Who: Ginny Weasley Potter, Teddy Lupin, and party guests When: Evening, 30 May Where: Potter farm, Snowdonia What: The continuation of a birthday party As the sun began to sink below the horizon, Ginny and Teddy -- with the help of a few trusted friends and family members -- directed their party guests toward the unlit bonfire. Once everyone was comfortably settled, Ginny stepped forward. "I wanted to thank you all for joining us to celebrate Margaux's and Teddy's birthdays," she said. "I know several of you have been eyeing the birthday cakes, and a certain birthday girl and boy have been eyeing the piles of presents -- I promise, we'll be getting to those in just a few minutes -- but first, we wanted to say a few words about eleventh birthdays. And about family." Ginny held out her hand, and Teddy came to stand beside her. He was barely half a head shorter than she was, and his limbs had taken on some of the gangliness of early adolescence, though his face still retained much of its childhood roundness. He smiled up at Ginny, who returned the smile fondly before turning back to the gathered guests. "As most of you know," she continued, "it's at the age of eleven that a wizard traditionally begins his magical education in earnest. So I thought we should mark the occasion with a special gift symbolic of this new phase of life, in the presence of our wizarding family gathered here tonight, as well as those who are still with us in spirit." The last word caught in her throat just a bit, but she covered by fumbling around in her pocket for something: a long, narrow box wrapped with a ribbon striped red and gold and blue and green, which she offered to Teddy. He carefully pulled off the ribbon, opened the box, and withdrew a rowan wand. "It was your mother's," Ginny said with a faint but audible quaver in her voice. "We'll get you a proper one of your very own eventually, but I thought this one would be good to start with." Teddy looked up at her with shining eyes. "Thank you, Auntie Gin," he said, and then threw his arms around her in a warm hug. "Welcome, Bear." She kissed his bubblegum-pink hair and returned the hug. They stood like that for a long moment, and then murmurred a few quiet words to each other; Teddy seemed to be asking something, to which Ginny nodded and took a half-step back. Clearing his throat, Teddy turned to face the party guests. He held himself a bit awkwardly, clearly unused to addressing a whole crowd of people all staring at him. But his voice rang out confidently as he said, "I know it makes Aunt Ginny sad that I have lost so many people in my family. It makes me sad, too, sometimes -- some of them I loved very much and still miss terribly; others I miss in a different way, because I missed the chance to know them. "But Aunt Ginny has shown me that family is about more than just who we're related to by blood. And so I just wanted to say... even if we don't always agree on things, even if we are sometimes cross with one another" -- his eyes flicked involuntarily to several of his uncles -- "that I am glad you are all part of the wizarding family -- my wizarding family -- and I am glad you've come to share my and Margaux's birthdays with us. So... thank you." He smiled, a bit shyly, and turned to look at Ginny, who beamed at him, though her eyes sparkled with unshed tears. The two of them exchanged a few more quiet words, and Ginny withdrew her own wand, moving it in small motions as if demonstrating something for Teddy. After a moment he nodded, and then she nodded, and the two of them moved in unison, flourishing their wands toward the pile of wood behind them. "Incendio!" they said together. A spray of pinkish sparks shot from Teddy's wand and touched the edge of the woodpile, where they coaxed up a couple of small flames. Meanwhile, the gout of flame from Ginny's wand set the center of the bonfire quickly ablaze. With a flick of her wrist, she directed a spark from the fire to light the eleven pillar candles that stood in a semicircle behind the bonfire. As the spark touched each candle in turn, the name etched into each one began to glow with a clear, white light: Ted Tonks Andromeda Tonks Nymphadora Tonks Remus Lupin Sirius Black James Potter Lilly Potter Harry Potter Ron Weasley Fred Weasley Arthur Weasley Ginny slid an arm around Teddy's shoulders. She was no longer bothering to stop the tears from sliding down her face, though her voice was clear. "Love you, Bear." "Love you, too, Auntie Gin." The comfortable lull that followed, filled only with the crackling of the fire, seemed to invite other words of love and encouragement from any who felt moved to share.