Fic: All in the Family [PG13]

[bonfoi.livejournal.com]

Author: bonfoi
Prompt Number: #5/for golden_snitch12 [full prompt at the end of fic]
Title: All in the Family
Pairing(s): preslash Harry/Draco; past Harry/Ginny
Summary: Teddy's been kidnapped, and Harry's not allowed on the case because he's too close. Enter Draco Malfoy, private detective, doing a favour for his mother and aunt...and rekindling all sorts of feelings.
Rating: PG13
Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters herein are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No copyright infringement is intended.
Warning(s): Some swearing/cuss words
Epilogue compliant? No.
Word Count: 7,000+
Author's Notes: Speedy beta by my awesome sister, EmJay, fighting her squicks all the way. As usual, any mistakes are mine alone. I lost a few days due to illness, hence the delay in posting, and then I decided to tweak the ending...and voila! We're here! Thank you to the mods of hd_familyfest for hosting this fest and for letting me play in this sandbox. And, thank you golden_snitch12 for a wonderful prompt that made me think of "The Ransom of Red Chief", even if I couldn't quite make it so.



~~~~~~

The Ministry of Magic was rife with memos, so Harry wasn't surprised when one more slid across his desk to quiver to a stop crumpled against his jar of red ink. He winced as he stretched up and out of his hunched position over the last of the week's reports and then yawned. He'd been rushing so he could meet Teddy at Andie's that night and then they were off for a week of camping in the Highlands and then another week visiting the magical Viking re-enactment being staged in York that summer.

Sighing deeply, Harry glanced at the clock on his desk, a happy reminder of his time as part of the Weasley family, noting that his hand was pushing toward Almost Done with Work. Another sigh, and then he picked up his Muggle ballpoint pen and signed his name with a satisfied, if tired, smile. Once that file was on its way to Kingsley's desk, he reached for the last memo.

A tingle of foreign magic, and a hunch, had Harry using his wand and not his fingers to nudge the crumpled paper airplane over to its side and then a muttered spell smoothed it out enough to see that it wasn't Ministry-issued. Teddy Lupin's name stood out in angry, striking, red ink, and suddenly, Harry was on his feet, bellowing for an forensics team.

^V^V^

"In blessed Merlin's name, how did anyone kidnap my grandson from Diagon Alley? And why isn't Harry Potter running this?" When she got no response, Andromeda Tonks stood cross-armed and glaring at the crimson-robed Aurors swarming her living room. "I'm going to ask again, and this time, I want an answer: where is Auror Potter?" she bit out from between clenched teeth.

A harried young woman, oddly reminiscent of her daughter, finally stepped close enough to speak to her. "Madam Tonks, I regret to inform you that as young Mr. Lupin's godfather, Auror Potter is unable to participate in this investigation." She looked earnestly into Andromeda's snapping eyes and then backed away, her face paling as she disappeared behind a large Auror.

The large Auror turned around and Andromeda huffed as Kingsley Shacklebolt put out his hand and drew her into the kitchen. "Andie," he began, "I'm sorry I wasn't available earlier. When Harry found me, I was at a dinner with the Muggle Minister of...well, you needn't know that..." He licked his lips and started over. "Andie, I can't have Harry investigating his own godson's disappearance. He's too emotionally involved to be objective. It's standard procedure."

"Take your asinine procedure and your red-cloaked dunderheads and get out of my house, Kingsley." Magic began to crackle and fizz around Andromeda's head and shoulders, and Kingsley took a step back.

"Aurors, we're done here." Kingsley barely raised his voice, but the sounds of apparation for filled the expectant silence between the two of them. "I..." He reached out and caught her hand, curling his fingers around hers. "You know I'd give anything—"

"Not the time, Kings. Not the place," came Harry's hard voice. They both turned, Kingsley dropping her fingers as Andromeda turned fully to stare out the window over the kitchen sink.

Ignoring Harry, Andromeda spoke. "Leave, Kingsley. Please. I need to talk to Harry." Her voice was wobbling as she said Harry's name.

"Do it, Kings. This is family business." Harry stared into the window, seeing Andromeda wince at his words.

"Fine. I'm going. Just remember, you two, neither of you are part of this now." Kingsley tried to catch Andromeda's eyes in the window's reflection, but she merely stared out into the darkness. "Good night, Andie, Harry." He disapparated with a soft pop, and then Andie turned around and fell against Harry.

"Oh, Harry, what's happening to my Teddy?" she said, tears running down her face.

^V^V^

"My godfather Harry's gonna turn you into a Snuffleluffagus!"

"Snuffa-what-a-gus?! Shut your mouth, half-breed!

"Big bully! Harry's gonna hex off your knees! Then you won't be able to catch little boys."

"Don't you ever stop talking about Potter?"

"Harry's a hero. He'd gonna make you turn purple with green snot spots when he catches you."

"Uh, Blaise, I don't look good in purple. Pansy said so."

"Nott, you're a real dunderhead, you know that? The brat's just spouting off. Fear, you know."

"But, Blaise..."

"No buts, Theo."

"My godfather's really smart and strong and he's gonna sic Hagrid's dragon on you!"

"Ow! Ow, stop it, ow!"

"What now, Nott?"

"The brat bit me!!"

"Well, you're a wizard, Theo. Use your magic and bind the boy to his chair."

"You call that a rope? Harry's Incarcerous is loads better. He's an Auror, you know."

"Blaise! Blaise, help me."

"Oh, all right. There, it's done, and you can thank me for that extra Silencio by taking the next letter to the post owl office."

"Okay, Blaithe, but wou' you fith my nothe? He kicketh me when I wath twying to tie him up."

"I told you to use magic. Bloody hell, Nott. It's like being back in school with Greg and Bulstrode. Episkey!"

^V^V^

Two days later, Harry sat in Andie's kitchen, nursing his nth cup of black coffee. He couldn't sit in his office at the Ministry while others were searching for Teddy, so he'd done his own investigating, but without drawing in Hermione, which meant without Ron's help, he was two-third's shy of making any significant headway.

"Andie, I'm being stonewalled at the Ministry, and Kingsley's sent Ron out of the country and got the Unspeakables to give Hermione a project that's taken her out of reach who-knows-where." He slumped in his chair, hands wrapped around the rapidly cooling cup.

"Harry, you found out the kidnappers haven't left the country, that's something," Andromeda said as she plated the fry-up she'd convinced Harry he needed. When she turned around, Harry's head was on one arm and he was fast asleep.

She looked down at the plate, took a fork and divided everything in half and sat down to eat while she waited for Harry's exhaustion to ease enough to wake him and let him know she'd reached for help from another quarter. She chewed slowly as she watched Harry snuffle into his elbow, dark circles under his eyes witness to how little rest neither one of them had gotten since Teddy's abduction.

An owl tapped at the window, a scroll tied with a red ribbon clutched in its talons. Andromeda stared at and and then shot away from the table. "No! Wait, Andie!" Harry shouted, startled awake at the scratching. She looked over her shoulder as Harry almost fell out of his chair, wand already making intricate figures while the owl waited on the other side of the kitchen window.

Once he was satisfied, Harry gave a sharp nod. "It's a regular post owl, nothing strange or dangerous. Just," he scrubbed at his face, "just be careful, okay?"

Andie opened the window and the owl thrust out its leg, letting go of the scroll just as she reached for it. Without a backward glance, the bird hopped away and took flight.

"Andie, close the window and read the letter. Please."

She untied the ribbon and laid it on the counter. She unrolled the parchment and gasped, then shook herself and began reading aloud:

If you want to see the Halfling brat again, get Potter to do the smart thing and have a million Galleons ready for our next letter.

And, just in case you think we're fooling, we've sent a picture.

Andromeda scraped a fingernail over something and peeled a picture from the scroll, biting her lip as she saw Teddy's fingers moving even though he was tied up. She passed the picture to Harry with a tremulous smile. "He's a fighter is our Teddy, Harry."

Harry stared at the picture and then put it on the kitchen table, casting a duplication spell on it so that two pictures rested there. Then he enlarged the replica, staring at it as if it were going to reveal everything if he just looked deep enough. Suddenly, his glance sharpened and he laughed.

"Andie, Teddy's done us a good turn. He remembered the hand signals I showed him. There are two kidnappers, and if I don't miss my guess, one of them isn't too smart." He turned suddenly bright eyes to Andromeda. "He's signalling that I know them."

"That's good. We can use that." Andromeda picked up the enlarged duplicate and pointed out another clue. "And that chair they've tied him to...that's a one-of-a-kind. See," she tapped a finger over the arm of the chair pictured, "that's a family crest. A bit worn, but someone will know whose family it belongs to."

Suddenly, the sharp rap of knuckles on the front door had them spinning around and rushing out of the kitchen. Harry kept Andromeda from answering the door with a warning hand on her shoulder. Then, he approached it slowly, his wand at his throat. When he spoke again, he sounded like a mature woman.

"Who is it? Tell me who it is."

"Draco Malfoy. Mother sent me a message and I came as soon as I could."

Harry looked back at Andromeda and raised an eyebrow. He touched his wand to throat once more and pulled the door open. "Come in, Malfoy, come right in. You can explain what you think you're doing here."

^V^V^

"Mother sends her regards, Aunt Andromeda. Even Father sent a wish for the swift recovery of your grandson." Draco Malfoy reposed on the sofa in Andromeda's living room as if he belonged there, his right pinkie elegantly held out as he sipped tea from one of Andromeda's good china tea cups. Harry lounged against the doorway to the kitchen, eyebrows drawn together as he stared at the posh git.

Malfoy's restrained elegance was a far cry from their days in Hogwarts, and those times during the war when'd they met to exchange information... Harry shook the memories away and concentrated on what Malfoy was saying...and not how his lips still looked so kissable as they were saying it.

"Aunt Andromeda, I can't insert myself into an on-going Auror investigation concerning a relative." Suddenly, Harry was looking into Malfoy's grey eyes and he was seeing another memory, another time Malfoy had come willingly into danger even as he's pointed out how such a thing would be much to his detriment...the time Harry's 'saving people thing' had driven him to—Harry forcefully Occluded, growling at Malfoy's calculating look. He rubbed the back of his neck and said the first thing he could think of.

"Andie, why don't you go down to the local grocer's, hmm? We'll need something healthy if I'm to go sticking my nose into Kingsley's investigation." He barely glanced in her direction as he straightened up from the door jamb. "I'll keep Malfoy company, maybe even do a bit of planning, yeah?"

Andromeda stood up slowly, looking between the young two men, a speculative gleam in her eyes as she took in Harry's flushed cheeks and the faint pink tinge on the tips of Draco's ears. "Maybe it will be good to get out. It's been two days, and we've none of us done anything normal." She opened the drawer of a small occasional table and pulled out her purse. "Anything you two might like? A few of those Italian almond bikkies, Draco? Or some of that vile espresso mix you brought over last time, Harry?"

Harry nodded distractedly and then said, "Crisps, the ones with the ripples, and some mango chutney. Helps me think." He held his mug up to his lips and realized it was empty. "And that vile espresso in the tin is perfect for times like this, when one needs to be alert to danger."

Malfoy stood up, unfolding gracefully as Harry watched. "Well, if we're keeping up our strength and intelligence, I'll most definitely need the almond bikkies, Aunt Andromeda. And I'll contact Hugo, my p.a. elf. He can bring a change of clothes for me...and a set for Potter." He turned fully toward Harry and sniffed obviously. "You're giving off a foul stench, Potter, which makes both thinking and planning low on the list at this moment. You take a shower while Aunt Andromeda pops out to the shop and afterwards, I'll plot and plan, but not until you're presentable and Aunt Andromeda's had a breath of normality."

The whole thing startled a barking laugh out of Harry. "Do you realize, Malfoy, that you sound exactly like Snape? Right down to the snap in the consonants and the superior nasal twang in the big words?" He sighed and then addressed Andromeda while keeping an wary eye on Malfoy. "Okay, fine...Andie, I'll go shower while the blond ponce does whatever he does and you step out for a bit. I'll be more human and less likely to bite a helping hand when you come back."

^V^V^

An hour later, Harry found himself on his bedcovers, still clad in his robe and partially covered by the towel he'd been using to dry his hair. The sun was setting and the tantalizing scent of steak and kidney pie and something that smelled like Hogwarts' treacle pudding was creeping under the guest bedroom door. He scrubbed his face and rubbed some of the sleep sand out of his eyes, bolting upright when Malfoy's voice came from just outside the door.

"Potter, I know you think I'm a berk, but for Merlin's sake, get over yourself and eat something so we can get young Ted back." There was the sound of a leather boot carefully kicking the bottom of the door. "Or do I need to come in there and get you?"

Harry closed his eyes and his mind supplied another time when Malfoy had said something similar, only the leather boots were scuffed and the blond was wearing Harry's t-shirt and an old pair of denims, arms crossed, those sharp grey eyes were softer, and Harry's arms were reaching toward....

The sound of the bedroom door opening had Harry bolting up, hands crumpling up the towel over his waist. "Oi! Give a fellow a minute, Malfoy!" Harry felt the heat in his cheeks, but he didn't flinch when Malfoy approached the bed. "I'm sorry for falling asle—"

Malfoy's right hand tipped Harry's face up. He scrutinized the dark circles under those still vivid green eyes, noting the shadows lurking deep inside them as his eyes flickered over Harry's worn features. He unconsciously curled his palm under Harry's chin, his own eyes a bit unfocused as he noticed every new scar and the smattering of bristles where Harry had missed them while he shaved using the Muggle manner. "You should be more careful, Potter. Otherwise you might ruin those dashing good looks," he said gently. As soon as the words left his lips, he flinched and his hand dropped away from Harry's face.

Tugging at his immaculate weskit, Malfoy stepped back, haughty and self-contained once again. "Aunt Andromeda made you beans and toast, with a green salad. She said you'd work better if you didn't have to work so hard at eating, or something of that nature."

"Well, get out and let me dress, then. Bean and toast are enough, tho'." Harry got both feet on the floor, the towel still in a heap across his lap. "Well, are you going or not?" Harry finally stood up, a couple of feet of fraught space between the two of them.

Taking one step to the side, Malfoy turned. "No, Potter. You're still exhausted. I'll escort you to the table before I take my leave." His voice was brittle.

Harry shrugged and stepped around Malfoy, heading toward a pile of clothes on a chair by the window. "Awfully formal way of saying 'I'm making sure you haul your arse out of here before you fall asleep again', init?" He resolutely ignored Malfoy as he pulled on his jeans sans pants and then let the bathrobe slide off his shoulders, aware of Malfoy's glance as if it were physically touching him as he tugged a well-washed tee shirt over his head. "There. Grab my socks and shoes, will you? I have to get something out of my Auror's robe."

Watching Malfoy carefully, Harry tugged out his lucky charm out of a hidden pocket, careful not to let the other man see what it was. Once it was secreted in on Harry's person again, he grabbed his shoes and socks from Malfoy's hand, flashing back yet another time when that hand was curled in just that way, and it wasn't around anything as insubstantial as canvas and rubber. Harry shook himself and led the way to the kitchen, the savoury smell of a well-spiced pot of mixed beans mixing nicely with the lemon vinaigrette Andie favoured. Harry sniffed appreciatively, looked down at his shoes and socks and set them aside to wash his hands before seating first Andie and then himself. He looked up at Malfoy, barely catching a soft look on those pointed features.

"Hugo's been, as you can see by the clothing, Potter, and he brought by some information I'm going to follow up. After dinner, I'd like you and Aunt Andromeda to cogitate on any strange doings in the past six months." Malfoy fussily put on some suede gloves, buttoning the small pearl buttons with a swipe of his index fingers. "There. Now, eat, Potter, keep up your strength. If the information is worth the price I paid, I'll be back here in a few hours, if not, then I'll just send an owl and we'll meet at breakfast tomorrow.

^V^V^

"I'm hungry!"

"Nott, feed the brat."

"But, Mum made me my favourite mince pies. I don't want to share," Theo whinged.

"I want Grandma Andie's tomato and cheese sammies, you, you berks!" The sound of drumming heels followed after the demand.

"Boy, if you weren't worth a million Gal—"

"Blaise? Blaise, why is the little boy turning blue with red spots?" A chair was pushed back violently. "Make him stop breathing on my mince pies!"

*Sssss, hiss....thump...*

"Ah, Blaise, did he just turn into a little dragon?"

"Nott, you idiot! Did you charm the floor like I told you?" Without missing a beat, Blaise smacked a mince pie out of Theo's hands. "He's a Metamorphmagus like his beastly mother, and now he's hiding in the walls."

"But, that was my last pie. Mum made it just for me."

"Theo, I swear, if you weren't so well-connected, I'd drop you in the Black Lake to swim with the octopus."

"He doesn't like mince pies. I know."

A door slammed, loudly. There was a sound like the hiss of a leaky radiator coming from under the floorboards. Theo carefully walked around the perimeter of the room and sat in Blaise's chair, licking the remnants of his last mince pie.

The hissing grew closer, but Theo was humming as he licked between his finges. Which was too bad. "Urk!"

^V^V^

Draco watched the ramshackle building Hugo had included in his information packet. It can in handy having a snoopy house-elf on one's payroll.

He leaned against a dying oak, noting the drab surroundings that reminded him of what the Dark Dork's mind had looked like when he'd accidently invaded it in a moment of fear. That memory led to another one, where he'd slipped into Harry's satiated mind, just before they both fell asleep and found a soothing, warm mindscape that he'd never wanted to leave. He often thought of that night... He blinked away the fug of wistful memory and narrowed his eyes as the sound of a body falling back against the window cut through the night sounds.

Draco stepped away from the tree, his hand going for his wand when childish laughter rippled out, followed by an exuberant shout. "I knew I could fool you! Harry'll be real proud of me. Dunderhead!"

"Good man, Teddy." Laughing under his breath, Draco slowly approached the building, sending out trap-seeking charms in an ever-tightening spiral. Nothing too nasty was found, and those hexes that seemed vicious were poorly-cast, and unfortunately, would only have shaken the nerves of an old maiden aunt deep in her cups. He shook his head as he recognized the spellwork of his former childhood playmate, Theo Nott.

"Never did learn how to set a trap, poor Theo," Draco muttered under his breath. He approached the sagging porch, gingerly climbed the rotting stairs—after casting a low-level stabilizing charm on them—and tried the doorknob. It turned easily under his hand, and the hinges which should have squealed due to rust were silent. Draco stepped inside and closed the door behind him. He could still hear Teddy's haranguing of someone upstairs, so he found the staircase and slowly climbed up.

^V^V^

Harry sat on the couch, fuming. Even though Malfoy had told him he might come back in a few hours, or not, Harry had thought the prat might just make an exception and show up, information or not. But no! He was left sitting on his hands, without out any idea where his own godson could be...

"Harry! Haaarreee! I'm home!"

A little boy-sized bundle of energy shot out of the kitchen and jumped onto Harry. His arms closed automatically around his godson, his very excited, happily babbling godson, and Harry just hugged him, letting Teddy's words surround him.

"You've got a live one there, Potter. Gryffindor bravado and Hufflepuff camouflage, this young man is a great blending of two fine houses." Draco followed languidly in Teddy's wake, only stepping aside when Andie stepped out of the hallway and stumbled toward the couch to wrap Teddy and Harry in her arms.

"Oh, Draco, thank you, thank you," she murmured against Teddy's cheek.

"Aw, Grandma, I'm okay, honest," Teddy protested. "I got myself saved, and Cousin Draco came and he wrapped that ol' Theo in yards and yards of rope, jus' like Harry showed me at my birthday." Teddy squirmed between the two of them, appealing to Draco. "Tell 'em, Draco, tell 'em all about my mani-pull-lation."

"Mani-pul-ation, Teddy, ol' man. And before I tell anything, you need a bath. Even one hour in that old pile I found you in was too much for cleanliness, and I'll wager you were there the entire time we were looking for you." Draco leaned around the trio half-on and half-off the couch to sniff and make a comical sour face at the odour wafting off the boy. "Yes, entirely too much Theo Nott funk and dust. You get cleaned up, and then we'll tell Grandma and Harry all about how you outwitted your captor."

Teddy nodded and wriggled out of Andromeda's hold only to tug at her. "C'mon, Grandma. I need a bath. Draco says so." She stood up with Harry's help and allowed Teddy to drag her down the hall toward the bathroom. "Don't tell Harry anything without me, Draco, please?" he asked just before he stepped inside.

"I promise not to regale Harry with any of the story until you are freshly laundered and here to fill in the details." Draco sat down in a chair opposite Harry and crossed his right ankle over his left knee, entirely at his ease.

Once the bathroom door closed, Draco asked softly, "So, Potter, what did the official channels say tonight?"

"They never had a clue, Malfoy, and you know it," Harry huffed out. He didn't look directly at Malfoy as he told him what had happened after that night's supper: "Kingsley stopped by, all apologies and a picnic hamper of food for Andie. He oh-so carefully let slip a few things, but they all added up to nothing. Their leads were nothing but smoke." He glanced away, toward the hallway. "So, just how did you find Teddy?"

"If you had been awake, you would have met the sharpest tool in my repertoire: Hugo. I found him after the manor fell. He was pinned down by a burning beam—cliché, I know, but with a home that old and large—and since the fire was of magical origins, he couldn't just pop away." Draco unconsciously rubbed his hands together. "I pulled at the damned thing for what seemed like hours until there was just enough of it off of his legs that he wasn't in direct contact and he disappeared, like house-elves do." He rubbed his index and middle fingers and thumb of his right hand in a circular motion. "Seems they have life debts, too. And since I turned over a new leaf, he's made it his mission to help me as I become a better wizard."

"A house-elf, eh? Well, that's history come full circle. Dobbie saved me; you saved Hugo; both of us are benefiting from knowing house-elves, even if we weren't quite prepared for them." Harry finally met Draco's eyes—he couldn't call him Malfoy when he was falling into those soft grey eyes—and grinned. "How about a hot chocolate toast to the house-elves who saved us?" He got up from the couch with a wince. "It'll also give me a chance to stretch out. Teddy wasn't exactly aiming, but he grazed something vital."

Draco chuckled. "Ah, yes, Harry, I'll have hot chocolate with you, and the young scamp hiding behind the archway." Teddy shot out to jump onto Draco's lap, an action he'd already prepared for since Teddy's enthusiastic welcome in the ramshackle house had come near to unmanning him. Cushioning charms in place, he stood up easily with Teddy in his arms, nodding toward a softly smiling Andromeda, and then marching into the kitchen as Harry put together a large pot of chocolate.

Once the chocolate had been made, the mugs filled and distributed, and a plate of the almond bikkies settled in the middle of the table, Draco nodded to Teddy. "All right, you don't smell like a barn, or Nott, anymore, young Mr. Lupin. Why don't you start your story at the beginning, when you were snatched?"

Teddy sipped his hot chocolate carefully, tinting his lips with milky brown foam before he licked it off. "Okay, Cousin Draco." He looked earnestly at his grandmother. "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you, Grandma." Teddy had the grace to look crestfallen. "I went into Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes when the teacher wasn't looking. I just wanted to see the latest joke. Aunt Ginny said it was so funny that feather came out her ears, she was laughing so hard." Teddy saw that his grandmother was holding back her words and rushed on with his story.

"Anyways, I saw Uncle George kissing—serious yuck!—some girl, so I left. But the class was gone, I couldn't see them anywhere. So I started back to The Leaky Cauldaron...Cauldron...like you said I should, in case. And I would have made if these two wizard didn't pick me up and appertif...no, apparate me away." Teddy blinked tiredly, but pushed on. "They were real dunderheads, Grandma. They couldn't do a Incarcerous, it was pitiful." The adults laughed at Teddy's woebegone expression.

"Well, I wanted to see what they were gonna do with me, just like Harry said—observe and think--and they only tied me to a chair. Well, at least the one called Blay-Blaise, did. That Theo guy was a goof. He tried to tie me to the chair like a Muggle, so I kicked him, in the nose." Teddy smiled widely and looked at Harry. "Now I know what you were talking about, Harry, and I'm gonna go to that Muggle class again." Teddy reached out and Harry laid his hand over his. "I'm sorry I was a berk, Harry."

"I'm just glad you remembered what learned that one day, Teddy." Harry squeezed Teddy's hand. "I always knew you were a smart lad."

Draco leaned forward. "You'll have to tell me about this Muggle class, Potter. I've a few clients who could benefit from some basic, non-magical self-defense." He nodded toward Teddy. "But, continue your story, Teddy. I'd really like to know how you slipped out of your bonds."

Andie shivered and Teddy climbed out of his chair to stand next to his grandmother. "I'm sorry I scared you, Grammy," he said in a small voice. He eeped as she dragged him into her lap for a long, sniffly cuddle.

"Teddy, I know you learned not to wander off, so I won't have to punish you, but you need to know it hurt me when I didn't know where you were, or how you doing." Andromeda sniffed and then gave a watery chuckle when Teddy snagged a napkin Harry tossed across the table and offers to her. "Thank you, Teddy." She blew her nose. "Now, young man, it's almost your bedtime, so tell us the rest of your story."

Snug on Andromeda's lap, Teddy began telling them everything he did, and then showed them—shocking his grandmother into a gasp—as he metamorphed into a picture book dragon and slid down and under the table. He hissed, "Ssseee. Easssy."

Draco and Harry bent down and both of them oohed and aahed over the iridescent scales and the fluttering, translucent wings as Teddy showed off his new body. He twisted around the table legs and slithered toward a cupboard, using his snout to open the door and then he disappeared inside. Draco got up and opened the door, marvelling aloud at how compact Teddy was now.

"Merlin, that's amazing," he breathed out. "Ted, my good man, come out and show us how you turned the tabled on Theo, will you? I think your godfather and grandmother would really like to that part." Draco watched Teddy glide out, his scales barely making a sound as his belly rubbed the wood of the cabinet.

Teddy transformed back into his natural form but for a few scales on his cheeks and the backs of his hands. "I can almost change back comp-all the way, see?" He showed them the back of his neck, where feathery scales were slowly absorbing back into his skin. "Anyways, I scared that Theo man when I grew some big teeth, and I think I might have used wild magic when he grabbed at my wings. He flew like a stone and hit the window." Teddy held up his arms and Andromeda pulled onto her lap again. "Then Cousin Draco came and he did a Incarcerous that wrapped the bad man from his feet to his nose." Teddy clapped his hands. "And he got the Aurors, Harry, and then we came home." Teddy leaned back against his grandmother's chest, happy but tired.

Harry nodded. "That was amazing, Teddy, and I'm glad your home. But," he turned his eyes toward Draco, "what about Blaise, that's Zabini, I suppose? Where'd you capture him?"

"I never found him. The Aurors arrived after a quick Firecall. They cast their investigative spells and charms, and found evidence that showed Zabini and Nott were the perpetrators." Draco wrapped his hands around his empty mug, a bit shocked the fragrant brew was gone without a conscious thought. "I tasked Hugo with asking his network. I should be hearing from him soon since there's nowhere a witch or wizard can hide from a determined house-elf." He sighed. "I set a few watching and warning spells around the neighbourhood, but Blaise is sneaky, and since he was asking for a million Galleons, highly motivated to finish what he started."

Andromeda cleared her throat and spoke softly over Teddy's nodding head. "You'll stay the night, then, Draco. I'd feel better having both you and Harry here for the next few days, anyway."

Harry stood up and came around the table to carefully pick up Teddy, who mumbled and then subsided in his arms. He whispered, "No problem, Andie, I was going to anyhow. Now I'm going to put this hero to bed." He walked away, cradling Teddy close.

"He really loves the sprog, doesn't he?" Draco asked out loud.

"He does. Harry's the son I never had, and a good example for Teddy." Andromeda stood up and cleared the table by hand, ferrying the hot chocolate pot and the mugs to the sink in two trips. She leaned her back against the sink as she looked at Draco. "And you're a good example, too, Draco. Teddy needs that, especially now."

Draco smiled slightly. "Never thought I'd be lumped in with Goody-Goody Potter, but I'm not complaining." His smile widened to a smirk. "Well, not much." He chuckled. "I'm going to take a walk outside and reinforce some of my spells, Aunt. Let Potter know so he doesn't blast my head off when I return, will you?" He stood up and headed toward the kitchen door. "Though he has reasons, this is definitely one of the times I've disappointed him." He exited with a wave. Andie pulled her wand from her robe pocket and closed the door behind him, leaving an alarm charm on it if anyone but he or Harry touched it.

^V^V^

Blaise Zabini was damned angry! He'd left Nott with a fortune in the making and came back to Aurors buzzing around the old manor house. He was still silently snarling as he layered another Notice-Me-Not spell over himself. Pairs of Aurors, some with the green stripe of Auror-Hunters, the man-hunters of the force, were searching the grounds.

Pressed against a crumbling wall in the back garden, Blaise worked his way closer, listening intently. Then he was rewarded.

"Funny how Malfoy showed up here," Auror One said.

"Funny? You know he's been working with us for three years," Auror Two responded.

"Once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater, I say."

"Stone, you're an idiot. Just because he was a dolt when he was young—"

"Weasley, you're biased."

"Of course, I'm biased. I know Death Eaters, and I know Harry Potter. If Harry says Malfoy is alright, and reformed, and Kingsley uses him for cases we can't touch, I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt. Now, we're supposed to find Zabini, or any clues we can use."

The pair moved away, their voices falling to murmurs that got lost in the night sounds. Blaise straightened up from his unconscious crouch, his fingers tightening painfully around his wand as he bit out, "Damn you, Draco!" and apparated away.

^V^V^

Harry and Draco sat in the living room with only the fireplace for light. Not that either of them needed the light; Harry had shown Draco a limning charm that made the edges of the furniture and door glow just enough that if you knew their general position, you could see them easily.

They'd sent Andie off to bed half an hour after Teddy, Harry giving a good night hug while Draco kissed her hand gallantly. She'd chuckled at she left them, her steps not as heavy as they had been earlier that day.

"So...Potter. Tell me why the Weaslette isn't here." Draco leaned into the chair he'd appropriated as his for the duration.

"You know, we're not schoolboys anymore, Draco. Ginny, her name is Ginny, and she's married to Seamus Finnegan these days, coaching a youth quidditch team, and expecting her first child. Now, why isn't Pansy Parkinson in your pocket?" Harry sat on an ottoman, near the fire.

"Well, it's awfully hard to make love to a girl when you like boys, Potter," Draco drawled. "You should know...Harry." The way his voice dropped on Harry's name ratcheted up the tension in the room. "Besides that, no one can compare to you. Much as I've tried to make it so."

Harry turned to look at Draco, the firelight casting shadows that softened his pointy features. Harry licked his lips. "Your part of the reason I'm not married to Ginny anymore," he finally said. "When you wake up moaning another person's name, and that one is Draco, well...your wife can be understanding only so long." He waved a hand as if clearing away cobwebs. "We divorced, but it was friendly, amicable Hermione says. I'm going to be the godfather to her kid, just to make it obvious."

Draco laughed, a low, warm sound that made Harry shiver. "Potter, Harry, you are glutton for punishment."

"Nyah, just a realist, as Snape's portrait says." Harry scooted his ottoman closer to Draco's chair. "Say, you should come by and visit with the old codger. He's still full of snark and even some good advice after he's given me his morning harangue."

"Oh, how domestic," a rough voice said.

Harry turned his head slowly in the direction of the voice as Draco gracefully unfolded himself from his seat, shielding Harry for a moment as he stepped forward.

"Blaise, so good of you to join us." Draco stood as if he were master of the situation. He still stood canted between Harry and Blaise, affording Harry some precious moments.

"Move aside, you turn-coat, Malfoy. I'm here for my Galleons, and Potter's going to give them to me or the delayed hex I put on his precious godson is going to—" Blaise never had a chance to finish that sentence as Harry wandlessly gagged him and hauled up by his feet to dangle in the middle of the living room.

Harry ran a hand over his lower jaw, and suddenly, a forked tongue flickered out to taste the air. His eyes seemed to glow an eerie green as he surveyed his handiwork. "You're frightened, Zabini," Harry lisped out. "Didn't you know I got some of Tom's worst features when he died? No? Well, let me show what I else I got..." Harry held up his hands and long, needle-sharp talons grew in place of his fingers; Harry wiggled them at Blaise's shocked face. "Shall I show you how useful they are?"

Blaise was pleading behind his gag, but the muffled sounds didn't form any noticeable words as Harry crept closer. He grinned, showing off the forked tongue and a row of pointy teeth as his captive squirmed and then suddenly fainted from fright. Harry poked him with a sharp talon, grimacing awkwardly when he drew blood.

"Thorry, Draco." Harry magically manipulated his face back to normal, shaking his head to speed the transformation along. "Sorry," he repeated, "I was hoping you'd have a crack at him, too."

"Potter, that was utterly Slytherin of you, you know that, don't you?" Draco walked around Blaise's suspended body, no ropes or chains binding him, but still his arms were tight against his side. "When you told me what you had planned, I thought it might take a day or two..." he trailed off in thought as he pushed at Blaise, setting him to swinging in an tightening spiral until Zabini came to rest again. "You really do know the criminal mind, don't you?" he asked rhetorically.

"Comes with the territory." Harry wiggled his fingers as the last talon disappeared. "I really hate that. Feels like I'm coming apart at the seams, nothing like changing as an Animagus."

"You're an Animagus as well? When the hell did you find the time, Potter?" Draco laughed.

"I'll tell you while we wait for Kingsley. Expecto Patronum!" Harry's glowing stag appeared, its horns setting Blaise back to swaying as he seemed to be reviving. "Kingsley Shacklebolt, we've captured Blaise Zabini. Breaking and entering, threatening, extortion, and kidnapping. He's waiting for you in Andie's living room." The stag nodded regally and then galloped through the wall and toward the Minister of Magic.

"There, now that's done, I'll tell you about how I became an Animagus. Will you set a silencing spell on the bedrooms, just in case mine wears off before the Aurors are done?" Harry bumped Blaise, whose face was a bit reddish-green from hanging like a side of beef. "Oh, and why don't you stand back while I set our baddy down on the floor." Suiting actions to words, Harry had Blaise in the recovery position, another magical binding—this one visible—pinning him to the uncarpeted part of the floor. "Now that he's taken care of, shall we?" Harry waved Draco toward the kitchen. "I put on a pot of hot chocolate just in case.

"Have any rum, Potter? I think we can celebrate now." Draco began opening cupboard doors.

"How about a dram of Firewhisky? Won't compromise us, and it's fitting with Teddy changing into a wyvern, a fire-breathing one, to sneak away from those dunderheads." Harry opened a glass cabinet and pulled out the bottle, seal unbroken.

"This is starting to feel like a date, Potter." Draco seated himself, a plate of the almond bikkies in front of him.

Harry stared at him, and then smiled. "Well, seeing as how I've been thinking of you, and maybe you've been thinking of me..." He poured a quick dram of Firewhisky into each cup of hot cocoa then popped the cork back in. "Here, let's toast to Teddy's safe return and ours."

Draco clicked the edge of his mug with Harry's and took a sip. "Potter, you do know how to make a man's life interesting."

"Well, Draco, you're a man worth keeping interesting." Harry's eyes glittered warmly as he and Draco sipped their drinks in silence for a moment. Then there was a knock on the back door.

"Keep that thought, Potter. I might have enough energy after this to prove it to you." Draco opened the door and bowed Kingsley and two Aurors inside. "Good evening, Minister. You'll find your package safely glued to the floor, but tread gently, Aunt Andromeda and Teddy are sleeping."

"Understood."

Kingsley nodded, sent the Aurors ahead, and stood fidgeting from one foot to the other until Harry took pity on him. "Kings, come by tomorrow, noon. Andie will be thrilled to see you then. And if you bring Teddy a stuffed wyvern, he'll be happy, too." The minister smiled and strode into the living room.

Draco sat back down, pulling Harry's chair closer and patting the seat of it. "So, where were we, Harry? I recall you saying I was a man worth keeping interested..."


~~~~~~


~~~ En Fin ~~~

Original Prompt
5) Username: golden_snitch12
Time period: 5 to 20 years
Scenario: Someone has kidnapped Harry and Draco’s child (or it can be Teddy Lupin) and is holding him/her for ransom. Author’s choice on how the story unfolds from there.
Special Requests: Angst, Death Threat, Drama, Established Relationship, Protective, Mpreg is okay, or child can be from previous marriage, or can even be Teddy. Doesn’t matter who tops/bottoms or whether the story is PG-13 or NC-17. It’s all good to me!
Squicks: H/D calling each other cutsey or baby nicknames
ewe or epilogue compliant: EWE

Comments

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

Good, thanks.

All in the Family

[bonfoi.livejournal.com]

Thank you for letting me know.

[capitu]

That was most super!

I loved your little Teddy, he was such a sweetie! :D

"My godfather Harry's gonna turn you into a Snuffleluffagus!"


LOL I truly loved all his parts.

I loved all the (sexual) tension between Harry and Draco, the memories of that one night, the hints of the history.

I loved even the kidnappers. Theo, oh my god, wasn't really the sharpest tool in the shed, but lol so much fun. And I knew Blaise wasn't going to get away with it. I just knew! XD

And Draco the hero, I love how cool and suave he seemed. This was a lot of fun to read. Loved it. :D

All in the Family

[bonfoi.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for a such a lovely comment! *blushes* That is the most wonderful way to wake up on a cold Monday morning.

I couldn't agree with you more about Theo--a bit touched from the war, you know--and, well, he's more bark than bite. That's why he has Blaise to do his thinking. *snerk* Not that that works very well for either of them.

better late than never...All in the Family fic reply

[bonfoi.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry this got lost in the depths of my email, but your comment is so lovely, I just had to thank you for leaving it and for having so much fun.

I just couldn't make Theo and Blaise too smart or too sharp, and really, they leant themselves so very much to being "stupid crooks", didn't they?

Sunday 1st March 2015

[livejournal.livejournal.com]

User groolover referenced to your post from Sunday 1st March 2015 (http://hd-prophet.livejournal.com/526273.html) saying: [...] for [R; 4k]. wrote All in the Family [...]

Re: Sunday 1st March 2015

[bonfoi.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry I never saw this lovely pimp. Thank you for it.