A/N: This lovely story was requested by ThisIsMegz! Happy Christmas my friend!
Teddy was nearly bouncing as the rolling green hills out his train compartment window quickly gave way to the houses and buildings of London.
He was almost home.
Don't misunderstand, Teddy adored Hogwarts, he was excited to return in September, but Teddy was excited to be home with his family.
Specifically, his new sister.
He'd been there for most of Jamie and Al growing up. He'd been there when they'd started walking and talking and it had been kind of cool to watch them grow.
But Teddy had already missed Lily's first word and her first steps. When he'd been home for Christmas and Easter she had been rather taken with him though. At Easter she insisted on sitting with him and following him everywhere he went while with the Potter's. She loved that Teddy would change his hair color constantly for her, and Teddy wasn't above exploiting that at every turn.
And in less than ten minutes, he'd get to see her and the rest of his family again.
"Your hair is going red, Ted," Matt poked his shoulder.
"I'm just excited," Teddy grinned.
"Yeah, I'm excited to not have papers to write anymore," Matt commented as he looked at the streaks of gray passing by them.
"That's always a bonus," Teddy looked down at his watch.
"You in a hurry to change company?" Matt frowned.
"Sorry," Teddy pushed his hands into his pockets, "I'm excited to see my family, especially my little sister."
"Really?"
"Well, yeah, I've missed a lot of her firsts. I was there for all of my brothers' firsts, and missing Lily's feels weird, I guess. I want to see her, see what I've missed."
"I'll take your word on that," Matt shrugged. "We youngest children aren't burdened the same way you oldest kids are."
"So this isn't the time to tell you how spoiled you are?" Teddy smirked.
"My oldest sister spoils me worse than my mum most days, so I'd say you're just as guilty with that baby sister of yours."
Teddy laughed with Matt. He'd hit the nail squarely on the head.
After what felt like an eternity, the Hogwarts Express finally pulled to a stop at King's Cross station. Teddy and Matt pulled their trunks onto the platform, scanning the crowd for their families.
"Teddy!"
Teddy turned toward the sound of his name and spotted his little family not too far from where he was.
"Can I come meet your family?" Matt asked hesitantly.
"Of course," Teddy pulled on Matt's arm as he moved towards Gran and Harry and Ginny.
"Now can I go?" Jamie whined.
"Yes," Ginny sighed as she let go of his and Al's hands.
Both boys bolted for Teddy and nearly knocked him off his feet.
"Teddy! We missed you! Did you bring us presents from Hogwarts?" Jamie looked up from his grip around Teddy's middle with a bright smile.
"Of course I brought you a present, do you want to know what it is?" Teddy winked at Matt.
"Yes!" Al shouted.
"I brought you a big brother!"
Al frowned and looked at Matt. "I don't want him."
"Are you telling me to be glad you're home, and not be upset you haven't brought me anything?" Jamie sighed and looked over at Ginny.
"Sounds like your mum already told you that," Teddy chuckled. "But I've got some wicked stories for you, Jamie."
Jamie's smile was back immediately.
Teddy turned to Matt and introduced him to his family.
"And this is my Gran, Harry, and Ginny, and my siblings, Jamie, Al, and," Teddy paused and looked at the pram, "Is Lily asleep?"
Harry nodded, "This is normally when she naps, but if you're quiet you can show her off."
Teddy pulled Matt over to the pram and carefully lifted the cover.
"This is Lily," he said quietly.
At the sound of his voice, Lily opened her eyes and looked tiredly around. Then her eyes opened wider and she pushed herself up and held out her arms.
"Hey, Lils," Teddy picked her up, "guess who's home for the summer?"
Lily rubbed her eyes and looked around at the busy platform before pointing to Teddy's head and babbling.
Teddy grinned and shifted his hair red.
Lily looked critically at him and then babbled again, pointing to his hair.
Teddy chuckled, "Not in the mood for red, eh? How about this?"
He shifted the color to green.
Lily looked for a moment before babbling and reaching up to try and pull on his hair.
"No you don't," Teddy snatched her chubby hand before she could wrap her first around his hair. "Here, how about this one?"
Teddy shifted his hair to a bright blue.
Lily shrieked with an excited smile and babbled, reaching again for his hair.
"Alright, little miss," Ginny laughed and pulled Lily from Teddy. "There will be no removing Teddy's hair by the fistful."
"Are you ready to go, dear?" Gran laughed and stuck a foot out to shepherd Al back towards his parents.
Teddy nodded.
"Send me an owl and we'll find time to fly together." He said to Matt.
"Definitely, and thanks for introducing me to your family." Matt smiled up at Harry and Ginny. "My sister is going to lose it when I tell her…"
"Matt!"
Teddy turned to see a tall young woman coming towards them and noticed that she looked an awful lot like Matt.
Matt grinned, "Oh, hey, Liv. Ted here was introducing me to his family. I think you'll recognize his godmother?"
Liv's mouth had dropped. "Merlin, I, I, er, hi, I'm, I'm Olivia, and you, I…"
"It's nice to meet you, Olivia," Ginny smiled warmly. "I'm Ginny Potter, but I believe you've guessed that."
"I think I get it," Matt whispered to Teddy. "The way you feel about Lily, I think it's how I feel about Liv. Sisters are different."
"Yeah," Teddy chuckled as Ginny shifted Lily to shake Olivia's hand. "There's something special about having a sister."
He reached out and took Lily from Ginny, laughing as Harry caught both boys around the middle before they could wander too far away. Lily nestled against his shoulder and Teddy smiled.
There was definitely something special, maybe even magical, about having a sister.