Harry awoke eagerly on a Saturday morning in late November. He looked out the window and was pleased to see the sun was trying to break through. He didn't want any rain today; he and Ginny had made plans to take two year old Teddy to the zoo and, weather permitting, a picnic in the park. Then Harry and Ginny had plans for a movie marathon at home with take out.
However, when they went to pick up Teddy later, they found Andromeda quite ill, so they offered to take Teddy for the whole weekend. Ginny fire-called Molly who said she'd pop round to see if she could help Andromeda. They gathered up all they thought they'd need for Teddy, and finally they left.
It seemed to Harry that nearly every family in England had the same idea; to make the most of the last fine days before the harsh winter set in. The zoo was packed, but as Harry and Ginny were in no hurry, they didn't let it bother them. With a little hat on to keep warm, it wasn't a bother if Teddy's hair changed colour, as he was prone to do when he was angry or overly excited.
No matter how many times Harry had come to the zoo with either Ginny and Teddy, or Ginny alone, she always seemed amazed at the animals. She laughed just as much as Teddy at the antics of the monkeys and marvelled at the powerful, majestic lions. Teddy made loud roaring noises, and Ginny laughed and clapped. Teddy looked very proud of himself. Harry smiled, happy to be sharing this moment with the two people he cared so much about.
Finally they left, and, as the sun was now shining through the grey clouds, they had their picnic. Sandwiches and fruit, cake and biscuits were gobbled down, as they had worked up an appetite walking so much. Ginny gave Teddy a bag of breadcrumbs, and she and Teddy went to feed the ducks in a nearby pond. When that was done, he and Harry grabbed the ball Ginny had brought along, and he and Teddy kicked the ball to each other, as Ginny lay contentedly in the sun, watching and taking photos.
Teddy soon tired, and came and crawled into Ginny's lap. Harry came over and he too lay down, his head resting on Ginny's legs. Teddy giggled as Harry pretended to fall asleep and snore. When Ginny whispered in Teddy's ear, he giggled again, as he and Ginny yelled, "Wake up Harry!" from his favourite Muggle tv show, 'The Wiggles'. Then they proceeded to tickle him. He soon fell asleep in Harry's arms after that.
Ginny gathered up all the picnic things, and put the basket in the stroller they had brought with them. Teddy didn't like to use it much any more, claiming he was a big boy now, but it had come in handy with all the walking at the zoo. Now, Ginny placed the basket in it, and Harry kept a hold of a sleeping Teddy. They decided to catch the Muggle bus home, and walk from the bus stop. They needed to stop at the market and pick up a few necessities for their night as well.
Once home, Teddy lay on Harry's bed and he slept for another couple of hours. Harry had transfigured the sides of his bed to come up and form a barrier, in case Teddy rolled too close to the edge. He was so tired, little Teddy barely moved.
Ginny flooed over to check on Andromeda, and see if she needed anything. Molly was just preparing to leave, saying Andromeda was asleep. Molly had given her a potion and she should be better tomorrow. Molly told Ginny she would pop back later that evening to check on Andromeda, and she would tell her all about Teddy's fun day.
When Ginny got back, Teddy was awake. He watched television with Harry for awhile, telling Harry about his favourite character, 'Wags the Dog'. Ginny did a little bit of tidying in her room, and cleaned the bathroom.
When Ginny came out to the lounge, saying she had finished her chores, she offered to take Teddy over to Bill and Fleur's, so Teddy could have a play with Victoire. Harry agreed, and while they were gone, he tidied his room, and sorted out his laundry. He cleaned the kitchen and straightened out the lounge room.
Ginny flooed home with a grizzly Teddy about five. Harry bathed him, and put him in his pyjamas. Ginny prepared some mashed vegetables and some meat. Teddy played with his food, not eating much. He still seemed out of sorts, so Ginny took his temperature.
"Hmm, it's up a bit, but not too bad. Let's see how he goes, and I'll check him in a while," said Ginny. She had changed into her pyjamas too, despite it only being six thirty at night.
Surprisingly, Teddy fell asleep straight after tea. Again, Harry lay him in his bed, and went out to watch a movie with Ginny.
"I'm too pooped to cook anything else for tea, especially as my last effort ended up mostly on the floor," said Ginny, stifling a yawn. "Take-out?" she asked. Harry nodded, and they ordered a pizza.
Soon, they were sitting close on the couch, devouring a pizza. They were enthralled in the movie, and Harry paid close attention, as he knew Ginny liked to dissect the movie after. Harry loved their verbal sparring, as they always had a different view of things, and they each surprised the other with their thoughts on certain things in the movies they watched. Tonight was no exception. They tore 'Pulp Fiction' apart, but both agreed it was a keeper to their growing dvd library.
Ginny had put the kettle on for a cup of tea when she heard Teddy let out a cry. Harry was dozing on the couch, stuffed full of pizza, and the snacks they'd eaten during the movie. She went into check on Teddy, her heart breaking as she saw him crying, as if he were in pain. She quickly changed his nappy, and re-dressed him. His cries were getting louder, and Harry stumbled in.
"Hey, what's going on? Is he all right?" asked Harry as Ginny rocked him. She shook her head.
At the sight of Harry, Teddy pitifully reached out his arms to Harry. Ginny passed him over, and Teddy snuggled his head under Harry's neck. Ginny's heart lurched. 'Was there nothing more sexier than a man holding a baby like that?' she wondered, then shook her head. Harry looked concerned at her.
"Er, can you hold him and I'll take his temperature," said Ginny, blushing.
Where had thought come from? She'd seen Harry and Teddy together heaps of times before, and it had never affected her like this before. She rushed off to get the thermometer.
"Oh no, it's gone up while he's been asleep. Did we pack any children's potions while we were at Andromeda's?" asked Ginny.
"No, I think we were too focused on his clothes and toys, and worried about Andi. What shall we do, Gin?" asked Harry, worriedly.
"You stay here with him, and I'll floo to the Burrow and ask Mum, she'll know what to do. Bye, sweety, I'll be as quick as I can, Uncle Harry will look after you," said Ginny, giving Teddy a kiss on his cheek.
He looked so trustingly at her, that Ginny had tears in her eyes.
"I hate hearing him cry, knowing he might be in pain. I'll be as quick as I can, Harry," she promised, giving him a quick hug. He kissed the top of her head.
"Yeah, I know what you mean. Go, Gin, we'll be here when you get back," said Harry, rocking Teddy to and fro. He was now whimpering softly, and his eyes were drooping as he fought off sleep.
The night seemed never ending for Harry and Ginny. Ginny had flooed home for some pain potion, and Molly had to brew it to be suitable for Teddy's age and size. It seemed to take forever, yet in reality was only twenty minutes. With a quick thanks, Ginny grabbed the bottle out of her mum's hands as soon as she put the cap on, and flooed home.
"Welcome to motherhood, Ginny!" chuckled Molly.
Ginny had flooed home, and they'd given a dose to Teddy. He didn't want to be put down, so Harry and Ginny took turns holding him and walking him until he fell asleep. Unfortunately, he only slept for about an hour before he would wake up again.
It was close to two in the morning when Harry awoke on the lounge. He had changed into his pyjamas as well, just wearing the bottoms, and just an hour before he had handed Teddy over to Ginny. He listened but there was no sound in their little flat.
He went into his bedroom and stopped. Standing next to his bed, swaying as she cuddled Teddy to her chest, and singing a lullaby, Ginny looked amazing. The glow of a candle on Harry's bedside table made her hair glow, it was a gorgeous cloud of fire surrounding her tired pale face. She looked down at Teddy with so much love, it made Harry's heart jump.
All of a sudden he had a vision of the future, of Ginny comforting their baby, while another child looked on. Harry felt he had stopped breathing, he wanted that to be true so much, it hurt. His family looked up at him, and beckoned him over. "Come on Daddy, come here, Daddy", they said. Harry wanted to go to them, to be a part of them. He realised he wanted-
"Hey," said Ginny, smiling tiredly. "I just got another dose into him, and I think it's done the trick. He's been like this for a while now, poor little love, he's so tired. Shall we try and lay him on the bed?" she asked softly.
Harry nodded, the vision still vivid in his mind. They lay Teddy gently on the bed, with Harry laying behind him. However, he still clung to Ginny, so she shrugged and lay down on the other side of Teddy.
Together they lay and watched Teddy settle. Harry watched Ginny, who was anxiously watching Teddy. When he finally started snoring, Ginny raised her eyes to look happily at Harry. She held up her hand and they did a quiet high five, yet Harry held her hand and intermingled their fingers, refusing to let go. Their hands stayed together, as they came down, resting gently on little Teddy.
"Thank you," whispered Harry, unable to take his eyes off her. He always knew she was pretty, but now she was gorgeous. He always knew she would always put her family first, but now, he wanted to come first with her. He knew she had boyfriends, admirers. 'Well, bugger them all to hell', he thought. 'None of them are good enough for her. None of them know her like I do, none of them are worthy of her, none of them are...me'.
Ginny smiled sleepily and sexily at him. "Go to sleep," she whispered back.
He watched her as she fell asleep, and finally he succumbed, returning to the place where his dream family awaited. "Come on Daddy, come and play, we've been waiting for you, Daddy."
He fell asleep with a smile on his face.
Next day they were relieved to see Teddy had returned to normal. Molly had fire- called to say Andromeda was better too, and anxious to see Teddy, so with relief, Harry returned Teddy to his home, with the promise of another sleep over soon.
Harry returned home, and decided to do a load of laundry. He yawned, amazed at how worn out he felt. Ginny had gone for a run, and he wished he had said yes when she had asked if he wanted to go too. He felt so tired that he'd said no, but now he thought a run might have woken him up more. He heard the laundry finish, and he got up to get it out and into the dryer.
"Mate, you look like hell," chuckled Ron from the door. Being so tired, Harry hadn't even heard him come through the floo.
'So much for constant vigilance', he thought. "Yeah well, when you and Hermione have kids, and been through what Gin and I did last night, we'll gladly come over and tell you the same, thanks, mate!"
"Yeah I heard about poor little Teddy. He's better this morning?" asked Ron.
Harry nodded, pulling clothes out and into a basket. "He's better, Andi's better, Gin and I are wrecks. She's gone for a run, to try and wake herself up, she said. Me, I'm just hanging around here today," said Harry, yawning.
"So, you and Ginny did a great job looking after him," said Ron.
Harry yawned again. "Yeah, it was just so scary, we'd had a great day out then later that night he was crying and in pain, and we didn't know how to help him. Gin was great, I couldn't have handled it without her," said Harry.
"You know Harry, you and Gin make a great team, don't you think?" asked Ron.
Harry pulled the last of the washing out, and held it, it was soft and silky. "Yeah, we do make a great team. Poor Teddy went from one of us to the other, till he finally fell asleep. We'd had so much fun earlier too, we went to the zoo and had a picnic, Gin brought breadcrumbs for Teddy to give to the ducks, and she brought a ball for me and Teddy to kick. I never thought of any of that stuff. She's pretty amazing, your sister."
"Is that why your fondling her bra so much?" laughed Ron, nodding down.
Harry glanced down, and saw Ginny's bra in his hand. It was pale pink, a colour Ginny swore she never wore.
"Is there something going on between you and my sister, Potter?" demanded Ron.
Harry opened his mouth to deny it, but an image of his dream family popped into his mind. He decided to see how this would play out.
"And if there was?" he answered bravely
"I'd say it's about bloody time, although I really wish you'd stop doing that with her bra," said Ron, amused.
Harry wasn't aware he was stroking her bra. He looked up as Ron's words sunk in.
"Really? You wouldn't mind if-"
"Just give me the damn bra," growled Ron, lunging for it.
"I don't think so," laughed Harry, holding it away from Ron.
"Come on, give it to me," said Ron, getting a hold of it.
"Go and get one of Hermione's, if you want one that bad, this one's mine," teased Harry.
"What the bloody hell is going on here, and why are you fighting over my bra?" asked Ginny, suddenly.
Harry and Ron froze, the bra stretched out between them. Suddenly, they both dropped it.
"It's all stretched out, you totally ruined it! That was my favourite one, too. Well, you boys now owe me a new bra," said Ginny, snatching it up and leaving the laundry.
"Well, looks like you're taking Ginny shopping for bras, Harry. She might need help, you know, doing them up. Or she might ask which colour you like best. She might even model them for you, see which one you like the most," teased Ron, laughing.
"Er, you do realise you're talking about your sister, don't you? You're actually encouraging me to see your sister in a bra! Are you sure you're Ron Weasley, over protective brother from Hell?"
"Oh, get a clue, Harry!" said Ron, laughing as he left.