Disclaimer: Nope, not mine. Do I seem a H/G RHr shipper to you?
A/N: My response to the "Through Teddy's Eyes" Challenge by moonies rule. You can find it here: http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?showtopic=26785&st=0 Hope you will enjoy the story, this won't be very long, just four/five chaps at max, but I hope you'll like it all the same, lol.
Thanks to my beta Gingercat!
Through Teddy's Eyes
Chapter One: Bringing Teddy Home
Harry Potter woke up particularly happy that morning. A year had gone by since his defeat of Voldemort, and while the reconstruction of the Wizarding World as they knew it was still in progress, you could easily breathe the hopefulness the wizards and witches that were still alive lived in. An huge evil had been defeated for good, and while they would never forget those who had fallen, now it was time for happiness and looking to a future of peace and prosperity.
But that was not the reason Harry was so happy.
Nor was the huge fame that came with his victory over Tom Riddle. He was pretty famous before that too, after all, and he never truly enjoyed it.
Then it must be the fact that since the end of the war, he and Ginny had gotten back together and were currently as happy as one could be, right?
Nope.
Harry Potter was extremely happy because he finally made a decision about his godson Teddy Lupin, and today he was going to talk with the child's grandmother, Andromeda Tonks. He was sure she would be reasonable and allow him what had lately become his deepest desire.
So, after a quick breakfast and a shower, Harry Apparated to the old witch's house, and rang the bell.
"Who's there?"
"It's Harry"
The door quickly unlocked, and Andromeda appeared on the threshold, little Teddy in her arms, his brown hair quickly turning green as he spotted Harry, who couldn't help but chuckle.
Andromeda smiled fondly at her grandson, bouncing him up and down a little, making him giggle.
"So, Harry, to what do we owe your visit?" the witch asked as they were sitting at the kitchen table, a pot of water warming on the stove as she was making tea for the two of them.
"Well, I hope you won't take this as an offence, Andromeda, but you know how Remus and Tonks made me Teddy's godfather and…well, I know you're more than able to care for him, but I'd like to be a more active godfather for him than Sirius was for me. Not that it was his fault, of course, but I know how much he regretted being away from me and I don't want to make the same mistake" he rambled.
Andromeda, who had by now brought the cups of tea to the table, sipped her own while listening to Harry. When he was finished, she smiled at him, to reassure the young man that she wasn't offended by his request.
"Harry, I perfectly understand. And, if the truth be known, I kind of feel like I'm growing a bit too old to run back and forth caring for him. Don't misunderstand me, I love doing it, but I keep feeling more and more tired as the evening comes, and I am not sure how much longer I can do it" she admitted with a heavy sigh. Then, she looked up again, and smiled.
"So yes, I'll be glad to let you take care of Teddy, as long as you let me visit him"
"Of course I will!" Harry said with a grin. "You'll always be welcome at Grimmauld. I also think your visits will really be helpful at first. Since I don't know a lot about caring for babies. I've read a fair bit on it lately, but first hand experience is what I lack" he said with a chuckle.
Andromeda laughed too, and then they chatted a bit more before she helped him ready Teddy for the trip. She gave him a small list of things he had to remember through the day, and after a bit more advice, the two were on their way to Harry's home, Grimmauld Place.
It hadn't been easy living there at first, but slowly he had adjusted, with Ginny and Hermione's help they had made it a likable place to stay in, and now he wasn't so burdened by Sirius' memory when being in the house. Although, he still missed him.
"No time for a stroll down memory lane now" he chastised himself. "I need to prepare Teddy's meal"
--
A few days had gone by since Harry had brought Teddy home, and more than once he had had to floo Hermione or Andromeda for help.
The brunette had been ecstatic with his decision and had promised she would help as much as she could. Right to her word, every day after her lessons at Oxford University she would come to the house and see how Harry was doing. More than once, her visits had coincided with Ginny being there too, and the redhead had thrown some not so friendly stares Hermione's way.
Harry was completely oblivious to the hostility his girlfriend had toward Hermione, and every time Ginny would confront him about her visits, Harry would just reply that the brunette was there to help with Teddy.
"Something I can't say for you, Gin" he often remarked, which infuriated the redhead even more.
"Harry, I'm too young to be a mother!"
"Nobody asked you to have a baby, you could just be kind and help me with my godson, since women are supposed to be better than men with babies" Harry replied. "You're my girlfriend, we should be experiencing this together"
"He positively hates me!" Ginny protested. And, she had a point. Teddy's hair always flamed bright red whenever Ginny was around, and no, it wasn't just to imitate her hair colour. Whenever Hermione held him or fed him, the baby would turn his hair green, just like with Harry or Andromeda.
It was like his hair was showing who he liked and who he didn't.
Tonight was not different, and when Ginny arrived at Grimmauld, she found Harry, Hermione and Teddy in the living room, the baby on Hermione's lap, as the brunette bounced him up and down making goofy faces.
As soon as he spotted Ginny, Teddy stopped giggling and his hair turned red. The newcomer just rolled her eyes and went to sit on Harry's lap, almost as if she was marking her territory.
Hermione, sensing the tension in the air, left with Teddy to go feed him.
"Harry" Ginny said, clearly annoyed that her boyfriend wasn't paying attention to her, but was following Hermione and Teddy with his eyes.
"What?"
"Seriously, Harry, I'm tired of this. We barely see each other since you got Teddy!"
"Sorry if my godson is just a baby and needs me to care for him" Harry sarcastically replied. "You could see me a lot if you visited us more"
Ginny scoffed.
"Harry, I'm just out of Hogwarts, I don't think it's so wrong of me to want to be out, having fun, enjoying life before I settle down. It's what people our age does! You shouldn't always be here, closed in this house. You should go out, have fun, live!"
"I have a responsibility toward Remus and Tonks. They made me Teddy's godfather and I plan to honour that role" Harry said, and he was quite determined, if the deep green of his eyes was a hint. Hermione could have told you that his eyes only got that shade of green when he was positive of doing something, and no one would be able to sway him from his decision, however right or wrong that it may be. He had acted the same way the night they went to the Department of Mysteries.
Ginny, however, didn't know. She didn't pay attention to such things, and so she kept pushing the issue, until Harry got fed up with her and gently pushed her off of him, before standing up and going to check on Hermione and the baby in the kitchen.
Ginny followed him, still angry, and in retrospect that wasn't a smart move, because she decided to show Harry she could care for Teddy just as well as Hermione. It was almost if she thought it was a race about who could care better for the baby, but what she missed was that Hermione was completely willing to spend her nights there with Harry and little Teddy, even after long and tiring days at the university.
As she almost roughly took the child from Hermione's arms, Teddy started crying, and Ginny started bouncing him up and down to calm him down. Wrong move, again.
"Ginny, don't! He's just been fed…" Hermione tried warning her, but it was too late. With a gurgling sound, Teddy ended puking all over Ginny's front.
"Aargh!" the redhead shouted, almost dropping the baby. Luckily, Harry was there to grab him and soothe him in a few moves. Ginny sent a last glare to both Harry, Hermione and finally Teddy, before Apparating away.
Mere moments later, Harry and Hermione locked gazes and suddenly burst out laughing, Teddy joining them with his giggles.
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