The battle was now over, and Hogwarts was closed for rebuilding. So in the time since, Briar felt like she had attended a million funerals, and she had shed more tears than she ever thought possible. But now a month had passed and she was beginning to settle herself back into normal life.
All her wounds from Greyback's claws had healed, leaving white scars on her upper arm, and the rest of her bruises and cuts were faded.
Remus and Tonks had left her their money, and it turned out when her mother had died the money had gone to Remus, so that was added on top of his own money, and this meant Briar had enough money to buy herself a small cottage in the village next to the Weasleys's, and now that the place had been furnished she was heading to Andromeda's, Tonks's mother, to pick up Teddy
"Hi, dear," Andromeda smiled as she opened the door for Briar
Truthfully Andromeda would be a good guardian for Teddy, but she was quite old and looking after a baby would put a lot of wear on her, so they had agreed Briar would take him
"Hi," she smiled back "How is he?"
"Been a bit fussy today, but he settled down around lunch," she replied and led Briar upstairs, into what had been Tonks's room, but had temporarily become Teddy's nursery
Babbling away in the crib was her little brother, and when she picked him up, his little tufts of hair went from yellow to blue, which made Briar laugh. Teddy seemed to have worked out that people laughed and smiled at him when his hair changed, so it had become a feature of his to do
"Hi, buddy," Briar grinned and tickled under his chin, making the adorable baby giggle
"You'll be good for him," Andromeda smiled "He needs someone young and able. Unfortunately my days of baby raising are over"
"Come on Teddy, say goodbye to grandma Andy," Briar said to the baby and passed him into Andromeda's arms. Andromeda bounced him in her arms playfully, and as she did so Briar could see tears brimming in her eyes. "Andy, are you okay?"
"Yeah," she sniffed "Just...when I look at him I see my own baby" Tonks "I see her in him and I wish she was here"
"I do too," Briar said sadly
"But I know you'll raise him well," she said "And I know you'll never let my baby be forgotten"
"Tonks was far too charismatic for that" Briar chuckled and Andy smiled sadly
"I'll come round and check on him," Andy said and passed the baby back into Briar's arms "Look after him for me okay?"
"With my life," Briar said and she bid the older woman goodbye before heading out. She had confunded herself a driver's license and a car, so she strapped Teddy into his baby seat before starting the hour long journey home
When they arrived at her cottage Briar parked in the outside shed before taking out Teddy in his car seat. She had set up her spare room as a nursery for him, so she took him out of the seat and carried him through the apartment
"Welcome home, baby" she whispered as she bounced him on her hip. She sat down on her soft grey sofa and placed him on her lap, letting him tug on her hair playfully. Her eyes drifted to the coffee table, on which was a photo of her dad and Tonks on their wedding day
She reached forward without disturbing Teddy and picked up the photo. "Look at this," she cooed him and held the photo in her other hand "This is your mum and dad. And even though they aren't here with us anymore, I promise you that they loved you, and that they'll always be watching us" Teddy may not have understood a word she said, but she felt like telling him was helping anyway
There was a knock at her door, so Briar picked Teddy back up and carried him to the door with her so she could unlock it "Hi," she said as the door swung open and a blonde man walked in
"Hi," he smiled and held out a bouquet of red roses "For you,"
"Thank you," she grinned and took the bouquet "What are you doing here?"
"Well I remembered that you were picking up Teddy today so I wanted to see how he was doing," Draco explained as he closed the door behind him "How is he?"
"He's good," Briar said and cooed at the baby "Say hi to your uncle Draco," she teased and passed the baby into Draco's arms so she could place the flowers in a vase of water. And when she came back into the living room her heart melted at the sight of Draco bouncing Teddy on his hip
Draco had stuck to his word and had given Briar time to deal with everything after the end of the battle. But his attempts to win her over had also been non-stop, and it made her day
"You're good with him," she said and Draco grinned
Since the end of the battle he had really been trying to improve himself, and that had started with moving out of Malfoy Manor. Of course he wanted to move in with Briar, but they weren't even officially dating yet, and it seemed very rushed, so he too had moved out and was living in his own apartment which was only 20 minutes away
Another part of improving himself had been making amends with Briar's friends. Ron had been the last one to warm up to him, but Harry and Hermione were more sympathetic and did their best to be civil with him. Ginny had accepted him because of how he felt about Briar, so by extension the Weasley family had welcomed him in too. Molly in particular, when she heard of the small meals he had eaten at Malfoy Manor, was inviting him around for their large Sunday lunches every week.
Teddy let out a loud yawn and both of their attentions went straight back to him "I think someone's tired" Draco said, bouncing the baby, whose eyes were now drooping
"I'll put him down," Briar took the sleepy baby from Draco's arms and carried him into her nursery, where she lay him down in the cot. Teddy yawned again and reached out for something so Briar scanned the room quickly and spotted a stuffed toy fox which Molly had given him, so she grabbed it and passed it into his waiting arms
Teddy made a murmur of happiness and closed his eyes to finally fall asleep, so Briar closed the door behind her as she went back to the living room
"Sorry," she said
"Don't worry," he smiled
"Can I get you something?" she asked
"Your attention," he said cheekily and plopped down onto the sofa, patting the spot next to him. Briar rolled her eyes but settled down next to him. "How are you?"
"I'm good," she answered and she meant it. In the last month she had cried a lot, and mourned a lot, and her transition had been the worst one she had ever experienced, leaving her with several deep scars along her torso. But now she had accepted it all, and with the help of all her friends she was doing a lot better
Of course she still missed her dad, and she still felt lonely, but knowing she would now have Teddy around was making her feel a lot better
"Good," he smiled "Does that mean I can take you out for dinner tonight?"
Briar sighed "Do you mind if we stay in and eat?" she asked "I just don't want to leave Teddy, and..."
"And?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowed in worry
"And my scars are making it painful to move," she admitted and his heart broke. He had heard from Hermione about how bad the transition was because Molly had come over to Briar's the next day to help feed her, and heal her wounds.
"Can I see?" He had never seen any of Briar's scars given that they were on her bare skin and they had never been that close.
But Briar trusted him, so she reluctantly pulled up the bottom of her shirt, up to just below her chest. Her stomach was littered with a few small white scars from transitions over the years, but there were several red, fleshy new ones prominent against her pale skin
Draco hesitantly reached forward in case she was uncomfortable, but she showed no sign of it, so he let his fingers brush against the red marks. His cold fingers felt nice against her skin and Briar almost shivered at the coldness of it
"Will they fade?" he asked softly, concern written all over his face
"Not completely," she replied, gesturing to the white marks around them
He looked up at her with sympathy, and her breath hitched at the intimate feeling that surrounded them. It appeared Draco had noticed too because he quickly retracted his hand so she pulled her shirt back down
"Well, um, of course, um," He cleared his throat awkwardly "We can stay in of course"
"Thanks," she said nervously "I can make us some lasagne if you want"
"Thank you," he smiled and Briar shot off the sofa and into the kitchen. When she was out of sight of him, she leaned against one of the counters and took a deep breath.
Tension between them had been sky high as of late, and although Briar knew she had been making him wait for a while, she was still terrified of what might happen if she let him in.
But right now he was sitting in her living room waiting for food so Briar snapped out of her thoughts and began collecting her ingredients. Making the mince took no time at all, and before she knew it the lasagne had gone into the oven, which meant she had no excuse to hide from him in the kitchen
So she took a deep breath and headed for the kitchen door, but as she pushed it open, she found none other than Draco himself with his hand on the other end of the knob, looking at her just as surprised as she must have looked to him
"I, um- I wanted to see if you needed any help," He said nervously, scratching the back of his neck
"Oh, um, thank you but I've just finished," she replied just as nervously "Should we head back in the living room and wait? We can put on a movie or something"
Draco sighed and closed his eyes. But when he didn't reply Briar just took it as an agreement, so she went to take a step past him
What she didn't anticipate was his raised arm coming down to grab her waist. And what came next surprised her even more. Draco used that hand around her waist to push her back into the kitchen, specifically against the wall next to the door. His body pressed up against hers and his other arm came to rest next to her head
"What are you doing?" she whispered, trying to look anywhere except at his lips
"Briar," he sighed, his forehead dangerously close to pressing against hers "Can we stop, please? Can we stop pretending like I haven't been in love with you for years" That made her heart stop. He had never said that word before. "I've been trying to take it slow but I can't stop myself anymore. Not when every time I look at you all I want to do is kiss every inch of your body and make you mine. You have no idea how hard it is to control myself around you"
"You don't have to" the words left her mouth before she could process them or stop them, and the moment they did, Draco's stormy grey eyes met her honey brown ones, both of theirs wide. Was it with surprise or lust, she couldn't tell
"Briar," he whispered and now his forehead did touch hers and he closed his eyes "If we do this, there's no turning back. I want you completely and entirely. I want you to be mine and only mine. Once I've had you I'm never going to let go of you"
Briar took a final deep breath and placed her hands on the nape of his neck, before pushing herself up onto her toes so her lips were less than an inch away from his "Then have me,"
That was all he needed to harshly press his lips against hers. This wasn't the first time they had kissed, but this time Briar felt her whole body explode with butterflies and her heart was racing. His lips were soft, yet demanding on hers, and when he used them to pry her lips open, she nearly melted at the groan that came from the back of his throat
He hoisted her legs up around his waist and placed her onto the counter so she could be completely pressed against her. Briar had always known what an adrenaline rush felt like, but this was something else. His lips and hands left a fire-like trail wherever they touched her body, and she had never wanted something so badly.
Even when his hands and lips touched her scars, for the first time, they didn't feel ugly. He made every one of them feel beautiful, and in that moment Briar knew truly that his love for her wasn't based on her body or something else. She knew that he loved her for her.
And that night, true to his word, Draco did kiss every inch of her body and he did make her his, and when she lay with her head on his chest as they slept, he had never felt his heart be more full.