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“It’ll be okay, Teddy. We’ll fix Ducky up for you.”
Teddy Lupin sat on his bed with big, fat crocodile tears streaming down his face. His bottom lip quivering, his cheeks turning rosy, and his little hands clenching in his lap. Harry carefully picked up the duck plushie whose foot was ripped from the steam and placed it next to Teddy on the bed.
“Ducky!” wailed Teddy. His sobs could be heard throughout Grimmauld Place.
Harry took a deep breath and assessed the situation and looked back at his large pup, Fluffy, who was now cowering behind the open bedroom door with a look of shame. Fluffy let out a small whine which only caused Teddy to wail even louder for Ducky - the toy that Fluffy happened to have had a joyful jaunt with to only rip a foot off its body.
“Alright, Teddy. Ducky will be okay, we’re going to perform a little surgery on him, but I’m going to need your assistance. Can you help me fix Ducky?”
Teddy stared at him with his big blue eyes, taking a moment to register the words Harry had spoken.
“We’re gonna fix him together?”
“Of course! I’m a Healer and you’re my helper, right?”
Teddy wiped the tears from his eyes and nodded his head.
“Alright, let’s get the patient ready for surgery. Teddy. Could you please grab your wand and I’ll get mine?”
Teddy hopped off the bed and ran to his little toy chest searching for the toy wand.
“Found it!” he screeched as he pulled out the wand from a rubble of toys that were now on the floor. Harry would have to clean that up later. Teddy came tumbling towards Harry and stood next to where his Uncle knelt by the bed.
“Alright, do you know what the first step is when you are healing someone?”
Teddy held the little wand out and shook his head. His eyes moved between his Ducky and his Uncle Harry.
“The first step is to run a diagnostic check, to know what we need to fix. So let’s do that together. Follow my lead, okay?”
Teddy nodded and mimicked his uncle’s wand movements. Harry grinned at his godson, who had a look of concentration as we waved around his toy wand which released bubbles into the air.
“Great job, Teddy!” Harry quickly guided the bubbles towards the severed Ducky leg. “Now where are the bubbles going?”
“Ducky’s leg!”
“Good job! Now the diagnostic charm has let us know that Ducky’s leg is hurt. The next step is to perform surgery on Ducky’s leg. Are you ready to be my assistant in surgery?”
Teddy leaned into Harry and gripped Harry’s forearm.
“Is it gonna hurt Ducky?” he whispered.
Harry looked down at his godson, the little boy’s hair had changed from a light brown to a bright yellow that matched the wool of his plushie toy. Harry slowly turned Teddy towards him and wiped the tears from his eyes. Harry gave him a gentle smile and held his face for a moment.
“It may hurt Ducky a little bit but I promise to help Ducky not feel too much.”
Teddy looked at him with sincerity and it took everything in Harry to not tear up himself. There was so much he wanted for Teddy, so much he wanted to do. More than anything he wanted to protect his godson from feeling pain.
“Sometimes when we get hurt we feel pain but I promise that I will always be there to help. Do you remember when you fell off your toy broom?”
“Yes! I cried because I got hurted!” Teddy’s eyes lit up from the memory. Harry grinned.
“And what did we do after you got hurt?”
“You checked to see if I broke anything!”
“Correct, after that?”
“You fixed my scratch!”
“And did it hurt after?”
“A little but Aunt Minnie made it better!” Harry raised an eyebrow at his godson.
“Aunt Minnie made it better? What about Uncle Harry who patched you up?”
Teddy grinned.
“Aunt Minnie gave me a magical kiss right where I got hurted!” Teddy pointed to the faded scar on his knee. “She said that a kiss has magical powers that can protect me!”
“Is that right?”
“Yes, she said it was filled with love!”
Harry closed his eyes and grinned. His heart felt light at the thought of Hermione. It was a sight to see his godson with her. Teddy was a ball of energy that could never sit still and would ask a million questions without hesitation but with Hermione he was enraptured by her. He followed her around the house and sat when she told stories or asked him to do anything. Around Hermione, his hair would turn a soft brown with curls, almost matching hers.
For Harry, she was his life line - quite literally she had saved him a number of times but if anyone ever said that to her she would yell back that he had saved her too. She would defend him to the idiots - her words - who said she was the brains and she was the single reason he lived. It would be a passionate speech she gave but the comments never bothered Harry because he believed them as well.
She had, on a number of occasions, saved him not just on their hunt of horcruxes or while battling an evil tyrant of the magical world but also in moments when he did not know how to stop a crying baby Teddy or when Fluffy had escaped from the front door of Grimmauld Place. She was the one he called and no matter what time it was she would be there.
“Well, we know that Aunt Minnie is always right. We’ll patch up Ducky with our healing charm and make sure we both give a kiss to Ducky. Ready?”
Teddy gave a nod and turned back to Ducky, wand out and ready to mimic Harry’s.
Harry quickly cast a mending charm on Ducky. The seams quickly fastened together, it wasn’t perfect but it did the trick. Teddy once again waved his toy wand around, releasing bubbles.
“Look at that, Teddy. Ducky is all fixed!”
“Now we give Ducky a kiss!” Teddy grabbed his plushie toy and smashed it into his face for a kiss before shoving it towards Harry for a kiss which he did with a chuckle.
–---
“Aunt Minnie!” Teddy's scream pierced through from the kitchen followed by Fluffy's barks of concern. Harry’s heart lurched as he ran from the sitting room to the kitchen.
“It’s alright, Teddy. I’m okay,” Hermione’s gentle voice rang through. Harry came skidding into the kitchen to find a gash on Hermione’s forehead and a crying Teddy who was clinging onto Hermione.
She held Teddy in her arms, patting him on the book as she murmured words of reassurance into his ear. She made a quick grab of the napkin on the counter and patted away the blood on her forehead, slightly grimacing from the sting.
She finally looked up and saw Harry and gave him a sheepish smile.
“I’m okay, Teddy. Look, Uncle Harry is here.”
Teddy made no move to see and clung to Hermione. Fluffy was also frantically circling the pair in the kitchen. Making Harry's approach to the two more challenging. After giving Fluffy a pat, Harry made through to the two and gently rubbed Teddy’s back. He attempted to pull Teddy away from Hermione which caused Teddy to cling tighter to Hermione while shrieking a “No!” and Fluffy to release a series of alarmed barks at Harry.
Harry scratched the back of his head and returned a sheepish smile back to Hermione.
“Teddy, can I check on Aunt Minnie? You can help me do a proper check up.” He rubbed Teddy’s back in hopes to coax him from burrowing further into Hermione.
Teddy did not move from Hermione but responded back.
“As your helper healer?”
Harry grinned.
“Yes, as my helper healer but you’ll need to let Aunt Minnie sit at the table.”
“Can I sit in her lap?”
Harry began to deny his request but Hermione interrupted.
“How about you sit next to me? A helper healer has to have room to use their wand.”
Teddy poked his head out of Hermione’s shoulder and hair, nose runny, and eyes red.
“Okay. Uncle Harry says I’m the best helper.”
“You are? Well I am going to need the best to help me!” Hermione wiped his face and nose with a fresh napkin from the counter. When she had picked that up, Harry had no idea.
“Alright, Helper Healer Lupin, you'll need your wand. Can you get that from the sitting room?” Harry asked and Teddy nodded, wiggling out of Hermione’s hold and taking off towards the room with a concerned Fluffy trailing behind him. “Walk, Teddy!” Harry yelled after him.
Harry turned his attention to Hermione, “You okay?” he asked as he placed his fingers under her chin to turn to him. He inspected the gash, the blood was dried and saw it was a superficial gash that would not require any stitches or complex charms.
“Oh, I’m fine. I was a bit absent minded and hit my head on an open cabinet door. It was silly.”
Harry took the napkin and wiped the dried blood from her forehead. His face was furrowed as he continued to inspect the gash.
“Oh, Harry. I’m fine!”
“Let me look, please?” He gazed at her, not realizing just how close he stood to her. He could smell lavender and vanilla from her soap and the faintest hint of rose, probably from her perfume. He pushed back a curl, away from the gash.
She bit her lip and stared at him.
“I just - I need to know that you’re okay and -”
“I have my wand, Uncle Harry!” Teddy came bounding into the kitchen and Harry stepped back from Hermione. "You have to sit, Aunt Minnie!"
Hermione sat down at the dining table and chuckled at the sweet, loving child.
"Alright, Helper Healer Lupin, what is the first thing we must do?"
"A dog snack charm!" yelped Teddy as he released hundreds of bubbles into Hermione's face. Fluffy's ears perked up at the words.
"What charm?" Hermione sputtered as she waved away the bubbles.
Harry chuckled and quickly vanished the bubbles, "It's a diagnostic charm, Teddy."
Teddy's lips formed an "O" and slowly mimicked the words back. Harry found Hermione grinning at Teddy and brushing his wild hair, which was now a vibrant purple, out of his face.
"Shall we perform the charm?" Harry looked back at his godson who nodded with excitement. Harry quickly performed the charm and quickly checked Hermione's stats. With a quick movement of his hand he also guided the bubbles bursting through Teddy's toy wand around Hermione's head.
"It's Aunt Minnie's head!"
"Correct! Now we have to patch it up."
"Aunt Minnie, it may hurt a little, okay?" Teddy looked back at Hermione with such sincerity and spoke in a serious tone. Hermione bit her lip and nodded okay.
"But don't worry because Uncle Harry will always help make you feel better. He promises, right Uncle Harry?" Teddy turned back to Harry, causing all the bubbles to float into his face. "Promise Auntie Minnie that you'll always make her feel better!" He stared down Harry until his Uncle spoke up.
Harry looked at Hermione who gave him a smile that felt like sunshine and hope. It felt as if Teddy's words carried a deeper meaning because all he could see was a lifetime of moments where Hermione had been there for him and just what she truly meant to him. He had seen her at her worst, at her best but now more than anything he wanted to make her happy, to help give her peace, and to let her bask in the joys of the small pleasures life had to give.
He always thinks back to that fateful moment before entering the forest, prepared to die when her words rang through " I'll go with you " because she would have, she would have given up herself for him and now he wanted to do everything in his power to make her happy, to give her the world.
"Uncle Harry? You have to promise." Teddy's voice interrupted his thoughts. Looking down at his godson, he kneeled down and nodded back to Teddy.
"Teddy, do you remember when Uncle George read you that scary bedtime story?" Harry asked Teddy, who nodded his head in response. "Do you remember what I told you?"
"Uncle George is a bloody idiot -" Teddy started with confidence.
"After! After that!” Harry interrupted. He was met with a raised eyebrow from Hermione and he returned with a shrug. "He was!" he defended to Hermione.
Teddy fell silent as he tried to remember. "I don't remember," he responded. Harry gave a chuckle and ruffled Teddy's hair.
"I promised you that I would be there no matter what, through every scary moment," Harry reminded him.
"Yes! And you promised me forever !" Teddy yelped. Harry gave him a smile and turned his attention to Hermione who gave him a confused smile.
"That's right. Forever. So I'll give the same promise to Aunt Minnie," he held her gaze for a moment before he continued. "I promise to be there for every scary moment, I promise that even if things hurt I'll do whatever I can to make it better, and, more than anything, I promise to make you happy. We'll laugh until our belly hurts and tears stream down our face. And, Hermione, I promise I will always go with you."
He wiped the tears that fell from her face and she held his hand in place against her face. Closing her eyes for a moment and Harry took her beauty in.
"Uncle Harry! She's crying! You have to do the magic charm!"
"Oh sweet, Teddy. These are happy tears," Hermione took the boy in her arms and hugged him.
"Aunt Minnie! We have to use the magic charm!"
Harry quickly cast an episkey, healing the wound on Hermione's forehead. "There! All better!" he said.
"No, Uncle Harry! The magic charm!"
Harry gave him a confused look and Teddy gave an exasperated sigh.
"We have to give a kiss!"
Harry's eyebrows shot up to his hairline but Teddy gave him a pointed look.
"You'll have to ask Aunt Minnie first, if it's okay," Harry said and looked at Hermione whose cheeks were flushed.
"Can we seal it with a kiss, like you taught me? Make it feel better with a kiss sealed with love?" he asked with such earnestness.
Hermione looked between Teddy and Harry, as if trying to find an answer, when she finally settled on looking at Harry who seemed to be holding his breath. Slowly, Hermione gave a smile that felt like the first light from a sunrise, sparking new beginnings and hope.
"Yes," she whispered.
Teddy whopped and took Hermione's face in his hands and kissed her forehead. Fluffy would not be left out and gave a lick to Hermione's cheek. Teddy's grin was contagious and Harry found himself grinning along with Hermione.
"Okay, your turn Uncle Harry!"
Harry stared at Hermione who now seemed to be holding her breath.
"May I?"
Slowly but certainly, Hermione nodded her head.
Harry, like his nephew, took Hermione's face in his hands slowly leaned in to kiss her forehead but Hermione tilted her head up, bringing her lips closer to his. He paused and looked into her eyes and she gave a small nod and leaned forward.
If her smile was the first light in the morning, her kiss was like the fire on the surface of the sun. Burning into his soul, creating a desire that took a hold of his heart. It was soft, brutal, and sweet. It was like coming home. It was magical and truly sealed with love
A cacophony of barks and whoops broke the spell and Harry pulled away to find Teddy releasing hundreds of bubbles in the air and an overly excited Fluffy jumping to catch them.
"We healed Aunt Minnie with our magical love kiss!" Teddy yelped.
Hermione let out a laugh and stood to pick him up. She twirled him in the kitchen with Fluffy at the hem of her dress and Harry grinned.
This was what he had always dreamed of, a family of his own.