Second Chances
Chapter 2: Second Chances
Draco Malfoy was thoroughly surprised when read the will of his late cousin’s husband early this morning. He was less surprised when he learned of the co-guardianship with Potter. How could Draco expect anything different after the war. He didn’t see it as a bad thing, however. Draco loved his mother deeply, but he didn’t have much else to care about after the trials. The ministry had confiscated almost all of the Malfoy fortune, leaving his mother the small cottage she inherited from the Black Estate, but seizing the Manor and all of the artefacts within it. Draco didn’t mind bidding the manor farewell as it was no longer a place he considered home. He had no place he truly considered home. Only his mother, her cottage, and the very limited personal belongings he was allowed to retrieve after they had been thoroughly scanned and cleared by the ministry. Yes, they had been pardoned, which both Narcissa and Draco saw as a miracle in their own right, thanks to Harry Potter. But pardoned or not, they were an older family with older wizarding traditions. One of which include all of their familial possessions being registered under Lucius, and those were all confiscated upon his imprisonment.
They did not fight the ministry for their belongings. They had felt lucky enough to be granted the privileges of being free, keeping their wands, and Draco being permitted to return to Hogwarts. His NEWTS were more important now than they ever were before, considering he’d like to be able to actually get a job with a higher pay grade than ‘mail owl attendant’.
When Draco was given the opportunity to care for Teddy, he said yes. He didn’t need to think about it, nor was there anything to think about. A blood relative, a child, needed his help, and if we’re being honest, Draco needed his. So, he said yes. It didn’t matter that Draco was still only a child himself. He was an adult in the eyes of the wizarding court. It didn’t matter that Edward had the possibility of inheriting both metamorphic and lycanthropic traits from his parents. Draco would take that in stride and help this child. And it didn’t matter if he had to let his former rival Harry Potter help him. Draco Malfoy needed something to hold on to, and that something, rather someone, was Edward Lupin, Harry Potter be damned.
Jay Holland, a large but guarded employee of the ministry had given him a menacing amount of paperwork that took him nearly three hours to complete. He was told that if Harry Potter chose to accept his role in the co-guardianship of Edward Lupin, then both boys were to meet at Mrs. Tonks’ home and pick up the boy. It wasn’t until late that night when Draco received an unannounced, but not unanticipated visitor that this entire situation began feeling much more real. There, in the doorway of his mother’s small cottage, was Harry Potter. Draco supposed he should have expected that Potter would agree to the co-guardianship. Even he knows that the great Harry Potter wouldn’t abandon an orphan of war, let alone his own godson. Draco took a step back and motioned for Potter to come inside. Potter offered a tight lipped smile and a nod, then shuffled into the cramped livingroom with his hands stuffed awkwardly in his pockets.
“Err.. so this is where you live now.” He said more as a statement than a question while he looked around at the cramped but immaculate dwelling he and his mother have occupied. Cozy, he thought. “The ministry gave me your address. Sorry for just uhm.. stopping by, but I didn’t know how else to get ahold of you. I tried to owl, but they all just came back unopened.” Draco listened silently and nodded. Of course the owls couldn’t find him, he forgot to drop the wards. He had put them up after his mother had received one too many hexed parcels, and the charms he had in place to separate the good and bad post just weren’t enough.
Draco, all things considered, was still a Malfoy, and Malfoys had manners- not manors anymore, mind you. He gestured to the couch and when Potter sat down, he left for the kitchen to make some tea. It was going to be a long night as they had much to discuss regarding their rapidly evolving situation.
When Draco returned, he had the tea and a small tray of biscuits. Wordlessly he poured Potter a cuppa, dropping in two sugars. Potter offered a mumbled thanks and a confused expression.
“How did you know how I take it?”, he felt Potter’s questioning gaze on as he poured his own cup. Three sugars this time, and a splash of milk.
“I remembered”, then he took a long sip and finally felt ready to have what was destined to be a very long conversation. “So, we’re going to raise Edward together.” Draco placed his cup on the coffee table and pulled his hands back to his lap, elegantly lacing them while he cocked his head and waiting for Potter’s response.
“Teddy”, said Potter. “His parents wanted him called Teddy.”