Harry
and if you ask me to,
daddy’s gonna buy you a mockingbird
imma give you the world
imma buy a diamond ring for you
imma sing for you
i’ll do anything for you to see you smile
Draco
and if that mockingbird don’t sing and that ring don’t shine
imma break that birdie’s neck
i’ll go back to the jeweler to sold it to you
and make him eat every carat don’t fuck with dad
━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━◦○◦━
Teddy Lupin was conflicted about his weekly Saturday night dinner with his godfather, and it all began a few months ago when he met Harry’s boyfriend for the first time.
To be clear, Teddy adored Harry Potter. He was always very approachable in his tracksuit bottoms, perpetually messy black hair, and glasses that sometimes lay slightly crooked on his nose. When Teddy had been just a toddler, he had vivid memories of Harry tossing him into the air and catching him again, sending Teddy into peals of delighted laughter.
He remembered Harry attempting to bake cookies and then smiling sheepishly as he flapped a towel around in front of an open window to expel the room of thick black smoke that filled the room. He'd send Teddy off to watch cartoons on the television in the living room, and magically, Harry would produce perfect chocolate-chip cookies after a few minutes had passed. Later, Teddy learned that Harry always had a store-bought batch of cookies tucked away in one of the higher cabinets that Teddy couldn’t reach, but attempted his hand at homemade cookies every single week without fail, hopeful that one day he would be successful.
Teddy also knew that Harry was a very important man.
Although he’d never really known his parents, his grandmother had answered his curious questions by informing him as gently as she could that both of her parents had been very brave people who passed away fighting in the war that took place when he was just a baby. Remus Lupin, his father, had been one of Harry’s professors and Harry’s father’s friend. Nymphadora Tonks, his mother, had been a Metamorphagus just like he was. Teddy was very proud of having such courageous parents, but at such a young age, his true hero was Harry, who had played a vital role in winning the war that his parents had died fighting in.
Teddy was very much in awe of the fact that his sweet, funny godfather who read him storybooks out loud and bought him his very first broom was such an important person in the wizarding world. (The broom only rose a few inches off the ground but Teddy took delight in it and constantly whizzed around on it.)
Teddy was also fond of his godfather’s friends, Ron and Hermione. Teddy found Ron unbearably cool, and insisted on wearing his hair bright red for an entire week once. Ron took a special shine to Teddy, despite his initial assumption that he wouldn’t like children very much, and laughed uproariously when he chased around Hermione’s cranky cat, Crookshanks. Hermione frowned in disapproval but as long as he wasn’t doing any real harm, she didn’t seem to mind too much.
It took Teddy longer to warm up to Hermione, who often put her foot down on all sorts of fun ideas that Harry and Ron came up with, but she often helped him with his homework and was so patient with him that Teddy declared that he no longer wanted to attend school but be homeschooled by his Aunt ‘Mione. Hermione turned a little pink in the face at the compliment and from that point forth was prone to slipping Teddy little baked treats and brought him all her favourite books that she read at his age.
Teddy didn’t remember much of Ginny Weasley from back when she and Harry used to date. He had been just two years old when they broke up, and the only time they mentioned it at all was when it was brought up in a joking conversation. Harry and Ginny were on good terms after the breakup and often joined them for dinners and brunches whenever it was possible. Despite not seeing as much of her as Harry’s other friends, Teddy liked Ginny very much. She was different from Hermione, more like a cool aunt whereas Hermione felt closer to something like a mother. Ginny was often the one to cook up the wildest plans and Hermione seemed to let her get away with it more than the men, so if Teddy stuck close to Ginny, he was bound to be in for a fun night.
Harry’s other friends, who occasionally joined them, Teddy was accustomed to. Ginny’s girlfriend, Luna, was soft and pretty and she told funny stories that Teddy appreciated, and Neville was a little awkward at first but he was gentle and kind and Teddy found the way Neville turned bright red whenever the rest brought up the mishaps he’d gotten himself into during their days at Hogwarts absolutely hilarious.
Really, there was no one that Teddy disliked among Harry’s friends.
That is, until Teddy ran inside one day after his grandmother dropped him off for the weekend and burst through the door, ready to jump on the sofa and turn on his favourite cartoon on TV when he stopped short as he realised there was someone already sitting on the sofa who he didn’t recognize.
Harry hurried out into the living room at the commotion, and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly when he realised that he’d been a moment too late. Teddy was staring up at the tall, pale man dressed impeccably in a dark suit sitting poised on the sofa with a cup of black coffee in his hand and peering down at him over a pair of reading glasses. A newspaper was open on his lap and his platinum blonde hair was stylishly slicked back, although the late time of day made it so that a few strands were beginning to escape and fall into his face.
“Teddy, hi.” Harry opened his arms for a hug. Teddy ignored him, still staring at the intimidating stranger who was sitting in his spot. The man didn’t even blink but he set his coffee cup down and folded the newspaper.
“Draco.” Harry hissed. The man blinked and looked over at Harry, who was gesturing frantically in Teddy’s direction.
“Oh, sorry.” He turned his head to look at Teddy again and took off his glasses. His grey eyes seemed all the more unnerving without them. “Hello, you must be Teddy. I’ve heard so much about you. I’m Draco Malfoy, Harry’s-”
Draco paused, and looked back at Harry as if he were asking for permission. Harry sighed and nodded. He’d wanted to introduce them properly but he figured the cat was out of the bag.
“Harry’s boyfriend.” Draco finished, then smiled at Teddy.
And just like that, Teddy wasn’t so sure he wanted to come to Harry’s house every weekend anymore.
On that first day, Teddy didn’t say anything in response to Harry’s boyfriend’s introduction, glancing uncertainly at his godfather for support. When it became clear that Teddy had no intention of saying something any time soon, Draco stood up smoothly, tucking the paper under his arm, and excused himself. He disappeared up the stairs to where Teddy knew Harry’s room was, which was normally off limits, even to some of his friends. Teddy couldn’t let this strange man go up into his beloved godfather’s special space, but when he turned, alarmed, to Harry, he didn’t seem to have noticed.
“You’re not allowed to go up there.” Teddy spoke up at last, just as Draco was about to climb the final step. Draco slowed to a halt and Harry stared at Teddy, wide-eyed, but Teddy was glaring at Draco in determination, who raised his eyebrows a little in amusement.
“Why not?” Draco asked, and his tone was pleasant enough, but Teddy still didn’t like it.
“‘Cause.” Teddy put his hands on his hips stubbornly. “That’s Harry’s room.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realise.”
Draco was smiling now, leaning back against the wall with his arms crossed. He looked deliberately at Harry.
“Would you mind if I borrowed your room for a moment, Potter?”
“No, go ahead.” Harry coughed. Teddy glanced a worried look in Harry’s direction. Surely he wasn’t getting sick?
“So kind of you.” Draco grinned, humour still laced in his words, and disappeared upstairs before Teddy could protest.
“Harry!” Teddy exclaimed indignantly. He couldn’t believe Harry had allowed Draco up in his room, just like that. Harry just put his hands on Teddy’s shoulders and steered him in the direction of the sofa.
“C’mon, Ted, watch TV for a bit while I go talk to Draco, yeah?”
Teddy was stunned.
Harry would often allow Teddy to watch his cartoons for a while before dinner, but he usually sat down on the sofa to watch with him. His friends never really arrived until it was time to eat, so they always had those precious few hours together before Teddy had to share him with everyone. Of course, the days when they didn’t have any guests were his favourite, but that was quite rare. His godfather seemed to be quite popular, and Teddy was willing to understand that, but now he was simply outraged.
“Be back in a minute.” Harry ruffled Teddy’s dark blue hair and left him there on the couch to take the stairs two at a time.
Teddy glared at the screen in front of him, unable to concentrate as he wondered what this meant for him. He was going to Hogwarts when he turned eleven, which was a very long way away, which meant he wanted to spend every second he could with Harry. But would Harry always be so preoccupied with his boyfriend whenever Teddy came to visit from now on? What if they got married and had children of their own? Would Teddy be pushed to the side? Teddy couldn’t bear to think of it.
As promised, Harry returned quickly in the space of fifteen minutes, but unfortunately, he was accompanied by Draco, who was now dressed more comfortably in a dark green sweater and pyjama bottoms that Teddy recognised as one of Harry’s.
Teddy quickly looked back at the TV and pretended not to notice the pair of them laughing as they descended the stairs.
“Are any other people coming today?” Teddy questioned when Harry sat down cheerfully next to Teddy and Draco took a seat on Harry’s other side.
“Yeah, Ron and Hermione are coming over. They’ve missed you a lot, you know.”
“They are?” Teddy perked up instantly. “I haven’t seen them in ages.”
“Really?” Draco muttered to Harry. “How can anyone be that excited to see Ron?”
“Shut up.” Harry elbowed Draco hard. “Play nice.”
Draco rolled his eyes and nodded sarcastically.
“Yes, yes, of course, be nice to the weasel.”
Harry shot him a reproachful look, to which Draco just shrugged innocently.
"What does he mean, weasel?" Teddy tugged at Harry's sleeve in confusion.
“Oh, nothing. He's just being mean.” Harry glared at his boyfriend, who continued grinning in a way that rubbed Teddy entirely the wrong way. "You're not going to keep up with that at dinner, are you?"
“Of course not, darling.” Draco reassured Harry, slinging a casual arm around Harry, who huffed but leaned into Draco all the same.
Teddy crossed his arms and pouted. This conversation didn’t include him at all, and he didn’t like it one bit. Besides, he'd wanted to curl up next to Harry for the rest of the cartoon but he got the feeling he'd be disturbing them somehow by doing so. It was entirely unfair, and Teddy didn't say another word until the other guests arrived out of protest.
The actual dinner was a little better.
Hermione and Ron appeared armed with presents and made a big fuss over Teddy, asking him how he’d been and whether he was doing well at school. While Teddy was distracted opening his gifts, Ron clapped a hand on Harry’s back and said hello to Draco, while Hermione hugged Harry and shook hands with Draco in turn. Ron and Harry disappeared into the kitchen to chat while they finished up preparations for dinner and Draco and Hermione talked back and forth sitting on the couch as they kept an eye on Teddy.
During dinner, Teddy found out that in their Hogwarts days, Draco had not gotten along with Harry, Ron, and Hermione at all. Ron was particularly enthusiastic about explaining to Teddy all the fight’s they’d gotten into, and gave a theatrical re-enactment of his reaction when he found out that Harry and Draco were going out.
“I thought I’d never get used to it, but four months really helps you get over anything.” Ron finished as he took a sip of his drink. Draco rolled his eyes at him.
“I’m not particularly fond of you either, Ron, believe me.” He pointed accusingly at the wine Ron had selected to bring over. “I mean, really? Red wine with fish? As classy as ever, I see.”
“Oh, shut up, Malfoy.” Ron rolled his eyes good naturedly. “We get it, you’re posh. Can we move on?”
Although the dinner hadn’t been as terrible as he initially thought it would be, with all the adults in the room careful to include Teddy in conversation as much as possible so he didn’t feel left out, he couldn’t see himself growing fond of Draco at all. Despite the easy way he conversed with everyone, Teddy didn’t expect to have anything in common with him, and it made him a little scared whenever Draco gave Teddy his undivided attention.
As a result, Teddy hoped that this would be a one-time thing, and for a while, it appeared like his wishes came true.
The next week, Teddy got Harry all to himself, and when he plucked up the courage to ask about Draco, Harry explained that he’d just wanted to introduce Draco to him, and if Teddy didn’t like him very much yet, it was perfectly alright and that he wasn’t going to force them to become friends.
“After all, I clearly didn’t like him much when we first met, so I don’t blame you for not being crazy over him right away.” Harry smiled fondly. “Don’t tell him I said this but it takes a while to warm up to him.”
Just like that, the problem was solved.
Draco was there occasionally, and every time he was there he clearly made an effort to make Teddy more comfortable around him. Harry even somehow managed to force him to wear one of his T-shirts and walk around barefoot so he didn’t seem so intimidating, and got him to show up without his hair gelled and styled to his features didn’t seem so sharp.
Slowly, Teddy got used to the idea of Draco being around, and as he got more comfortable with it, Harry began to invite him around more.
Teddy still didn’t really know what to talk about with Draco - that first encounter had painted Draco as a stern, strict adult rather than someone that he could consider his friend and so Teddy always found himself being more careful around him. Of course, this sort of care was tiring and he always preferred it when Draco wasn’t there.
Another six months had passed since Teddy met Draco when he was met with shocking news. They were moving in together.
Teddy couldn’t believe it. Certainly, he’d gotten used to Draco being around, but that didn’t mean he wanted Draco to be there every single time he went over to his godfather’s house.
Thus the dilemma began.
Teddy loved Harry and all of his other friends, but with Draco, it was just … difficult.
In fact, it was only when another two months had passed since Teddy’s inner conflict began that it finally came to an end, surprisingly, in favour of Draco.
It all started when Teddy began a new year at school.
It was his last year attending a Muggle school until he was to go to Hogwarts, something Harry had convinced Teddy’s grandmother to do so that Teddy had a well-rounded view on the wizarding world and Muggles.
Up until that point, Teddy had been doing very well at school. He was naturally a smart boy, and whenever he had trouble, he could just call up Hermione and have her patiently walk him through whatever he didn’t understand. He also had a bubbly, outgoing personality that ensured he never had problems making friends.
The problem was that this year, there were a group of mean-spirited kids in Teddy’s class that he’d never had to deal with before. They singled out a child every year to pick on, and unfortunately for him, Teddy was their brand new victim.
To bullies looking out to hurt someone like them, Teddy was an easy target. He was a little skinnier and shorter than average, and had a gentle nature that they wanted to crush. When they found out that Teddy lived with his grandmother and didn’t have parents, they were delighted to use this as leverage against him.
Petty teasing didn’t bother Teddy too much, which angered the bullies even more. When Teddy even managed to ignore them insulting his dead parents, they eventually resorted to violence just to get a rise out of him.
Teddy didn’t want to tell anyone about his predicament at school because he was embarrassed. As much as he loved his grandmother and adored Harry, he wished his parents hadn’t died in the war. He tried to understand that what they’d done was brave and noble, but he couldn’t help but feel resentful that they weren’t there for him when he needed them the most.
Teddy convinced himself that the bullying wasn’t that bad. They didn’t beat him up, exactly, just pinched his arms and legs when teachers weren’t looking, poked him with pencils, tripped him up so that he toppled over, and grabbed his wrists so he couldn’t run away while they threw dirt in his face.
He stubbornly kept everything to himself. The weather was getting chillier so he was able to wear long sleeves that hid the bruises on his arms and wrists without evoking suspicion, and scrubbed his face with water and soap before leaving school so that no one suspected anything.
Therefore, it was an immense shock when Draco of all people was the first to notice that something was wrong.
After dinner one night, Draco darted into the kitchen to casually press a kiss to Harry’s cheek as Harry finished doing the dishes and wandered out to the living room where he sat down without a word beside Teddy on the sofa.
Teddy kept his eyes fixed on the TV screen in front of him, and Draco didn’t say anything for a long time. In fact, he stayed silent for so long that Teddy almost forgot that he was sitting next to him. The only sounds filling the living room was that of the TV and indistinct humming from Harry in the kitchen when Draco spoke.
“Teddy, can you push up your sleeves for me?”
Teddy looked at Draco in alarm. How had he known?
“I won’t tell Harry, I promise.” Draco met Teddy’s gaze steadily.
Reluctantly, and because Teddy was still a little afraid of Draco, he pushed his sleeves up.
Draco scanned Teddy’s arms, red and irritated from being pinched too hard. His steely grey eyes narrowed when he saw the dark bruises on his small wrists.
“Do you want to tell me what’s going on?” Draco paused. “I know you don’t like me very much, but you can tell me. Maybe it’ll be easier, see, because you don’t have to care about my opinion, right?”
Teddy ended up explaining everything, because Draco was right. Unlike the other adults in his life whose opinions he valued so very much, he wasn’t so scared of how Draco may react because he didn’t care all that much what he thought of him.
It helped that Draco didn’t visibly show much emotion as he listened to Teddy’s entire story.
If it had been later on in their relationship Teddy would have been able to catch onto the subtle but distinct signs that Draco was absolutely furious. In fact, looking back, Teddy rarely remembered a time he saw Draco so angry. Even when Harry and Draco had a huge row where Draco left and refused to return for an entire week when Teddy was sixteen, and Teddy visited him, Draco hadn’t been nearly as angry as he had been back when Teddy was nine years old and explaining he was being bullied.
Draco listened calmly enough, nodding along, but a muscle was jumping in his jaw and his eyes were cold and hard, a slight crease appearing between his eyebrows as he frowned every so slightly that could have been mistaken for concentration but was in fact white hot fury.
When Teddy was done with his story, Draco took a deep breath and released it slowly.
“Alright, here’s what I think you should do.” Draco nodded over to the kitchen. “I’m not forcing you to do anything, but talk to Harry. He won’t be angry, I promise, and he’ll sort things out for you at the school."
“But what if he’s disappointed in me?”
“He won’t be.” Draco replied firmly. “Trust me. You’ve done nothing wrong, and he’ll be furious on your behalf.”
“But going to the teachers doesn’t really help.” Teddy protested. “It’ll just make things worse for being a tattle-tale.”
“Hm, well, your teacher still needs to know about the situation. Harry and your grandmother will help with that.” Draco lowered his voice a little. “And as for the kids who have been bullying you, well, I’ll sort it out so don’t you worry about that.”
Draco glanced up - the sound of water running had stopped.
“I’d better go help Harry put the dishes away.” Draco reached over to ruffle Teddy’s hair. Typically he wouldn’t have allowed this but he was so surprised by the affectionate gesture that he forgot to protest.
“Teddy, if anything ever happens, you just know that you can come to me, alright? Just tell me what’s bothering you and I’ll take care of whatever it is for you, no questions asked. Yeah?”
Teddy nodded numbly and stared at Draco’s back disappearing into the kitchen. For the first time, Draco’s tall height and intimidating aura didn’t seem scary to him, but comforting. He got the strange feeling that he could genuinely rely on Draco to solve his problem.
The next morning, when Draco was in the shoulder and Harry was flipping pancakes, Teddy got Harry’s attention and told him everything that happened.
Harry’s anger was much more visible than Draco’s. He stared in disbelief at Teddy’s bruises and immediately dragged him into a much needed hug. Teddy buried his face in Harry’s shoulder and cried as Harry comforted him and promised that everything would be alright.
As a special treat, Harry made chocolate chip pancakes and let Teddy watch his favourite TV show while they ate breakfast, and even let Teddy go crazy with the whipped cream and syrup. He did everything he could to make Teddy feel better, and by the time he had to go home, he really did feel much better.
Harry and Teddy’s grandmother, Andromeda, paid a visit to the school the following Monday and had a serious talk with the teachers. It was clear that the teachers had a hard time dealing with the both of them, who were absolutely outraged that they’d let something of the sort happen.
Teddy held his breath and waited for his bullies to descend upon him for telling on them, but to his surprise and relief, nothing of the sort happened. They stayed on the far end of the playground and out of his way.
At lunch, the entire group of kids approached Teddy and Teddy felt his stomach sinking as he assumed this must be it. Instead of dragging Teddy over to an unsupervised corner, however, each one of them tearfully apologised one by one and promised they would never bully him or anyone else ever again. Teddy watched with wide eyes, and instinctively knew that no teacher could have forced them into such a heartfelt apology. This had to have been Draco’s doing.
That weekend, Teddy was eager to see Draco for the first time since they’d met. They all went to a restaurant to eat out together as yet another special treat, and Draco raised his eyebrows and shrugged at Teddy behind Harry’s back, who was quite mortified that Harry was still making such a huge fuss.
“Let him have this.” Draco whispered when Harry’s back was turned. “He’s been worried sick all week.”
“They haven’t done or said anything to you, have they? I swear, those teachers don’t do their jobs properly-” Harry asked Teddy, searching his face anxiously.
“Harry, I’m fine.” Teddy reassured him. “They haven’t even come near me all week. In fact, they apologised on Monday.”
“Good, well, I guess they’re doing something right.” Harry muttered, but Teddy was looking pointedly at Draco who was pretending not to notice.
Teddy was dying to get a moment alone with Draco so he could talk to him without Harry catching on to something going on between them, but he didn’t get an opportunity all through dinner, and only finally managed to catch a moment when Harry went off to buy ice cream for them as dessert.
“How did you do it?” Teddy asked, as soon as he was sure Harry was out of earshot.
“How did I do what?” Draco widened his eyes in feigned ignorance.
“How did you get them to say sorry? They looked like they were about to cry , Draco!” Teddy was positively gleeful as he was reminded of the looks on their faces.
Draco was silent for a moment.
“Teddy, did Harry ever tell you that I used to be a massive bully?”
“ What ?” Teddy was aghast.
“Ah, so not yet, I gather.”
“You were a bully?”
“I’m afraid so.” Draco looked truly remorseful. “I was young, horribly spoiled, and learned from my father that some people were fundamentally better than others, and that those that were ‘better’ were entitled to treat other people very badly. Of course, this isn’t true, but I believed it for a long time.”
Draco sucked in a deep breath and continued.
“I know Harry told you we were enemies, which we were in a way, but it was mostly me being a jerk and Harry and his friends standing up for themselves. We were on bad terms for a very long time, Teddy.”
“But you’re friends with everyone now.”
“I’m better friends with some than others.” Draco shrugged. “I don’t think Ginny likes me very much, and Neville is understandably polite enough but we’ll never really be friends - I was particularly awful to him. It took Ron a very long time to warm up to me, and Hermione was surprisingly accepting of everything, but she’s never acted according to my expectations so I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised.” Draco laughed a little.
“Anyway, I know what it’s like to be a bully. They’re usually very insecure, and all of them are big cowards - which makes them very easy to frighten.”
“Did you threaten them?” Teddy's eyes widened.
“Maybe a little.” Draco grinned. "Nothing that'll make them wet their beds at night, but enough to leave you alone, I hope?"
Teddy nodded enthusiastically, and was about to continue questioning him when just then, Harry came hurrying back with three ice creams. Draco put a finger to his lips and winked.
“This stays our little secret, kid.” He whispered before walking forward to meet Harry halfway and intercepting a chocolate flavoured ice cream for himself.
The next day, Teddy changed his hair to platinum blonde and stubbornly refused to change it for three weeks.
Everyone noticed the sudden shift in dynamic between Draco and Teddy.
“I think you’re his new favourite.” Ron pouted when Teddy rushed to hug Draco first upon their weekly Saturday dinner. “What did you do?”
“That’s for us to know and you to never find out.” Draco grinned, and when he winked at Teddy, Teddy winked right back.
Needless to say, Teddy was no longer conflicted about Saturday night dinner over at Harry’s. He loved every single second of it.