A/N: I sincerely apologize to those of you still reading for taking so many days to update. So hopefully you guys enjoy this chapter!
ʕ^ᴥ^ʔ Anyway, no copyright infringement intended :)
Ron was still munching on his toast as he packed a picnic basket full of food, while the others hurried to dress and fix themselves up before Mrs. Weasley came home. They had agreed to take Teddy to just hang out at the lake about a mile off from the Burrow. As a matter of fact, it was just past the Lovegood's home, and he knew that Luna would probably be either collecting Freshwater Pimplies for her special soup (which was quite savory once they had a chance to actually try it) or typing up a new article for the Quibbler. Nowadays, it was actually a well-read newspaper, and Luna was well-known for her work advocating for equal protection acts for the rights of magical creatures. She had partnered with Hermione, and together they had established S.P.E.W. to become a rather successful organization. It was now required by Ministry law to provide house elves with some sort of compensation and a specified number of holidays for their work, not to mention that unfair treatment of all magical creatures was now strictly prohibited. While that didn't sound like all that much, it was actually a huge milestone for the rights of magical creatures, quite far along from what it used to be just a few years ago. That was how Ron had gotten to know Luna a bit more, and once you looked past her differences, she was a really kind and understanding person at heart. He realized why Ginny used to snap at him so often for calling her "loony."
It was at that moment that Teddy emerged from the fireplace, joyously running with his tiny, two-year-old legs to wrap his arms around Ron as high as he could reach. "Won!" he cried, his hair flashing the same strawberry shade of red as Ron's. Mrs. Weasley strode in behind Teddy, and Ron quickly informed her about their plans as he lifted Teddy up off the ground and put him on his shoulders. "Yay, piggy back wide! Let see Unca Harry, Mione, an' Ginny!" Teddy chanted as he tightened his fingers around Ron's hair. Ron winced, but he was still smiling because regardless of all the energy and attention that Teddy called for, he knew he loved Harry's godson. He was family.
"Come on, Teddy. Now let's be quiet so we can scare your aunties," he whispered as he grabbed the stair railing and climbed up to Ginny's room, where he assumed the girls were still getting ready.
"Okay!" Teddy covered his mouth.
Ron cast a disillusionment charm on himself to make it appear as though Teddy was floating in mid-air before he noticed that the door was open. He peeked his head through to see Harry and Hermione sitting on the bed talking. It looked like they were waiting for Ginny, who would mostly likely be in the bathroom. "Probably still working on her hair, my egotistical little sister," he thought to himself before jumping in front of the bed, both of them simultaneously yelling "Boo!" while Teddy's hair color flashed between ghost-white, raven-black, and hazelnut brown, settling for Ron's strawberry red at the end. Harry appeared startled for a moment, while Hermione just broke down laughing as she waved her wand to perform the Anti-Disillusionment charm, revealing Ron with a glum look on his face.
Teddy tugged on Ron's ears, wanting to be let down, and as soon as he was back with his feet on the ground, he ran to envelope Harry in a tight hug. Hermione looked down at him fondly until Ginny pranced into the room, plucking him out of Harry's arms to say, "Nice to see you Teddy. Now, come along guys, we're running late," as she walked out the door.
Harry and Hermione followed, Harry shaking his head and Hermione rolling her eyes, both with huge grins plastered across their faces. Ron strutted behind them, calling, "And whose bloody fault is that?!"
(✿ヘᴥヘ)
Once they reached the lake (they had decided to walk instead of apparating because it was such a beautiful day), Harry and Hermione chased after Teddy and Ginny, who were running ahead to climb the ancient weeping willow tree on the shore. Ron stayed behind, merrily swinging the picnic basket in his right hand while giving some company to Luna, who had tagged along, agreeing that it wouldn't hurt to take a short break from work for the day. Once they got to the tree, they all sat down, relishing the cool breeze and the shade that was provided under the old willow's canopy of leaves. Ron and Hermione were listening intently to Luna in what seemed to be an incredibly thorough discussion about the heritage of Crumple-horned Snorkacks. Meanwhile, Ginny and Teddy were climbing higher and higher, and Harry seemed to grow more and more concerned by the minute as he looked up at all the levels of overlapping branches above him. He glanced at Hermione and asked worriedly, "What on earth am I supposed to do?! That's my godson, and this tree has old branches that could break any second...I can't even apparate because I might land on a weak branch or thin air and fall and break my back...or worse, have to take a break from work..."
Hermione let out an amused chuckle and smiled. "You really have become quite the father figure for Teddy, haven't you. But Auror Potter, I am disappointed in you. Aren't you a wizard? Not to mention, a Gryffindor! You seem to be in need of a brush-up on your skills," she rambled playfully. "I for one, recall a certain spell that you used in fourth year to solve a similar dilemma." Harry looked a bit confused before she said, "In fact, I happened to teach you this particular spell so you could summon your broom in a strategic plan to defeat a Hungarian Horntail. Does that ring any bells? Otherwise, I will happily refresh your memory."
"Merlin, Hermione, you're a genius. And I'm an idiot," he mentally slapped himself. "Accio Stratus 360," he muttered. He knew it would take a few minutes for his broom to show up, so he leaned his back against the wide trunk of the willow. They joined the discussion about magical creatures, but Harry wasn't really paying attention. He thought Hermione could be such a know-it-all, and he admired that about her. He on the other hand, absolutely abhorred how dimwitted he could get at times. It was strange, sometimes he would forget random details, and this was getting especially annoying since a few months after the war. Ron had even somewhat noticed it during the Auror training program. He blamed it on all the stress, and decided not to think much of it.
It was then that the broom zipped close to him, and he grabbed the handle, swinging himself over it. It was a newer model from the same manufacturer that developed the original Nimbus 2000. However, this one was much more versatile, allowing him to make smoother turns. He zoomed upward, dodging the branches until he reached Teddy, grabbing him without Ginny's notice. He raced back down before Ginny realized what was happening and called, "Hey, you kidnapped Teddy! He's my new best friend, and we were having a jungle playdate! What are you doing!" Ron, Luna, and Hermione were in a fit of laughter by the time Harry hopped off the broom and sat back in his spot beside Hermione, with Teddy giggling in his lap. Unbeknownst to them all, Ginny muttered, "Two can play at this game. Accio Apollo 13!"
It was quiet for a few minutes. Teddy was happily collecting different types of flowers to put in their hair. "Flower pretty," he said, flashing an adorable smile as his hair transformed into the same color as the purple iris he was holding. Harry was watching Hermione out of the corner of his eye as she laughed and tried to fix Teddy's hair, which was covered with grass at this point in time. She was wearing a crisp olive-colored blouse, paired with faded denim jeans and her usual sneakers. Her hair blew freely in the wind, the sun highlighting its hazelnut, almost golden streaks. She thought it was messy, and he knew she used countless charms to get it to stay put when she tied it up for work; even so, he thought it was always better this way, displaying her inner personality: fun, wild, and carefree.
Suddenly, the silence was broken as Ginny swooped down on her Apollo 13, snatching Teddy around the waist and zooming back up into the treetops. "Hey!" Teddy cried, flailing his arms wildly. "I play with Mione!"
"Ginny never fails to amuse me," Hermione mumbled underneath her breath, watching as Harry grabbed his broom to race after Ginny. Harry was at the tail of Ginny's broom, but he was hesitating to fly any closer because he was afraid he might knock Teddy off the broom. His godfather-ly instinct kicked in, telling him it was too dangerous. He realized that it was futile unless he wanted one of them to break a limb, and so he raised his arms in surrender.
"Good boy, Uncle Harry," Ginny chanted with a triumphant smirk. "Now come here and hand over the broom."
"What? No way!"
"Come on, Teddy and I are your captors, and we're trapping you here forever," Ginny gave a cocky grin, ushering him over in the direction of the nest formed by the branches at the top.
"Oh, alright, I'll play along," Harry smiled and flew over to the branches. Better make himself comfortable while he was going to be here.
Teddy pointed and laughed at Harry. "Unca Harry is birdy!" he sang, giggling.
Ginny confiscated his broom and hovered in the air with Teddy in her arms while saying, "It'll be just like Rapunzel. You're going to be a damsel in distress, or should I say, a birdy, and we're going to call the knights," she pointed down toward Hermione, Ron, and Luna, "to come and rescue you. Any questions?"
"Yes just one... remind me why exactly are we doing this again?!" Harry asked.
"It fun, Unca Harry!" Teddy explained as he and Ginny began the descent.
"Yeah, and so is breaking all the bones in your body," Harry muttered to himself. "Besides, it's not like Hermione would want to ride a broom... and Ron and Luna are too into each other at the moment to notice anything, much less care that I'm stuck here and that Ginny has kidnapped my godson," his mind drifted, until he thought of an idea. "Maybe I am a genius..." he grinned before wandlessly summoning Ron's broom. "Accio Firebolt 7!"
A few minutes later, he grabbed ahold of the broom and strategically apparated down to the ground without the notice of Ginny or Teddy.
"Harry!" Hermione gasped, startled to see him plop right next to her out of nowhere.
"Sshh, Hermione, I know this sounds silly but Ginny and Teddy trapped me and I think they want you to rescue me... They took my broom, and they don't know that I have Ron's broom..."
Hermione rolled her eyes and said, "That's ridiculous. They know I absolutely abhor flying."
"Exactly," Harry agreed. "Which is why I'm proposing that we kidnap Teddy and then fly to the other side of the lake, where we can hide from Ginny." Hermione looked reluctant, so Harry urged, "Come on, Mione, it'll be like an adventure."
"Oh, alright," she groaned. "So how are we going to get ahold of Teddy?"
"Leave that to me," Harry smiled. He now knew exactly where to apparate, so after grabbing ahold of Hermione's arm, they experienced a twisting-and-turning sensation within the pits of their stomachs before landing in the "nest" at the top of the tree.
"Mione!" Teddy cried, giggling as he pointed at Hermione, who was still trying to get acquainted with her surroundings after the sudden apparition.
Ginny turned around. Hermione was holding the broom, which led Ginny to the conclusion that Hermione must have flown up there (which is not at all what happened). "What - how?" Taking advantage of her state of confusion, Harry launched himself onto the broom, and within a matter of a few seconds, he had grabbed Teddy, and flown back to Hermione, who reluctantly joined them on the back of the broom.
"Do we really have to do this? Why can't we just apparate?" Hermione questioned Harry between her teeth, not realizing that she had instinctively wound her arms tightly around both Harry and Teddy's waists.
"It fun, Mione!" Teddy cheered, whooping as they raced down, diving underneath the branches, although Harry was taking extra care not to make too sharp turns, for both Teddy and Hermione's sake.
(✿ヘᴥヘ)
They were over the lake, their feet skimming the water as they came to a slow. Hermione had relaxed a bit by now. The rays of sunlight danced across the lake in a reflective pattern against the water. They hopped off once they reached the shore, and Teddy displayed his mischievous grin before splashing the water, almost daring them. Hermione and Harry decided to be children once again for a few minutes, and the three engaged in the most epic splash-fight known to mankind. Hermione and Teddy had teamed up, and Hermione decided to make things a little bit more interesting, wordlessly and wandlessly creating a wave of water that absolutely drenched Harry. Through her work branching off among the different departments in the Ministry, she had gotten a skilled wizard from the Department of Mysteries to train her in wandless magic, which they had been researching in the department for years. Overcome by laughter, they noticed just a millisecond too late when Harry pushed them into the water. It should be noted that beforehand, they had magically charmed Teddy's jumper so he would float, as he was too young to have learned how to properly swim yet at this age. Afterwards, the two lay on the grass, entertaining Teddy with multi-colored bubbles that Harry produced through the tip of his wand. They laughed, watching Teddy chase after each bubble to pop them one-by-one.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the lake, Ginny smiled, observing through her special-edition Omnioculars (which not only allowed her to magically slow down and replay what happened, but also made it possible to magnify up to 360 times at the same high-quality resolution), knowing that she had succeeded in this phase of her matchmaking plan. Ron and Luna seemed to be oblivious as usual, and Harry and Hermione were enjoying themselves with Teddy. They needed to have a chance to relax from their busy lives sometimes, right?
A/N: Thanks a bunch for reading! I welcome any feedback, suggestions, or advice! Until next time, my lovelies :)