Ginny walked in the front door of Grimmauld Place. Her lunch with Andromeda ran a little late so she was late getting to her meeting with Gwen. Thank goodness the meeting with her was informal. Gwen just wanted to talk to her about being the captain of the team and to talk about things Ginny could expect. Gwen also gave her some tips on running the team. The lunch with Andromeda, on the other hand, wasn't so informal. Ginny decided to talk to her about Teddy calling her mum. It worried Ginny even though she was thrilled that Teddy thought of her that way. Ginny couldn't help feeling a little guilty about it. It was bothering her just a bit. Knowing that Harry knew next to nothing about his own parents until he met Sirius, Ginny made sure that Teddy knew who his parents were. She never, ever wanted to replace Tonks, she just wanted Teddy to receive the love that he deserved. Andromeda told her not to worry and said that Teddy knew where he came from. Andromeda also said that when Teddy sees photos of Tonks and Remus, he calls them mother and father. She told Ginny that it was only natural that Teddy would consider her his mum. "Dora is Mother, Remus is Father, I'm Gran, Harry is Harry, and you, my dear child, are Mummy. And that's fine. He loves you, relish in it!" she told her at lunch. Andromeda seemed happy about it and that made Ginny feel better about it all. She decided to embrace it all.
Ginny hung her jacket on the coat rack by the door. As she placed her handbag on the table in the hall, she pulled out two envelopes. She could hear Harry talking in the kitchen with at least two other people. That meant Tom and his niece Bunty had already arrived for dinner.
Ginny called out, "I'm home!"
Right on cue, a blue haired little boy came bolting out of the kitchen straight to Ginny. With a smile on his face and his hair turning fire red to match Ginny's, Teddy yelled out, "MUMMY!"
Ginny squatted down and open her arms to receive him and yelled back, "TEDDY!" Ginny had stopped calling him Ted Ted when Teddy decided he was too old for that nickname.
Once Teddy reached Ginny, he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly while he kissed Ginny's cheek. He then said matter-of-factly, "You're late."
Ginny hugged him back and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Despite him being too big, Ginny lifted Teddy up and placed him on her hip. She then proceeded to walk down the hall towards the kitchen. Ginny smiled at the boy as she said, "You're right and I'm sorry."
Teddy rest his head on Ginny's shoulder, "It's ok mummy. I'm just glad your home." He lifted his head up and excitedly said, "You have to meet my new friend!" Ginny smiled. Teddy was so good at making friends. He made friends wherever he went. When they went out shopping, he knew everybody. He knew their name, and they knew him too. He knew the wizard at the butcher shop, the witch at the produce stand, and the young wizard who bagged their groceries at the market. It never ceased to amaze Harry and Ginny how many people Teddy had befriended.
When Ginny and Teddy walked into the kitchen, she placed him back on the floor, Ginny said, "I'm sorry I'm late. My lunch and my meeting ran a little long."
Harry stood up. He hugged and kissed his wife, "That's ok. I started the meatloaf with some help from Teddy." Harry smiled at Teddy. Teddy gave him a thumbs up gesture.
Tom also stood and said, "Good evening Mrs. Potter."
Ginny smiled at Tom, "Hello Tom. It's good to see you again."
Teddy took Ginny's hand and walked her over to where Bunty was sitting. With his hand, he motioned to Bunty, "Mummy, this my friend Bunty Warrington. Bunty, this is my mum, Ginny Potter." Bunty looked to be about 18 years old with red hair, like her uncle, cut to about shoulder length and she had bright blue eyes. She was a pretty girl by most standards. Even though she was sitting, Ginny could tell she had a thin build. The girl was grinning from ear to ear as she stood and extended her hand to Ginny.
Ginny smiled back as she shook Bunty's hand, "It's nice to meet you."
Bunty giggled nervously, "It's nice to meet you too Mrs. Potter."
Ginny chuckled, "Please, it's Ginny. Mrs. Potter makes me sound old." Ginny then sat down, along with everyone else, and placed the two envelopes on the table. She handed one of them to Tom.
Tom took the envelope and looked at Harry. Harry shrugged and gave him a quizzical look. Tom then looked at Ginny and asked, "What's this ma'am?"
Ginny smiled and told him, "Open it. It's a thank you gift."
Tom opened the envelope and pulled out two season passes to the captain's box at the home pitch of the Harpies. His eyes grew as big as saucers. Bunty looked like she was going to explode with glee. After placing the passes back in the envelope, Tom said, "I can't accept this ma'am."
Ginny reached over and placed her hand on Tom's, "Yes, you can. Without your quick thinking and actions, I wouldn't have gotten my Harry back."
While sliding the envelope towards Ginny he said, "I was just doing my job."
Ginny slid the envelope back and winked at Harry. With a serious look she said to Tom, "And I'm just a friend giving another friend season passes to the captain's box."
Tom picked up the envelope. Knowing Ginny wasn't going to take no for answer he said, "Thank you ma'am."
Ginny smiled and replied, "You're welcome."
Ginny turned to Bunty, "So Bunty, I hear you're quite the Harpies fan. Do you play?"
Bunty replied, "I am! No, I don't play. I never quite got the hang of flying."
Ginny smiled, "I can help you with that, if you want."
Bunty smiled, "I'd like that. Thank you!"
Harry, with a fake pout on his face, in a small voice asked, "How come I don't get passes to the captain's box?"
Ginny laughed as she said, "When was the last time you and Teddy had to pay for tickets?"
Harry chuckled, "True. Old man Smith does have a soft spot for us."
Teddy laughed, "He always gives me ice cream too! Mummy, why don't you show Bunty all the Harpies stuff in your office?"
Ginny replied, "Sure. We can do that before dinner. Bunty would you like to see? Come on Teddy."
Bunty nodded as she stood up, "Sure. I'd love to."
As Ginny stood, she slid the other envelope she had across the table to Harry and mouthed "Not for Teddy." Harry nodded that he understood as he picked it up.
Ginny, Bunty, and Teddy walked up the stairs to the second floor. Ginny opened the first door on the right and motioned Bunty to go inside. As Bunty walked into the room she gasped. The room was decorated in Harpies green and yellow. Two walls were covered with photos and posters of Ginny and the girls. There were team photos, photos of Ginny playing with the Harpies and the Gryffindor House team, and even some framed newspaper clipping from The Daily Prophet. On another wall there two framed quidditch jerseys. One was Ginny's first Harpies jersey and the other one was her Gryffindor jersey. Both were hanging above a large oak desk. On the desk were two framed photos. One was of Harry in his Gryffindor quidditch robes and the other was of Ginny, Bella, and her mother after the last championship match. Along with the photos was a quaffle on a stand with a plaque that read 'First Goal'. The last wall was Ginny's trophy case. It held all of Ginny awards and trophies that she had gotten over the years.
Bunty walked around the room in amazement. She said, "Holy cow! It's your whole career." Ginny smiled.
Bunty saw the photos on the desk, she asked "Is that Mr. Potter?"
Ginny walked over, "Yes, it is. Harry was quite the seeker at Hogwarts. He was the youngest at Hogwarts in a century. He could have gone pro. Harry was scouted by quite a few teams too but, he turned them all down to become an auror."
Teddy squealed, "Harry likes to catch the bad wizards!"
Ginny chuckled as she ruffled Teddy's hair, "That he does."
Bunty looked at the second photo, "Who's this girl?"
Ginny smiled as she picked up the photograph, "Her name is Bella. I met her and her mum after the championship match."
Bunty said, "I think I met her once. She's a huge fan of yours if I remember right." Ginny smiled.
Bunty walked to the trophy case and marveled at all the awards that Ginny had obtained.
Meanwhile, back in the kitchen.
Harry picked up the envelope that Ginny had left him and said, "Let's see what she left for me that's not for Teddy." Harry took out the note inside. As Harry read the note, he became visibly angry.
Tom looked at Harry with concern, "Sir, what is it?"
Harry gave the note to Tom, "Read this."
Tom took the note. He noticed it wasn't handwritten and it said:
Ginny Potter,
You better watch your back. You'll never know when I'll strike. I have eyes everywhere.
Sincerely,
Your Worst Nightmare Come True
Tom took the note and put it back in the envelope. Harry asked him, "What do you think?"
Tom thought for a moment, "Looks like the note was written with an auto-quill. I think it's something to investigate. It may be nothing, but it may turn into something. We'll have to find out where and when she got the note and go from there. I'll bring it into the office tomorrow morning and have our people check it out. I'll arrange a plain-robe detail for her and for Teddy, too. A couple of aurors to blend in, just in case."
Harry nodded, "Ginny's not going to like it but it's a good idea. It's probably nothing, but with our history, we can't be too careful."
Tom said, "Maybe you should be on alert too Sir. Never know. I'll set up a detail for you too."
Harry replied, "I guess it's the right thing to do." Harry stood up and walked over to the oven to check on dinner. As the smell of the meatloaf filled the kitchen he said, "Looks like the meatloaf's ready and so are the potatoes and green beans."
At the same time Ginny, Bunty, and Teddy walked back into the kitchen. Bunty ran over to Tom holding a Harpies jersey, "Look what Ginny gave me! A game worn quidditch jersey! She even signed it! Thank you so much Ginny!" She held up the jersey for Tom to see.
Ginny smiled, "You're welcome. I couldn't let you leave my office without a souvenir."
Harry took the meatloaf out of the oven, "Your timing is perfect. Teddy, set the table please." Teddy nodded as he got out the plates.
The dinner conversations were light in nature, mostly office gossip. Harry hadn't been clear to go back to work yet, so he was playing catch up with Tom about everything going on at the Ministry since the last time he was there. Ginny learned that Bunty was a Hufflepuff and graduated from Hogwarts last year. She was now studying to be a healer at St. Mungo's. Teddy went on and on to anybody that would listen to him talk about flying on his toy broom in the back garden. Tom paid attention to Teddy the most. He nodded at all the right times and commented in all the right places.
In between bites Bunty said, "I'd really like to go into pediatrics. I just love kids." She looked at Teddy and smiled.
Ginny said, "That's wonderful! I'm sure you'll do great." She turned to Tom and asked, "Tom, one thing I don't understand is if you're muggle-born how do you have a witch for a niece?"
Tom smiled, "Bunty's father and I are only half-brothers. We have the same father, but different mothers. Somewhere in our father's family there was a witch or wizard. Bunty and I were lucky enough to get the magic gene. Our father left Britain shortly after my brother's birth and went to the US, where he met my mother, and I was born. Before my father passed away, he told me that I had family in Whales. After some thought, I decided to move here to meet them and to have a new adventure. My brother was very welcoming, even after I told him I was a wizard. That's when he introduced me to Bunty."
Ginny finished her dinner, "Now it all makes sense."
Kreacher laid out tea for the adults, pumpkin juice for Teddy, and a plate of biscuits as he cleared the place settings.
Harry told Teddy, "After you're finished, you need to take a bath and then it's bed."
Teddy frowned, "Can't I stay up Harry? Please?"
Harry shook his head, "Not tonight buddy. Maybe next time." Teddy folded his arms across his chest with a scowl on his face.
Ginny chuckled and said, "How about this, if you do what your godfather asks, I'll take you to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes tomorrow."
Teddy's scowl turned to a smile, "Ok!" Teddy finished his juice and ran to the upstairs bathroom to take his bath. Harry followed to help him set the water and to make sure he didn't overfill the bathtub.
When Harry came to back to the kitchen, he sat down and picked up the envelope and asked Tom, "Can we talk about this in front of Bunty."
Tom looked over to Bunty. I was like a switch was flipped and Tom went into auror mode. He said, "Not a word of this. This is need to know, and nobody else needs to. Do you get me?" Understanding the gravity of the situation, Bunty just nodded as she took a sip of her tea and reached for a biscuit. Tom nodded to Harry, "We're good to go Sir."
Harry took the note out of the envelope and said, "Before we get to this, Tom there's something I need to tell you." Tom straightened up in his chair as Harry continued, "Robards offered me the Operations and Information Chief job after he reassigned Jones and I accepted it. That means when I come back to the office there's going to be a new team leader."
Tom asked, "Who's getting promoted? Smith? Jenkins?"
Harry sipped his tea, "I'm promoting you."
Tom was visible shocked, "Me? Thank you, Sir."
Harry smiled, "I know you'll do well. When I come back, I'll make everything official." As he held the note Ginny gave him, Harry said, "Ok, now on to this. Ginny, when did you get this and where did you find it?"
Ginny drained her teacup, "Today. After my meeting with Gwen, I went to my locker to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything. It was lying at the bottom of it. It could have been there since I cleaned out my locker last week, though."
Tom took the note from Harry, "I'm going to bring this to the office tomorrow and have it examined. We're also going to launch an investigation. Do you have any idea who may have sent this?"
Ginny thought for a moment, "The only person that comes to mind is Abagail Cook. He tried to flirt with Harry at the Gala, I shot her down and she was the only person in the hall that didn't seem happy about me becoming captain of the team. Come to think of it, she always did seem a little jealous of me."
Tom took out a note pad and small self-inking quill and started taking notes, "Anybody else come to mind ma'am?"
Ginny shook her head, "Not off hand."
Tom looked at Bunty, "You know a lot of Harpies fans Bunty. You haven't heard anything about somebody who wanted to hurt Mrs. or Mr. Potter, have you? Rumors maybe?"
Bunty shook her head, "No, I'm sorry. I haven't."
Tom said, "Ok. We'll start with Abagail Cook and go from there. I'm going to need a list of teammates that you're close with. We'll need to talk with them, just to find out if they've seen or heard anything. Next thing is I want to set up a plain-robe detail for you, Mr. Potter, and Teddy." Ginny started to protest but Tom cut her off, "I will hand pick the aurors myself and unless something happens, you won't even know they're there." Ginny nodded. Harry trusted Tom so she knew she could trust Tom with this.
Ginny looked at Harry and said, "We'll have to talk to Andie about all this. Do you think it might be better if we took Teddy until this is over or should he still float between the two houses?"
Harry replied, "I'll sent her an owl tomorrow inviting her to dinner. We can talk to her after Teddy goes to bed. Tom will you drop by tomorrow night? As far as where he stays, I don't know. What do you think Tom?"
Tom replied, "Sure, I'll drop by about 7:00." He then thought about things for a minute, then said, "I think if he's here, Teddy will be safer. Nothing against his grandmother." Ginny nodded.
Harry held up his hand to stop the conversation. He whispered, "Teddy's coming downstairs."
Teddy walked back into the kitchen with his hair back to the usual blue he liked and already changed for bed. He was dressed in his favorite pajamas that were black with little golden snitches all over them, "I'm ready for bed Harry."
Harry smiled as he hugged Teddy and gave him a kiss on his head, "I see that. Thank you for helping with dinner. Don't forget to say goodnight to our guests."
Teddy nodded as he walked over to Tom. Teddy extended his hand and said, "Goodnight Mr. Warrington. It was very nice to meet you."
Tom shook Teddy's hand and replied, "It was very nice meeting you too Little Sir." Teddy smiled at the sound of his new nickname.
He then walked over to Bunty and shook her hand and said, "Goodnight Bunty. It was very nice meeting you. I hope you come over again."
Bunty smiled and gave the boy a hug, "It was very nice meeting you too Teddy. I would love to come back to visit you again."
Teddy walked away with hair to match Bunty's, "Mummy, will you tuck me in?"
Ginny smiled as she stood, "Let's go Mister." Teddy took Ginny's hand as they walked out of the kitchen.
Harry chuckled, "I think Teddy has a crush on someone."
Bunty's face turned pink.
