Chapter 2: Harry Potter's Godson
A/N: Oh my gosh, I am so honored that you all like my story!! I was so shocked to see that many reviews just overnight!! Thank you all so, so much for your support!! Well, on to chapter 2!!
Oh, I should probably add this too, just in case…
Disclaimer: None of the Harry Potter characters belong to me. Trust me, if they did, I sure as hell wouldn't have written the final book like JK Rowling did. This goes for this chapter, the one before it, and all the ones after it.
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Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river
I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey
I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you
- `At the Beginning' by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis from the movie Anastasia
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The next day at four o'clock, Harry sat in his living room, staring at the computer, trying to get his mind off of the meeting that would determine what would happen to Teddy. Of course, the sites he was looking at weren't helping him take his mind off his troubles. He was checking out parenting sites, advice on raising children. Even though they were places on the Internet by muggles, Harry felt he'd get the jist either way. He turned when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs and saw Hermione stepping off the last step, tucking her wand back into her robes. She had been upstairs fixing up one of the bedrooms for the new arrival that would come back with them at five o'clock. Harry had apparated to Hermione's flat that morning and told her what he had decided.
"Harry! What are you doing here so early?" Hermione exclaimed in surprise. She had thrown her dressing gown on quickly and was tying the belt to hold it together. "Is something wrong?"
"No, nothing's wrong. I just wanted to let you know I decided to take Teddy." Hermione smiled.
"That's wonderful, Harry."
"And I wanted to ask you, will you go with me this afternoon?"
"Why do you want me to go with you, Harry? Shouldn't Ginny go with? Seeing as she is your girlfriend and everything?"
"I haven't told her about it yet, you're the only one who knows about it." Hermione gave him an exasperated look.
"Harry, I don't know what you're trying to accomplish by trying to keep this quiet. It won't stay that way for long, once the press gets a hold of this, they'll have a field day. It'd be the perfect little story, `Harry Potter Adopts Godchild After a Time of War' or some other nonsense like that."
"It's a good thing you're not a reporter, Hermione, that title was terrible."
"That's not the point!" Hermione said sternly. "The point is, you need to tell Ginny-the woman you could potentially spend the rest of your life with-about your decision! You can't expect me to be there all the time!"
"Wait, I thought you said last night that you'd be there if I needed you! Were you just telling me that so I'd make the right decision?"
"Of course not, Harry, but you have keep in mind that I might not always be here at your beckon call. I have my own life-"
"Wait, ok, seriously, Hermione, what the hell is going on with you that all of a sudden you think that you're being married off or something, that you don't have any choice in the matter-"
"I feel like I am being married off, Harry! Ron and I went to visit the Weasley's yesterday and they're practically planning our weddings already!"
"Wait, weddings? As in plural?" Hermione gave him a grim look.
"Yes, Harry, as in plural. They're planning yours too. You should hear Ginny and Molly talking about it." Harry could feel the color leaving his face. This was one of those instances that he considered the typical bloke move and run far away and as fast as possible.
"Ginny's in on it?"
"'Fraid so."
"W-W-Why? Why are they planning this already?"
"Because so we can be "one big happy Weasley family"," Hermione said, saying the last five words of her sentence in a false, happy, singsong voice.
"What's wrong with being one big happy Weasley family?" Hermione looked him in the eye for a fraction of a second then quickly looked away. She was silent for a second before replying to Harry's question.
"N-nothing. It's just that it's…too fast. We're all, with the exception of Ginny, only seventeen, and Ginny's only sixteen. I don't like my life planned out for me, Harry. I want to be my own person, free to do whatever the hell I want, whenever I want."
"Well, like I said, talk to Ron. He's a reasonable person, he'll hear you out."
"But he's scared of his mother," Hermione muttered bitterly.
"Anyway," Harry said, trying to ignore Hermione's last comment, "Will you come with me? I don't have a place for him right at the moment; I need your help setting up a room for him." Hermione sighed.
"Alright, but you have to promise me-"
"Don't worry, I promise." Hermione sighed again.
"Well, let me get dressed, I'll meet you at Grimmauld Place." Harry grinned.
"Thanks, Hermione, you're the absolute best. You know that right?" Hermione didn't respond to Harry's comment, she just waved her hand telling him to go away.
"Go on, I'll be there in a little bit." Harry's grin widened, he was almost bouncy with excitement. Very un-Harry-like, in Hermione's opinion. He Disapparated away, only to have to wait ten minutes before Hermione joined him at Grimmauld Place.
When Hermione arrived at Grimmauld Place, Harry showed her what room he was going to make Teddy's, the room right across the hall from Harry's. When Harry had offered to help, Hermione had given him an annoyed look that reminded him of the decorating incident. Remembering that he wasn't supposed to help, he grinned again.
"Thanks again, Hermione." He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. Walking away, he didn't feel Hermione's shocked gaze follow him down the stairs as he went. But it was definitely there.
"I'm all finished, Harry. Come see what you think." Harry rolled back in the computer chair away from the desk and got up, following Hermione up the stairs to Teddy's room. She opened the door and went in, leaving it open for the wizard following her. Harry looked around the room in awe. It was perfect. The walls were blue, not a dark blue like Hermione's room was, and also not a baby blue like traditional baby boy's rooms were. It was somewhere in between. A crib sat in the corner, a dresser next to it, a changing area on top of it. A little empty cupboard stood open next to the dresser, as if waiting to be filled. As though sensing that Harry was going to ask about the cupboard she explained, "That's for diapers and things, when you go to get Teddy today, you'll have to stop and get all of that. Along with formula and everything."
"It's great, Hermione." The reality of what taking Teddy in was starting to sink in a little more; he turned a slightly panicked face to Hermione.
"You're not going to go back on your word saying you'll help me, right?" Harry said, not bothering to disguise the fear in his voice. Hermione smiled.
"No, I'm not going to go back on my word, Harry. But you have to keep in mind, I don't know much more than you do. I've never been a parent, either."
"But your parents are still alive, and you must have been around small children in your life, right?"
"Not really, most of the people I know that have kids I don't know well enough to know their children."
"H-how do new parents know how to do this?" Hermione laughed.
"Well, I'm sure there's this moment of panic, like you're doing, then I think you just know after that. It just comes to you. I don't know, you'll have to ask Molly and Arthur when it comes to that kind of stuff." Just then, they heard Ginny's voice downstairs.
"Harry? Harry, where are you?"
Harry and Hermione looked at each other, and Harry explained, "I did what you said I should do, I'm going to talk to Ginny about all this. Not that she's going to change my mind or anything, but you're right, I should let her know about it." Hermione smiled and nodded and they went downstairs. Ginny was standing at the foot of the stairs her right foot on the bottom step, obviously she was about to go upstairs. She raised an eyebrow and her mouth opened slightly as she gave a skeptical look to the two at the top of the stairs.
"Hey Ginny. How are you?" Ginny ignored Hermione's question and answered it with one of her own.
"Not to be rude, or anything, Hermione, but why are you always here when I come over?"
"I'm not always here when you come over, but as to today," she pointed at Harry, "he can explain why I'm here. I'll leave you to it then." Without another word, or before Harry could say anything to her, Hermione Disapparated quickly with a `pop'. Harry came down the stairs and Ginny gave him a kiss.
"What did you want to talk to me about, Harry?" Harry motioned for her to follow him into the living room where the letter from Amelia Lynch was sitting on the desk that held his laptop. Seeing it was still on a webpage about raising a child, he closed the screen and handed Ginny the letter. After Ginny had finished the letter, she scoffed.
"But of course you're not going to take him, you're only seventeen. I can't believe that the Department of Magical Social Services would even think you'd consider it, right?" she said with a little laugh. Harry didn't reply. "Did you send a reply saying that the meeting wasn't necessary?"
"No. I'm going to it this afternoon at five o'clock. And I'm bringing Teddy home with me. I'm going to look after him, I'm his godfather." Ginny laughed, thinking it was a joke. She stopped when she saw Harry wasn't laughing.
"You're-you're serious?"
"Yes, I am."
"Why?"
"Because I'm his godfather, Ginny, Remus and Tonks would want me to look after their son if they died, otherwise they wouldn't have asked me."
"But you have a choice, Harry, he can go to the next of kin or something-"
"I'm not sure there's any next of kin left, Ginny, except Tonks' mother, and there has to be some reason why she's giving him up all of a sudden now."
"Harry, how are you going to raise a baby, you don't know how-"
"I know, but I'll learn."
"Harry, it's not just raising a baby, think about what he is. He's part werewolf. How do you plan to handle that?"
"If he is a werewolf, the Wolfsbane potion will work; it can keep him from being dangerous. Just like it did for his dad."
"But what if-what if something goes wrong? I don't think you should take that risk, Harry. You've been through enough as it is, why do you have to go looking for trouble?"
"I thought you'd be a little more understanding about this, Ginny, I honestly did. And I was kind of hoping you'd go with us this afternoon."
"Us?"
"Hermione and me." Ginny's features darkened.
"Of course. Hermione."
"What?"
"Why is she going with you? She has her own boyfriend to worry about."
"Because I asked her to," Ginny rolled her eyes. "She's my best friend, Ginny. Just because I'm going out with you and she's going out with Ron doesn't mean we just drop each other."
"It's not that, Harry. It's just that, she's over all the time-"
"No she's not-" Ginny went on as though Harry hadn't interrupted her.
"And people are beginning to talk."
"What?"
"Look, she probably didn't tell you this, but when she was at the Burrow yesterday, we were joking around about weddings and such-"
"Yeah, Hermione said you all were planning our weddings, what was that all about?" Again, Ginny went on as though Harry had interrupted.
"She overreacted, and took it all the wrong way. Rumor was she Apparated here. Did she?"
"She was here last night; she said she left a book here."
"Did you see her leave with one?" Harry recalled the previous evening. No, Hermione didn't leave with a book. Ginny nodded.
"I figured. See, whenever she has problems, she comes here. I know you said we could come and go as we pleased, but don't you think she's been coming by a little too much?"
"Ginny, we've been through a lot. Hermione's the only one who's been there through everything. She hasn't left my side once, she'd be there for me no matter what…"
"But so has Ron-"
"No, he hasn't! Ron left! He left us just because things got too difficult and things weren't easy for him anymore."
"But he came back-"
"He still left, Ginny. But my point is that through all this we've been through, Hermione understands what this has been like."
"I understand-"
"No, you don't! You weren't there!"
"Because you wouldn't let me be there! Damnit, Harry, you pushed me away at the end of last year; you wouldn't let me come with you. But what I was saying, Harry, is that people are talking that she's panicking about marrying Ron-"
"Because it's being pushed on her! They've only been dating a few months-"
"But they've known each other for seven years! And she overreacted when Mum and I made the comment about when our weddings would be-"
"I thought you said it was a joke?"
"It-it was. She just took it wrong." Harry gave his girlfriend a skeptical look. He shook his head.
"Anyways, I don't want to fight about this at the moment, I have to get going soon. Are you coming with me?"
"No, I'm not. Harry, why do you have to take him-"
"Because he doesn't have anyone else. Ginny, he's an orphan just like me, I don't want him to grow up unloved and alone like I was. He's got a right to grow up in the wizarding world, knowing who he is, how his parents risked their lives for peace, and he deserves to be happy. If you can't understand that, then you should probably go."
"Harry, I-"
"Ginny, either you understand or you don't. Either you're with me or not. If you too scared, then leave. I can do this without you." Ginny's jaw dropped.
"Are you breaking up with me?"
"If you choose to interpret it that way, I suppose so."
"Over a child?!"
"You know, for someone who's in such a hurry to marry me, you're sure not showing much enthusiasm for the responsibilities. Or were you thinking it's all going to be like a fairy tale, being married to the hero. That'd make for a big headline, your fifteen minutes of fame, marrying the Boy Who Lived." Harry should've stopped, but he was angry, and she basically was saying that she was too scared of the responsibility. How did she ever expect to be married? Ginny was looking at him like she had just been slapped. But her expression softened, and she turned to the fireplace. Grabbing a handful of Floo Powder, she threw it into the fire, causing the flames to turn a vivid green.
"I know you don't mean the things you're saying, Harry, I'll see you later." Before Harry could answer, she stepped into the flames, shouted her destination, and was gone.
Fifteen minutes later, Hermione apparated to Number 12, and Harry told her the details of his and Ginny's conversation, the break up, I guess you could call it, and how she didn't seem to believe that he was breaking up with her.
"She's just going to have to realize, if she wants to be with me, she's going to have to take Teddy into consideration too. She can't have one without the other." Despite the situation, Hermione smiled.
"I'm glad you're looking at it this way, Harry. That shows you won't be resentful later about taking him in. As for Ginny, I'd just give it a little while, she'll come around, get used to the idea. It is rather sudden."
"It's not just that, it's-" But what it was, Harry couldn't describe. All of a sudden, he felt that life with Ginny wasn't necessarily what was right. It was what was easy. Normal. What everyone had expected. The conversation came to an end when Hermione looked at her watch.
"Oh, Harry, we should get going. It's ten minutes to five." They both Apparated to the Ministry, took the lift down to the floor where the Magical Social Services was. They were shown to the office of Amelia Lynch, who sat behind a desk that looked as though it had been cleared off hastily in preparation for the meeting. She stood up when Harry and Hermione came in.
"Hello, Mr. Potter. I'm Amelia Lynch, welcome," she said, shaking Harry's hand. "Miss Granger, a pleasure." She shook Hermione's hand too. "Please, have a seat." She motioned to the two chairs sitting in front of her desk.
"I'm glad you received my letter, Mr. Potter. I sent it with my assistant for her to send, and let's just say she's not really the brightest star in the sky. But I'm glad you're here. I suppose you're wondering why this meeting has come up all of a sudden now, after it's been a month since Mr. and Mrs. Lupin died. Well, as you may know, Mrs. Andromeda Tonks has been looking after young Theodore, or `Teddy', and we've found that she's no longer capable of raising the child. After the deaths of her husband and daughter, she has fallen into a deep depression, and we have to keep the best interests of the child in mind, and she has agreed to give him up. And there are no next of kin left, Mr. Potter, so it is up to you to make the decision on whether you would be willing to adopt Teddy." Harry opened his mouth to answer, but Amelia Lynch held a hand up.
"Before you make your decision, I just want to point out…seeing as what his father was, and there is a fifty/fifty chance that he could be the same, we've tested the child and found out that he is indeed a werewolf. Also a part-Metamorphmagus. Right now only his hair and eyes can change. We'll have to wait and see if he is a full Metamorphmagus when he's older."
"I've taken that into consideration, Ms. Lynch, that Teddy could be a werewolf, and decided that I'll take care of him regardless that he is one. Where else would he go if I didn't?"
"Well, we'd cross that bridge when we got to it. I'm glad you've decided to adopt him, Mr. Potter. After you sign the paperwork, you'll be able to take him home with you today. I'm afraid that there's quite a bit of paperwork too." She slid a small stack of papers towards Harry and handed him a quill and ink. Harry skimmed through the paperwork, signed his name where he needed to and pushed the papers back to Lynch. She smoothed the pile out and set it aside, and pushed a button and spoke into the little box on her desk.
"Victoria, will you please bring Theodore in here for me?"
"Yes, ma'am," Victoria answered. A few minutes later, a short black haired witch came in carrying a bundle of blue blankets. Peeking out of the blankets, hair of an electric blue color stuck out. Victoria smiled and handed Teddy to Harry. Harry felt awkward holding him, it was the first time he'd ever held a baby in his life. Teddy stared up at him with blue eyes that almost matched his hair with a curious expression, not sure who this new person was, but decided Harry was friendly because he snuggled closer to the man holding him. Hermione smiled and peered over the bundle of blankets at baby Teddy.
"He looks like Remus." Harry nodded. Victoria also had a bag in her hand too, which she handed to Amelia and left.
"This bag was left with Mrs. Tonks with instructions that it be given to you when you adopted Teddy. It is password protected, and the password is `Moony', whatever that means." She handed the bag to Hermione, as Harry had his hands full.
"Congratulations, Mr. Potter, you're officially the parent of Theodore Lupin. I wish you luck with him."
"Thank you, Ms. Lynch." He was going to shake her hand, but was afraid to not keep two hands on the baby in his arms. Hermione smiled and held her hand out.
"Here, this handshake is from him." Amelia Lynch laughed and shook Hermione's hand.
"Good luck, Mr. Potter." Harry nodded his goodbye and he and Hermione turned and left the office. At the Atrium of the Ministry, Harry stopped, wondering how they were going to get back to Grimmauld Place.
"Um, can you Apparate safely with a baby?" he said, looking down at Teddy, who had fallen asleep. Hermione smiled and nodded.
"Yes, you can, but hold him tightly." She placed a hand on Harry's arm, and they Disapparated with a `pop'. When they arrived at Grimmauld Place, Harry checked Teddy over to see if part of him got left behind. Though he figured if he had splinched they would've known about it right away. The baby was still sleeping.
"You go get Teddy settled in, Harry, I'll run to a store and get the essentials for you." She walked out the door, and Harry carried his adoptive son upstairs to his new room. Laying the child down in the crib, Harry stood there watching as Teddy squirmed a little and stretched, getting more comfortable now that he was out of the confines of the bundle of blankets. Grabbing the baby monitor Hermione had bought and turning to leave, he glanced back at the sleeping baby before shutting the door. He hoped everything was going to turn out all right.
A/n: Well here's chapter 2! I was going to end it sooner, but then I forgot that I wanted to put the meeting/adoption in this chapter, so I had to keep going. Hopefully it's not too long. I hate to say it, but you shouldn't get too excited, Harry and Ginny aren't broken up quite yet, but it's getting pretty darn close. Let's just say that Teddy is going to have a lot to do with the break ups of our canon ships. Anyways, thanks for reading, please review!!
P.S. I hope this chapter turned out good, the little spat between Ginny and Harry got the point across that I was trying to get. I started losing myself a little when I wrote it, just let the characters fight, just like JK Rowling said she started to let her characters go one direction, but had to pull them back into another direction, which is probably why we ended up with H/G and R/Hr being canon instead of H/Hr. I'm also considering looking for a beta. I've never had one before, and I'm thinking I might want one for this story. So, if any of you are interested…I consider myself fair at grammar and stuff, I just forget a word or two in my sentences when I type sometimes. I basically need someone to check and make sure it's all flowing right!! My email is husker_fan_2006@yahoo.com if anyone's interested, or you can contact me on Portkey somehow. Thanks everyone!! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!!
Oh, I suppose a preview to next chapter…Hermione and Ron spat! LOL ttyl!!
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