Hey guys! This is my first fanfic (ignoring the ones that I wrote when I was twelve) and I'm hoping you guys like it! It's an idea that I'm really into but I haven't seen a lot of in the fandom, so I decided to write it myself! I can't speak to how often it'll be updated, although I'm hoping every week, but we'll see how that goes. I hope you guys like it!

A little info: it's set in a post-Hogwarts AU world, in which the epilogue didn't happen. Just in case you didn't get that from the description. Also, warning you now, there will not be Drarry in every chapter!

If you like it, please leave a review! If you don't like it (and have constructive criticism), please leave a review! If you like it and you want to beta it, message me! The more reviews I get, the more likely I am to post more often!

Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. On to that good Drarry shit, shall we?

Teddy was coming today.

Harry smiled as he set the table, putting down a turquoise fork next to the high chair. He looked over at the stove, where the last strawberry pancakes were turning golden brown. With a flick of his wand, the pancakes joined the towering stack that was piled high on his largest plate, and he recast the Warming Charm that he had put on them. It wouldn't do to have cold pancakes when Teddy arrived.

Harry had always eagerly awaited these visits from Teddy and Andromeda. It got kind of lonely being a single wizard in the big city of London, and although the women around him were always interested in the romantic life of the Boy-Who-Lived-Turned-Auror, he never held an interest. The Daily Prophet had fortunately stopped speculating on Harry's love life ages ago, only writing a short piece after Ron and Hermione's wedding a few years back. Harry wasn't fussed. Just because he had a glamorous job (sort of. That was debatable, really) didn't mean he wanted a glamorous life. He did get a little jealous of his friends. After his best friends had gotten married, Ginny had proposed to Luna and their wedding had been a few months later. Neville had married right after the war, and so had Dean and Seamus. Now Ron and Hermione had little Rose running around, and Luna was pregnant, and Dean and Seamus had bought a house, and Neville had Hannah, and Harry was just Harry.

So yes, Harry got lonely. But then the doorbell rang, and, without pause, Teddy Lupin burst through the door.

"Uncle Harry Uncle Harry hi hi hi Uncle Harry we're here!" Teddy squealed, hardly taking a breath before vaulting up Harry's chest and wrapping his small body around his head. Harry staggered back with a laugh, hitting the wall and peeling the little boy off as he did so. He gave him a bear hug, Teddy giggling and squirming as Harry turned to Andromeda. She was leaning against the doorframe, watching her grandson's antics. She looked elegant as ever, but tired, the resemblance to her late sister Bellatrix growing more pronounced as she lost sleep.

"Morning, Harry dear." She gracefully approached him and tried to smooth his hair. "How are you?"

"I'm doing well, 'Dromeda," Harry said kindly. "I'm excited for this brunch with an extra special godson of mine!" This was directed towards Teddy, and he was rewarded with an sloppy kiss on the cheek. "How are you?" Back to Andromeda.

"It's alright. I've been missing Ted a lot recently. It was his birthday last week. Oh, don't worry, Harry dear, I'm fine," she said as he attempted to pat her on the shoulder. "It's hard but crying won't change anything. Besides, Teddy hardly gives me any time to worry about it. He's a rascal, that boy, and his magic is strengthening every month. He's just like Nymphadora."

Teddy looked up, made a face at his grandmother, and with a pop, appeared in the sitting room.

"I can see that," Harry laughed. "Do you want me to take him off your hands for a few hours? I'm sure you could use a nap."

"Oh darling, I was hoping you would say that." Andromeda visibly relaxed. "Would you mind taking him for the day? Narcissa invited me out to tea and I haven't seen her in a blue moon."

"Yeah, go! Don't worry about us." Harry looked back at Teddy, who was systematically destroying his living room. Harry grimaced and turned back to Andromeda. "I'll take him to the zoo or something."

"Oh Harry, I can't do that to you! I'll talk to Narcissa and we'll send reinforcements."

Harry shrugged. "Do what you need to. But most importantly, have fun! Don't even think of Teddy and I. Just focus on reconnecting with your sister." At the sight of her dubious face, he put his hand on shoulder for reassurance. "Honestly. Just go."

Andromeda left with a wave, a smile, and a promise of picking Teddy up promptly at 5.

Harry closed the door with a sharp click and turned to the noise in the living room. He pulled his wand out from his back pocket and approached to door to see Teddy, with giant eagle talons, ripping his curtains at the bottom. He whispered, "Reparo," pointing his wand at the wreckage of his couch and side tables, and then waved it at the curtains.

"Teddy… what are you doing?"

Teddy looked up at him with a guilty smile. "Giving your curtains a pretty edge, Uncle Harry?"

Harry suppressed a laugh and gave his godson a stern look before relenting. "Let's go eat some breakfast, huh?"

"Strawberry pancakes?"

"You bet, kiddo."

Harry picked him up for the second time, ruffling Teddy's turquoise hair. He had started to walk out of the room when the fireplace flared green. Floo Powder, Harry thought, as his hand flew to his wand. His mind raced as he tried to imagine people who had access to his fireplace.

It was just Andromeda.

"Harry dear, Cissy said that she would send someone! Just wanted to let you know!" She waved at Teddy. "He'll be here any second!" With that, the flames died and Harry heard a crisp knock at the door. Probably just one of Malfoy Manor's house elves, he thought, and went to open it. Setting a squirming Teddy down as he opened the door, Harry looked up.

Piercing grey eyes, like molten silver, stared back at him. Harry froze, fixated on those eyes.

"Uncle Draco!" Teddy exclaimed and rushed out of Harry's grip, shaking Harry out of his stupor.

Draco Malfoy stood before him, but not as Harry remembered from his school days. His hair was even more platinum than before, and shone in the sun as it hung in his face. His structure was less angular, yet he stood with the the rigidity of a prince. He was decked out like royalty, too, with a plum colored shirt accented with a silver patterned vest that was the same color as those intense, burning eyes.

"Hello Teddy. Potter." Malfoy swept Teddy in his arms with immense grace and then looked at Harry, lip curling. "I see you clean up well."

Harry flushed as he appraised his outfit - maroon Weasley sweater, Muggle jeans and mismatched socks - and felt a powerful flood of emotion. Frustration.

"Who knew the Savior would need someone to save his wardrobe?" Malfoy sneered, and Harry's hand twitched toward his wand in his back pocket.

"At least I don't have to call a house elf to dress myself," Harry shot back, and Malfoy's eyes widened.

"I don't use a house elf to dress myself, Potter. The Manor's closets and my own fashion sense are far sufficient."

"Well, we don't all live in manors, unfortunately."

"Obviously." Malfoy knocked on the old doorframe of Grimmauld Place and chuckled.

Harry ground his teeth. He couldn't pick a fight with Malfoy, not now. Teddy was here, think of Teddy. He held out his arms and his godson leapt into them. Harry shot one last glare at Malfoy - who stood there, confused that the little boy had just abandoned him - and turned around. He had already entered the sitting room before he heard the sharp click of the front door. What a git, he thought to himself. He must've stood there deliberating about whether or not to come in for a good minute.

"It's not booby-trapped," Harry called.

"I wouldn't peg you as intelligent enough to booby trap this place," Malfoy called, faintly. Harry rolled his eyes and kept walking, concentrating on taming the squirming Teddy instead of Malfoy's insults.

He turned and entered the dining room, a rather cosy place ever since Harry had remodeled the house. The buttery yellow of the walls made the spring light seem even warmer, and as Teddy settled into his high chair, his hair turned a light green to match the atmosphere. Every time that Teddy and Andromeda visited, Harry elected to hold brunch in the kitchen as opposed to the dreary dining room.

By the time Malfoy walked into the kitchen, Harry was seated, levitating pancakes in the air (much to the amusement of Teddy) and all three table settings were set with food and maple syrup. Teddy clapped at the sight of his older cousin, and then stuffed his cheeks with pancakes, squealing in delight at the sweet strawberries.

"It's impossible to navigate your house, Potter," Malfoy said hurriedly, but Harry was delighted to see the embarrassed pink tinge that appeared high on Malfoy's cheekbones.

When Harry said nothing, Malfoy ran a hand through his platinum hair and slowly sat down. He picked up his fork and knife and slowly began to cut into the pancakes. Teddy babbled on about some Muggle show that Andromeda had been showing him recently, and Harry responded enthusiastically to everything he said. Some of the things that Teddy mentioned sounded similar to the stuff that Dudley had always watched, and the two of them fell into a rhythm of childish songs and nonsense games. It was a bit more rowdy than it ever got when Andromeda was here, but Harry didn't mind. It was good for him, these long, sunny, brunches with Teddy. It was like imagining what would have happened if he had married some girl, and had kids. Sometimes, he even thought, this is what it would have been like if his dad and mum had raised him. He smiled at the thought as Teddy threw a syrup-covered strawberry at him, hitting him right in the glasses.

"Teddy." Malfoy's voice cut sharply through Harry's sunny fantasies. "That is unbefitting of a Black." Harry snorted in disdain at the sound of the other man's voice, and cast a Scourgify on his glasses.

"Sod off, Malfoy," Harry growled, and Malfoy jerked back in his seat. "He was just having a spot of fun."

"He's acting like a feral pig!"

"Nonsense."

Teddy squealed in delight, and instantly transformed his nose into a pig's snout.

"Besides." Harry's eyes narrowed, and he thought he saw a flare of panic in the grey ones next to him. "He's a Lupin, not a Black."

"Yes. Yes, of course," Malfoy murmured, suddenly submissive.

oOo

The rest of the morning passed uneventfully. Malfoy seemed to have been struck dumb after Harry's outburst, and the combination of Teddy's newfound pig snout and the way that pancakes kept levitating themselves onto the little boy's plate kept Harry busy. When Andromeda finally arrived to pick Teddy up, Harry was sticky and smelled like maple and strawberries. He cast another quick cleaning spell on his clothes as Teddy ran off to greet his aunt, and had turned to join them when he felt a cool hand clench his wrist.

"Wait. Potter." Malfoy's voice was soft and quieter than Harry had ever heard it. "You missed a spot."

He whispered "Scourgify" and suddenly Harry felt an influx of magical energy in the air. As an Auror, he was trained to detect large magical caches like this one. Despite the sheer amount of magical charge he was emitting, the spell that Malfoy had just cast felt like delicate vines rather than the tsunami that his energy suggested. The spell climbed up Harry's arms onto his body, casting off grime as it went. By the time it was done, Harry was fully clean and shaking a bit from the energy around him. Malfoy had swept past him towards his front door, and he could hear him greeting Andromeda. Harry shook his head, as if to clear his thoughts, and went to meet them.

"Ah, Harry dear," Andromeda said as soon as he rounded the corner. "How was it?" Harry heard the worried undertone of Did Teddy give you too much trouble? in her voice, and he hurried to reassure her.

"Oh don't worry 'Dromeda, he was a doll as always." He ruffled Teddy's hair and looked down at the little boy, who looked up at him with an innocent smirk. Harry was startled to see how much he looked like Malfoy in that moment. They were cousins, he supposed.

"Oh yes, well…" Andromeda trailed off, looking at Malfoy, who was looking at Teddy with soft eyes. Since when would I describe anything about Malfoy as soft? Harry thought. Ridiculous. The older woman spoke up again. "Maybe I could help you clean up in the kitchen for a moment. Come along."

She had dragged him into the kitchen swiftly with the grip of a much younger woman before Harry could even speak a word of dissent, and began to cast cleaning spells everywhere. As the soap began to cover the plates and pans that were piled high next to his sink, Andromeda turned to him sharply.

"Was that good for you, Harry dear?"

"Erm, what? What was good?"

"The brunch!" Andromeda exclaimed, one hand on her hip and the other waving excitedly in the air. "This… this whole affair! Was it good?"

"Um. Yes?" He supposed it had gone as well as any of their brunches.

"Good!" She beamed, and squeezed his arm. "Narcissa will be so pleased to hear. She's been wanting Draco to make amends with you so badly, and here is his chance, finally! Not to mention that we haven't caught up in ages, and it'll be nice to do so more often, and with Teddy off my hands…" She trailed off.

Harry had picked up on something that she had said - the words "more often" - and opened his mouth to ask her about it, but she began to talk again.

"I suppose you won't mind if we make this a regularly scheduled thing, darling. We - that is, Cissa and I - just thought it would be so beneficial for all of us!" She smiled wider and looked to Harry sort of anxiously. Harry just looked at her for a moment before he gathered he was being called upon to respond.

"Oh. Yes. You and Narcissa should catch up," he felt himself saying. "And." He had to squeeze the next words out of his throat, as if they didn't want to emerge. "Malfoy and I will take care of Teddy."

"Oh marvelous," she said. And that was that.

She and Teddy swept out of Grimmauld Place quickly, leaving behind quiet salutations and cheek kisses from Andromeda and screaming goodbyes from Teddy.

Malfoy stood in the doorframe, watching them as they Apparated away. Harry approached him from behind as quietly as he could, rewarded when the pale man in front of him jumped as Harry cleared his throat. Finally, his Auror training was coming in handy in his life outside of work.

"Scared, Malfoy?" Harry sneered at him with a smile on his face.

"You wish." Malfoy shot a glare at Harry and turned back toward the door, watching the quiet street in front of them. The two of them stood in silence for several minutes. The only sounds were of their mixed breathing and the faint scrubbing of the dishes in the kitchen.

"Thank you." Harry said finally.

"What?" Malfoy started.

"Well, no need to sound so flabbergasted." Harry chuckled. "I said thank you. For the Cleaning Charm."

"Hmm."

"I'm not very good at that sort of thing. Never have been."

"It's sort of necessary in my profession," Malfoy said, and then shrugged.

"What do you do?"

"Healer."

"Ah. Yes." Harry nodded, not asking why he had chosen it.

"Well, I ought to be going. I guess I'll see you next week, Potter." Malfoy didn't meet his eyes as he stepped out of the house, and Harry caught the same tinge of pink that he had seen earlier on his face.

"Oh, you heard that?" Harry said, and Malfoy nodded. "Yes, I guess I will see you next week."

As Malfoy stepped away, Harry felt a sudden urge to catch his arm, and so he did. Malfoy looked down again, obviously startled, and then looked up at Harry.

"I think… if we're going to be taking care of Teddy so often… we should take care of ourselves first," Harry said firmly. He hardly noticed the flush that spread across the other man's face. "We should make amends," he clarified. "It won't do to be so obsessed with our old rivalry from our school days with Teddy at such an impressionable age."

"Ah. Yes." Malfoy looked up at Harry. "I agree."

With that, he wrenched his arm from Harry's grasp, ran down the steps, and Apparated away.

Harry looked after him, confused, but elected to close the door and retreat inside Grimmauld Place instead of speculating on it any longer.

Did y'all like that? I'm praying so. I almost cried from frustration while I was writing the last bit, I wanted them to kiss so badly. But no, I gotta stretch the tension as much as possible! Ahhhh...

If you liked it, please review!