A/N: Well this is the finished chapter of Chapter 2! I really hope you enjoy it!
Chapter 2
Harry's P.O.V.
As I land on my feet in my flat, I think back on what just happened today to change everything that I came here for.
I went into work today, a table I was assigned had Malfoy sitting at it, seeing Malfoy, seeing someone I knew from the Wizarding World, not hexing Malfoy, being abnormally calm, not hexing Malfoy, not getting hexed by Malfoy, Malfoy being in the Muggle World in the first place, serving Malfoy, Malfoy wanting his wand back, and I am going to see him again.
Malfoy, Malfoy, Malfoy!
Why him of all people? Why couldn't it have been someone who doesn't annoy me to no end?!
Now I'm sure he's going to tell the press and then I'll be hounded. And I won't have my peace and quiet anymore.
Why did this have to happen? I'm in the Muggle World in the first place to get away from the Wizarding World and now it comes strolling back to me with blonde hair and arrogance.
What am I supposed to do? He wants his wand back. Who knows what he's going to do when he has it back. Who knows what he'll do to me when he has it back. Wait—what am I saying, when? I mean if. Right? Right. And do I even want to give it back to him? Just because his mother saved me from Voldemort, does not mean I have to owe him anything.
You know what? No. I'm not going to dwell on this any longer right now. I need to get ready to see Andromeda and Teddy.
Remus made me Teddy's Godfather like Sirius was mine, and I plan on upholding that title, unlike Sirius, who couldn't with me. I don't want Teddy to feel alone like I did for my whole life. I couldn't do that to him. Sure, I had Ron, Hermione, and all of my other friends, but I never truly felt a sense of…unity between us, because they could never understand what I had gone through in my past. So, I still felt alone. I still feel alone, now more than ever with all these people around me. You know what they say; you feel the most alone when you're in a crowd.
That's why I want to be there for Teddy. When he gets older, he'll understand what it's like to not grow up with your parents like I did. I don't want him to feel unloved like me. Ron and Hermione can't understand that, they will never be able to understand that. They grew up with a family and with their parents.
I wonder how they're doing now. I wonder if they're thinking about me, wondering where I am. Not like it matters now though, they have each other and their families to worry about. They don't need me.
You're probably thinking, 'How can you say that?! They were with you through and through! They need you!'
But that's the thing, they weren't, not really. Not through everything. They have their own things to worry about. I don't need to stay and have more trouble following me with them around. That's why I am only in contact with Andy and Teddy, and nobody else knows where I am. It's better this way. And besides, if Ron and Hermione wanted me around, they would be looking for me.
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I eat a bit of something before going to Andy and Teddy's. I can't play around with a baby seven months old on an empty stomach. I haven't seen him in a couple of weeks. I wonder if he's grown any. I wonder if he still has his turquoise hair he loves so much.
Bloody hell! It's getting late. I need to go now.
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I Apparated directly behind a bush that's in Andy's front garden. Of course, the months of practice at Apparating still don't relieve my bum of landing smack on the ground each time. I stand up and brush off the dirt and twigs that are on my trousers.
Even if I'm no good at Apparating yet, I'm still worse at Flooing. I've had years to work on that and it hasn't helped. I still have years to work on Apparating.
I walk on the walkway up to Andy's front door and knock.
Andy opens the door with an apologetic look on her face.
"I'm sorry Harry! I didn't expect them come, but the just showed up and I didn't have the heart to turn them away!" Andy babbled on frantically. She opened the door wider to allow me to pass through.
What, or rather who, I saw, made me groan in frustration and whine. Sitting there in the lounge were Ron and Hermione, sitting on the floor playing with Teddy.
I let out the breath that I was holding and turned to face Andy.
"It's alright Andy; I have to face them sometime. What better time then when it's sprung on me?" I gave her a small smile, which I hope was convincing, though by the look on her face, it wasn't.
Hermione's head sharply looked up from paying attention to Teddy, and focused on me.
"HARRY!" she screeched, fumbling to get up from the floor to get to me.
When she got to me, she grabbed me in a fierce hug that I couldn't bring myself to return with the same sincerity.
She must've realized it and pulled back from me, and gave me an angry look. I just kept my face impassive.
"Harry James Potter! Where have you been?! You've been missing for five months! And now you just show up here?! We thought you were dead!"
"Did you even think to owl me to find out where I have been? Huh? Did it ever occur to you that I didn't think you wanted me around anymore, with you being all lovey-dovey all the time and grieving as well as me?" I ground out.
"Oh, Harry! We didn't mean for you to feel that way! We just thought—!" Hermione started, before I interrupted her.
"Save it Hermione. It was better this way. Hermione, you had your parents to find and Ron (who finally looked up at being mentioned), you needed to be with your family to mourn over Fred. You didn't need me anymore. I felt too guilty to be of any help anyways. And don't even think of trying to convince me that you really needed me, because you didn't, or you would have owled me or searched for me." Throughout my speech, Ron stood up as well and walked over to Hermione, leaving Teddy rolling around on the floor.
"How can you say that Harry?! We have always needed you! And where have you been, mate?" Ron asked with a confused look on his face.
"I can say that because it's true. And will you stop yelling? You're scaring my godson." I walk over into the lounge to pick up my godson from his grandmother's arms. She had gone into the lounge to calm him when he was left alone in there. His lips started quivering and tears leaked from his eyes.
I rocked him around in my arms and shushed him whiled I was doing so. He instantly stopped crying and looked up at me. He smiles his little toothy smile at me and I can't help but smile back. I walk over to the couch and sit down with Teddy in my arms. I hand him a toy that I found on the sofa, to keep him occupied.
I stop smiling when I look back up at Hermione and Ron. Then I look away again and stare off into nothing.
"If you must know, I've been in the Muggle World these past five months. I've had the peace and quiet I've always wanted. No one knows me there so it's been good for me. I've come to face my demons and forgive myself for all those who had died because of me. When I was confronting the thoughts of Sirius, Remus, and Tonks, I realized that they wouldn't want me to be sad anymore, that I needed to move on with my life. But there was something still gnawing at me that I couldn't place, until I thought of Teddy. Remus and Tonks made me his godfather and I hadn't even been to see him. He's in the same situation as me, I thought. He lost his parents to the war as I did. And I vowed that being his godfather; I would do all I could to protect him and care for him, since Sirius didn't have enough of a chance to do it for me. I said to myself I would tell Teddy all about his parents when he got older. He's the one person in this world that really needs me. So I came here to Andy's house to see Teddy, and I've been coming here at the end of every week since then. Well, I had something to tell you Andy, but I guess I can wait until there isn't anybody else around." I had turned my head around to face Andy by then.
"No it's alright Harry, they said they were about to leave anyways. Weren't you Ron, Hermione?" Andy gave them a side glance.
Hermione huffed and pulled Ron along through the Floo, without giving him a chance to say anything.
I gave a sigh of relief when they left. Andy looked at me inquisitively and sat on the couch along with me and Teddy.
"Alright, spill. What was that about?" she inquired.
"You heard what I said. And anyways, I have something to talk to you about." Andy, who noticed my change of subject, resigned, knowing I didn't want to talk about it anymore.
"Alright, what is it you would like to talk to me about?" Andy asked.
"It's about your nephew," I said.
"My nephew? Draco? What about him?"
"Well, he came into the café I work at this morning. He was a right git about it too. I thought he was in Azkaban. I hadn't seen anybody I knew besides you and Teddy in five months, and then he shows up! Now he wants his wand back and I have it. I don't want to give it to him, yet I know it rightfully belongs to him. We've been rivals since the beginning and all those things that I grew up knowing about him, although all not true, are stopping me from giving it to him. Who knows what he'll do to me if I give his wand back to him?!" I answered.
"Harry let me tell you a little something about Draco. When Draco was growing up, his father wasn't around all that much. But when he was, it was usually because something bad happened at work and he would take it out on poor Draco. At this time in his life, he was really close to his mother because she was all he had. This started around the age of three. Cissa didn't know what to do. She didn't want her baby to be hurt anymore, so she came to see me. At that time, Cissa and I were still on the outs, but she came to me for help, and as her older sister I had to help her. So, when times got bad, she would bring herself and Draco here.
"When Draco got beatings, he thought he deserved them because his father told him so. He wanted Lucius to be proud of him because he wasn't around much. Draco thought the reason for Lucius' scarcity was his fault. So as Draco grew older, he acted like the person his father would be proud of so he wouldn't get beaten anymore. But on the inside, he wasn't the person he acted as. And when you showed up at Madame Malkin's that day, he thought it was a great opportunity to make a friend that Lucius didn't have to approve of, someone not the offspring of his father's friends. But he didn't know how to act as a friend. He only knew how to act in the way his father wanted.
"So Harry, what I'm trying to say is, that Draco just doesn't know how to act outside of what he acted his whole life. He doesn't show who he really is to anybody because he hasn't had anybody beside his mother and I to trust. He didn't have anybody who wanted to be his friend truly, either. They only wanted to be his friend because of Lucius. Harry, please, just give him a chance. I'm sure you'll find that once you do, you'll have someone you can trust too. As they say, you can find your true friends in Slytherin. And just so you know Harry, he really had always wanted to me your friend." Andromeda patted me on my shoulder as she stood up and went into the kitchen to make some tea.
I contemplated what she had said as I play with Teddy. I suppose our school rivalry makes more sense now. He's had a similar life as me. No one ever wanted to be his friend for just him and neither anyone besides Ron and Hermione, for me. And above all, he's been abused…just as I was. Maybe…I've underestimated him? If that is so, then perhaps I shall give him a chance to show me that he is truly a different person. And the first thing that I will do, is to give Draco Malfoy his wand back.
A/N: Wow, that's finally over with! That took me a while. I thought that I'd make this chapter longer for all of you. I really hope you like it. Thank you again for reviewing. Please review this one!!
Thanks.
-Zan