At the Beginning With You [Harmione]

13. Professor Potter's Secret Tryst

Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river
I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey

I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you

- 'At the Beginning' by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis from the movie Anastasia

❾¾ ❾¾❾¾❾¾ ❾¾❾¾❾¾

"Harry, you know what I've been thinking?" Harry closed his book and looked up at Hermione. He was surprised to hear her say something to him, the past couple of days they hadn't hardly said a word to each other, ever since their conversation a few days prior.

"What's that?"

"Well, I think we should take Teddy to see Andromeda. I think she'd really like to see him, it's been a while."

"Yeah, you're right. We should take him to see her."

"Would next weekend work? We can stay at Grimmauld Place again, that way Teddy can get used to his real home, not this home away from home that we spend the most time at." Harry nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, we can do that next weekend." Then the awkward silence fell between them again, and Harry went back to reading, Hermione went back to lesson planning. Every time they were together since last week, awkward silences seemed to follow. Harry tried not to let it get awkward, but it really couldn't be helped. The awkward silence only lasted for a little while, for Teddy was on the move and crawled over to Harry and pulled himself up to stand next to him, holding onto the couch. Harry didn't really pay attention to him, he just kept reading, his mind on other things. But his mind instantly forgot all about his issues and the book he was trying to read when he heard something he hadn't heard before.

"Dad," a little voice said.

Harry's jaw dropped and he looked in shock at Teddy. It had caught Hermione's attention too for Harry heard her close her books.

"Oh my gosh, he said it." Harry looked up at Hermione, still a little in shock.

"You knew that'd be his first word?"

"Well, I've been trying to get him to say it for a while. You never decided what you wanted him to call you, so I've been trying to get him to say dad. I know you're not his real father, but, you're going to be the closest thing to a father that he'll ever have. But if you don't feel comfortable with it, we can get him to call you Harry."

Harry set his book aside and pulled the child up onto his lap. Teddy smiled and grabbed at his glasses. Harry leaned his head back and grabbed Teddy's hand and told him 'no'. He smiled wryly.

"I suppose he could call me dad. But who knows, when he's older he might not want to call me that."

"Well, that's when he's older. He can make that decision when the time comes. I hope you aren't angry with me for teaching him this."

"No, I'm not," Harry said, smiling at Hermione, the first real smile he'd smiled at her since dinner the last week.

"Dad," Teddy said again and clapped his hands as his hair turned orange.

❾¾ ❾¾❾¾❾¾ ❾¾❾¾❾¾

The next week passed by will little excitement. Now that Teddy had learned his first word, he wouldn't stop saying it. On Saturday, when Harry, Hermione and Teddy were going to Andromeda's and Teddy was just babbling away, saying 'dad' over and over again, Hermione smiled at Harry and said, "I suppose now you're probably angry with me for teaching him that word, since he hasn't been quiet since."