Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

Title: The Poet's Wish

Author: ReadingRed

Beta: DukeBrymin

Chapter Four: The Past

Harry looked down at the little boy, himself really, but it was too confusing to think of this little kid like that, especially when he had no memories of this ever happening to him.

Harry had just asked the boy if he would like to come live with him, Teddy, and Ginny.

Harry knew the boy would say yes. It's what he would've said had he ever been asked, and yet, even with that knowledge, he still found himself holding his breath, hoping the child would agree.

Harry watched the boy as he looked up first in shock and then in absolute joy. Little Harry shouted "yes!" and it was all Harry could do to contain himself. He just looked at Ginny and grinned. They both knew how different Little Harry's life would be now that he would be raised by Harry and Ginny.

"Dad, is he really gonna come live with us? Like a brother?"

"Yes, Teddy, he's going to come live with us and he'll be your brother."

"Yes!" Teddy shouted, almost as loud as Little Harry before struggling in Ginny's arms to be let down. Ginny caught on quickly and let the boy down from her arms. Teddy raced over to where young Harry was standing and threw his arms around him.

Harry and Ginny froze, neither sure of how Little Harry would react. When Harry had first come to Hogwarts he hadn't liked being touched. It had taken years for him to get used to physical contact. But they shouldn't have worried, Little Harry surprised them all. He eagerly wrapped his arms around Teddy. Ginny and Harry could see his smiling face; he looked like he had won the lottery. Teddy soon let go and stepped out of the embrace.

"Hi, I'm Teddy, well really Ted James Remus Potter, but everyone calls me Teddy so you can too. That's my mum and dad," he said, tossing his hand in their general direction. "They're your parents now too. Don't worry 'cuz they 'dopted me too and they're great parents. I'm really glad you're gonna be my brother 'cuz whenever we vote I always get outvoted, now at least we'll tie with them, and now we can play two on two Quidditch. What's your name?" Teddy finally paused to take a breath. Little Harry looked stunned and it took him a moment to respond.

"I'm Harry, umm Harry Potter. I don't think I have any other names." Little Harry was about to say more when Teddy interrupted him.

"Your name's Harry?" Teddy asked incredulously. Ginny, seeing where this was going, jumped in.

"Teddy! Come here, please." Both boys jumped at her shout and Teddy ran to her side.

Teddy had been raised in war time and it showed in nearly every aspect of his life. One of them being that when Harry or Ginny ordered him to do something, he did it, and he did it fast. It had been instilled in him practically since birth. Harry and Ginny weren't willing to raise him as a 'normal' child because to do that, would be sentencing him to death. From the moment the news was leaked that Harry Potter had taken in a child, Teddy was at the top of every Death Eater's hit list, second only to Ginny. While they tried to give Teddy as normal a life as possible, in his situation it didn't amount to much. So now, when Ginny asked him to come to her, he hurried over to her as fast as he could.

"Yes, mama?" Teddy asked looking from side to side, trying to identify the danger. Ginny felt terrible for putting him on edge. She knelt down to his level and whispered in his ear.

"Honey, let's not mention Daddy's name for a while, ok? We don't want to make your new brother feel uncomfortable." Teddy immediately relaxed, knowing now that there was no danger lurking somewhere unseen. He nodded at his mother's request, even though he didn't really understand how having the same name as someone else could make one uncomfortable, and walked back to Little Harry.

While the children occupied themselves, the parents talked.

"Harry, is this really happening to us? I know you said that we're in the past but how? What're we gonna do now? What about the Resistance? We're leaving them without a leader." Ginny's rapid fire questioning reminded Harry of Teddy's own vocal rampage not too long ago, and he would've smiled had Ginny not been in distress.

"Gin, calm down," Harry said before pulling her into a gentle hug. "I'm not sure exactly. One moment I was talking to Dumbledore's portrait and then I was in this room. It was so odd. The walls glowed, and there were no doors or windows. I thought it must've been some new holding cell that leftover Death Eaters designed to hold me. I wasn't alone for long when this man appeared. In short, he told me that Little Harry had wished for someone to come save him and he decided that it should be me."

Harry looked Ginny over and saw that she was okay with the story so far. He took a deep breath and continued the retelling, hoping that the next part wouldn't bring the wrath of Ginny Potter down on him.

"I said the only way I would do it is if you and Teddy could come with me. Hesaid okay and now here we are. I don't know who heis or how he did it but we're here now. I'm sorry if I made a mistake by bringing you and Teddy back with me, but I couldn't leave you two alone in that future and I couldn't pass up this opportunity. Just think of all the events we could change for the better. We can get Sirius out of Azkaban this year! Think of how different he'll be, after only four years in that hell-hole instead of twelve. We can stop the attack on Hogwarts; maybe even kill Voldemort before he comes back. We can save your family. We're gonna find a place to live here. We're going to raise Little Harry and Teddy; we'll train Little Harry and continue Teddy's training so they're ready for anything. As for the Resistance, they haven't happened yet; most of them are still children. We're in the past, Gin."

"Harry, you don't have to convince me. I know all that we've lost. We're in this together, just like always, right?. We can do this. We can save them." They looked at the children. Harry and Teddy were running around in circles chasing each other, Harry didn't remember ever playing like that, ever being that carefree. He could already see the changes taking place in Little Harry's life.

"Harry?" Ginny asked, her voice broke as she said his name. "What about Teddy? If we save Remus and Tonks they'll raise him. Harry, I don't want to lose my son."

Harry looked at the little boy… his little boy, and felt his heart break.