As enjoyable as flying was the sudden agony in his chest consumed Draco. The pull toward his mate deepened abruptly. He guided the broom toward the ground with confident movements before groaning and stumbling to his knees.
As the shock faded Draco realized that he was still very concerned for Hermione but the pain was fading. The emotional connection to his mate was very confusing; she was enjoying her distance from him.
Draco wanted to hate his Veela heritage yet without it he was sure he would have bowed to fear and served Voldemort anyway. Without the attachment to Hermione he suspected his behaviour at school would have been the same; and it would not have been an act.
All the research specified how protective the Veela was toward their mate. He was grateful that she had forced him to be a better person in return.
Draco remained kneeling on the grass with the broom abandoned beside him. He kept his focus on his breathing until the ache in his chest was manageable.
"Malfoy?"
Draco glanced over to see Weasley holding his broom and watching him with concern. He had never thought he would see that expression aimed at him under the red hair of that particular Weasley.
Draco realized that his hand was pressed to his chest. Weasley probably thought he was having a heart attack.
"Are you in pain or something?" Weasley asked, clearly not comfortable making the query.
"Hermione has gone somewhere," Draco managed, "I can feel the distance."
"Um, right. She's probably at Dromeda's place. Do you need to go there too?"
"I don't think I can leave," Draco replied, "Unofficial house arrest or whatever."
"Do you want to come inside?" Weasley shifted from one foot to the other. He clearly had no idea how to handle a Draco who wasn't sneering at him.
"I guess," Draco found that he was able to stand up after a few moments. The fading pain was replaced by disorientation.
"I'll put the brooms away," Weasley offered, "Mum threatened to shove them somewhere uncomfortable last time they were left out."
Wherever Hermione was, she was enjoying herself. The mirth which he could feel welling up inside his chest made him suspect that she was laughing so hard her stomach would end up hurting.
Draco slipped into the house to find Potter pulling out piles of supplies while Teddy lay on the floor making incomprehensible noises.
"What's all that?" Draco asked wearily. He didn't really care, he just wanted a distraction.
"Nappies, wipes, spare clothes and lots of other baby stuff," Potter replied, "As Godfather, I get to look after the tiny terror."
"You can keep the nappy duty," Draco replied, "Did Hermione go with Dromeda?"
Potter nodded, "Something about 'Girl Time' and wanting to get drunk. I'll never understand women."
Weasley wandered into the room, "We're not supposed to understand them," he declared, "It's a life-long mystery."
"It's not fair," Potter complained, "Ginny understands me too damn well. I can glance at her and she knows what I was about to say, do and think."
Teddy made a noise somewhere between a laugh and a burp as Potter picked him up. Draco noted the black hair and scar on the baby.
Weasley peered at Teddy, "Welcome to the world mate; women are nuts."
"Great, now he has your eyes," Potter complained.
Draco snorted, "Potter and Weasley had a baby. I knew it would happen one day."
Potter held Teddy out so he could see Draco clearly. Within seconds he had pale blonde hair, though he kept the blue eyes and scar.
"You're sick," Draco said to both of them, "Don't involve me in your sordid affair."
"You wish you could get a piece of this," Weasley declared dismissively.
The sentiment was so ridiculous that Draco started laughing. Harry struggled to hold Teddy safely while gasping for air and even Weasley was grinning like a fool.
"Are you two always this ridiculous?" Draco gasped as soon as he reclaimed the ability to speak.
Potter shrugged, "Basically. Why, what do your friends act like?"
Draco recalled a similar conversation he had had with Hermione.
"I had acquaintances, but I'm not sure if I ever really had friends," he admitted.
Weasley paused in stuffing something in his mouth, "That's really sad Malfoy; not surprising considering how you acted at school but still pretty sad."
Draco shrugged, "Welcome to my life."
Potter picked up a small black box and pointed it at the Muggle box. Within seconds the blank screen was filled with coloured images.
"Watch some TV," Potter instructed, "I think the girls had the right idea about getting drunk."
"I think we're doing rather well," Draco mused, "We haven't tried to hex each other at all, Weasley made a witty comment and Teddy hasn't thrown up on anyone. That's serious progress."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Hours passed while Draco tried to ignore the ache in his chest. Hermione was still very happy which left him quite conflicted. He wanted her to be happy as badly as he wanted her to be in arms reach.
"I can't believe we spent so many years without this thing," Weasley mused.
"The Dursley's had a television," Potter replied, "I was never allowed to choose what we watched though."
"I wish they could show Quidditch games on it," Weasley added, "We could watch old ones and analyse tactics too."
"They have documentaries too," Potter added, "Where you can learn as you watch."
Weasley groaned, "Don't tell Hermione; she's have us studying during the holidays too."
"What do you mean 'too'?" Potter snorted, "You barely study during the school year."
"I always suspected that you two would have failed without Hermione," Draco said casually.
"Maybe a couple of subjects," Potter admitted with a shrug.
Draco watched as Potter pulled a bottle out of the huge mound of items needed to care for Teddy. Within seconds the infant was happily drinking milk while looking around the room. The scar on his forehead remained prominent while his hair turned ginger.
"He's going to get into so much trouble at Hogwarts," Draco mused, "He'll be sneaking into other common rooms before Christmas of his first year."
"Lots of students do that with polyjuice anyway," Weasley commented.
"Not in first year," Draco argued.
"Nope, it was second year for us," Potter replied.
Draco was impressed for about two seconds, "Let me guess; Hermione brewed it and then all three of you took it?"
Weasley nodded, his eyes glues to the screen, "Of course. Though Hermione had some trouble with the transformation because the hair was actually from a cat. We didn't have any trouble though."
"Cat hair?" Draco repeated, "That could have been very bad."
"It was," Potter agreed, "She spent some time in the infirmary to get back to normal."
"And you two were sneaking in where?"
Weasley grinned at him, "We snuck into the Slytherin common room as Crabbe and Goyle to see if you were the Heir of Slytherin."
Draco struggled to remember his two followers acting strange. It had been years ago and they were never good conversationalists anyway.
"Well sorry I had to let you down," Draco said while shaking his head, "Crabbe and Goyle never said anything about it; what did you do with them?"
"Sleeping Draught and a broom cupboard," Potter revealed with a grin, "Maybe they woke up in closets together so often it wasn't worth mentioning?"
Draco had mourned the death of Vincent Crabbe. They had known each other well before they entered Hogwarts and Draco had always feared that his life would end the same way. The strongest emotion was pity that none of them had been able to escape expectations put on them by their families.
"What are you watching Ron?" Potter asked.
"EastEnders," the redhead replied, "It's not bad."
"I'm going to get you a bunch of movies," Potter replied, "Anytime you annoy someone we'll stuff you in your room with a new one."
Weasley shrugged, "Works for me."
"Are there enough movies in existence?" Draco wondered aloud.
The puff of smoke and flash of green in the fireplace heralded the arrival of Molly Weasley. Draco was disappointed that it was not Hermione returning before reminding himself to be polite.
Greetings were exchanged easily and Molly took her time fussing over Teddy.
"Where are Ginny and Hermione?" Molly asked eventually.
"They went with Dromeda and Narcissa," Potter replied, "Linna went too."
Molly put her large bag on the floor and considered the room with her hands on her hips.
"Do you know if they are returning for dinner?"
Potter shrugged while Weasley announced, 'No idea'.
"I'll drop by for a visit to check," Molly decided.
She picked up some floo powder and stepped back into the fireplace while announcing 'Tonks Residence'.
Draco envied her. As his mother had been given written permission to go live with her sister he doubted it would be a good idea to visit unannounced. He was sure the Ministry had put a trace on him when they scanned his memories.
"Do Hermione and Ginny spend afternoons getting drunk on a regular basis?" Draco asked Potter.
"Not that I know of," he replied. Teddy had finished the bottle and was closing his eyes. Draco was briefly jealous that the baby was so easily pleased.
"I've only seen her drunk once," Weasley added, "It was pretty scary."
"Scary how?" Draco wondered if she was going to stomp into the house and yell at him for acting like a prat for so many years. He was intelligent enough to be wary of her wand and her fist.
"Well she isn't subtle at the best of times," Weasley provided, "When she's loaded what she says can cut like a knife."
"I remember that!" Potter laughed, "We were talking about wanting to become Aurors and she announced that the training involves advanced Potions so you would end up poisoning yourself."
Draco laughed at the description. Even while inebriated, Hermione was still witty.
"Yep," Weasley agreed, "And then she declared that you wouldn't pass without a book of cheat tips like in Sixth Year."
"So, is the plan to become Aurors still relevant?" Draco asked out of sheer politeness. He completely agreed with Hermione's assessment of her friends.
Potter shrugged, "Maybe. I might end up deciding that I've had enough of chasing dark wizards and never want to pursue one again. I'm surprised I survived this long actually."
"George invited me to run the Joke Shop with him," Weasley added, "Mum insisted that I get my NEWTS first though."
Draco listened as the two of them entered into a discussion about the merits of accepting the partnership with George. Personally, Draco didn't think Weasley was cut out to be an Auror. He could see the redhead returning from a day at the Joke shop to his adoring wife and ten kids though.
Rather than wait until the Ministry determined his fate, he decided to send the letter to the young lady who had always been keen to spend some quality time with Weasley. He knew for a fact that she wanted as many kids as she could produce, beginning as early as possible. Clearly she had no taste but no-one was perfect.
A commotion in the dining room drew attention from all of them. Even Teddy woke up long enough to gurgle before falling back to sleep.
Molly was shaking her head while Hermione and Ginny giggled at her.
"It's not even dinner!" Molly was saying, "I expected more of you two!"
Draco reached Hermione within seconds. The brunette gazed up at him through an alcoholic haze.
"Dra-co!" she giggled. She stumbled forward so he caught her securely in his arms a second time.
"You smell good," she sighed into his shirt. Her hands began to wander across his chest and around to his back. He was pleasantly surprised when one hand squeezed his backside and she didn't even blush.
"'Arry!" Ginny called, "We should have pizza at the engagement party! It's yummy."
Weasley rescued Teddy while his sister meandered toward Potter.
"You are drunk Miss Weasley," Potter teased his fiancée.
"Shhh!" she replied, "Don't tell mum."