Day 14 of my 25 Days of Draco and Harry. This takes place between Your Song and Family Pictures. As always, you can find a link to the entire series in my Author profile.
Boxing Day, 2015
Image Inspiration: Frosted glass stag figurine
Harry finishes cleaning the table from dinner, listening to the giggles and cheers coming from the next room. Lyra's baby voice and Teddy's clear baritone mingle with Draco quiet murmurs, making Harry smile.
His family. His.
All those years he was alone, watching from the sidelines, all leading up to this.
He puts away the clean dishes, ready to join them, when it all goes quiet. As the godparent of a teenager and the still relatively new parent of a toddler, it makes him nervous.
"What's going on in there?"
Another giggle, then silence.
"Draco?"
"We're fine, Harry," comes Teddy's reply from the doorway. He's ducked his head into the kitchen and his impish grin makes Harry chuckle. "Draco wants to know if you'll bring him some tea when you come in." At Harry's reply, Teddy disappears again.
The teapot is already steeped, so Harry pours a cup and fixes it to Draco's preference. The sitting room is still quiet, though, and he begins to suspect that they were trying to stall him. He hurries to place the cup on the saucer, turns and crosses to the doorway.
And nearly gets run over.
Draco must have placed a silencing charm on the kitchen so Harry wouldn't hear the commotion because the screams of laughter cut through the air as soon as he steps into the room.
It takes a moment for his eyes to adjust to the lower light of the flickering fire and Christmas tree. Draco is sitting on the sofa watching the scene before him. Teddy is running around, his long legs keeping up with the source of the screams.
Which leaves Lyra.
Merlin. The huge stuffed reindeer that Teddy got her for Christmas has been animated. It's the size of a fifty-pound dog and is prancing around the room. And Lyra? She's on its back, arms wrapped around its neck, little legs flopping up and down as she squeals in delight.
"Daddy!" she yells as she passes him. "I ride!"
Harry doesn't know whether to panic or laugh, and he meets Draco's eyes. Before he can open his mouth, Draco holds up a hand, stopping him and drawing him over to sit down.
"I cast a sticking charm and shields around the room, and there's a cushioning charm on the floor. There's not really anything she can crash into, and Teddy's pretty much got her."
"Did you do this?" Harry asks, surprised, as he hands Draco his tea. Draco is generally the overprotective parent.
Draco rolls his eyes. "Hardly. She did it herself. I cancelled it twice, and she kept at it. I figured I could take it away or make it safe." He shrugs. "Teddy gave me that look, so I couldn't bring myself to take it away."
Teddy laughs from across the room, and Harry's heart pangs briefly at how much the teenager looks like Remus these days. "I can't help if my gift is her favourite."
Harry watches his daughter, her blonde curls bouncing, riding the reindeer Teddy's already told her is named Prongs. He shakes his head. "She's not even two."
"Mmm," Draco agrees. "I blame it on you. I was a placid child."
Harry bursts out laughing. "Right. And that look she gets when she gets into trouble isn't you at all."
"Look?" Draco asks innocently.
"That one right there. The one where you're proud of the trouble you just created and are waiting for everyone to admire it."
"Yes, well," Draco says, chuckling, then watches their daughter. "You may have a point. It's hard not to be proud of this trouble, though."
Harry smiles and takes his hand. "True enough." He stifles a yawn. "Think she'll fall asleep soon? I'm exhausted."
"Let's let Teddy watch her and take a nap."
Harry leans his head onto Draco's shoulder and closes his eyes. "Genius."
"Yup," Draco says quietly, and Harry sighs.
His family. His.
A/N: Fun fact: Toddlers are chaos on legs.
14 Down, 11 to go. And since yesterday, I've changed my 30% holiday shopping completion rate to about 90%! Thank goodness for online shopping. See you tomorrow!