Title: Frosty the Snowman
Author:
sophia_clarkWord Count: 1,330
Characters/Pairings: Harry, Andromeda, Teddy (eventual H/D)
Rating: PG
Warning: None but more cute Teddy!
Summary: Harry visits with Teddy & Dromeda.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Notes: Written for
slythindor100's 2015 25 Days of Draco & Harry Traditional Prompt 17 -
Candy canes in a glass, & for
dracoharry100's 2015 Christmas Challenge prompt - Hot chocolate. Part seventeen of All I Want for Christmas (Is You). The title for each part will be a different Christmas song/carol, because I love them all! :)
*This story was meant to be completed December 2015, but then things got busy & that obviously didn't happen. However, I really don't want to leave it unfinished. I will try to get on some sort of posting schedule, but here's another chapter at least.
Also, I'm still using the rest of the prompts from 2015, seeing as I did actually have an outline for this & will be using that as a jumping off point. Enjoy! ♥
Read on AO3 Part One "Harry! How lovely to see you! Do come in." Andromeda stepped aside and Harry walked over the threshold of the house, glad to be out of the cold. He hung his coat up on the little hatstand by the door. "Would you like a cup of cocoa? I’ve only just made some for myself and Teddy."
"Some hot chocolate would be lovely, Dromeda, thanks. I just thought I’d pop in and see Teddy for a tick." Something in his voice or expression must have given her pause, though he didn’t know what, because she gave him a long, assessing look before nodding slowly.
"Right, I’ll just fetch us our drinks, and we can talk. Make yourself at home." He followed her down the hall, but where she turned left into the kitchen, Harry continued on to the family room off to the right. There he found Teddy playing with a miniature Quidditch set on the floor. He watched as a tiny Quaffle went soaring through a hoop the size of a muggle bubble wand.
"Hey, buddy. What are you playing?"
Teddy’s head snapped up, and as soon as he spotted Harry, his face broke into a huge smile as his hair shifted instantly to jet black. Harry grinned back at him and opened his arms wide.
"Hawwy! Hawwy, Look, I play kidd-ich!" Teddy threw himself into Harry, his arms wrapping around Harry’s neck in a tight squeeze. Harry returned the hug happily, running a hand down Teddy’s back and kissing his cheek. He always made sure to show Teddy as much affection as possible. He wanted Teddy to know how much he was loved, and never wanted him to feel even a fraction of the loneliness and neglect Harry had known as a child.
"I love Quidditch! May I play with you?"
"Os-tay, you can be da seeka an’ look fo’ da snich!" He ran over to pick up one of the little players, and Harry smiled wryly as he took it. "Him looks like you, Hawwy. See!"
It was indeed a replica of himself, right down to the glasses and the just-visible mark on his tiny forehead. Harry had a feeling he knew who had given this toy to Teddy. No doubt the git thought it was amusing. He shook his head as Dromeda came into the room, levitating three steaming mugs in front of her.
"Cocoa’s ready, loves. And look what I found! I thought it would be fun to use these candy canes as stirrers." The mugs floated down to the coffee table in the center of the room, along with a glass tied with a festive ribbon around it that was filled with red, green, and white striped candy canes. "Teddy, would you like to watch the snowman video now?"
Teddy gave a resounding cheer, so Dromeda went to put it on while Harry selected a candy cane and took a seat on the sofa. Teddy was already on the floor by the television, bouncing slightly as the movie’s opening music started up. Dromeda chose the armchair nearest Harry’s seat and picked up her mug, making it stir itself with a twirl of her finger.
Harry stirred his own with the candy cane before taking a small sip. "Mmm, this is delicious. I can’t believe I’ve never thought to do this before." Dromeda smiled at him.
"Yes, it is quite tasty this way. Draco actually gave me the idea, you know. It’s how he always drinks his cocoa." Harry could feel the heat pooling in his face, but he told himself firmly that it was from the warm drink in his hand and nothing more. He looked over at Teddy, who was enthralled with the dancing snowman on the screen. "Is something going on between you two?"
He almost spilled cocoa down his front at that. "Wh- what? No! Er, why would you…?" he said, trailing off awkwardly. He set his mug down quickly before he actually made a mess. Dromeda simply rolled her eyes at him.
"There’d be nothing wrong with it if something were to happen, dear. It’d be about time, I’d say. I have seen the way you look at each other lately." She smirked at him. "Draco practically looks like he wants to eat you up whenever you’re in the same room, and you’re not much better."
If Harry admitted to blushing before, it was nothing compared to now. He fidgeted with the hem of his shirt, trying to decide what to say. There was clearly no use trying to deny it any further, and maybe she could help him. "I...er, may have started to think of him as more than a friend over the past week or so. Maybe even longer than that, I don’t really know. Have I really been that transparent? Do you think Draco knows too?"
Dromeda set her mug down next to his and leaned over to take his hand. "Harry, I honestly do not know whether or not Draco is aware of your feelings. Or his, for that matter. I haven’t yet spoken to him about it." She gave his hand a squeeze. "It’s alright if you don’t have everything figured out. People rarely do where their hearts are involved."
Harry looked at her earnest expression and couldn't help but let go of everything he'd been bottling up. "I just don't want to mess up how things are now. It took us so long to be anything other than rivals, and I actually like being his friend. And he's so important to Teddy! What if things go horribly and we can't stand to be around each other? I won't do that to him."
He turned to the little boy, who was still happily watching and singing along with the movie. He never wanted to do anything that could hurt Teddy. Teddy deserved all the love and happiness in the world, he deserved...
"So do you, Harry Potter."
Startled, Harry looked back at Andromeda, who was staring at him with a fierce determination in her eyes. Then he realized that he must have said that last bit out loud.
"I know more than anyone how much you love my grandson. I will never in all my days be able to thank you enough for all the help you are in caring for him. You're here almost every day, and you do so much for him. For both of us." She paused, and Harry thought her eyes looked a tad watery, but no less intent. "You always think of others, do for others first. But you need to put yourself first sometimes, Harry. You deserve every ounce of love and happiness too. I know you want to protect Teddy, and I am so thankful for that." She gave his hand another squeeze as she smiled at him. "But don't be so afraid of failing that you never even try. Love is always a risk, but it is also always worth it in the end."
With that, she leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek before rising from her seat. Harry watched as she left the room and then looked back to Teddy, who suddenly turned around with a huge smile.
"Hawwy, come sit wif me!"
His little hand patted the rug beside him as he squirmed in excitement. Harry grinned back as he moved to obey. As soon as he was on the floor, he had a lap full of Teddy, who snuggled right in with a sigh of contentment.
"You is da best at snuddles, Hawwy." Harry leaned down to brush a kiss on Teddy's currently green hair.
"Thanks, Buddy. I think you give the best snuggles too."
"Yeah, an' Dwaco is da bestest too! I wis Dwaco was hewe. Den we could all snuddle."
No matter what Harry tried to focus on for the rest of the afternoon, he couldn't help but be distracted by how much he liked the sound of that.
TBC...
Part Eighteen