A/N: Here's the next chapter a little early as I doubt I'll have time to post tomorrow morning. :) Thanks to all who have read and reviewed. Major thanks to Jonelle and my friends at LJ who helped make this better. Enjoy!
Chapter Four—Naughty and Cherish
December 28, 1999-- Naughty
When Ginny opened her door to see her absolutely hot boyfriend tugging on the back of his jacket, her smile was so bright that she could have lit the City of London. Her eyes started at the top and made their way down over the outfit that she had chosen for him to wear that day. The black dragon hide jacket stopped at his waist and covered most of the green shirt she had chosen to match his eyes. Ginny had never been happier to have older brothers than she was when she took a long look at the sight of Harry in the dragon hide trousers. What would Ron and George think if she told them that she was able to guess Harry's size because of all the purchases she had made for them over the years? She bit her bottom lip to prevent her chuckle from escaping. Still, a slight giggle welled up in her throat.
"You think I look stupid, don't you?" Harry accused Ginny as he strode into her living room.
"Harry, you look many things, but stupid is NOT one of them. You know, I'm reconsidering my choice in clothes for you," Ginny said, scratching at her chin, watching Harry from behind.
"See, you do think I look ridiculous!" Harry exclaimed. He sat down on the couch and buried his face in his hands.
"No, I think you look hot. Those trousers look incredible on you. I can see two main problems," Ginny responded with a sigh. Harry blushed at first, but then looked up to turn his smouldering green eyes on her.
"And what, pray tell, would those be, Miss Weasley?"
"Well, first and foremost, I'm going to have to come up with a game plan for keeping other women's paws off my man. Second and not so important," Ginny said with a grin. "I have to figure out how to keep my hands off you."
"Gin, we've had this discussion before," Harry reminded her.
"I know, I know. But I'm just saying how I feel." She gave an evil grin before adding, "Besides, today is 'naughty' day."
"Speaking of, what's on the agenda for today?" Harry asked.
Ginny wasn't sure how to broach this topic, but then she thought about the fact that he had lost the bet, which said he would do whatever she said no question.
"Just remember that you promised to do whatever I say." She waited for his acknowledgment before continuing. He simply nodded. "We're going to go get tattoos," she said in a rush. She closed her eyes and waited for the explosion. When she heard nothing, she cracked one eye open and looked over at Harry, whose mouth was now dragging the floor. She watched as he slowly regained his faculties enough to protest.
"Wait, what?" Harry asked, looking more discombobulated than she had ever seen him.
"Tattoos. I'm finally going to get that Horntail on you," Ginny said a bit slower now that she felt reasonably certain that Harry wouldn't be too upset.
"Gin, I don't think so. Don't you think a tattoo is too much like the Dark Mark?" Harry queried. "I don't think this is a good idea."
"Harry, please. It won't be like the Dark Mark because we're going to a Muggle shop. No spells around," Ginny responded. Deciding that he still looked rebellious, she added, "Remember today is all about being naughty. I thought we could go get tattoos together and make it an adventure. Something for just the two of us. No one has to know that we got them." Deciding that she needed to give him another reason for actually going through with this, she said, "What if I let you choose what tattoo I get?"
"Really? I get to choose?" Harry said with decided interest in his voice.
"Yes, I promise. Now can we go?" Ginny asked. While still reluctant, Harry finally agreed. After making their way to Oxford Street on Harry's motorbike, Harry found a car park fairly close. He secured their helmets and the bike with a few inconspicuous waves of his wand. Ginny grabbed his hand and tugged him out into the street. They strolled along hand-in-hand until Ginny pulled Harry to a stop in front of Selfridges.
"What? Are we going shopping?" Harry asked, puzzled when Ginny pushed him into the store.
"No, the studio is here. Let's go." Once they reached sight of the studio, Ginny noticed that Harry's feet slowed until they were stopped.
"Harry?" Ginny inquired, thinking of ways she could convince him to go through with this idea of hers.
"Are you sure that we can't do anything else to represent naughty?" Harry asked, pleading.
"Harry, you promised," Ginny said, disappointed that Harry was that reluctant to share this with her. "You lost the bet, remember?" Seeing the stubborn look in his eyes, she decided to go for broke and show him the design. If he still refused, well, she would come up with something else they could do. She pulled a thick, carefully folded piece of drawing paper out of her jeans' pocket. Wordlessly she handed it to Harry, who opened it to reveal a small intricate drawing of a Hungarian Horntail.
"Did you draw this, Gin?" Harry asked, tracing the outline with his fingers.
"No, I'm not that artistic, you know that. I asked Dean to draw it for me. His artwork has always been remarkable and I knew that he could make it look fantastical enough for Muggles to accept," Ginny answered. "I think this design would look great right here." Ginny tapped the area over Harry's heart. "Because you have the heart of a dragon and you defeated this one by purely using your heart."
Harry closed his eyes for a minute before opening them to look down at her. "Let's do this."
The two of them perused the wall of designs so Harry could choose hers. However, Harry still hadn't decided what she should get when he was taken back to where he would get the tattoo. Ginny had planned on waiting for him out front, but Harry dragged her with him. Of course, Ginny didn't complain when Harry had to take off his shirt. She spent most of the time Harry was getting his tattoo lost in fantasies about running her hands up and down that chest. In her mind, she was kissing her way across the new tattoo when Harry snapped his fingers at her.
"Ginny?"
"Oh, sorry." Her face heated in the traditional Weasley blush. She noticed that his shirt was now firmly back in place. "Are you done already?"
"I wouldn't say already, but I'm done. So it's your turn," Harry responded.
"So what am I getting?" Ginny asked.
"Well, after quite a bit of thinking, I've decided on a butterfly."
"HARRY JAMES POTTER! A butterfly? I give you the sexy manly dragon and I get a butterfly! What's wrong with this picture?" Ginny trailed off. Was that all she was to him? Pretty decoration? She started to storm off so he wouldn't be able to see her cry, but her hands were caught in two large, familiar ones. Harry turned her toward him after much effort since she fought facing him with every bit of her. She still refused to look him in the eye.
"Will you let me explain?" Harry said, totally exasperated with her. She gave a small nod, continuing to refuse to look at him.
"I chose a butterfly because well… What do you know about butterflies, Gin?" he asked.
"I know they are pretty and flutter about," she said quietly.
"Did you know they start off as caterpillars? Something that quite a few people consider a bug, something to be squashed. But then it forms a chrysalis, a cocoon, as a safe place to start its change. It's still fragile at that stage though. Then it emerges from the dark, transformed into a beautiful, graceful butterfly. I see you like that butterfly, Gin. Riddle thought he could squash you your first year, but you cocooned yourself and refused to let him completely take you over. When you emerged from that horrible first year, you started transforming yourself into the fantastic, graceful woman you are now.
"Plus, there's something mentioned a lot in Muggle literature. It's called the butterfly effect. It talks about how one flutter of a butterfly's wings can cause a tornado." Harry shook his head. "Or something like that. Anyway, you're like that butterfly. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here right now. Anyway, that's why I want a butterfly for you on your shoulder."
Listening to Harry explain his thought process, she couldn't help but be overwhelmed at how much he had thought about what to choose for her. She felt a little guilty that she hadn't taken as much time as he had apparently. Ginny wiped away the moisture from the corners of her eyes before throwing her arms around Harry. Pulling away slightly, she said, "Okay, let's go get me a butterfly."
December 29, 1999-- Cherish
The next morning Harry finally put his foot down about the plans for the day. Ginny really couldn't blame him as she had forgotten about his godfather duties.
"I need to go visit Teddy today or at least this morning. I'm sure that Andromeda needs a break. A twenty-month old wears on you after a bit," Harry explained. "You can come with me, though." Ginny hadn't planned on letting him go without her. She gathered her things and followed Harry through the Floo.
The sight of little Teddy toddling his way toward Harry with his hair cycling through the colour spectrum made her heart skip a beat. Harry laughed as he swung Teddy up into his arms.
"So how are you, my little godson? Have you been good to your grandmum?" Harry asked, burying his nose in Teddy's belly as Harry held him high above his head.
"Oh, Harry, you're here," Andromeda said, wiping her hands on a towel. She pushed the strands of her hair that were falling around her face back towards the bun the rest of her hair was in. "You just missed breakfast. You could have had the pleasure of feeding him."
"Ah, so that's what I'm seeing around your mouth. Let's see… It looks like you had oatmeal for breakfast this morning, Teddy. Did Grandmum remember to add your cinnamon?" Harry asked, cuddling Teddy in his arm. Ginny hadn't had the opportunity to see Harry interact with Teddy very often and she had no idea that he was this comfortable with a toddler.
Teddy allowed the cuddle for a moment before starting to struggle to get down. Harry set him on his feet, making sure to watch him closely. Harry crossed to Andromeda for a quick hug, all the while keeping one eye on Teddy.
"We're here to watch Teddy for you. You need to go do something for yourself," Harry said sternly as if they had had arguments about this very thing before. "There's to be no arguing from you. I know you love him, but you need a break every so often. So go!"
Andromeda patted Harry on his cheek before saying, "Don't think I don't know what you're doing, Harry Potter. I know you're trying to convince Teddy that he would rather live with you." She gave Harry a devilish grin with a sparkle in her eye. "Oh all right, I'll go wash up and take myself off somewhere." Andromeda gave an exaggerated sigh as if she was very put out, but Ginny could tell that Andromeda really wasn't upset. Ginny sensed this was a common occurrence with the two of them.
"Oh, of course I'm trying to get my godson to live with me," Harry called out in response. "Didn't you know that toddlers are the way to a woman's heart? How else am I to convince Ginny to marry me?" Ginny stopped breathing for a second at this. Was Harry planning on asking her to marry him?
Ginny was so flabbergasted that she fell onto the couch, staring at his back. She couldn't get that thought out of her head and missed the rest of the banter between Harry and Andromeda. When he swung around to look for Teddy, who had just toddled his way over to Ginny, his eyes went wide at the sight of her on the couch. His hand crept up to cover his open mouth. Ginny could tell that Harry had forgotten that she was there. But did that mean that he was serious or was he just joking around?
Teddy patted her leg with both of his small hands to get her attention. Ginny grinned down at the boy whose hair now looked just like Harry's down to the rumpled look. She wasn't quite sure of what it was that Teddy wanted other than to maybe say hello.
"He wants you to pick him up," Harry explained, leaning against the wall, watching them.
Ginny slid her hands under Teddy's arms and placed him carefully in her lap, facing her. Bouncing him on her knee, she made faces at him, getting smiles and laughs as a reward for her efforts. She wasn't even conscious of Teddy putting his hand in her hair until he gave a vicious tug.
"Ow!" she exclaimed with tears in her eyes. She extricated Teddy's hands from her hair gently.
"Teddy! That's no way to treat a lady! Here, Ginny, give him to me," Harry admonished Teddy. Grabbing him when Ginny handed him over, he took him over to the chair next to fireplace. Sitting Teddy on his lap, he proceeded to talk to the child. "Now Teddy, we don't pull hair on anybody, but most especially not beautiful ladies like Ginny." At this, Teddy's hair became a vivid Weasley red. "Yes, I know she has beautiful hair, but that doesn't mean you can pull it." He lowered his voice, but Ginny could still hear him… barely. "I can see the allure of running your fingers through her hair. It's something I like to do myself. But still, don't hurt her too much before I get the chance…" Harry looked over at Ginny then and stopped.
Ginny spent the rest of the morning with her mind split between trying to decipher what Harry had been talking about with Teddy and watching Harry take care of Teddy. He was quite proficient at changing nappies, she was glad to see. In fact, she thought he was much better at taking care of a child than she was. She even mentioned that to Harry while he was feeding Teddy in the kitchen.
"Well, Gin, of course I'm going to be fairly good at it now. I wasn't when I started, but I've been helping Andromeda with Teddy for over a year. I spend at least one morning a week with him, if not more."
"Why didn't I know how much time you spend with him?" Ginny asked.
Harry shrugged at her before turning back to Teddy, who had demanded more by slamming his fists on the table of his high chair. "I try to schedule my time with Teddy while you're at practice, so I don't lose any time with either of you." Harry expertly scooped a small amount of carrots onto the spoon before inserting it into Teddy's mouth.
"It never occurred to you that I might like to spend time with the both of you?" she inquired.
Harry thought about this for a minute. "I guess I was trying to be both the best godfather I can be while being the best boyfriend. I didn't think I could be both at the same time, especially when I considered the example that Ron set with Lavender. He wasn't a very good friend at the time while he was trying to be a good boyfriend."
"Well, you can be. You can be more than one thing at a time and still be the best at all of them. Ron was a very bad example," she said with a smile. She watched Harry dip the spoon into the jar to dig out the last of the carrots.
"I'm trying to cherish the time I have with Teddy as much as I can, just like I try to cherish the time I spend with you. I don't want him to ever think that his parents chose badly for his godfather," said Harry, wiping Teddy's face and hands with a flannel to get the orange spots off.
"Do you realize that you just said the word for the day without me telling you what it is?" Ginny asked with a wry smile.
"No. What is the word?" Harry questioned, cleaning up the mess that Teddy had made of his food.
"Cherish." She thought about her plans for the day. "Harry, I'm going to let you decide about whether we do what I had planned or not because in my eyes, we've already accomplished what I wanted for the day."
The line appeared in his forehead that always showed up when he was puzzled. "So what did you have planned?" He pulled Teddy out of his high chair and placed him on his hip before following Ginny into the living room.
"We were going to go visit Fred, Remus and Tonks' graves. I was planning on sharing with you the memories of the times I had with them that I cherish," Ginny replied. Harry placed Teddy on the floor and watched him pull himself up on the coffee table.
"So it won't matter which one I pick?" Harry asked.
"No, it won't. I won't be upset either way."
"Good, because really what I could use right now, like I always do when I watch Teddy, is a nap," Harry responded.
"Make sure you rest up because tomorrow is all about engaging," Ginny said with a grin as Andromeda walked in the front door.
