Written for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition, Season 9, Round One

Keeper — Chudley Cannons

Prompt: Your character decides whether or not to forgive someone.

Word count: 1856

As always, thanks to my lovely team for looking this over.

Warning for character death

Second Chance

Saturday morning dawned one of the brightest and sunniest days they'd seen in a while, fleecy lumps of cloud moving sluggishly through the sky, the sunlight mellow and perfect. A calm breeze, smelling of a concoction of flowers and wet earth (it had rained the night before), tousled everyone's hair and made their cloaks billow.

But they couldn't care less.

Teddy hid his face in Hermione's neck and tried to cover his ears so he wouldn't be able to hear any more of the speeches. His face was red and blotchy from crying, and his vision was blurred with tears. All he could see around himself was black — people dressed in black robes, black cloaks, black hats, and he had never hated any colour so intensely.

He didn't want to stay in this stupid place anymore. He wanted to go home and curl up in his grandmother's bed, under her favourite multicoloured blanket — the one that she'd said looked like his hair whenever he got excited.

A tap on his back pulled him out of his thoughts. Teddy looked up, turned around, and found his godfather.

"C'mon, Ted, do you want to say goodbye to Grandmama and give her your flowers? You don't have to, if you don't want to."

Teddy's lip trembled, and he gripped Hermione's shoulder tighter. "Are they taking her away?" he asked quietly.

He saw his godfather share a look with Hermione before he looked at Teddy again. Part of him wanted to go and talk to his grandmother, the other part wanted nothing more than to stick to Hermione like a leech and not go anywhere or talk to anyone.

But what kind of person would he be to not say goodbye to Grandmama for the last time? It was going to be very difficult, yes, but he had to do it — he wanted to talk to his grandmother — tell her that he'd never forget her, that he was going to be the most well-mannered little boy in the world and do great things and make her proud.

He nodded.

"I'll go," he said. Hermione kissed his cheek and put him down.

"Here," she said, giving Teddy the bunch of flowers he'd given her earlier to keep. They were some kind of pink wildflowers — his grandmother's favourite. 'Thrift', she'd said they were called.

"Let's go, God-Dad." He stuck out his hand. Harry took it, and Teddy let him lead them to where his grandmother lay.

Surprisingly, he did not cry when he finally reached his grandmother. God-dad wrapped an arm around him and pulled Teddy close.

"Hi, Grandmama," he said. Obviously, she did not respond, even though a tiny part of him wished that she would, even if it was in the form of a ghost. He just wanted to see her once more.

Teddy sighed and went on. He told her he'd always miss her and promised her that he would never let her down.

And then he placed the flowers by her head and took a good look at her face. At least she was happy now. She'd been very sick the last few weeks, and it had made Teddy very sad to see her hurting.

"Bye, Grandmama. I love you very much," he whispered, feeling his throat closing up. His godfather must have sensed it, because he bent down and lifted Teddy into his arms.

...

Hermione was talking to Ron when Teddy and his godfather reached the row of shiny golden chairs.

"Do you want me to take you home now, Ted?" Harry asked, setting the boy down in one of the chairs and kneeling before him.

Teddy sniffed into his sleeve and nodded. Harry kissed the top of his head.

"Alright," he said. "Just give us five more minutes, OK?"

Teddy watched as Harry walked up to Hermione and Ron. A lot of whispering, some nods and several glances towards a tall blonde woman in the distance later, they were back.

"God-dad," Teddy tugged on the hem of Harry's jacket as they were about to Disapparate. "Are we going to Grimmauld Place?"

Teddy now had no proper home to speak of. Sure, he loved his godfather's house, but he also loved the cosy cottage with the lovely garden that he and Grandmama lived in, but now she was gone, and he could never live in that beautiful house anymore.

"We can go to Grandmama's too, Teddy, or the Burrow," Hermione said. "Where do you want to go?"

"Grandmama's," Teddy replied promptly.

...

A month had passed since Grandmama's funeral, and Teddy's mood was looking up. He was still very sad, and especially during the evenings, he would go very quiet.

Hermione and Harry were staying with him, and Ron would drop by every so often with lots of treats for the little boy. They'd spend the evenings cheering him up — reading stories out loud, playing Wizard's Chess (just at eight, Teddy could give Ron a run for his money), or trying out the latest tricks from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.

There were also some moments when the grown-ups would start talking about something with very serious looks on their faces when they thought Teddy wasn't listening. Only he was, and he had an inkling that their discussions were about him.

Then one day, there arrived an owl from some stranger. It was clearly a very important letter, because Harry and Hermione would spend lots of time reading it over and over again and talking about it.

And then, right when Teddy thought he couldn't hold his curiosity in anymore, his God-dad pulled him over one afternoon, and he and Hermione told Teddy all about the letter.

"Who sent it?" Teddy asked again, unable to catch the name.

"Your great-aunt. Grandmama's sister."

"Oh," Teddy uttered, staring at the thin, elegant handwriting on the letter. "I never knew Grandmama had another sister. Only the one who — you know — took Mum."

"Your Grandmama and her sister weren't on good terms, Ted."

"Why?" Teddy asked. "Is this sister a bad person, too? Are both her sisters bad people?"

He was upset and angry as he turned the letter over in his hands.

"This one's not bad, Teddy," Hermione replied. "We promise you she's not. Grandmama loved her a lot, I know she did."

"What's her name?"

"Narcissa Malfoy."

Teddy let out a little gasp, gaping from Hermione to Harry.

"Didn't you tell me the Malfoys helped Voldemort in the War?"

Hermione bit her lip, looking troubled.

"Teddy, listen to me." She touched his shoulder. "Yes, the Malfoys did help Voldemort, but only Lucius — Narcissa's husband. And you know that he's in prison now. Narcissa's not a bad person, and neither is your cousin Draco."

Teddy's lower lip trembled.

"I don't want to be related to the Malfoys," he said angrily. "They're evil people. They helped Voldemort. Voldemort took away your parents, God-dad. I don't want them for my family."

His eyes went watery, and he let Harry pull him into his arms. They let him cry for a bit, and when he had calmed down, Harry wiped his cheeks and kissed his forehead.

"I understand why you're upset, Teddy," Harry began slowly, "but you must hear us out. Aunt Narcissa and your cousin aren't bad people. They have done bad things, yes, but they've changed, and they aren't bad people at all."

"H-how do you know that?"

"Because Aunt Narcissa lied to Lord Voldemort and saved my life. I wouldn't be here, talking to you, if not for her. And Draco, too. You remember how Hermione, Ron and I were captured and taken to the Malfoys' house?"

Teddy had a basic idea of what had happened during the War. He knew that his godfather and his friends had been on the run for months, looking for things called Horcruxes that would help them defeat Voldemort. He knew that they'd been caught by bad wizards, but they'd escaped, then broken into Gringotts' before flying away on a dragon. That story was a favourite of his.

"Mhm?"

"They asked Draco if it was really me, and Draco lied to them — said he couldn't recognise me when he obviously could."

Teddy stared at the now slightly crumpled letter in his hands, mulling over Harry's words.

Then, "Do you like them, God-dad?"

The question made both Harry and Hermione grin in a pained, awkward way.

"That is a difficult question, Ted," Harry answered, jostling the little boy. "I do think Draco's a prat, but Narcissa's pretty alright, really. Trust me."

"OK."

"So, Teddy, what do you think?" Harry asked. "D'you think you'd like to get to know them? Aunt Narcissa says she really wants to see you, but she won't come unless you're OK with it."

Teddy looked at Hermione.

"Do you want some more time to think about it, love?"

Teddy stared at her, at somewhat of a loss for words.

"We know it's going to be difficult," she continued. "But none of us are going anywhere. You can take as much time as you want, alright? We'll wait for you."

...

It was nice, Teddy thought later. While the prospect still wasn't very exciting, he had two new family members now. It would be fun to know more about another sister of his grandmother, and maybe she could tell him about her and Grandmama when they were little.

He didn't think he could ever visit their house, though. It was where they'd tortured Hermione and made her cry (she'd told him when he'd asked her about the big scar on her arm). But he would be OK with them visiting him every once in a while.

It was a difficult decision to make, but Teddy had made it. He was going to forgive Aunt Narcissa and Draco. After all, he was a good boy, so he was going to give them a chance.

"'Mione." He ran over to the kitchen and tugged on the edge of Hermione's shirt. "God-dad."

They smiled down at him, and Hermione lifted him up onto the counter.

"Yes?"

"You can tell Aunt Narcissa that I want to meet her. And that I forgive her."

Their smiles grew wider.

"Forgive?" Hermione asked.

Teddy nodded. "For everything that happened." He looked to Harry. "She saved God-dad's life, so I forgive her."

"So you'll let them come see you?" Harry asked, his grin widening.

"Yep."

Harry ruffled Teddy's hair. "Well," he said, "I know she'll be very happy to know that."

"What changed your mind, Ted?" asked Hermione.

"Oh, I thought about Grandmama, and I knew she would be pleased if I gave them a chance. Remember how she always said that everyone deserves a second chance?"

Hermione kissed Teddy's cheeks. "Oh, Teddy," she said, "you're the sweetest little boy I've ever known. We promise to make this as easy as possible for you."

Teddy hugged Hermione back, while grinning toothily at his godfather.

Outside, the sky had grown dark. A tiny golden dot stood out against the blues and the purples, and shone particularly brightly, even though none of them could see it.