DISCLAIMER: If I owned Harry Potter or TWD at the very least Harry wouldn't have married Ginny and Merle would have survived and preferably never been left behind in the first place.
SUMMARY: After the Final Battle, Harry along with his newly adopted godson, Teddy, are dropped into an apocalyptic world. There he makes a family unit, finds love, and fulfills his greatest wish. But what even is life without a bit of excitement, right?
REASON WHY THIS FIC IS BEING REVISED AND REPOSTED: So that I can fix many of the mistakes I made in the beginning and clear up some misunderstandings on my part with some of the information in the fic like how Teddy's supposed to act in equivalent to his age. Along with giving me a chance to match the storytelling genius my amazing beta did to chapter 6: the road trip. So I'm going over all the chapters I've already posted, but don't worry it'll be worth the reread as I'm going to be adding more information and scenes to each chapter.
QUICK AN: Also to address my reasons for my portrayal of the Weasely family is because it was and still is easier for me to leave the HP world behind and focus on him being in the TWD world by portraying them as the gold-diggers many other fics have them as.
'Thoughts'
"Talking"
Early Morning of April 8, 2009.
"Avada Kedavra!" Two distinctly different voices cried out before twin jets of blinding green light leapt from the two opposing wand tips to collide in a blinding battle of will power in the middle. The two standing still as they pushed all the magical power and will into their cast as the collision ball in-between them slide from one side to another. The blinding power show only ending when as one of the opponents was pushed back by the sudden boost from the other allowing his stance to fail ever so slightly, just enough so that the others spell overpowered his and hit the opposing dueler in the chest.
Time itself seemed to stand still as the battlefield fell into a quiet hush as the two opposing sides of the war froze in their tracks to stare with bewildered and disbelieving eyes at the slowly disintegrating form of what had been the most feared dark lord to have ever lived, and at the young man that had ended him once and for all.
Unearthly green eyes quickly surveyed his surroundings for any avenging movement as he tried to catch his breath and brush his sweat rumbled black hair out of his face for the first time since battling the other for so long, especially needed after the particularly gruelling last stand. Swallowing with difficulty from his parched throat as the light sided individuals started to loudly cheer and holler with glorifying taste of victory while the darker aligned side remained in their frozen state as they looked on in horrified shock as their seemingly undefeatable and unstoppable master slowly disappeared from existence, piece by piece, this time for good.
The next few seconds were then filled with the cracks of disapparaition from those who were lucky enough to regain themselves faster then their fellows and the overhead sound of flying stunning spells where heard as both sides finally snapped back to their senses. Still breathing heavily, Harry weaved his way through the debris bevelled from the carnage and destruction the once safe place that was once known as Hogwarts, seemingly in a adrenaline induced stupor.
"Mr. Potter! Stay right where you are young man!" The familiar stern voice of the former Deputy Headmistress rang out with a tinge of concern as she to made her way through the gravel and body filled ground to him, followed closely behind by a worried yet relieved looking Neville Longbottom.
Harry silently obeyed the elder woman as he stood still from where he was and waited for them to catch up to him, dazedly leaning his side upon a decently sized boulder as he slowly came to his senses.
"Are you unharmed, Mr. Potter?" Minerva puttered around him like the secret mother hen they all new she was once she reached his side. Silently looking his form over with a trained eye and cataloging his minor injuries and pale pallor before gently taking him by the arm to lead him to rest on a smaller sized rock sticking from the ground, "Come, come, sit down now as you look like your about to topple over any moment." He once again silently complied with her wishes and sat down just as his legs felt like they were about to give out from under him.
"I'm fine, honestly," Harry tried to reassure them quietly as a tired smile made its way across his face, "Seriously, I'm normally in the mediwing for a week just for something way minor then this but this time I feel completely fine, well, except for maybe a little bit of shock." He tried to joke as they continued to hover around him with worried expressions.
"Bloody hell Mate! it's a Merlin damned miracle you haven't lost your head with this big of a stunt!" Neville reluctantly joked back with an exhausted grin as he to sat down on the rock next to him, shoulders drooping down as the weight of events of the past two days was finally realized when he was able to even marginally relax.
"Language please Mr. Longbottom. But since he is unfortunately speaking the truth Mr. Potter, and you would seemingly want me to believe you, would you please at least allow me to check for my own peace of mind?" Minerva asked with a disapproving tone that was made less so by the obvious amusement upon her usually stern face as she leaned in a bit closer to get a better visual assessment to his well being.
Smiling in slightly resigned fondness before nodding his consent. Sitting still as she immediately started casting diagnostic charms upon his person, slumping back against the equally exhausted Neville once a long piece of parchment shot from the tip of her wand to which she promptly snatched from the air and started looking over. Sighting with obvious exhaustion before closing his eyes after discerning that they were the only ones within sight. Minerva huffing a sigh of relief as the only thing revealed on the paper she had to be worried about were a few cuts and bruises.
Cracking open one of his eyes to observe her reaction to the results, feeling slightly relieved as she relaxed a little before nodding her head in acknowledgment at him before heading off to help with the aftermath of the battle. Now reasonably reassured in her mind that he wasn't in any imminent danger at the moment. Relaxing as much as he could while still near the recent battleground as he leaned further against the reassuringly sturdy form of Neville, soaking up the silent comfort of the other as he slowly started relaxing all of his muscles one by one.
Startling awake from his achieved state of light dozing after a while when Neville softly spoke up to asked him "So what are you going to do now." As he bent his frustratingly taller head down to face him with a soft frown and squinted eyes.
Slowly picking himself up from when he was heavily leaning against the dark hair boy's side to sit next to him with their shoulders touching while he seriously contemplated his answer to the asked question, humming softly to himself before replying, "I really don't know anymore. It's like all the things I cared for before suddenly don't matter anymore and the plans for me to become an Auror don't really matter all that much to me anymore."
'Especially with my whole life being centered around fighting Voldemort, surviving to the next day, and collecting his horcruxes that nothing else really mattered all that much till now because I really didn't think I would get this far' he silently admitted to himself.
"Well," Neville started out slowly, "why don't you take time to think about it, what you really want, now that you have the chance." Humming to himself as he chewed on Neville's advice for a minute while looking off into the tree line of the forbidden forest with its now uprooted trucks and smashed foliage caused by the giants and mountain trolls that sided with Voldemort.
'Time,' he thought as he stood up to stretch his aching back with a satisfying pop, 'time to himself, for himself.'
"But how much can I take when there so much to do?" He turned to Neville after voicing his thoughts.
"As much as you want," he replied, "for what you've done for us, and how much they've put you through the very least we can afford to you is time for yourself."
Scoffing a laugh "Try telling that to the Daily Prophet, and ministry busybodies and the entirety of the British wizarding world at that! As they all seemed to think they have a right to my life." He snarled with a frustrated wave of his hands. 'They'll probably think they have even more of a right to my life then before now to', he finished in his mind with a disgusted sneer and crossed arms.
"Then tell them to stuff it where the sun don't shine down Merlin's saggy britches," Neville stated sternly with his face set firmly with his earlier confidence making a reappearance, "you need to start thinking more about yourself and not about what others are going to say about you, or are you going to let them run your life how they please, when that please, as if you were some sort of puppet?" He questioned with a raised eyebrow.
Harry's eyes softened with each word his best friends said, 'He's right I have to start thinking for myself and stop being so selfless. I quite literally walked to my own death for them what more can they ask of me?'
"You're right," he admitted as he hefted himself back up, "I need time to myself and I'm very well going to take it. Merlin damn what anyone else thinks about it." Leaning across the short distance between them to give his best mate a hug, "Thanks mate, tell Minnie I'll be back in a few months." He asked before once again embracing him tightly after he had gathered what little he had with him and disapparating with a sharp crack.
The very first thing he did once he appearaited in a small back road that ran alongside Diagon Alley was to make a quick stop to the Gringotts bank. Where he was then promptly informed in the nicest way possible that a goblin could, which included weapons thrown at him along with unidentifiable curses spat at his person in their harsh language, that he had less then a week to gather all his family's possessions in both the Black and Potter vaults before they would be seized by the bank for such an insult to their place of business.
With that in mind Harry rushed to make arrangements that very same day to move everything in each of the vaults were added to the magically expanded compartments of his newly purchased enchanted trunk. With all of the physical possessions, such a jewelry, weapons, and clothing items, in one compartment with the books and legal documents placed in a separate warded space before summoning both vaults staggering amount of Gallons, Knuts, Sickles and a surprisingly large amount of muggle money into another specialized compartment before being unceremoniously booted out from the banks premises.
Standing still next to the sidewalk as he stared back at the slammed closed doors of the bank with wide eyes before shaking his head in mild disbelief before heading off in the opposite direction. Taking his time to observe the gloomy atmosphere of the formally cheerful and bustling streets of Diagon Alley as he made his way to Madame Malkin's to purchase suitable everyday wear so that he could finally shed the filthy robes he'd worn to the base threads for the last few months. Along with planning to place a special order to appease his paranoia in case something similar ever happened again, placing down a good amount of gallons to special order two sets of armor and battle wear with specialized charms and runes work woven into the fabrics. Making light chatter with Madame Malkin, who had gained back her spark of personality once she recognized who he was and after he informed her of Voldemort defeat, before leaving the now lightened air of the storefront.
His next stop being to the the furniture and basic home appliance store were he bought a emerald studded black ribbon choker that could hold an unlimited amount of storage in each of the ten gem studs and immediately afterwards placed his trunk in the first stud and placed it around his next. Afterwords walking around the store before buying a housing trunk with working water along with cooling and heating charms worked into the framework, which was also placed in his new choker along with a few comfortable looking chairs, mattresses and tables.
Leaving the store with his new purchases to make a quick recommended visit to a neighboring speciality house and kitchen utility's store and purchased everything he though he might need upfront which consisted of fresh food from their conjoined grocery store, extra cushions and bed frames, blankets and a full set of enchanted sterling silver kitchen supplies that would make a muggle chef drool with envy. Feeling satisfied with his current haul he then apparated in front of #12 Grimmauld Place in which he was almost bowed over by a sniffling house elf. Managing to reassure the poor creature enough so to make it into the house itself and after consoling the now embarrassed Kreatcher that he was there to stay now and giving him a few minor task to keep him busy such as tidying up and dusting the main hallway, sitting room, parlour and kitchen before managing to clean up a spare bedroom near the entrance with a little help from the ecstatic house elf before passing out cold on top of the freshly cleaned bed.
April 9, 2009
Blearily cracking his eyes open the next day, Harry surveyed his surroundings before slowly sitting up from underneath the covers while rubbing at his sleep crusted eyes. Still exhausted to his bones even though this was the first decent night's sleep he's had in almost an entire year on the run. Yawning widely with a small satisfying crack to his jaw before calling for Kreatcher and requesting a quick breakfast of toast and scrambled eggs as he didn't feel he would be able to eat very much else after surviving off sparse rations and what little they could gather from their surroundings for so long. So much so that he had reverted to the way he was before he turned eleven and was no longer used to so much as he'd used to eat during most of his years while attending Hogwarts.
Still tired but unable to keep still and in bed, he got off the bed with a quick stretch of his whole body before beginning the slow process of sorting and organizing the heirlooms, documents and books of both the Black's and Potter's vaults also including the already existing Black library once he finished with sorting through everything else. Placing all of the numerous amount of weapons and armor into the second stud on his choker with the heirlooms and other such items in the third, clothes were either thrown away, donated or placed into his trunk in the first stud, and all books where sorted by categorizing charm into the library of his housing trunk.
Once done with that he slowly stood up from the desk he'd been working on top of for the last hour or so and made his way around the house to catalog what needed to be done to it since the last time he's been back. After noticing the level of cleaning needed to be done and replaced he sighted before starting with some help from the aging Kreatcher and managed to clean and repair a third of the house for the duration of the rest of the day. Finishing up as the sun started to set and cast the house in a dim light with only candles and lumos charms to help them see to fix a light dinner of chicken soup and bread. Yawning quietly as he finally walked back to the room he'd claimed as his on the second floor after cleaning it up and replacing the mattress and bedding, closing the door behind him with a locking charm and retiring for the day.
The next several days for Harry where filled with cleaning and redecorating the rest his new home and meditating. The latter because he found one of the things he really wanted to achieve was find his animagus form like his father and godfather before him, as the book said meditating makes it easier to find your form before taking the potion required to meet your animagus. He even made preparations by making a fully stocked and equipped potions lab in the basement after a quick visit to the apothecary so he would be able to make the revel potion when the time came.
After several days of sticking to the same routine and meditating for at least an hour each day he found that by doing so helped him calm down whenever he startled awake from nightmares or when he experienced small panic attacks when he gets lost in his memories, which thankfully wasn't all that often.
This process continued on until one day when he was in a deep relaxing meditation he was met with a separate pair of eyes extremely similar to his own only much larger and set upon the ebony black head of a large black panther with its tail sashaying back and forth in a calm and relaxed manner. Staying within his mind for an unknown amount of time just sitting with and communicating back and forth with the large feline that oddly just felt so right to him as if he was right by his side all his life. Only leaving mindscape and subsequently the panther when his physical body started to become sore from sitting still for so long. Only a little bit later on did he notice how odd it was that he had meet and interacted with his possible animagus form without the help of the potion.
Ever since that day he's noticed that he would sometimes display distinctly feline behavior whenever he's not focusing on what he doing or when he's relaxing. And to be honest with himself he wouldn't have really noticed it at all if one of the these actions hadn't included licking non existent fur on his hands and rubbing his face in an attempt to clean himself as a cat would, sometimes even feeling the phantom like touch of a nonexistent tail swaying back and forth from behind him whenever he's feeling particularly pleased with something. He's also noticed that with this change his emotions have also become noticeably more stable and calmer since then, if not just making him feel lethargic from time to time.
And even though he was pretty sure he'd already meet his animagus form, evidenced by his changed behavior and mannerism, he wanted to make absolutely sure the panther he'd meet in his mind was his form he took the revel potion. And was once again met with the now familiar eyes of his now purring animagus form. He continued to take the potion daily as was instructed by the book until he noticed the weather patterns outside indicated a big storm was bound to come within the hour, and started making quick but accurate preparations for the animagus ritual that required the energy of a thunderstorm to complete.
He awoke the next day with the odd sense of being completed that was balled up in his chest where he remained on the carpet he woke up on for half the day unable to even twich a muscle much less move from where he was sprawled out on the floor. Only gaining back enough energy to move when the painful jabs of hunger started making his stomach rumble loudly in the quiet room, grunting harshly as he forced his sore muscles him to his nearby room. Collapsing onto his bed before calling on Kreatcher to make him a light lunch and requesting a few books to read as it was evident that he would not be able to move from his bed today.
He is now able to shift into a large but lean black panther with wide oval shaped dark green eyes that showed little to no whites and what looks to have a thick line of white eyeliner surrounding them, a rose pink nose with a white slanted lighting bolt on the right side of his chest fur.
June 10, 2009
Another change to his life happened when he was contacted by Andromeda on behalf of visiting Teddy as was his duty as the newborns godfather. At first he was apprehensive about visiting them as he was scared he would see the ghost of both Remus and Tonks, of whom he had just been informed to have not survived the last battle at Hogwarts. This along with the fact he was their baby's godfather had him warding his room against any outside intrusion and not leaving his bed for two days as he sorted out his feelings on the matter but feeling oddly relieved and at the same time guilty that he hadn't seen their bodies before he left and instead was informed via Neville, who was the only one he really kept in contact with throughout his time away while ignoring all the other many letters he'd received from strangers besides Andromeda's. Still he did feel that she was right and that it was he's duty to visit as he didn't want Teddy to grow up without a godfather and parents as he had while growing up.
Any and all doubts of his abilities to be able to forge a bond with Teddy went flying out the window within two seconds of the tiny temporarily tawny haired baby's presence. He fell in love at first sight with the three month old when he smiled a gummy smile at him before shrieking out a delighted laugh as his flashed a startlingly green hair before becoming the exact dark black color of his own hair. Just seeing his smile alone was enough for him to attach himself to the baby, hearing his laughter was just another thread added to the already quickly forming bond between them, and as he held him in his arms it was like a balm to a hole In his heart he hadn't even known was existed till now. His panther partner agreeing with him from within his head as he released a deep rumbling purr when he to started building a bond with the tiny cub in his human forms arms.
Afterwards he then started rotating his schedule with most of his time spent bonding with Teddy and Andromeda, with the rest spent on his new hobby of learning different branches of magic with the help of the combined libraries of the Potter's and the Black's and gaining new knowledge on both magical and muggle ways of survival. He even combined the two of the three by taking Teddy out with him on little shopping trips to different wilderness stores here and there, under a disillusionment charm of course. Later on after remembering that Andromeda was a former Black, asked her if she could school him on things he needed to know about the wizarding world that no one else saw fit to teach him regarding who he his and what family's he came from.
July 20, 2009
Almost a month and a half after officially meeting his godson he decided it was finally time to come out of his well deserved vacation to return to Hogwarts and help with whatever repairs needed to be done to the beloved school before the next school year would begin back in almost a month.
The whole day before he was due to leave was spent with both Teddy and Andromeda, only leaving with the promises of all weekend and holiday visits, he finally went back to Hogwarts after alerting Neville of his impending arrival.
July 21, 2009
Arriving with a now quiet crack of apperaition in front of the newly rebuilt and reinforced gates of Hogwarts at the agreed upon time for his arrival, Harry was immediately greeted with the tight almost rib breaking embrace that rivaled Mrs. Weasely's from Neville Longbottom with the amused figure of Minerva watching from within the opened gates.
"Urg," Harry let out a strained grunt from in between short breaths from the tight squeeze, "Nev, mate you know I need my ribs intact to breathe, you do know that right?" Letting out a wheezing laugh once he was released, he took in semi exaggerated deep gulps of air while wrapping his arms around his aching sides. "I think you might've broke one or two of them anyway."
"It'll do you some good young man," Minerva said with a small amused quirk at her thin lips, "not even saying a quick goodbye to anyone except except to dear Neville here then disappearing for two months again without a word and making me worry my old heart. For shame on you."
"Aw, come on Minnie," he batted his eyelashes at her, "you know how much I love you, and wouldn't be able to live for a second longer without your lovely voice scolding me for doing some idiotic thing or another." Grinning as he had to dodge the small level stinging hex she threw at him while Neville chuckled from behind him. Minerva only smirking at him as she placed her wand back in her robes sleeves holster.
Neville continued to chuckle as he lead him up the now rumble cleared path to the main entrance of Hogwarts. Minerva excusing herself from their little group once they reached the main doors as she only had the time to meet him at the gates before she had to make further arrangements for the upcoming school year.
After reassuring he'd that they would be perfectly fine by themselves Harry followed Neville as he took him on a grand tour of the newly rebuilt walls of Hogwarts. Silently marveling on how with the exception of their memories and some still incomplete construction sites, it almost appeared as if half the majestic castle was never damaged during the battle.
With Neville sharing the same sentiments as him they continued on until they came upon a construction site in progress with multiple witches and wizards casting unknown spells to float the large bricks used to rebuild the outer wall as wards masters working in sync to carve different runes onto each and every gigantic brick. Watching the hardworking crew in fascination as they walked past them they continued on with muttered conversation between the as they debated what type of spells they used in their work. Deciding that after they finished their small tour they would circle back and ask the crew if they wanted any help. And after doing so they began helping with the construction by following the instructions of the workers and fetched anything they asked for and watched up close as they carefully levitated the large pieces of the walls into place.
Continuing this process and even learning a few of the easier spells from a particularly friendly wizard before they retired for the night and headed towards the Great Hall after the construction workers called it a day as it was dangerous to continue in the dark even with Lumos charms.
Only halfway there they were interrupted in the middle of a enlightening debate for both of them on magical fruits and their properties vs muggle herbal medicines.
"Harry James Potter! Where in Merlin's name have you been for the past two months without even a single word or letter to me." A flushed faced Ginny Weasely said unnecessarily loud as she marched her way towards him from the end of the hallway with Ron and Hermione following closely behind her.
"Well, I was taking some time away from everyone to cool down a bit," he started indifferently as she finally reached where he and Neville had paused and waited for them in the middle of the hallway, "I also took the time to sort through some things that have been bugging me for awhile."
"Well, that's great and all mate, but you could have at least come to tell us first." Ron said as he caught up with Hermione a bit behind him cluntching a set of books to her chest.
"Yeah! He's right Harry you could have at least told me, as your girlfriend I have a right to know how you are after all." The smaller gingerette huffed as she crossed her arms with a vexed look on her face.
Sharing a slightly confused look tinged with irritation with Neville he replied, "Wait, wait, wait. Hold the hippogriff, Girlfriend? Ginny, I broke up with you a year and a half ago," he said slowly as he waved his hands In a negative motion with his look of confusion turning into annoyance, "and even if you were still my girlfriend I would have still gone off to get time to myself without telling anyone if I wanted to, I'm my own person and wanted to be left alone." He stated firmly with a bit of his annoyance leaking into his voice.
"Oh my silly Har-bear," she giggled with a strained smile set upon her now pinched face, "everyone knows that you only broke up with me so you could protect me, and now that you defeated you-know-who we can get back together again as it won't put me in any danger anymore." She grounded out with an expectant look as she batted her eyes at him in a quick succession.
"Yeah mate, everyone knows that," Ron interjected as he stepped up and started puffing out his chest in a misplaced sense of pride, ignoring the growing mixture of horror and irritation that was slowly overtaking Harry's face with each word they that came out of their mouth, "and, as her older brother and your best mate it is my duty as both, to inform you that I expect you to take responsibility and marry her. That way you can have a happy marriage and become an official part of our family."
Taking in a deep breath to calm his nerves Harry then tried to calmly rebuke their claims to his person, "No, no no no, no first of all Ginny the reason I broke up with you wasn't because I trying to protect you, I did it because I truly did not want to date you any longer then I had already did as I still only see you as one of my friends younger sister," he explained to them both as their faces began to take on a deep flush as the color of their red hair as their anger started to build up inside them in a display of typical Weasely temperament.
'Or at least the younger ones and Mrs. Weasely,' he corrected himself mentally as he turned slightly to face Ron, "and I'm sorry Ron but no it's not going to happen. I know you want me and Hermione to officially be apart of your family but I'm not in any way, shape or form getting back together with your sister nor marrying her for that matter either."
"What in the bloody hell are you saying mate! You're supposed to get back together with Ginny, or at least that's what I thought your plan was then you and me getting married to her and Hermione once we've all graduated and become aurors together! That was the plan mate!" Ron finally exploded with his face maxed out at a purple maroon color as he steadily got angrier. Of course with Ginny standing directly besides him rapidly nodding her head in agreement with him.
Meanwhile Hermione quickly retreated a certain distance away from them as she didn't want to get dragged into their arguments anymore as she'd grown tired from the years worth of constant running and struggling while listening and acting as a meditator to all of their fighting and bickering. So she decided to leave them alone to figure it out for themselves as she silently watched them argue, only keeping close as she wanted to at least support her boyfriend/husband to be and soon to be sister-in-law from a distance.
Now Harry was really starting to get angry with them, "No it's not, it's the plan you managed to fantasied up in that thick head of yours. Now I'm only going to say this one more time where you can understand me. I don't want to get back together with a girl that is your younger sister that was practically pushed on me until I accepted to go on a few artificial dates with her, along with the added fact that I had absolutely no feelings for her then nor will I ever in the future."
He snarled before straightening to his unfortunately short height with his hands on his hips as he confronted Ron on the part of his little speech that completely rubbed him in the wrong way, "And with that said who are you to decide who and how I spend the rest of my life, I am no longer interested in being an auror as I did in second year, especially after the last few years, heck the only reason I said that in the first place was because you wanted so badly for both of us to become one together and at the time it seemed like a good idea, well not anymore." He raged at them as his temper slowly started to get the better of him by finally letting loose bottled up anger and dissatisfaction he's been holding in all these years with them "And to let another thing be known is that I still wouldn't have gotten back together with her or any other female for that matter." He stated firmly with an emphasis of the word 'female' once he's calmed down a little bit. Feeling a tiny bit of the heavy load of complex feelings he's been shouldering for years release a little.
Gasping as she covered her shock slackened mouth with her hands "Harry James Potter, you take that back, you aren't a bloody poof, your just confused with your emotions right now, that's all." Ginny shrieked in outrage, so loud that the other older students who had also returned to help with repairs turned their heads in their direction to see what the commotion was as it echoed all the way down the corridor. She then began to tremble with rage and embarrassment as she started huffing like an angry bull seconds away from charging, likewise Ron clenched his fist as be to began to tremble after he processed what Harry implied.
"Yes, I am a poof." Harry said coldly just loud enough so that the curious eavesdroppers behind the corners of the hallway and in the corridor could hear as it echoed down the stone walls, "its one of the major reasons I broke up with you in the first place, I felt no physical attraction to you what so ever. I, Harry James Potter am gay, I find males attractive more so then females." He clarified. "So get whatever misguided notion that we might be getting back together because it is not going to happen, ever." He finished with a solid tone of finality.
"B-b-but you can't be gay, you've never showed any indications and your supposed to get back with Ginny." Ron stuttered weakly in defense while repeating his argument like a broken record player as his face took on a more greenish white hue that indicated both shock and slightly disgust. Hermione still remaining were she was as she kept her head down buried in one of the huge books she has in her arms in the small corner she was hiding in.
"Well I am, and there's nothing you can do to change it either, if you don't like it then to bad so sad for you because I'm not going to change myself anymore for anyone," he finished before turning around to continue on into the Great Hall with Neville following close beside him. Turning the corner with a last parting shot towards the two displeased gingerettes still standing in the same place they left them at, "Not like you've ever been the best of friends to begin with."
Continuing on with their interrupted walk down the quiet and strangely deserted hallway with a shell shocked Neville right behind him. Silently observing the silent boy following him from over his shoulder where he'd paused just before entering the dinning hall.
Sensing the look being sent his way Neville shook himself from his slight shock and returned his look with a bright grin. Seeing the acceptance and good humor in his smile had Harry relaxing his tensed frame as relief and happiness flooded him now that he knew he had at least had one loyal friend. With that in mind he smiled back and continued on into the hall and sat down at the table across from some of the other returning eighth years from both Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff that had volunteered to come back early and help with the reconstruction, giving them a nod of acknowledgement as Neville took the seat beside him.
Starting to fill his plate with a roast beef sandwich and various different roasted vegetables while listening in as Neville started up a conversation with those closer to them. Only looking away from them when he noticed the younger Weasely duo and Hermione entered the hall started shooting angry glares at him before taking a seat at the furthest table from him. He shrugged indifferently having already accepted the end of their friendship as he had grown tired of their immature and self-righteous antics over the years before entering himself into the conversation going on around him.
As he debated with Neville and one over Ravenclaw about the integrity and sturdiness of tree houses and their various uses, he could feel the heat of their glares at the back of his neck.
Minerva entered shortly after they finished their hot debate and focused on finishing their food with little enquiries when something came to them. Swiftly making her way to the Head seat at the staffs table, but before sitting down she informed them that they were all on track to start the next school year with a completed castle and thanking the returning students for their contributions by helping with this endeavor. And with that being said she sat down as a few of the students clapped to show their appreciation of her acknowledgment and began helping herself to her own supper.
After they had all finished with their plates, Harry and Neville waited by the entrance as Minerva made her way down to them and lead them to their sleeping quarters in the Eastern second floor, and after deciding to bunk together with Neville in one of the rooms Harry settled in for the night in his chosen bed and fell asleep quickly, exhausted from his long day.
The next few weeks worth of days leading up to the official start of school for Harry were filled with a mixture of helping the construction crew finish up with the last of the repairs needed with Neville at his side, catching up with Neville, Minerva, and later on Luna, of whom Neville had began dating two weeks after the end of the war. He also had the misfortune of having to fend off unwanted advances from Ginny, who had somehow convinced herself and the few who would listen to her that he was just confused about how his hormones are changing now that the war has ended, along with keeping up frequent visits with Andromeda and his beloved little godson, who he always got a smile and laughter from whenever the little baby caught sight of him.
August 14, 2009
It wasn't to long before they had finished all the last minute construction details and Hogwarts opened her doors once more to welcome students new and old since the ending of the war.
But before the sorting could begin Headmistress Minerva made the announcement that Harry was awarded the position of Head Boy and subsequently had his own quarters, for his major contributions to end the war and protection of the students during the Final Battle, along with a last years Ravenclaw prefect as Head Girl, due to her craftiness in protecting the younger students while the death eaters held Hogwarts within their grasp, much to the disgruntlement of Hermione who had been expecting the position for much the same reasons Harry had gained his.
As he watched the first years line up to be sorted while he sat at the head of the Griffindor's table with Neville and Luna at his side along with this year's worth of prefects, he couldn't help getting a sense of nostalgia as he reminisced about his own sorting all those years ago when he was still mostly naïve of the world and the dangers to came with the future. Snorting slightly in amusement as he thought of what kind of horrified faces the majority of the wizarding world would've made if he had actually allowed the hat to sort him into Slytherin.
Snapping out of his thoughts as the sorting itself began with the unsurprising majority going to Griffindor, the rest almost completely halved between both Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, leaving only a small hand full to Slytherin. With that done and over with, Minerva then began the welcoming feast during which Harry had multiple students from different houses and years come up to him and ask the oddest questions.
Sending Neville an incredulous look as he was just about to begin eating, who answered it with a equal look of his own. After a while only uncomfortably answering a few of the more modest questions in an attempt to get them to go away and directly shooting down the to personal and outright rude of the bunch with a deadly glare. Ignoring them only seemed to multiply their numbers so with a last desperately pitiful look towards Minerva who finally caught his eye and saw the problem promptly told the troublesome students surrounding him to return to their seats and to quit bothering him.
Harry finished his supper now that he didn't have multiple student bodies trying to catch his attention while asking obscure questions about himself. With a few words to his tables prefects and then some to the other house perfects to confirm they'd seen to the schedule he and the head girl, Marilyn Silverdust, made for the night patrols, he stayed behind to make sure there were no stragglers not following their house prefects back to their dorms. Checking the hallways one more time before heading towards his quarters after making a pit stop to send out an owl to Andromeda about how his day went, and after changing to his night robe he fell asleep early so that he would be well rested for his patrol shift later on in the night began.
The next few months were then filled with going to classes, avoiding crass and careless students, ignoring any and all attempts from Ron and Ginny to reconcile with him while still claiming that he wasn't gay, and visiting/writing to Teddy as many times as possible.
He began to get into a flexible rhythm with his daily schedule as the days passed by. Gradually learning to ignore the awe of what seemed to be the majority of the student body, along with the spite of the remaining Weaselys as after the first few days after the confrontation with the younger two he had received a howler from Mrs. Weasely who completely agreed with what Ron and Ginny was spouting off that he should give up the notion of being gay and marry Ginny like he should as a gentleman.
After that Harry gave up all attempts to retain any contact with them as all the Weaselys he'd really come to care for had died off with the twins during the battle one directly after the other, Charlie from being incinerated to ash by a stray death eaters fire ball spell when they had stupidly tried to raid the dragon sanctuary, and Bill had been completely mutilated by Fenrir's attack with only his red hair and a revealing spell to identify him by, to which had left Fleur an extremely depressed and traumatized widow who's half veela blood was starting to turn on her without her mate before she finally passed away due to the injures she'd received from a misfired spell during a death eater raid of Diagon Alley.
He continued on by focusing on the rest of his schooling and only interacting with Neville, Luna, their professors and of course his beloved godson, who had been driving his Nana up the wall now that he knew how to crawl, and Andromeda, of whom he was starting to see as a loving grandmother. He also found that he enjoyed frustrating Hermione as a past time when he went by the school year getting all of the top grades in all of his classes, becoming the top student at Hogwarts with her only coming in at second or sumetimes third.
May 15, 2010
Leading up to today, the day of the eighth and seventh years graduation from Hogwarts, gaining his credentials to legally use his wand outside of Hogwarts with the removal of the trace as well as being put down on the record for passing all of his NEWTs with all O's or even OO's.
After which he was only present for to give a short speech about his time at Hogwarts as Minerva had requested to him to before apparaiting away with a quick promise to write to Neville and Luna, as he had spotted the Weasely clan start to make their way towards him with a determined gleam in their eyes.
May 25, 2010
It hadn't been even two weeks since he's left Hogwarts for the last time, as he sat at the small black dining table in the kitchen enjoying the simple breakfast he had made himself as Kreatcher had finally passed while he was at Hogwarts from where he had left the old house elf to care for Andromeda and Teddy while he was gone, that he starts getting tons mail from random people that he didn't even know. Some being high paying job offers not usually offered to newly graduated Hogwarts students, simple congratulations, and differing variations of fan mail from around the world. The rest being from people he hadn't even heard of before having the audacity to demand that he become an auror as was expected of him from the public, some even actively trying to compel him to get back with Ginny as they would make an almost exact replica of James and Lily.
Shuddering in disgust at the latter letters because what kind of kid wants to so much like their parents they would even actively marry someone who looks like them. 'Well Draco might as he's always imitated his father so much,' he mused with a snort and another disgusted shudder. After sorting through them all and throwing out the majority of them and keeping the job offers, as even though he knew he didn't want to be a auror or anything similar to it as he had already had his fair share of fighting, he still hadn't exactly decided what he wants to be. After a little while of contemplating he decided to go to Diagon Alley to see if they had any type of list for jobs like he would sometimes see on muggle shop's windows or bulletin boards when he was younger and his aunt needed someone to carry all of her heavier purchased items. He wanted to see if anything spoke to him and after picking a few that did and maybe consulting in Andromeda on what would be the better option for him and his preferences.
Heading to his room to get dressed in his forest green and black trimmed closed robes that hid his set of battle gear underneath that he always had on since he'd bought it and could change its clothing style and color at will, only taking it off and wearing the spare set when he needed to washthe clothes with more then a scorgify. The full set consisted of black basilisk skin knee high military style strap boots with silencing spells woven into them to cancel out the heavy clanking sound otherwise, dark grey-black dragon hide trousers, and a emerald green top with mid forearm length sleeves that resized itself to fit him without any extra bagginess, the top also had a hood attached to the back for easy disguisment, along with his ever present choker and notice-me-not wand holsters attached to both arms.
Casting a mid-level disillusionment charm over himself and apparaitied outside The Leaky Cauldron. About to go through to the other side leading into Diagon Alley when he had the idea to ask the barkeeper, Tom, under a glamour if he had any idea where he could find a listing of sorts for available jobs. After thanking him for his advice Harry entered Diagon Alley and headed straight for the small office building Tom said was located at the far end of the alley near Gringotts Bank, it was supposedly the job office where they automatically documented, listed, and distributed any possible jobs available.
Upon entering he was directed to a smaller side office that was bigger on the inside after asking the reception where he could go for job options. He knocked on the door which was answered by a older gentalmen that led him into the room with a cheery smile and hello. Observing the man to see if he was genuine, which he seemed to be, he returned his friendly smile with a small one of his own before sitting on the comfortable leather chair he was directed to as the older man, Simon as his nameplate read, sat down behind his desk and asked him what his visit to the job office was for. Pulling out a copy of a long list of possible jobs and/or apprenticeships when Harry stated he just wanted to look through a list or something and see if any of them spoke to him.
After thanking Simon for his help, he left to look over the list in a quaint little cafe hidden in a far corner of the alley and away from prying eyes.
Siting in one of the more secluded tables offered in the enlarged insides of the cafe as he enjoyed a fresh cuppa honeyed tea and small but appetizing chocolate tea cakes while still keeping up his disillusionment charm to keep the other patrons from recognizing him. Idly contemplating if he should buy some of the small tea cakes for Teddy who was already showing his sires love for all things chocolate. Speaking of which brought up fond memories of the little tyke learning to walk, which was driving Andromeda into a anxiety filled state as he would disappear within a second and be found hanging from the back of a sofa, and his basic vowel sounds without actually saying his first word yet. Snorting to himself as the former would have Andromeda fondly shoving the little troublemaker to him for the day while giving herself a break, not that he minded very much as he loved his little godson.
Shaking his head to dispel the pleasant memories so he could get to what he came here to do, bringing out a muggle pink highlighter and one black and blue pen from his robes pocket and began looking though the long list.
Marking through the ones that quirked his interest from either the name of the job or the short summary of what the job was underneath each name with the highlighter and crossing the ones that he knew he wouldn't even consider out with the black pen, leaving that ones that didn't catch his attention for either mark as they were. After that was done he went back to the ones that he'd highlighted and made little notes on the margins next to them as to why that job in particular interested him with the blue pen in order to shorten the list to watch actually interested him.
Satisfied with the work he's done, he looked up from the now colorful parchment and noticed nearly an hour and a half had passed in the café since he started working down the list. Standing up from his hunched over position on the table and stretched his muscles and joints with a satisfying crack and burn, he placed his things back into his robes pocket before walking to the front desk to pay and order more of the chocolate tea cakes to go for Teddy and Andromeda, making small talk with little old lady behind the cash register as she packaged four of the cakes into a little white foldable box with the stores logo. Waving as he left the front door with the promise of another visit to the quiet cafe he then set off to make a few more stops for some things he needed for the house.
Merrily making his way done the ally in a good mood from the tranquil atmosphere of the café he'd just left, he was startled into whipping around with his wand out by the sudden shriek of, "-ARRY JAMES POTTER, why haven't you been to the burrow for the past two weeks young man, we've been waiting for you," A red faced Molly Weasely yelled across the crowd as she made her way towards him, followed by Ron, Hermione, and Ginny behind her. Her loud yelling parting the crowd of onlookers like the muggle Christians Moses and the Red Sea, "Or at the very least you could have written!" She huffed as she finally made it to were he stood, wondering if he should just apparate away before the storm could give him a headache.
Scrunching his brows in confusion, "In case you've forgotten what you and your family been trying to do since last year, I haven't been around because I no longer want to associate with people who try to insert themselves into my life to control it. Exactly what you've been doing by trying to make me get back with Ginny."
The crowd around them gasped at his very blunt choice of words as he addressed the fuming redheads in front of him, mentally cursing at himself for not putting up another glamour before leaving the cafe, his animagus starting to restlessly prowl around his mind in agitation from where he had been napping in the back. His earlier choice of words causing the crowd to start muttering to themselves, some in outrage in his behalf, some agreeing with his words and a few with the Weaselys, all in intrigued curiosity for the drama in front of them involving their war hero. The Weaselys, particularly Ginny and Ron, went a deep red at his words and the continued mutterings from the crowd. Their earlier pleasantry falling away in front of his public rejection and the crowds scrutiny as they grew embarrassed before looking to their head, Mrs. Molly Weasely.
Now starting to stutter as she forced out a pleasant smile in front of the crowd, Mrs. Weasely tried to reach out to take his arm, "N-now, now dear what nonsense are you spouting, of course we care about your happiness. We came across as overbearing because it's hard to believe someone who was so obviously happy straight while dating Ginny can turn gay," she said, her angry flush growing even more as he jerked his arm away before she could fully grasp it, "And you were so happy being with Ginny before, so please stop with this disgraceful charade that you no longer care about her or us, your family." She finished as he grew more and more baffled at the shear self-entitlement that dripped off every word she said. Even going so far as to push a smug looking Ginny in front of him as if that would magically make him bend to their will and accept her as his girlfriend again, even after already declaring himself as a gay for a year now.
Sneering in disgust, he turned from the younger gingerettes greedy eyes in front of him to their red headed matriarch and said very clearly, "I am in no way shape or form getting back together with Ginny Weasely as I clearly just said earlier, I am gay and even if I wasn't I still wouldn't get back with a girl that cheated on me while we were still dating all the while hanging off my arm like an unwanted whining barnacle. Then not wanting to deal with her overbearing family that try to make me marry her which I am never going to do. If you don't like it then all well it's not your life now is it?" He asked them as they all started trembling.
Smirking with dark amusement as they tried to save their face by making up every excuse in the book to explain their actions all while raging on at him for speaking so badly about Ginny in front of so many people and reporters.
Snapping in rage when she saw his satisfied smirk, Mrs. Weasely all but screamed at him, "HARRY JAMES POTTER, YOU WILL CEASE THIS UTTER NONSENSE AT ONCE, you will be getting back together with Ginny, and you will marry her at the end of this month," she demanded before calming down and stretching another artificially sweetened smile across her face, "We've already have everything planned out so you don't have to worry about a thing dear," she finished sweetly at the end, Ginny rapidly nodding her head in agreement with her mother, as if her mothers shoving announcement had somehow convinced him to just outright marry her instead of just getting back together. The entire street corner seemed to have gone quiet as Harry and the crowd stared with wide disbelieving eyes at the red headed family who looked entirely too happy with themselves.
All stood still in the dead silence that permeated the air all around them, as rage built up inside of him at the shear audacity of these people in front of him who claimed to be his family, while looking so proud of themselves that they had planned out an entire wedding for him and a girl he didn't even want to marry like that should somehow make him happy all the while watching him with expectant eyes.
This processed through his brain for half a second before exploding his rage and rejection out, "Where in Merlin's name did you get the absurd idea that just because I once though of you as family it automatically gave you the go ahead to plan an entire wedding to tie me to your twat of a daughter, and even think it would make me happy instead of wanting to get as far away as from you as possible," he shouted as his cheeks started to flush with rage, suddenly an idea popped into his head that just might get them to leave him alone for good.
Straighting up his spine so he reached his full height of 5'5, squaring out his shoulders and setting his jaw into a stern expression, lifting his head a bit higher, "Since my words don't get through to your incredibly thick skulls how about this," smirking a bit at their startled look before pulling his magic into his voice, "I, Lord Harry James Potter-Black, Head of the most ancient and Noble house of Potter, Head of the most ancient and Noble house of Black, hereby vow that I will not, nor ever want to, marry the one named, Ginerva Molly Weasely, daughter of the Weasely matriarch Molly Weasely and patriarch Arthur of the Weasely house, so mote it be!" He swore on his magic as he turned and apparated away to Andromeda's cottage, so utterly done with everything except for Teddy and Andromeda.
Leaving behind a stunned crowd of onlookers, fractically scribbling reporters, and embarrassed Weaselys as they to hurried to get away from the eye of the public, at least for a few days.
May 31, 2010
Several days later there were many reported stories and controversy in the news paper. Leaving the wizarding world in a state of shock with his little showdown with the Weasely's in Diagon Alley as he sat in his study he made in the room next to his room looking through and conducting research for the three job options he had narrowed down from the original list of ten he had initially chosen.
The first option he found interesting was to take up a course in healing that if he passed the exam after six months he would become a licensed Medi-Wizard. The second is to become a professional chef as he actually enjoyed cooking now and even took it up as a hobby after taking a week long course on how to find ingredients and cook in the wild. The third and last was to act as a survivalist guide to a group of people two to three times a year for a month at a time. These were, in his opinion, a pretty well rounded list of options to choose from that suited him in some way or another as Andromeda had told him when he went to her for her opinion on the original ten, now all that way left was to choose which one to do.
Sorting through applications for each job and requirements needed to get the jobs in question, he noticed a large medium brown horned barn owl that St. Mungo's usually used to send out missives to family members that one of theirs has been omitted into the care unit. Idly wondering why it was at his window as he opened the window to let it in and relieved it of its burden after he gave it an owl treat and set a small dish of water in front of it. Unfolding the missive to find that it was a summons for him to come and pick up one Teddy Lupin from the long term care unit as Andromeda Tonks has been admitted to the healing wards of St. Mungo's for her failing health. The shock had him quickly dropping the letter as if it had burnt him, only to recover completely as the weight of the situation hit him. Quickly grabbing his coat and hurried the disgruntled owl out, he left in a hurry to get to St. Mungo's so he could pick up his godson who was probably scared and find out what was wrong with Andromeda.
Shortly after he left he was directed to room number 203 where his godson and Andromeda were waiting for him. Quickly walking into the room he grabbed a disgruntled gurgling Teddy off of the nurse in the room and placed him in his lap to settle now that he was comfortable with the person holding him instead of the unfamiliar and stiff nurse.
Gently reaching across the small space in-between them to grab ahold of Andromeda's hand, who was laying in the hospital bed with a tired look as she smiled at them, just as the healer that admitted her came in the room to inform him why she was admitted and how Andromeda was no longer fit to take proper care of Teddy as she was in the process of being permanently admitted to St. Mungo's care for her failing physical health. Gripping her hand with slight tears in his eyes when she gave him a list of Teddy's needs with an explanation of each and a written schedule of his week day by day with the promise he could come back anytime whenever he didn't understand something. Shedding a few tears as he promised her that they would visit everyday anyway, getting a bright laugh when he leaned closer to conspiringly whisper in her ear that he would also bring food with him. Her laugh had him relaxing a little as he realized everything would be OK as Teddy let out a laugh of his own in response to his Nana's before bursting into barely discernable gibberish as he held up his toy Griffen to show them.
After a few hours of quietly talking with the now slightly more energetic looking older woman he was shooed from the room by the staff as visiting time was almost over. Nodding his head in acknowledgement, he bent over to give Andromeda a kiss on the cheek and a hug as she hugged Teddy and told him to be good for his godfather before quickly catching him by his shirt and dragging him into a long hugging session as she told him to take care of himself and Teddy. Promising that he will as he hugged her back before laying one more kiss on her cheek as he picked up Teddy and left for the apparation floor.
Once there he quickly apparaited to Andromeda's small cottage to gather and shrink hers and Teddy's things in separate expanded bags so he could give it to her tomorrow before pausing on a picture of Remus an Tonks holding a newborn Teddy in their arms as they beamed up at him from were they laid on the hospital bed in the picture.
Quickly placing the precious picture in his wallet set on making a copy to add to the wall frame of his houseing trunk next to the older picture of a younger Sirius with his Dad, Mom and you get Remus he got from the picture book Hagrid gave him so long ago along with a more recent picture of Sirius before he died. He also had the entire picture album that Hagrid gave him safely and securely stored on the mantle below the hanging pictures. Leaving both filled bags at Grimmauld place to unpack and sort through Teddy's later on before leaving to get a few small things for Teddy.
With Teddy firmly sequestered in his arms apparated in front of a shop that Andromeda mentioned specialized in baby and kid supplies for all ages. Walking into he was greeted with sight of an enlarged inside that looked almost like a warehouse of goods, giving the girl employee at the front a glance as he moved past her to get a few of the essential baby to growing toddler supplies such as diapers, wipes, powder, etc. Along with just wanting to browse and get a feel for the place he was likely to frequent for the next five or so years, only pausing when something he thought would be incredibly useful to his aching arms as he moved quickly to buy a limited edition baby carrier that allowed him to strap the hyperactive bouncing Teddy to his chest or back without worrying to much as the carrier was extensively protected from accidental or intentional harm when strapped in by the charms and warded runes etched into the inner lining of the carrier. Which was the reason he bought the limited edition apposed to the average carrier because it had the added ability to create a force field or such to protect the baby or toddler strapped to the carrier that would bounce anything that meant harm towards them back at the offender whether it be a physical attack or spell casting. Now that his arms where freed up with Teddy now firmly secured to his chest facing outward as he would fuss about loudly if he couldn't see in front of him as he found when he first tried it with Teddy facing his chest, he grabbed one of the offered push buggy's and picked up a few things to add to Andromeda's already impressive pile of baby and toddler things such as a bit of milk formula, he didn't grab any canned baby food as he didn't trust them not to have added ingredients in it and would make the food himself after learning what Teddy's age group where allowed to eat and setting a nutritional plan when they got home.
Finished with his shopping/browsing spree he placed his new purchases in a an empty stud on his choker that he would later make and rename his Teddy supplies stud.
Leaving the shop he made his way to pick up a few books on child care, growth and development, along with a few ones on nutritional values needed for young toddlers and as he browsed a few of the selves added a few for older kid, preteen and teenage care as well so that he could be prepared early in advance to what he should typically expect as Teddy got older. As he browsed with the tired out Teddy strapped to his chest only now facing and cuddling into his chest, a few people in the store stopped whatever they were doing to point at him which he ignored for the most part and went to the cashier counter up front to pay for the books he wanted to purchase.
Upon stepping out of the store it appeared as the news of his new charge had already reached the ears of the nearby news reporters, as he was met with a slew of rapid fired questions he could barely make out on as to why he had Teddy, was he he's biologically, and if this was the actual reason why he hadn't gotten back together with the general publicly approved Ginny. And miraculously as if summoned by someone even mentioning her around him, there she was with her usual gaggle of supporters behind her with their own individual smug smirks on each of their faces for their perceived advantage against his opposition to their marriage.
"So is that," she said while pointing at the sleeping baby on his chest with a dispraising sneer, "the reason you won't marry me," she stated disgusted look that had his hackles raised and his animagus becoming alert to any danger that may come to it's new cub as Harry himself curled his arms around the sleeping child protectively as if to save him from the dangers of the world, or mainly the Harpies in it. "Well," she continued, "your just going to have to send him back to whoever you had it with because I won't be taking care of anybody else's spawn besides mine and yours." She scrunched her nose at the baby, "Don't worry we'll have more to replace him." She added as a further way to convince him without realizing it only made him horrified he'd actually dated a girl that was petty a d self-centered enough to actually try to order him to be rid of his precious godson.
Still internally horrified at the added revelation of her already terrible characteristics he controlled his face enough so that only his now hate filled glare showed through that froze the Harpy and the crowd of journalist around them before answering with a sneer. "I'm pretty sure that everyone and their mother by now know's that I made a oath by magic a few days ago to never marry you, or has your feeble money filled brains already forgotten that fact?" He questioned with a sharp tongue much to the enjoyment of the crowd of reporters as the Weaselys faces flushed once again at his words, "And just so you know regretfully Teddy isn't mine even though I officially and legally recognize him as mine, he is my godson by the wishes of Remus and Tonks before they died, the two amazing war hero's who's memories you just spat on," he hissed dangerously at them for their disrespect as they slowly backed away from his now enraged form as his magic startled everyone except Teddy as it began crackling like electricity in the air around him. "Not that it's any of your business anyway, so stay the bloody hell away from me as I don't want to listen to your ridiculous drabble anymore, for forever hopefully." He spat at them as he turned his back to their stunned still forms and appearaited away as they began to shriek out profanities at his back once they'd gained back their courage now that he wasn't facing them.
Later on that night after settling Teddy into his new environment he was flipping through some of the baby books he bought while Teddy was sound asleep in his crib beside him with his little plushies collection around him and a light purple sleeping blanket. Lightly skimming through the pages with various amounts of information in each chapter he came across a particularly startling section that described male birthed baby's and how they needed a bit more attention then the regular female birthed, especially during the first few months of their lives outside of the womb.
Flabbergasted by this little tidbit of information, he did a more extensive search to see if this was real or if the author was playing a joke on their readers, which if that were the case was a bad business decision on their part, and found that male wizards could naturally carry a baby inside of a magically created womb for seven and a half months, which is why they need more attention then regular babies as they can't be carried to full term by a male, but if they reach the four month mark they would be as healthy as any other baby without the drawbacks of a premature birth.
Only noticing he was smiling subconsciously to himself as he found the information was true, that sometime in the future he would be able to carry a baby of his own without the need for a female surrogate, not that Teddy wasn't in anyway already his just that if he ever got himself a partner, or mate as his panther called them, he would want to have a child with them.
'Although I don't see happening anytime soon,' he thought bitterly to himself. Because as much as he wanted someone to share his life with he did not want a worshiper that thought the very ground he walked on was some kind of holy artifact like most of the magical population did if they weren't already jealous of his fame or an unmarked dark side supporter.
Shaking his head to clear out the thought of having more children and saving it in his minds library to bring back much, much later on and went back to the book he was reading before that particularly interesting tidbit caught his attention. Humming a quiet lullaby to himself as Teddy continued to sleep away the rest of the night.
As seven months passed them by Harry spent most of his time making daily visits to Andromeda with Teddy, and fixing his schedule to revolve around bonding with and taking care of Teddy as he no longer cared about the general public besides a select few like Neville, Luna and Minerva. Along with reading up on books about childcare, healing, botany with a little help from Neville, and potions making. He decided to go with the survivalist guide option as it only occurs two or three times a year and he figured it would be a fun and educational thing to do with Teddy as he got older, while also learning about healing and medi-wizardry at home as he could still get a license if he passed the test. Which kept him busy throughout the day along with cooking their meals and trying out new recipes while occasionally making some of his own and bringing some with him every time they went and visited Andromeda.
He had also decided to go with it as the others would have taken up to much of his time if he wasn't doing them at home, which he couldn't have as he needed his days and nights to be relatively free to raise Teddy by himself. Not that caring for him was really any hassle at all as he was quite a happy and curious little one and a half year old with the little mischievous things he did only serving to amuse Harry more then irritate him, unless Harry wasn't within his eyesight then he would showcase some type of inheritance from Remus as it would literally make his eyes shine a golden color as he cried and howled until Harry returned to him, he also showed off more of his mother's metamorphosis abilities by randomly changing his hair and/or eyes with his moods or to simply imitate Harry. But what surprised him the most was when he said his first word to him in the first week he had Teddy, which with the only other word he knew being Nana for Andromeda besides in his little brain he was going to call him Mama. It surprised the daylights out of him the first time he said it before showering Teddy with praises as he didn't really mind being called Mama by Teddy only focusing that his little cub now had a brand new word for him, although it had Andromeda burst out in delighted laughter the first time he called him that in front of her but also not disapproving the fact that Teddy was basically calling him his mom instead of dad.
But such as it was not all was going well, as much as she tried to hang on Andromeda's health was deteriorating at a high rate and there was nothing the healers could do, so as the days went by and she gets worse and worse he tried to prepare himself for the apparent inevitable, and it worked, partially.
Andromeda Marianna Tonks nee Black passed away on January, 14 of 2011 at exactly four thirty in the morning after slipping into a comatose state the day before. And as much as he prepared for it, it still hit him hard as this was the very first person that was taken from him by presumably natural means while also being a grandma like figure to him, some would expect him to feel a bit better about it as it's the first natural death in all of his 20 years worth of life that it just hit him a bit harder then he expected, as all the others where taken from him by the hands of others quite suddenly instead of the drawn out way Andromeda had gone.
So after making arrangements for her funeral he further secluded himself and Teddy inside of Grimmaulds Place for a week only to come out to attend Andromeda's short but beautiful funeral as she only had a few wizarding friends along with those he invited himself. After which he spent another two weeks not coming out of Grimmaulds Place and bonded even closer to Teddy if possible as he was now his only family member left. Now starting to call him Remus's term of endearment "cub" when speaking directly to him, which tremendously pleased his panther side as it had already imprinted upon Teddy as it's cub on their first meeting. Sometimes even shifting to let them play together or just simply let his still unnamed animagus form cuddle with their cub which allowed Teddy time to grow used to him.
He spent most of the time in those short two weeks with Teddy on his hip, back, in both forms, belly or strapped to his chest as he cooked, cleaned or generally lazed about while reading and letting him play with his fingers, slightly longer hair, or transfigured muggle clothes he liked to wear when not around other wizards as much as he liked while he did so. And when Teddy was asleep or napping if he wasn't also taking a nap himself he would occupy his mind by bonding mentally and physically with his animagus or reading as much as he could get his hands on while trying out new spells, learning about herbs and their uses, and even new survival tips that he practiced out in the garden. And sometimes when he felt up to it he'd send a letter to Neville assuring him they were both alright as he was the only other person he would willing talk to besides Luna and Minerva.
It carried on this way until for two weeks until he decided he's mourned enough as it was, and they needed new baby supplies anyway.
Pulling on his long black robes over his usual self cleaning battle wear which he transfigured back to its original design which was a function built into the very cloth itself that he only took off to bath, and strapping Teddy into his chest carrier he set out to the baby store to by a few more months worth of diapers, formula, and new clothing for Teddy, as well as grabbing a few new plushies and toddler books that Teddy reached for as he was an absolute sucker for his cubs puppy eyes.
Placing all of the new purchases into his now designated Teddy supplies stud on his choker he left the store with a now happy babbling Teddy as he showed off his new brightly colored and moving book that had a function in it were it could speak and easily teach toddlers new words.
As he left the shop's corner he felt a prickling sensation in the back of his nape and had just enough time to whip around with the elder wand in his hand before his sight was obscured by a heavy white mist as he heard screaming from all around him and mad crackling in front of him. But before anything else happened he shot of a strong full body bind curse at the crackling in front of him that reminded him so much of Bellatrix. Holding onto Teddy tightly as he felt disoriented by what felt like the ground he was standing on disappearing from beneath his feet.
On February, 12 of 2011 Harry James Potter-Black and his legally adopted godson Theodore Edward Lupin-Tonks-Potter-Black, ages 20 and 1 and 10 months respectively, disappeared from both the wizarding and muggle world while the assailant was apprehended and released from the powerful body bind still cackling, officially reported as the last known spell used by Mr. Potter-Black. After extensive questioning under veratiserum it was found that the assailant, a Thadeus Baden, was a unmarked Voldemort supporter that had thrown a unknown potion at Mr. Potter that once it hit in front of him produced a thick white mist, that aurors found after a few minutes and the mist had cleared up it was found that Mr. Potter and Teddy Lupin who was strapped to his chest in a baby carrier had simply disappeared never to be seen or heard from again even after multiple extensive searches from the wizarding worlds finest. A trial was held for Mr. Baden that concluded in a sentence to life in Azkaban in the highest security holdings. He died thirteen years in due to unknown complications. Read page six for the following Weasely family freakout.