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SIYE Time:13:41 on 29th March 2024
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The Space Between
By YelloWitchGrl

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Category: Post-Hogwarts, Post-DH/AB, Post-DH/PM
Characters:All
Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Fluff, General, Humor, Tragedy
Warnings: Dark Fiction, Death, Disturbing Imagery, Extreme Language, Intimate Sexual Situations, Mental Abuse, Mild Language, Mild Sexual Situations, Negative Alcohol Use, Rape, Sexual Situations, Spouse/Adult/Child Abuse, Violence, Violence/Physical Abuse
Rating: R
Reviews: 559
Summary: Harry and Ginny's lives have finally evened out. They've faced trauma, and loss, more than most have, but they've fought hard to find a normal.

If only things could stay that way... Old enemies find new ways to seek revenge.

This story is the sequel to Bound. It would be extremely helpful if you read that first.

Warnings are to be safe. It's probably overkill. Please message me if you have any questions or concerns.
Hitcount: Story Total: 352233; Chapter Total: 4578
Awards: View Trophy Room




Author's Notes:
You're being spoiled (I mean, face it, 6500 word long chapters take time to write!) Two so quick. Please go to amazon and search "Sarah Jaune" and check out my books. PLEASE. That (and sewing) are my jobs! I need them to make some kind of income. Then, if you like them, share them with your friends.

Thank you Arnel for beta'ing!




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“She’s definitely left the country,” Gregory confirmed as he strode around the Auror’s conference room during their full staff meeting as the windows lied, letting them think it was sunny and warm outside, rather than the typical frigid gray of a London February.

Harry sat at the head of the table, his fingers steepled, and tried to process all of the things that were running in a maze through his head.

“We had a confirmed sighting of her, by a Turkish Ministry official. At the moment the Turkish government is not willing to extradite her, despite our warnings about how dangerous she is,” Raeburn added from his seat at the opposite end of the table. “The press is having a field day with that, and they’re thankfully not focused on the fact that we couldn’t catch her.”

That was all thanks to Hermione, of course. She’d leaked that information to the Prophet, and it was all they could write about, which was what they’d planned for.

It wasn’t that Harry didn’t know he’d cocked up the whole investigation, straight from day one, and that this would go on to be legendary in the annals of how not to run an operation in the Aurors, but there was just nothing he could do about it. Unlike Voldemort, who an unfailing belief that he could not be killed, and thus was brazen and in the open, Crabbe was a careful woman who understood and valued her mortality, at least as far as it served her purpose. Harry wasn’t too certain that she wouldn’t happily let someone kill her once she’d done the damage she’d set out to do. He just didn’t know what the damage might end up being.

Mothers and babies… maybe.

“Do we have any progress on the potion?” Harry asked.

“Nothing,” Gregory informed him with a carefully neutral expression. It was well known around the office that their lack of talented potions masters was a major problem for the Ministry. Currently, they had two, one of whom was older than Merlin at this point, and the other was not known to be reliable or trustworthy. He’d asked Audrey and Percy to look at the potion, but they hadn’t made any more from it than Slughorn had.

“I don’t know what this potion will do, but we know she’s experimenting on women, primarily,” Harry told his staff, not for the first time. “The fact that she’s let us know that she’s out of the country and isn’t here is telling. I think she’s saying to us that she’s out from under our thumb.”

“We think she will be back, though,” Raeburns told the assembled group.

Susan stared at Harry thoughtfully and he waited for her question. “What is she waiting for?”

“I honestly don’t know,” Harry admitted as he sat forward in his seat. “I think she perfected whatever she is doing here in England to thumb her nose at me, in particular. I know the grudge is against me. She might want to go after Ginny, again, but–” he stopped as a horrible wave of sickness and dread flooded through him. He was still staring at Susan and realized she’d already come to his conclusion. “Lily.”

“Lily,” Susan agreed with a slow nod. “It would be wise to consider that she’s waiting for Lily to grow up enough that she’ll be able to use her.”

Harry blew out a slow breath and fought every instinct he had to leave immediately for Hogwarts. He glanced around the room and saw that, unsurprisingly, everyone was staring at him with pity, but no one seemed shocked.

“It has to be about childbearing, then,” Susan filled in the silence. “Lily isn’t old enough to have a baby, yet. The babies weren’t a random byproduct of this sick woman’s henchmen.”

“Okay…” Harry’s brain felt sluggish as he worked through the possibilities. “Okay, so let’s brainstorm from there.”

No one was going to hurt Lily. He would make sure of that.

~*~

Caroline stared at him with her blue eyes wide and full of horror, which James knew was a serious overreaction. Okay, put in perspective it probably wasn’t. “It’s just Hogsmeade,” he reassured her. “We won’t go anywhere but the Three Broomsticks, and then we can come straight back.” He took her hand, which felt like she had ice instead of blood flowing through her veins. “I know it was hard,” he said as he lowered his voice so that no one else in the common room would hear them. “I’ll think about your dad when I’m there, too, but we can’t avoid it forever. We can face this together, yeah?”

She shook her head and he sighed, and started to let go of her hand when she clamped her fingers on his so that it almost felt like his bones were rubbing together. “I’m going to look like an idiot,” she told him in a hiss.

“No one is going to be paying attention to you,” James promised dismissively.

Caroline snorted loudly and rolled her eyes. “You are the most popular boy in our year, James Potter! You’re the ‘it boy’ as they liked to say in America, the one everyone looks up to, and if I go with you, everyone will be staring at me!”

His brow rose in amused dismissal. “No one cares about any of that crap.”

“Everyone cares about that crap,” she shot back with a scowl. “You’re all everyone talks about in the bathroom.”

“I probably didn’t need to know that,” he replied as he felt his ears start to heat up. Why were the girls talking about him in the loo? That was just weird. Maybe it should be flattering, but at the moment it was making his friendship with Caroline difficult, and that mattered more, because he wanted to hold her hand all the time, and not just when she was furious with him.

“I can’t just be seen with you!” she informed him gravely. “They’ll start to talk about me.”

“I mean, it’s not like you’re some hippogriff or something,” James pointed out reasonably. “You’re beautiful, and American, and mysterious. They have to be talking about you.”

She shook her head and finally pulled her hand from his. He hated the loss of contact.

“I am doing a great job of staying invisible.” Caroline’s face was completely serious. She actually believed that.

“What a load of dragon dung,” James blurted out, finally starting to feel frustrated. “You can’t stay invisible, and you can’t hide.” He didn’t add the fact that she was gorgeous, but currently she was doing her level best, while at Hogwarts, to look as ugly as possible. She hated her face. He was pretty certain that she’d have intentionally scarred her face if she could have, but with magic the way it was, she would have to use Dark magic in order to create a scar that Hannah couldn’t fix for her.

He had learned along the way that some girls in the Muggle world cut themselves, and he’d learned this because Caroline had cut herself at one point to deal with all of her bad feelings, plus she’d picked her nailbeds apart, but with a flick of her wand, Hannah had healed them over, so there was no point.

She was beautiful, though, and the blokes noticed. They never, ever, said anything, of course, because James had warned all of them off from her. It wasn’t even that he wanted to be Caroline’s boyfriend, but that she wasn’t ready for a boyfriend. If she ever expressed that interest, or interest in another bloke, James would talk to the guy and he’d make it happen, even if it killed him. Mostly, he just wanted Caroline to be whole again, whatever that took, even if it wasn’t with him.

He was pretty sure that this was because he was in love with her, and part of him couldn’t believe that he’d let her go if that’s what she needed, but he would. He would because he didn’t want to have to hold on to make her stay. He only wanted her to stay because it was what she wanted. He’d loved her now for at least a year and a half and it wasn’t changing. Okay, it was changing. It was growing stronger, every day, and his commitment to her grew, every day. “It’s not a date,” he reminded her. “We’re friends and people see us together all the time. Louis has a date, that’s all. He doesn’t want to go with us, and we’ve spent all week studying, so there’s no real excuse not to go into Hogsmeade.”

“We could just stay at the castle,” she protested as she twisted her fingers together. “I don’t want to be an idiot, James.”

“I’m going to be there with you,” he reminded her quietly. “I’m not going to let you be an idiot, and we can face it together. I haven’t been back, either.”

She glanced up in surprise, her eyes narrowing. “You haven’t? I thought you went last year in the spring.”

He shook his head. He hadn’t wanted to go, not after everything that had happened. “I went out to practice Quidditch. You had a cheer thing.” He felt his legs go just a little bit weak as he admitted, “I’m nervous about going, too, but we have to face it.”

“God,” she hissed out, sounding very American at that moment. She shook her head and her blonde hair caught a stray ray of morning light. He couldn’t help but grin as she smiled back at him. “Alright, you win.”

Louis had a date with a Hufflepuff and James couldn’t seem to recall her name, even though he’d heard it at least a thousand times. The problem was the girl was so ordinary that she almost blended in like wallpaper. It blew his mind, quite a bit, because Louis was, not for nothing, the son of a part-Veela. He probably could have had any girl he wanted at the school, but instead he chose someone who was plump, with mousy-brown hair, and hazel eyes. She did have freckles. Oh, and glasses. Oh, and her hair was frizzy.

Louis was absolutely smitten.

“It’s Jane!” Caroline hissed as she jabbed him hard with her elbow as they passed the shoveled snow. It hadn’t snowed in a week, but it was cold enough that they were all bundled up, and they could see their breaths. “Sweet Merlin, Jamie, you are as dense as a post!”

Jane… right. Jane… see, and that was where he forgot it, because it was such a plain name, that he couldn’t quite hold onto it. He beamed at the girl just as soon as they caught up with his love-struck cousin and Jane the Plain on the walk to Hogsmeade, and she blushed a bit under his smile. “Hullo, Jane!”

“Hi, James, Caroline,” Jane said with a shy, sweet wave.

Okay, she did have a nice smile. James could appreciate that.

“We’ll leave you two alone,” Caroline assured them as she grabbed James’ arm and pulled him hard towards the village. “You are a twerp.”

“You called me Jamie,” he mused as he kept his arm linked in hers and patted her arm through the thick padding of her coat. “Only my parents call me that.”

“I wanted to try it out,” she retorted defensively.

“I like it,” he said with finality. He really did. It felt like something that was special, which was why she would use it. “I can be Jamie to you, but anyone else who uses it gets their arse kicked.”

“I’ve most definitely heard Lily call you Jamie more than once,” Caroline pointed out as they passed out of the school gates with a stream of other kids.

He shrugged at that, because of course it was true. “Yeah, well, it’s Lily, isn’t it? Lily does whatever she wants and gets away with it.”

“That is a gift.”

“It’s going to be a bloody curse for whomever she marries,” James laughed. “The poor sod will be bowled over all the damn time. He’ll never get his way.”

Caroline giggled, and it was a glorious sound, especially since they were heading towards the place where her father had tried to snatch her. “I honestly think that anyone she marries will be so grateful to have her that they’ll be thrilled to be at her beck.”

“I haven’t heard that one before,” James said as he started to steer them towards the pub, only to have her pull them off towards the end of the village. He opened his mouth to question her, but then he knew… he knew and he let her lead on.

“It was this thing we said, like someone is at your beck and call, they wait on you,” she explained with a forced bravado. “I can’t imagine ever having that happen for me.”

He shot her a bemused glance. “You’re leading me on where you want me to go.”

“But you’re different.”

“I’m not sure I am.”

She stopped and turned to study him. He felt his brow rise and she narrowed her eyes as her mouth twisted into a bit of a scowl. “James.”

“So serious again,” he teased gently as he bent forward, conscious of the fact that they were far away enough from the rest of their classmates that he could get away with this, and kissed the tip of her cold, red nose. He grinned as he straightened, and saw that she definitely looked flustered. She looked so adorable with her face framed in her thick, heavy red scarf.

She shifted restlessly, then stomped off again towards the Shrieking Shack and he followed, content to let her lead.

“I do not get you,” she said as she strode into the clearing, standing almost exactly where her father had jumped on him, kicking off the fight that had ended with James stabbing the man in the neck so that he bled out.

He still didn’t regret it, even after all this time. What Donald Baker had done to his daughter was unforgivable, and he had deserved to die. “What are you trying to get?” he asked, pitifully glad that she was mad at him and not scared of this place anymore.

“Why do you do things like that!” she blurted out angrily as she waved wildly at him, and back down the hill. “We’re friends!”

“I know,” he agreed, even though it cost him something to say it. “We are friends. We’re always going to be friends, no matter what else happens.”

“But… but you!” she spluttered into silence and glared up at him as he took a step closer. “You kiss me.”

He had, but only once on the lips. Otherwise it had been the forehead, or cheek, and now he could add the tip of her very pretty nose. He thought he was going to like that one in the years to come. “It’s an expression of my affection for you.”

“That’s bullshit,” she shouted, now almost vibrating in anger.

“Hey,” he breathed out gently as he pulled his hands out of his jacket pocket and spread them wide, trying to calm her. “What’s wrong?”

Her face fell and she spun away from him. “I don’t know!” she practically screamed, and he heard, more than saw, the tears.

James moved to her and wrapped her in his arms while her shoulders shook and she buried her face into his chest, holding onto his jacket with her gloved fingers. “Shh,” he crooned soothingly as he pressed his cheek to the top of her head and inhaled the fruity smell of her shampoo. “It’s okay, luv. Just get it out.” She cried for a good ten minutes, and he felt something washed away with those tears as he stood with her, eventually pulling her down to sit with him on a low, stone wall. The Shrieking Shack loomed behind them, an ominous, if silent, witness to the pain that was being expunged.

He had to conjure a handkerchief for her, and blessed his mother for that little hat trick. She could never manage to do it wordlessly, so he had the incantation memorized. He waited while Caroline pulled herself together and thought longingly of getting to do this for the rest of his life. He cupped her flushed cheeks and studied her red, swollen eyes. “It was hard coming back here.”

“I d-did it, though,” she said with only a slight hiccup. Her gaze fell down to about his chin and she didn’t seem to be able to look him in the eyes.

“Caroline,” he prompted carefully. “What’s bothering you?”

It took her almost three full minutes before she finally managed to get the words out. “I don’t understand you.”

“What don’t you understand?”

She still wouldn’t look at him, but she ran her gloved hand over the button on his coat, continued to watch her fingers. “I don’t know why you stick with me.”

“You do know why.” She had to know. It was pretty obvious at this point. She’d asked this before, but she’d never acted like she didn’t get it. She’d even accused him of sticking around because she was beautiful, and he’d promptly told her she looked like hell at that moment.

Her blue eyes flicked up to his and she held his gaze. “We were here, eighteen months ago, and you slew my dragon for me.”

His lip twisted up in a grimace. “I guess I did, yeah.”

“You killed someone for me,” she went on. “Then when I wanted to starve myself because I couldn’t handle the crowds in the Great Hall, you went with me to the kitchens for months so we could eat together, and you never made a big deal out of it.”

He did smile at that. “I got extra bacon from the house-elves.”

“Be serious,” she chided quietly, and he nodded, his face falling back into a neutral expression. “You have been there, every time I needed you to be. If I was scared, you’ve been there. When I needed you to pretend to be my boyfriend, you did, no questions asked. You’re a better friend than I deserve.”

“No!” he shook his head adamantly. “I think that’s why you don’t get it. You always deserved to be treated like this, Caroline. You should have expected to be loved from day one.”

Her lips trembled and she firmed them up as she sucked in a deep breath. “But I wasn’t. I had a father that raped me.”

James flicked off his gloves and cupped her cold cheek, running his fingers along the soft skin below her eyes, feeling the dried trail of her tears. “He was a sick bastard. You deserved to be loved, but he didn’t treat you like he was supposed to. You should be like Lily, and expect that you’ll be pampered and adored for the rest of your life.” He waited a beat, and then went on. “We can’t go back and change any of it. I wish I could. I do know that if I had to peg who was stronger, you or Lily, I’d say you any day. Maybe you shouldn’t have had to be this strong, but you are and you’re going to make it.”

“What if I don’t?”

“You will.”

She plowed on. “What if I don’t want to be kissed?”

“Then I won’t kiss you,” he promised as he pressed his forehead to hers. “I think you like the kisses, though.” He studied her eyes, so close to his and she gave a small nod.

“What if I don’t want anything else?”

He thought he saw where she was heading with this. “Then there won’t be anything else,” he reassured her again, cupping the back of her head with his one hand, running his fingers over her hair and pressing his cheek to hers.

“Why?”

He almost said it again, told her that she knew why, but he paused and realized that she really needed to hear it, now more than ever, and despite the fact that it left him a little sick to put himself out there when she wasn’t going to love him back, he said it anyway. “Because I love you,” he whispered against her skin. “And love, real love, doesn’t hurt people, not like that.”

Caroline threaded her arms around his neck and pulled him in close. “I don’t know how to believe you, except that you tell me with how you act.”

“You knew,” he said as he felt the relief that she hadn’t pushed him away. He felt her lips brush his cheek in a quick kiss and he reveled in it. “We’re in for a long, complicated ride, you and me. But I’m all in, and I’ll take your lead to where ever it is that you finally get.” He knew what he was saying, too. He knew that she might never, ever, be able to have sex, and yeah, his sixteen-year-old body seriously hated that thought. His hormones were definitely a problem he’d had to deal with on more than one occasion where she was concerned, but they were his problems, and not hers. Plus, he really did hope she’d get over it at some point. He thought that was a possibility. But if she didn’t, then he’d be her friend. Maybe they’d never be more than friends. That would be hard, but he’d take it. He’d take it because he really had no other choice. He wasn’t going to be Donald Baker.

He was going to be the man she needed, whatever that looked like. He’d never heard his grandmother’s voice, not in real life, but he could imagine Lily Potter saying it, just as she had in her letter to Neville’s mother. It still stuck with him forcefully, those words, even though it had been years since he’d read the letters.

“I love you, too, Jamie,” she whispered.

James almost jumped out of his skin as he pulled back enough to stare into her beautiful, blue eyes and watch the fear and uncertainty there.

She stuck her fingers against his lips to keep him back, and he smelled her lotions on the fabric of her gloves. “I can’t.”

He cupped her hand and kissed the palm, as he grinned at her. “I know you can’t. That’s not a secret. I’ve learned that lesson.”

“But eventually you’ll want more,” Caroline retorted as she glanced away towards the house as a shiver ran through her.

“I am not your dad,” he reminded her quietly, but forcefully, “and I know better than almost anyone just how his selfishness has nearly destroyed you. Why would I do that to you?”

“I don’t think you would intentionally, but you’ll want more,” she replied as a tear slid down her cheek. “That’s how guys are.”

“That’s not how I am,” he reminded her and tried not to be offended that she was arguing this with him. Of course, she’d argue this with him. She didn’t think she was worth the effort. “I’m alone with you all the time. At first I was a bit of a jerk, I know it, but that was years ago, and since then when have I ever treated you with anything less than respect? Have I ever led you to believe I’d force you into sex?”

She shuddered and closed her eyes. “I’d be crying, or begging, or screaming, and he’d tell me how he needed me, and how selfish I was being for fighting him, how all men need it.”

James had to fight not to puke. He stood slowly, walked away as his cold hands balled into fists, and he wished like hell that Donald Baker would rise, right then and there, so he could beat him to death again with his bare hands. He was going to be unravelling Caroline’s personal hell for years yet. He knew that for sure now. He stared off towards the woods on the other side of the shack and had to ask himself, again, if he was strong enough for this fight.

When he turned, slowly, back to Caroline, it was to see her face buried in her hands, and her shoulders shaking, and his heart broke for her. This was her fight. This was her battle, and her journey, not his. He couldn’t walk this for her, and the very least, the absolute least, he could do was to stand by her side while she took all those difficult steps and not be a total arse while doing so.

He strode swiftly to her, and plucked her up into his lap, wrapping her up again to cry on his shoulder, and to let it out. “He is a dead monster,” he whispered to her, “one you helped to kill. He deserves none of your tears.”

“James…”

“I am going to love you through all the bad stuff,” he promised. “I’m going to love you even if all I ever get are kisses on your cheek, and your hand in mine. You deserve to be loved, and that has nothing to do with him. He twisted you up in knots,” James told her and felt the tears clog his own throat. He had no idea where the words came from, but he felt them all the way to his toes. “But none of that stuff he said to you was true or real. That’s not what real love is.”

She nodded and stayed in his lap, letting him hold her up, with her head on his shoulder. They sat there until they were both numb and more than ready for a hot drink, but still they sat. “You don’t like hearing what he did to me.” It wasn’t a question.

“I can’t imagine anyone would like it,” he replied simply. “It’s not something to like, but I’m always glad you told me. I am glad you trust me.”

“I keep expecting you to push me away when I tell you stuff.”

“I’m never going to push you away,” he said, and then remembered the moment before. “Sometimes I might need a minute to pull myself together, though.”

They fell silent again, but it wasn’t uncomfortable.

“I kind of want to kill him this time,” she said after a moment. “I didn’t think I could back then, but I think I could now.”

James laughed and pressed his lips to her forehead. “You could take him. I have faith in you.”

“I think I’m ready for some hot Butterbeer, now.”

He helped her to stand and grinned when she handed him his gloves. “Your fingers are all red from the cold.”

“It was worth it,” he promised as he pulled them on.

She hesitated only a second before she took his hand to walk back towards the pub. It was more than enough.

~*~

Ginny saw Nat hovering at the edge of kitchen where Ginny stood with Emma, cradling her granddaughter in her arms. The Easter hols had crept up on them quickly, and they’d already been home for a night. Thankfully, Teddy and Victoire had brought the baby over so that everyone could meet her. The longing was written plainly on Nat’s face, but so too was the trepidation. “Come here, Nat,” Ginny said gently as she continued to sway with the three-month-old. “She doesn’t bite, yet.”

Brilliant Natalie was gone and in her place was someone who inched forward. “She’s beautiful.”

“She is,” Ginny agreed smiling down at the tiny face. “She’s such a perfect angel.”

Nat finally arrived by her side and carefully used one finger to touch the baby’s hand. “I… you know, when I felt her moving at Christmas it was so hard to imagine her even though I knew what she would look like, but… she’s better than I could have imagined.”

Nat’s magical gift never ceased to amaze Ginny, but in this instance she knew exactly what she meant. “Do you want to hold her?”

Nat clasped her hands behind her and shook her head, even though her eyes told a very different story. “I can’t… I might drop her or something… I’m too… I can’t.”

“Are you hungry?” Ginny asked curiously, watching the fifteen-year-old struggling with something big.

“No,” Nat whispered. She couldn’t take her eyes off Emma’s sleeping face.

“You can’t be afraid to hold babies,” Ginny told her gently. “You’ll have your own babies someday.”

Pain washed over Nat’s face and she swallowed hard, clearly fighting off tears. “I… you know, I might not. I’m not exactly beating the boys off with a stick…”

She saw the anguish and her heart clenched in sympathy. “Natalie…” then she paused. “What’s your middle name?”

“Leah,” Nat whispered, her eyes still fixed on the baby.

“Natalie Leah Parker,” Ginny said sternly and finally Nat looked up at her. “You have no idea what this life is going to hold for you. Grab every moment you can.”

“But Mrs. Potter… I just…” she looked helplessly at her as Teddy and Al started to walk towards the kitchen. “I’m such a disaster,” Nat finally whispered.

“Put your arms out,” Ginny ordered and almost reflexively Nat did what she was told. Ginny carefully set the baby in her arms and Natalie held on to her securely.

Awe and wonder filled her face as she looked down at the baby. Teddy and Al walked up, not saying anything. When Nat finally looked up the joy on her face made her smile more beautifully than Ginny had ever seen and she looked straight at Al. She beamed at him and Al smiled back but it was like he’d been hit with by a troll as Nat turned her attention back to the baby.

Ginny wasn’t watching Nat anymore. She had her eyes fixed completely on her son and so did Teddy. They watched him as he watched her and saw him fall head over heels. The lightning bolt so obviously struck Al that Teddy and Ginny looked at each other as if to say ‘did you see that?!’

Emma started to stir and as naturally as Ginny had ever seen someone do it, Nat switched the baby to her shoulder and started to sway, making crooning noises. Awkward and clumsy were no longer words to describe her. This Natalie was in her element.

Emma let out a most decidedly unladylike snort and they all grinned. “She’s hungry,” Teddy chuckled. “Victoire’s on the sofa. Can you take her over?”

“Yeah,” Nat said breathlessly and walked out. Al followed her, almost like he couldn’t help himself.

Teddy turned to Ginny and they both wore the same amazed grin. “You saw that?” Ginny asked softly, even though she didn’t need to.

“Yeah… he’s completely gone over her!” Teddy said softly, not wanting them to hear what they were saying. “I mean… I guess I knew at his age too, or maybe a little older, but wow!”

“He has no idea he’s in love,” Ginny said. “You were the same way at first. I knew when you fell for Victoire, but you took a few months to come to it.”

Teddy studied her curiously. “You always know everything.”

“Well, not everything,” Ginny retorted mildly considering an idea that sprang to mind. “I think that after Emma is done nursing it will be time for Uncle Al to hold her.”

Comprehension dawned on his face and his lips twitched. “You are my hero,” he assured her.

Ginny laughed and hugged him hard. “You’re not too shabby yourself. You gave me that beautiful granddaughter.”

Teddy kept his arms around her, his head resting on hers. “I always wanted my mum.”

“I know,” Ginny said with an ache. “I wanted you to have her, too.”

“But,” Teddy went on. “Since I couldn’t have her I’m really glad I have you. I always knew that you loved me and you’d always be there for me.”

“Oh Teddy,” Ginny’s eyes filled as she squeezed. “You’re going to make me cry.”

Laughing, Teddy let go. “Don’t cry! Harry will beat me senseless if I make you cry.”

“It’s a good kind of crying,” she promised.

“You always understood me,” Teddy told her, looking into her eyes. “I didn’t ever have to explain because I knew you’d get it.”

Ginny smiled at him and felt her love for this, the child of her heart and not her body. “I’ve known you and loved you since you were tiny.”

“I didn’t really understand before,” Teddy said carefully and she watched the apprehension fill his face. She knew what he was going to say and decided to just let him say it, knowing he needed to. “I didn’t understand how much pain you must have been in when you lost Hope and there I was… this baby to remind you of what you lost. You loved me anyway.”

“No,” Ginny said shaking her head. “You don’t understand. You were a big part of what kept me living and moving forward.” She reached up and cupped his chin. “You already had a place in my heart before I lost Hope and her place there has never been filled, but I had you to hold when things got rough. I had your smile when all I wanted to do was cry. You gave me joy when I didn’t think I’d ever have it again.”

A tear fell down his cheek and he hugged her again. “You’ve been the best mum I could have asked for.”

“Your own would have been better,” Ginny promised. “But I am honored to stand in this place for her. Now let’s go see what Natalie does when Al holds Emma.”

Teddy chuckled and the two walked off to join the others. Nat was chatting with Victoire as the baby nursed, while Al stood off to the side, looking anywhere but at his cousin. Ginny saw that his face was nearly as red as her hair. She walked over, took his arm and turned him around. “Al, this is how babies eat. This is how you ate. In fact, you never wanted to stop nursing.”

“Mum…” Al was barely audible, his fifteen-year-olds’ embarrassment shown on every inch of his face.

Victoire smiled at him. “It’s okay, Al. I changed your nappy so this can’t be too much worse.”

“Oh Merlin,” Al moaned and tried to turn away. “Please kill me.”

They all laughed and a reluctant smile broke over his face.

As soon as Emma finished, Ginny went to pick her up. She took the baby over to Al and was pleased to see that her co-conspirator had already draped a rag over Al’s shoulder while he looked on in confusion. “Time to burp your niece, Uncle Al.”

“Uh,” Al tried to evade as she handed Emma too him, and helped his position his hands correctly.

“Pat her back gently,” Ginny instructed and she stepped back and looked over to see Nat’s reaction.

Victoire was looking between them, a little confused but when she too looked at Nat she saw it. They all saw it. Nat couldn’t take her eyes from him. Al looked up helplessly at them as Emma started to wiggle in discomfort and Nat stood and walked over, putting a hand also on the baby’s back. “Shh,” she crooned and Al handed her off. They watched and Nat put the baby over her shoulder and patted until the burp came that helped Emma feel better. Nat grinned at Al and handed her back. “Come on, Al. If I can do this, you can.”

She helped Al cradle her in his arms and finally his features relaxed and he grinned down at her. “She’s pretty cute.”

Teddy laughed. “Too right she is.”

Ginny looked at Victoire and saw that her niece understood completely what they’d just witnessed.

It wasn’t every day that you saw two people fall in love.

Moments later Harry and Lily came in from out back. Harry’s face lit up as he walked over to Al and Emma. “Hey!” He said, bending to kiss her soft blonde head. “There’s my baby girl! I didn’t know you guys were here already,” he said turning to Victoire and Teddy.

“I thought I was your baby girl,” Lily laughed as she came over and deftly snatched Emma from Al. She kissed her niece and grinned down at the baby cradled in her arms. “You replaced me,” she cooed at the baby who could barely stay awake for this exchange.

Harry put his arms around Lily’s shoulders and kissed the top of her head. “You will always be my baby girl. Now hand her over to Grandpa.”

Ginny watched her husband take the baby into his arms and gazed down at her with such love that she could have happily turned into goo on the sitting room floor. Harry was so obviously smitten with Emma. It was going to be just like Lily all over again. Emma was going to have Grandpa wrapped around her little finger.

Ginny walked over and sat next to Victoire, taking her niece’s hand in hers for a squeeze. “That’s true love.”

Victoire laughed. “She’s got two grandpas that are totally gone over her. I thought Dad and Uncle Harry were going to get into a fight over holding her at dinner last week. Then when you add in Granddad…”

She grinned at the memory. “She’s the first great-grandchild. She’s going to have a lot of spoiling as the first and only; then she’s going to have a lot of competition.”

“Was it hard being the baby?” Victoire asked her, glancing over.

“Like everything there are advantages and disadvantages,” Ginny sighed. “Being the youngest girl was tough.”

“Lily seems to love it,” she said, squeezing her hand as they watched Lily giggling with Nat. Al and James were over talking to Teddy, letting Harry have his moment with Emma. “It doesn’t bother her in the least.”

She nodded, watching her youngest child’s startlingly beautiful face. “She’s so young in some ways, and so carefree. I don’t think I was ever that relaxed about life.”

“You didn’t exactly have an easy life,” Victoire said softly. “Lily doesn’t know about any of that yet, right?”

“Not yet,” Ginny confirmed as she felt the nerves flutter in. She didn’t want Lily to know all of it. “Not the nitty-gritty anyway.”

Victoire squeezed her hand in sympathy. “It will be okay, Aunt Ginny. I think Lily will still have that smile even after she finds out.”

Harry turned to look at her, beaming and she couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s a good thing you had her or I swear he’d be trying to talk me into another one, and I might have let him. We were both starting to itch for grandchildren.”

Victoire was silent for the longest time and Ginny glanced over to see her niece’s face was awash in hesitancy. She watched the younger woman, waiting. “I was so sure that everyone was going to be upset since we weren’t really in the best place to have her.”

Ginny just blinked at her as what she’d said sunk in and had to fight back a laugh, knowing that her niece really needed to hear comforting words. Brown eyes met blue and held. “I was pregnant at sixteen and I wasn’t married. No one was upset about the baby! She was the one thing that was really good in the whole situation. We’re a family that loves and wants new life. When Harry came back from your flat and told me that I was going to be a grandmum I could have flown without a broom. We were both so excited.”

“I know,” she said, sighing contentedly. “I just couldn’t really focus on that with all the hormones.”

“Just wait until the next kid,” Ginny patted her knee consolingly. “You’ll be sleep deprived and hormonal. Teddy won’t know what hit him.”

Victoire groaned. “That’s just what we need.”

“The best laid plans,” Ginny waxed watching her children head towards the kitchen with Harry. “Only one of mine was planned.”

“Really?” Victoire asked curiously. “Which one?”

“Lily,” she told her with a smug grin. “I was still only taking the monthly potion because Al was nowhere near ready to wean. One day I looked at Harry and said ‘I’m not taking the potion next month.’”

Victoire’s smile spread. “What did Uncle Harry say?”

“He just looked at me for a long moment and then said, ‘so we’re having another baby or never having sex again?’” Ginny laughed at the memory and Victoire joined in. “I told him something like ‘pretty much’ and then he tackled me and said, ‘well, let’s have another baby.’”

“What are we laughing at?” James called out as he jogged down the stairs, and then he beamed as he spotted Teddy. “Hey!” he said as he hugged his godbrother.

“Woah, he shot up,” Victoire commented in a low whistle to Ginny as they both saw that James was now slightly taller than Teddy.

“Goodness, that means new trousers, I expect,” Ginny sighed as she squeezed Victoire’s hand. “It goes by so fast.”

“Hey, Emma,” James said with a wide, lopsided grin, as he carefully took her from Harry, rocking slowly back and forth, holding her hand.

“Where did he learn to do that?” Victoire asked quietly in amazement.

“I have no idea,” Ginny admitted as her brows knit.

But her son, bless his changeling heart, absolutely shattered hers with his next words.

“I’m your Uncle Jamie,” he informed the sleeping baby as he raised her up to kiss her chubby cheek. “I love you.”

He whispered it, but she still heard it, and she knew down to her toes that he meant it. He gazed down at the baby in awe and wonder, and her heart simply broke into pieces at her feet.

Her baby boy had been such a prat for so many years, but now… now, when it really mattered, he’d turned into a fine young man.

She was so proud of him and in awe of all the changes he’d made in himself. She didn’t know how he’d managed it, but she was so glad that he had. He really was his father’s son, through and through.
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