Disclaimer: Harry Potter doesn't belong to me.
Warnings: Deathly Hallows spoilers, why are you online reading Harry Potter fictions if you haven't finished the book? Shoo! No pairings.
Godfather
Custody
"According to the wills of the late Mr. Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Lupin, nee Tonks, guardianship of Teddy Remus Lupin will go to his godfather Harry James Potter if his maternal grandparents are unable to give proper care. As Andromeda Tonks has just become a widow as well as childless we the ministry feel that until such emotional traumas are overcome all custody will go to Mr. Potter. Court adjourned."
Harry remained notably silent, with all the sudden changes throughout the wizarding world he'd almost forgotten about little Teddy Lupin. His throat felt dry at the thought, Remus was dead and he was never coming back. The last true Marauder, dead… And Tonks as well, it was difficult to imagine things without her brilliant flare…literally of course.
Though all the same he was glad that the ministry was coming back together, for the better, and freeing all those falsely accused and those under the Imperius curse. He was also doubly pleased to note that Umbridge had been sacked, for good this time. She had been sent off to Azkaban with the rest of the Death Eaters for multiple uses of the Cruciatus Curse, unlawful punishment muggleborns, and willingly cooperating with known Death Eaters during the ministry take-over.
Now that things were cleaned up and organized, Death Eaters were shipped to Azkaban or killed on the spot. The casualties were also being taken care of, burials were organized and all those that suffered at the hands of the ministry were reimbursed and given back their wands. Ministry workers who embraced the take over were also punished severely. Orphaned children were also something to worry about, many muggleborns and 'blood-traitors' were killed along with rebels before the fall of Voldemort, leaving behind children with nowhere to go.
Teddy Lupin was just one of the many.
He was lucky though, before the deaths of the Lupin family, he had been assigned a godfather. Not just any godfather, Harry Potter, the defeater of Voldemort once and for all. Not that Harry liked to take credit for it; it had been luck that he was the one to defeat Malfoy, gaining the rightful title as the master of the Elder Wand. It had also been incredibly lucky that Voldemort had taken his blood in the graveyard; otherwise he would be dead. Well… It was more like he'd been dead for a minute or so, but that was a necessary sacrifice, as one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, however unwilling, he needed to die to rid himself of the foreign piece of soul within him. So really, it was all just good fortune.
When Teddy was dumped into his arms Harry almost dropped him in shock. He looked down at the baby and smiled gently, he was such a cute combination of Remus and Tonks, Remus' facial structure and Tonks' nose, though it was difficult to tell with Tonks because she was always shifting. Right now Teddy had his father's eyes and his hair was turquoise, though it was in the process of changing to sky blue.
"You may leave now Mr. Potter."
Harry looked briefly at the judge and turned to leave the courtroom. Honestly, bringing a baby to court? Though he was loathe to admit it, Andromeda was in no condition to watch over Teddy. She was still sobbing heavily back in the courtroom and Teddy would just remind her of what she lost, her daughter and her husband. Until she had properly mourned her losses she wasn't a suitable parent.
Though this left him to question, what was he going to do with a baby? He'd never babysat, his neighbors back on Privet Drive all thought him an imbalanced criminal, there was no way he ever watched any of their children.
It was certain that he was not going back to Hogwarts, the school not only needed repairs but it held too many memories, Remus and Tonks died there, Fred too, along with Collin and countless others. Some were like Lavender Brown who barely made it out alive, she was covered in various scarring from Fenrir Greyback, at least Bill had company.
He thought he might talk to Mrs. Weasley about how exactly to take care of Teddy but for now he needed a place to live, somewhere nice out in the country with no fans to bother him, and where no one could bother Teddy. The son of Light supporters or not, people still considered him the son of a werewolf and with Greyback's reputation they'd consider him a threat, it didn't matter if Teddy had any wolf characteristics or not.
He again looked down at the baby sadly. At least when Teddy got older he would be able to relate easily to the boy because they had both lost their parents at a young age. They'd get along just fine.
"After all," he mused, "we already have something in common."
LBH: Okay, this won't really be a full fledged story but more of clips of Harry being a godfather and raising Teddy throughout the years. So it's kind of like a series of one-shots. When I read the part when Remus brought out a picture of Teddy I had a sudden image of him going all Hughes from FMA… I can see it now… "Look at my little Teddy! Isn't he adorable, just one smile from him is sure to brighten everyone's day! And look! I have SUMMER pictures! Teddy looks even more adorable in swimming trunks!"