her most obnoxious voice. "My God, I was hoping I'd see you here. Best support the girlfriend, eh?"
Harry didn't say a word.
"Oh come now, Harry. It's been ages since I've written a nasty word about you, and who's this? The infamous godson you won't let anyone meet? When's the wedding?"
Ignoring Rita Skeeter had never worked before, so he thought he'd try a different tactic. "Rita! I didn't recognize you," he lied as her face fell a fraction, "How are you these days?"
"Excellent, really excellent, but I'm not here to talk about me, I'm here to talk about you!"
"Well, seeing as I'm not the one on the pitch or broom, I'm not sure what exactly I'll be able to tell you. Oh look," he said as the screen flashed, "The match is about to start." Feigning deafness, he turned back, thankful that Teddy was asleep, to watch as Ginny streaked onto the pitch, the navy of her Quidditch robes complementing her wonderfully.
Watching Ginny play his favorite sport was like watching a ballet, she was the most graceful player in the game, effortlessly swooshing between opponents, tapping the quaffel from their clutches and putting the ball through the goal posts like it was nothing. Along with the other equally talented members of her team, the Shamrocks didn't stand a chance. Harry was unconsciously leaning forward into watch the game, Teddy had woken up and seemed to be just as transfixed as his godfather, when it was over, he'd been surprised that so much time had passed.
The game ended as Patty Robison, the Harpees' seeker, caught the snitch not six inches from the ground. Half of the onlookers cheered with joy as the other half shouted insults, however, with the score standing at 350 to 190, there would be no question of who the winning team was.
The sun had nearly set and Harry vauguely registered a scratching sound and the movement of a lime green quill out of the corner of his eye, but he pushed the thought aside, wanting nothing more than to see Ginny fly, her robes and hair billowing out behind her.
After the announcements were over and fans crowded the isles and stair cases, trying to get to various exits, Harry sat in his chair, still amazed at how wonderful of a player Ginny had become, he'd even managed to ignore the fact that he was sitting next to Rita Skeeter the entire time. Letting Teddy run in front of him, Harry made his way to the locker rooms. Ginny had told him before hand to simply skip going to the family reception area, that she didn't want to deal with everyone else, they had to get going early if they were going to make it to her parents' house in time for supper.
Harry rounded the corner about to turn into the dressing rooms only to see Ginny talking to one of the team medics, she was pulling her hair up into a ponytail and the medic looked like he fighting hard to remember to blink. Harry stopped before fully turning the corner, enough to see and hear the conversation, but not enough to be seen.
"Okay, so I just ice it for a few days and it should feel better?" Ginny asked rotating her left arm with her right hand on the shoulder.
The medic reached out and put his hand over Ginny's, she withdrew her hand but let him keep his own there, he moved her arm around in several directions looking as though he were trying to figure out what the problem was. Either way, to Harry it looked like he just wanted to keep touching Ginny.
"I can give you a potion to make it better, if you'd rather," the medic offered meeting her eyes, he had stopped twisting her arm, but hadn't removed his own hands.
"That's okay," Ginny smiled genuinely, "I'm sure a bit of ice will make it feel fine, and if it doesn't, I'll go to St. Mungo's."
"You don't have to go all the way to London," he said, finally taking one arm away, but instead he tucked a stray bit of hair behind Ginny's ear. "I can fix it for you if it's still twinging." He let his fingers fall back to his side, but not before tracing a line along Ginny's jaw.
"Thank you," Ginny said, "But I think the hospital will be fine," she pulled the hair back from behind her ear.
Harry was moments away from cursing the creep when he suddenly realized that he didn't know where Teddy was.
As though he could read Harry's mind, Teddy who had, up until this point, been peacefully walking in little circles around Harry's legs, ran around the corner with his little arms outstretched screaming, "Mama! Mama! Mama fly!"
Ginny turned in surprise, a blush creeping down from her hairline, she bent down and held out her own arms so Teddy could jump right into them. She scooped him up and spun around in a wide circle, nearly whipping the team medic across the face with her ponytail. Harry held back a laugh as the medic lunged backward to avoid being hit.
"Hi, my sweet," Ginny nuzzled Teddy's little face and he giggled. "Did you have fun watching all the flyers?" Looking up, she saw Harry strolling in and held Teddy's pudgy little hand, making it wave at his godfather. Harry smiled. This was why he didn't need to curse the medic, he thought, not wanting to seem arrogant, that there was no contest. Besides, Ginny appeared to be less than interested in the man.
"You," he gawked, "Have a son?" The medic's jaw looked as though it was about to hit the ground, he stared from Teddy to Ginny and finally he saw Harry walking in the room.
"Ya," she said, like it was nothing, barely looking over her shoulder at him. Plainly liking the sound of that, her smiled got even broader than before.
"You," Harry said proudly, "Were amazing up there." He kissed her sweetly and briefly and looped his arm around her shoulders, turning to the stranger who obviously had not expected the night to go this way; perhaps he thought the night would end in a pub with his arms around a beautiful red head.
"Hello, I'm Harry," he extended his hand, "Harry Potter." He got the same reaction he'd gotten hundreds of times, it was a reaction he'd expected, but had never enjoyed more than at that moment.
The medic's eyes went wide and flashed up to the lightning bolt scar on Harry's forehead, "Nice to meet you," he held out his own hand, "Scott Milligans, Head Medic for the Holy Head Harpees."
"Excellent," Harry said, feigning surprise and nonchalance while acting as though he hadn't witnessed their exchange, "So have you given Ginny something for the shoulder pain then?"
"I'll just ice it, Harry, there's no need to take something if I don't actually need it." He could hear her wanting to roll her eyes. "Let me grab my bag and we can head out," she adjusted Teddy to her left side and winced, Harry reached out instantly but smoothly and took the toddler.
"At least don't hurt yourself any more than you already have," Teddy pouted at being taken away but Ginny mouthed a silent 'Thank-you.'
"Ginny, you didn't tell me you knew Harry Potter," Scott Milligans said, interjecting himself back into the conversation.
"Well, Scott," Ginny said and again, Harry could tell she was fighting to keep her tone cordial, but she turned to face him all the same, "It's one" she ticked off a finger on her left hand, "None of your business, two," she ticked off another, "All over every wizarding gossip paper and magazine, and three" she ticked off another finger, the large diamond on her ring finger caught the light from overhead and sent rays everywhere, "He's my fiancée."
Harry wanted to fall on the ground laughing, his body shook with silent giggles at the look on Scott's face, Ginny grinned proudly, threw her official Holy Head Harpees quidditch bag over her shoulder, the uninjured one, and said, "Shall we be off then?"
As a family, the three of them walked out of the room, leaving Scott Mulligans, the Head Medic for the Holy Head Harpees, standing dumbstruck in the middle of the room looking as though he'd just been smacked across the face.