Five days. It had been five days since I had spoken to Malfoy and I missed him. I kept hoping I would run into him, I bought Teddy into Diagon Alley an unneccessary amount. It reached a point where Teddy wasn't even excited about the prospect of chocolate icecream from fortescues anymore. I couldn't stop though, everytime I saw a blond headed man my heart leapt. I was ridiculous.
Teddy had spent the day with Fred and George on Friday when Hannah was unable to babysit and had been returned to me with rosey red cheeks, a big smile on his face and a swear word in his limited vocabulary. I vowed never to let them babysit unsupervised again.
Teddy's 1st birthday was tomorrow and I was determined to make it perfect. I had booked the day off work and was planning on taking him to Hyde park again. The evening was planned by Fred and George who had taken it upon themselves to organise a surprise birthday party for Teddy. I couldn't think how they were planning on surprising a one year old who didn't understand that it was his birthday, but I left them to it.
I was spending my day working, something I had vowed never to do on a Sunday. But I had been spending so much time with Teddy trying to distract myself from Malfoy that I was behind on my work. Something that had never happened in all my time at Hogwarts no matter what drama there was in my life. Neville had come over to watch Teddy while I worked in my bedroom and I could hear him chatting to Teddy in the living room.
I appeared a few hours later when Neville called me for lunch.
"Nev you didn't have to make me a sandwich, you've gone above and beyond," I cried as I took in the cheese melt on the table.
"Don't be daft, I was making one for myself and I couldn't deprive you of ny famous cheese melts," he laughed as he bit into his sandwich making exaggerated 'mmm' sounds.
"God that's almost indecent. There are children here," I cried pretending to look offended. Neville only laughed harder at this. Teddy banged his hands on his highchair tray, effectively stealing our attention.
"And what do you want Mr man?" I asked as I pinched his cheek.
"Damn," Teddy replied clapping.
"No Teddy you're not to use that word. I'm going to kill Fred and George I swear it!" But Neville was laughing hard at Teddy but stopped dead when I gave him evils.
The afternoon continued much the same way as the morning and by the time I left my bedroom my brain was fried. Neville moved from the kitchen where he had been helping Teddy with his evening meal.
"You miss him. I couldn't work out what it was that was wrong with you but it's him isn't it," Neville said quietly. I thought about acting as though I had no idea what he was talking about but I decided very quickly against it. Instead I sighed and sat down at the kitchen table, pulling the wine glass of wine that Neville had poured towards me.
"I don't know what to do," I said honestly, sipping the wine slowly.
"You should tell him what you're thinking. How you're feeling," he said, his words laced with meaning. I knew he wasn't referring to the Teddy situation but I didn't want to even think about what he was implying.
"After tomorrow. I'll owl him after tomorrow." Neville looked at me for a moment before nodding and getting up to leave. He kissed me and then Teddy on the head before heading to the floo.
"Just don't leave it too long," he said quietly before he disappeared in a whirl of green flames.
I looked over at Teddy. He had just finished eating and his face was covered in red sauce. I sighed, hoping he would consent to bathtime tonight.
The day of Teddy's birthday was a bright one, the sun was visible through my blinds but it wasn't that that woke me. I was woken up unnaturally early by Teddy's wails. Almost as though he knew today was all about him and he wanted to make the most of it.
"Hey little man. Did you know you're one today, you're one year old," I cooed at him as I pulled him out of his cot and cuddled him to me. He gurgled appreciatively and clutched my pajama shirt.
After putting him in his highchair, I wandered around the kitchen bleary eyed, trying to remember the location of the coffee machine. Which was harder than I thought at 5 in the morning. I banged my shin hard on the edge of the table and cried out.
"Damn it," I yelped.
"Damn," Teddy cried now clapping his hands hard. I groaned in annoyance realising I couldn't possibly scold him for using that word when I'd just used it myself. The rest of breakfast passed smoothly and I actually found myself excited for the day ahead.
Teddy had enjoyed the park and had made a new friend, not Fleur's daughter Victorie however, this was a little boy. His dirty blonde hair and blue eyes had clued me in on his identity immediately and when I saw Luna approaching from a distance my suspicion was confirmed.
"Hello Hermione," she had said in her usual airy manner. I hadn't seen her since the battle of Hogwarts but she had told me that she was happy. We agreed to set up a play date for Teddy and her son Nigelius or Nigel for short. She hadn't mentioned her husband although I knew she was married, having seen the wedding announcement in the prophet.
Teddy had been resistent to leave the park and his new friend but he had settled not long after we had left the gates of hyde park.
It was only 40 minutes later that we were ready to head to Fred and George's apartment above the shop which they had offered for the party. I brushed invisible dust off my red dress and tidied Teddy's collar. He squirmed at my affection and fearing a temper tantrum coming on I rang the bell for the apartment. I could hear scurrying feet the otherside of the door and then it was flung open. Fireworks shot up from either side of the door and sparkled and glittered into a big 1 above our heads. Fred beamed as Teddy reached up at the colourful number.
"Happy Birthday you big boy," Fred and George cried in unison before taking him from my arms and swinging him around. Teddy was giggling loudly, his chubby legs kicking backwards as Fred swung him higher.
I took a moment to take in the room. There were a lot more people here than I had been expecting. I saw Daphne in the corner talking with a tall dark skinned witch who I was sure was Angelina Johnson. Hannah and Neville were over in the kitchen swigging butterbeer and chatting to a brunette who I thought was Alicia Spinnet and to my utter surprise Luna. I was about to approach them when a group in the corner of the room caught my eye. Lee Jordan and Ella and Anna, two of the women who worked near me at the ministry were laughing uproariously at something a man in a dark suit was saying. A man with platinum blonde hair. I inhaled sharply, my heart pounding but before I could head over to him my path was blocked by a grinning George.
"Look at him! He's so happy! This has been a roaring success if I do say so myself." I looked over to where he was gesturing and saw Teddy in Fred's arms trying to stick a tail on a very large hippogriff image. The image kept moving away everytime Teddy tried to touch it however and he was getting more and more determined to reach it. So much so that it was good that Neville was on hand nearby as Teddy was currently trying to throw himself out of Fred's arms at the Hippogriff. I laughed and turned back to George with a big grin on ny face.
"This is wonderful. Thank you," I said as I reached up and pulled him into a hug.
I hadn't forgotten Malfoy but deciding to get myself a drink first, I headed for the kitchen. As I entered the door I hit into something hard and fell backwards. A hand snaked around my waist and I looked up into grey eyes. Malfoy looked at me hard as he righted me and I felt his gaze take in everything from the curly strands of my hair that had fallen from my bun to my figure hugging red dress.
"What are you doing here?" I asked uncomfortably before realising that was possibly the worst thing I could have said in this situation.
"I can leave," he said his voice hard.
"No no that's not what I meant, I just didn't think you'd want to be here after..." I trailed off as I looked at him.
He was giving me a look of unguarded confusion.
"Neville owled me," he said slowly. I paused at this "he said you wanted me here but were too afraid to ask," now he looked uncomfortable. "Did you not want me here?"
"No I do. I do want you," I paused, eyes wide as I realised what I'd just said.
"Good," he said quietly and stepped closer so we were just a few inches apart. He was going to kiss me. Did I want him to kiss me? I wanted him to kiss me. As this realisation hit me I also realised we were now just a breathe apart.
"CAKE TIME!" A voice cried from just outside the kitchen and the door was flung open. I jumped back quickly, my hand falling into the sink and warm soapy water flying everywhere. The water went all over both myself and Malfoy. I looked over at Hannah who was leaning against the door frame grinning, her face red from barely concealed laughter.