Chapter 23
After three years, Draco had changed but the castle had not.
Andromeda, Draco and Teddy traveled there together in a carriage much finer than anything the king had ever taken to visit them. A second carriage held Teddy’s nursemaid and Andromeda’s lady’s maid. They were escorted by members of the king’s guard, led by Ronald Weasley. It was a whole affair that Draco imagined he would have enjoyed in his previous life. As it was, he watched out the carriage window as the castle grew larger at their approach. Draco felt only an ominous unease at returning.
They led Draco through the castle like he didn’t know the way. Draco supposed as far as they knew he didn’t. Most of the grand paintings on the wall were just as Draco remembered, with only the occasional undesirable portrait having been replaced. Draco marveled at the furniture inside the suite of rooms where Andromeda and Teddy were to stay. He reached out to touch the tall post on the canopy bed. Draco supposed that just because there was an insurrection didn’t mean there was a reason to replace the furniture.
“Come on, Edward,” Draco said as he climbed onto a bed he had slept in as a child. “Let’s see if the mattress meets your standards.” Teddy eagerly climbed up behind him and they both plopped onto the bed to stare up at the canopy cover. Draco abandoned the effort before he could grow nostalgic. He distracted himself by turning over and attacking Teddy with tickles until Teddy crawled away and all but fell off the bed. Draco chased him around the rooms his own mother never let him run in, letting Teddy’s laughter chase all dark memories away.
Draco braved the canopy bed later that evening when it was time for Teddy to go to bed. He read Teddy extra books and gave him extra kisses so that the little boy wouldn’t be so scared to sleep somewhere new. Then Draco laid in the darkness next to Teddy until the boy’s breathing evened out in sleep.
Every step was heavy when Draco trodged out of Teddy’s chamber and into the living room at the center of the suite.
“Join me for dinner,” Andromeda said when he walked in, gesturing to an open seat at the small table she sat at. Draco was starving and accepted the offer with thanks. Andromeda watched her nephew for a long while. He ate slow and neat, staring hard at the table cloth and nothing else. Andromeda paused between bites to share, “It’ll get easier.” Draco glanced up at her quizzically. “Returning to somewhere you’ve moved on from,” she explained.
Draco thought a moment. He supposed if anyone would know it would be his aunt.
The next morning was harsh with sunlight. Draco was roused from his bed by servants he did not recognize. They drew him a hot bath and left him with fragrant soap to scrub himself clean. Once out of the bath, a servant waited for Draco to act as his valet. Draco was instructed to stand still as the man dressed him in the elaborate outfit the king had provided. The waistcoat and breeches were a dark red, with elaborate vector floral embroidery running up Draco’s chest. The coat he wore had a gray checkered print and bold red buttons. They dressed him in silk stockings and dark leather shoes with a shiny buckle. They were fine clothes, but Draco felt stiff wearing them. Draco admired his reflection and couldn’t find a single fault to the outfit, other than to compare it to Draco’s own more joyful, if less refined, experiments which he strongly preferred. His father would be horrified at his preferences. Draco shook his head to dispose of that comparison.
In any case, it would have been impossible to visit in an outfit Draco made for himself. His appearance would reflect on the king and he knew his own proficiency fell far below that of the tailor who created the clothes he wore now. Draco was experienced enough to see how much talent went into the stitches in every seam. Draco ran his hand over the embroidery on his chest. It was extraordinary. He tilted his head and wondered what he could create if he asked someone to teach him the skill.
Draco shook away his musings. Today was about Teddy.
They had dressed the boy up more elaborate than even Draco. They’d made him a full dress suit, in gold and cream colors. The textiles of the coat were intricate weaved patterns. Red and gold thread was used to embroider features in small detail. Draco peered closely to see small lions and phoenixes hiding between the lilies. An outfit fit for a prince. Draco quirked his lips as he watched the nurse maid attempt to add a cravat to the ensemble. It was a step too far for the child.
“Edward, come quick! I need your help,” Draco called out to interrupt before it turned into a full blown fit. Teddy wrangled away from his nurse and ran for Draco, who was already kneeling down to his level. Draco held out two cravats he’d pulled from his servant’s hand, both a part of Draco’s new wardrobe courtesy of the king. “One day you’ll be king, so I know you’ll make a wise decision. Which one of these shall I wear today?”
Teddy’s face lit up at the choices. One was pink and the other was silver gray. Teddy picked out the pink one. “I want to wear it!” he said.
Draco’s lips quirked up. “Certainly, Edward, but not until we get a snack.” Draco handed the silver cravat back to the servant and let the servant put it on him while the nursemaid managed to give Teddy a snack without ruining his fancy new clothes. After eating a handful of crackers Teddy agreed to finish getting dressed.
Draco had to smile at the costumed boy. It was a ridiculous and silly sight. If only the effort was for so lighthearted a purpose.
A sillier sight was the king himself walking in, dressed head to toe in garb as fine as Teddy’s. King Harry, who wore casual trousers and or a soldier’s training outfit around his family and the most basic suit or homey sweater to masquerade balls, looked out of place wearing a richly embroidered coat with puffy sleeves sticking out at the wrists.
Not that he looked bad. Not that Draco was looking. But, if Draco were to look, he’d admire the fit of the waistcoat over the king’s broad chest and how the silk leggings connected at the knee to his breeches showed off his toned calves. Draco also might admire that instead of preserving the fine clothing, the king eagerly dipped down and picked up a squirming Teddy. Draco’s father wouldn’t have approved of that, either. Draco looked into the distance to distract himself from the perceived judgements of his father and did not see the king most definitely looking back at Draco.
It was Andromeda that restored decorum. She arrived in a refined and understated ball gown and gently chided Harry for riling Teddy up, only she was smiling and no one was put out. The king put Teddy down and let Andromeda straighten out the clothing he mussed until she was satisfied. Then the king straightened to attention and led the party out of the room as if they were going into battle.
Draco tagged behind the trio. They’d offered him no instruction on his role or expectation for what was ahead of him. Draco wondered if it was because they had faith in his abilities, or if they’d simply forgotten to consider his needs. Perhaps a mixed bag between the two adults.
Draco followed them right up to what he knew was a doorway that would open to a grand staircase leading down into a reception hall. Servants stood at the ready to fling the doors wide open and announce the king. It was one of them that stepped out to address Draco.
“Sir, you must turn round and go through the east entrance,” the servant said.
Draco smiled thinly. It made more sense he would not enter with the king. Honestly, King Harry should have told him as much back at the turn towards the east hallway. It’s just that Draco knew that for a proper introduction he would enter from the north. He was being hidden away.
“It’s fine, Wallace,” King Harry said unexpectedly.
The servant, Wallace, pursed his lips. “Etiquette dictates he not enter with the royal family.”
King Harry shrugged, nonchalantly trying to stuff large hands into decorative pockets before he remembered his impractical outfit and gave up. “This is going to be enough of a circus without over complicating things. Let’s just let him in.” Wallace made a noise that wasn’t quite a squeak. The king turned his long suffering look on Draco, begging for sympathy for having to put up with court practices.
It pained him to do so, but Draco took Wallace’s side. “The east entrance isn’t far, we’ll meet up inside,” he offered.
The king’s face fell before he scowled at Draco’s betrayal. “We’ll be swarmed as soon as we enter, you’ll never get to us. What good are you to Teddy then?”
The boy in question was looking at all the upset grownups with apprehension. “Draco, you can come to our party,” he said.
Draco dropped down to his knee again to talk directly to Teddy. He started with a big smile to show Teddy he wasn’t upset. “Sometimes there are rules here in the castle. And I promise I’ll help teach you all of them, so you can teach King Harry,” that part might have been a bit snide, but Teddy didn’t catch it. “This is a special party for you and your godfather. One of the special rules is that you two get to walk down a big staircase all by yourselves. At the bottom will be all sorts of new friends, and I’ll be there, too.”
Teddy was still nibbling on his lower lip nervously.
“Draco, just come in with us. It’ll hardly be the worst faux pas I make today,” the king snapped.
Draco waited until he turned far enough that Teddy couldn’t see his expression before he glared daggers. “Your majesty, would you kindly calm down before you upset your godson. Now’s not the time for arguing.”
This time the king turned his long suffering look to everyone else, begging for sympathy for having to deal with Draco. He got blank stairs and turned his ire back to the younger man. “I’m the king. You’re the one who should stop arguing with me!”
“Children,” Andromeda scolded, in a tone that could as easily have been Draco’s mother’s. Draco shut his mouth before he had a chance to find words to respond with. The king sullenly kept his mouth closed. “There is a simple solution, if either of you reign yourselves in long enough to hear it.” Draco tried not to look petulant at the scolding, but King Harry had more sense and was sheepish over his actions. Andromeda nodded at both men’s choices. Then she turned to Wallace and said in a tone that brooked no debate, “The royal heir’s cousin will be escorting me this morning. We are the last of Teddy’s family and you will acknowledge us as such.”
Draco’s face burned as the servants snuck glances at him. His blush didn’t fade as his aunt took her place on his arm, a respectable distance from King Harry and Teddy. Draco’s stomach flip flopped as he realized what was about to happen. He hoped desperately Teddy didn’t have half his nerves.
Draco leaned over just before they were announced. “You really shouldn’t have done that,” he said to Andromeda.
Andromeda patted his arm comfortingly. “If we were trying to hide you we would have left you back at Grimmauld Place,” she said in her easy way of using facts to reassure. A dark cloud crossed her face before she added. “Don’t be concerned. Your presence won’t reflect poorly on Teddy. I dare say, a Malfoy at his side may be just what he needs to handle the snakes awaiting us.”
There was no chance to ask what she meant. The doors were thrown open wide, and King Harry hefted Teddy up back into his arms and strode forward to introduce his godson to the most powerful nobles in the court.