Chapter 3: Dinner with the Weasleys
A/N: *blushes* Thank you all SO much for your reviews, I'm glad you all like this story!!! I'm having a lot of fun writing it!! I'm amazed that after only the second chapter, it already it has 90+ reviews; I've never had a story like that before!!! Thanks so much everyone!! Well, on to chapter 3!!
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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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Coming downstairs, Harry noticed the bag that was left for him that Hermione had set at the foot of the stairs. Knowing exactly what the password that Lynch had told him meant, he picked up the bag and spoke the password. The latch holding the bag shut opened at once and Harry poured the contents out onto the coffee table in the living room. Sitting down on the couch, he began to look through the things Remus meant for Harry to have when he adopted Teddy. There wasn't much in there, just a few photos, a bottle plugged tightly with a cork, and three envelopes, two were addressed to Teddy, and instructed for him not to open them until his seventeenth birthday. The third letter was addressed to him, and upon opening it, Harry found a note from the former Marauder on the parchment.
Harry,
If you're reading this, then that means the worst has happened and `Dora and I have died. But the bright side is, you're taking care of our son, and to tell you the truth, Harry, it makes me feel a hell of a lot better that you're taking care of him when we're gone. Yes, it saddens me that `Dora and I will never see Teddy grow up, but at least he's in good hands. I know you'll do a good job raising him.
I've put some things together in this bag for you and for Teddy. There's a few pictures, so he knows what we looked like, two letters from 'Dora and me, I want you to make sure and give them to Ted on his seventeenth birthday. Also, there's a bottle of my memories so he can know what I was like. Most of them are my years at school and whatnot, so there are some stories you can tell him while he grows up. I know this isn't much, but I feel it's all you need from us. Anything else, you can do on your own. I have every faith in you.
Thank you again for taking my son in, Harry. It means the world to me that you did, I know there are probably some that would try to talk you out of it. I know you'll give him a good home, and raise him as your own. Make me, your father, and Sirius proud, and good luck.
Remus
Harry folded the letter back up and placed it in the envelope. A wave of sadness for the baby sleeping upstairs came over him. Ted would never know his parents, and despite all the things Harry could tell him about Remus and Tonks, it wouldn't be the same, just as it was never quite the same for Harry to hear about his parents.
There was the `pop' of Apparation in the entryway two hours later; Hermione had come back with two plastic bags in her hands. Harry got up and followed her to the kitchen, where she set the bags on the table.
"I thought you said you were getting baby essentials?" Harry said, looking curiously at the lack of bags that Hermione brought back.
"I did."
"And it only filled two bags?" Hermione gave him an annoyed look.
"Well, I had to shrink and lighten them so I could carry them. Once they were smaller, I was able fit them into a normal sized bag. See?" Hermione pulled tiny replicas of full grocery bags out of the bigger ones, and enlarged all of them. The bags filled the table.
"Ok, again, Hermione, I thought you said you went to get the essentials?"
"These are the essentials, Harry. You're going to need all of this." Harry looked with surprise at all the baby stuff covering his kitchen table.
"Overwhelming, isn't it?" Hermione said, noticing his look.
"Just a tad," Harry said weakly.
"I didn't know for sure what to get when I left, so I stopped by the Burrow and asked Mrs. Weasley. She told me to get all of this stuff, and I also got the ingredients for the Wolfsbane potion, you're going to need that, and also some wizarding parenting books. Thought those would help. Oh, and Mrs. Weasley also said she wanted you to bring Teddy to dinner tomorrow night at six o'clock, she wants to see him. And she said she won't take `no' for an answer."
"Alright."
"And I'll just help you put all of this away and then I'll leave. I'll be out of your hair in no time."
"You're leaving?"
"Yeah."
"Hermione, don't leave me alone here. Just stay at least for the first night. I need you." Hermione sighed.
"Alright, I'll stay, but you can't just always depend on me, Harry."
"I know, thank you." He closed the distance between the two of them and wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the cheek again. Hermione tensed up in shock and when Harry let go, her mouth was slightly open in surprise.
"What was that for?"
"For everything you've done for me, Hermione. Not just with Teddy, for everything. You've always been there, and I love you for it."
"You what?"
"Um, like a sister," Harry said quickly, having just realized what he said. Hermione started rummaging through the bags, a pink blush rising in her cheeks. She didn't reply to Harry's comment. In fact, they were both quite silent as they put things away, only talking when they had to. They didn't really talk the rest of the evening, they spent most of it in the living room reading (both were engrossed in the wizarding parenting books), only getting up to check on Teddy, who they found was a very good sleeper, something Hermione said Harry should be thankful for. It was a very awkward evening; Harry kept wishing he hadn't said anything earlier that evening.
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The next afternoon, Harry was getting ready to go to the Burrow, having just taken a shower; he was going through his closet looking for something to wear. His closet seemed kind of bare. He sighed. He really needed to do laundry. His door was still open a crack, just far enough that he could hear Hermione's voice drift across the hall as she talked to Teddy.
"Hey there, little squirt. You wanna go on a little outing?" Teddy gurgled happily in response. Hermione chuckled.
"If I were you, I wouldn't be so excited. You're bound to be passed around so much it'll make wish you could talk so you could tell everyone to stop passing you around like a Quaffle. Knowing Molly Weasley, she'll simply fawn over you. You're going to be quite the ladies' man tonight, Teddy." Hermione must've tickled him, because Teddy giggled and squealed a little, making Hermione laugh too. Harry stuck his head out the door and watched as Hermione picked Teddy up from the changing table all dressed for the evening, and took him in her arms, giving him her finger to hold onto. Moving her finger back and forth, Hermione laughed.
"Quite a little grip you've got there, your godfather might take that as a sign that he needs to be getting you up on a broom as soon as you're big enough to fly…but I might have to say something about it if he does." Harry quickly stepped away from the door as Hermione turned to leave Teddy's room so she wouldn't see him. He began to get dressed, thinking back to how Hermione handled Teddy. She'd make a good mother someday, but he wasn't about to tell her that, he didn't want another awkward evening where they wouldn't talk to each other. This morning had been better; it was as if Hermione had forgotten last night. A few minutes later, the three of them arrived at the Burrow. Walking up the sidewalk, they stopped at the door and Hermione hesitated before knocking.
"What's the matter?" Harry said, noticing Hermione's hesitancy.
"Nothing, I just have a feeling some time tonight something bad is going to happen. This is the first time I've been here since I left that one night, or "overreacted" as Ginny put it."
"I'm sure it'll be fine, Hermione. Everyone will probably be so busy fussing over Teddy they won't think about what happened the other night." Hermione nodded and knocked on the door. It opened after a few seconds to reveal Molly Weasley.
"Oh, you're finally here! And good, you've brought the baby! Come on in, don't just stand there, come in, come in!" Mrs. Weasley shut the door behind Hermione and Harry and Harry set the little diaper bag down by the door.
"Oh can I see him?" Hermione handed Teddy to Mrs. Weasley, who with the experience of handling children, took him in her arms easily.
"He looks like Remus. With a little of Tonks too. I see he's inherited his mother's Metamorphmagus gift." Teddy, whose hair was orange that day, gurgled and stuck a fist in his mouth, keeping wide blue eyes on this new person.
"Well, come in you two, dinner's almost ready. It's such a nice evening tonight I thought we'd all eat out in the garden. Ginny's setting the table now; Ron is at the Ministry with Arthur. There's an opening for a job in Arthur's department, so Ron went and applied, he had an interview this afternoon. Arthur sent a message by earlier saying they'd be home just in time for dinner."
"He mentioned to me that he was going in for his interview today. When Arthur sent the message, did he say whether or not Ron got the job?" Hermione asked. Mrs. Weasley shook her head.
"No, Ron was still in the middle of his interview when the message came. I'm sure we'll find out this evening. I'm so glad that he's looking into getting a job; soon he'll be able to save up enough money and get a place of his own. Not that I'm pushing him out the door or anything. I would've really have liked for him to go back and finish his last year at Hogwarts, but he decided he wanted to be working, doing something other than studying for exams. Bill and Fleur are coming for dinner tonight, they say they have some news…I bet Fleur's expecting, that's what their news is going to be. Oh, I would love to have grandchildren!" Molly walked away from them, they assumed they were supposed to follow because she kept talking, not really pausing long enough for replies. She still held Teddy in her arms, and the child was looking up at her as though engrossed with what Molly was saying. Either that or he couldn't believe how one woman would keep talking like this one did.
"Ginny!" Molly called to her daughter out in the garden, "Harry and Hermione are here, and they've brought Teddy!" Ginny came in, smiled a hello to Harry and Hermione, and looked at the baby in her mother's arms.
"So this is Teddy. He's a cutie." Hermione gave Harry a look that said, `See, I told you she just needed to get used to it!' Ginny turned to Hermione and said, "I'm surprised you've come back here, Hermione. Thought you wouldn't after you run out the other night." Hermione's smile fell from her face. She took a deep breath as though willing herself to stay calm.
"Well, I was invited for dinner, wasn't I? Why shouldn't I be here?"
"I was assuming that you weren't coming, that Harry would just be bringing Teddy."
"Well, you know what happens when you "assume", Ginny. It makes an a-"
"Alright!" said Mrs. Weasley, sensing a fight coming on, "Ginny, would you please finish setting the table, dear?" Ginny nodded and went back outside. "And would you two help me please, too? Harry, you can take the dinner rolls and out and set them on the table, and fill the water glasses for me too, please. Hermione, I need some whipped cream made to go on top of the pie." (A/N: Pumpkin pie anyone? ;-) Just kidding, that'd be too much! ) Mrs. Weasley conjured up a little baby carrier and put Teddy in so both hands would be free. On his way out the door, keeping his wand on the levitating glasses and plate of dinner rolls, Harry tickled Teddy's foot with his finger of his free hand, making the baby giggle. Harry laughed. It was amazing how contagious a baby's laughter was. Ginny looked up and smiled when Harry walked out the door and set the glasses and plate on the table.
"Hey," she said sweetly.
"Hey."
"So you did go through with it. The more I thought about it, the more it didn't surprise me that you'd adopt him," Ginny said with a hint of seduction in her voice. She put her arms around Harry's neck. "You're always one to do the noble thing, always playing the hero. And I like that. And hey, the hero always gets the girl." She kissed him, but Harry didn't kiss her back. Everything she was saying was not making him feel better about her. Ginny noticed that there was nothing on the other end of the kiss and pulled back and gave him a confused look.
"What's the matter?"
"Ginny, what are you trying to do?"
"I'm just kissing my boyfriend, it's perfectly normal, I never heard you complaining before."
"No, it's not that. What are you trying to get from me? A marriage proposal? That I'll sweep you off your feet and into my arms and we'll ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after?"
"I-Harry, I-"
"So you aren't surprised that I adopted Teddy. What do you think about him? If I marry you, what would you do about Teddy? Would you take care of him like he was your own? Or would you neglect him because of what he is or that he takes away your fairy tale visions of marrying the `hero'?"
"Harry, it's not like that, it's just-"
"What would you do about him? If we got married?"
"I'd-love him as my own, if I have to." Ginny said hesitantly, plastering on a fake smile. Harry's eyes narrowed in disbelief.
"Sure you would."
"Harry, I can't believe you're picking a fight over this! Why are you making this out to be such a big deal?"
"Because it is a big deal!" Harry shouted, yanking Ginny's arms from around his neck. "It's something you have to take into consideration! Raising a baby isn't going to be easy, it takes-"
"And you know about all that? About raising a baby? Being married? You're such an expert on the subject?"
"I will admit that I don't know how to do this. But I'll learn, I'm willing to learn, and not just because I have to, because I want to."
"How?"
"What?"
"How are you going to raise him? I'm not talking financially or any of that, how are you going to raise him? He'll need a mother figure."
"A mother figure who is willing to care for him, not one who'll be there because she has to in order to win my affections." There was a short silence between them, until Harry spoke the conclusion he'd come to, "You're too young."
"What?"
"You're too young for this. For this responsibility."
"Harry, I'm only a year younger than you."
"Yes, you are, but you've got another year of school left, you've still got that mentality that everything is just dreams and starry stars. I see it now. Life is still a game, a competition, to get what you want, and throw a fit when you don't get your way. You can't handle what this takes, Ginny. And I can't stand by and wait around for you to get there. It's over, Ginny, please realize that." With that, Harry turned and walked away, going back into the house, leaving a shocked Ginny standing behind him. The kitchen was empty save for Hermione standing at the counter charming a spoon to stir the whipped cream for her. Harry sat down at the kitchen table and sighed.
"Hey, I'm glad you're here," Hermione said, smiling and sitting across from him, a bowl of whipped cream in front of her. She dipped a spoon into the bowl and held it out to him. "Here, taste this for me, will you? I've never done this by magic before. Personally, I'm not too sure I like cooking by magic, the muggle way seems more satisfying, then I know I did everything right-Harry what's wrong?" Harry shook his head. Hermione looked out the window and saw a tearful Ginny finishing setting the table.
"What happened?"
"It's over."
"Oh, Harry…I'm sorry."
"It needed to be done. She doesn't understand what it's going to take. She even said I was playing the hero by adopting Teddy, and then made a comment about that the hero always gets the girl." Hermione didn't reply, just put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "But that's ok, though. Ginny was an attempt to make my life normal. It was what was easy, not what was right." Hermione gave him a sympathetic look.
"I'm so sorry, Harry. I really thought you'd both work it out. Not necessarily get married now, but I thought she'd at least be there for you."
"She's too young." Hermione smiled.
"Well, when you think about it, Harry, we're not much older than she is."
"I know, but we've been through so much more. Yeah, she was there at the end, but we were there at the beginning. We've been through it all. She doesn't understand that, because she wasn't there. I don't even really feel seventeen anymore; I feel like I'm ninety or something."
"Oh, Harry…" Hermione got up and sat next to Harry, putting her arms around him in a comforting hug.
"Right, breaking up with me because I'm too young, when you're in here with Hermione," a voice from behind them caused them to jump apart as though they had been burned. Ginny was standing in the doorway, hands on her hips, a fierce look on her tear streaked face. "Right, Harry. I knew this had something to do with Hermione. You're breaking up with me for being too young or immature, well she's just as immature, maybe even more so, she can't even step up and accept the inevitable, what should happen, and stop grasping for things she can't have!" The two friends sat there gaping at Ginny, who stormed passed them and ran upstairs. As soon as she was gone, Hermione glared at the doorway that Ginny had just left.
"Ooh, if she makes one more comment about my supposed `flight' the other night, I'm going to hex her into next week. This has nothing to do with me! This is about you two, not about me!"
"Just forget it. C'mon, let's finish helping Mrs. Weasley get dinner ready."
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Dinner was a friendly affair, considering the news of Harry and Ginny's break up had spread throughout the house like wildfire. Ginny, naturally of course was still sulking in her room, and didn't come down for dinner. Harry half expected Mrs. Weasley to be cold with him, having just ended the hopes of one big Weasley family, but she wasn't, she actually gave him and understanding look. Ron, on the other hand, wasn't so understanding. He was sitting across the table from Harry and Hermione, and kept stealing glances at them, as though half expecting them to grab each other and snog each other senseless. Harry had a feeling, that like his sister, Ron thought that Hermione had a hand in the break up too.
"So, Fleur, Bill, what's the big news? Is it what I think it could be?" Fleur smiled widely.
"I don't know, Molly, what do `ou zink it could be?"
"Oh I have hopes, but I've learned after today not to get them too high." Bill put an arm around his wife and they smiled at each other.
"Well, tell them," Bill said. Fleur's smile grew even more, and she practically beamed to the people around the table.
"Well, Bill and I…'re expeczing a baby." The conversation around the table erupted into `congratulations' and `that's wonderful's. Molly burst into tears and embraced her daughter-in-law.
"Oh, I'm so happy. My first grandbaby!" The proud grandfather-to-be, raised his glass and everyone followed suit.
"To Bill and Fleur, and little baby Weasley there. May he or she bring happiness to our lives, and joy to his or her parents!" They all drank.
"Oh and another toast!" Mrs. Weasley said, eyes still shining with joyful tears, "To little Teddy and his godfather, Harry. Harry, we wish you two all the luck in the world." Again, they all drank. It was then that Hermione got up with her glass in hand, apparently intent on refilling it in the kitchen. After she disappeared into the house, Ron got up and followed her. Figuring that those two were going to talk in the kitchen, seeing as Hermione was going to fill her glass, Harry got up too, but to go check on Teddy. He reached the kitchen to find it empty, Hermione's glass sitting on the table. He was about to go into the living room where Teddy was sleeping, but the two voices of his best friends stopped him. He stood just outside the doorway, contemplating whether he should go back outside or not, and let them have a little privacy. But curiosity kept him rooted to the spot…he had a feeling things were about to get ugly.
A/N: Ok, don't get mad, hear me out first!!! I know I said a Ron and Hermione spat would be in this one, but I decided to put it off till the next chapter, it will definitely be there, I promise!!! But look on the bright side, Harry and Ginny are over, so that's one down!! Please don't hate me; I'll try to get the next chapter up ASAP!!
Ok, and for sure a little preview for next chapter…it's a quote from the movie Elizabethtown that kinda sums up what's going to happen, for those of you who've seen it, the line is said by Phil…"And the sound you hear, is the sound of shit hitting the fan." Oh, and it's gonna hit, so see you all a little later, as soon as possible!! Thanks again!!
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