Stories, Lightning, and Kisses

Harry had always tried to be eye to eye with his godson whenever he had something serious to talk about with him. When he was younger, and he had explained about his parents, he has stood him up on a stool while holding onto his waist. Teddy was too tall to be placed on a stool now. He was resting on the arm of the sofa while Harry sat on a stool facing him. They had just eaten supper after returning from St. Mugo's.

"You have to realize something, buddy." Harry said placing his hands on Teddy's small shoulders. "It wasn't like it is today during the war. When we were fighting you never knew who could be taken away from you, at a moment's notice." He hung his head down thinking of Fred. "When you're least expecting it."

Harry had always talked to Teddy like an adult when it came to explaining about the war. It didn't suit him to sugar coat it and provide Teddy with a false reality. These honest discussions had made Teddy wise for his seven years.

"Like my parents?" Teddy asked cautiously.

Tears filled in Teddy's eyes. "Yeah, bud, like your parents."

"Did I ever tell you that I had a godfather?"

Teddy nodded. "Sirius, or Snuffles, or Padfoot, or something like that right? I always hear people talking about him."

Harry nodded. "Your dad called him Padfoot. During the war my godfather was taken away from me. I lost my parents, just like you, but I lost my godfather as well, along with many of my friends, including your wonderful parents. I know that the war's over now." Harry continued heeding off the position that he knew Teddy would take. "Even though it is, I still can't bear the thought of losing someone else that I hold so dear." Tears were running down Harry's cheeks now. "I can't bear for it to be my fault if I would lose you. So I'm sorry, but you can beg, cry, and scream all you want, but until I decide that you're old enough, you'll be holding my hand when we go out."

Teddy nodded solemnly, he knew he was defeated.

"I love you Teddy." Harry said, as he wrapped Teddy in a hug.

"I love you too Uncle Harry."

Soon they were making smores in the fire place and Harry was regaling Teddy with tales of his father.

"So he takes the map that had been insulting Snape from him, and tells him that it's a Zonko's product! But guess what? He himself had help create it! Your dad was Moony! He calls me back to his office, doesn't get me in trouble at all, and guess what? When he left at the end of the year, he gave it back to me!" Harry said laughing at the memory. "Did you know that your dad was an incredibly brilliant wizard?"

Teddy shook his head. "Grandma always say's that he was brave."

"Oh he was." Harry reassured him. "But, he was much more then brave. He was kind, and loving, and loyal. He was incredibly smart, just like you." He touched Teddy on the nose. "He was a great man your father." Harry said nodding slowly. "Your mother too, she was an amazing witch. You get your knack for brightly colored hair from her." He continued to nod to himself. He looked down at Teddy, and saw him mimicking his nod, as if he knew firsthand how great they had really been. Tears welled in his eyes again but he forced them back. He had to be happy for Teddy.

Harry was carrying Teddy back to bed from where he had been sleeping on the floor of the living room, just as raindrops began to drop softly on the windows. Harry returned to the living room and picked the blankets and pillows up off of the floor while rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He moved to the kitchen where he pulled a large slab of left over lasagna from the fridge. He heated it with his wand and then placed a warming charm on the plate to keep it hot for when Ginny got home. He knew she would be hungry, and she loved his lasagna. He ambled off to bed as the rain began to be pick up it's gently pace and become steady.

Harry awoke, with a clap of thunder. He could see a form moving about the room, and quickly registered that it was Ginny. She hadn't notice him wake up so he just lay back and watched her move as she was illuminated by lightning. Every time a bolt struck her red hair flashed back, as if it were responding. He watched he pull a pair of his boxer shorts on over his underwear, and slip one of his t-shirts over her head.

She realized he was awake when she crawled into bed facing him, and he couldn't help but put a hand on her hip.

"Harry…" she started, but was cut off by a particularly loud clap of thunder and a crying coming from the hall. Harry sat up quickly but before he could even touch his wand the crying came to him in the form of Teddy. He ran across the room and launched himself into the bed clinging to Harry for dear life.

"Did the thunder scare you bud?" Harry asked softly. Teddy nodded vigorously into Harry's tear soaked chest.

Ginny rubbed Teddy's back gently. "Do you want to stay in here with us for the rest of the night, Stink?"

He nodded into Harry's chest once more, as Ginny wrapped her arms around both of them. They quickly got Teddy to calm down and soon he was lying between them. Ginny wrapped her arms around both of them once more, giving Harry a kiss on the cheek.

"Good night my boys." She said lovingly. She bent her head down to kiss Teddy on the top of his head, as Harry kissed his forehead. As their heads rose they looked each other in the eyes during a flash of lightning. Ginny tilted her head and kissed Harry slowly on the lips. He kissed her back, but all too quickly she was pulling away, and was snuggling under the covers. She and Teddy lifted the covers over their heads and soon they were giggling at the whispered stories that they were telling each other. Harry resigned to the fact that he wasn't going to be falling asleep any time soon and slipped under the covers with them with his wand, lighting what Teddy would soon call their tent held up by Ginny and Harry's heads, with his wand.

Harry awoke the next morning to find himself curled up at the end of his bed, his feet brushing against Ginny's. His eyes scanned across the bed to find Teddy laying across the bed as well, using Ginny's stomach as a prop for his pillow. Somewhere in the middle of the night he had fetched his favorite blanket and his stuffed wolf, because he was clutching them tightly now. Harry rolled off the foot of the bed and pocketed his wand. He gently removed Teddy's head from Ginny's abdomen and woke him up quietly.

The pair tip-toed silently across the room, and into the kitchen where Molly Weasley found them an hour later covered head to toe in pancake batter that Teddy had his elbows deep in trying to stir in a large bowl.

She laughed heartily at them, but graciously cleaned Teddy up while Harry got to work on the pancakes. There was soon a large stack of them sitting on the counter that the three dove into.

"Where's Ginny this morning?" Molly inquired. "She doesn't usually miss one of your breakfasts if she can help it."

Harry tapped the schedule that Ginny has spello-taped to the fridge. "She's working another twelve hour shift today, from noon to midnight. She's sleeping in until the last possible second. I feel so bad for her; they're going to run that girl ragged."

"She's been there too long and is too good for them to be giving her hours like this." Mrs. Weasley commented.

"Well that's just the thing isn't it? She's been there so long; most of the people working there are new so the higher ranking Medi-Witches have to be there at all times to watch over them. There are just not enough of them to go around for them to have normal hours. Once they get this lot trained up perfectly she'll be back to normal."

"I sure hope so. But it'll be back to hours like this when she's a Healer and she's getting called in at all hours of the night to deliver babies. I do worry about her."

"You don't have to. Ginny can handle it; she's amazing at her job."

"Oh I know dear, she was just so wonderful with Fleur last night. She's going to make a wonderful Healer."

Harry nodded his agreement before getting up to change for practice, asking Molly to get Teddy dressed and ready for the day. His day of practice was ten hours long. Practice for four hours from seven to eleven, two hours for break and lunch, and then four more hours of practice from one to five. Teddy was to watch the first half of the practice with Grandma Weasley and would then be dropped off at his grandmother's house. Before they left the house, Harry put a warming charm on the remaining pancakes and packed Ginny a turkey sandwich for lunch.

"Why can't I have lunch with you?" Teddy whined as they made their way towards the fireplaces after Teddy's shower.

"I'm sure your Grandma misses you very much! She's not going to want to waste any time in seeing you. I'm sure she has a big lunch cooked up for you when we get there!"

"But I want to eat with you!"

"I'll stay and eat with you, but we do have to get you home to your grandma's house."

Teddy stomped his feet reluctantly as they stepped into the green flames, but held on to Harry's hand tightly as they were whisked away to the home of Andromeda Tonks.

"Oh Teddy!" she squealed as they stepped through the grate. She swept him up in a big hug. "I've made lunch for you, all your favorites." She said gesturing to the plate of roast beef sitting on the counter. "I was going to make it for dinner, but I just couldn't help myself. Harry, you'll stay for lunch won't you?"

"Of course, Andromeda, Teddy wouldn't want it any other way." He said as he looked down at the little boy staring up at him.

After a large lunch and many tight hugs from Teddy, Harry stepped into the fireplace and returned to his flat. He was hoping to catch Ginny with a half hour left before she had to go to work, but she was already gone when he got home. She had probably gone to visit Fleur and Ronnie, who both had to remain under observation for twenty-four hours according to St. Mugo's policy, just to make sure everything was fine. Even though he knew he wouldn't get the chance to talk to her at the hospital he decided that he would do the same.

Harry was strolling toward Fleur's room when he passed the large window that looked in on the viewing room of the New Born Center. It wasn't the babies that had captured his eye, but a Medi-Witch with brilliant red hair.

Ginny was holding Ronnie, the tiny baby with a tuft of red hair in her arms. She was slowly rocking him back and forth, and her whole body swayed with the motion. She ran a soft finger across his forehead before bending her neck to place a small kiss on his miniscule nose. Her lips began to move slightly and Harry knew that she was singing to the child. He couldn't take his eyes off of her as she spun in circles with the sleeping baby, dancing to her own soft tune. He couldn't help but think that maybe one day this would be his baby that she held in her arms. He watched for almost half an hour as Ginny continued to rock Ronnie back and forth. He only tore his eyes away from her and continued down the hall towards the proud new parents, when he saw her move to lay the baby back in his bassinette because her shift was about to begin.

Ginny bent low over Ronnie's bassinette and as she gave him one last kiss on her forehead she wondered if maybe one day she would be dancing with her and Harry's child in her arms.