What If? -Drarry

Part Four: Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

Draco was surprised when, on the sixth of January, Harry walked into the meeting room without Teddy toddling next to him. The absence of his godson made Harry seem oddly unbalanced. He was wearing his most recent Weasley jumper - maroon with a golden 'H', like every year. Draco raised an eyebrow at Harry as he sat down across the table.

"It's his birthday," Harry explained. "I would have told you, but I forgot - Ted and 'Dromeda threw a party for him, so obviously he couldn't come. I thought you might appreciate some company, though, so here I am."

"What's the point of throwing a party for a baby?" Draco asked, incredulously. "I mean, can they even understand the concept of birthdays yet? Are they able to understand any sort of time at all?"

Harry grinned. "Barely a minute I've been here, and already we're discussing the philosophy of time in relation to infants. Take a break! It makes Ted and 'Dromeda happy, so I think it's worth the time. But I can go if you want, or-"

"No, no! Stay. I didn't mean it like that." Draco reassured. "I'm always happy to have company."

Smiling, Harry relaxed a little into the chair. "Glad to hear it."

Mirroring Harry, Draco sat back more comfortably in his chair. "So, did you have a good New Year's?"

"Eh, I guess," Harry shrugged. "Ron and Hermoine threw a party, and all the old gang came and brought their new friends, so there were a lot of people. Ron and Hermione's flat isn't all that big, but we managed."

"I'm surprised you went. You're not really that into parties at the moment, are you?"

"Honestly, I wasn't planning to," Harry admitted. "But in the end, I decided, what the hell? I need to get out of the house more, and coaching two times a week doesn't really count as socialising. I'm glad I did, too - it was actually okay." Then, seemingly as an afterthought, he added; "Ginny was there."

"Oh?"

"I mean, it would have been weird if she hadn't been there, so it's not like I wasn't expecting it. It was fine: we got most of the awkwardness out of out systems at Christmas dinner, and anyway, we barely saw each other the whole night."

"Did you get a kiss at midnight?" Draco asked, hoping he sounded casual. Harry shrugged.

"Yeah, but I don't really remember who from. I'd never met her before, and I was a bit drunk by that point." Harry cocked his head. "How do you celebrate New Year's in prison?"

Draco doubted it would have been a good idea to say, 'Truthfully, Harry, I spent a good portion of it imagining how much better it would be if I was with you when the clocks ticked around to midnight and hoping that the fireworks looked pretty wherever you were.'

"Well, it's not really considered a holiday like Christmas is, so we don't officially do anything. We do do something though - I don't know how it started - but of course, everyone stayed awake, and those with watches kept the time, and soon as it reached midnight, this godawful noise swelled up. Everyone basically just hits the doors and stamps their feet and makes as much racket as physically possible. It's kind of weird, but you get so caught up in it that you don't realise you're doing it too until you find yourself hammering your fists against the door."