Always- a Hinny / Romione fanfic

Chapter Sixty Eight

Teddy rose to the sound of his fellow students in the dorm chattering. He wasn't friends with any of the other boys in Gryffindor; Lizzy and Emily were his only real friends. He got made fun of for being a "ladies man" but he managed to tune all of the other boys out.

Lizzy was very popular. What with her sheet of blonde hair and baby blue eyes, boys flocked to be around her. Emily was the exact opposite, her voice bold as brass, her robes full of grass stains, not to mention the fact that she didn't have a filter.

However, the trio made an unlikely harmonious group of friends. Lizzy kept them from biting each other's heads off; Teddy made sure they all didn't fail; Emily made sure nobody messed with them, and brightened up the dreary days with her sarcastic comments. Once you got over her bluntness, she could be quite funny. To those who didn't know her though, she seemed like an utter disaster

She was averaging 'P's' on most of her assignments, though in herbology she was scraping an 'A'. She was in detention about 3 times a week, her hair was always half brushed, and she wore mismatched socks. She made fun of Teddy constantly; about his hair, about his name, about how he "followed Lizzy around", about how he said "er" and "um" to many times in a sentence, the list went on and on. Yet, the moment that anyone said anything rude about Teddy, she let them have it. This was the cause of half of her detentions.

"Emily," Teddy asked curiously one night in the common room after she had spilled a bottle of ink over a fifth-year who made fun of Teddy's hair, which was turning red as he got more and more frustrated with his homework. "How come you do that? You make fun of my hair all the time."

Emily went back to her essay for Professor Longbottom.

"We're friends Teddy Bear. That's just what friends do."

Teddy stared at her. She was furiously writing, and Teddy felt like she was avoiding his eyes. Her cheeks were the faintest tinge of pink, though it could have been because the kids were sitting right by the fire. Teddy smiled. Maybe he could actually call Emily his friend.

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Draco Malfoy was in his study, head bent over his work pile. He had not touched it for days. He kept the office door locked, so that his two children would not come in and see him crying.

He was crying because his wife, Astoria, was dying.

She was very sick. The healers had done all that they could for her. She had a terrible case of dragon pox, and it was to the point of no return. Her skin was a sickly green, her eyes red, every inch of her skin covered in the yellow, pus-filled boils, green and purple rashes covering her arms. She coughed and sneezed day in and day out, sparks flying from her nostrils. Draco spent his days by her bedside, holding her hand, and his nights, either working, or crying quietly, cursing God for bestowing this illness upon his wife.

Astoria was everything to him. She was everything he wasn't. She was sweet and she was compassionate. She was tender and loving, raised the kids with such care; she sang songs, baked, taught them many things, talked to them whenever they needed. She never raised her voice.

And she made Draco feel like a somebody. She made him feel like all the mistakes he had made in the past were not his fault. She radiated positivity and love. If she died, the sun would go out. Draco needed her.

He looked up from his paperwork, wiping his tears. There was something wrong. He could hear his wife's coughs from their bedroom stop. He got up slowly, like that of a zombie, like he was already dead inside, to see her.

He moved slowly, silently, as if any sudden sounds or movement would kill her. It was night, the large manor house hushed, the children asleep. He gazed at his wife, who was fast asleep in their bed, looking sick, weak, barely breathing, her chest shuddering with every exhausting inhale and exhale.

Draco solemnly came to her side. He was afraid to touch her, afraid to break her. He didn't deserve her, yet she was the one good thing that had ever come out of his life. He loved her so much, and he was so, so, so afraid of losing her. He lowered himself and sat onto the bed, the mattress sinking beneath him.

He didn't know what to say. He was never a man for emotions, and she was asleep anyways, so he just held her hand. It was burning, burning with fever and illness, and the doctors said not to touch her, but he needed to touch her, needed to hold her. He lay across next to her, holding her close, as her breathing got slower and slower, and then, she breathed no more.

Draco Malfoy's body shuddered as he cried, his sobs racking his entire body. She was his entire world, she made him whole, and now she was gone, and be didn't know if he had anything else left to live for
***

As life was ending at the Malfoy's Manor life was beginning and blossoming for the Weasley and Potter family. St. Mungo's was brimming with red hair and freckles, since Lilly Luna Potter and Hugo Arthur Weasley were born a mere five days apart.

Harry had won the Rock Paper Scissors over their kid's name yet again, but he couldn't think of a middle name, so he let Ginny pick. Their daughter was adorable, freckles from the moment she was born dotting her nose, a little tuft of red hair, and big eyes.

"Finally," Ginny had sighed "a kid of mine with Weasley hair!"

James and Albus weren't too happy about having a little sister.

"Ew, mom, why couldn't you have had a baby brother?!" Albus whined

"Do we have to play with her?!" James asked, disgusted.

Harry wrote to Teddy, including many pictures in their daily correspondence. Harry wrote to teddy every day because he knew how it felt to get no mail.

Hugo was just as much of a joy to Ron and Hermione. Rose was absolutely over the moon about having a little brother. She asked her mom a million questions a minute about him.

"What's his name? Can I name him? What color are his eyes? Does he talk yet? What does he like to play? Can he play exploding snap with me? Is he going to stay with us? Why does he sleep all day? Will he sleep in my room? Can we-"

Ron put a hand over his daughter's mouth, and she licked it, giggling. Ron laughed and scooped her up, tickling her until she shrieked, and both Hermione and the healer made them go take a walk to the St. Mungo's tea shop.

Later, when they were all out of St. Mungo's and bringing their babies home via broom, since babies are too fragile to travel in other ways, Hermione was thinking about bringing Hugo and Rose over to see Lilly up close.

When she knocked on the potter's door, Harry opened it, to the sound of crying, and the boys yelling. They were playing gob stones, and Ginny was desperately trying to feed a shrieking baby. Hermione and Ron stepped in cautiously, Rose clutching Ron's hand, and Hermione cradling Hugo, who was also crying.

When the two babies locked eyes however, they instantly stopped crying. Ginny sighed with relief and stuffed the bottle into her daughter's mouth.

"Thank God" she landed. "Nothing has been able to get her to stop crying since we got home!"

Both babies smiled at eachother
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Hope you guys liked this chapter
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