6

HP

Harry sighed as he shoved the papers on his desk away. He had been feeling nervous all morning, his lunch with Amelia was in half an hour and he felt nervous like a teenage boy. He closed the folder and stood up from his desk. He walked in a fast pace towards the elevators, nodding to his co-workers absently. When he pressed the elevator button, he saw his fingers tremble and pushed his hands in his pockets quickly. Relax, it's just lunch. When the bell of the elevator rang, he stepped forward. His feet carried him to the office he wanted to visit for the last weeks. When he looked to the left, he saw that Arthur's door was closed. When he turned to the right, he saw her in her office. She was pacing behind her desk, her wand tucked into a lose bun in her hair. She nibbled on an old pen as she read a folder full of sticky notes. Harry leaned against the doorframe as he took her in. She was wearing a dark blue sheath dress, that stopped just above her knee. Short over-the-shoulder sleeves and a shy V-neck. It was a simple dress, but boy she looked good. His heart was stuttering fast in his chest, and he nervously ran his hand through his already unruly hair. He took in a steadying breath.

"Knock-knock." He said with a little smile.

Amelia stopped pacing and turned to look at him in surprise. Her mouth was dropped slightly open, the pen still resting on her lips. Merlin, that girl was going to be the death of him. He was sure his heart stopped when her surprise turned into a large smile, so large it made Harry think she was just as happy to see him as he was her. "Harry!" Her beaming smile widened even more. "Am I late?" She asked trying to look over at her watch, but the papers in her folder all fell to the floor.

"No, no. I'm early." Harry said as he walked over quickly and kneeled down with her as they picked up the papers. Harry handed them over and locked his eyes with hers. Her large blue eyes staring back at him. They were both holding each end of the papers as they were still kneeling on the stone floor. "I'm sorry I'm early, I didn't mean to interrupt your work." He finally managed to say.

"It's okay." The corner of her lip twitched up. "I could use the break. Let's head out early." She winked and slowly rose to her feet. "You can give me the papers back." She smirked as she glanced at the papers Harry was still holding.

"Oh, sorry." He smiled sheepishly and let the papers go. Amelia placed the papers back in the folder and put it on her messy desk. "So, where do you want to go?"

"What about the Golden Inn?" She asked as they walked out of the room. "Their pastas are mouth-watering."

"I've never been, but I'm sure to trust your input."

"Brilliant, let's go." She smiled before she nearly tripped over seemingly nothing. Harry reached out and caught her arm just in time. He pulled her back to her feet, and she stumbled against his chest. "Thanks." She breathed, a small blush creeping up her cheeks, making him shiver.

"Anytime." His own voice husky from her close proximity. She stepped back but didn't let go of his arm. She even looped her arm better through his as they walked the corridor. "So, uhm... Thanks for the report yesterday. It made our work a lot easier." Harry said and the conversation flowed easily.

HP

They had just ordered, and the waiter walked back to the counter with their menu's when she said something he didn't expect.

"So, I heard about you and Ginny." She said looking him straight in the eyes. He adverted his eyes as he rubbed his neck. She was bolt.

"Oh." He was still rubbing his neck. "Fred and George told you?" She nodded, her eyes still on his. "We dated back in school." He started, he glanced her way as saw her waiting for more, so he continued. "When the war broke out, I broke up with her to keep her safe. We tried to reconnect after... but the war, the separation, it never felt the way it used to be and when Teddy came in the picture..." Amelia reached out and wrapped her hand around his. He looked at their hands on the table, a silver leaf-shaped ring was resting on her index finger.

"I'm sorry." She said as she squeezed his hand lightly. "I shouldn't have brought it up."

"No, it's okay." He said, tearing his gaze away from their hands and looked into her eyes. "We broke up about seven months ago. I'm not going to become a blubbering mess." He smiled.

"Good." She retracted her hand, and he missed it already. She leaned on her hand and smiled. "Don't have any handkerchiefs with me." She chuckled, and Harry couldn't help but grin. "Have you been on dates since then?"

"Ah, few." He shrugged. "Nothing came of it. They just all want to be seen with the... with me." He frowned.

"Can't say it, can you?" She laughed. "What was it? The chosen one, the saviour, the boy who lived. Am I missing one?"

"Those are three too many." He tried to hide a smile. "But don't call me any of them." The smile slipped through when he looked at her.

"Oh." She pouted. "I just wrote The Daily Prophet to tell them I was having lunch with The Chosen One, darnit." She winked.

"Haha, very funny." His smile wide. "What about you? Boyfriend, girlfriend?"

"No." She shook her head and smiled behind him as the waiter brought over their food. When he was gone again, she continued. "I had a boyfriend for two years, but it ended a while back." She said evasively. "After that, just a bit of dating, some hook-ups, nothing serious."

Harry tried to hide his surprised face, but he must've failed because she smirked at him. "So." He cleared his throat. "No one special here then?"

"When do I have the time to meet someone?" She laughed. "Since I came here, I've been working non-stop. I only meet people at work." She twirled her pasta around her fork and stopped mid-air. "You know... with me not knowing anyone and you have a bad history in dating, we should go out to a club or something, muggle of course, so you won't get recognised. Maybe we'll both get lucky." She winked and Harry's stomach clenched together, his appetite gone.

"Yeah, maybe." He said slowly as he looked at his own pasta. He twirled his fork around and forced himself to take a bite, but once it touched his tongue, he involuntarily let out a moan.

"Told you it was good here." Amelia chuckled. He flushed, embarrassed with the sound he made and swallowed it quickly.

"Really good." He looked at her, a grin on his lips when he saw a little sauce in the corner of her mouth. "You have a little something." He said as he pointed to the corner of her mouth. She swiped with her thumb but only got a part of it. "M-may I?" He asked nervously as he leaned closer and held up his napkin. He saw her swallow before nodding her head. He leaned in a little closer and dapped the sauce away with his napkin. It was like both of them held their breath as the moment stretched out. At one point, Harry had lowered the napkin, but he was still leaning in. Harry's eyes flickered to her lips, and he saw her do the same. If he would just lean in just a few centimetres...

"Amelia!"

Harry and Amelia jumped apart when a loud and cheerful voice filled the restaurant. They turned and saw Arthur making his way over with a large grin on his face. Harry shuffled back in his original place and looked at Arthur with a smile.

"Hello Harry. I'm sorry to interrupt." He looked to Amelia. "But a really exciting case came in, urgent too. We need to be there in ten minutes."

"Oh, okay." Amelia looked from Arthur to Harry. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. We'll - uhm – catch up later."

"You're the best." She leaned in and kissed his cheek. When she pulled back, she smiled. "What about lunch Thursday?"

"Sounds good." With a last smile, she and Arthur disappeared out of the restaurant. Harry looked back to her mostly untouched plate of pasta. He called over for the waiter and asked him to pack in both of their plates and once Harry returned to the ministry, he had placed her box of forgotten pasta on her desk for her to find later.

HP

"Let me get this soot off." Harry smiled at the little boy in his arms as they stepped out of the fireplace in Grimmauld place. Teddy had his favourite colour again, the purple bright in the dark room. Harry had left so early that morning; he had forgotten to open the curtains. With a wave of his hand the curtains opened, letting in the bright sun. Harry chuckled as Teddy matched his hair with his unruly one. He took his handkerchief out of his pocket and cleaned the soot of his face. "Want to fly your broom?"

"Yes, daddy." He answered with clapping hands. Harry smiled back as he walked through the house. It still felt weird that Teddy called him daddy. He's an eighteen-year-old dad from a kid that isn't even his. He loved Teddy and would love him like he's his own, that's not it. It was just all of the sudden and he had planned for Teddy to call him uncle. After Teddy said it for the first time, he went to talk to Andy about. She reassured him she didn't mind as long as Teddy would know about his parents and what they did. That was, of course, always his intention. He had pictures of Tonks and Remus in Teddy's bedroom and in the living room. In the evening, before bedtime, he would tell him stories about his brave parents, so they would always be remembered.

He picked up the tiny little broom from the cupboard near the backdoor and placed Teddy on the ground once they entered the garden. Teddy had too much energy, Harry thought to himself with a laugh, as Teddy began to run around the garden like a madman. After a few turns and kicks to a soccer ball, he came back, holding out his hands for his broom. Harry helped him up, and discreetly put a sticking charm on his bum and the broom before he went flying. Harry sat down on the steps in front of the kitchen and leaned back on his forearms as he watched the boy. The broom was just like the one he had when he was his age. He had a picture of it in his photo album with the few he had of his parents and Sirius. The broom didn't go higher than half a meter from the ground and it avoided objects on its own. As Teddy flew around the garden, Harry's mind began to wander. Teddy didn't have any kids his age. To be expected of course with the war, but a boy like him could use someone to play with. The ministry was starting up a school for magical children under the age of eleven. The first class would start in September but that didn't help Harry with this, since the starting age is four. He had thought about getting a dog, but when did he had the time? Between work and Teddy...

He sighed as he tilted his head towards the sun. Then his thoughts shifted to someone else. Their lunch yesterday was cut short by Arthur, but tomorrow they had their second lunch, and hopefully they wouldn't be interrupted. She had sent him a thank you note for the lunch he had left in her office, saying that she didn't have time that night to go home and cook, due to the case Arthur came to get her. Her signals were all mixed up. They almost kissed at the restaurant but a few minutes before she suggested to go out to a muggle club to hook-up with someone else. He groaned in frustration and his eyes popped open when he heard.

"DADDY!"

Teddy was flying towards him, laughing. He had his hands stretched out in front of him. Harry pushed himself up and undid the sticking spell before he opened his arms and Teddy and the broom landed safely in his arms. "I love you, little one."

"Lov-u." He said as he leaned his head against Harry's chest.