Appertain: to belong as a part, right, possession, or attribute

March 6, 2004

Only a few scattered, wooden pieces were left now. Their squiggled shapes lay on the hearthrug looking like they might all fit together, but Teddy knew better. He was a master puzzle-putter-together. Granddad Arthur said so himself, and he had more puzzles than anyone Teddy even knew. Teddy knew that even though they all looked like they might all snap together because they had the same curvy ins and outs, really they were all different. And you couldn't make a different piece fit with new neighbors. They weren't cut the same way.

He frowned down at the handful of pieces left without a home. That sharp one was a corner, he knew where to put it. Three left. That one was part of the dragon fire, there. Two left. But… there was only one hole to fill in. That couldn't be right. His tongue poked itself out of the corner of his mouth as he placed the last puzzle piece in its spot and looked down at a completed picture.

"Hey, Ted, you finished it," said Harry, dropping to the floor beside him and ruffling his hair. "That was fast! You weren't kidding. You're the master puzzler."

But Teddy kept staring at the last little left-out piece, and he didn't feel like a master puzzler. He just felt like a leaver-outer. Harry must have noticed that he wasn't pleased about finishing his puzzle.

"What's the matter, mate?" he asked, putting a hand gently on Teddy's back like he did when Teddy skinned his knee or had the flu or woke up from a nightmare.

Very carefully, Teddy picked up the lonely piece and offered it to Harry.

"It must be from a different puzzle," Harry said, examining the paint on it. "Look, it's got flowers. You wouldn't find flowers in a dragon picture."

"You could," Teddy said. "It could still fit."

"Nah, there's no more room. Besides, it needs to get back into its own box or someone else won't be able to finish theor picture," Harry told him, slipping the puzzle piece in his pocket.

"But what if it doesn't have its own picture?" Teddy asked.

"I'm sure it does," Harry assured him. "You did great with this one. I bet your gran wants to see it. She's in the kitchen."

He gave his godson one more smile and pushed himself to his feet to help Hermione stagger into the living room laden with a teetering stack of books. But Teddy didn't jump up to find his grandmother. He stayed lying on his belly in the middle of the Burrow's sitting room and watched as all the people came in.

Granny Molly –who wasn't his real grandmother, just like Granddad Arthur wasn't really his granddad, but he called them that anyway – fit in the rocking chair by the fire, right beside her knitting needles. Granddad Arthur went in the corner by the window where Teddy knew he kept a kit of little screwdrivers and bolts to fiddle with. Hermione went to the desk in the corner with all her books and Ron went to lean against the desk and be a 'nuisance', but Harry said she really liked him buzzing around her work. Gran – his real Gran = liked to sit in a chair by the stairs and talk to Granny Molly about cooking and 'old times' things. And Harry and Ginny went right on the sofa, all squished together and holding hands.

Teddy suddenly realized there wasn't a spot for him. The picture was all filled up. He scrunched up his face really tight, but it didn't make his throat stop squeezing.

But then Harry shifted over just a bit. "Are you looking for a seat, Teddy? There's room for you here."

Teddy mumped up and flew into the little pocket right between Harry and Ginny. Ginny wrapped an arm around him and started telling him corny jokes her brothers used to tell her, and Harry laughed and poked Teddy in the ribs to make him giggle, too, and Teddy was glad that people didn't have squiggly edges like puzzle pieces because it meant that pictures could be rearranged to fit in new pieces that didn't have pictures of their own.

A/N: Oh Teddy! I realized that somehow I'd managed not to do any Teddy in the month I've been doing this, which I can hardly believe because I love that boy SO very much. So here's a little dose of Teddy. :) Hope you liked it! Review please!