Chapter- 7

Teddy closed his eyes, hands over his ears and continued screaming. No, it was all his fault.. oh Vicky, I am so sorry. Please be alright.. please. But he already knew it was too late for that. He heard exclaimations from the others as they rushed past him onto the road. He didnt dare open his eyes lest the sight that would greet him be too horrid to handle. He could hardly hear the words being spoken, but after a few seconds he realised they werent of grief or shock.. they were of.. relief? He opened his eyes a crack and saw a small figure running towards him arms open. He instinctively caught her and hugged her tight, crying uncontrollably. He couldnt understand what had happened but he didnt care. His Victorie was okay, she was safe.. he silently and vigorously thanked whatever force had made it possible. Little did he know it had been his own force. He had made the bus stop suddenly. He had performed accidental magic.

Harry and the others told him all about how it had happened. Everyone was so proud that Ted had shown magic for the first time. Little did they know it wasnt the first time.. but Ted had been alone in a room in the ministry when it happened the previous time and he was too young to remember or understand it. Fleur was holding Vic so tightly it seemed she would never let go again and Bill was curled up by the fireplace crying, with Molly by his side trying to comfort him.. she was half in tears herself. Ted was comfortably curled in Harrys lap who was stroking his hair fondly. It had been painful to watch him cry so hard.

After all the emotions had died down a bit, Ted suddenly remembered the coin. He asked Vicky for it but she couldnt find it on her. He explained the adults about it, and they immediately knew it was filled with dark magic..the source of Vics behaviour which she didnt remember anything about. Ginny went out on the street and retrieved it from where Victorie had dropped it. Bill took it since he was the best at curse breaking and also since he was the most angry at the wretched thing.

"Ted, what did I tell you about going into the attic?", Harry said with a little disappointment in his voice.

"I am sorry dad. I just wanted to explore. I will never ever go there again", he said with his head hung low in sincere apology

"It was my godfather, Siriuss house Teddy. He and your father were really good friends. But his family werent very nice people. They were involved in the dark arts, so their house is likely to be filled with stuff like this. I promise we will find a new home soon but until then you have to be careful, you hear me?"

"Okay", Ted replied earnestly meeting Harrys eyes to let him know he was being truthful. He was far too shaken from this incident to ever go near the attic anytime soon.

The rest of his birthday was spent in cozy silence and internal celebration as everyone just sat there and talked merrily. Ted wasnt bored at all, he just listened and chipped in whenever he felt like it. Vicky was back to her usual chirpy self and soon fell asleep in her mothers lap. It wasnt until midnight that anyone moved at all, which was way past Teds bedtime.. but he was allowed this once, as a birthday treat. His real birthday present from Harry and Ginny was to be opened tomorrow, since everyone was so tired right now including Teddy himself.

Harry kissed Ted goodnight and soon Ted was left dreaming about fast moving vehicles and raining coins. It was an uneasy sleep and the fact that the next day was his first day at primary school did not help. Ofcourse he was very excited about it and had been talking about it since a week, but actually waking up in the morning to go to school was something entirely different.

"Teds you are gonna be late now, please get up and go take a shower", Ginny was gently shaking his little shoulders as she opened the curtains to let in the orange rays of newly risen sun.

"Do I have to..", Teddy groaned

"Wheres all the enthusiasm you have been bombarding on us all week?", Ginny said with an encouraging smile .

Teddy perked up a bit at that, thinking of all the fun he would have at school as had been described by Harry who had gone to primary school himself. Ofcourse the description was all made up since Harry had had a miserable time but he wasnt going to tell Ted about his childhood just yet. Ginny left the room and Ted got up groggily and went to the bathroom.

After an eternity he bounded downstairs to ask Ginny if she knew where his pants were, he stopped short.. he heard arguing. That was very weird as he had never seen Harry and Ginny argue, barring some rare occasions. He knew he should go back to his room and not snoop but he couldnt help.. whatever it was that was making his favorite couple mad at each other, maybe he could solve it.

"He is just 3!"

"So? Its a toy broomstick! It is made for children"

"Were you not there yesterday!? Did you not see what happened?"

"It was an accident. Vicky was running out of the garden, that would never happen with Ted.. we can make sure of it"

"Ginny accidents happen. They happen okay? And sometimes even when adults try their best they cannot protect their kids"

"Harry he is not you! Your life was completely different. We are not living in that age anymore. I know you feel stuck in the past by no fault of yours but you need to see Teddy is protected and safe. We are here for him. Besides, its just a broomstick for gods sake, why are we even having this arguement"

"You know what.. I am his godfather, I will decide.."

"Oh my god.. you are really pulling that card"

Ted heard footsteps which was probably Harry walking away. He got up and silently crept upstairs. They were fighting about me, he thought dejectedly. I was the reason they were unhappy right now. He inferred they had probably decided to give Teddy a broomstick for his birthday but then Harry got cold feet. He really really wanted that broomstick but he also did not want to upset Harry by siding with Ginny. Besides what Harry said at last was pretty mean, Ginny was his mum too and he loved her just as much. All the earlier excitement of his first day was dampened. He spotted his pants on the chair and gloomily started putting them on.

The tension in the car was palpable. Teddy didnt dare break it. Sure his mum and dad were the kindest people but both of them, when they got angry, werent very nice to be around. Ginny was driving, blaring the horn loudly anytime a car went past them. Teddy flinched. Ginny saw this and immediately softened.

"I am sorry Ted. Are you okay?"

"Mm-hmm", Ted replied non-commitally

Harry having picked up something was wrong, immediately got concerned, "Whats up Tedster, arent you looking forward to your first day? It will be great!", Harry said with genuine pride.

"Just not in the mood"

"Why wh-"

Teddy said it in one single breath, "Whatyousaidtomumwasmean"

"Come again?", Harry and Ginny both chorused.

Ted felt very timid now, maybe he shouldnt have said anything, but there was no turning back now, "What you said to mum was mean"

"What did I say to- ohh", Harrys eyes went wide in realisation and as the situation sunk in he felt like hitting himself in the head.

"Teddy, I am so so sorry you had to listen to that. We never meant for you to. We wont be so loud next time I promise"

"Next time? So you are gonna fight over me again?"

"Oh Ted, you dont have to feel guilty or responsible. No no no..", Harry rubbed his forehead in frustration at himself.

"Look, adults fight.. and be it may over any topic, it is their own misunderstandings, it has nothing to do with you.. you did not do anything wrong. We still love you as much and no one is mad at you"

Ginny chipped in, feeling a little guilty herself, "Teddy, just because we fight doesnt mean we dont like each other either. We are still in love and nothing will change that.. so you dont have to worry about that. And also we will keep the fighting to a minimum I promise", she said with a little smile to Harry, who was in the backseat, in the front mirror.

"Alright", Ted replied mostly convinced, "So you make up?"

"We do", they said together and Harry added for good measure, "And you can have the broomstick... as long as you promise not to do anything dangerous and listen to whatever we say when you are on it okay?"

"Yayyy", Ted chirped with a wide grin.

How you all doing? I am so so grateful for 9 follows! Please review whether you liked this chapter. How do you think Teds day at school will go? I will be posting soon. Take care ya all 3