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‘Remind me again why it is we volunteered for this?’ Ron sat down on the couch with Teddy in his arms, rocking him as Teddy cried and trying to soothe him again while Hermione made up a bottle.

It was late afternoon and Teddy had awakened wet and hungry just a short time ago. A clean diaper was easy enough to manage, especially since Hermione had decided she should do it while Harry and Ron watched so they would know how to change the next one. Wizarding diapers were very simple, they just needed wrapped around the baby and pressed shut with the proper charm, but if they weren’t adjusted snug enough the diaper would fall right off so there was still a bit of a learning curve. Hermione had no problem with it, she had changed a cousin’s baby rather often when she was younger, but she wanted to be sure Ron and Harry knew what they were doing before they tried it. She was quite sure that if Ron failed to get the diaper on Teddy correctly a few times that Ron would try to get her to change the baby from then on and that simply was not going to happen.

Teddy had calmed down from his unhappy fussing once he was dry again, but then Hermione handed him to Harry and went to get Teddy’s bottle and Teddy’s calm had quickly evaporated. Harry had barely gotten Teddy settled into his arms before Teddy began to cry and wail. Harry had tried to calm Teddy for only a few moments before passing him over to Ron and moving away, and sure enough once Harry got away from him Teddy had begun to calm down again.

Now Harry was sitting on one of the chairs about five feet from Ron, trying hard to hide how upset he was. He was starting to think Teddy truly hated him, which hurt quite a lot more than he wanted it to.

‘Because he’s our godson and Charlie hasn’t had a break in well over two months while we were off finishing school, getting married, accepting our Order of Merlin awards, and honeymooning in Hawai’i,’ Hermione replied fairly calmly, waiting for the heating pocket in Teddy’s diaper bag to properly heat up his bottle.

They all had received the Order of Merlin First Class just two days after they were married in a very stuffy ceremony at the Ministry along with large cash awards that were evidently traditional. The Atrium at the Ministry was packed with people for the ceremony, which had ended with the unveiling of a new statue of Harry, Hermione, and Ron holding their wands aloft with many other wizards, house elves, centaurs, giants, and even a few thestrals carved into the pedestal below. The base of the statue declared Harry, Ron, and Hermione Potter to be the Heroic Trio who freed the Wizarding world from evil of Voldemort and his cult of Death Eaters, and then below there had been a listing of all those from the side of the Light who had died in the war. Harry’s family and friends who died had been given a preferred place on the monument just below the feet of the giant Harry statue, the names of his parents and Sirius and Remus and Ginny and so many others he had loved listed there in shining golden letters five inches tall.

The cheering when the statue was unveiled had filled up the huge open Atrium in a deafening roar, but Harry had Apparated away. It had taken Ron and Hermione only a few minutes to find him, neither was surprised Harry had gone to the glade they all loved in the Forest of Dean, and the first thing Harry told them was that he never wanted to see the statue again. It took Ron and Hermione most of an hour to fully distract Harry from it all, and then they had gone to the Burrow where they were expected for supper only to find a party waiting that they had known nothing about. The Weasleys had invited all of their friends on the sly and the whole lot of them had gone in together on a gift: a portkey and use of a beach house on a wizard-owned island off the coast of Kauai.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione hadn’t planned on taking a traditional honeymoon at all, they had too much they wanted to get done before next term, but after the Order of Merlin ceremony Harry wanted to get far away from the Wizarding world for a while and Ron and Hermione had gladly agreed. The house their family and friends reserved for them had been very rustic but there was a private beach included and the weather had been lovely and warm, and Kreacher had gone with them to spoil them rotten while they spent two weeks in paradise. They had all greatly enjoyed themselves and even managed to leave the bedroom most days, spending time on the beach or venturing out to see the sights. They had expected to be mobbed but no one they met had recognized the Heroic Trio, not even people in the Wizarding community on Ni’ihau, and soon they were flitting about the island like tourists when the mood struck, eating strange but delicious meals and enjoying the beautiful scenery. It had been so wonderful that they had already reserved the same house and beach to go back again next year for their anniversary.

‘How long does that thing take to get warm?’ Ron asked, rocking side to side slightly and glad Teddy’s wailing had subsided to quiet sniffling.

‘It’s nearly done,’ Hermione replied, glancing at Ron and then back at the diaper bag. Formula had to be heated up slowly to the right temperature or it would lose some of its nutrients but the tab on the warming pocket finally turned green, making Hermione smile. She took out the bottle to move back towards the couch, shaking it and then testing it on her inner wrist to be sure of the temperature. The diaper bag hadn’t yet made a mistake heating up Teddy’s bottles as far as she knew, but she saw no reason not to be careful anyway.

Ron shifted Teddy, obviously wanting to pass him over to Hermione, but Hermione said firmly, ‘Harry, take Teddy back, please.’

‘But—’ Harry began, but Hermione didn’t let him finish.

‘But nothing, we are going to figure this out,’ Hermione declared, giving Harry a firm look. ‘Now take Teddy from Ron.’

Harry sighed but did as he was told, moving to carefully take Teddy from Ron, but the moment Harry touched Teddy they could all see the change on Teddy’s face. Harry settled Teddy into his arms carefully as Teddy began to cry harder again. ‘He just hates me,’ Harry said quietly as he looked up at Hermione, pained and sad. ‘Any time I even get close, he cries.’

Hermione was frowning slightly as she moved to offer Teddy the bottle but Teddy turned his face away and kept crying, steadily working himself up towards starting to wail. ‘But it makes no sense! He’s fine for Ron and I.’

Teddy let out a wail then, his crying shifting into loud sobbing protests, and Harry tried rocking him to calm him like Ron had done even though he was sure it wouldn’t work.

‘Here now, what’s going on?’ a familiar voice asked suddenly, making them all look up to see Arthur in the doorway looking concerned. ‘Has something happened?’

‘No sir, Teddy just doesn’t like me,’ Harry said, blinking quickly to keep back tears of his own as Teddy wailed again. He had no idea what it was he was doing so wrong but whatever it was, Teddy truly hated it and it made Harry feel horrible every time he upset his adorable little godson. If Harry so much as touched him Teddy would cry, and sometimes he would cry just because he saw Harry approach, and it only seemed to get worse as time went on.

‘Surely that’s not the problem,’ Arthur said firmly, moving closer. ‘Hand him to me, Harry.’

Harry stood with Teddy and quickly crossed the living room to pass him to Arthur, who settled Teddy into his arms with the ease of much practice. ‘It is though,’ Harry said sadly. ‘When I move away he calms down. Watch.’ Harry moved back near Ron again to demonstrate, getting well out of Teddy’s line of sight.

Arthur’s eyebrows rose as Teddy’s wails almost immediately began to subside, murmuring, ‘What is your problem, little one?’ He rocked Teddy gently just as Harry had been doing, and within a few moments Teddy had subsided to quiet sniffling between deep hiccupping breaths. ‘Huh,’ Arthur murmured, frowning as he looked up from Teddy towards Harry and then instantly looking pained as he saw Harry’s face and realized how very upset Harry was by it all.

‘I think it’s his glasses,’ Ron said, frowning as he stood and moved to reach out to Harry, who turned to hide his face against Ron’s shoulder as he clung to Ron. Ron wrapped his arms around Harry to hold him close, looking past Harry at his father as he added, ‘That’s the only real difference between us. I mean, we’re together so much I’m sure we even smell the same.’

‘Yes, it’s not something so simple as scent,’ Hermione said with a sigh, moving to Arthur to offer Teddy the bottle. ‘I’ve tried charming Teddy so he couldn’t smell anything but that didn’t help. And I don’t think it’s the glasses either.’

Teddy latched on to the bottle’s rubber nipple immediately and Arthur shifted to hold Teddy in one arm and the bottle in his other hand, looking pensive and thoughtful as he watched Teddy eat and murmured, ‘No, I shouldn’t think it was the glasses, not with a reaction like that.’ He looked at Hermione after a moment, asking, ‘Has anyone cursed Harry recently?’

‘Of course not,” Hermione said, eyes widening. ‘No one has bothered any of us since the final battle, and that was weeks ago.’

‘Hmm.’ Arthur looked measuringly at Harry, thinking, then asked, ‘Harry, has your magic been erratic at all?’

Harry pulled away from Ron, wiping away a few tears he hadn’t quite managed to keep back and feeling rather devastated as he said softly, ‘Not erratic, exactly, just … different. McGonagall told me last year that my magic is maturing faster than normal and sometimes it will feel odd when I do things because my aura has to adapt.’

Arthur brightened. ‘Well then, I bet that’s it!’ He looked at Hermione, asking, ‘Do you know the charm to reveal a wizard’s aura?’

Hermione shook her head, blushing slightly. ‘Trelawney taught auras and all that in Divination. I didn’t take the course.’

‘Harry and I did,’ Ron pointed out, making Hermione and Arthur both look at them. ‘I remember the aura charm to make it visible, but it never worked too well for me. Harry’s much better at it.’ He looked at Harry.

‘He can’t cast it on himself, Ron,’ Arthur said, turning towards Hermione and giving her a smile as he murmured, ‘Here, you take Teddy, and I’ll see if we can’t get this all sorted out.’

Hermione nodded and accepted Teddy quickly, giving Arthur a grateful smile. ‘Thank you.’

‘Glad to help, dear,’ Arthur murmured, patting her shoulder and then turning towards Harry as he drew his wand. ‘Now then, have you had your aura checked recently, Harry?’

‘Not since fourth year,’ Harry admitted, a little confused and still sad. He doubted it could be anything so simple and silly as his aura, which hadn’t ever seemed to have much to do with how he truly felt back in Divinations. That was why he hadn’t really paid attention when McGonagall told him his aura was changing back in sixth year, he didn’t think it really mattered. Trelawney had constantly announced to the class that Harry’s aura told her he was feeling fragile or sad or pining away for some anonymous girl even when he was having a perfectly good day, or as good as his days had ever been.

‘Let’s see what we’ve got then, shall we?’ Arthur looked questioningly at Harry, who stepped away from Ron with a slight shrug and a nod.

Arthur did a complicated little twirl and swish with his wand and suddenly Harry was surrounded by a muted swirl of light gathered close around him. Arthur frowned, surprised by how dark and muddy Harry’s aura looked, and he murmured something the others didn’t quite catch, making Harry’s aura separate until the chaotic swirl resolved into seven layers of colors. The innermost layer was a soothing whirl of pale purples and greens with streaks of blue, red, and gold through them. The next layer was very similar but a little more vivid, almost glowing jewel-bright shades with even more more green and purple than the innermost layer. The third, fourth, and fifth layers swirled with deeper shades of green, purple, blue, red, and gold that got darker with each layer, looking somehow muted. The sixth layer was very different, mostly a murky brown with only hints of the bright colors seen in the inner layers, and the final layer was in ugly grey-brown tatters with sharp spikes of black seemingly tearing through it out of the sixth layer.

‘There’s the problem, I’d bet my favorite pipe on it,’ Arthur said firmly, pointing at the ugly dark outer layers. ‘Your intuitional and astral layers have been torn and contaminated. No telling how long it's been like that, but don’t worry, I know just how to fix it. Just hold still for me, Harry.’

‘Of course,’ Harry murmured, a bit amazed by the swirled colors around him. He didn’t remember them being nearly so colorful in fourth year, and he wondered what it said about him that they had changed so much.

Arthur gave Harry a quick reassuring smile and then his expression grew serious as he focused on Harry and then began to murmur under his breath, his wand-tip flicking in sharp little movements. He began first on all the spikes of black, slicing them away from Harry’s aura to dissipate as soon as they were free, and then he began to move the wand much more slowly as he closed his eyes and concentrated on the layers of murky brown. The outer layer began to swirl and move, the tattered parts pulling back up into the main mass, and then slowly the layers beneath it began to brighten, clearing away the darkness and the muddy browns.

Hermione bit her lip and watched as Arthur worked on cleansing and repairing Harry’s aura, staying well back because she was holding Teddy. She had never really studied much about auras, she barely knew the basic facts about them, in fact, but she did remember that some sensitive people could see or feel them all the time, which could explain Teddy’s reaction to Harry. Even with her lack of knowledge she knew Harry’s aura was in bad shape just from the look of it, and as she watched Arthur work she decided she would have to get him to teach her quite a lot more about auras or at least point her towards someone who could.

Harry had felt very odd when Arthur began to rip away bits of his astral aura, making him sway on his feet slightly even as he felt a weird sense of relief despite the fact he hadn’t noticed anything wrong to need relieved, and then Arthur began healing his aura and Harry’s eyes went wide. He took a slow shuddering breath as the brown faded away into deep emerald greens and flares of gold and amethyst and vivid sapphire and ruby red, a slowly building sense of well-being spreading through him almost as if he had just had a very large piece of the strongest Honeydukes chocolate and a strong cheering charm. He felt like a huge weight had just been lifted off of him and he found himself looking down to be sure his feet were still on the floor. He felt as if he could float away on a very happy cloud.

‘Wow,’ Harry murmured, looking at Arthur again with a widening smile as Arthur finally lowered his wand.

‘Alright then?’ Arthur asked Harry with a hopeful smile. Harry’s aura was so bright and clear it was dazzling just as Arthur would have expected it to be, so he was sure Harry must feel much better. The deep greens of a healer with ties to nature swirled with the golds of joy and reds of passion, the blues of a particularly intuitive nature swirled with the purples and pinks of a sensitive heart and a deep caring for those around him. It all made perfect sense for the man he knew Harry to be, and Arthur found himself wondering how long Harry had been living with his aura in such a horrible state. It was no wonder it had gotten a bit battered and faded over the last year, but he would have expected someone to have noticed.

‘Better than alright,’ Harry replied instantly, grinning. ‘I feel like I could fly without a broom!’

‘Very good then,’ Arthur said, beaming and feeling very pleased with himself. He gave a flick of his wand to end the spell that made Harry’s aura spread out, watching it contract again into a kaleidoscope of bright jewel-toned shades with green and purple predominant even though there were wide swaths of red, gold, and pink swirled through the other colors. He ended the other charm then and turned to Hermione once Harry’s aura had faded away. ‘Go on then, Hermione. Pass little Teddy over to his godfather so we can see if that was it.’

‘Of course,’ Hermione agreed, smiling as she moved towards Harry. She glanced down at Teddy as she moved, and she was amazed by the way Teddy’s gaze focused on Harry as soon as they were close. She stopped right in front of Harry, beaming at the way Teddy’s eyes were trained on Harry now over his bottle, and then his hair, which had been red since Charlie passed him over to them to head out for an evening with Lee and the twins, suddenly changed to a swirl of bright colors very similar to Harry’s aura.

‘Oh my,’ Arthur said with a laugh. ‘Yes, there can be no doubt that our little Teddy sees auras!’

Hermione took the bottle away from Teddy, who made no protest at all, still gazing raptly at Harry, and she beamed at Harry as she murmured, ‘Go on then, Harry. Take him.’

Harry very carefully shifted Teddy from Hermione’s arm into his own, and Teddy smiled as he reached up towards Harry’s face. Harry impulsively ducked to kiss Teddy’s hand and Teddy let out a little huff as he smiled wider, his eyes suddenly sparkling bright green almost identical to Harry’s shining eyes. ‘Thank you,’ Harry murmured, never looking up from Teddy’s bright, happy face. ‘Just… There are no words for how much.’

‘Glad I could help,’ Arthur said quickly, still beaming and feeling very pleased with himself as he watched Harry with Teddy.

Harry bent his head to kiss Teddy’s forehead softly, earning a soft little cooing noise from Teddy, and then Harry looked up suddenly at Arthur, his eyes too bright despite how blindingly happy he looked. ‘Thanks, Dad.’

‘You’re very welcome,’ Arthur replied, beaming. He laughed slightly, looking at Hermione and Ron and then back at Harry as he said teasingly, ‘Bit of a boost to know that you three still need me.’

‘We’ll always need our Dad,’ Harry replied quickly, grinning at Arthur before he looked back down at Teddy, who was still gazing up at Harry in fascination.

‘Definitely!’ Hermione agreed, beaming at Arthur.

‘Best Dad around,' Ron added with a grin, making Arthur laugh.

‘Especially since I’m the only Dad around at the moment, right, Ron?’ Arthur half-asked teasingly. His watch let out a quiet ding and he pulled it out of his pocket to check it, then muttered, ‘Oh dear.’ He looked back at Harry, Ron, and Hermione, suddenly wry as he said, ‘It seems I’ve forgotten a meeting I was meant to be at right now. Should have known getting off so early was too good to be true.’ He turned to hurry out of the room, heading for the kitchen as he added, ‘I’ll see you all at dinner!’

Hermione giggled as Ron called, ‘We’ll be here!’

Hermione turned back to Harry, watching him gaze into Teddy’s happy eyes for a moment before she reached for Harry’s cheek with her free hand, making Harry look up in surprise. ‘I told you that he would love you,’ she murmured, leaning close to kiss Harry quickly.

Teddy burbled between them as they pulled apart and Harry looked back down at him, smiling happily as he said, ‘I’m glad Dad knew how to fix it. It was starting to bother me a bit.’

Ron snorted. ‘Like your scar bothered you a bit last year.’

‘About like that, yes,’ Harry admitted softly. ‘I was starting to think I wouldn’t be able to be there for Teddy, just like-’ He broke off, pained and sad at the memory of Sirius. Even after two years it still hurt every time he thought about his godfather.

Ron moved to slide an arm around Harry’s shoulders, kissing the top of Harry’s head before he said quietly but very firmly, ‘Teddy will not have to grow up without his godfather. We’re going to help Charlie raise him, you, me, and Hermione, Wizard’s honor. We will make it happen, Harry.’

Harry nodded slightly, still looking down at Teddy, then lifted his head to look at Ron, his green eyes still a little dark with memories. ‘I love you.’

Ron kissed Harry softly and then murmured, ‘Of course you do, you’re smarter than you look.’

Harry snickered slightly, he couldn’t help it. ‘Gee, thanks.’

Hermione swatted Ron’s arm and he gave her an impish little grin. ‘Hey, he laughed! I’m calling that a win.’

Hermione just laughed softly and shook her head, amused even though she felt like she should probably scold Ron more. Harry was smiling again and had been distracted from thinking about Sirius, so it did work the way Ron wanted it to.

Teddy chose then to reach up towards Harry again, carefully closing his fingers on Harry’s shirt and then tugging on it as Harry looked down at him in surprise.

‘Did you think I forgot you?’ Harry murmured, smiling as he shifted Teddy to hold him in just one arm and then lightly tapped Teddy on the nose. Teddy smiled, his eyes sparkling and still the same bright green Harry’s were when he was happy, and after a moment Harry murmured, ‘I’m surprised you’re still awake, you’ve been falling asleep right after you eat.’

Hermione lifted the bottle she was still holding to show it to Harry, amused. ‘That would be because he didn’t finish his dinner.’ She lifted the bottle to rest it against her cheek and then offered it to Harry. ‘It’s still warm enough.’

Harry took the bottle, leaning over Teddy to kiss Hermione lightly before he smiled at her. ‘Thanks.’ He turned away and moved to his favorite of the chairs, sitting down and then showing Teddy the bottle. ‘This what you wanted?’ Teddy’s smile widened a little and Harry smiled wider too as he offered the nipple to Teddy, who latched on happily to finish his dinner, looking up at Harry the whole time.

Ron moved to stand behind Hermione, wrapping his arms around her as they watched Harry and Teddy, both of them smiling. Ron wasn’t sure he was dad material, he felt like he didn’t know nearly enough, but he was very sure that Hermione and Harry would be amazing parents so he figured their kids were going to turn out okay anyway. Hermione knew everything about taking care of babies, Ron suspected she had been studying the subject for years, and there was no way their kids could ever doubt how loved the were around Harry.

Hermione tangled her fingers with Ron’s and leaned back against him, just relaxing and enjoying the chance to finally see Harry and Teddy relax with each other. She had thought all along that once they figured out the problem Harry and Teddy would get on fine, and sure enough she was right. Teddy usually only looked that happy when it was Charlie or Molly that was holding him, but that didn’t surprise Hermione at all.

Hermione had thought for a long time now that Harry would be a wonderful father some day.

~ End