17th June, 2029
“Hey, Lils, where’s your mum?”
“Oh, I think she’s over at Uncle Percy’s place. Something about her helping out with the garden. I’m not completely sure.”
“Oh, ok. Thanks. Are you okay with lasagne for brunch?”
“Yep.”
“Alright. Cool.”
Harry walks out of her room and goes downstairs to fetch the food out of the fridge. He guesses there was no real reason to put the food away in the fridge, as Albus normally just casts freezing spells on his dishes on the rare occasion Harry visits his place for the night. But he enjoys the normalcy of it, and also appreciates the cleanliness. Teddy stayed over last night, as Lily had coaxed him into drinking, possibly too much for him to be able to apparate or Floo. He stayed in Albus’s old room.
It was a slow Sunday morning. Everyone seemed to be too tired today to wake up at any time before twelve in the afternoon. All it seems, except for his wife. Ginny seemed to have left earlier that day, without telling him and without him noticing as they slept in separate rooms nowadays. He slept in James’s old room, and Albus’s room had been quickly converted into a spare one for guests.
It was alright, James’s room was decorated with old posters from his youth of Quidditch and his Gryffindor pride. He had photos of his old friends Harry couldn’t name that smiled and waved down at him from above, an old broom in his closet, some old robes too, and some signed merchandise from famous Quidditch stars, back when James was obsessed with the sport and wanted to pursue it as a career. Looking at it all made Harry truly realise how much James had grown up since, as the thought of possibly telling his younger self that James worked a desk Ministry job probably would have sent him raging. Not that it was any desk job. Wizard court. James had taken quite a liking to law. Harry likes to think he gets his sense of justice from him. He wonders if Ginny felt sad about James’s switch of interests.
Albus was still trying to find himself, which was fine. He also didn’t want any advice from him whatsoever, which was fine too.
Lily is planning on starting her apprenticeship in the Ministry to be an Auror. Harry had never been more proud of her. He tells her all the time that he’ll ensure she goes far in the career, he’ll make sure it's fruitful. She appreciates it but he knows she wants to work her way up herself, which is fine. He never meant to say he’ll do most of the heavy lifting for her, even though he sort of wants to.
Ginny is more reluctant to support her in her career choice. The two are going through a bit of a rough patch. That’s fine too, that’s just family sometimes.
When Harry defreezes the food and dishes it out, Lily and Teddy slowly make their way down.
“G’morning, Harry,” Teddy greets, his hair dishevelled from his sleep still.
“Hey Ted, you okay with lasagne for brunch?” Harry asks him as Lily moves to pour herself some iced lemon tea.
“Sounds great.”
When Teddy moves to offer his assistance in the kitchen, both him and Lily usher him to just sit at the table. He’s a guest after all, even if he is family. It’s nice to host, and Teddy has always been too fretful to help out wherever he can. It tickles just about everyone, in a warm way.
When Harry and Lily sit down at the table not too soon after, Harry immediately picks up on Teddy biting his lip whilst he’s staring down at the food, as if he’s picking up the nerve to say something. Lily either ignores the expression or doesn’t notice it, digging into her food quickly and without qualms.
“I can make a sandwich or boil up some pasta if you want,” Harry says, trying to sound casual so Teddy doesn’t force himself to eat something he doesn’t like. He’s not the best at guessing what other people are feeling, half of the time he doesn’t even know what he feels himself, but Teddy’s eaten his lasagne before last night without a hint of complaint. Maybe he just wants something different? Or maybe he isn’t hungry at all?
Teddy’s brows furrow in confusion for a moment before he shakes his head rapidly.
“No, no, I’m fine,” he says, smiling awkwardly and spooning a piece into his mouth. He chews quickly and swallows faster. “I did want to talk to you about something, though. If that’s okay.”
Harry lifts a brow, and even Lily looks up from her food in curiosity. He’s nervous, so it must be something important, at least to him.
Maybe he’s asking him for advice.
A sense of dread and anticipation settle on him, but Harry nods in affirmation as casually as possible. He doesn’t know if his advice is of any particular worth. It depends who you ask, sometimes. Lily would say it's the best. Albus, not so much. James, on the other hand, never asked him for advice, and Harry honestly has no clue what he thinks of him. He likes to think he’s done pretty right by his godson, though.
“So, it’s getting pretty close to me and Vic’s second anniversary,” Teddy starts, his cheeks flushing and the roots of his hair going pink. Lily adorns a small, teasing smirk. Harry can’t blame her. Teddy always gets flustered when talking of his wife. “And we were, y’know, thinking of what will happen one day in the future. You know, when the time comes for when we settle down and… and start a family of our own.”
Lily coughs in surprise, and Harry feels like doing the exact same thing.
He can still remember when Teddy was just a baby. He was seventeen again, holding his godson in his arms, newly orphaned, like him, swearing he wouldn’t let him feel as alone in this world as he did. He failed, but in his defence, and in clear retrospect, it was inevitable to protect children from such pain. They were doomed the moment it happened.
But now Teddy wants to start a family of his own with his eldest niece. Children he could care for and love, children he would make his own promises to. To protect. To love. To support. A father.
It was surreal.
“Hell yeah, Ted,” Lily nods in approval. “But don’t just use this as an excuse to tell people about what you and Vic do in the bedroom, since, for some strange reason, it’s socially acceptable to tell people you’re trying for a baby.”
Lily rolls her eyes at this and pretends to shudder.
“I don’t ever want to hear that sentence from you,” she says, and he laughs hesitantly.
She’s teasing him, but Harry knows his daughter extremely well. He does not mistake the hint of pride in her voice. Teddy, though pink at the roots of his head, seems to visibly relax when she does this, as her words suck most of the tension out of the atmosphere.
But Teddy now turns to Harry, and there’s something Harry takes a while to decipher on his face. Nerves, sure. It reminds him of how Albus used to look at him when he wanted permission to do something that he knew his mother wouldn’t like. Harry is not the best at uncovering hidden emotions with people, nor motives or thoughts. He normally takes things as they are at face value and pieces everything together later, so he doesn’t much linger on what Teddy is feeling, and focuses on what he should say, how he should say it.
“You’d make a great father, Ted,” Harry says, and he hopes his voice isn’t as flat as it sounds.
Teddy exhales deeply, nodding almost to himself.
“Yeah, thanks Harry. I just, well, the prospect kinda scares the shit out of me, yeah? I’ve been pretty much a free bird my entire life and, y’know, of course I want to settle down with Vic. Of course I’m serious with her, and of course I’ve always wanted to have kids. But, I just, I don’t know if I’m suitable for it. I don’t know how to– I guess I’m just freaking out at this because I don’t want to fail at it. I can’t. And children, they’re a forever thing. And it’s not that I don’t think I’ll just… stop loving them one day, I’m just scared of all the times I know I’m going to mess up with them. They’re blank slates, you know? I don’t want to hurt them or–”
“You’re not going to ruin them,” Harry says firmly, or as firmly as he can. “You’re a good bloke, Ted. And you’ll mess up eventually, but you’re always going to get the opportunity to fix it.”
Teddy begins to smile, just barely, and Harry tries to let out a breath of relief as quietly as possible. Lily nods in agreement beside him.
“Yeah, don’t sweat too much about it, Ted. You’ve got us to help out if you need anything ever.”
Her eyes light up not too soon after, and her hands fly to her face as she breaks into an excited grin.
“I’m going to be an aunt,” she swoons, and Teddy chuckles. Harry laughs too, but also slightly because the thought is bewildering to him. He had never pictured his little girl to grow up so quickly.
Lily looks like she wants to say more, but the fireplace springs to life with a roar as Ginny steps out, hair mussed and ash on her cheek. Lily holds her tongue and Harry feels his heart grow heavy with dread despite himself. She looks at Teddy and her eyes sparkle in greeting. Harry doesn’t want Teddy to tell her about the child he wants with Victoire, but he can’t understand why quite yet.
Ginny breaks into a large toothy grin, and it looks as if her age has gone back years. But then, in almost the same moment, Ginny sees her daughter and husband, and suddenly her smile ebbs and she’s back in full force from her real family. Go figure.
“Teddy,” she says, seemingly genuinely warm, “you staying over for lunch?”
Teddy shakes his head abashedly.
“Oh, no that’s okay, Ginny,” he says, getting up to greet her with a kiss of the cheek. “Vic is sure to want me home soon, and I’ve already stayed long enough. I should be going soon, anyways.”
“Sure, sure, but you two are welcome around any time.”
It’s quite disorienting to see how smooth of a talker Ginny has become. She’s still brash, but she’s less honest. Harry knows logically that it’s not right to blame her for it, that he knows he’s probably less honest too, but what he feels and thinks are two different things. Plus, she’s always laying it on thick for him when he bends the truth even slightly, so he guesses it’s only fair to hold her to the same standard.
Ginny and Teddy go upstairs to talk, and so Lily and Harry talk, both of them skirting around the tense topic they’re sure is to come once Teddy leaves. Harry can tell Lily’s aggravated just by Ginny being around her again. Harry is too, but he’s got years on her when it comes to hiding it and pretending everything is fine. Sometimes he’s so good he even starts believing it.
When Teddy bids them goodbye, he’s in a much happier mood, and Harry can’t help the investigator side of him that wonders why. Was it because he told Ginny of the child he wants with Victoire? Was she supportive? Or had she charmed him with some joke as she charms many others before? He and Teddy had always been closer, but was that changing as he got older? Or was he just happy to get back to his wife who he loves enough to start a family with? Is he planning on starting right away?
Harry pushes that disgusting concept out of his head and stops his train of thought before it can become even more disturbing.
When his godson hugs him though, it’s all authentic gratitude, and Harry feels the rush of paternal pride.
“Thanks Harry,” he says kindly, and he says it in a special way that he knows it isn’t just for him staying over for a night.
When Teddy Apparates away with his things, Ginny and Lily are all smiles, and Harry is left hoping Teddy sees him as a sort of father figure, considering he now sees a son in him. Which may be stupid, but perhaps not totally out of the blue. He is kind and loyal and brave. He is always willing to learn, always open to him, always open for advice and willing to hear him out. He doesn’t lash out so much, doesn’t get petty or jealous or bring up past wrongdoings and dangle it over people’s heads whenever they try to be better. He isn’t distant or superficial and he doesn’t obsess over unimportant details and schedules.
He is a good boy.
Harry should spend more time with him.
Ginny turns on him, smile immediately gone.
“James invited you round for dinner on Thursday,” Ginny says, voice cold and disorienting. It’s like ice water compared to what he had been thinking just now. “I hope you didn’t forget.”
She’s always so quick to accuse.
“I didn’t forget,” he replies evenly, less cold, but not warm either. “I was going to owl him later today telling him I can’t go. I may have a meeting with one of the board members, and it’s Lily’s first day on the job.”
Second, technically, but she’ll still need help.
“Hm. Of course it is,” she says bitterly, and Harry has to stifle the immediate surge of anger that he feels.
He’s too drained to do this right now, and the day just started. He doesn’t want to fight. He just can’t do this with her anymore, can’t keep rising to her bait. Maybe she’ll just burn herself out if he pretends to just be as calm and uncaring as possible.
But, Merlin, does he hate it when she tries to insinuate that he doesn’t fucking care about his kids. Especially James. It’s always James she’s so stressed about.
“It is,” Lily says fiercely, and Harry is reminded of all the fire she still has in her, like how he was when he was young. And all he wants to do is shield it and feed it so it never dies. “Stop blaming him.”
Ginny swerves on her, eyes ablaze at her daughter’s accusatory tone although she had just used the exact same voice on him, and Harry puts himself at her feet to try and placate her once again. As much as Ginny wants to villainise him, as much as he and she have their fights, he absolutely hates it when Lily and Ginny get into conflict over him. Nothing was worth that.
“I’ll tell him he can come over on Friday,” he amends quickly.
Ginny pauses, eyes flitting between him and Lily, before focusing on him.
“I’m out on Friday,” Ginny says shortly, but doesn’t elaborate. Harry doesn’t think she will even if he asked where she was going.
“That’s okay, he can still come over. I’ll cook.”
“You haven’t been around his place in months.”
“Maybe next time.”
In response to that, Ginny just scoffs, and Harry has to restrain the urge to throw some horrific words at her. She probably wants him to crack, anyways, just so she can have a reason to scream and scream. He won’t do it.
When Ginny walks past him to the stairs, she doesn’t say anything more, she doesn’t even spare him a glance. However, when she walks past Lily, she gives her a dirty once over.
“You and I are gonna have a talk later,” she says curtly, before she marches away.
Both him and his daughter watch her go with bated breaths, and then Lily turns to him with a mock grimace on her face. She mouths ‘crazy lady’ from where she’s standing, and gestures wildly to the direction Ginny took off in. A good husband would sternly shut down his child when they’re making fun of his wife, but he is neither a good husband and she isn’t a good wife, so instead Harry just lets out a slightly forced laugh.
He’s relieved that he at least has Lily, though. Ginny can’t win if he has her.