Prompt: Remus Lupin is making an Easter basket for the first time for his son, Teddy. Set after DH, in which Remus and Tonks both live and get to raise their son after the Battle of Hogwarts. Pure family fluff, rated G.
Remus Lupin couldn't remember the last time he had an Easter basket in his home. When he was a very little boy, his mother made him baskets for the first few years of his life, before money was too tight. He always had chocolate eggs for Easter, but he supposed he hadn't seen a proper Easter basket since he was five or six years old.
Now that he had a son – a beautiful, healthy (almost) year old – he had occasion to have an Easter basket in his home once more.
Money wasn't as tight as it used to be. Tonks returned to her job as an Auror a few months after the Battle of Hogwarts. Remus was rehired as Hogwarts's Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. It had taken earning the Order of Merlin, First Class, for the Howlers to stop arriving at his desk. Parents still sent the occasional nasty letter, but it was the least of his concerns.
He had a job, a wife, and a son. He no longer worried where his next meal would come from. He had a stable, safe roof over his head and most of his clothes weren't patched beyond recognition.
If it wasn't for the monthly transformations that turned him into a bloodthirsty monster at the full moon, he would be convinced he had died at the Battle of Hogwarts. He hadn't, and neither had Tonks, though they had both narrowly missed their deaths.
Now, Remus was fully alive and in a Muggle children's toy shop, looking for things to put into Teddy's first Easter basket. Because he had the Easter holidays off from Hogwarts, he had been tasked with making the basket.
For all of his education and life experience, however, he had no idea what he was doing.
"Sir?"
Remus looked to his left, where a kindly-looking salesperson stood.
"Can I help you, sir?"
"Err…yes? I'm making an Easter basket for my son but I'm afraid I don't know what to put in it. My wife sent me." Remus smiled at the mention of his wife; saying he had a wife never ceased to bring a smile to his face.
"How old is your boy?"
"He'll be one soon."
"What does he like?"
"Colorful things," Remus replied, grinning. Teddy's favorite color was turquoise, if his hair was any indication. He was also partial to his mother's usual bubblegum pink. "Creatures? He has a stuffed hippo—" Remus cleared his throat, recalling that Muggles didn't know what hippogriffs were. "Hippo toy he likes best."
"Animals and colors. Sounds like a typical one year old to me," the salesperson said. "Follow me."
Remus almost scoffed; Teddy Lupin was anything but typical. He was a mini Metamorphmagus and the miraculously healthy son of a werewolf.
"These are all the rage." The salesperson pointed to a display of stuffed toys in all shapes and colors with little red tags attached to their ears. "For your boy, I recommend these larger ones. It's a new collection for little ones."
Remus looked at the larger stuffed toys and picked up a white rabbit, which reminded him of Tonks's first Patronus, a jackrabbit. The red tag indicated it was called 'Clover.'
"That's a good choice for Easter. If your son likes hippos, he might like this one. There's a deal for half off your second one."
Remus picked up the lavender hippo. Its tag said it was called 'Tubby.'
"Do you think that these two and sweets will be sufficient for an Easter basket?" asked Remus.
"At his age, I'd think so," the salesperson replied.
Remus held the stuffed rabbit in one hand and the stuffed hippo in the other. Deciding they were good enough, he went to the till and made his purchases.
His next stop was a Muggle chocolate shop. He had already been to Honeydukes for their magical Easter eggs, but he felt nostalgic for the Muggle chocolate eggs his mother always bought him for Easters in his childhood. He purchased several chocolate eggs and even a few rabbit-shaped chocolates for Teddy. At last, he bought a large basket in which to place the things for his son.
He hoped he'd gotten enough for Teddy's Easter basket.
…
On Easter Sunday, Remus woke earlier than Tonks. He always woke up before she did, but it was usually because Teddy was an early riser and he heard Teddy's cries before Tonks could. It was the only time he thanked his extra sensitive, lupine hearing for existing. In Teddy's first year of life, Remus had spared Tonks as many sleepless nights as possible for nappy changes.
Remus never minded being woken in the middle of the night or early in the morning. Each time he saw his son, he was reminded of the miracle of the healthy, happy, colorful boy.
Teddy cried as usual that morning for someone to get him. Remus dressed quickly and went to his son's room with a smile.
"Good morning, Teddy," said Remus. "It's Easter today!"
"Dada," babbled Teddy, as he morphed his hair from his impatient, irritated orange to Remus's sandy brown. Teddy stood in his cot and leant against the side. He had yet to take his first steps, but Remus and Tonks expected it any day now.
"That's right, I'm your dad." Remus beamed and lifted Teddy out of his cot. "Let's have breakfast while mummy sleeps."
Remus brought Teddy down to the kitchen and placed him in his seat. As it was Easter, Remus made fresh cinnamon rolls that morning for Tonks. Meanwhile, Teddy grabbed chubby fistfuls of berries and stuffed them into his mouth, leaving a colorful mess around his lips and chin.
"Happy Easter," called Tonks, from the bottom of the stairs.
"Mama!" shouted Teddy. "Mama!"
"You're a mess, Teddy," said Tonks. She grabbed a small towel and cleaned Teddy's face. He protested at first but Tonks changed her nose to a duck's bill, which entertained him long enough for her to clean his face. He tried changing his nose to match but a big yellow blob took up half his face instead.
"You'll get better as you grow up, Teddy," Tonks said, changing her nose back to her usual human one. "For now, it's time for some of daddy's cinnamon rolls!"
Remus kissed her in greeting and offered her a plateful of freshly iced rolls.
Tonks stuffed a large amount of cinnamon roll in her mouth and said, "Did you get the Easter basket for him?"
"I did, just like you asked. I hope it's big enough," Remus said anxiously.
"I'm sure it'll be fine, love." Tonks kissed his cheek and patted it affectionately. They both peered at the Floo, which lit up emerald green. Moments later, Andromeda stepped out of the fireplace.
"Happy Easter, mum," Tonks greeted. "Remus made Teddy's basket!"
Andromeda raised a brow at Remus; though their relationship had improved in the last year and a half, he felt he still needed to prove he was anywhere near good enough for her daughter.
Remus shifted uneasily from one foot to the other. "I can bring it out now?"
"Why not?" said Tonks. "Let's see what you got him!"
Remus went back upstairs to retrieve the basket. It was stuffed to the brim with chocolate, sweets, and the two stuffed toys. He panicked slightly, wondering if he should've purchased more toys for Teddy. Regretting his decision to only get two stuffed toys, he went back downstairs with the basket held behind his back.
Teddy was now sitting on the floor. Tonks sat on the floor with him. Andromeda sat up on the lumpy sofa, eyeing the surroundings carefully. Remus winced, thinking that he should've spent more time tidying before she arrived. Tonks was hopeless with household spells, and with Teddy crawling, their space was more cluttered than he'd like.
Remus placed the basket on the floor, in front of his feet.
"Wow," Tonks said. "That is a big basket."
"It's big enough?"
"Remus, I think you got enough chocolate for all four of us," Tonks said, laughing. Teddy saw the colorful basket from where he stood. He gripped the edge of the coffee table, looking longingly at the basket.
Remus lifted the basket to bring it to Teddy, but the boy was already making tentative steps toward the basket himself.
"Is he—" Tonks said, mesmerized.
"He is," Andromeda smiled. "Go, Teddy!"
Remus watched as Teddy took his very first steps away from the coffee table and toward the colorful basket.
"Teddy! You're walking!" Remus cried in amazement. Teddy took a few more steps before he collapsed on the floor, crying.
"It's all right, Teddy," Remus said, helping Teddy back up on his feet. "You wonderful boy, come get your Easter basket!"
Remus held Teddy's hands and brought him to the basket. He helped unwrap it to reveal the two stuffed toys and the small mountain of chocolate eggs.
Teddy took to the white rabbit first and held it against his chest. He found an egg wrapped in gold foil and took it with him as well. He took a few more steps toward Tonks, who had her arms open for him. Teddy gave the rabbit to Tonks and brought the egg to Andromeda.
"Thank you, love," Tonks said, kissing Teddy's currently pink hair, matching his mother's.
"Thank you, Teddy," Andromeda said, holding him up in a tight hug. "Walk back to your father, Teddy, for more."
Teddy took several more steps to Remus, whose face hurt from smiling. Teddy, his perfect, beautiful boy, was walking!
Remus opened his arms for Teddy to walk into, but he walked past Remus and brought his hands on a large rabbit-shaped slab of chocolate.
"Like father, like son," Tonks giggled. "He wants his chocolate."
Remus grinned and opened the package for Teddy. The boy immediately began gnawing on the rabbit's ear until his face was covered in sticky, melted chocolate.
"Like mother, like son," Andromeda said wryly, wiping Teddy's face. "Nymphadora, you hardly went a few minutes without your face covered in food at this age."
"Not much has changed," Tonks shrugged, wiping some chocolate from the corner of her lips.
And yet everything had changed, thought Remus. A year before, Teddy was not yet born and his health was in question. Voldemort still ruled wizarding Britain from behind a curtain of disinformation and ruthlessness. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were on the run finding horcruxes. Remus, Tonks, and Andromeda had been in hiding for months.
A year later, Remus held his healthy son in his arms as he continued gnawing on the chocolate rabbit. Voldemort was no more. Harry was Teddy's loving godfather, and no one lived in hiding anymore.
This Easter, as opposed to the many Easters he'd had before, Remus knew that everything had changed. It was a very happy Easter indeed.
