Meeting Teddy

Ginny:

It was important to Harry, we knew. But he didn't want to go alone.

Only a month had passed since the Battle at Hogwarts, but already so much of the joy and relief we had felt had gone and we were left to deal with the harsh reality waiting for us. We went to funeral after funeral, each one re-opening the old, horrible wounds that were just beginning to heal.

Fred's had been the worst.

Never had I seen my father cry like that.

But this was why this was important: the funerals were finally over, finally people could begin to move on. And after so much death and pain, visiting him seemed the only thing to do.

The four of us stood in front of Andromenda Tonks' door and Harry knocked.

Hermione:

I could tell they were a little nervous – especially Harry. Not that I could blame him. It would be the first time he had seen Mrs. Tonks since that horrible night we had taken him from his home with the Muggles.

Aside from the funerals, that is. But none of us had been able to meet her eye then. I knew Harry blamed himself for her daughter and her son-in-law's deaths. And so, as the door slowly opened, I wasn't surprised to see, out of the corner of my eye, Harry take a deep breath and steady himself. Ginny grabbed his hand as we filed in.

The first thing I saw when we entered the cozy sitting room was the basinet in the center of it.

Mrs. Tonks smiled as us, said her hellos, then led us to it. "He's sleeping," she whispered to us.

And he was. Little Teddy Lupin was curled up under his blanket, his eyes closed, his tiny hand curled around on if his sheets.

"He's so beautiful," he whispered. I forced down a lump that had unexpectedly formed in the throat – he looked like his father.

Ron moved a little closer, bending over the basinet with me. I heard him breathe out. "Blimey," he said, as softly as he would manage. "He's so small."

I smiled over at him, though he stared down at Teddy. We both leaned over the cradle. He didn't seem to noticed that he had grabbed my hand. I saw no reason to point it out.

Ron:

Mrs. Tonks had started crying hardly five minutes after we'd came in. She grabbed Harry's hand, shaking it, kissing his cheeks, babbling about her husband and what he'd say if he were there now. Harry just stood there, stupidly, looking to each of us for some kind of clue as to what he should do. He didn't want this kind of thanks, he didn't think he deserved it. Though he did.

It was Hermione who rescued him. "Come on, Mrs. Tonks, let's make tea."

"Andromeda, dear," she answered, thickly. "Andromeda."

"All right then, Andromeda," Hermione said, smiling kindly. "Let's go."

Mrs. Tonks nodded and followed Hermione into the kitchen. I watched them go. Hermione was always knew what to say when people were upset. She was so good. I strained to hear what she was saying, to hear her voice, but the two of them were murmuring so softly now I couldn't.

I took another look at the sleeping baby, the plopped down on the sofa. Harry had already taken a seat in a near by chair, Ginny perched on the arm.

Harry looked horrible: his face was completely white. I knew it must have been hard for him – he was the godfather, after all. But really, after everything he had faced in his life, how bad could a baby be?

I got my answer in a few seconds. Teddy started wailing from his crib, so loud that I jumped.

I heard a chair scrape in the kitchen and knew that Mrs. Tonks must be rushing back. Harry looked down at the basinet, terrified. He looked over at me. I shrugged.

Ginny, however, didn't miss a beat.

She stood up, walked over to the basinet and leaned down, her hair falling over her shoulder. She scooped up the baby and began to walk up and down the room, bouncing him every once in a while.

I could hear Hermione now. "It's all right. No, you just drink your tea. What were you saying?"

I looked back to Harry. He was watching Ginny move around the room, perhaps thinking of another woman with red hair comforting a baby nearly eighteen years ago.

No. I was wrong. He was defiantly not thinking of his mother then. My fingers curled into fists, though I didn't realize it until my nails dug into my palms.

I tried very hard to listen to what Hermione had said, but it was still hard to see someone look at my sister like that – even if it was Harry.

Teddy seemed to have calmed down. Ginny smiled at the little bundle in her arms. "That's better now, right?"

She turned to Harry. "Do you want to hold him?"

Harry:

"Er – no – I…"

"Oh, come on."

Ginny walked over to me, still holding the baby in her arms.

Hold him? I had been scared before, but this was a new kind of fear. However wild the thought was, I was scared that I would do something that would upset the baby, that somehow I'd do something wrong, that's he'd get hurt with me.

He was just so tiny.

I looked over at Ron again, hoping he'd help me out. He just smiled, goofily.

I made a mental note to whack him later.

Ginny leaned over me, passing the baby very softly into my arms. He was all together too small to be allowed. I inhaled as she did and was comforted – a little – by that smell I remembered so well. I thought back to Amortentia and potions class and Snape and Hogwarts…

But suddenly every thought I had had was gone and nothing else in the world existed but the baby in my arms.

What if I drop him?

Is his head all right?

Where's his arm?!

Oh… there it is.

I looked up at Ginny, who sat herself back on the edge of my chair again. She just smiled at me. Somehow, I felt reassured. Surely she wouldn't be smiling if I was doing it wrong, would she?

I looked back down at the little bundle in my arms. He was calm again, staring up at me, completely trusting, content just to be held.

And looking down at him, I realized something – something I always known, but never fully understood. I pictured my mother, holding a different baby and knew exactly how I had managed to survive all these years. It had nothing to do with Horcruxes or Hallows or luck – it really had been love.

I knew it as I looked down at the little baby and his eyes began to close again. I knew it because, no matter what happened, where he went, or what danger he faced, as long as I had could help it, nothing would ever hurt Teddy Lupin.

"Hiya, Teddy," I murmured to him. "I'm you godfather. I'm Harry. It's nice to meet you."

The End.