Chapter 2 – Piece of Cake

A moment of silence fell int he kitchen before the two boys started laughing.

"That was good! You got us there," Harry said, but his smile faltered as he noticed the dead serious look on the two adults in front of him.

"I'm serious," Anwen said, speaking over Draco's giggles. "If you could let me explain."

"Oy, Malfoy! Shut up," Harry said, slapping the blonde boy on the back of the head. Draco looked offended, cussing Harry as he rubbed his head.

"Look, I've said it before, and I'll say it again. No judge will give you a one year old child when you're single and 19 years old. Both of you love Ted, so why not? You don't have to love each other. Just fake being a couple during a social worker's visit and the trial to hand you the guard. Also you'll need a witness," Anwen explained once more.

Draco stole a glance at Harry. He knew arguing with Potter wouldn't solve much, and he could risk losing Ted. He didn't care about his job, his school of magical medicine, or the fact that he was going to fake being Potter's boyfriend. He just wanted to take care of his nephew.

"What do you say, Potter?" Draco asked, smirking. His heart was beating fast, his anxiety reaching almost a maximum level. Too much information was thrown to his face in only one day, and it was starting to settle in. No, he couldn't have a panic attack. The mourning and anxiety should be left for later. His priority now was Ted.

Harry groaned, dropping his head in his hands as he tried to figure another way.

"I'm just saying, this is how you'll be able to keep Teddy," Peter said.

"Fine," Harry answered, looking at Draco with an annoyed expression for some reason.

"Okay. So this is what will happen. On Monday, you'll see the judge so they can see if you're fit for this or not. You need a witness, preferably a good friend of one of you, and you both need to act as couple-ish as you can," Anwen said, raising her eyebrows.

"Piece of cake," Draco said, leaning back on his chair to try to look chill. He was actually freaking out on the inside, but was trying to control his anxiety as hard as he could. "We can just set days each one keeps Teddy."

"Well, there's one last thing. Social workers do surprise visits, to know if the child's being taken care of, so what happens if, on the document, it says that you both live in this house but no one's been home for ages?" Peter said.

"What are you saying?" Harry asked, confused.

"You have to move in together. Not only for the law, but also because Teddy doesn't deserve to grow up in two different houses when his family structure is already enough shaken up," Peter finished.

Draco and Harry looked at each other. A million thoughts raced through Draco's head. What was he going to tell his parents? What about his great apartment with Blaise? What will Blaise think?. Things had just started to settle down, the nightmares fade as he finally felt at home, and now he was supposed to move again?

But then the selfish thoughts faded. He thought of Ted, and how fun it would be to bring him up in a house like that. Draco had always loved Andromeda's house. It smelt of vanilla and was filled up with too much furniture, but he loved everything about it. From the tiny succulents sitting on the windowsills on the kitchen to the various paintings Andromeda had done herself hanging on the walls.

And he remembered the good times with Teddy, like when they spent a whole afternoon picking up snails and putting them in shoe boxes and naming each one of them, or playing quidditch with broomsticks that left the ground a maximum of two feet.

"Let's do this, Potter. For Teddy," Draco said. Harry looked at him, probably still thinking of another way out.

"Okay. Let's," Harry answered, lowering his eyes to his mug of tea.

After solving some last things, Draco stood up. "Where's Teddy?" he asked again.

"He's in a temporary orphanage. Don't worry, he's not been put up for adoption. Also, one of you needs to take some clothes to the other's house to pretend you're dating. The trial will be on Monday morning, and they'll visit you on Tuesday after you're settled in this house. Anything else?" Anwen answered, standing up too.

"We can visit him, can't we?" Harry asked.

"Of course you can. We'll take you," Peter said, and soon they all took the floo network to St Vincent's Orphanage.

The building was enourmous, an old structure that seemed to belong to those rich muggles that built a huge mansion with hundreds of bedrooms for a family of three. Still, St Vincent's Orphanage was as cozy as it could be.

The reception was colorful, and a black wall was covered in names signed in chalk by the children that passed through the house.

The ceiling was high, a chandelier hanging from it, and they painted the glasses on it to make the lights colourful. Random fairy lights hung from the ceiling. They really made an effort to make an orphanage as cheerful as it could be.

A small chubby lady, who introduced herself as Mrs Mary was the one who showed them the place superficially.

The rooms of the older kids who had lived there for the longest were all filled with their things. Draco was sure no child there was older than eleven, even more because Headmistress McGonagall was doing her best to 'recruit' any young wizard or witch, since she always saw the good in people and knew those orphans needed help, and they sure were known, since they resided in one of the most famous orphanage in the Magic World.

They reached the nursery, where a bunch of toddlers were playing around. Draco looked around for Teddy, but it didn't take long to find him, since his hair changed colours in order to match the toys he held.

Draco walked as if he was about to step on mines. The babies were all around him. Harry stayed behind, for some reason. Maybe he just wanted to give Draco some space.

The blonde haired boy picked up Teddy, whose hair was a blood red colour at the moment. The small boy threw his arms around Draco, clinging at him.

"Daco," the little boy said, smiling. He started muttering his first words, which consisted of 'Dome' and 'Daco'.

"Hey little guy," Draco said, kissing his forehead. "I've missed you."

Teddy still didn't know the concept of missing someone, but he felt it, Draco was sure. Soon enough, Anwen and Peter left, leaving Harry and Draco to spend time with the little boy, not before reminding them once more of the trial on Monday at 9.

Visiting time ended way too fast. In a blink of an eye, it was five o'clock, time for the smaller children's supper. After the boys said goodbye to the sweet toddler that would unite them in a strange way for a long time, they went their ways, both with their heads full of thoughts and expectations.