Sorry about the late update you guys. It has been a very busy week. Just a reminder that I own nothing. All characters, settings, and really anything recognizable belongs to J. K. Rowling. Thanks for the reviews!
- It is currently Thursday in the story. Saturday Harry will meet up with Ginny and maybe meet her girlfriend. Sunday is the big dinner that Harry needs a date for.
Harry was careful not to wake Teddy immediately when he woke the next morning. He showered and dressed for work before he prepared breakfast for Teddy. Luna would be taking care of him that day. Once breakfast was made Harry walked back to his room to wake Teddy. Teddy was not in his room so Harry checked Teddy's room. He found Teddy giving the animals treats sleepily. He was still in his pajamas. Harry leaned against the doorframe and watched his godson for a few minutes. He walked around the room feeding, petting, and talking gently to the various creatures.
"Morning Teddy. Would you like some breakfast?" Harry greeted Teddy with a warm hug. Teddy rubbed his eyes and nodded sleepily. Harry finished feeding the creatures while Teddy ate. He placed a weasley jumper and Teddy's favorite pants. Despite Andromeda's objections, Harry still bought Teddy muggle clothes. Harry walked back in the kitchen and had some toast while Teddy finished what was on his plate. For a six year old he had an appetite.
Once, Teddy was dressed Harry walked with him to the coffee shop before dropping him off at Luna's. Harry was used to people looking his direction and often learned how to ignore it. Teddy was still young. He hid halfway behind one of Harry's legs. He tugged on Harry's sleave.
"Hawyy. Why are they looking at me?" Teddy whispered up at Harry. Harry smiled and knelt down to be eye level with Teddy. With a glance around the room he than noticed the intrigued looks from the customers.
"They love your hair. It is so amazing they ca not keep their eyes off you. You and your perfect smile," Harry assured. He stood back up and held Teddy's hand. The line moved up. Teddy looked happy. He smiled proud of his hair.
"Really?" he asked. Harry nodded to assure him. When they got to the front of the line he ordered a coffee for him and a hot cocoa for Teddy. As they were walking out Malfoy was walking in.
"Potter," he greeted. Harry looked up from watching Teddy. He did not want him to burn his tongue.
"Malfoy," Harry nodded back. They had been a bit more civil towards each other in the past two days. More than they ever had. Malfoy looked down at Teddy. His hair went from a dark brown to a blonde when he looked up Draco.
"Draco!" Teddy said as he hugged Draco's leg. In the process he spilt his hot cocoa. Harry looked at Malfoy confused. He had not known his godson had met Malfoy. Malfoy looked at Potter and realized this by the look in his face.
"Andromeda sometimes bring's him to visit when she is looking after him. I am related to him you know," he explained. Harry nodded in response. He mentally questioned who else Andromeda had let Teddy visit without Harry's knowledge. Draco muttered a cleaning spell that got rid of the cocoa that had been on his pants leg. He tosseld Teddy's hair tentatively. The kid sometimes still made him nervous. Andromeda had insisted that Draco got along fine with Teddy, but Draco always worried he did the wrong things around him. Teddy stepped back and grabbed Harry's hand. He looked up at Harry with sad eyes.
"My cocoa," he whispered up at him. He looked like he might start to cry.
"Don't worry I'll get you another," Harry assured. The three of them than stepped into the coffee shop. Teddy now happy began to babble.
"I'm going to Auntie Luna's today! She always has a new magical creature or plant! I get to go on secret missions with her and Uncle Neville sometimes. We explore jungles, sometimes bugs bite me and Auntie has to put cream on my legs. I often want to keep the things we find, but Hawy says I can not have any more creatures in my room," Teddy lowered his voice. "He is even going to teach me to speak Parseltongue so I can talk to Virgil," he informed Draco. Harry smiled at his excited godson. Malfoy nodded along trying to act as enthused as Teddy.
Once the line moved up Draco ordered his drink and a replacement hot cocoa.
"You did not have to do that," Harry whispered to Malfoy. He just shrugged. He was Teddy's first cousin once removed. He did not have much family left. So what little he had, he had to take care of. He had stepped into the shoes for being the Malfoy male figure. His mother, Andromeda, and Teddy was all he had left. Teddy held the cup in his right hand to try and mimick the two men standing beside him. Harry looked down at Teddy. "What do you say?" he asked. Teddy looked up at Draco.
"Thank you!" His hair changed colors again from a blonde to a dark purple. Harry took his hand and led them out the door. Malfoy followed. He was on his way to work anyway.
"I'll see you at work Malfoy, I have to take Teddy to Luna's." He nodded and Teddy waved gleefully.
"See you," he waved hesitantly back at Teddy. Once, the two of them were down the road Draco apperated to his office.
Once, they were down the road Teddy looked up at Harry to ask him a question. "Why do you call him Malfoy?" he asked puzzled. Harry was surprised by Teddy's question. He had always called him Malfoy. Well because... because... he always acted like a Malfoy.. his actions, words, clothes were always connected to the name. Malfoy had never not called him Potter. They had been school rivals and during the war they were on opposite sides. He had never thought of calling him Draco. The name felt foreign on his tongue. It was just what they did... called each other by their last names for as long as Harry could remember. Teddy stared at Harry, waiting for an answer.
"I'll have to get back to you on that," Harry replied truthfully. He did not know how to answer his question. Teddy did not press the matter instead he tried to convince Harry that he really needed one of the new creatures Luna had discovered. Harry politely told Teddy no. If Luna had just discovered the creature there was much to learn about it before it could even be considered for being a pet in Harry's flat.
After they walked a few more blocks they came to Luna's home. It had been enchanted to look like a cottage. Before Harry could even knock on the door Luna opened it gracefully.
"Harry, Teddy It is lovely to see you two. Please come in," Luna greeted happily. Her house was very... unique. She had animals and trinkets everywhere. Quibblers and books were scattered about. Paintings and odd objects hung on the walls and above the mantle. After a quick hug Teddy immediately went to his toy chest and began playing. Harry followed Luna to the kitchen. Harry kindly refused her tea. It was worse then her fathers was back when the 'Golden Trio' had been on the run. The house was large, but it felt cozy. Luna had her own art room and a large room where she studied her creatures. Neville had his own greenhouse in the back lawn and his study. They had a spare room they used for Teddy. Upstairs was their bedroom and an on-suite. The back lawn also had a medium pool, that they shared with some of the magical creature and many sculptures Luna had created.
Harry and Luna sat at the kitchen table and talked for a while. It was always nice catching up on each others life. Luna told Harry about her recent excavation and Neville's job offer. He had been given the opportunity to become the new Herbology teacher at Hogwarts.
"We are considering it, but are not sure yet. I love his company on my trips and his knowledge of plants has been most helpful. I know that he would love being at Hogwarts again though and I do not want to force him to stay here. We still have some things we have to talk about before we decide." Luna could be very blunt. Harry told her about his encountering with Mafloy. Luna smiled. "I think you should bring him to dinner Sunday. I am certain he would say yes if you asked him." Harry gaped at her. Had she gone crazy?! Malfoy would never say yes to Harry. He hated him.. right? Plus it would be at the Burrow with mostly Gruffindors that Malfoy had a bad past with. The Weasley's would throw a fit. Luna must be mad. Harry shook his head. He could go dateless before he would ask Malfoy to do such a crazy thing.
"I should get going, I don't want to be late for work," Harry said. Luna smiled. She knew that Harry had feelings for Draco. Harry seemed oblivious to them, but Luna was not. She also felt that Draco secretly liked Harry too. They both were just to scared of rejection. They just needed a little push.
"Just think about it Harry. I think you will be surprised." She stood and hugged him. Harry said goodbye to Teddy before he apperated to work.
Luna retrieved a parchment and wrote her daily letter to Draco. It was labeled anonymously and she left no return address. She had become friends with him after the war. They kept it on the down low, not becuase Luna minded, but because Draco was scared the Weasley's would skin him if they knew. Luna smiled and as she intructed her owl to put the letter with Harry's "files." If the two men would not start willingly meet without excuses, she would just have to continue giving them excuses to meet.
...
When Draco apperated to his office he began his work. He felt happier then usual and he was not sure quite why. He started to make the calls on the list Sally had left for him. Sally came into his office not long after and waited patiently as Draco finished his current call. She watched him get amminated and slightly exasperated with whomever he was speaking to. One thing stood out to her though. He had a small smile layed across his face that she had only seen a few times. Once he was done she handed him a stack of papers.
"Morning Mr. Malfoy. Do my eyes deceive me or do you actually look happy to me?" she asked. Draco gave her a pointed look and tried to glare. She laughed at his attempt because it had only made his smile bigger. "Let me guess... hmm.. Did you run into green eyes this morning?" she asked. Draco rolled his eyes. She was so insistent on this. His lack of an emmidate denial confirmed her question. "You know," she continued "you have seemed much more happy these past two days then you've been in a while. That could not have anything to do with green eyes visiting you could it?" she pressed.
"Stop calling him "Green Eyes." You know his name. I do not know what you are implying. I have been the same these past two days as any other day I have worked here," he retorted. He unconsciously crossed his arms over his chest and lifted his chin. Sally shook her head at his response.
"You know darn well that is not true," she said simply. He gave her an annoyed look. She was right, but he was not about to admit it.
"Was there something else you needed?" he asked instead of responding to her comment. She sat on the edge on his desk. She ignored the glare he gave her and focused on her freshly manicured nails.
"I was just wondering if he would be in again today, day three must be a charm."
"Get off my desk and go do something. I doubt Potter will be back today and I have work to do. You should focus on yours instead of his dreamy eyes," he snarled at her. She had started to get on his nerves. She stood and walked towards the door.
"You said doubt not a no, so I will take it as a yes. You also said he had dreamy eyes, your words not mine. I think you like looking at him just as much as me, but I will leave you to you work Mr. Malfoy." She stepped out the door before Draco could have the final word. Again! Draco sighed and slumped in his chair. He really had said dreamy hadn't he. Ugh! Draco did doubt Potter would come again that day, but deep down he had a hope that he would.
...
Harry apperated to his office and stared down at the stacks of papers on his desk. He first focused on the now completed files Ron had left. He worked on the new case until he could not stay focused. Teddy's question kept coming back to him. Why had Harry and Malfoy never called each other by their first names. The war was over. The past was the past and Malfoy seemed to be different. They had been mostly civil. There of course had been plenty of jabs at each other just over the past two days. Harry was sure he would have another fight with Malfoy maybe even a duel in the future, that seemed inevitable. The way they had been interacting though had been as if they had truly made an effort to leave the past in the past.
Harry sighed. He sorted the second pile of papers. He secretly hoped there would be a letter on the bottom so he would have an excuse to see Malfoy. Until two days ago he had not realized how he had actually missed his interactions with Malfoy.
They had always managed to get each others attention one way or another at Hogwarts. Then after the war, Harry had seen very little of Malfoy in six years. He had not realized how much of his time at Hogwarts had been spent arguing with Malfoy or trying to decipher his secret plans. It had been surprisingly pleasent yesterday to just talk to Malfoy without hexes being thrown at each other. When Harry reached the bottom of the stack he found a letter addressed to Draco Malfoy. Harry pocketed the letter and made his way to his door. After tommorrow if he still found letters he would track down the source and straighten out the matter. Malfoy probably did not like Harry coming to his office so much. As he walked towards Malfoy's office he thought about what Luna said. She was mad to think Malfoy and him would be caught together as dates to the Burrow. That was just mad... right?
...
Draco had made most of the phone calls on his list and had started to sort through the papers Sally had left on his desk. It was now almost two in the afternoon. Draco really began to doubt Potter would show. He tried to take his mind off of Potter's absence by diving back into work. It did not work too well. Why am I thinking about this so much? he asked himself. When he was about to take a break from work and head to lunch he heard a knock on his door. He knew it must be Potter because Sally never knocked.
"Come in," he called. Potter stepped into his office. His hair was a mess and his robes did not match his outfit at all.
"I found another letter," Potter handed it to Malfoy. Malfoy took it and tried to hide a smile. He was secretly happy Potter had come.
"I am starting to think that you are just stealing my mail to see me," Malfoy smirked. He tried to make light of the situation. Potter blushed.
"I.. erm.. I don't know why they keep ending up with my files. If you don't mind me asking.. who are they from?" Potter asked. He scratched the back of his neck. Doing so his shirt rose a little and Malfoy got a glimpse at Potters toned abdomen. He had to bite his lip. He would never admit to anyone that he liked what he saw. Once he had registered Potter's question, it was his turn to blush. He knew that the letter was from Luna. It had been his request to keep them anonymous.
"Just a friend... she likes to stay quiet with me being ex-death eater and all," Malfoy responded thinking on his toes. Potter nodded. He was more curious about who this she was that kept writing Malfoy. Potter glanced around the room. He did not want to leave, but did not know what else to say to keep the conversation going. Malfoy felt his stomach growl. He decided to act like he had Gryffindor courage. "Would you like to go for lunch?" he asked Potter. He tapped his toes with anticipation for Potter's rejection. He was pleasently surprised when it did not come.
"Yeah.. okay," Potter nodded. His shoulders relaxed some. Malfoy had asked him if he wanted to go for lunch. His stomach did a a little flip, much to Harry's annoyance. I am just hungry. That is all. That is the only reason my stomach feels weird, he told himself. Malfoy grabbed his robes and marked his office door with "out for lunch."
"I'll choose the pub this time Potter," Malfoy said as they started to walk out of the Ministry. Malfoy had to suppress the urge to smile as Potter nodded happily to his suggestion.