reparo ( ✓ )

chapter eighteen

Ten minutes later, Ron knocked slowly on the door.

"Harry?" He called, and turned the knob, scared of what he might witness upon entry.

Surprisingly enough, Draco was still seated beside the dark-haired wizard, fingers intertwined with his lover as he stared into space thoughtfully. Following Ron came Ginny and the baby, and Harry's eyes focused then upon seeing the sleeping infant in her arms.

"You wanted to see him." She whispered, and hesitated with the child by the door as Harry stared at her in confusion. Then, he took notice of his hand clenched in Draco's, and quickly pulled away from him. "No, no, you don't have to do that. I get it. It's- it's fine."

Harry's brow furrowed as he stared at his friend sadly, and sat upwards more.

"Ginny, I'm so sorry..."

"No, it's fine Harry. I've been suspecting something for months now. It's just upsetting that you couldn't tell me what you feel for... for Malfoy, and you had to continue leading me on." The girl's voice was barely above a whisper, and Harry felt like the most rubbish man on the planet.

"Ginny, I do love you. I just- I love Draco more, I guess. Merlin, that's such a bad thing to say. What I feel for you, it's a completely different kind of love and I'd hate for you to spend your life unhappy with someone who constantly thinks of you as a sister." Harry explained, not really helping his case.

"Harry, I said it's fine. Thanks for letting me know, that's all. Did you still want your godson?" She asked, staring down at the baby with a new light. She'd never be a mother to this child, and that was a far worse sting than anything Harry had just said had been.

"Yes, if it's no trouble." Harry nodded, and outstretched his arms for the woman to hand the small child to him. In the brief moments their skin made contact, he almost pulled away. It was too much, surely.

"No trouble at all." Ginny mumbled, and then backed away as Harry cradled the baby. Her heart sunk upon seeing how happy Harry looked with the child: the same child that she'd thought she would be raising alongside him, not Malfoy. Never Malfoy.

"Ginny..."

"Enough, Harry!" She exclaimed, and then realized she'd shouted and took a few deep breaths. "Enough." With that, she left.

Ron stared at the scene unfolding before him in bewilderment. Harry and Malfoy... Why, the thought was even more ridiculous than when Hermione had liked Viktor Krum. It just couldn't happen! Then, a feeling of rage overtook him as he realized just how upset his only sister was, and he glared at Malfoy.

"You," he snarled, and leapt forward until he'd seized the blond by the collar. He didn't even fight against him. "It's because of you that everything to happen has happened!"

"I had nothing to do with it, Weasley." Draco stated calmly, and Ron smacked him.

"You had everything to do with it! Harry and Ginny could've been happy, and you screwed it all up." He snapped, glaring absolute daggers at Draco.

"Harry and Ginny were broken up when I walked with Harry to Hogwarts. They weren't happy because they weren't even together. And now, Harry's found real, true love elsewhere." Draco was growing riled up, and Teddy began to fuss in Harry's arms as he stirred awake.

"Ron, Draco, you're waking the baby!" He whisper-shouted, and proceeded to rock the infant softly, trying to lull the boy back to sleep.

"True love with you? You're enemies! That's as ridiculous as Harry falling in love with a Whomping Willow. It's just something that's not done." Ron claimed, huffing out an agitated breath. "My sister is in tears, and you're here holding her true love's hand. You're a homewrecker, Malfoy!"

Now, Teddy began to fully cry, and Harry placed the baby's head into the crook of his neck as he rocked the child. He stepped past the arguing men, finding that ending their dispute was futile, and walked down the stairs carefully to sit by the fireplace with the child.

»»»

Upstairs, Ron and Draco had begun to get physical. Ron punched Draco, and the blond tripped him, and then proceeded to sit on him.

"You're ruining everything, Malfoy!" Ron screamed, pummeling at Draco's thigh as he continued to sit and stare at the youngest Weasley boy amusedly.

"How can I ruin something that wasn't meant to be to begin with?" He asked, and Ron growled.

"I hate you!"

"Someday, you'll grow to love me. I do intend to stick around for a while." Draco stated smugly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What do you mean? What're you playing at?" Ron asked, taking a break from throwing punches and instead glancing up at the blond skeptically.

"I'm not playing anything, Weasley. What I feel for Harry, it's not a bloody game. This is my end zone. He's who I want, who I desire, and who I know someday I will be able to call my own wholeheartedly. And someday, maybe you'll even accept us." Draco proclaimed, and Ron felt himself gagging.

"I accept what Harry's heart wants, and if his heart wants you, then there's nothing I can really do to stop you. Well, besides killing you, but I'd prefer not to spend a lifetime in Azkaban alongside your father." Ron explained, and Draco shoved his head against the rug angrily.

"Do not speak of my father." He snapped before standing swiftly and kicking Ron in the stomach. "He has no part in this."

"And you really think you do?" Ron asked, standing as well, although clutching his stomach dangerously as he did so.

"I know I do. The end game, Weasley. I'm at my end, and I know Harry is too." Draco continued, though Ron still remained ignorant to the idea.

"I'll believe it when I see it." He left the room then and headed down the hall. He'd been guarding Harry's room all night, and after the beating he'd taken, he was feeling rather tired.

Draco made his way down the stairs then, and found Harry curled up by the fireplace with a once again sleeping infant in his arms.

"I can get used to seeing you like that." He stated, and knelt in front of Harry carefully, running his hand over the baby's soft hair.

"Maybe you will." Harry claimed, smiling at the sight before him. Never had he expected Draco Malfoy to be good with kids, but here he was, treating Teddy as if he were the most fragile thing in the world.

In this moment, Harry knew that Teddy represented everything on the line between them. He was their end game. If they were to make this work, it would be under the baby's terms. Truly, Ginny would've made a wonderful mother to Teddy, but given Harry's heart's circumstances, he had to prove to be good replacement. Draco had to be the bandaid to mend this broken setting.

And deep down, Draco knew that too.