Upon returning to the Burrow's sitting room with Ron, Harry immediately noticed a tall Weasley-red-haired young man he had trouble recognising without seeing his face, who seemed to have arrived just now and was being surrounded by almost a dozen of his family members. Harry found his mouth involuntarily curled up into a smile when the face came into view.
"Teddy! I almost didn't recognise you there." While his godson had loved to change his hair colour all the times since he had been an infant, sometime as many as thirty times a day, Harry felt surprised to realise he had rarely seen Teddy in mundane hair colours other than blonde and his natural light brown hair. He had shown up one year in "Christmas tree"-coloured hair, which was green colour with dozens strands of highlights of a variety of colours, it had been so popular among his family that since then, he would be obliged to appear in that look at least thrice on Christmas every year.
The young man's face brightened the moment he saw his godfather, "Harry! Merry Christmas! I've missed you."
Their family now rapidly dispersed to let the godfather through to greet him. Teddy pulled Harry into a tight hug naturally, which Harry returned with equal affection. He had not seen his godson for more than a month, the longest it had been since Teddy's graduation, as he had been busy repairing all the damages caused by Delphi while Teddy had been busy with work since his promotion.
After releasing the new ginger boy from the hug, Harry gave Teddy a fatherly pat on his shoulder while he turned to greet Ron with a handshake and a half-hug, his best friend teased, "Teddy, as good as it's to see you, I must say, I'm personally offended by your look."
"Oh really? It's James idea. He said that I should show up in ginger hair so I can pretend to be a Weasley, to see how well I will fit into the family."
Harry laughed, "What kind of nonsense is that? You have been part of the family even before Vic's birth."
"True, I know it's kind of ridiculous but it just sounded fun. I don't think I have changed into this colour for fifteen years or so, during my early years visiting the Burrow. It just made sense to change at the time when you were being surrounded by almost ten gingers."
"Fun? Teddy, you should have gone all the way if you really would like to see how well you'll fit. How dare you pretend to be a Weasley without the freckles? I'm sure you had done a better job playing a Weasley as a toddler, I believe mum still has photos kept from those visits." Ron challenged while Harry felt contented to play bystander.
"You didn't say?" Teddy smilingly and effortlessly changed his face from spotless to completely freckled.
"I take it back, boy. You simply can't carry the ginger hair nor the freckles. You have no hope in becoming one of us. I would rather take your 'Christmas tree' anyday."
Teddy pretended to look hurt by pouting his lips while reverting his changes and said, "That was harsh, Ron." He was now sporting his natural brown hair.
"Don't be an arse, uncle Ron." Victoire had somehow danced her way to Teddy's side and placed a delicate hand lovingly onto her fiancé's arm. They shared a look before Teddy giving the stunning blonde a quick kiss on the mouth.
"Who are you calling an arse, Vic? That's highly disrespectful of you to call your favourite uncle that." Ron retorted in mock irritation.
"As far as uncles go, I believe you are almost my least favourite…" She pretended to think for a moment before leaning close to Ron's ear and whispered with her sweet voice, "at least I like you better than uncle Percy."
Ron fumed, "It's an insult for you to put me in the same sentence…"
By now Harry was feeling a strong need to intervene as he would far rather doing some real catching up with Teddy in this precious time than seeing Ron bantering with… well, anyone who cared enough. "Ron, I haven't seen my godson for weeks so if you don't mind, I would prefer to talk with them about the wedding, their work to… whatever you like to argue about."
"Fine… So, have you two lovebirds decided when to have the wedding?"
"Not yet but we prefer to have it either in the summer holiday or close to next year's Christmas, so Al, James and the rest of them in Hogwarts, as well as Vic's French relatives, will be able to attend… Speaking of which, I don't think I have seen Al yet, where's he?"
"Oh… I let Albus visit his best friend at his home this morning. You'll be able to meet him at lunch after I have picked him up."
"You mean… Scorpius, right? I have read so much about the boy from Al's letter that I feel like I have known him personally. Gran has met him once and said that he seemed like the sweetest kid."
Albus had always been closer to Teddy than most of his cousins, which had been even more the case since his sorting into Slytherin as all of his cousins were Gryffindor while Teddy had been different. It had been a small relief for Harry that even through his difficult years, Albus had maintained regular contact with Teddy and to Albus, Teddy had been at times more of a brother than James. "Yes, this is perfect…" It would have been the perfect time for Harry to tell his godson his plan had Ginny not reached Harry at this moment with a flustered look.
"Finally! There you are! I have been looking for you for a long time. Harry, it's almost time for lunch, why don't you go and give mum some help?"
Harry would very much like to stay to talk with his godson but at seventy, his mother-in-law was doing what should have been at least a four-people-job even with the help of magic, cooking for thirty people. Stubborn that she was, Molly Weasley would never agree to hire a house-elf, even one that was treated humanely. In fact, she refused to let almost anyone into her kitchen other than a selected few that it had actually been an honour for Harry for being allowed to help, even though she would nonetheless constantly try to take away the work from him.
"Hmm… sure, I'll go right away. Teddy, I'll talk to you later." Harry rushed to the kitchen after giving the young couple a lingering look.
Upon entering the kitchen, Harry found his best friend carefully arranging a large tray of salad with greens, tomatoes, fruits and so on. He noticed that she was also cooking a large pot of soup which was charmed to be stirred constantly by a large spoon. He had always found it curious that even though Ron was the one who took care of his household for the most part, it was Hermione the Minister for Magic his mother-in-law would trust enough to help with her Christmas feast, the most important meal of her year.
"Hi, Harry. This salad should be ready soon, you can take it out along with the cold cuts and biscuits in a minute." His friend said without even looking up from the salad. Usually they liked to have some of these appetisers out early with the drinks while Molly was finishing up with the other dishes.
"It's so nice of you to come to help, Harry dear!" Molly Weasley greeted fondly even though he had helped her with the meal every year. She had been checking on the roast beef when he entered that she did not see him coming.
While waiting for Hermione to finish up with the salad, Molly asked, "So Harry, is Albus going to stay at the Malfoy Manor with the poor kid the whole day?"
"Oh, no… I will pick him up when everything is ready here. I believe he should at least meet and spend some time with his own family on Christmas. Besides, Albus has woke us up early that he has been there since eight ten, I would say five hours should be more than enough time for a friend on Christmas."
"From what I hear, it doesn't sound like even an entire day would be too much for those poor boys to play. I did mean it when I said Albus could spend as much time with the Malfoy boy as he wanted today. They deserve it." She said understandingly while magically transferring a large pan of sauteed potatoes onto a large plate.
She continued after pausing for almost a minute. "But of course... I do miss him much after everything that had happened, what horrors those children have endured. Such a sweet kid, Albus has sent me flowers for Christmas… I… I just can't imagine what could have been..." She was getting very emotional which almost sent him into a panic.
Harry wrapped his mother-in-law in a tender hug to console her, he noticed that Hermione had finished with the salad and the soup and had proceeded to levitate both the salad and the cold cuts out herself to give them some privacy after shooting him a pointed look. "Molly, I can promise you that Albus is fine… You would not have any doubt yourself if you could see how excited he was this morning. I have never seen him this happy for years and he's doing much better in school as well."
She sniffed loudly once before taking a few deep breaths to calm down before pulling away from him. "Sorry, Harry dear, I didn't mean to worry you. It's just… Christmas always reminds me of Fred…" He suspected that a reason why she insisted to do almost everything herself on Christmas was to distract herself from the grief she would inevitably feel in this holiday.
"It's fine… perhaps you should go out and take some fresh air. It looks like you are almost done with everything, I should be able to finish them up for you."
She purposefully moved to the soup to taste it, before saying, "Don't worry about it, Harry. I am okay… But I have been meaning to ask, are you okay?"
Harry was genuinely shocked to see how she had turned the table, "Me? Of course I'm, Molly. Why would you be worried about…"
She interrupted in a surprisingly stern tone, "What the boys had endured were absolutely terrible… but in my opinions, even that could not be compared to a child witnessing his own parents' murders. I must say, I could not understand what you were all thinking… haven't you witnessed enough terrors and deaths? You have always been a strong and brave child, but anyone could break at some point given enough traumas."
He was feeling a hundred of emotions at once that he was speechless for what felt like minutes. He sort of looked down and could not bring himself to look at Molly Weasley while she quietly resumed her cooking. He truly felt grateful for her love and concern as she was the only mother figure he had ever have but he was also feeling very frustrated by her question as he did not believe there was any way for him to adequately explain the need he had felt to witness the murders himself and he did not like to still be treated as a "child" at forty years old. He did not regret that decision to witness the deaths in itself but he did feel regretful for exposing the boys to that too, considering they had already witnessed Craig's death, as well as being tortured and almost killed by Delphi. He also felt guilty for putting Molly and all his loved ones through the worries and pain.
He began tentatively, "Molly…" He did not know whether she was trying to hide her emotions from him or she was angry at him but she refused to turn towards him.
"I get why you would be upset about my decision to witness my parents' deaths... And words can't describe how much I appreciate your love and presence in my life for all these years. But… it was an inner voice that had told me that I had to do that. It was nothing like my Horcurx… more like a gut feeling. I couldn't explain it at the time but looking back, I think there had been a part of me that had remained a traumatised, scared child inside because I had never truly been able to move on from my parents' deaths…"
His mother-in-law had turned with a softened expression and pressed a hand on his, he could see tears threatening to fall from her eyes when she said, "You don't have to talk about this, Harry dear… I am sorry I made you to."
He could feel his eyes almost burning but he resisted the urge to cry, "No, I want to." She seemed to debate a little before giving him a nod.
"Growing up I was told by the Dursleys that my parents were terrible parents … I had never truly believed that but I did not know anything about them either that I could only mourn for my loss, but not for them as people. Since the first day I was thrown into the wizarding world, I had been told over and over again that I looked like my father, except for my mother's eyes… I was a great Quidditch player, just liked he was… and so on. I loved hearing those at the time but they didn't truly help me know them at all. I had idealised them so much that I felt hurt when I found myself believing Snape that James was an arrogant jerk when I saw that memory of them harassing Snape. It made me felt doubtful about whether I had known anything about them… him at all. I've seen them through the Mirror of Erised, Voldemort's wand and the Resurrection Stone but somehow, they had always felt like an imagination of mine. Throughout my school years, I had felt sad for their deaths but somehow detached because I didn't feel I know enough about them."
It was emotionally draining to bare his soul to anyone, even if he did love and trust this person, but he wanted to be understood that he forced himself to continue, "You were right that witnessing their deaths was pure agony and torture to me but," Harry saw Molly flinched but pressed on, "I needed this… It was through this that I was finally able to feel connected to them enough to mourn them properly, to cry my heart out for them, the way they deserved, and it was through proper mourning that I was finally able to truly move on from their deaths."
There was an awkward silence after as Harry looked into Molly's shining eyes then looked away when he realised she was too emotionally overwhelmed to reply. He had just done transferring the soup into a large serving bowl and was ready to levitate it out when she spoke up, "I still can't agree with your decision… completely but I am so glad that you are feeling better. You seem to look happier and less troubled these days."
He turned towards her and hesitated a little before reaching out to give her a brief hug.
"You know Harry dear, even after so many years, I would feel like bursting out crying sometimes looking at George... thinking he's how Fred would look like had… Moving on from a loved one's death is never easy, even for a seventy-year-old."
Harry suddenly got the impression that she had grown older within the past ten minutes. Looking at her, he understood that no word needed to be said so he acknowledged her grief with a solemn nod.
A/N: Sometimes I do wonder what I have gotten myself into. At this rate I feel like I would end up writing about every member of the Weasley-Potter clan, just kidding. It's hard to believe what has started out as "a nice line I could throw in into a Harry/Ginny conversation" is evolving into an integral subplot in the story. I do hope that you would enjoy it though because as hard as this could be at times, I truly love writing this.
I have seriously considered not posting anything this week as I have been having writer's block lately. When I first started, I had expected this to be rather short that I had not been able to anticipate how long a commitment this would become to me. My updates may be relatively short but they are pretty time-consuming for me but I do want to see this finished the way it deserves to be written. Could use some love, please comment.