It was silent in the Burrow, and nearly twenty people sat hidden behind furniture or under concealment spells, waiting with bated breath for the sound of a knock on the door. At last, it came, and Molly Weasley's voice rang out in reply: "Come in, dear, we're in the kitchen!" A lie.

The door creaked open, and then came the telltale scuffle of a child dragging his feet while he walked. It was time. The leader mouthed one, two, three and everyone jumped out of hiding.

"Surprise!"

Teddy Lupin's hair flashed yellow, then green, before settling down to its usual blue. At five years old, he wasn't a particularly nervous child, but he'd never had a surprise party before. After the first second of shock, though, he broke into a wide grin - his dad had told him about a cake, but he had not told him about the streamers, or that his aunts and uncles were going to be there, and all the different snacks!

From her corner of the living room, Hermione Granger smirked. She was fairly sure that Remus hadn't realized the full extent of the party planning - Molly did have a tendency to get carried away, especially now that all of her own children were out of the house. She had pounced on the opportunity to help plan Teddy's birthday over a month before, after a Burrow Sunday dinner, while Teddy slept soundly on his daddy's lap..

"Remus, darling," Molly had said, accepting a second pour of wine from her husband, "you should have his birthday here. Your flat wouldn't fit all of the family, and it would be so much easier to surprise him here anyways - not to mention you deserve a bit of rest, let someone else plan this!" She was motioning with both hands, and her wine kept coming very close to sloshing out and onto her clothes, and Hermione had had to bite back a smile when she noticed Remus eyeing the glass as well. "This house is too quiet nowadays," Molly had added, "and I do miss having children around."

Not heartless enough to argue against something like that, Remus had relented, and so Teddy's birthday party became a Weasley affair.

Hermione kept an eye on Remus and Teddy for the first bit of the party, watching for signs of anything going awry. They both seemed to be doing well, and she wasn't particularly worried about Teddy, but Remus didn't have an ideal track record with Teddy's birthdays.

She was happy to see that Remus was doing better than in years past, although it didn't stop her from worrying entirely. He was a bit more reserved than usual, she noted, but he was clearly making an effort to be present and excited for Teddy's big day. No one could blame him for being less than one hundred percent enthusiastic - Tonks was gone, after all. It had to be hard to celebrate the birth of your child when it still led to grieving his mother.

Teddy's first birthday party had been held in Grimmauld Place, which Harry had gutted, redone, and gifted to Remus after the war. She knew that Remus had felt, at the time, like it was a pointless act of charity; she knew that he was still grieving Tonks something horrible; she knew that he was troubled. Teddy had been young then, without his own personality, and it had been all too easy for him to project Tonks onto Teddy. At Teddy's first birthday, the little baby had turned his hair pink for a moment, the same pink as Hermione's sweater. Remus's eyes had widened, and he had excused himself brusquely.

She'd stripped off her sweater, tossed it onto a chair, and chased him down. He was in the first floor bathroom, huddled and crying. She'd stroked his back and let him have it out, whispering to him that it would be okay, she promised, even if it wasn't now. He told her he was supposed to see a Healer, but that he stopped going, and she asked him to promise her that he would go.

Teddy's second birthday was a similar affair, except that what set him off was Teddy changing his nose to a pig's snout. He hadn't broken down in the bathroom, but he had gone to the kitchen. She was pleased that when she went to him a few minutes later, he was drinking ice water and nothing stronger. He said that he was seeing a Healer, but that sometimes it was still hard.

Teddy's third birthday had gone smoothly enough, although Remus's eyes had been red-rimmed and his cheeks puffy. Hermione had been out of the country for work for his fourth.

Today, Remus seemed fine. He was talking with Arthur as though it were the most natural place to be in the world. She had honestly expected a certain level of depression, or at least of grief, but it appeared that almost-five years was far enough removed to have a family event without Tonks without a full breakdown. Hermione was almost surprised by his strength - she wondered if she would be functioning so well, in his shoes - but reminded herself that he had already been living with the horrible hand dealt him by life. Being bitten by Greyback, suffering James and Lily's deaths, Sirius being locked away, being betrayed by Peter, Sirius dying, his wife dying…

She genuinely believed that if it weren't for Teddy, Remus wouldn't have stayed alive very long after the war; she was eternally grateful for that little boy. The love was clear in Remus's eyes, just then, as he played with his son, crawling around on the floor and making strange noises.

She was jolted out of her thoughts when George leaned against her, draping an arm over her shoulder. "How was the date?"

Of course. Ginny and George had made it their shared mission to set Hermione up with the love of her life. How, exactly, any of the men she'd been pushed toward were supposed to fill that role, she wasn't sure. "He said Tolstoy was purple, it's like you're not even trying anymore."

George grimaced. "We were just happy to find someone who likes books, Hermione."

She shoved his arm off her shoulder and turned to him with crossed arms. "Yes, well, after Ginny managed to set me up with a man who literally runs a club dedicated to banning books from children's libraries-"

"How many times do I have to apologize for that?" Ginny had found her way over, and she wasn't looking particularly apologetic. "How'd it go with Matthew?" At Hermione's answering glare, Ginny smirked. "If you don't want to end up a lonely cat lady, you might want to lower your standards."

Hermione sniffed. "I'm quite comfortable growing up to be a lonely cat lady, if he's the alternative."

Teddy raced over and wrapped his arms around her legs too quickly for her to realize it was happening. "You can't turn into a cat, Aunt Hermy! Cats don't ever wanna play!" he whined.

While she tried to assure Teddy that she wasn't planning on turning into a cat (never again), Remus joined them. The corner was becoming a bit crowded, really. He nodded at Hermione before turning to Ginny and George: "They're trying to get a match going outside, do either of you want to join?"

The two readily agreed and went racing away to get their brooms from the shed. Hermione smiled knowingly. "Would you like me to keep an eye on Teddy while you play?"

"That would be great," Remus said, relieved at not having to ask.

The game began with a sharp whistle from Percy Weasley, who was acting as referee. Teddy and Hermione giggled together as first one, then two of his brothers made a game of flying behind him and tapping his shoulder, then zooming away, all while he was making a stink about the rules. "As though they haven't all heard the house rules a thousand times before," she admonished. Teddy nodded sagely.

Only a few minutes into the game, Teddy told Hermione that his tummy was full. "Do you feel like you'll be sick?" Hermione asked, ready to move him into the house.

"I don't know. I don't think so." Teddy shrugged. "I think I ate too much. But it doesn't hurt, it just feels funny, and Daddy says sometimes a funny tummy feeling can be okay."

Hermione blinked. "What?" Not a parenting strategy she'd heard yet, and not one she'd expect from Remus.

Teddy leaned in close and put his mouth to her ear like he was telling a secret. "Like when you see a girl at school that you have a crush on," Teddy whispered, "and it makes your tummy feel all wobbly. Daddy says it happens to him, too, and it's okay."

Hermione felt a spark of mischief and bit her lip, wondering if she should ask. "Oh, really?" She gave Teddy a small smile, letting him know it was okay to answer. "And just who is it that makes your daddy's tummy go wobbly?"

He looked at her like this was the most obvious thing in the world. "You, Aunt Hermy."

She felt her face go hot immediately. Not where she thought that had been going, not at all. "Are you, er, are you sure, Teddy?" This was not what she had meant to happen. Not that she minded. Just - well, not what she'd expected.

Teddy flopped back onto the grass. "Oh yeah, he told me when I asked him why my tummy felt all weird when I had to hold hands with Greta on our field trip."

Unsure of how to respond to that, she changed the subject to the easiest thing possible: did he think his daddy's team would win, or did he think Aunt Ginny's team would win? They spent the remainder of the match cheering for Remus's team and making up rhymes to cheer.

When the match was over - when Ginny's team had well and lost, in some sort of odd stroke of bad luck - Remus jogged over to grab Teddy from her, and Hermione excused herself to get a drink. She could tell she had come across as flustered, and she didn't know what to do. She hid in the kitchen, breathing deeply and steeling herself for the inevitable. It had to be less than two minutes before he entered the kitchen and asked her what was wrong.

She mentally grasped for the right words. "Do you ever get a funny feeling in your tummy?" she asked, feeling like an absolute idiot. "When you're around me?"

His brows knit together, and then he closed his eyes and sighed. "Teddy." When he opened them again, they were almost piercing. "Listen, Hermione, I don't want you to feel uncomfortable around me, Teddy loves spending time with you, I never was going to bring it up or-"

"Go on a date with me," she blurted.

"What?"

"Let's go out for dinner, sometime this week." Her heart was going to pound out of her chest.

"What?" She was beginning to wonder if this was the only word he'd ever say again.

"You make me feel wobbly too, Remus. And Teddy is a good kid, and you're a good guy, and I find you very attractive-" did she rush that part? Maybe- "and obviously none of these other dates are working out, and-"

"You're quite pretty when you're rambling." She blushed, and he laughed under his breath. "Well, you're always very pretty." She blushed more deeply. There was a childish shriek from the other room, and they broke eye contact to glance over to the kitchen door. "I need to go make sure Teddy isn't causing any trouble. We'll figure out a day and time that work later, though?"

She nodded, and he was out the door. Hermione stood there alone for a moment, her heart still pounding and her mind sure that she had just done the stupidest thing imaginable, that this wasn't going to work out and it was going to ruin her relationship with him, and-

George rounded the corner, and Hermione nearly jumped out of her skin. "Very smooth, Granger," he said, ruffling her hair. "I can tell you really worked on that 'none of these other dates are working out' line, that was good stuff." He leaned against the counter and sipped his pumpkin juice, smirking at her. "I'll have to try that one on my next night out. Hear it does wonders for a wobbly tummy."