6 YEARS LATER
One of the things that I'd never understood after being integrated into the wizarding world and discovering the existence of magic, was that there were no schools for wizarding children. Until the age of 11, when the children reached the age where they could attend Hogwarts, they were home-schooled and that had never sat right with me. There were so many things apart from knowledge that school taught you that just wouldn't be available for children to learn at home.
And upon leaving Hogwarts I had sought to remedy that by beginning the long process of setting up a ministry approved primary school to prepare the children for their eventual acceptance to Hogwarts. We accepted children from magical families and those that were muggleborn to ease the children's integration. Whilst the first two years had been slow, with very few wizarding families welcoming the change, from then on, our school was thriving.
The children were separated by age groups and taught by a teacher who handled the responsibilities for their year groups. Being muggleborn myself I was used to seeing classrooms filled with 30 plus children but there simply just weren't that many magical children in the UK. And yet, the small class sizes gave the children the chance to bond with each other. The children that left my school would remain friends, even if they were separated into different houses.
During the aftermath of the war I had gotten into touch with Mrs Longbottom who, rather surprising had become our headmistress, but she ran our school well. And me, well I oversaw the reception class. Year after year, I took in a group of four year olds and helped them learn the necessary skills they needed to move on through the years.
With another week coming to an end, the children were in high spirits as they ran through the room. Home time was drawing ever nearer and some of the children were growing maybe a little too excited. But I couldn't blame them; students weren't the only ones that looked forward to the weekend.
I set about getting the little ones ready for the end of the day, making sure they were dressed in their coats and had all their things stuffed into their small school bags. Clapping my hands twice, I gained the attention of the children, who looked between me and the clock eagerly – as if they could tell the time yet.
"Now I know we've had a lot of fun today but remember to show your parents the letters about our school trip," I said as the children hurried to their seats, waiting for their parents to arrive. "If your parents don't sign the permission slip then you won't be able to come along to the quidditch pitch with us. And the team are really looking forward to seeing you."
The children began to talk excitedly between themselves and I watched as the muggleborn children turned to the other children to ask what quidditch was. I couldn't help but smile; it took practically turning the ministry upside down to be given permission to allow these children into the school. But well, with war heroine Hermione Granger fighting for the cause, there was very little the ministry could do but stand back and watch. And Helga, when the girl eventually ran for Minister of Magic, she had my vote.
"Settle down," I said loudly, bringing silence to the room again. "You've got the weekend coming up so remember to be safe and have fun. I'll be here to welcome you all back on Monday morning. Why don't you talk between yourselves as we wait for your parents to come?"
The kids took the chance to talk, giggling madly between themselves. Just as I turned to check to see if any of the parents had arrived, a hand was stuck into the air.
"Teddy?" I asked, looking to the boy whose hair was once again shifting colours until it resembled the rainbow. Walking to his side, I crouched down beside him and asked, "Is there something wrong?"
He shook his head, gesturing behind me towards the open door of the classroom, "Your boyfriend's here."
My eyes widened in surprise and I glanced over my shoulder to, sure enough, find Cedric walking into the classroom. Honestly, he was here so often it was as if he didn't have any work to do himself. The children, upon seeing him, rose from their seats to clamber around him. Cedric laughed warmly, reaching out to pat the top of the head of the child closest to him.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, standing on the edge of the circle formed around Cedric. "How did you get past reception? They're not supposed to let anyone in." I narrowed my eyes at him when he simply grinned innocently and crossed my arms with a huff. "You charmed the receptionist again, didn't you?"
"I missed you," he said simply, not bothering to deny my words. Poor Mrs Taylor never stood a chance whenever Cedric came around batting those grey eyes at her.
Slowly the children lost interest in Cedric, moving naturally away from him and returning to their seats. With the children distracted, he came to my side and nudged me with his shoulder.
"Did you miss me?" he asked.
"I've been too busy to miss you," I said, rolling my eyes before I noticed the line of parents standing outside the door. "You wouldn't mind cleaning the room up for me would you, whilst I let the children out?"
"I don't know," he hummed contemplatively, even as he began to tidy up the room with a wave of his wand. "What will you do for me?"
"I won't tell your mum how you've been lying about being busy with work for the last two Sundays and have instead been recovering from a killer hangover?" I suggested, watching his smirk drop.
"How were you a Hufflepuff?" he wondered aloud as I slowly began to give the children back to their parent's care.
"Even badgers have a bite," I reminded him, waving at little Elise Kapoor as she took her father's hand and walked away. "But how about this? I'll give you free reign over the wedding cake. I won't say a word, even if it ends up being yellow and black."
The room was already half clean when he agreed, "Done."
Slowly, one by one the children continued to stream out of the room to join their parent's sides. Just as I went to shut the door I noticed one little boy sat at his own table, busy colouring a picture as he waited for someone to pick him up. Cedric was sat at his side, talking quietly to him. I went to his other side, settling down into one of the miniature chairs.
"What are you drawing Teddy?" Cedric asked, handing the boy a black crayon and watching as he scribbled some hair onto the male figure who, guessing from the lightning bolt on his forehead, was Potter.
"My family," the boy said shortly, reaching for a green crayon.
"That's sweet," I said with a smile, brushing his hair away from his eyes. "So, who's supposed to be picking you up today? Your grandmother?"
He shook his head distractedly, "She's meeting her sister for the day."
I nodded, helping him colour in his own multi-coloured hair. "What about your aunt? Is she supposed to come today?"
"I don't think so." His tongue was stuck out as he concentrated. "It's not her turn today; it's Harry's turn."
"Your godfather?" Cedric questioned, gesturing for me to answer the door when there was a serious of rapid knocks on the door to the classroom.
Rising to my feet, I crossed the room and opened the door expecting to find a rather ragged looking Potter on the other side, thinking he had rushed over from work. Instead I was greeted by a Malfoy whose eyes were darting around the classroom behind me.
"I'm here to pick up the twerp," he announced.
"I don't think so Malfoy." I raised an eyebrow. "Last I heard it was Potter's turn."
"Look England," he sighed, "he's my cousin's kid. I'm not here to kidnap him."
"The rules are the rules Malfoy. What kind of teacher would I be if I just handed him over to you?"
Malfoy sighed roughly through his nose, reaching into his pocket to pull out a note. He handed it over to me and I opened it slowly, reading across it. My eyebrows rose as I took in its words and finally my eyes settled on Teddy's aunt's signature at the bottom.
"Potter –"
"Auror mission gone bad," Malfoy said shortly, walking into the room when I stepped aside to let him in. "He's in bad shape and I've been sent to keep the kid occupied for the day until his aunt can pick him up."
"Right, ok, let me just get Teddy –"
Without waiting for me, Malfoy brushed past me and walked up to Teddy. The boy's face lit up at the sight of the tall blond and he instantly rose from his seat to wrap his legs in a hug. Malfoy reached down to pick Teddy up, shifting him into one arm as he grabbed his bag with the other.
"You're coming back to mine for the day, pipsqueak," Malfoy said as the pair began to leave the room.
"Harry?" Teddy asked, waving at me from over Malfoy's shoulder.
"He's off saving the world, remember?" Malfoy said without the sneer that he'd have had in school. Instead he sounded very solemn – something was clearly very wrong with Potter. "Harry the Hero, remember?"
"Harry the Hero," Teddy agreed as they stepped outside of the classroom and I shut the door behind them.
"Where's Harry?" Cedric questioned, coming to my side. "Wasn't he supposed to pick Teddy up?"
"Auror mission gone wrong," I muttered gently, sharing a brief look of concern with Cedric.
"Why don't you get ready to go home?" Cedric suggested, "And I'll just put the wards up."
"Thanks," I said noticing that Teddy had forgotten to take his picture with him. "Just give me a second."
Walking to the previously occupied desk, I studied the picture with a small smile. Teddy had drawn his whole family; extended and blood related. And, looking closely I noticed that with one hand his aunt was holding Teddy's hand and with the other she was holding Potter's.
With a smile, I picked the picture up and placed it in Teddy's drawer. It would be waiting for him on Monday morning.
"Ready to go home?" Cedric asked from behind me.
I turned to him with a smile, walking to his side. "Yeah, let's go home."