Here After

by Kiamii

Chapter Eleven "Another day older"

Warning: Time Skip. Fluff. But this story is allll about fluffiness so no whining about it.

Note: In dedication to my father who passed away in January.

Alex Potter was having fun. He was turning 2 years old today and his family had been encouraging him to be as excited as them. Alex woke up and stood up in his crib to await his mother to come and get him, or Harry (known as his father now). He took the moment of wait to look around, seeing the small changes made here and there to the nursery he had been living in for quite a long time now. The walls were very much the same as always and the ceiling was still charmed to show the sun when he woke up (the moon when he was going to sleep). The quidditch mobile was still suspended above him and a new addition was the small snitch floating lazily around his room, only staying in the nursery. He had a shelf full of new toys he had acquired from Christmas and parties. As Alex grabbed Babs, he smiled to himself. Though he missed Hermione and Ron as much as anything, he couldn't help but feel the sense of belonging he had here. The baby side of him was overcoming him often nowadays and Harry couldn't help but feel it was for the best. His life had been filled with nothing but remorse and hate before this so being coddled with constant love and affection did wonders for his esteem.

It wasn't long until Ginny made her appearance and she smiled warmly at her youngest son, cooing a happy birthday to him as she picked him up. Alex gave her a sloppy grin as he was carried to the changing table. She easily changed him (he was pleased to note he didn't feel as embarrassed as he used to at this) and got him dressed in a pair of short overalls with a red tee underneath. She set him down after putting Velcro shoes on his feet and watched the toddler run out of his room to head for the kitchen. It took Alex a few minutes to get down the stairs by himself but when he managed (with Ginny watching behind) he gave a childish yell of glee. Inwardly, the adult side of him knew he was being silly, but he was glad to finally be able to accomplish this task after nearly 8 months of having to be carried and babied.

"Daddy," Alex yelled happily as he came racing into the room. Harry laughed and swung Alex up into his arms as Ginny entered the room. He gave a small kiss to his youngest son's forehead before setting Alex in his high chair. Alex giggled as James and Albus came trudging downstairs with Lily following just as slowly. James yawned and grinned at Alex, ruffling the toddler's hair with a "Happy Birthday" coming from him, following by Albus and Lily chorusing the sentiment. Alex wiggled around until Harry set a sippy cup down in front of him. Alex only ever drank a bottle when he was distressed at night now, instead of everyday.

The family began their breakfast and it was only a moments silence before the floo dinged and Teddy Lupin stepped out, clad in his customary black robes with the Lupin, Tonks and Black crest upon it. James and Albus were quick to greet their surrogate brother as Lily hugged Teddy around the waist.

"Teddy!" Alex giggled. Teddy grinned at his godson and scooped Alex up into his arms, swinging him around carelessly before dropping Alex on his hip. The toddler giggled happily and kicked his legs before Teddy took a seat, bouncing Alex on his lap.

"So what's on the agenda for Lex's birthday?" Teddy asked.

"Breakfast right now, then we'll go to my mum's for his birthday party. He'll have his nap after lunch and he gets his presents when he wakes up." Ginny answered as she served pancakes to Teddy who thanked her and began to take small bites, feeding Alex some every now and then who happily ate the pieces of pancake. After Teddy finished, he offered to watch Alex while everyone got ready and he wound up in the living room as everyone dressed in their respective rooms. He laid on his stomach as Alex giggled and jumped up and down on a mat that made sounds when stepped on and the tone changed depending on how low Alex was. Teddy was always enthralled by Alex, seeing as the little boy was very different from other children he watched. The baby was always smiling now and very well behaved with the exception of a few incidents here and there. It was only months ago the baby didn't even seem to know how to giggle.

"Ready?" came Harry's voice as the others all assembled where Teddy had been watching the baby play. Alex looked at his father brightly and raised his arms, wanting to be picked up. Harry smiled and picked the toddler up, sitting him on his hip and putting the dummy into Alex's mouth so that he didn't breathe in any soot. They took turns using the floo and it was easy from there, reaching the Burrow with in a matter of minutes. Soon it was Harry's turn and he made sure Alex was facing his shoulder and had his dummy in before he threw the powder down, stepped in, and loudly called his destination very clearly.

He landed as best as he normally did and he set Alex down on the floor as Molly came to greet them. Of course Alex toddled over to his many cousins before his grandmother could swoon over him. He didn't make it that far before Arthur Weasley picked him up as he toddled. Alex looked annoyed and he whined around his dummy.

"Gandpa! Down!" Alex demanded. Arthur laughed and bounced him a little as he instead carried him to the living room couch where Alex's aunts and uncles were, to the toddler's dismay as he was then passed around them all and either hugged or kissed on the cheek and occasionally his forehead. He reluctantly allowed it, sucking on his dummy as they cooed over him getting so big and strong. The occasional "Just like his father" had Alex nearly laughing aloud but he refrained thankfully. It was very much difficult to keep control over his toddler side and Alex found himself exhausted by the end of the day trying to keep it controlled, so by the fifth month living here he had finally given up and just let his toddler side take over.

Alex kicked his legs in protest as he was sat on someone's lap, wanting to go see his cousins. George laughed and set him down, watching his nephew toddle over to the various Weasleys who cooed over him and wished him happy birthday. The girls of course picked him up often and kissed his chubby baby cheeks. After the initial greetings he happily played tag with some of the cousins who purposely slowed for him to catch them though occasionally they actually had to run seeing as Alex was pretty fast. The game ended up outside for awhile and ended when Alex was swooped up by Teddy and tickled, causing Alex to squeal in laughter, trying to get his godfather to stop.

"Lunch time you guys," called Harry who chuckled as he caught sight of his youngest squirming in his godson's arms. They settled down to eat with James helpfully helping Alex munch on his cut up sandwich. The family all finished around the same time as Alex guzzled on his juice, waiting impatiently for them to all finish. When they had they gathered around the now two year old and began to pass presents to him. The toddler giggled happily as he was given presents each containing a new toy, clothes, or candy. Alex particularly liked the stuffed stag Harry had gotten him which was charmed to move around and nuzzle him.

"So how's Lex been?" Ron asked as he watched the child.

"A lot better than the beginning," Harry said with a smile on his face, "He's happy and acting more like a kid his age, though he still shows that intelligence level quite often." The two best friends grinned at each other, remembering quite clearly some of the more problematic issues with the boy when they discovered just how clever he was. Alex was shy and brilliant, a protegee in their opinion. Harry was strongly suspecting his youngest son to be older than his physical appearance by the day, but he couldn't place which age and he had no desire to disrupt the child's happiness by letting him know he knew the truth.

The party continued for awhile until Lex's yawn was spotted. Harry laughed and told everyone he was taking Lex home as he had already missed his nap for the party. Alex allowed the many hugs and kisses to his person before waving bye bye to his family, curling up against Harry as his dummy was put in his mouth and he was flooed back to his home. He yawned again and buried his face against Harry sleepily.

"Daddy," babbled the toddler through the dummy.

"Yeah kiddo?"

"Wub you?" the toddler asked, his small hand clutching Harry's shirt.

"Love you too baby boy," Harry laughed.

He changed Alex before putting him down in the crib, leaning against the railing slightly as he gently moved strands of hair from the baby's face, watching the boy sleep, his dummy bobbing up and down slowly as it matched the pace of his tummy. The Man-Who-Conquered -as was his current title these days by the press- pressed a kiss to the boy's cheek before he left the room to work on a few reports for his job. He made a pact that he would make sure the little boy who was once him had a childhood here. That was a promise.

Author's Note: Can Harry keep that promise? Time skip next chapter, dunno how old Alex will be. Any suggestions? Sorry this was short but like I've said in other stories, I'm restarting a little so I need to get my balance back. Bare with me please. I hope you liked this chapter. Part of it was already written before my dad passed away, so it was a little bit confusing to continue on at first.