Disclaimer: I'm sure if this isn't the first fic that you have read then you know that drill. All I own here is the plot.. And maybe a character or two, but nothing from Harry Potter. I'm telling you this only because lawsuits are not my friend. So enjoy!

IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE: THIS FANFIC IS RATED "M" CHILDREN SHOULD NOT BE READING THIS. YOU ARE WARNED.

CHAPTER TWO: A NEW LIFE BEGINS

Harry, Hermione, and the Weasley children were sitting around the living room of the Burrow not speaking. It was now three days after the attack on the school and there had been a massive memorial service that morning for the fallen. They were now listening as anchor after anchor described the battle in which they were not in attendance on Mrs. Weasley's magical radio system and Harry was about to crack.

After hours of sitting without saying a word, he was greatly relieved when Ginny stood and flipped the switch on the machine to "off."

"Do you all really think that this is going to help at all?" She asked the group, then with a crack in her voice she added, "Do you really think this is what Fred would have wanted?"

Harry stood to hold her close to him and rubbed her back. The rest of the gang looked at each other nervously until George spoke.

"Gin's right. Fred wouldn't have wanted us to be sulking around here like this. He would want us to enjoy our time off from our job's that he got us, or our summer from school, or whatever it is we should be enjoying! How about a game of Quidditch?"

For a moment no one spoke. Could they really just play Quidditch when a member of their team had been removed? Who would play the other beater? It was Hermione who broke the silence this time.

"That sounds like a great idea." She said determinedly.

With Hermione's stamp of approval, the suggestion suddenly seemed possible. She even agreed to play.

It was fairly obvious that the game was forced and a little awkward, but they all managed to have fun at it. After a decent game, they headed back to the house. When they arrived, Mrs. Weasley presented Harry with a letter that had just been delivered. He was not surprised the see that it was from Professor McGonagall; he had sent her an owl earlier that day asking about Teddy. He opened the letter and read it.

Harry,

According to Remus's and Tonks's wills, you are indeed Teddy's legal Guardian. Currently, he is under the care of his grandmother and she is perfectly willing to keep him as long as you need her too. I'm sure that you are willing and completely capable of caring for Teddy, but I think it best if you get your life on track (i.e. Find yourself a career and get settled) before you begin caring for Teddy full time. Until then, I encourage you to visit him on a regular basis to ensure that he is familiar with you.

Best of wishes,

Minerva McGonagall

Harry was slightly disappointed that he wasn't going to have Teddy with him for some time yet. He had gotten used to the idea of having an infant to take care of, but McGonagall's logic was unbeatable as usual. He needed to get a career going and figure out what he wanted to do with the rest of his life before he could be responsible for another. The problem of the was of course that he had no idea what he wanted to do with the rest of his life, he was sure that he had thrown away his shot at being an auror when he had abandoned his final year of school and not taken his NEWTS. Harry sat down just in time for Mr. Weasley to walk in the door.

"Harry! I'm glad you're here, I have some news for you!" he said, sliding a letter across the table to him.

"What's this?" He asked, a bit confused.

"open it and I'm sure that you will find out." Ginny piped in. Harry obeyed and read the first few lines to himself. He looked up to Mr. Weasley as if to ask if what he was reading was real.

"But I thought," He started to say.

"What does it say?" Ginny asked. It was obvious that her curiosity was eating away at her. Harry obliged by reading it to her.

To Harry James Potter:

It has recently come to our attention that you were previously interested in a career as an auror. We understand that you were unable to attend your N.E.W.T.S. tests last year since you were not in attendance at school. Normally several NEWTS are required in order to enter the academy, but in consideration of your recent contribution to wizard society, we feel that you have all of the usual aptitudes required for admission. For these reasons we feel that we can allow you to enter the academy with two conditions:

After reviewing your potions scores over your school record, we feel that you will need some extra training in that area.

After the first year of training, you will be required to sit the NEWTS.

We are looking forward to hearing from you soon, and hope that you will be joining us for classes in the fall. If you so choose to accept this offer, a list of required texts and supplies has been attached.

Hoping to see you soon,

Henry Moody

Auror's Academy Headmaster

When Harry finished reading, he looked up to see that both Mrs. Weasley and Ginny had the same astonished look on their faces.

"Moody?" he asked, "is he related to mad-eye?"

"He sure is, but very distantly." Mr. Weasley responded with an amused grin, "he likes to pretend that they were close relatives. My best suggestion to you is to just go with it."

Harry let out a small laugh and looked at the letter again. After a moment or two, Ginny cut in.

"Oh Harry! You are going to do it, aren't you?" She asked.

Harry thought before responding, "I'm not sure." He said, then he looked at Mr. Weasley. "Can I think about it?"

"Of course," he responded, "Think as long as you want. Classes don't begin until September."

"I think I'll do that." he said, then he folded the letter and slid it into his pocket.

Once the note was safely tucked away, Mrs. Weasley took a breath and continued with her cooking. It appeared that lunch would be ready soon, so Harry left to go for a walk and clear his head of all that had happened in the past few minutes. His mind was so distracted that he didn't even notice when Ginny slipped out to follow him.

He didn't even pay attention to where his feet were taking him, but kept walking until he came to a spot that he felt would be nice and private. Trees and bushes surrounded the area, but there was still a nice view of the sky and the colors that radiated from the unseen setting sun. There he conjured a blanket and made himself comfortable while he watched as the sun went down. By this time, he had realized he was being followed and was fairly sure as to who it was doing the following. He looked over to her and smiled invitingly. Ginny returned the smile and made herself comfortable next to him on the blanket.

"You know Ginny, being an auror is all that I ever wanted to do." He said to her.

"Yeah, I know." She responded simply.

"So why is it such a hard decision for me? Shouldn't I be jumping for the opportunity to live that dream? Why do I have these doubts?"

"What doubts could you possibly have?" she asked, sitting up to look at him directly.

Harry thought carefully for a minute the responded, "Well, if I'm going to school then how am I supposed to take care of Teddy? And am I really going to be able to catch up enough to pass my NEWTS after the first year?"

Ginny responded without hesitation, "yes. Of course you'll be able to do it. That's not even a question. As for Teddy, his grandmother is glad to take care of him as long as you need her too. She understands that you are young and you need to get your life started before you can take care of another, and you'll get to visit him and maybe he can spend weekends with you or something."

Harry smiled, "How do you do that?"

"Do what"

"You made me feel better so easily. It's like you knew just what to say"

"Isn't that what girlfriends are for?"

Harry was suddenly struck with a moment of inspiration. "I know something else that girlfriends are for..." he said slyly.

He reached over and pulled her into a kiss. When the two came up for air, Ginny smiled and, just as he wanted, she climbed on top of him. The excitement that followed could be matched by no one.

Their clothes were removed so fast that, had someone been watching they would have accused the two of temporarily growing extra limbs. Soon the blanket that harry had conjured was being pulled and tangled in the bodies of the two lovers.

Ginny gave Harry pleasures that he had only dreamt of. Once she was satisfied that he was thoroughly aroused and all self control had been abandoned, she straddled him and slowly placed herself down onto him. It wasn't long at all before the two exploded all over each other and they were lying on the blanket panting.

"Ginny, you are so amazing." Harry managed as he began to catch his breath.

Unable to respond, Ginny simply gave him a quick peck on he cheek in thanks. Harry looked around. The sun had completely set and the stars were lighting the clearing.

"It is beautiful, isn't it?" he said.

Ginny nodded, it seemed that she was still speechless so Harry spoke again.

"We should probably get redressed or we'll both end up sick."

Again, Ginny did not respond but stood to put her clothes back on. Harry made a wave of his wand and the blanket on the ground disappeared, then grabbed Ginny's hand and they made their way back to the burrow together.

They arrived with just enough time to sneak upstairs before dinner was served, though it was extremely hard to resist the occasional glance towards the end of the table where Ginny was seated in between Ron and her father. It was easy to see that she was suffering the same difficulty. When dinner was finally over neither could remember a single thing about what was eaten or what had been discussed during the meal.

The weeks that followed were are basically the same. In between the random chores that Mrs. Weasley threw at them, Harry and Ginny would sneak off as much as they could to talk, and commence with any other fun things that they could come up with, but their time together was limited at best since Mrs. Weasley had decided that she was going to give the burrow a complete overhaul bother inside and out since she had "so many willing and helpful hands around." Most of the children agreed that it was her own way of dealing with Fred's death. Ginny had confided in Harry that when she walked passed her room at night she often heard her mother's soft sobs and her father's whispered comforts.

Admittedly, everyone was grateful to be busy. It kept them from having too much downtime to their thoughts. Nights were hard on everyone and there were several nights when Ginny ended up in Harry's bed due to night terrors. On these nights Harry would hold her close and rub her back gently until she fell asleep then carry her carefully back to her room so neither of them would end up in any trouble the next day. He was sure that her father would not be please with either of the for a moment's laps of judgment like that.

One day when the kids actually had a moment to breath, Ginny made a suggestion to Harry that he should have thought of long before.

"Why don't we go visit Teddy today?" she asked.

Harry thought for a moment and decided that it would be a great idea. He instructed her to make sure that it was okay with her mother that he take her on side-a-long apparation and she returned quickly with a bag and a bright grin.

"Mom says to be back by six for dinner"

Harry smiled at her, for a moment she looked completely carefree. It was almost as if, just for a moment, things were back to normal.

"Harry?" she broke through his thoughts, "are you alright?"

"Yes, my love, I'm just perfect," he said before grabbing her by the hand, "Now hold on tight."

She closed her eyes and he pulled her with him into the darkness that was closing around him. A second later they appeared in the back yard of Andromeda Tonks. They took a quick breath and walked around the front of the house to knock properly. Surprisingly, the house seemed pretty normal. It was a small ranch style home with plane white siding and peach shutters. The door stained lightly and the porch included a swing and two rocking chairs. Anyone who saw this house would have thought that it came straight out of a catalog trying to convince people to buy real estate in the country and watch the corn grow.

They knocked on the door and waited as noises came from inside the house. Harry and Ginny looked at each other. It sounded like a war was going on in the house. They knocked again, and this time Andromeda answered the door quickly. She looked frazzled and half asleep. It was quite obvious that they had interrupted a nap. Her hair was frizzy enough to fit perfectly in any eighty's music video and her clothing consisted of a small night gown and a bath robe that she was fighting to keep closed.

"Oh! Harry, dear! I'm so sorry, I wasn't expecting you. Come on in, love."

Harry and Ginny looked at each other nervously again before entering.

"I'm sorry Andromeda, I should have sent notice before I came over. I just wanted to spend some time with Teddy." Harry said.

"Of course dear. He's just in his crib."

The inside of the house was exactly the opposite of the outside. Indoors the home was cluttered and disorganized. It was much clearer that the Tonks family lived there once the inside of the house was inspected.

"um, where might that be?" Harry asked as he looked around. Harry was no expert, but this seemed like no place for a baby.

"It's just in here," she said pointing to a room that looked difficult to get to due to boxes and misplaced furniture, "I'm sorry about the mess. It's just been so difficult to keep up lately," her voice began to crack, "with Nymphadora and Remus..." it was clear that she could no longer go on.

Without even thinking about it Harry hugged her and the tears began to fall. Right there in the middle of the Tonks living room, Harry cracked. He cried and she cried and the sat there in the floor holding each other. Harry hardly new this women, but just knowing that she knew what he was going through and completely understood made him feel like he had known her forever. He knew that it had been perhaps more difficult for her than it was for him having Teddy there every second of the day reminding her of what she had lost.

Through the whole ordeal Ginny didn't say a word. She was well aware that both Harry and Adromeda needed this time to cope. When the baby began to fuss she disappeared and went to him. After some time Andromeda pulled away and they both wiped there tears. Neither had said a single word during the entire time that they were on the floor, but both had received exactly the amount of help they needed.

Their tears dried and minds a little more at ease, Andromeda led Harry to the room where Ginny had found the infant.

"He is such a great baby," Ginny said. She looked quite content in her position on the floor next to the bubbly baby. Harry smiled and she returned the favor.

"Why don't we take him outside; he does love it there," Andromeda suggested. Harry agreed so they gathered him up and took him to the backyard.

Harry conjured a blanked just as he had that night in the garden and placed the child on it so he wouldn't find some insect or rock to attempt to eat and sat down next to him to do some bonding. The four of them had a wonderful time taking turns playing with Teddy. It astounded Harry how happy the infant was, but then again he probably didn't really realize that he was an orphan. Harry vowed that afternoon to ensure that Teddy grew up happy and aware of what wonderful courageous people his parents both were.

"Would the two of you like to stay for dinner?" Andromeda asked as Harry tossed the child into the air and caught him full of giggles.

"No, thanks" Harry responded, handing Teddy back to Andromeda, "We really should be going. We promised Ginny's mother we would be home at six and it is very nearly that now. Thank you for the offer though."

Harry leaned down and gave Teddy a kiss on the forehead. He looked up at him and smile, causing Harry's heart to melt in his chest.

"can we come see him again next weekend?" he asked.

"Of course," Andromeda answered, "and I promise to be better prepared next time."

After laughs all around, Harry and Ginny waved an disaparated back to the burrow.

Dinner went smoothly and everyone broke away from the table full and as happy as could be. Afterwards Ginny pulled Harry outside to go for a walk. The moon was new Harry lit his wand to break the darkness.

"Did you enjoy your visit today, Harry?" She asked after a while of silence.

"Yes, definitely," Harry said, "I can't wait until he's ours." He through the 'ours' in there without thinking, but did not regret it.

"You really think that we can handle a baby?"

By this time they had reached the top of a hill that was one of her absolutely favorite spots so she turned to face him.

"I think that we can handle anything if we tackle it together." Harry responded, "As long as we stick together we can conquer any obstacle."

"That's good because..." she stopped.

"Because what?" Harry asked, confused.

"Because... I'm pregnant."

a/n: sorry for the long wait, lots of finals and Christmas shopping and mothers freaking out because of a certain daughter (me) not coming home for Christmas... it's been a pretty chaotic week, but I hope it lives up to all of your great reviews! Thanks to everyone who reviewed it was my motivation to keep my writing nice and high on my to-do list!

3 Ashley