**Note, please read**
Helloo! Welcome to my first ever fic, so I'm sorry in advance for grammar mistakes :). This idea was proposed by tangentqueenofdragons on tumblr, and I asked them if I could write a story out of it, so I did! Please note that I'm not british so I don't know anything about London's fancy parts and whatnot, so bear with my location mistakes! Well, hope you enjoy!
p.s. my tumblr is princessdeera :)
Chapter 1 - Clouded Day, Clouded Mind
The day started off pretty well. It wasn't raining, although the weather wasn't at its best behaviour either. Autumn had just started, and Draco really loved this season. He was wearing black jeans and a cardigan. His hair was combed back, although he knew it would get messed up pretty soon.
You see, after the war ended, Draco spent a lot of time reconsidering his family, until he came to a conclusion that he needed them more than ever. So, he made up with his aunt Andromeda, that had been hated by his mother ever since she married a muggleborn.
After Tonks and Lupin died, Ted, their son, was handed over to Andromeda, who was doing well taking care of a child once more. But Draco had gotten attached to his nephew, and ended up vistiting the two every single weekend.
So that was where he was headed, and that's how he knew his hair gel wouldn't hold his hair back long enough, because as soon as he picked up Teddy, the little boy ruined his hair. Draco smiled at the memory of the last time he saw his nephew.
Draco lived with his parents for a couple of months after the war ended, not being able to handle the nightmares or being alone. It just so happened that he met up with Blaise Zabini, his best friend, after not seeing him for ages and suddenly they decided to move in together. The two lived in a building owned by a wizard in South London that they afforded themselves with their jobs.
The war ended a year and a half ago, but the only schoolmates he'd gotten news from was Blaise and his girlfriend, Pansy Parkinson. He knew Potter visited Ted and Andromeda regularly, but never had the displeasure to encounter him.
Draco picked up a few things before yelling goodbye to Blaise and leaving the apartment. The building they lived in was only for the magic community, so the lobby possessed a floo network branch.
Draco picked up some of the dust on the urn on top of the fireplace, and after stepping in, he yelled the words to Andromeda's adress, which wasn't that far away.
Andromeda lived where she always had. It was a small house in a calm neighbourhood. The front yard was full of flowers, a quite useless fence surrouding it. A cemented path lead to the porch, where the cat, Jinx, slept lazily on a chair, enjoying the early October breeze.
He knocked on the door, but didn't wait for the answer once he heard a stranger's voice inside. Draco pulled out his wand and held it in front of him, opening the creaky door. He walked inside, noticing a man's coat hanging on the coat hanger. Draco quickly reached the kitchen, that smelled of black tea, his favourite.
In the kitchen there were too many people, at least for Draco. Surrounding the wooden table, there were two Ministry employees that Draco recognized from his visits to his father at said building and, to his dismay, Harry Potter. Ted was nowhere to be seen.
"Potter? What are you doing here?" Draco exclaimed, shoving his wand back in his pocket. One of the Ministry workers, a black woman, stood up to shake his hand.
"Hi Draco, I'm Anwen Delaney, and this is Peter Cornell. We work in the Ministry, in the Department of The Child and Teenage Wizard," she spoke, a welsh accent ringing on her voice. "We're here because we have some things to discuss."
"Hold on, where's Aunt Andromeda? And Ted? Why is Potter here?" he rushed.
"Calm down Malfoy, I'm not so pleased to see your ugly face either. Sit down," Harry said, pointing at the chair beside him. Draco wearily sat down, holding his back upright to try to look intimidating.
"So? What happened?" Harry asked, taking a sip of his tea afterwards.
"Well, Andromeda was in a family party, and drank too much. She tried to apparate back home, but got splinched badly. She didn't make it, not even to the hospital," Anwen said, her tone sad.
"WHAT?" Draco yelled, standing up suddenly, making his chair fall back. Harry choked on his drink and before he could regain his senses, he was already in tears.
Draco rubbed the back of his hands against his eyes furiously, trying to hold back the tears. Andromeda had been a second mum to him, and now she was dead. Gone. The thought wouldn't get past him, he couldn't bear another loss, another death.
Harry sobbed quietly, his whole body shaking. Draco thought it was unfair. Potter didn't visit them every weekend. Andromeda wasn't his family, or blood. And suddenly, the thought made Draco angry.
He shuffled to the sink, splashing water on his face to calm down. He took his time, remembering all the good memories he made with the two in that house. Peter and Anwen waited patiently. Surprisingly, he was the first one to regain his senses.
Draco sat back down, pouring tea for himself. The hot drink soothed him, but he was still shaken up, the idea of his aunt being dead still not processed.
That was until he finally realized, what the hell was going to happen to Ted? A million thoughts raced through his head, how was he supposed to take care of the kid, a 19 year old single boy? No judge would allow him to keep a one year old kid!
As if they read his mind, Peter and Anwen exchanged a concerned look. For the first time, Peter spoke up, "We are terribly sorry for your loss, but we have some business to resolve."
"Stop crying, Potter, let's solve this," Draco snickered.
"I'm crying because I'm not a cold-blooded ass like you," the black haired boy answered, wiping his eyes.
"Now, about Ted. Mr. Potter, you are his godfather, and Mr. Malfoy is his cousin. Technically, you both have the same rights of keeping guard of the boy, even more because you are both 19," Peter explained. "But, that's the problem. It will be very hard to convince a judge to give a one year old boy into the hands of one who just left his diapers."
Draco and Harry exchanged competitive looks between each other, as if that would solve anything.
"So, we came up with an idea. Before I say it, understand this this can be one of the only ways you both can keep Ted," Anwen said, visibly trying to hold back a smile.
"Just say it," Draco said, his leg moving up and down continously under the table.
"You two have to fake being a couple," she said, a smile breaking through.
