Starlight
Chapter 3: Starlight
Malfoy and I had very different views on pretty much everything. The list of things we could agree on was so short that I’m not completely sure you can even call it a list. There were two things really.
1. We were both going to Hogwarts to finish our education
2. We were both willing to do anything to raise Teddy the best we could
We were only two days away from boarding the Hogwarts express, but were meant to pick up Teddy tomorrow morning. There was no agreeance on where we would stay until then. Malfoy refused to stay at Grimmauld Place, but we both knew there was no enough room for all four of us to stay at the cottage. Malfoy, like always, was a stubborn prick, but at least he was standing up for Teddy. He had no interest in leaving the infant’s side and neither did Harry. So, there it was, their first agreement. They’d just have to do it together.
The next morning, they had received permission from Profes- Head Mistress McGonagal to raise Teddy on the grounds while they attended their last year of school. The 8th years were to continue sleeping in the dorms of their respective houses, but she offered a separate room to Harry and Malfoy, assuming they would want to allow a sense of normalcy for the child they were to raise together. They had both accepted the new room arrangement and had then asked to move onto the grounds a day early. They didn’t say it was because neither one of them could bloody agree on where to sleep for a day, but that they wanted an extra day to get settled with Teddy before classes begin. This seemed a reasonable request and the Head Mistress made arrangements to lift the wards at the apparition point near the school gates at 5pm that evening. With a couple quick thankyous and some rushed goodbyes, both men rushed to pick up the child.
Andromeda had Teddy’s things all packed up and shrunken down to fit into a diaper bag. They stayed long enough for Mrs. Tonks to say goodbye to her grandson and offer the boys a bit of advice.
“He likes when you sing. He’s just like his mama, that one.” Harry held his godson snug in his arms as they apparated to the cottage. Malfoy still had to pack, whereas Harry, upon Hermione’s insistence, had been packed for two months. While Malfoy neatly gathered and packed away his few belongings, Harry looked at the little boy swaddled neatly in his arms. He had light brown hair just like his dad, but not very much of it. And his eyes were dark and twinkling.
“He looks so much like them.” I whispered. Malfoy paused for a moment and watched as Teddy stirred. He had been surprisingly civil, not the hot-tempered little boy who preyed on vulnerability from Hogwarts. He was quiet now. Calculated. I see a lot of myself when I look at him now. He looks... tired. “Are you ready?” He levitated our things, then gave his mother a quick kiss on the cheek and nodded. Narcissa smiled and offered a little wave, then we apparated.
We suddenly found ourselves on the Hogwarts grounds. Teddy had awoken with the *pop* of air that comes with apparition. He was a quiet baby. He still hadn’t made a sound. Malfoy continued to levitate their baggage in a trail behind them while Harry held Teddy. Once inside the castle, a house elf by the name of Poppy showed them to their room. Poppy lead them to a portrait of a witch, located in the corridor near the base of the astronomy tower. She told them the password, starlight, then offered a bow and apparated away with a loud *POP*. So much for a quiet baby.