“Er…this weekend I think I’ll tackle the house next door—the one across from Aberforth’s.”

“When are you going to give them their things, by the way?” Ginny asked, putting the finishing touches on her History of Magic essay before pushing it aside.

“Next week.” Harry replied, zipping up his duffle bag and double-checking his list one more time. “I’ll be pulling them aside separately and discussing each of the items in question with them. Who knows? Maybe I can get them to actually talk to one another again.”

“You’re dreaming, love.” Ginny laughed.

“Hey! We have dreams for a reason, sweetheart.” Harry shrugged, scanning through one of his defense books one last time before tossing it back onto the table. 

“Oh, that was a deep, Harry.” The teenager smiled. She then stood up from her chair and made her away around the table to where Severus was seated. The infant was in his high chair, a large red crayon firmly in his grasp, and he was drawing…something on the piece of parchment she had laid out for him. What that something was, however, was anyone’s guess. “And what do we have here, babe?”

Severus grinned up at her and Ginny couldn’t help but smile. Severus had spent the better part of half an hour sitting quietly in his chair, doodling, with his tongue hanging halfway out of his mouth and his drool slowly leaking out from the gap his tongue created. Ginny used his bib to wipe up the spit while he pointed to a tall red blob on the page. “Haweh!” He cried.

“That’s Harry.” Ginny nodded.

Sev then pointed to the small blob connected to the large blob by a long, squiggly line. “Me!”

Ginny laughed and nodded. “That’s you.”

The infant then moved to the other large blob on the opposite side of the small blob. It too was connected to the small blob via a long, squiggly line. “Immy.”

“Ah! And that’s me!” The teenager grinned and hugged the infant from behind, planting a kiss on his cheek. She then proceeded to ask questions about the piece as if she didn’t already know all the answers.

“And who’s this person right here?” She asked, pointing to the medium-sized horizontal blob by the bottom of the page.

“Pa-poot.” Sev replied, peering up at her with wide, innocent eyes.

“Hey! Why am I on the floor?” Sirius asked, peering over Ginny’s shoulder curiously.

“Pa-poo!” The infant repeated, bouncing in his high chair and scowling at the animagus like he was being thick on purpose.

“You’re in your dog form, Sirius.” Ginny elaborated in a whisper.

“Ah!” The animagus nodded, turning away to get a drink from the fridge.

“Sirius, have you seen my holster?” Harry asked, checking inside all the cabinets in the kitchen.

“Yeah, it’s in my room. I was borrowing it.” His godfather replied. “I’ll go get it right now.” Harry muttered his thanks and the animagus nodded, yelling over his shoulder as he went. “Are you almost finished packing, pup?”

“Nearly.” The teen replied distractedly.

“Well hurry up! Moody said he expects the new recruits early today for some in-processing—paperwork and such.”

“Mo! Mo go Haweh!’ Severus cried, suddenly reminded of Harry’s impending departure for his week of Auror training.

“Sev, we talked about this—”

“MO! MO GO HAWEH!!!” The infant screamed over his guardian.

Harry’s lips thinned to a line and he pointed a warning finger at the child, “Don’t raise your voice at me, Severus.”

“Mmmm!” Sev whined, bouncing in agitation in his high chair. “Mo go, Haweh…” He tried for sad and pitiful this time around to see if Harry would budge.

“Sorry, cub.” Harry leaned down to plant a quick kiss atop the child’s head before turning towards his girlfriend. “Are you sure McGonagall is okay with this?”

“She said, and I quote, ‘You’ll probably get more work done down there than in the ruckus of your common room.’” Ginny smirked.

“And she’s probably right.” Harry chuckled, grabbing a drink from the fridge.

“Mo go, Haweh! Mo go!”

“Severus, I can’t not go.”

“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay?” The infant pleaded. “Whay mo?!”

“Cub…” Harry sighed, “…if I don’t get Auror training, I won’t become an Auror. If I don’t become an Auror, I won’t have a job. If I don’t have a job, we won’t have an income. And if we don’t have an income—”

“It won’t affect you very much.” Sirius finished with a smirk as he reentered the kitchen.

“Seeeeeeeeeeee!” Sev exclaimed, pointing at the animagus and sending a pleading look Harry’s way. “Mo meed Auwew! Mo meed Auwew! STAY!”

Harry narrowed his eyes at his godfather. “Don’t listen to Sirius. I need a job.”

“Yeah, he simply has too much pride to rely on my soon-to-be measly income.” Ginny joked.

“Two hundred thousand galleons per year guaranteed three years.” Sirius snorted. “That income can last at least two lifetimes.”

“So sue me if I’m a traditional kind of guy!” Harry scowled.

“Meh mo wamp ooo go!” The infant cried. He looked to be on the verge of tears.

“Harry, five minutes.” Sirius murmured, tapping on the face of his pocket watch before stepping out of the kitchen, giving Harry, Sev and Ginny a little privacy.

The teenager lifted Severus out of his high chair and cradled him in his lap. “Cub…remember what we talked about the night before last?”

“Mo!” The infant replied stubbornly, closing his eyes and shaking his head from side to side as if to say he was not willing to hear any more.

“You don’t remember what we talked about the other night?” Harry questioned dubiously.

Behind them, Ginny snorted. “He’s like, ‘I’m sorry, I have selective memory at the moment.’”

“Severus, you remember perfectly well.” The teenager pushed.

“MO!” Sev cried and then immediately reached up and wrapped his tiny arms around Harry’s neck. “Ooo mo go Auwew, Haweh.”

Harry sighed and tightened his arms around his ward, giving the infant the biggest bear hug in the history of bear hugs. “I’m sorry, Sev.” He murmured regretfully.

“Mo!” Severus whined, his voice reaching new heights as he felt Harry rise from his chair. “MO GO HAWEH!” And then came the tears.

Harry glanced at the fireplace and saw his godfather bouncing on the balls of his feet and pointing at the face of his pocket watch frantically. “I’m sorry, baby boy.” The teenager leaned in and gave the infant a big kiss on the cheek before standing and turning towards his girlfriend.

“Come on, love.” Ginny murmured gently, reaching to get Severus from Harry’s embrace.

The infant, on the other hand, had other ideas. He flat-out refused to relinquish his hold on Harry’s neck. “MO! MO! MO! MO! MO!”

“Harry! Come on!” Sirius pushed, checking his pocket watch for the tenth time in as many seconds. “Moody’s going to chew our arses out!”

“Ginny—”

“Severus, Harry has to go now.” She held Severus from behind and whispered calm words in his ear as her boyfriend worked to loosen the infant’s hold without hurting him. “Come on, love. He’s going to be late.”

“MO GO, HAWEH!” Sev cried. His voice was filled with desperation and tears poured from his eyes.

“I’m sorry, cub, but I have to go!”

Finally, Harry was able to loosen the infant’s hold enough to pull his head away. As expected, Severus began kicking and screaming, reaching for Harry as if he was a life raft that had just floated away from him and left him to drown. “MO! MO GO HAWEH!!!”

“I love you, baby boy.” Harry replied as he picked up his duffle bag and slung it over his shoulder. “I’ll see you in two days.” As quickly as he could, Harry dropped a kiss atop the infant’s head and exchanged a quick smooch with his girlfriend before pulling away. Even that fraction of a second within the infant’s reach, however, was enough to delay Harry even more for Severus had grabbed onto his shirt and refused to let go.

“Two days, cub,” Harry said gently, using a bit of calming magic to make Severus’ grip on his shirt slacken. “Two days.” With that, he gave the infant’s tiny hands a quick kiss of apology before darting towards the fireplace and his impatient godfather. “I love you too, Ginny!”

“I know, Harry, GO!” His girlfriend pushed. The longer Harry delayed leaving, the harder it became for her to contain Severus.

“MOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! MO! MO! MO! MO! MO!” Sev squealed, wriggling, kicking and screaming as if he was about to die.

Harry climbed into the fireplace next to his godfather and held up two fingers for Severus to see. “Two days.”

“THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC!”  

BOOM!

And then they were gone.

“MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo…” The moment Harry was out of sight, Severus screamed louder than he had ever screamed before and seemed to expel all the breath in his tiny body. Then, with a great gasp, he released a wail so painful, Ginny’s heart nearly broke just listening to it. “Haweh!” He cried sorrowfully, burying his face in Ginny’s robes and venting his frustrations into the fabric.

Ginny wrapped her arms around the infant as tightly as she could. “Oh, my darling…” She sighed to herself, tipping her head down to plant a kiss upon Sev’s head and taking the opportunity to smell his sweet baby scent. “It’s alright, my darling…” Ever so slowly, she began to rock him back and forth, rubbing smooth, rhythmic circles into his back and humming a nonsensical yet calming tune in his ear.

Severus could feel a giant hole in his chest. There was a giant hole in his chest where Harry should be! But Harry wasn’t there because he had to go off to the STUPID AUROR’S TRAINING!!! The very thought made him cry all the harder. Now, instead of Harry, he had a big giant hole in his chest because Harry wasn’t there!

You sound like an idiot! A bored voice drawled at the back of his mind.

“MO!” The infant snarled, supremely irritated by that constant cynical voice.

Your logic is going in complete circles! The voice argued. There’s a hole because Potter isn’t here and Potter isn’t here so there’s a hole! Such melodrama!

SHUT UP!!! Sev screamed at the voice inside his head and began weeping all the harder.

“Calm down, my love.” He heard Ginny croon in his ear. “He’ll be back before you know it. Relax now, sweetheart.” Ginny’s calming voice managed to dampen his cries just a little bit but Sev still didn’t feel like stopping altogether. Harry was GONE! He was GONE! GONE, GONE, GONE! And he wasn’t going to be back for two whole days!!!

“Mo—two—day!” Sev whined between hitched breaths. “MO—TWO—DAY!”

“I know, love.”

Oh, for pity’s sake! Stop acting like an infant and pull yourself together! The voice at the back spat in disgust.

“MO!” Bffffffffffft!

“Shhh, Sev…” Ginny crooned, calming him more and more with every word. “Shh…It’s okay to cry, baby.” She said, banishing the seeds of self-doubt and reproach which were beginning to sprout in his mind due to the voice in the back. “It’s okay to miss him.”

“Wamp—Haweh…” The infant moaned, sticking his thumb in his mouth in an effort to calm himself down.

“I know you do, love.” Ginny nodded. The teenager planted a kiss atop Sev’s head and continued to hum in his ear, rub his back and dance him around the room all the while trying to come up with ways to either cheer him up or distract him. Then, all of a sudden, a thought popped into her head and she smiled. “Hey!” She gently nudged the infant in her arms, “Hey, Sev!”

“Wamp—Haweh…” The child repeated around his thumb.

“Hey, you want to visit with Teddy?”

Visit with Teddy? The thought made Severus pause for a fraction of a second and apparently that was all the answer Ginny needed.

“Okay? Yes? Let’s visit with Teddy.” Before the infant could blink, she swept them into the bedroom to grab a few things before speed-walking towards the door. “You can show them the drawing you were doing earlier. Didn’t you draw Remus, Dora, and Teddy in there as well?” The teenager swept over to his high chair to pick up the drawing before making her way towards the opening portrait hole. “Thank you, Sir Merlin.”

“You are quite welcome, Lady Ginevra. And do cheer up, Master Severus; two days will fly by faster than you can blink!” The old wizard said with a sympathetic smile.

As the pair of them waited for Remus’ portrait hole to open, Ginny nodded her thanks and gave Merlin a small smile. Severus, however, merely peered up at the old wizard with a blank expression on his face. He was leaning with an ear against Ginny’s chest, listening to her calming heartbeat and allowing it to relax him. He had miraculously stopped crying a few minutes ago, but his breathing was still hitched and his eyelashes, damp. He still had his thumb in his mouth and the poor digit was beginning to become water-logged from all the sucking he had been subjecting it to for the past half-hour.

“He’s a bit stressed out.” He heard Ginny’s chest rumble.

“Yes, I can tell.” Merlin replied. “Poor lad.”

“Ginny! Oh, hello!” As Ginny turned to face the strange speaker, Sev was able to recognize Andromeda Tonks—Dora’s mother. Huh. He had forgotten she lived with them. “What can I do for you, dear?”

“Mum! If it’s Ginny, just let her in!” A cry came from inside the quarters. It sounded very much like Dora.

“No need to scream at me, dear, I’m right here!” Dromeda scowled at someone behind the wolf portrait before turning back to Ginny and Sev. “Come in, sweetheart.”

“Thank you.” The teenager smiled politely.

As soon as they were clear of the portrait hole, Tonks rushed over and hugged the pair of them. “Oh! How are you guys doing?” She asked sympathetically.

Ginny rolled her eyes. “Dora, I’m fine. He’s only going to be gone for two days. It’s not like he…” The teen stopped all of a sudden and inhaled sharply before changing the subject altogether. “Anyway, um…” she tilted her head towards the quiet child in her arms, “…Sev’s not taking it very well.”

“We heard.” Remus added with a smile from where he sat at the dining room table.

Ginny sent him a half-grimace, half-smile, “Oh...was it that loud?”

“Um…” The werewolf exchanged a glance with his wife, “…I would say it could be heard to the end of the hall.”

“Really?!”

“Don’t worry, sweetheart.” Andromeda broke in, “I’m sure no students pass through this hallway at this hour of the night anyway. They’re all probably eating dinner right now.”

“She’s right.” Tonks nodded. “Oh! Sev…” the metamorphamagus bent down so that she and the infant were able to look at each other clearly, “…you want to play with Teddy, love? We’ve got a new set of alphabet letters for you to play with.”

“AH!” A familiar cry from the dining room table next to Remus had Sev peering in that direction curiously. Dora stepped aside with a smile to reveal Teddy, sitting up in his high chair, waving a familiar donut-shaped plastic ring at him with a grin. “Ah! Ah! Ah! WAP!” Then, all of a sudden, the tiny metamorphamagus threw the plastic ring down to the floor, making sure it landed precisely on Remus’ boot.

The werewolf sighed and rolled his eyes dramatically.

Sev couldn’t help but snort. He looked funny. Then when Remus reached down, picked up the donut toy and returned it to Teddy, try as he might, Severus wasn’t able to suppress the round of giggles that came bubbling up from the pit of his stomach. This game never got old!

“GEM!” Sev cried, smiling shyly from around Ginny’s chest.

As soon as Teddy stopped laughing, he did just that. The donut go down, Remus go down…Remus go up, the donut go up. Within seconds, the two boys were in the midst of a laughing fit, which made the adults smile.

“GEM!”

The donut go down, Remus go down…Remus go up, the donut go up.

“GEM!”

The donut go down, Remus go down…Remus go up, the donut go up.

“GEM! GEM!”

The donut go down, Remus go down…Remus go up, the donut go up.

“How long can they keep at this?” Andromeda asked in amusement.

“Forever…” Remus replied resignedly, bending down to retrieve the donut yet again.

“You’re a slave to a four-month-old and a seven-month-old, Remus.” Dora told her husband with a smirk. The werewolf rolled his eyes.

Needless to say, the trip to Teddy’s successfully distracted Severus from the fact that Harry was gone right now. The donut game had dried his tears and the letter puzzle with Teddy had kept them at bay. With Sev sufficiently occupied, Ginny had the time to sip some tea and talk to Remus and Dora about the next few days.

Since Dora was still on maternity leave, Ginny asked if she was willing to babysit Sev during the day—a favor the metamorphamagus agreed to readily.   

“I know exactly how to keep him distracted—arts and crafts!” Tonks exclaimed with a grin. Ginny raised a dubious eyebrow at her. “Oh, don’t look at me like that! It’s a great way to distract kids from whatever you want to distract them from. It’s fun! Therefore, the time between right now and when daddy comes home will feel like it was greatly reduced when in reality…it wasn’t.” She winked at her friend.

“Dora has a big point there.” Remus added and then gestured towards Ginny, “And how are you holding up?”

Ginny rolled her eyes as she took a sip of her tea. “Please! I’ve survived an entire year without Harry before—and that was during the war and he was in danger every single day! Now he’s just in Auror training. There’s no element of danger involved.”

“Yeah, Gin, but Remus wasn’t talking about that.” Dora interjected.

“I meant, how you are holding up,” he then gestured to the child playing on the rug behind her.

Ginny glanced behind her and suddenly understood the couple’s silent question. How are you holding up as a single parent? The teenager sighed. “Guys, it’s only been a few hours. And it’s not like I’m all-of-a-sudden a single parent. He’s gone for two days out of the week.”

“Every single week.” Dora pointed out.

“He’s not even a full-fledged Auror yet!”

“Yeah, but once he is, Ginny…” Remus broke in, peering at her with eyes full of pity, “I’m not trying to discourage you from him or anything. However, you have to understand that you are in a relationship with a guy who has a hero complex—”

“Oh, I understand that perfectly well…” Ginny chuckled, taking a sip of her tea. The couple then watched as the smile slowly faded from her face until they could no longer tell it was ever there. Her eyes traveled away from them and towards the countertop, looking at the soft, polished wood, but not really seeing it. Then when she spoke again, her voice was low, a whisper, and there was something else there—something that came from deep down. “Perfectly well…” It sounded almost like pain; like she did understand—more than anyone else—exactly what she was getting into. There was something in her voice that made even Remus feel like he didn’t know what he was talking about, not like Ginny did.

All of a sudden, the clock on the far wall struck eight and the teenager drainer her tea cup with a grimace. “Well…thanks for the support, you guys.” She said, pushing her cup away and standing up from her chair, “I, uh…I have to put him to bed.”

“No problem.” Remus replied, peering at the teen worriedly.

“Ginny?” Dora called, causing Ginny to turn back towards them with a questioning gaze. “You know we’re always here if you want to talk, right?”

The teen gave them a warm, grateful smile, “Yeah,” she nodded, “I know that.”

And with that, she turned back around and informed Severus that it was time for his nightly bath. “You’ll be coming over here to play with Teddy tomorrow anyway,” she said. “While I’m in class, you’ll be staying with Teddy! Doesn’t that sound fun?”

“Teddy, Teddy, Teddy…” Severus sang, shaking an ‘H’ up and down before waving it around in the air, making sound effects with his mouth, as if the letter was a little action figure hero.

“Say ‘Goodnight’ to Teddy, sweetheart.” Ginny murmured in his ear.

“Goo-my!” Sev waved at his friend lazily, leaning against Ginny’s chest and letting her heartbeat comfort him.

“Mmm-ba! Mmm-ba!”

“Bye-bye, Severus!” Andromeda waved.

“Goo-my! Goo-my! Goo-my!” The infant waved and repeated the greeting all the way to the door. “Goo-my! Goo-my! Goo-my!”

“Goodnight, Dora, Remus!” Ginny nodded to them. “Dora, I’ll have him over by seven-thirty.”

“Sure!”

As soon as the pair was safely back in their quarters, Severus stuck his thumb in his mouth and went silent. “Did you have fun with Teddy, sweet?” The infant merely nodded and said nothing further. Ginny sighed. At least he wasn’t crying anymore! That was a good sign. “Let’s have your bath, love.”

Bath time went a little bit better than expected. As soon as Ginny placed Severus in his mini bathtub, he became a bit livelier. The bubble bath had him smiling and blowing bath bubbles around the bathtub, and the presence of his bath toys had the infant reenacting scenes from the depths of his imagination. Since Harry was always the one to give him baths, Ginny was at a bit of a loss as to her role in the bath toy story. Severus had to inform her just who each of his bath toys really were and what their mission was in the grand scheme of things. He then informed her that her role in the bath time drama was to voice the evil villain so that Sev could be the hero and make everything better again. This intrigued Ginny greatly, as it gave her insight into Severus’ ever-changing mentality. He’s becoming more like Harry.

Story time was Ginny’s favorite time of day. Apparently, it was Severus’ favorite as well. He pointed out volume one of A Thousand and One Arabian Nights on the shelf and showed her which story Harry had stopped on last night. After plucking it from the bookshelf, Ginny settled down on the rocking chair and nestled the infant on her lap. As Severus flipped through the pages to find the exact spot, Ginny took a second to take in his sweet baby scent and revel in way he fit neatly into the crook of her arm. Merlin, she loved this! She loved having a child! She loved having this child! Heck…she loved having this life!

Harry, Sev, and Ginny—those three names fit so well together, it made her heart ache. She couldn’t imagine there ever being just two. The teen shook her head. Never!

“Immy?” Sev’s sweet little voice broke into her thoughts. The infant was peering up at her expectantly.

“Yes, sweet?”

Sev, his thumb in his mouth, pointed to the open page with his free hand, “Bac-Bac.” He mumbled around the appendage.  

“Ah!” Ginny grinned, “The Tale of the Poor Hunchback.” Wrapping Severus in her arms, she began to read him the story.

Several hours later, long after Severus had settled down to sleep, Ginny glanced up from her Transfiguration reading to find it was almost midnight. Deciding it was about time to go to sleep, the teenager laid her book atop the side table and went off to double check the quarters. She shook her head as she realized McGonagall was right—despite the circumstances, Ginny was already two weeks ahead in her reading and had finished all the written coursework assigned to date (including one that was due in a month’s time). “Ah, the benefits of having a place all to oneself.” She smiled to herself.

After blowing out all the candles in the bedroom, the teenager decided to check on Sev one last time before calling it a night. As soon as she spied her baby’s sleeping face, though, she found couldn’t tear her eyes away. Merlin, he was so beautiful! And he was so perfect as well! Leaning down, Ginny placed a gentle kiss atop his sleeping head. Severus was naturally sweet and charming and polite. It angered Ginny to think that someone could take this child and not…nurture his nature! That someone could raise Severus to be mean and condescending and cynical and dark—everything he wasn’t! No wonder Severus was always so bitter in the past. He was taught to suppress all the good things about himself. He was taught to be dark.

Ginny blamed his first parents. It was mainly their fault, plain and simple. Severus’ father was verbally abusive. Without any other male role model to emulate, it was no wonder Severus turned out almost exactly like him. His mother was a very powerful witch, but didn’t have the backbone to stand up to his father. Thus, Severus grew up with the worst of both worlds—his father taught him to hate and his mother taught him to fear standing up for his convictions. The child learned early and often that the first rule of survival was suppression of self and adaptation to environment. And for that, Ginny felt like weeping.

It was fortunate Dumbledore placed Severus with Harry to begin with. Of all the decisions the old man ever made, Ginny felt this was his best decision yet. Harry knew exactly what it was like to live through every kind of abuse. It was fortunate he found a role model in a Christian minister who ran a homeless shelter at the heart of the crime-filled, poverty-stricken East End of London. Harry was constantly in and out of that shelter throughout his years as a runaway before he came to Hogwarts. Even during the summers of his early Hogwarts years, before he could start renting his own motel room without rousing too much suspicion, Harry always found a bed in the ‘Minister’s Shelter’, as he often called it. The man often tried to interfere in his life, tried to stop the abuse he knew Harry was being subjected to at the hands of his Uncle. However, in true Harry style, every time the minister asked too many questions, Harry ran away and took to the streets once more.

“His life was just as bad as yours was, Sev…” Ginny murmured to herself, rubbing the soft cheek of the slumbering babe with the back of her hand lovingly. “But life gave him a second chance—with the Minister, all of us, Sirius, Remus…He saw us as his second chance.” Folding her arms upon the railing, Ginny leaned against the crib and simply watched her child sleep. “Take it from him, my love. Let us be your second chance.”

Severus’ little chest rose and fell with every breath he took and Ginny marveled at the miracle of it all.

“I love you, my son.” Ginny whispered into the darkness, hoping and praying that wherever he was, Severus could hear her voice.

“Sev? Sev, come on, honey!” Someone was annoyingly giving his shoulder a good shake. “Sev?” The infant scowled and shifted over, trying to bat the irritating hand away so that he may get back to sleep. “Come on, love, you can go back to sleep at Dora’s.”

Severus whined. “Mo!” He croaked and then sighed, relaxing into his blanket and trying to coax himself back to the Land of Nod.

Ginny sighed. It was useless. He wasn’t going to get up. Lowering the crib railing, the teenager bent over and picked up the slumbering infant, laying him atop the big bed. She then proceeded to change his nappy and slip him into a fresh pair of moon and star footsies. All the while, Severus remained fast asleep.

“Look at who’s living the good life.” Ginny muttered to herself in amusement. “I’d pay to get twelve or more hours of sleep per night.” Tucking the infant between two pillows, the teen then went about the quarters, putting together both her knapsack and Severus’ diaper bag for the day. Ginny was so grateful she and Harry set up a sleeping schedule for Severus when they did. By mid-August, he was beginning to sleep through the night—something both Harry and Ginny were grateful for now that the school year was upon them.

“Alright, my love, let’s go!” Slinging her knapsack over her shoulder, Ginny bent down to pick the infant up, frowning when she realized he was much heavier asleep than he was awake. “Oh, Sev…” She sighed. The feel of the child curling up in her arms and settling into the crook of her neck, however, brought a small smile to her lips. Finally, she picked up the infant’s diaper bag and slung it over her free shoulder, did a quick visual scan of the quarters one last time, and wrapped the infant in his favorite blanket before heading out and across the hall.

“And a good morning to you!” Tonks greeted with a smile as soon as the wolf portrait swung open.

“Hi, Dora!” Ginny whispered in return. “I’ll just go lay him next to Teddy, shall I?”

“Yeah! Sure! His crib’s in the bedroom.” Tonks relieved the teen of the infant’s diaper bag and then steered her towards the bedroom. Minutes later, Ginny emerged infant-free. “Running late?” The older witch asked knowingly. “Remus left five minutes ago.”

“A little bit.” Ginny nodded distractedly. “Okay! So…I put extra nappies in there should you need them, I put a copy of my schedule in there as well so you’ll know exactly where I’ll be, I put the Marauders’ Map in there just in case, I put in a couple of his toys, a couple books to keep him occupied, I put in several bottles of milk just in case he wants any—he usually does, a bag of Wizard Cheerios are in there too—he likes munching on them every now and then, he’s still teething a bit so his teething snitch is in there as well…OH! And I put a two-way mirror in there that connects to one I keep with me at all times—”

“Ginny!” Tonks exclaimed in amusement. “You’ll only be gone for eight hours. We’ll be fine!”

The teen didn’t look convinced. “Are you sure?”

“Yes!” Tonks rolled her eyes and steered her out of the portrait hole. “Now go! Have a good day.”

“Alright…” Ginny replied worriedly. Forcing herself to turn away from the portrait hole, she walked off to start her day.

When Severus came to an hour later, the first thing he noticed was that his dreamcatcher wasn’t where it was supposed to be. He found that odd. His peripheral vision told him he was in a crib, yet his dreamcatcher wasn’t there. Curious! The second thing he noticed was that there was someone there in the bed with him—inside the crib. That was doubly odd because he barely fit in his crib alone. Thus, the occupant next to him would have to be one his size. And the only one his size that he knew was Teddy. Peering next to him, Sev found that, sure enough, Teddy was right there—sleeping next to him! Which meant that he was in Remus’ quarters. Which meant that Ginny had gone off to class for the day.

Severus sighed. He had hoped to be awake before she dropped him off at Remus’. He wanted to give her a goodbye kiss. “Immy…” He murmured to himself sadly. He hated this stupid keeping-sitters-company thing! He couldn’t wait ‘til the papers exposed his existence and everything. Then Harry and Ginny would become extra paranoid and have to take him to class with them for his own protection. Ha! Then he would get to keep them company all day long!  

Spending the day with Dora, Teddy, and Andromeda wasn’t too bad. Seeing Teddy with Andromeda, however, made him sort of wish Molly were here too. But he didn’t want to make himself sound too needy so he pushed that thought away. Seeing Teddy with Dora made him long for Ginny to come back and hug him and kiss him too. That thought brought tears to his eyes. Yet Severus stubbornly refused to let them fall. Then Remus came home for lunch. Seeing the two of them together—Remus holding Teddy and bouncing him on his knee—made Sev’s longing for Harry come back with a vengeance. There was no stopping the tears this time around. “Ahhhhhh!”

Severus cried and cried and cried. This wasn’t fair! It wasn’t fair at all!!! Harry and Ginny were supposed to be here—with him! Or he was supposed to be there—with them! Either way, they were supposed to be in the same place—together! Now Harry was in Auror training and Ginny was in class and he HATED this!!!

All the while Severus drained his frustrations through his tears, he was only vaguely aware of someone lifting him into his strong arms; vaguely aware of being carried out of the quarters and across the hall; vaguely aware of passing through his own living room; and vaguely aware of being cuddled on and rocked in his own rocking chair. He was only vaguely aware of the calming heartbeat beneath his ear; vaguely aware of the rumbling of the chest as someone hummed a familiar tune; vaguely aware of hand rubbing smooth circles into his back; and vaguely aware of the moment the tears ceased to fall.

“A few more hours, Sev.” The soft, comforting voice from earlier said to him. “A few more hours until Ginny comes home, and a few more hours until Harry comes in after that.” The hand rubbing the smooth circles into his back then slowly moved up to his head and soon fingers, which didn’t feel quite like Harry’s, began running through his soft baby hair. “You can make it, cub. I know you can!” Remus’ comfort wasn’t exactly the kind that he needed, but it worked well enough. He just wished he had Harry’s.

“Remus?” A familiar voice murmured from the doorway. Sev didn’t look up, opting to stick his thumb in his mouth instead, but he felt Remus twist around beneath him.

“Molly?” The werewolf whispered in surprise.

“Dora fire-called me. Told me Severus was feeling a bit lonely, the poor dear! She didn’t want to bother Ginny, and she told me you were due in class soon.”

“Yeah, I think he missed Harry when he saw me with Teddy a while ago.” Remus nodded. “And then Andromeda and Dora with Teddy kind of…” He left the sentence hanging at that point, knowing Molly would know exactly what he was talking about. “But he seems okay now.”

Molly came over and crouched next to the rocking chair, setting herself at eye level with Severus. “Hey, sweetheart?” She ran his fingers through his hair lovingly, making the child turn his head towards her.

“Mah-mah—Mawy” He said between hitched breaths and around his thumb.

“Hi, darling!” She smiled gently, her eyes aglow. “Would you like me to take you now?” She held her arms out and Severus nodded, reaching for her with his free hand. Loathed as he was to admit it, seeing her made him feel a lot better.   

As soon as Molly had Severus securely in her embrace, Remus stood up and helped the older woman back to her feet as well. “Thanks a lot, Molly.” He smiled gratefully, checking his pocket watch for the third time in ten minutes.

“Oh, it’s my pleasure, dear.”

Remus nodded and dropped a gentle kiss atop the back of Severus’ head before rushing towards the door. “I’ll send Ginny a note telling her you’re here and not to worry too much.”

“Much appreciated, Remus. Thank you!” Molly nodded at the retreating werewolf before turning back to the sniffling infant in her arms. “Now then, my darling, why don’t we go back to Remus’ quarters and see what they’re doing, okay?” Severus, his thumb still in his mouth, silently nodded against her chest. “I have it on good authority that one o’clock is the start of arts-and-crafts time!”

Arts-and-crafts time it was indeed! Severus sat atop Molly’s lap while Teddy sat atop Andromeda’s. Tonks flitted between the both of them, distributing pieces of colored parchment, finger paint, and glue. “Make whatever you feel like making!” She exclaimed with a flourish, excitement lighting her eyes. “Let your imagination SOAR!” She then started doing ballet moves around the table. “Be whoever you want to be! Fly! Fly! FLY!!!”

Severus gaped at her the entire time, speechless.

“How about we make something for Harry, sweetheart?”

Sev grinned up at her, “Haweh!” He exclaimed happily. And so Molly and Severus spent the next three hours fingerpainting a masterpiece for Harry to admire the minute he got home. The piece featured Harry, Ginny, Sev, Sirius, Remus, Teddy, Dora, Andromeda, Molly, Arthur, and the rest of the Weasley clan. Needless to say, for a fingerpainting, it was pretty big! “You want to draw Hogwarts in the background, love?” Molly asked, offering him some of the red paint.

“Hello, hello, hello!” A familiar voice exclaimed from the doorway.

Severus gasped and his head shot around immediately. “IMMY!” He cried with a grin.

“OH! There’s my baby!” Ginny ran to Severus with her arms wide open and immediately enveloped the infant in a big bear hug.

“Honey!” Molly exclaimed in alarm, “He has paint on his fingers!”

It was useless. The finger paint was all over Ginny’s face, hair, and robes before Molly could get a word out.

“It’s alright, mum, this needs washing anyway.” The teen shrugged it off. “And what have we got here, my love?”

“Me, Haweh, Ooo, Mah-Mah Mawy, Moomy, Toks, Teddy, Weewee, Pa-poo, Bwomeba, Mah-Mah McGoogoo…” Severus made sure to point out every colorful little blob and name each of them in turn. “Fow Haweh!”

“Ah, it’s for Harry!” Ginny nodded in understanding and exchanged a smile with her mother. “How about me, love?”

“Fow ooo too!”

“Thank you, baby.” Ginny gave him a big kiss on the cheek before pulling up a chair and sitting down, positioning Severus on her lap. “Dora, this was such a great idea!”

“See? Didn’t I tell you? Arts-and-crafts work every time!”

“Would you like to help me make a macaroni face for Harry? Or maybe Sirius?” Ginny asked the infant in her arms, signaling for Dora to pass her the macaroni and glue.

The infant thought about it for a full minute. “Haweh.” He decided.

“Only Harry? But what about Sirius? He might get sad because Harry has two pieces of artwork and he has none.” Ginny exchanged a silent laugh with Dora behind Sev’s back.

Sev scowled. So?! That’s not my problem! Yet when he glanced up at Ginny, Sev saw a look of expectation on her face and that forced the infant to think about it a moment more. Harry and Ginny always said to think about how the other person would feel, and for the first time ever, Severus did. Placing himself in the shoes of his former arch-nemesis, Sev asked himself how he would feel if he had just come home from a long stretch of Defense training with his godson, and his former enemy-turned-godson’s-ward had just made his godson two paintings while he had none. How would he feel?

Left out. If he was being honest with himself, that’s exactly how he would feel. Of course, he would mask those feelings by saying that he really didn’t care and he would never have expected his former enemy to make him a picture anyway so it didn’t really manner. Yet deep down he knew that it did. I did matter. Because if his former enemy had made him picture of his own free will, he would feel like he had just been given the all the gold in the world. He would feel like his former enemy had included him in his definition of family and, if he was being honest with himself, that picture would be the highlight of his day, his week, heck, maybe even his year!

It would mean the world to him!

“Okie.” Severus relied simply, turning back towards the table and reaching for the closest piece of parchment. “Few Pa-poo.”

He felt Ginny shift around beneath him and heard her whisper something to her mother and Tonks, but the infant wasn’t paying attention. He was too busy trying to pick up his fat crayon so that he can start drawing the picture on the paper. Half a second later, though, he felt Ginny give him a big kiss on the cheek and heard her proud voice whisper, “I’m proud of you, Severus!”

And that meant the world to him!

Several hours later, Remus was at his desk, finishing up some lesson plans, Dora, Ginny, and Hermione (who had come over earlier to interview Remus for the piece of pro-werewolf legislation she was drafting) were sitting at the dining room table, sipping tea and talking about Ministry law, and Molly and Andromeda were sitting on the couch, talking and watching the two infants on the floor, who were playing.

“So we agree that we should go for labor rights and voting rights and equal opportunity employment—”

“I think that falls under labor rights.”

“Ginny, I think your mum’s calling you.” Dora said, pointing behind the teen to where her mother was waving at her frantically.

The teen glanced over curiously. “Mum?”

“Ginny! He’s trying to walk!” She hissed, her waving getting even more frantic by the second.

All at once, all three women dropped what they were doing and rushed over to the living room area. Sure enough, there Severus was-- standing up, using one of the easy chairs for support, and looking around as if trying to decide if he wanted to walk to the coffee table or to Nana Molly.

“Sev?” Ginny questioned cautiously, trying to suppress her enthusiasm so as not to discourage him from trying. “You want to try walking, love?”

The infant nodded wordlessly before continuing his scan of the room.

“Well, do you want to try walking to me?” Ginny suggested, coming around the couch and taking a seat on the other easy chair in the room.

Sev bit his lip. He glanced from the coffee table to Nana Molly to Ginny and back to the coffee table once more. “Too faw!” He cried, pointing in Ginny’s direction.

“Oh, I know, love.” The teen nodded. “Do you want to try walking to me, though? I can move the coffee table and you would only need to go two or three steps. It won’t be that difficult.”

That’s easy for you to say. The voice at the back drawled cynically. Sev nodded despite it. You won’t be able to do it! The mean old voice continued. You shouldn’t even try. You’ll just fall and get carpet burn and your arms would hurt and your legs would get sore and it’s not even worth it. Don’t do it.

“You can do it, love.” Ginny encouraged him. She had moved the coffee table completely out of the way and now was sitting back on her heels in the middle of the bare living room, two or three feet away from him, holding her arms out for him to walk into.

See! Ginny says I can do it! Sev yelled at the stupid voice at the back.

Ginny’s lying to you!

“Mo!” Sev shook his head sadly.

“Oh, yes, you can, darling!” Molly exclaimed, cheering for him along with everyone else in the room. Even Remus had taken a break from his work to cheer him on.

“Come on, love!” Ginny stretched her arms out a little farther so he could reach it more easily.

You can’t do it!

“You can do it!”

Severus pushed up against the couch and let go for a fraction of a second, feeling his legs wobble beneath him. Grabbing back onto the couch, he bit his lip and peered back at Ginny sadly. “Mo!” He whined pitifully, shaking his head with resolution.

“Alright, love. One step then.” Ginny moved her hands even closer. “One step only, and then you and I can go for a walk around the living room so we can build up your calf muscles.”

You can’t do it! Can’t do it! Can’t do it! Can’t do it!

One step. Releasing his lip, Severus took a deep breath, told the voice at the back of his head to shove it, let go of the couch and took a wobbly step towards Ginny.

“YEAH!” The entire living room burst into cheers the moment Severus latched onto Ginny’s outstretched pointer fingers and used her for support as he struggled to find his balance. “Attaboy Severus!” “See? I knew you could do it!” “There we go!” “His first step!” “I got that on camera!” “Yah!”

Ginny, for her part, gave him the biggest praise of all—one of those giant bear hugs that he loved the most, a big kiss on the cheek, and endless words of praise in his ear.

Thus, Severus spent the rest of the evening on his two wobbly feet, holding onto Ginny’s fingers and dragging her all over the soft white carpet. Likewise, Ginny spent the rest of the evening bent over, supporting her infant from behind; her big bare feet guiding Severus’ tiny bare feet all over the ground floor of Remus’ quarters. The teen knew she would wake up in the morning with a giant backache in the small of her back yet Ginny didn’t mind. Her baby was happy and excited about learning to walk and that beautiful smile on his face, to her, was worth all the backache in the world!

The next day flew by faster than the day before—for both Severus and Ginny. The infant was able to get up on time this morning and thus was able to pick out his wardrobe and toys for the day. They were even able to fit in a morning feeding before Ginny had to drop him off to Dora’s for the day. Severus got the chance to give Ginny a big hug and a kiss before she set off to class. They even caught Remus before he went off for the morning and the infant waved at him and greeted him a “Goo Mowming” as he left the quarters. The werewolf had replied with a smile and a greeting of his own.

Breakfast with Teddy was fun and just as messy as usual. Then Molly had shown up by surprise and invited everyone to the Burrow for the rest of the morning so that the infants could get some sunshine. They were back at Hogwarts by lunch when, once again, Remus joined them. And, just as yesterday, the post-lunch hours were taken up by a short nap and a Dora-led arts-and-crafts time. Today, Dora partnered up with Severus to help him paint a small, hand-carved angel statue to give to Ginny when she came home later. By some miracle, the entire day passed by without incident.

Later that evening, after Ginny had picked up Severus, fed him, bathed him, and changed him for the night, everyone was gathered in Harry’s living room, enjoying the first Friday evening of the school year and laughing about the crazy week they’d just had. Once again, Ginny was bent over behind Severus, supporting him with her fingers and guiding him all over their bare living room.

“Attaboy, cub! You’ll be walking in no time!” Remus commended before turning to the other infant he was bouncing on his knee. “And what about you, my Teddy bear?” He grinned at his son who grinned right on back at him, making Remus laugh in turn. “When are you going to start walking, huh?”

“I think the real question is whether or not you want the pair of them to start walking together.” Hermione commented with a laugh.

“That’s true.” Remus nodded with a chuckle.

“What? What’s wrong, love?” Ginny asked, standing by one the easy chairs next to the hearth. Severus had just stopped suddenly, without warning, and was now peering around the living room as if waiting for something to appear. “You want to try walking without my fingers now?” She asked curiously.

The infant then turned his gaze up towards her, his eyes wide with curiosity and expectation.

Ginny’s eyebrows furrowed. “What’s wrong, Sev?”  

All of a sudden, the floo flared to life, tongues of green fire leaping up higher and spreading out wider than ever before. Then, in the blink of an eye, the fire was gone and there, standing on the hearth, were three very familiar men.

“Ron!”

“Sirius!”

“Haweh!”

“There’s my boy!” The black-haired teen was the first one out of the hearth. Throwing his duffle bag across the room, he fell to one knee and opened his arms out for a big bear hug. Then the miracle of all miracles took place—Severus instantly let go of Ginny’s fingers and took off towards Harry!

One step.

Two step.

Three step.

Four!

Five step.

Six step.

Seven step.

SCORE!!!

A cheer to end all cheers suddenly swept through the room. Yet Sev didn’t notice. The moment Harry engulfed him in his arms and lifted him off the ground and spun him around and around and around and gave him a kiss on the head and whispered words of praise in his ear, nothing else in the world mattered to him.

Harry was HOME!!!