Forever Family

Chapter 1

Publish Date: 9/18/18

The Burrow was, as always, filled with noise and excitement. And today, it was filled with even more life than usual. Harry cheered with the rest of his family and the other party guests as a now 5 year old Teddy Lupin blew out his candles on his birthday cake.

Teddy giggled as his grandma Andromeda lifted him up off of the chair he was standing on to blow out his candles.

"Happy Birthday, Teddy," she said, kissing him on the cheek. "Why don't you go ask Grandma Molly to cut the cake?" Harry watched fondly as his godson happily ran over to Mrs. Weasley, excited to eat his long awaited birthday cake.

"Hey," said Ginny, coming up behind him. "Wow. He's five already. I can't believe how old he's gotten."

"Careful, Gin, you're starting to sound like your mum," Harry responded, smiling at his fiance's affection toward Teddy.

"Hey! I still have a few good years left before I really start to sound like Mum," Ginny retorted.

"Harry! Come sit by me!" Teddy's bright voice was heard over the din of the Burrow. Harry grinned and ruffled his godson's turquoise hair as he sat down beside him.

"Happy Birthday, Ted," Harry said. Teddy wasn't paying much attention, though, because he had now turned his attention to the large piece of chocolate cake that Mrs. Weasley had cut for him. Teddy had only been eating the cake for a few minutes, but he'd already gotten chocolate and icing smeared all over his hands and mouth.

"Careful, Teddy. We don't want to make a mess in Grandma Molly's house, do we?" Andromeda said, as she helped Teddy wipe the cake off his face and hands. However, the attention was turned from Teddy as the door to the Burrow opened.

"Sorry we're late! Happy birthday, Teddy," said a flustered Hermione as she and Ron entered the room. Hermione had now joined Harry at the table, while Ron went to put his present in the living room and talk to his mother. "Ron insisted we get Teddy 'the very best' for his birthday, but I certainly don't think he needs a gift like this at such a young age," Hermione whispered quietly to him.

"What'd you get him?" Harry asked quietly. He wondered what would spark Hermione's concern.

"You'll have to wait and see when Teddy opens his presents," Hermione responded with a smile. Teddy must have overheard Hermione, because he soon decided that he was done with his cake and he wanted to open his presents now.

Teddy had started to run into the living room, where the rest of their family had put their presents for him. He may have been a little to excited, because he tripped over a toy that was laying on the floor.

"Be careful, Teddy!" Mrs. Weasley had come running over to Teddy, along with Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Andromeda.

"I swear, five years old and he's already as clumsy as his mother," Andromeda remarked, with a fond smile on her face. "Are you ready to open your presents, Teddy?"

"Yes!" Teddy exclaimed, glad that the adults were finally letting him open his presents.

"Open ours first, Ted!" George requested. After Mrs. Weasley had helped Teddy find which present was from George and his wife, Angelina, Teddy opened the gift. Many people smiled at the assortment of Weasley Wizard Wheezes products that came out of the box, including a turquoise Pygmy Puff that matched his hair.

"This one's from your Grandpa and me," Mrs. Weasley smiled as she handed Teddy another gift to open. Teddy grinned as he pulled out a blue knitted blanket with the letters TRL at the top. Ginny snapped a picture as Teddy hugged the blanket close, smiling. The small boy thanked is grandmother with a big smile on his face.

"Here, you can open the one from Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione next," Mrs. Weasley handed Teddy his next present. Harry laughed as Teddy opened a small, but shiny and polished toy broomstick. He could see why his friend wouldn't want Teddy on one of those—Hermione wasn't too fond of brooms herself.

"Thanks, Uncle Ron and Aunt 'Mione!" Teddy said excitedly. He had now pulled another present from the pile.

"That one's from Ginny and I, Teddy," Harry told his godson. Harry couldn't help but smile as the young boy pulled out a stuffed gray wolf. "What do you want to name him, Ted?"

"I'll call him Moony, after my dad," Teddy grinned. Harry smiled and ruffled the boy's hair again.

"I think it's a great name. Your dad would be very happy." After another half hour or so of opening presents, they were finally done. Teddy had gotten a few more presents, including some Honeydukes chocolate from Bill and Fleur, and The Tales of Beedle the Bard  from Percy and his wife, Audrey.

After a few more hours at the Burrow, it was time to head home and go to sleep.

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Harry and Ginny were currently staying at Grimmauld Place. They had done some cleaning, to make it easier to live in, and a bit of changes here and there. Teddy had his own room, because he lived with Andromeda half the time, and with Harry and Ginny half the time. Because Andromeda was getting older, it was getting harder for her to take care of Teddy as much as she used to.

Teddy was exhausted from the party, and was currently half asleep, curled up in Ginny's arms. "Let's bring him upstairs and put him to bed," Ginny whispered. "It's been a long day."

They climbed the stairs, and reached Teddy's room. Harry and Ginny tucked their godson into bed. Teddy stirred as he was being tucked in, but he didn't wake up. Harry smiled down at his sleepy godson, who was curled up in bed, hugging his wolf, Moony, and his new blue blanket.

"G'night, Harry and Ginny," Teddy said sleepily. "I love you." Ginny leaned down and kissed him on the forehead.

"We love you, too."

Author's Note: Hey guys! This is the first chapter of 'Forever Family'! I'm super excited to start writing this book, and I hope you guys are as excited as I am.

This is my first attempt at writing fanfiction, so I would really appreciate some feedback in the comments! Also, how did you feel about the length of this chapter? Was it too long, too short? I don't really have an idea of how long I want the chapters to be yet, but I'd love your opinion. I'm sorry if this chapter was a little boring, but I can promise that it will get more exciting in the future! Hope you all enjoyed! 💛
Words: 1007

Edit (July 11, 2022): To celebrate this story getting 100k reads, I'm going through and correcting every time I misspelled Fleur's name. My apologies to anyone who's read already and had to see it misspelled so often, but there's no need to comment on it - I already know. Thanks for reading, everyone. (Also if anyone knows of a quicker way to correct this other than doing it manually, please let me know!)