Chapter Twenty Six

June-2004

Harry lounged causally in the doorway of his bedroom, watching Cho cradling their new born daughter. She was rocking gently in the old rocking chair they'd found in the enormous attic of the Potter Mansion.

Harry had cleaned it up and fixed the broken arm. He'd even sewn several thick cushions to pad it out and it was very comfortable now.

"Hi daddy." Cho smiled, tucking her breast away as the tiny baby finished feeding, "How long have you been standing there?"

"A while. But not long enough." He smiled, "You look so beautiful."

"I look scruffy, slightly grubby and sleep deprived." Cho laughed.

"As I said." Harry said, walking over and kissing her deeply, "Beautiful."

"You're very sweet." Cho told him earnestly, "Now, why are you hovering?"

"I was going to offer to come and look after the little one while you get a shower before everyone arrives." Harry told her.

Cho handed the child over and smiled. She stood and stretched, running her hand over her hair, "Thank you. You are an angel."

Harry laughed, "Well, you would know."

She leaned over and kissed Harry, before wondering out of the nursery and into the bedroom.

Stripping off, she made sure that her thrown clothes ended up in the laundry hamper, rather than the cot that attached to the bed where their daughter slept.

"I really should move that laundry basket." Cho sighed, adding it to her to do list for when she had a bit more energy.

She'd given birth exactly one week ago, and so far both her and Harry and their baby, had hidden away from the world and it had been strangely, surreally, perfect.

But now they needed to join the real world again. No one had met the baby yet, they'd wanted to give themselves some time to adjust to being new parents, but today they were having a small party to announce their child to the world.

Danica had sent her apologies but she was in the middle of her exams, and couldn't get away from school until the weekend, when she would definitely come over.

Harry didn't mind, he remembered how stressful exams were and Danica needed to get perfect results. She would have many years to get to know her niece.

Cho allowed the warmth of the water to wash over her, calming her almost instantly. Logically she'd known that having a baby would change her, the way she looked, the way she thought, but it had somehow still come as a shock.

She was worried all the time now and her stomach still looked five months pregnant. Harry didn't seem to mind, but it still worried her. Her mother had assured her that she would settle in time, that this was perfectly normal and given a while, she would even feel like herself again, but it was hard to see at that moment.

After an hour or so of allowing herself to revel in the water crashing over her, she even had taken the time to put a hair mask on, adding some much needed softness back to her hair, she finally shut the water off and wrapped herself in a fluffy towel.

Harry had been kind enough to buy her a set of black towels to use for after the birth as she'd worried about staining their normal pale blue ones.

Fifteen minutes later she was dressed in the silver, flowing gown that she'd bought for the party. Her hair was tightly braided to half way now, from there it hung loosely down her back.

"Wow… doesn't mummy look beautiful?" Harry asked, holding the little girl up for Cho to see.

He'd already dressed her in the white robes that Cho and he had lovingly hand stitched for her. It was a simple dress, with only a stag and a swan embroidered on each shoulder.

"Aww look how cute she looks!" Cho cooed.

"Yeah." Harry agreed, "Lets just hope she doesn't throw up all over it."

"That's what magical cleaning is for, isn't it petal?" Cho laughed, taking her daughter from Harry so he too could get ready.

Less than an hour later, Cho, Harry and their baby walked through the large double doors into the Potter Mansion formal dinning room.

Lily, Severus, and Cho's parents, were waiting for them just inside the doorway.

"Is this her?" Cho's mother cooed, "She's so precious."

"She's perfect." Harry grinned, "Thank you all for coming."

He led them to were a group of sofas had been arranged against one side of the room. In the middle was a low coffee table, covered with large pots of tea, trays of cakes and sandwiches as well as a batch of freshly made scones.

"I wanted to thank you all for giving us this time." Cho smiled, "We definitely needed the moment to… to pause and just enjoy the new addition to our little family."

"We're hoping to have a proper naming in the church in a few weeks." Harry told them, "But we wanted you all to be the first to meet our daughter."

"May I hold her?" Cho's mother asked.

Cho nodded, "Of course mama."

She handed the little bundle over to her mother. Mrs Chang gazed down at the child, her tiny face still wrinkled, and she clenched her fists and legs automatically every time she was moved.

"She is so perfect." Cho's mother smiled, "Thank you, and well done."

Cho smiled, leaning in against Harry's shoulder.

"So, what's she called?" Severus asked, peering down at the little bundle.

Harry took his daughter back and smiled at the gathered parents, "We thought, and argued, a lot about what we were going to call her, in the end we put all the names we liked in a hat, and once she was born we pulled out her perfect name."

"It's a bit of a tradition in both our families to reuse names, to honour those who have come before." Cho said, "And that's something we both really wanted to continue. So, our first born's name is, Caihong Viola Potter."

"Caihong was my mother." Cho's father smiled.

"And Viola was mine." Lily said, sniffing the tears of joy back, she really didn't want to make a scene but there had been so many day when she was sure that this day, Harry having a normal life, a child, it was nothing short of a miracle after everything they had been through.

"It's a beautiful name." Severus told them, pulling Lily into a hug and slipping her a handkerchief.

"Thank you." She whispered, dabbing her eyes.

Cho took Caihong from Harry and slipped her dress open, her daughter's mouth pawing at her skin until she found the breast and started to feed.

Cho settled herself on the sofa, leaning back and relaxing.

"You look so wonderfully perfect there." Cho's mother smiled, pouring her daughter a large cup of tea, "You need to make sure you drink plenty."

Cho laughed, "I am mama. Don't worry."

"I remember drinking as though I'd not seen water in a year." Lily said, "I'd go through three or more litres a day, even more with Danica, but then she fed a lot more than you did."

"Really?" Harry smiled, "I never knew that. It's one of those thinks I'm rather cut off from."

"Tell me about it." Severus and Cho's father said together, before snorting a laugh.

"Don't worry, there are plenty of magical moments you'll get as well." Severus assured him.

Cho's father took a scone, covering it with a thick layer of butter, cream and jam, "My favourite moment was when you were about two weeks old and you seemed to see my face for the first time Cho. You became obsessed with my nose, always reaching for it. You wouldn't hurt it or anything, just snuggle in while holding it."

"Well you do have a big nose Jamie." Cho's mother teased, giving his nose a little tap.

He rolled his eyes, kissing his wife's forehead, "Yes thank you Susannah." he laughed.

"My best moment was when Lily had just gotten out of the hospital and we were settling into Grimmauld Place…" Severus said, smiling as he lost himself in the memories, "You were really fussy, you had a cold or something and we were all feeling crap, between being all sniffly and the lack of sleep."

"You sent me for a nap." Lily smiled, remembering the time, not to mention the amount of times Severus had told her about it.

Severus nodded, "Yes. Harry was fussing again and I picked him up and… and you calmed down. You just snuggled into me and went to sleep. It was the first time you'd ever allowed me to sooth you, and I never wanted that moment to end."

"Thank you all so much for coming." Harry said again, "We really are so grateful for having you here, to share this moment with you all. I hope it's as happy for you as it is for me, for both of us."

They sat and talked for an hour or so, at which point the tea pots were running rather low. Harry volunteered to go and refill them, wondering into the kitchen and sticking the kettle on to boil.

Severus followed him through, measuring out the posh tea leaves that Cho insisted the used for guests, when normally it was just tea bags they used.

"It's a really beautiful name you've given Caihong." Severus told him slowly, "Are you saving the other names for next time? Assuming there will be a next time?"

Harry laughed, "There will be indeed. We're hoping for three."

"Three is a good number." Severus smiled.

"And yes, we're hoping to reuse the names. There's still a lot in there." Harry told him, pouring the boiling water into the warmed tea pot, "Why do you ask?"

Severus looked awkward, taking a deep breath as he tried to think of the best way to put his worry, "May I ask a question, one that could be considered rather… out of place?"

Harry stopped and turned towards his father, looking worried, "Yeah… dad of course you can ask me anything. What's up?"

"Is my mother or father's name on you list of options?" Severus asked him.

Harry nodded, "Yeah… we put everyone's names in." Harry told him.

Severus nodded, taking another deep breath, "I know this is a big ask, and not my place, and I don't wish to be one of those interfering grandparents but… I would be very grateful if you could remove my parents names from the list. Neither Eileen, nor Tobias, are names I have a fond association with, or want to be past on."

"Dad… I'm so sorry, I should have asked…" Harry said, feeling awful for clearly having both worried and upset his father, "Of course I'll remove both of those names."

"You don't need to apologise Harry." Severus told him firmly, "I… you are my family, you, your mother and Danica, you're the only real family I've ever known. And while I never thought I would say it, Sirius and Nikka… and now Cho and Caihong."

Harry didn't know the details of Severus's childhood, but he knew it had been rough. He knew that Severus's father had been volatile, yelling and screaming at both his wife and child. Which then lead to more physical abuse for them both.

Severus had always been very determined to leave it behind him, and it was a wish that Harry was more than happy to respect.

Two weeks later, Harry stood at the front of the little church that stood in the Potter estate, holding Caihong with Cho by his side.

Danica sat in her white robes, matching the vast majority of the other guests, waiting for Harry to start. The last few stragglers found there seats and Harry coughed, to let the know he was about to begin.

"Thank you all for joining us today." Harry said clearly, "We are here to officially introduce you all to our daughter. Most of you have met her already, so without further ado, I would like to give you Caihong Viola Potter."

"Caihong was my grandmother." Cho told the gathered crowd, "On my father's side. She was born in Scotland in 1900, the youngest of four children. She went on to become an Auror, where she met her future husband. She had two children, one of which was obviously my father, Jamie. She past away just last year, after a very full and exciting life. And I am happy to honour her by naming our daughter after her."

"Viola was my grandmother on my mother's side." Harry told them, "She was born in 1936, to a muggle family. She loved flowers, and continued the family tradition of naming her own daughters after flowers. She had two children, both girls, and my mother was the youngest. She didn't really understand the whole 'magic' thing, but got on very well with James and Severus. She was past away, shortly after her husband, in 1979. My mother always said that they had a perfect love story, and in the end they just couldn't live without one another. I am happy to honour her by naming our daughter after her."

Cho reached over and sprinkled a small pinch of earth over her daughter's head, followed by a splash of water fresh from the stream that ran at the bottom of their garden.

"Of the earth, of the water, of the air and fire." Cho said clearly, her voice echoing slightly around the stone church as she spoke, the candles that were lighting the building flickering, "You are loved, you are wanted and you are wonderful."

"We promise to do everything we can to keep you safe, to keep you happy, and will always love you. No matter what." Harry said, tears running down his face as he leaned over and kissed Caihong's forehead, "We love you our baby girl."

Danica clapped along with everyone else, taking the opportunity as soon as other's were starting to stand to rush over, throwing her arms around her brother in a big hug.

"Can I hold her?" She asked eagerly.

"Of course." Cho smiled, handing Caihong over.

Danica took her niece in her arms, smiling down at her, "I'm sorry I couldn't meet you earlier," she said softly, "I was busy with stupid exams but they're all finished now… I'm going to work with fairies, and I'll be able to tell you all about them. That's your grandmama and grandpapa… they're going to spoil you like crazy…"

Caihong reached up towards Danica, catching her hair in her tiny hands and pulling it slightly.

"Sorry sweetie." Cho said, de-tangling Danica's hair, "She's gotten very grabby with hair recently. I'm hoping she grows out of it or I'm going to have to cut my hair… yes I am…"

Danica grinned, "Do you think I can take her out some time? When she's a bit older?"

"Whenever you want Danica." Cho promised her.

Danica smiled, returning her gaze to Caihong and feeling her worries fall away.