Home Is Where The Heart Is (A Drarry FanFiction)

Chapter Three

   Andromeda Black had been born the eldest of three sisters, into a very wealthy family that had held prestigious standing in the London community since the turn of the previous century. When marrying out of the family name Andy, along with her two sisters, had been expected to maintain, if not elevate the status the Blacks had become accustomed to.

Andy though, was never really one for the rules.

Ted Tonks had been a builder when they had met in their early twenties, and despite every protest her family had thrown at her, Andy had married the labourer and Mrs Black had vowed never to speak to her eldest daughter again, a promise she took bitterly to her grave. At the time of Ted's passing he had grown into quite the businessman though, owning a company that oversaw several of the largest developments in the city over the last decade, and Draco's mother had been tempted to swallow her pride and reach back out to her estranged sister, seeing that she was not quite the social pariah she might have once been.

That was Sissy's excuse anyway. Draco suspected it was because she was actually rather fond of Andy, and had wanted to comfort her in the wake of her husband's death. The grief had given both sisters a chance to forgive and forget (there was no hope of reconciliation with Aunt Bella after all) and in retrospect Draco had been very glad they had reconnected when they did.

He had liked his cousin Dora quite a lot. Despite the age gap between them and her mildly terrifying pink hair, she had always made an effort to be nice to Draco when he visited, and when he'd met her scruffy teacher husband at their wedding he couldn't help find them quite a likable, if not strange couple.

The car crash had happened when baby Teddy was only four months old.

Draco sighed as he arrived back onto the marble landing and walked slowly along to the next flight of stairs. It didn't seem fair that life could be snuffed out so suddenly, but it had struck the Lupins with no warning whatsoever. Teddy couldn't even remember them, his home had always been with his nanny, and Draco had understood his mum wanting them to be a part of that, despite his reluctance to leave the safety of his own bedroom and deal with the world at large.

Visiting without her was different though, as he expected it would be, but thanks to Harry's friendly reception, he was actually starting to think it might be different in a good way. Without his mother to rely on he was already being forced onto his own two feet.

"Aunt Andy?" he called as he knocked slightly on her bedroom door; it had been left ajar but he felt rude striding in without announcing himself.

"Draco love, is that you?"

He pushed the door open and walked shyly into Andy's bedroom. "How are you feeling?" he asked, looking at her leg in a complicated cast, propped up on a couple of pillows.

"Oh fine, fine," she said dismissively, and patted the empty patch on the bed by her. "Did you meet Harry? I thought I could hear the hurricane come down to greet you both."

She smiled, and Draco tried not to let it show how fragile she was looking without her usual coiffed hair and brightly coloured lips and eyes. It was only a broken leg though, she would get better soon enough.

"Yeah," said Draco, perching on the bed. "I didn't know Teddy had a godfather? He um," he cleared his throat and wish he hadn't carried on talking. "He seems nice."

"Oh he's lovely," Andy said, folding her hands in her lap. "I'm surprised he hasn't come up in conversation before, but his hometown is quite far west, he's not been able to visit much whilst he's been studying." She beamed at Draco, and the tough old lady he was used to shone through for a moment. "He got into the best culinary school in London, isn't that something?"

Draco blinked. "Erm, yeah," he agreed.

"Bless him," Andy carried on, seemingly unawares. "I told him not to be fussing over an old bird like me, that he should be making friends, trying to find himself a nice fellow-" Fellow? Draco's brain screamed at him. This hot guy was gay? He wasn't sure what his face did in light of this new knowledge, but he tried not to let it happen in any case. He'd only come out to his parents, and he was not ready to face the rest of the world because he couldn't control his reactions.

"Ever since I fell down those blasted stairs though," Andy rattled on. "He's insisted on practically moving into the spare room. He accompanied me and your mother to physiotherapy the other day," she said, narrowing her eyes. "Didn't Sissy mention it?"

Draco swallowed and ran through the last few chats he'd had with his mum before she and his father had gone on holiday. "I don't think so," he said with a shrug. "I um, I'm sorry I've not been round as much as I should have, I'm glad Harry-"

"Now you wipe that look off your face immediately young man," Andy interrupted kindly but firmly.

"What look?"

She sighed, and rubbed his knee. "That guilty look. I know you do the best you can, we're all busy people. I've got lots of people looking out for me and Teds, we're just happy to see you when we can."

Draco knew she meant it to be reassuring, but he just felt worse after that. He hadn't wanted to come today, he'd been so crippled by his own anxiety he hadn't properly considered that she and Teddy both needed help, a lot of help, especially for the next few weeks. "Still," he said, his voice small. "I want to do better."

He started by helping his aunt get ready for the evening, assisting her as she hobbled to the bathroom and swapping over some of her sheets so her bed was a bit fresher. Harry popped up with a tray of soup and toast just as she got resettled, but before Draco could even catch his eye he was running back downstairs to make sure Teddy wasn't choking on his nuggets and mashed potato.

Draco sat with Andy whilst she ate, helped her once more to the bathroom to brush her teeth, then got her tucked in for the night. "Do you need me to wake you up to take your tablets?" he asked. He'd fully intended on going home to sleep, but he really did want to make up the time he'd neglected so far with her care...and if Harry was staying too, he wasn't so inept he didn't see the potential in that.

But Andy smiled and squeezed his hand. "You're more than welcome to stay love," she said. "Teddy would be delighted I know. But don't feel you have to – I'll set my alarm for my pills in any case."

He nodded, deciding to make his mind up later, and took the tray with him back downstairs.