requested by mionestears — christmas with teddy (although it's not actually christmas, they're just doing christmas-y things. you'll see why later!)

includes:
mom!(y/n) and dad!harry
teddy being adorable
harry being a simp
and ofc extreme fluff
***

Harry sat at the little cafe table watching Teddy draw. He didn't notice the anxious bouncing of his leg as he passed Teddy a blue crayon nor did he notice (Y/N)'s return until Teddy beamed and handed her a strawberry. "Mama, eat!"

Harry looked up just as she slid into her chair. She had two cups of coffee in her hand, passed one to Harry, and then took the strawberry. She smiled as she set her drink down and popped the strawberry in her mouth. With a ruffle of Teddy's pink hair – quite reminiscent of his mother's – she kissed the top of his head and looked at Harry.

Her eyes were wide, happy – beautiful. A look of hers from when they were young. He recalled the great relief he felt the first time he saw it after the war. The moment when he was sure she was still the same woman he'd fallen in love with; that he hadn't lost her.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Brilliant," he said truthfully.

She settled into her chair and brought her cup to her lips. "You look nervous,"

(Y/N) could always read him like a book. He tried to relax – for her sake. He wrapped his fingers around his warm paper cup and let himself lean back in his chair. "I'm fine," he tried to promise her.

She gave him a disbelieving look. "If you say so,"

That was another thing he loved about her: she never pried, even when she knew she was right. Everyone else tried to force his feelings out of him, but she always let him talk when he was ready. She knew to give him time.

"Do you think Teddy'll be warm enough?" she asked. Her eyes were fixed outside on the soft snowfall. Harry knew he should answer, but he was transfixed by the way her hair fell perfectly around her face; how one strand dangled in front of her eyes and how she reached up to tuck it behind her ear.

He had it bad.

"Should be," he managed. He wondered if he'd ever be able to be normal around her. She had this air about her – almost like magic – that made him flustered nearly every time he looked at her. He already left Hogwarts and started his career as an Auror but she still made him feel like that eleven year old boy on the train the day they first met.

"He always takes off his gloves," she said. "And he hates wearing hats,"

"But you've brought his blanket, haven't you? And you've enchanted it?"

It seemed to ease her a bit. "Yeah," she said. "Here, feel," She dug it out of her bag and passed it along to Harry with a proud grin.

The fabric was warm against his fingers, as if it just came out of the drier even though they'd been out for over an hour.

"It's not too warm, is it?" She asked.

Harry smiled. "No, it's perfect,"

"I wanna feel!" Teddy reached forward, grabbing for the blanket. (Y/N) passed it along to him and looked quite pleased when Teddy's face brightened.

She was only nineteen, but she managed motherhood well. Harry was forever in awe of her.

"We should be going soon if we want to see the lights, right?" She turned her gaze to him. "The switch-on event is starting soon."

Harry felt his pulse jump. "Right," he said. He found himself wishing there was still more time to waste.

He cleaned up their table as she gathered Teddy, bundling him up in his coat and the blanket she'd brought. Coffee cups in hand, they stepped out into the snow.

The street was busy, as expected — it was the very first night of the Regent Street lights. He pulled (Y/N) close to his side as they walked. She stared, awestruck at the window displays, at the unlit lights strung above them, at the mass of people all gathered to look at the lights. Teddy reached out to catch snowflakes on his little fingertips – he'd taken off his gloves just as she said he would – and they melted as soon as they touched his skin. His cheeks and nose had already gone pink from the cold.

"How could they possibly get those up there without magic?" (Y/N) wondered aloud.

Then, as if someone had whispered a spell, the lights came on.

Awed gasps echoed all throughout the street and Harry looked up. They stood beneath a shimmering blanket of gold and silver from the Spirits. At the lower end, Harry could see glimmering stars dangling just above the double decker buses at their stops.

Teddy pointed up at the Spirit above them. It looked as though it was about to take flight into the starry night sky. "Daddy, look!"

Harry felt like he was on top of the world.

He looked over at Teddy and (Y/N). Teddy, with rosy cheeks, had the softest little smile as he nestled his head against (Y/N)'s shoulder. He was tired, but still amazed. And (Y/N) – beautiful as ever – stared up with a wondrous look in her eyes as she hugged her godson closer to her. Her hair was sprinkled with white flecks of snow. It was a moment Harry wanted to keep forever.

It reminded him of the pictures he'd see when he was little of happy families. Or those families in the Christmas specials Dudley would watch when they were young. He'd always wanted a family like that of his own. At some point when he was young, he convinced himself they didn't exist. But as he watched (Y/N) and Teddy with the lights twinkling in their eyes, he realized he'd finally gotten a family. One that was completely his own.

Harry felt himself smile.

He thumbed the small velvet box in his pocket, watching (Y/N) grin and point at something further down the street for Teddy to see.

He couldn't bring himself to take it out.

It wasn't the right moment, he told himself. Everything was already perfect, and he wanted to enjoy it for what it was. He knew (Y/N) would still be there tomorrow, and the next day. And he would wait until the moment was exactly right before he would ask.

He took his hand out of his pocket and locked his arm with (Y/N)'s free one. He kissed her temple as he allowed himself to
gaze up once more at the lights above them.

This, he told himself, was bliss.