Teddy's "school" was really more of a place for parents to drop their children who were too young for Hogwarts but were already exhibiting very strong magical tendencies, and who therefore couldn't go to Muggle schools or be looked after by their overwhelmed parents. Of course they had little lessons and would read all together and that sort of thing, but there were always quite a lot of fires, literal and figurative, for their teachers to put out throughout the day, and by pickup time Harry usual waded into a sea of rowdy, knee height children who were setting off explosions and knocking down shelves that were 2 feet above their reach.
"Don't they ever get tired?" Ginny wondered as the pair pushed open the door and her head immediately began to spin. Before Harry could answer, she was brought down to her knees by a great force that seemed to come out of nowhere.
"Ginny!" Teddy cried out, wrapping his arms around her. "Where have you been?"
"Hello darling," she cooed, pushing back his hair. "I've been having adventures. But I've missed you."
"What kind of adventures?" he clamored. Over his head, Ginny could see Harry accepting Teddy's backpack and a sheath of drawings from a very tired looking witch who immediately rushed away to separate two children, younger than Teddy, who seemed to have glued themselves together at the hands.
"Maybe I'll tell you later," she said, rising and offering the boy her hand. "For now, let's take you home."
The trio Flooed back to Andromeda's house, Harry going first, followed by Teddy, who Ginny watched go with a worried eye. Sending children through the Floo always reminded her terribly of Harry's first try gone wrong, although Teddy had grown up with the system and had never stuttered once. Finally, she took a moment to compose herself as well as she could in the busy little playroom, and stepped into the fire after them.
At Andromeda's, the quiet was nearly overwhelming, although Teddy seemed to be making short work of that problem. Andy was sorting through his pictures on the kitchen counter while fondly holding him close to her, hand on his head, and Harry seemed to be trying to make sense of the jumble inside the tiny backpack. It was a sweet domestic scene, and Ginny regretted interrupting it for her selfish means.
"Hello," she peeped, making her way into the fray, and Andromeda's head snapped up. Of course she wasn't shocked to see Ginny; Harry had told her she would be coming, but the smallest flicker of some kind of pain, or longing, crossed her face.
"Hello, Ginny," she said, in a benignly pleasant kind of way. Harry, ever oblivious, noticed nothing between them. "It's really been too long."
"I know! I was just thinking of you the other day. And how is your sister faring?"
That drew a sharp look from Andromeda, and a tense smile graced Ginny's lips.
"Much better, thank you. Almost like a miracle."
"Well, I'm sure her boys must be happy."
"Draco certainly is."
The exception of Lucius's name made Ginny's heart swell, and she wanted very badly for the boys to leave the room.
"Grandma, Ginny told me she's been having adventures!" Teddy piped up, and Ginny cursed her choice of words. He would surely cling to them until he got a real story from her.
"Teddy, what is this?" Harry asked, finally withdrawing from the backpack to place a large ball made up of several different kinds of tangled string on the countertop.
Distracted, Teddy told Harry that it was a ball he had made all by himself, and he dragged the man out into the yard to show him the special game that went along with it. Harry let himself be taken, although he did mouth "Adventures?" over his shoulder at Ginny as they went.
"Adventures, hm?" Andromeda said as the patio door slammed.
"You couldn't imagine them, Andy. Not in your wildest dreams."
"You shouldn't string Harry along." Her tone was sharp; clearly Ginny's arrival in her home wasn't as welcome as she had pretended.
"I'm not trying to. I just needed to talk to you."
"About?"
Ginny was silent, biting her tongue. It hurt to say his name, or to admit that even after his betrayal, she still cared.
"Lucius," she whispered, so low that if Andy hadn't already known the answer, she wouldn't have understood.
"Oh, Lucius. Well, he seems to be quite content with helping Narcissa along."
Ginny, unsure of how to continue her line of questioning, balked.
"But you want me to tell you if he misses you. What he said about it all," Andromeda continued. Ginny nodded, staring at the pile of construction paper art.
"All he told me was that you had left. I still haven't any idea why, and I certainly don't know how he feels about it. You know he and I aren't bosom friends, and he aggressively avoided the topic whenever we were alone. So I hope you're glad to have gotten Harry all mixed up with you again just to come get one meaningless piece of information out of me."
Ginny was silent still, cursing herself for the exact reasons Andromeda outlined. Now she had gone down a rabbit hole of familiarity and family visits with Harry, and she had completely alienated Lucius to find a cure for a woman who was apparently in no need of one. She glanced up to see Harry and Teddy making their way back inside, and tried to put a glad face back on.
Having enjoyed several days of nearly normal life together, Lucius and Narcissa were sitting on the couch in his study, quietly reading the same book. She was a little slower than him, still sick despite her improvements, and he let her turn the pages. Occasionally he would whisper something sweet into her ear, and she would wriggle a bit closer. She had no idea that anything could be wrong outside their little nest, and he intended for it to always be that way, once she had made a full recovery.
After 15 minutes more, he felt her grow suddenly heavier, and soon she was no longer turning pages. It really didn't occur to him that it was strange for her to nod off so soon after waking up in the morning, and he simply enjoyed her presence and the deep, even breathing that had become so uncommon for her. As he began to be lulled into sleep himself, a heavy knock came on the front door, ringing throughout the whole house. He stirred awake and shifted Narcissa so he could stand, although he was in no hurry, sure that an elf would answer the door quickly. Indeed, moments later, as he was stretching and making sure Narcissa, still in deep sleep, was laid out comfortably, he heard the door creak open. A squeaky voice was met by two loud, thundering ones, and he could distinctly hear them say, even from such a distance, the words "Mr. Malfoy" and "Now". Fear turned suddenly inside him as he was reminded of other days, 10 and 25 years ago, when the Ministry had come calling. Lucius lurched from his place on the couch and then, cursing his stupidity, threw open his middle desk drawer. Inside was an assortment of ink and quills and little notepads, all arranged around an empty space exactly the size of the diary's box. As booted feet thundered upstairs, he went back to Narcissa, who stirred only slightly when he kissed her goodbye.
The next day, Draco went to visit his father in his cell in the Department of Mysteries. Not being a dangerous criminal, and not yet being convicted of any crimes, he was allowed to stay in slightly more comfortable quarters than Azkaban. Draco found him sitting very properly on his cot, somehow having managed to make the clothes he had come in presentable for a new day. A guard opened the door and locked it behind Draco, and then moved into a shadowy corner nearby, mostly out of sight to the Malfoys but well within earshot. The men looked at one another steadily; it wasn't the first time they had been in a situation like this.
"You're looking well. Considering," Draco said.
"I'm accustomed to it by now. I know how to get myself through the night."
"Yes, of course."
Silence. Draco wished he had his wand to fiddle with.
"Why did you do this, Draco? Why would you turn in your own father? Didn't we always teach it's family first?"
"What else could I do? I think we can save Mother. Family first." Draco was beginning to feel like a child again, reprimanded by a father who wanted the best but couldn't see past his own ideals.
"You don't think I did all that I could? That I was just leaving her to die?"
Draco looked down at his shoes, and in the quiet he could hear the guard cough. He hoped his hair was hiding his face from his father; his resolve and hard exterior were weakening.
"I don't know what you would call it," he began, eyes still down, voice choked, "maybe not "leaving her to die", but if you really cared so much for Mum, and if you truly wanted to see her get better, you wouldn't have let Ginny Weasley come and live in her house as she began to stand on her last legs."
The guard coughed again, and Lucius, also beyond a cool exterior, rocketed from his chair and snapped at him to be quiet, and stop eavesdropping.
"I'm sorry, sir," the man said, "but you have to understand it's my job."
"Of course," Lucius said, breathing heavily as his head cleared. Draco's hands were now clenched tightly together, and his back was shaking as if he might be crying. Lucius looked away from his son, and back out into the dim hall. "I apologize."
Hope you guys are still enjoying it! This isn't my favorite chapter ever, but the plot must go on.
By the by, if you want to keep up with my daily existential crises, you can follow me on Tumblr at felicityfelix :))) I'd love to get to know some of y'all!
