It was about a month later, Draco was sitting outside on the back patio looking over a letter from his internship supervisor. He had opened all the doors hoping some of the dust bunnies and other occupants that had wandered into the house might get bored and wander outdoors. The ghoul in the attic had become a particular nuisance. He watched a doxy poke its head around the door and then skittered back inside; so much for that idea. He looked back down at the letter, it was outlining the guidelines for his personal medical study.
"Something that will add to the medical world." The healer had said when handing him the letter. "Mine was on the memory-healing properties of mint." She had said with a smile. "The sky's the limit!"
Draco looked up at the particularly cheerful sky. He was sweating slightly but enjoying himself. His father never let him play outside much. "Do you want freckles like the blood-traitor Weasleys?" He would took a sip out of his sweating glass. "Take that, Father." He muttered to himself. He scratched at one of the several ropy scars that crossed his chest, a gift from Potter in their sixth year. Scars…He paused and looked down at the white lines. As far as he knew, there was still no cure for magically induced scars. Potter still had his lightning bolt, Granger still had Mudblood carved into her arm, and he still had his sectum sempra reminder. He scratched his head with the glass. Maybe that could be his study case.
There was a quiet ruffle of feathers and a letter dropped into his lap. He flipped it over and raised an eyebrow, Potter was writing again. He slit it open and smiled wryly; at the head of the letter in big, bold red letters was: NO PORTKEY INCLUDED. Snarky Potter.
Malfoy, we are having another gathering and Teddy had been talking my ear off about showing off his flying skills to Uncie Dwaco. It's tomorrow at 2 at my place.
"I'm not going." Draco tossed the letter aside.
"I'm not going." Draco muttered as he walked down Diagon Alley.
"I'm not going." He nodded thanks to the cashier at Flourish and Blotts.
"I'm not going." Draco murmured as he fell into bed.
"Dammit." Draco looked up at the door to Grimmauld Place. He looked down, at least he had his dragon hide shoes on today. He raised a hand to knock and the door opened to save him the embarrassment.
Harry raised an eyebrow. "The wonderment never ceases."
"Potter." Draco growled.
Harry grinned. "You look like the house elf when you do that." He waved Draco inside.
Draco stepped inside, slightly shocked. "You have a house elf?"
Harry closed the door. "He was the Black's and he kinda came with the place. We get along now, should have seen the uptight grump when Sirius lived here."
"Uncle Dwaco!"
Draco reached for his leg too late, Teddy had already fastened himself around it.
"We talked about this, it's Cousin Draco."
Teddy only giggled in reply.
"Why don't you take him to the backyard to show him your broom?" Harry ruffled Teddy's half green, half blonde hair.
Teddy snatched Draco's hand and started yanking him through the house. Draco saw a blur of a few other people before he found himself in the small backyard.
Teddy was clambering onto his toy broom and kicking two feet into the air; he wobbled but stayed afloat and in control.
"Very nice." Draco commented dryly. He wasn't sure what sort of praise you were suppose to give a toddler.
He glanced behind him as he heard the door open and close.
"Aunt Andromeda." He greeted his aunt nervously.
She smiled amiably and stood next to him watching Teddy putter around the lawn. " I heard from Hermione that you're studying to be a healer."
Draco nodded. "I am."
She smiled again. "I don't know if she ever told you, but your mother was considering the same profession at one time."
Draco looked down at his shoes. "She did, actually."
"It's nice that you can carry on part of her legacy."
Draco felt his throaty close uncomfortably, he coughed to clear it. "Sorry, something in my throat, I think I'll go get something to drink." He excused himself and backed through the door hurriedly, he let out a breath on the other side and walked towards the kitchen rubbing his eyes, he really shouldn't have come.
"Oh, hullo, Malfoy."
Malfoy stopped short and looked up. Apparently he had turned himself around because he was in the living room instead of the kitchen. Hermione was sitting on the couch rocking a cradle gently back and forth.
"Mind your volume." She said softly. "I just got him to sleep."
"Him?" Malfoy stood on his tiptoes leaning towards the crib curiously.
"You didn't know?" Hermione gently pushed the blankets down from the face. "Ginny and Harry had their baby."
Draco chanced a few steps closer and leaned over. The baby was brand new; soft, downy black hair stuck up in odd spikes and curls.
"This is James Sirius." Hermione introduced him.
Draco found himself crouching next to the crib, looking at the sleeping baby in awe. The healers at St. Mungo had always insisted the maternity ward was for witches only, he hadn't been allowed near the newborns. "He's so tiny." he whispered, mostly to himself. Draco reached out one long finger and brushed it along the tiny baby knuckles on one hand. So little, so new, so innocent.
"Um, Malfoy, you're, um…"
Draco looked up. Hermione was staring at him with a shocked expression. To his continued embarrassment, he realized that tears were falling down his cheeks. He jumped up and walked briskly for the door, wiping his eyes hurriedly. He shouldn't have come.
He was most of the way to the door when he heard running footsteps behind him.
" . 't!" Someone hissed behind him. He was suddenly yanked backwards and slammed against the wall. It was Hermione,and she didn't look happy. Draco was reminded of several times they had butted heads in school, her hair seemed to gain volume with her temper.
"Muffliato!" She waved her wand over their heads. "You!" She flicked her wand under his chin, jabbing him uncomfortably. "You need to stop this, right now!"
"Stop what?! You accosted me!" Draco snapped back.
"Running!" Her eyes were flashing with temper. "Every time you start to act just a little bit human, every time I start thinking 'He might have actually grown up' you go and pull things like this! You keep running from emotions, people, relationships! If you really want redemption-"
"What? I don't want redemption, I don't need your pit-" Draco started to argue.
"Of course you do!" Hermione's volume drowned him out. "You were on the wrong side of the war and you know it! You aren't a heartless snake like your father! You feel guilty, and that's good! You should! You want to help, why else would you study to be a healer? Why else would you be here for Teddy? You need to stop being a coward and face the emotions they bring up!"
"Well there's a reason I wasn't put in Gryffindor." Draco sneered.
"Even snakes can have courage!" She shouted over him again.
She took a shaky breath in an effort to calm down. Draco was still flattened against the wall, stunned. He didn't realize Hermione was watching him that closely or at all.
She lowered her wand. "If you want to start making up for what you did, for all those years of stupid school rivalry, start with the people you hurt the most." She waved a hand back towards the house. "Start with the Potters, start with your cousin who doesn't have parents either, start here."
She finally backed away, allowing Draco room to breath. "No one is going to fault you for crying. We all cried a lot after the war, we just got ours over with sooner. It just shows you have a heart somewhere in that mess."
Draco blinked, still stunned, he felt like a hurricane had just whipped past him, taking most of his pride with it.
"Come on." She motioned him back towards the party. He hesitated. She sighed, reached over and took one of his hands. "Come on, garden snake, Ginny was asking for you." Draco mutely allowed himself to be led back to the kitchen.
"Here he is, Ginny." Hermione deposited him in a chair. "I'm going to go check on James."
She walked away, Draco still feeling like the tide had washed him up on the beach after a thorough beating. Ginny set a tea mug in front of him. "She's like a force of nature when she gets riled up, right?" She smiled sympathetically.
"Yeah." Draco muttered into the mug, taking a sip. "You were asking for me?"
"Oh right!" Ginny sat down across the table. "I was wondering if you would give James a quick examination."
"Is everything alright?" Draco could feel himself slipping in Healer mode, the face he used around St. Mungo's.
"Well, yes, except."
They were interrupted by a wail. Ginny sighed and looked up to the ceiling for strength. "He doesn't sleep well."
Draco noticed that she had dark shadows around her eyes much like his own. "I could give him a look, I'm not an expert in children but-"
"I would appreciate it."
She got up and motioned towards the living room. On their way, they ran into Teddy walking in from the back.
"Uncle Dwaco!" He stuck out a lip. "You didn't watch!"
"I did, I just, um, oh!" Draco reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a parcel. "Happy birthday, sorry it's late."
Draco's early departure immediately forgotten and forgiven, Teddy ripped the paper off of Quidditch Through the Ages.
"It's got a lot of big words but it also has pictures." Draco was suddenly second-guessing his gift. Teddy, on the other hand, threw his arms around Draco's abused knee. "Thank you, Uncle Dwaco."
"Cousin Draco." He corrected with a helpless sigh, he had a feeling it wouldn't stick.
They heard another wail and Ginny guided him into the living room. Hermione was rocking James in her arms attempting to quiet him. "Sorry, Ginny, he just woke up and…"
"I know." Ginny said tiredly. She took James and held him out to Draco. He looked at the small bundle nervously. "Um, you can hold him, it would make it easier to exam him."
Ginny looked at him suspiciously. "Have you held a baby?"
"Yes!" Draco snapped. "Well, no, not really." his voice trailed off lamely. "The witch's at St. Mungo are rather possessive of the infants." He straightened his jacket. "In any case. I'll take a look." He barely had to look at the crying baby before he said. "Colic. Common problem with newborns, there's a potion that you can feed him after his milk that will fix that up." He reached for a paper and quill on a nearby table. "Just pick some up in Diagon Alley."
"Oh, thanks, um, that's rather helpful of you." Ginny said, startled by his quick diagnostic.
"That's the idea." Draco sniffed as he handed her the paper and walked back to the kitchen. The rest of the party was gathered around the long table chatting about Hogwarts houses.
"Ted and Dora loved being in Hufflepuff." Andromeda was saying. "They were right next to the kitchen and they made great friends with the house elves that worked there. They would leave little gifts for the elves and they were always getting extra food delivered to their dorm in return."
"Gifts?" Hermione appeared around the door. "Like clothes?"
"Heavens, no!" Andromeda said. "Like potted flowers or enchanted dishware. The house elves would have hated clothing!"
"But clothes-" Hermione started.
"No!" Harry, Ginny, and Ron chorused together, stopping her in her tracks. "We are not discussing S.P.E.W., Hermione, let it go!" Harry groaned.
"What's S.P.E.W.?" Draco asked unthinkingly.
Hermione turned to him with appreciation and excitement dancing in her eyes, everyone else looked like they wished they all had their wands handy for a few curses.
"Why it's the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare. I started it in our fourth year to-"
Draco held up a hand. "I'm sorry I asked."
Hermione gave him a heated glare but everyone else looked relieved.
"I heard healing interns at St. Mungo's have to do a personal study in medicine to pass their examination. Is that right?" Andromeda quickly switched subjects.
"Yes, I just started mine as a matter of fact."
She smiled engagingly. "Really? What are you doing yours on?"
Draco swallowed the lump in his throat and looked at the tea mug, his mother's face fading in and out of his aunt's. "Um, I'm thinking of doing it on the curation of magically induced scars."
"Really?" Half of the heads at the table snapped up in interest.
He was taken aback slightly, he didn't think it would be a popular topic. "Yes." He said hesitantly.
"Including magical creatures?" Ron asked.
Draco waited for an insult to be tacked onto the end of the sentence, but to his surprise, none came. "I suppose so."
Ron rolled up his sleeve to show his right arm which was covered in faint swirls of scars.
"What in hell did that?" Draco leaned forward.
"Some brain creatures in the department of mysteries took a liking to me."
"Interesting." Draco murmured taking the arm and poking the scar. "No raising, definitely had the properties of-"
"The bloody hell do you think you're doing?" Ron shrieked and snatched his arm away.
"Examining you." Draco drawled coldly. "Unless you were offering your arm for a dance in which case I have to tell you, you're not my type."
Ginny next to him giggled and Ron's ears turned red.
"That's interesting." Hermione was looking into the distance, unfocused. "There's no known cure for scars like that yet. It would be a challenging study."
Draco glanced at the clock on the wall, his shift started soon enough to be an excuse to leave. "I'll be going, I have to work. Potter, thanks for the invitation."
He stood and found his knee attacked again. He sighed and frowned down at his grinning cousin. "I'll see you later." He shook his leg until Teddy came off.
"I'll walk you out." Hermione got up.
Draco didn't fancy being trapped in another hallways with her and he hurried to the door to lessen the chances of another life lecture.
She stood at the open door watching him walk down the steps. "That wasn't so bad was it?"
Draco grimaced at her. She looked so smug he wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of an answer. "S.P.E.W.'s a rubbish name." He got off one last insult as he turned and disappeared.
