“Well,” Draco began and Ginny prepared herself “This is a hovel”

They looked around at their new flat, a small living room with an even smaller kitchen attached, two white doors led one, to the one small bedroom and the other, to a small bathroom.

Everything in there was small.

“Feel at home yet, Weasley?” he asked her and received a slap on the arm for it.

“Don’t,” she glared at him “test me, Malfoy.”

Draco just shrugged so she walked inside, putting Harry down he decided to crawl around, curious about his new environment.

Draco observed the child for a moment, his slow progress around the room, and how after some time he searched for the tell-tale of red hair, finding her in the kitchen baby Harry continued on, reassured that someone familiar was nearby. He hadn’t held him since that day with Mrs. Rees, the one time he had to, during their journey there, Harry had cried until Ginny showed up to hold him.

The toddler, if nothing else, tended to avoid him.

“Hey, Weasley,” he called out as she finished putting away the food they bought earlier “do you think Potter can see?”

Ginny turned to look at him, deadpan to his smirk “What are you talking about?”

“I mean, Potter wears glasses,” he continued, impervious to her annoyance, “think it developed later, or does he just assume any ginger is family?”

Ginny gritted her teeth and answered “I don’t know, why don’t you go... do whatever it is that you do”

“Oh, but this is better!”

She was going to strangle him. Sooner or later.

“And on that note, isn’t this weird for you?” he asked, hoping for more to tease her with.

“What do you mean?”

“Only,” he leaned on the kitchen counter “last I heard, weren’t you dating Potter?”

Probably sooner.

Ginny rolled her eyes “That? It was a stupid rumour from Romilda Vane, she was pissed that Harry didn’t want to date her and figured I would be a good scapegoat”

Of course he would find that hilarious. She shook her head and opened the door to the bedroom, his laughter having no choice but to follow her in the tiny flat, and Ginny sighed at the only bed in the room, at least she didn’t have to sleep with Draco alone.

Deciding to ignore it, she opened the little closet and put their new muggle clothing inside while keeping an eye on Harry, her wand always with her. Draco, instead, decided to sit on the couch, still smiling he figured that this new life wouldn’t be so miserable after all.

At least, not as long as he could drive Weasley mad.

Ginny put down the finally sleeping Harry, while he old enough to sleep the whole night, he would often refuse to go to bed and they’d have a battle of wills. It had been almost two weeks and she quickly discovered that letting him win led to crankiness and a lot of crying, so she tried her best on those uncooperative days.

She gently caressed his little head and made sure he wouldn’t fall from the bed before leaving him to sleep.

Closing the door quietly she finally let herself fall on the couch.

She was ready to relax when she heard the door of the bathroom opening and closing, Malfoy had finished his bath, shirt untucked as he finished to button it up, of course it would be a button-up shirt, she thought shaking her head. Ginny stared at him, in the few days since arriving in the past he had managed to regain some of his previous snobbish looks, and while he still pale, it was no longer sickly looking.

A return to normality in a way, as normal as two teenagers out of time would ever be at least.

She smirked, if there was something she’d agree with Malfoy it would be that driving each other mad was simply... fun. Ginny sneaked behind him as he hadn’t noticed her yet.

Because alongside the rest, the meticulous hairstyle had returned and Ginny enjoyed messing it up.

“Weasley!” he exclaimed.

“It looks better now!” she retorted in between laughter “Less plastic!”

“That’s because you are an uncivilized weasel” Draco glared but she didn’t lose her smile.

She got slightly closer and when she got his attention “Said the great bouncing ferret!” she ran away laughing when Malfoy pursued her around the flat.

Even if it had woken Harry up, she had to admit her new life wasn’t so miserable after all.

At least, not as long as Malfoy was so easy to annoy.

He regretted making Weasley mad.

As long as she was the only one in the flat to know how muggle money works, upsetting her led to terrible consequences, he’d take duelling over it any day over the alternative.

Namely, a crying child.

“Look, Potter, it’s a star and it talks” he squeezed the singing toy in front of the baby to no avail, bouncing him up and down wasn’t helping either, the moment the child had realized Ginny wasn’t there anymore he started screaming and hadn’t stopped since.

Talk about cosmic punishments.

He put him down, hoping that perhaps the child would calm down if away from him but instead Harry just looked at him with his blotchy face and tear-filled eyes before raising his little arms to him, Draco sighed and picked him up again, little hands holding his shirt tight now.

“If you want to be held,” he asked the baby, pacing the living room “wouldn’t it be better if you stopped crying?”

It had been a month now, they had been in the past for a month and it still felt strange living in a muggle flat with a Weasley and taking care of a child with her, a child that just so happened to be Harry Potter.

“You know, if you continue crying,” Draco tried his best at a soothing voice “I will have to do something I really don’t want to do”

He continued to shift from one foot to another, imitating what he’d seen Ginny do when putting Harry to sleep.

“Oh, it’s something absolutely terrible,” he said gravely “and yet you ask that of me!”

Was he so desperate for calm that he was deluding himself that Harry screams seemed to lessen?

“Well, since you insist,” he continued in a resigned voice “I now have to wish Weasley to return soon”

He wasn’t crazy yet, the cries were lessening!

“It will be very humiliating you see.” He explained, “How can I maintain my status if I need help any time you cry!”

Harry was now sobbing onto his shirt.

“Exactly! She would love it, too, hold it above me that I wanted for her to be here” he was whispering now “But you need to keep it secret, can you keep a secret Harry?”

Harry only looked at him.

“Good, our secret then.”

Ginny opened the door, back from getting groceries she found Malfoy trying to keep a sobbing Harry entertained, the boy ignoring completely the stuffed star. She smiled.

“I’m back!”

The duo turned to her and Harry smiled, hands reaching out to her and she took him from Malfoy.

“As usual, wanted nothing to do with me” Draco explained rolling his eyes before picking the groceries and going to the kitchen to put them away.

“It was better than the other times.” She laughed at him “Last time he was screaming, how did you calm him this time?”

Draco leaned on the counter and smiled at her “I told him a secret”

“Really?” Ginny asked amused “What?”

“It’s a secret, you are not supposed to tell a secret,” at that Harry laughed, it didn’t matter why he did, but Draco smirked and Ginny shook her head.

“Traitor,” she told Harry.

It had been a month and it seemed as if their new life wouldn’t be miserable after all.