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Cedric unlocks the front door and steps inside the house, taking off his snow-drenched gloves and setting them on the table in the hallway. He steps out of his boots, shivering. The snowfall is getting heavier year by year and he’s all but ready to get warm by the fire.
He walks into the living room, having shed his coat and scarf, and stops short. Harry and Teddy are sat on the sofa, Teddy cuddled into Harry’s side. Both sets of feet are up on footrests and they each hold a mug of hot something in a hand. The ending soundtrack to Arthur Christmas plays on the TV in front of them. He instinctively smiles, his heart melting.
Harry notices him first, greeting him with, “Hey there, Ced.”
Teddy’s eyes light up when he sees Cedric standing in the doorway. “Hiya Cedric!” he says enthusiastically, scrambling over Harry to get off the sofa.
Harry sits up hurriedly, taking Teddy’s mug from him and setting it in the corner of the sofa, away from the running child. Cedric scoops Teddy into his arms, grinning from ear to ear, turning him upside down as he erupts into giggles. He looks at Harry, a warm smile on his face as he winks.
Harry laughs along as Cedric rights the squealing boy. “Put me down, your hands are cold!”
“Okay, okay!” says Cedric with a chuckle. As Teddy’s feet hit the floor, he wraps his arms around Cedric's legs. “Hey, you wanna sit by the fire with me and I’ll tell you a Hogwarts story?”
Teddy nods vigorously. “Yes!” He takes Cedric’s hand, pulling him towards the fireplace. Cedric follows, laughing.
Harry gets up off the sofa, picking up their empty mugs. He looks at the two of them – Cedric on the floor by the fireplace, Teddy sitting in his lap – and his heart bursts with affection. “You want a coffee, love?”
Cedric turns his head and opens his mouth to reply but before he can, Teddy chimes in with a, “Yes please!”
Harry shakes his head with a fond smile. “You’ve just had hot chocolate, Teddy.”
Teddy pouts, refusing to look at Harry, earning him a laugh from Cedric. “Yeah, please,” he says. “Come join us after, okay?”
“Sure.” Harry nods, and goes into the kitchen. He hears Cedric start the story with, “Back in my days at Hogwarts…” and he can't help but smile slightly.
Cedric always starts with the phrase when he tells Teddy about Hogwarts. His stories range from his first year all the way to his sixth year when he and Harry met. Harry thinks with a chuckle at how Cedric always glorifies their role in the Triwizard Tournament as if they had saved the world at that point.
(In some ways, they had.)
He stirs the coffee, hearing Cedric say, “... I met your godfather.” His ears perk up; he wonders how Cedric had described the meeting this time.
“We were walking up the stairs together, an hour or so before curfew, and suddenly the stairs starting moving and we knew we weren't going to get back to wherever we were going any time soon. And so Harry, being Harry, runs back the way we came, tagging me as if to say ‘you're it’—”
Harry walks back into the room, Cedric’s coffee in hand, just as Teddy gasps, “You can play tag inside Hogwarts?”
Cedric accepts the coffee, and replies, “No. But Harry’s never been one to play by the rules.” He smirks at his husband, who gives him a withering look.
“If I remember correctly, Cedric, you were the one to get us caught by Professor McGonagall.” Harry’s reply is smug and he settles himself next to Cedric, smiling devilishly.
Teddy crawls over onto Harry’s lap. His movements are sluggish as if he’ll fall asleep any minute. “Did you get detention?”
Cedric and Harry both laugh. “Nah,” says Cedric, sipping his coffee. “She let us go after taking points off. Ten each from our houses for ‘causing disturbances late at night’.”
“She did say that next time we got caught we would, in fact, get detention. So naturally we played tag when we knew she wouldn't be there.” Harry ends his sentence laughing.
“I want to be like you guys,” he mumbles as he lies down. “I'll be a hufflepuff like Cedric and my mom but really, really brave and adventurous like Harry and my dad. And me and my friends will play tag and not get caught and it'll be great.”
With that, he closes his eyes, resting his head on his arm. Harry looks to Cedric, eyes twinkling, and back at the sleeping boy draped across them. “I'm sure he will,” he says softly. “He’ll be just like his parents.”
Cedric rests his head on Harry's shoulder, taking his hand, and murmurs, “Of course he will. He was raised by us, after all.”