Harry could see Malfoy watching him. He had his arms crossed and his shoulders hunched and his eyes glued to Harry as he swung Teddy around by the arms before depositing the blue-haired four-year-old in the snow. Teddy laughed and cried, "Again, Harry!" Harry obliged readily.
Andromeda had sent he and Malfoy out into the garden with Teddy while she caught up with Narcissa. It was an unexpected visit, the Malfoys coming in from Wiltshire, as they had been quite surprised to see Harry at the Tonks household on Christmas morning.
"How've you been?" Harry asked as Teddy ran away and became preoccupied with the fresh snow, and Malfoy startled out of the staring contest he was apparently having with Harry's hat.
"Well, thank you," Malfoy admitted finally. "And you? What brings you to Aunt Andromeda's?"
Harry raised his eyebrows and gestured at Teddy, whose hair was turning white to match the snow. "Teddy's my godson. Andromeda's become a part of my family in the past couple years. I'm actually surprised I haven't run into you before now, out here I mean."
Malfoy nodded, eyes flicking to Harry's hat again before saying, "Right, right. Yes, Mother didn't get around to rebuilding her bridges until a year ago. But we've seen each other around plenty enough. You were wearing that hideous hat the last time I saw you. Diagon Alley with your... now ex-girlfriend, is it?"
Snorting, Harry muttered, "Well, Malfoy, tell us how you really feel. And my hat's not that bad."
"It's purple."
Harry nodded like he would to a simpleton. "Is that why you're staring at it, then?" Harry watched Malfoy's cheeks color, giving him a much healthier glow than he normally wore. It made him look less like he was attending a funeral in his deep green overcoat and black robes and more like he'd been flying round the pitch. He wore a furry hat, though (which Harry would call hideous too, if he cared much for fashion). "Have some deep-seated aversion to purple?" asked Harry.
"Don't be daft, Potter." The retort was half-assed at best.
"Cousin Draco, make a snowman with me?" Teddy asked, tugging at Malfoy's robes. Malfoy followed him to a proper spot obediently, but outdid himself with the snow faeries and woodland creatures he'd conjured out of his wand, making Teddy coo appreciatively.
"Show-off," Harry grumbled, to which Malfoy smirked, twirling his wand about lazily as Teddy rolled the beginnings of his snowman around Malfoy's feet. Soon enough, the smirk was gone again and Malfoy was glancing not-so-covertly at Harry, wandwork slowing. Harry waited.
"So how are things with you?" Malfoy asked finally. "You look... good-well, I mean."
Harry smiled. "Thanks," he said, bringing a self-conscious hand to the back of his head. "I've moved into my own flat over the space I rented for my shop. I'm baking, these days."
"I heard."
"Draco, you should have Harry's cupcakes. They're sooooooo yummy," Teddy exclaimed excitedly.
"I wouldn't doubt it for a moment," Malfoy responded. Harry smiled, seeing Malfoy's eyes soften as he watched Teddy roll the head of the snowman and prop it lopsidedly on top of the two other snowballs. Malfoy conjured several miscellaneous items for Teddy to decorate with, and even donated his furry hat for the cause.
"Look, it's Draco!" Teddy traced a wonky smile into the snowman's face.
Malfoy laughed. "I look uncharacteristically jolly. Quickly, Teddy, give me angry eyebrows!"
Teddy giggled as they continued to make the snowman less like a man and more like a terrifying snow monster.
"There," Malfoy said with finality once the snowman was grimacing madly instead of smiling vaguely.
"No," Teddy yelled, still laughing. "It's... Mr. Snargle. He's too mean to be Draco. Right, Harry? Draco's too nice."
Especially now, Harry could only see one likeness between the angry snow person and the tall, flushed man before him. "Definitely," he said with conviction. "The only resemblance is the hat."
In the stillness after Harry's semi-confession, Malfoy gathered Teddy up to tickle him, and Teddy ran back toward the house as fast as his little legs could carry him.
Malfoy's eyes made their way back to Harry's hat, again as they walked back in silence.
"If you want the hat, you could just ask. I'm not that attached to it, and it seems a bit like love at first sight. Don't want to get between you two."
"Stop speaking, Potter," Malfoy retorted with a roll of his eyes. "I can hear your brain cells dying with all the effort you put in to get proper sentences out."
"Oh-ho-ho. So full of compliments."
"I wouldn't be caught dead in that hat, and anyway," Malfoy added as Harry chuckled lightly. "It brings out the colour of your eyes."
Harry was shocked into silence as they opened the front door, warm, wood smoke-scented air blasting outward as they stepped inside.
Narcissa Malfoy was perched primly on the sofa with a cup of tea, saying, "We should really stop by his establishment sometime. Draco was begging me to go the next time we are in Diagon Alley. He heard the rum chocolate soufflés are to die for."
"Where do you want to go, Auntie Cissa?" Teddy asked leaning on her knee.
"To Potter's Patisserie, darling. You yourself recommended the red velvet cupcake!"
Oh, Malfoy was full of surprises.
"Really, though," Harry said to Malfoy, who was now blushing furiously. "You should pop by sometime. I'd like to catch up."
Malfoy looked up at Harry, wide eyed.
"You know, if you're available."
Malfoy shed his jacket and robe, revealing a heather grey sweater and dark trousers. "I could be persuaded. Only if you give me free samples."
As they settled, all five of them, in the sitting room, Malfoy added quietly, "And if you wear that stupid hat again."
Harry's grin was blinding.