Rivaling Affections

Chapter 5

Draco wandered into the kitchen, following the smells of roasted pheasant and freshly baked bread. Harry was happily toiling over several boiling pots, rarely using his magic to assist him in creating the aromatic meal.

Teddy was sitting at the small island in the center of the room looking glum, and Andromeda sat beside him with a self-satisfied grin.

Harry looked up at Draco's entrance and beamed, then followed his gaze over to Teddy and Andromeda. "Andromeda took away his PSP," Harry answered without Draco asking anything out loud. Draco found this annoying.

"I wasn't going to ask," Draco lied, wondering what in Merlin's name a PSP was.

Teddy looked up upon hearing his voice and leapt from his seat, running over to Draco with a grin. "Draco!" he yelled enthusiastically.

Draco stood up straighter and scowled. "Do you always greet guests like a screaming banshee?" he asked haughtily.

Teddy faltered a moment, his eyes flicking to the floor. "No, sir," he replied quietly.

Draco laughed and Teddy looked up swiftly to see the grin on Draco's face and he renewed his journey to meet him on the other end of the kitchen. Teddy leapt up into his arms and hugged his cousin tightly.

They usually only saw one another at holidays, so this was a special treat, and now Draco would get to spend a good deal of extra time with his small cousin. "Have you been behaving yourself for your grandmother?" he asked, noting how Andromeda winced at the title.

Teddy nodded quickly. "Yes, and Harry, too. You remember Harry right? He's the best, he's been teaching me how to fly and how to be a seeker like he was. I hope I'm in Gryffindor just like him and then I can be the Gryffindor seeker and I can win the Quidditch cup and-"

"Slow down there, champ," Harry called with a chuckle.

Teddy blushed but started in on another stream of praises about Harry. Draco resisted the urge to roll his eyes and gag on fake vomit. Of course the small boy would be infatuated with the idea of the great and legendary Harry Potter, even Draco thrilled at hearing stories about him when he was young, but it wore off soon enough, and this would to.

"I could probably teach you lots of things about being a seeker. Did you know I was the seeker on the Slytherin team?" Draco asked.

"Harry told me. He said he always beat you," Teddy snickered.

Harry chuckled again but didn't look up but Draco scowled at him all the same, certain he would feel it. "I suppose he also told you that my father bought my way onto the team?" he grumbled.

Teddy looked perplexed. "How did uncle Lucius do that?" he asked innocently.

"I would have never told him that," Harry interjected in a serious tone.

"Why not? You seem to revel in making my own blood think of me as a dolt," Draco seethed.

"Telling him that I beat you was the truth, telling him that Lucius bought you a spot on the team was purely speculation, and I don't spread rumors, no matter how little any of it matters now," Harry said, turning back to his roasting bird.

Draco huffed. It seemed Harry the man could not be baited quite as easily as Harry the boy. Still, it didn't mean there wasn't some nasty Gryffindor temper just waiting beneath the surface to lash out at him when he least expected it.

"Now boys, you shouldn't bicker. That time in your lives is ages away now," Andromeda piped in. She acted as though her words were for both of them, but her eyes were only fixed on Draco.