Hey, thanx for the reviews and all!

Anyway, let's just say this chapter's gonna be a little awkward. Haha.

Celestial Moon Goddess: yeah, I guess in a way, but she never really saw him like that, you know? I guess she may have in a way, but it's Harry, you know and it will be awkward. You'll have to ask her. Haha.

Sacrifice

"I need to talk to you."

"Okay, what's wrong?" he asked sitting down on the couch. Hermione sat down next to him. Teddy watched them intently and aware of their motions. Hermione inhaled and exhaled heavily again and shut her eyes, trying not to falter. For Teddy. "My Mum and I were talking today and she has a theory. It's actually completely foolproof, but...it requires a lot of sacrifice."

"Theory? Theory for what?" he asked confused.

"A theory for Teddy being safe. So Narcissa won't try to take him again. I-It's quite...awkward." She blushed as she realized she had to say it now. "Mum said that we should get married," she blurted out finally.

Harry's eyebrows slowly raised and disappeared behind his black fringe that was his bangs. "Did she?" was his answer.

"Yeah," she answered nervously avoiding his eyes, looking at Teddy. "I-It makes sense, though. She said that our powers-magic-were very, well...powerful already and if we bond, we could share our magic and become even more powerful. She said that no one would mess with us or want to take Teddy again. He would be safe...completely."

She waited for his response eagerly.

After a few minutes, he gave her one. "It seems very foolproof. Are we to take it seriously, though?"

"She was very serious about it."

"But why have you been avoiding me?" he asked. "It doesn't make sense."

She bit her lip and answered, "I guess I was just being a stupid schoolgirl, nervous about talking to you about this."

"You're not stupid," he protested with a smile and a chuckle. He could not believe she was thinking that she, off all people, was thinking she was stupid.

She looked at him and smiled, blushing. "Thanks." She looked back at Teddy, who yawned cutely, making the noises as well. "Any,way, it was just a suggestion. A theory. I'm going to go put him to bed. Goodnight, Harry." She stood and picked Teddy up in her arms. Harry said goodnight to Teddy and his best friend.

Bringing him up the stairs was when Hermione decided to exhaled heavily again, almost breaking down, glad to get that over with. Teddy stared at her curiously. "What, Teddy? Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked him.

He giggled and yawned again, getting sleepy. He snuggled more into her shoulder, keeping warm against the cold air that was the winter.

After she put him down, she went into her bedroom and got ready for bed, not aware that her night was going to be spent tossing and turning.

It is to say that Harry blamed Hermione. He blamed her for the sleepless night he was having. He checked his clock on his bedside table which flashed 1:37 am. He groaned and turned over onto his back, putting his hands behind his head. Why did Hermione have to say that right before they went to sleep? Marry Hermione? That was just nuts! Hermione was his best friend. She was the one who he confided in. She chased away his nightmares. She was there for him no matter what. She was the mother of his adopted child. Their child.

Now, her mother wanted them to marry. To protect their son.

Very...logical.

Yet, argumental.

He made up his mind.

The next few days passed in a blur. Harry spent some time with Ron and Draco as they were a little lonely as their girlfriends went back to Hogwarts for their final year. The three men went to a Quidditch game and even brought Jacob Granger with them. Muggles, of course, were not allowed, but they had explained to the ticket master that he was the father of a Muggleborn and he let him through. Jacob had asked him about Hermione and Teddy, which he replied to that they were fine.

December came and so did Teddy's first birthday. Harry and Hermione threw him a party, inviting the Weaselys, the Grangers, Luna, and Angelina. Luna and Ginny had Flooed from Hogwarts for the weekend. They were Seventh Years, so it was allowed.

Teddy was especially happy for this joyous occasion.

This was when the...occurrences started to happen.

It turned out that Teddy was a werewolf, just like his father was. It started when Harry and Hermione were sleeping and they woke up to a loud cry. Usually, Teddy would never cry in the middle of the night, unless it was a nightmare. It was very unusual. The two young parents rolled out of their beds and rushed to the nursery to get their son. However, what they found shocked them.

Brown fur was beginning to grow on the toddler's normally peach body and he was on his hands and knees. When the two stormed in, Teddy looked up at them with big, green eyes and he said, "Uh-oh."

"Oh, Teddy..." Hermione gasped and rushed to him.

His body started to change. His limbs began to morph and the toddler cried out again in pain. Tears formed in Hermione's eyes as she watched the little boy in pain, but there was nothing she could do.

Suddenly, his face changed and his ears grew and a long nose formed. Teddy began to whimper and squeak, which turned into a small howl. "Shhh," Hermione soothed scratching behind his ears. Soon, a full baby wolf cub body had succumbed the baby Teddy inside. His clothes and diaper lay next to him. Teddy began to panic, not knowing what he was anymore. He rubbed the top of his head against her hand and began to shake, frightened. "Shh, it's okay, buddy, its okay." The wolf cub started to walk but stumbled a bit. He looked up at Hermione with his eyes and whimpered again. Hermione smiled and picked him up, cuddling him close to her neck for warmth. He nuzzled her neck and tried to keep warm. Harry walked up next to her and stroked his godson's fur. "Hey, Teddy." He licked his hand.

He met Hermione's eyes and they smiled at each other. "What do we do?" he asked.

"We play with him," was her answer. "Show him that nothing changes when he's like this. He's shaking and very frightened." She put him on the ground and sat down with her legs spread wide. Harry sat across from her. Teddy immediately crawled to Hermione's lap and laid his head down, whimpering again.

"It's okay, Teddy. It's okay. You're just changing. You're still the same Teddy. And I'm still the same 'Mione." She kissed the top of his head.

"Hey, Teddy, look what I have," came Harry's voice. Teddy looked up and saw his godfather with his red, rubber ball. "You want it?" Teddy's tail started wagging back and forth. He shot up and gazed at the blazing object. Harry rolled it across the room and Teddy took off after it. Harry and Hermione grinned at his little legs running. He surpassed the ball and looked around for it, but then he turned and saw it. Running to it, he pawed at the ball and it rolled back to Harry.

They continued to play with him until he tired out and fell asleep in Hermione's arms.

The next morning, Hermione woke up to a naked, human Teddy Lupin on her chest. She got confused as to why he was there, but then remembered what had happened. She picked up the sleeping boy gently and dressed him in a new diaper and fresh pair of clothes. In that time, Teddy woke up and smiled at her, yawning cutely. "Good morning, baby boy. Did you sleep well?"

She heard a noise behind her and turned, seeing Harry look at her confusedly and tiredly, as he just had woken up. Then his face softened as he realized what had happened.

"We need to monitor when full moons are now," she said reminding him. She had Teddy in her arms.

He nodded and stood up for the day.

Christmas time came soon and Harry went out to get a tree. He came back with a seven-foot-tall tree. Hermione grinned at it. "Harry, you did good."

"Thanks, I had to nearly knock this old man over to get it," he joked and Hermione playfully swatted his arm.

They spent all day putting lights on the Christmas tree and Harry lifted Teddy so that he could put the angel on the top of it. He clapped when he did. Hermione knitted Teddy a stocking that had a baby wolf cub on it and on the rim, it spelled out "Teddy" in beautiful, gold, cursive lettering.

For Christmas, the Weaselys and the Grangers came over to Potter Manor to celebrate with the young family. Draco Malfoy had came. He was still sort of nervous being around a...well, a family. His mother and father usually chose to ignore him and they never had good Christmases. It seemed that the Weaselys finally realized that he was not going to hurt anyone, especially Ginny, and welcomed him into the family. Harry and Hermione could see how in love the two were.

Egg nog, hot chocolate, and cookies were served after the giant turkey for lunch. After lunch, came the presents. Harry and Hermione each got a knitted sweater from Mrs. Weasely with gold "H"s on them. However, Harry's was emerald-green, while Hermione's was a lavender color.

Teddy was the one who had gotten the most presents. Although, Teddy Lupin was the kind of baby who found the boxes the presents came in more interesting than the toys. Twice he had gotten into a box and just sat there. Harry had grabbed the box and pushed him around in it. "Wheee!" Harry said playfully as Teddy laughed from his gut. Everyone saw what Harry was doing and laughed as the new father played with his son.

Harry was getting nervous. Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Granger had looked at him all night with various smiles on their faces. Harry was so happy for their approval. He had told them that he was going to do it tonight and were very happy that they were going to witness it. Harry was nervous as he was going to do it in front of everyone he knew. He looked at his best friend and smiled. She was playing "Peek-a-Boo" with Teddy. She was so beautiful in her black dress and her hair in slight ringlets. She looked back at him and smiled back.

Teddy looked at who his godmother was looking at and grinned at his godfather. "Da!" he cried calling for him. However, no one noticed he was actually trying to say "Dad!"; they just assumed it was more baby talk.

Harry inhaled a deep breath. It was time. Time to ask her. He exhaled heavily and closed his eyes for a moment and stuck his hand in his pocket to feel it; before walking over to her. "Hermione?"

She looked up at him curiously. "Hey, Harry."

"Can I ask you something?" he asked her scratching the back of his head. Charlotte and Jacob looked on intently, smiling as it was time.

"Sure," she replied standing up from the floor and following him to the doorframe. She was confused of why he was acting this way. He never asked her if he could ask a question. He never led her to the doorframe to ask her, unless it was secret. Charlotte had picked up the little boy and held him as he watched his godparents walk away.

Harry just stood there, not saying anything. He looked around nervously, making Hermione a bit worried. "Harry, are you okay?"

"Yeah, just a little nervous," he replied, fully aware that everyone was looking at them. "Erm, Hermione, I know you think that it is a big sacrifice to do this, but I do not want anyone taking him away. You've been my best friend ever since we were eleven. You've always been there for me." He paused for a moment.

Hermione was getting confused. 'What was he doing exactly?' "Harry, what are you saying?"

"Well, what I'm basically asking is, well..." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the velvet box and got to one knee. Everyone gasped as they knew what Harry was going to do. Hermione's eyes widened. She knew she had suggested that they should get married, but she did not know he would actually go for it. "...Hermione Granger, will you marry me?" He opened the box and held out a beautiful, diamond ring to her.

It was a while before Hermione answered, "Yes."

TBC...

Well, after a while, there's chapter 4! It's not as good as my other stories. I tried to make it a mystery of what he was going to ask her, but that went down the drain. Haha. Sorry it was so short.

Anyway, pleez review!

DREWHHR