Surprisingly, not long after she started attending his matches, he was asked by her for a few extra tickets.

"Like, for a date?" Draco checked. He didn't quite know how to feel about that.

"No," she scoffed, which eased some of the tightening in his chest. "I meant for my sister. Andromeda," she clarified quickly. "My other- she started writing shortly after your father was taken away. I thought…" she wrung her hands.

"Do you think I'm going to tell you not to talk to her?" Draco wondered. Did she really think that low of him.

She looked up at him, "It's not that. Quite frankly I'm still trying to convince myself. We didn't end things on good terms, and after everything that's happened…"

Yeah, after everything that's happened he's as surprised as she probably was that Andromeda wanted anything to do with them. "You can have the tickets. Two? Or is she bringing someone?" for security or whatever. Andromeda was married right?

Mother thought about that for a moment before deciding, "Three, just to be on the safe side. Her grandson, Teddy?" yes, he knew about Teddy. Every Death Eater still alive knew about Teddy. "He should be about two now. I'm not sure they let under fives go for free anymore."

"I'll check," he'd still get her three just in case however.

Andromeda came to the manor the night before the game. Neither his mother or Draco had really expected her. Quite frankly the door bell going at all had Draco in such a panic he was near climbing out his window before he remembered they weren't in the war anymore. What's more his mother was downstairs somewhere and he, well he didn't want to leave her on her own. So together they'd opened the door, and found a chattering two year old alongside a woman who could be Aunt Bella's twin on the other side.

"Cissy," Andromeda greeted, walking in without invitation. She handed Teddy over to Draco's mother, the toddler squinting at her as Andromeda took her coat off. "It's a little drafty in here."

"The house elves used to keep everything warm," mother said, shaking off her shock. "I thought we were meeting up tomorrow."

Andromeda sighed, her eyes raking over Draco. He swallowed down the pit of fear that climbed in his throat. This wasn't Bella. Andromeda was a good person, proven so when she said, "We were, but then you mentioned how awful your evening meals were these days and I thought it best to come over sooner. Besides," she took Teddy back, "This little one's been talking non stop about meeting his cousin. You're going to be too busy playing tomorrow to say hello so," she made a face at Teddy, the little guy giggling, his hair changing colour until it was bright blue. "Best to get the messy stuff out the way don't you think?"

He didn't quite know what to make of Andromeda, and quite frankly tried to stay out of her way the entire evening. Teddy on the other hand was much simpler. He could walk, and sort of talk, repeating the same words over and over again and expecting Draco to understand him. It was rather endearing. Especially because Teddy seemed to know who he was. Unlike with his mother, Teddy had no qualms running around Draco's feet. He even let Draco hold the little toy wolf Teddy had brought with him while the boy started laughing his way through the halls.

"You can talk to him you know," nearly scared the life out of Draco. Andromeda stared back at him, brow raised, "He understands you," she nodded to where Teddy was watching both of them avidly. "It's how they learn."

"Right."

She held her hand out to him after a while, "It's nice to meet you."

He hesitated a moment before taking it, "You too."

She gave him a sad smile, "It wasn't easy you know. Running away. It was the hardest thing I ever did."

"Right?" Was she going somewhere with this.

Apparently she was, "What I'm saying is that I very well could have been in this manor too Draco. That whole war wasn't right, but what a lot of people don't understand is how hard it is to run away. They think it's just a matter of choosing what's right. They don't know that doing so leaves us with nothing. I had nothing when I ran away from home. Ted tried, and in time it helped, but I had nothing Draco. But I was okay with having nothing. Not everyone is, and not everyone has the strength to embrace nothingness when the alternative is right in front of you."

He didn't know what to say to that. It didn't matter anyway. After a moment Andromeda clasped his shoulder, giving him one last smile before nodding to where Teddy had pulled himself up and was toddling back off down the halls.

"Make sure he doesn't get lost," she called.

Draco had never moved so fast in his life, catching up with Teddy and making sure he was alright the rest of the evening.

Dinner was marginally better now there was someone who actually knew what they were doing cooking. Mother looked happier too, her notebook full of spells Draco could see she was buzzing to try for their next meal. It was nice. Lively in a way the manor had never been. Draco put most of it down to Teddy however, since his mother and Andromeda spent most of the meal in silence. The little guy spent nearly all dinner leaning across his seat to make sure Draco had the same as he did, then babbling nonsense to Draco until Teddy managed to finesse a few more carrots onto his own plate.

They left just after, Teddy waving from his grandmother's back the whole way down the drive, his hair as light as Draco's. Draco found himself smiling even after they disappeared from sight. His mother put a hand on his arm, leading him back inside, "I think this might be good for us," she said.

Draco had to agree with her.

He didn't see them the next day. His mother told him that they thoroughly enjoyed the match, just that Teddy was getting a little fussy and, well, the after match dinners were sort of him and his mother's thing, so she didn't want to intrude. "Invite her next time anyway," he forced out. He wasn't going to stand in the way of them rekindling something between them.

Yet his mother merely swiped another finger around her wine glass muttering "Maybe."

She noticed. Andromeda had too. Both of them had noticed that Draco wasn't all too fond of her appearance. It was proven when Andromeda showed up the next time to the manor with her hair dyed. "You didn't have to," Draco sighed.

"If it makes you feel easier I don't mind," Andromeda said. "Besides, the light colour hides the grays better."

Draco showed Teddy the nursery after that, still keeping somewhat of a berth, albeit his heart didn't immediately try and jump out of his chest now he didn't see dark hair checking in on them from around the corner.

"Harry's finishing up Hogwarts," Andromeda told him over dinner that night. Told his mother since she had been the one to ask what Andromeda did with her spare time these days. "He usually comes around every week or so. Poor boy's a bit lonely. He keeps me occupied anyway. He's not been around too many young children I think. He's a little hopeless when it comes to the whole nappies and milk thing."

"Right," even to Draco's ears his mother's voice sounded a little hollow.

Andromeda didn't snap like Draco expected however, merely stating, "He is Teddy's godfather."

"It's not-"

"I know," Andromeda sighed. "But I am going to be talking about him Cissy. He's a big part of Teddy's life."

It was his mother's turn to sigh, "I know," this time.

Conversation was a little stilted after that, Draco keeping well out of it in favour of dangling a few beans Teddy's way.

They stayed a little longer this time. Long enough for Teddy to conk out on the parlour floor, his limbs splayed everywhere and hair changing colours every time he breathed. Draco, again, was sad to see him go. Sad to see them both go. The manor felt so much more welcoming with the pair of them in it. Without them, Draco quickly found his way back to his room.

It was two more games before Draco saw his first defeat. The elements were against them today, thunder shaking the grounds beneath them and lightning attempting to fell more players than the bludgers. Three reserves ended up playing. None of them were Draco, and ultimately the other team had the advantage that day.

They came off the pitch with their brooms held high however, their manager actually happy about the defeat, telling them in the locker rooms, "At least now they can't claim dark magic keeping our winning streak." Which, yeah, sort of was a bonus.

His mother still took him out afterwards, asking him, of all things, if he would like to babysit Teddy maybe one of these nights. "Oh?"

His mother pursed her lips, "It's just, Andromeda and I were thinking about going out."

"Out?" Like, out on the town? Did people his mother's age even still do that? "Are you… meeting people?" People other than his father.

"Well…" her face turned a little red, "If they happen to be in the same place then I don't see why not. But sweetheart we honestly just want to go have fun."

Which, "Okay," he could get behind. "Just tell me when."

When being the following Sunday. For a two year old Teddy came with a lot of equipment. Toys, blankets, food, baby gate that Andromeda installed in the parlour and told Draco outright that if he didn't want to hear something smashing in the manor to just keep Teddy in there.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come to yours?" he asked as Andromeda set a few books down, all of them with minimal words and lots of pictures.

"It's not that I don't trust you," Andromeda told him, "I just think it would be nice for Teddy not to be woken up by your mother and I coming in later."

Right, they were going there. That made sense.

When it came to sleeping arrangements Draco dragged another bed into his own room, Andromeda modifying it a little before checking the rest of his belongings out. It wasn't, again, that she didn't trust him. More so that she was used to the curiosity of an ever learning two year old and didn't like the look of how sharp some of Draco's possessions were.

He helped hide them in a trunk, writing the last of Andromeda's instructions down before it was just him and Teddy. Alone. In the manor.

He drew a shaky breath, turning to see Teddy with his butt high in the air trying to get his balance. He could do this.

He could do it too. Most of it. He could play with Teddy, or just sit there and let the two year old direct him in whatever narrative he was making up. He could feed Teddy from the very generous meal Andromeda had made the two of them. He could even draw a bath for Teddy, making sure the water stayed the right height. It was just the rest of it that was hard.

"Please Teddy," Draco tried, holding the tiny onesie in one hand as the other poised to strike. "I've told you these tiles are slippery. We don't want you going back to grandma with a hurt head now do we?"

Except apparently he did since Teddy bolted before Draco could think of grabbing him.

It was like trying to catch a snitch. Except the snitch was much easier to manhandle than a two year old. It was smaller, for one, and didn't kick him in the face for another. Nor did it think kicking Draco in the face was the funniest thing ever created and tried to do it again for the rest of the night when Draco finally managed to get some sort of clothing on him.

"You're a menace," Draco told him, arms crossed and staring Teddy down. The kid was standing on his bed, bouncing a little in place, eyes daring him to try and put Teddy down to sleep. "You're not even going to win yet you have that smug smile," Draco shook his head. "Just you wait. I can let you run around this whole manor but at some point you're going to pass out, and when you do, you're going to end up right where you are, right now. So," Draco hesitantly took the sheet, sliding it down, "Why don't we both call a truce and you get in? Huh?"

Teddy took one look before he fell on his face and bounced to the floor, his run around starting up again and leaving Draco very exhausted.

He was right however. Draco did win eventually. Teddy passed out, just like Draco said he would, snoring a little on Draco's trunk and, when morning came, he was in his bed. Just in time for Andromeda and Draco's mother to come home, both of them smiling even if they looked like hell.

"Fun night?" Draco guessed.

"Very," his mother kissed him on the cheek.

"Teddy was good wasn't he?" Andromeda checked.

"He was fine," Draco said, shoving his shoes on, "He's still sleeping. I didn't know if you'd want him awake or not." She gave him a surprised look before going upstairs to check on him. Draco didn't worry. The most he'd get told off for was upsetting Teddy's sleeping pattern, so he grabbed his broom and told his mother, "I'll see you tonight," waving her goodbye.

Four more games and they were officially out of the league. They'd made it to the quarter finals however, which was more than enough to celebrate. "There's always next year," Peters said. Or the other games they had lined up when the new cup started.

The good news was, now that they were out of the semi finals Draco got a few weeks off. The bad news was that he knew going back to work after such a break was going to be hell.

Still, he took to the break as best he could. That being he spent every day on his broom pretending the manor below him was actually the stadium he trained in. His mother never said anything when he came in, just like he never mentioned the things she did to pretend this wasn't where Voldemort had spent his last few years. Instead they settled into that comfortable peace they'd developed before Draco had got his life on track.

No papers, especially the prophet which Andromeda had dropped accidentally one visit proclaiming Draco was using his time off to get back into the dark arts. No talking about what was obviously bothering both of them. Just them, living.

"Andromeda wants to know if we'd like to spend Christmas eve with her," mother said one evening.

"Oh?" He'd expected something along these lines. He merely thought he'd be babysitting again while his mother and aunt went off to have fun.

"Apparently it's a quiet time. P- Potter spends it at the Weasleys."

Ah. "Okay." No uncomfortable crowds or people who would stand there and question his every move all night.

"Okay as in we're going?" his mother checked.

He nodded, stuffing another mouthful of pie in his mouth. It was considerably better than the one a few months ago.

He didn't quite know how to handle Christmas. Usually when he was invited around someone else's home that meant formal robes and standing there being showed off for half the night. Andromeda's house on the other hand, well, he wasn't quite sure what to do with that. Did he presume it was going to be formal? Would that be insulting to her? She was family after all, and, she was honestly one of the more laid back members of his family he'd ever met so would she see Draco dressing up, looking uncomfortable in her own home, an insult? Or would the opposite be true? Would coming informally when it was a formal occasion mean he was stuck there all night looking a fool.

He ended up in his mother's rooms the day beforehand, watching carefully what she chose to put out before doing the same in his own room.

When they finally turned up he didn't know what he was worried about. Andromeda didn't even look at his clothes, instead looking back over her shoulder she told him where Teddy was and dragged his mother over to the kitchen.

Andromeda's home in general was nice. Smaller than the manor. More homey because of that. There were toys strewn about the floor, Draco picking a few of them up before finding the messy culprit tossing another one out of his toy box next to him.

"One would think you were spoiled Teddy," Draco told him, accepting the grin and hug that came with being welcome in this house. "I missed you too."

It was a long day. A boring day really. He spent half of it playing nonsense games with Teddy and the other lounging on a sofa watching muggle Christmas movies. He even napped, surprised when it got dark that he'd managed to sleep more than a few hours. He liked it. The novelty of napping. Of being here in a warm room and listening to noise a few feet away that didn't make him freeze up. He liked the fact he hadn't woken when Teddy had, probably slapped since he was too young to know what gentle was, but put his cuddly owl next to Draco's head.

Which was why he resented all the more when that peace was broken by the floo acting up.

One whoosh of green and out strode Potter. Covered in soot, he didn't look that much different from the last Draco had seen him. Considering that had been at the Death Eater trials that wasn't a good thing. His hair was still hopeless, and Draco supposed he couldn't help the dirt since he had just stepped out of a fireplace, but the rest of it? The dark circles under his eyes, the gauntness to his face. He didn't look well. He didn't look well at all.

Yet he still cracked a smile when Teddy appeared from nowhere to crash into his legs, his arms looking to have some trouble lifting Teddy up as he said, "You've grown. God look at you." He planted a kiss on Teddy's cheek, "Oh, I missed you Ted."

Judging from the sloppy kiss back Teddy had as well.

Draco hoisted himself up in his seat, swinging his legs around. He knew Potter had seen him. He also knew as soon as the hello with Teddy was done he'd have something to say, and Draco didn't know what. He just didn't know what.

His hands clenched in the sofa underneath him, preparing himself for the usual onslaught of words.

Yet, "Harry!" saved him a few minutes longer as Andromeda finally poked her head around the side.

Draco's mother was with her, coming to stand behind Draco after a moment. "It's been a long day," she said, hand coming to Draco's shoulder, "I'm sure you need to put Teddy to bed soon."

Andromeda, either reading the room, or noticing how much of a bad idea it was to have them all in one place nodded, "I'll see you out then," letting go of Potter to more or less shield their way to the fireplace. "Owl me tomorrow won't you Cissy? I want to know what you think of my gift."

His mother nodded, accepting the hug when it came before more or less pushing Draco through the fire and into their home.

Their cold, empty home.

Christmas itself was alright. Draco got a new broom, courtesy of his mother, and a new contract from work meaning he definitely was coming back after this break. His mother did well for herself too. A new set of robes, a necklace and, from Andromeda, one of those muggle devices they use to talk to each other.

"We're going to have to find a way to get it to work," his mother mused, looking over the strange device like it wasn't going to spontaneously make noise.

"We're keeping it?"

Mother gave him a look, "Of course we are. Besides, this will certainly save the owl from flying in that snow."

Draco didn't like it. Mainly because he'd heard telophones before and he knew as soon as one went off he'd be a wreck. The noise was just- he didn't like it. His mother had a solution for that however, placing the damn thing in the parlour, the one she only frequented these days.

He still heard it. But unlike making him jump with its loud shrill tone all he heard was a soft chime, and most of the time he put it down to the wind blowing the wrong way. Nothing to get flustered about.

Still, it didn't have him anymore on edge whenever he was anywhere near the parlour room.