Harry only returns home long enough to unpack and shower before picking up Teddy and Apparating them both to their favourite park. With a playground to explore, several trees to climb and a bubbling stream to fish in for stones, there's never a shortage of fun to be had. And after his week away, there's nothing Harry wants more than to play with his godson.

'We made a cake. It didn't rise, but it was yummy and Nan said we can try again next time,' Teddy says, barely stopping for breath as Harry pushes him in the swing. He's so excited that he stumbles over his words, pronouncing his "r"s as "w"s the way he used to, but his wild laughter and broad smiles are contagious.

'Nan's the best,' Teddy concludes. 'Except at hide and seek. She says her bones creak too much so she can't fit in the good hiding spots. But it's okay. I let her think I don't know where she is so she doesn't feel bad.'

Harry bites his lip to keep himself from laughing. The next time he sees Andromeda, he'll have to tell her — she'll think it's hilarious that while she's letting Teddy win, he's going easy on her as well. 'That's very kind of you.'

Teddy shrugs and kicks his feet out to increase his momentum. 'She made eggs every morning.'

Hearing Teddy's simple logic, his sense of fair play and tit-for-tat morality, is better than any medicine. Even in Harry's worst moments since Ginny's death — when he wonders what it was all for, when he wishes he died in her place, when he can't see the path through the thorns — Teddy's a candle, flickering steadily, infusing the world with light and warmth and purpose just by existing.

'I am so lucky I have you,' Harry says under his breath, the words drowned out by a gust of wind. When he first offered to raise Teddy, it was out of guilt, but it's the best decision he's ever made. Without Teddy, he doesn't know where he'd be.

They stay for most of the day, exploring every hidden nook and cranny and eating fish and chips down by the stream. By the time they return to Grimmauld Place in the late afternoon, it feels like Harry has shed years off his age. His shoulders are more relaxed than they have been for a long time, and the smell of greasy chips lingers in the air.

When they get home, Teddy runs upstairs to his room, and Harry skims through the mail that accumulated while he was away. Due to the dangerous nature of his work, he always cast a spell to hide his true location whenever he was on a mission so an owl didn't give away his position.

For the most part, the letters are junk, except for one from Luna, recommending a book she thinks he'll like, and another from the Ministry.

'Lovely,' he says when he opens the latter to find an invitation to the annual Ministry ball.

It's supposed to be a way for workers to socialise and relax, but for him, it's always the opposite. Still, he's expected to go, and this is one of the cases where it's easier to go with the flow. There are many other, more important hills to die on.

At least things haven't been as awkward between Ron and Hermione recently. The three of them usually attend together to stave off any comments about Harry being alone, so hopefully they'll be willing to continue the tradition.

Otherwise, he may have to ask Teddy to go with him. His bluntness would be a nice change from the political double talk, in any case. Of course, there's the problem of it going past his bedtime.

No, it's a good thing Ron and Hermione are getting along again.