Away Childish Things

Chapter 5

Draco had left the silver deer behind.

Harry hated it.

"A fawn," Andromeda had called it. That was what you called a baby deer; fawns had spots on their backs. Harry didn't care; the fawn was dumb. It looked dumb, and helpless, and pointless. The fox had been much cooler. Harry didn't understand why, if Draco was going to leave Patronus to spy on him, he wouldn't leave the fox. A fox would do a better job than a fawn.

That morning, Harry had awakened to find the fawn without Draco below him on the bunks. A set of clothes had been laid out for Harry, set neatly over Teddy's desk chair. The leather satchel Draco had brought was on the seat of the chair.

Heart sinking as he realized Draco must have already awoken and begun working on the case without him, Harry had made his way to the sitting room. Andromeda was on the sofa, reading a newspaper. "Where's Draco?" Harry asked.

"He left." Andromeda lowered the newspaper to turn the page. She had on a small pair of spectacles, looking at him over the tops of the rims. "There's cereal if you want it. And I can make more tea, if you like." She put the newspaper back up again. Someone on a broom moved across the page.

"Left where?" Harry asked, beginning to feel worried.

"He's working on figuring out that ingredient."

"Without me?"

"Manifestly," said Andromeda.

"But-but he promised we could do it together!"

"Did he?" Andromeda turned another page.

Harry was getting angry, now. "Aren't you at least going to tell me where he went?"

Andromeda moved the paper aside quickly, looking a bit alarmed. "I believe he felt it too dangerous. Come," she said, standing and setting the paper aside. "Let's get that cereal."

"I don't want cereal."

"And I didn't fancy taking care of a ten-year-old once again, but here we are." Andromeda headed off toward the kitchen, and that was the end of that.

*

Andromeda was magical too, so she didn't think he was a freak, and she didn't have any cats. That made her much better than most adults, even though Harry didn't like the way she teased. She seemed to tease quite a lot, but he was never sure that she was doing it, and usually when it happened he was pretty certain it was him she was laughing at. Harry, who was very used to being teased in a mean way, didn't find it funny. Draco hadn't teased him a lot, but when he had, Harry had always felt in on the joke.

She did play a few games of Exploding Snap with him, which wasn't nearly as interesting as playing with Draco, though she did tell Harry about her grandson Teddy. He was a Metamorphmagus, which meant he could change his appearance at will. Andromeda said this mainly resulted in him having blue hair and scales and occasional horns, but that sometimes he wouldn't look like the same person from one day to the next.

When Harry asked why Teddy was his godson, Andromeda told him about Remus Lupin and her daughter, Nymphadora Tonks. "They both died in the war," she said.

"What war?" Harry asked.

"Then Draco hasn't told you," Andromeda said, playing a card.

"Told me what?"

"There was a man named Voldemort," said Andromeda, setting down her cards and picking up her tea. "An evil, arrogant individual who felt that Muggles and people who associated with them were inferior. He amassed power and a group of followers and began killing Muggle people."