teddy/hannah
WHO: Teddy Nott & Hannah Abbott
WHAT: Shopping for the pending baby! :D
WHERE: A baby store.
WHEN: Backdated to a few weeks ago (What? Sickness bites).
RATING: PG
STATUS: DONE






Sure, she'd mostly been joking when she'd come up with the idea to drag Teddy along to pick out gifts for Draco and Pansy's baby. But she really did enjoy spending time with him, broken up or not. It had taken some healing, a few awkward conversations, and a lot of growing up. But Hannah thought they were well on their way to being the good friends they'd become before they'd ever started dating. So why not make him accompany her on a shopping excursion? Sure, she may have begged, thrown in the puppy eyes, and promised him a good dinner afterwards. But whatever worked! Besides, there was no way Ernie would've been coerced quite so easily. And she couldn't quite make herself ask Megan or Susan to go with her to pick up gifts for Pansy Parkinson's baby.

"What do you think?" she asked, holding up a onesie with a giraffe on it. "You're sure they don't know if it's a boy or a girl yet?" Hannah added, looking longingly at the jumper with the ruffle around the bum. "I think I'd want a girl, at least first. The clothes are so cute!" Poor Teddy. Boy probably would've been just as happy with a teddy bear and a rattle and call it a day. Too bad he'd agreed to come along.

Teddy rather enjoyed spending time with Hannah as well. She had been his first love and part of him still couldn't get over that. However, as time continued, he was grateful to have her in his life even only as a friend. It was better than nothing, right? Still, when he thought about spending time with her, sorting through baby clothes wasn't his first thought. Merlin, proof they were getting old! Still, the baby in question was going to be like Teddy's nephew or niece so he did his best to appear interested. He hoped if he was good enough, Hannah would let him buy half the toy store he planned on pulling her into on their way home. "Nope! I think they want to be surprised." He shrugged. "Me? I'd like to know." He glanced at the onesie in her hand. "Would certainly make this easier."

Hannah grinned. At least he was tolerating it, which is more than she could say for most boys being dragged into a section filled with infant clothing. "We could always go the more practical route, you know. Blankets, burp clothes, pacifiers... Maybe a little gift basket. You know, I basically know nothing about wizard babies? I've never really met one before."

Teddy placed the rattle he had been observing back on the shelf so he could turn to Hannah. He tried to pretend to gape, but eventually broke out into a hearty laugh. "What they're like? Oh, you know I was born with two heads! They had to chop one off. True story." He shook his head and nudged her with his foot.

For a second, Hannah merely stared at him as if he were serious. After all, she didn't know! Things were so different in this world as opposed to the one she'd been born in. But finally, she stuck her tongue out at him and placed the onesie back on the rack. "No, I'm serious! I know you're not born differently, but the way they're raised... I mean, what if wizard babies wear different clothes, or don't drink formula or eat baby food or... I don't know! All of this is foreign to me."

Still chuckling, Teddy took Hannah's arm and pushed her gently toward some racks of bonnets and bibs. "Not so differently I don't think. I mean...they've their little robes and their toys are charmed, but..." He shrugged. "And I suppose your parents couldn't cast silencing charms on your room?" He winked before picking up a small green bib saying, "I love my mummy" on it.

"That's a big difference," she reminded him, but she was smiling. It was something to think about, though, wasn't it? There were no guarantees, but she could marry either a wizard or a muggle. And if she married a wizard, he'd probably want her to know things that other witch mums knew. "You can't put a silencing charm on the baby's room! Can you? What if there were an emergency?" She knew she sounded like a worrier and she was definitely counting chicks before they'd hatched, but it was a little intimidating really!

Teddy pushed his discovery into a nearby shopping cart. It felt a bit odd to be talking baby things with someone he still sort of could of might of loved, but he tried to push that away. "Well, I personally wouldn't...now if there is something to keep smells out.."

"Aw, does Uncle Teddy have a problem with nappies?" she teased, grinning up at him. "Gonna have to get used to that, you know. Newborns are the smelliest."

"This is why I am the uncle," Teddy reminded her. "I spoil rotten and hand off to Mum and Dad for that!" His eyes crinkled as he grinned. "Well, can you picture Draco changing one?"

Giving a good-natured groan, Hannah shook her head. "No, now that you mention it. He'll have a house elf do it, I'm sure. Or send you an owl pleading with you to come do it. Poor you. Ha. Poor baby!" And yet, as much as she joked? She knew if that owl ever came her direction she'd help. Who was she these days? When did she go from Hufflepuff Hannah who the Slytherins avoided to one of their trusted confidantes? Even if it was mostly just Teddy and Draco trusted her reluctantly and Pansy... Well, she'd work on her.

It seemed like years ago that House actually mattered. Was it an adult thing or a war thing? Teddy wasn't sure, but he did know he had become less afraid than he had been when a mere eleven years old awaiting the hat's fateful decision. Would it still put him into Slytherin? Teddy didn't know, but he liked to think he did his old House proud. "Nope! I'm sticking to my spoiling and handing off thing and you can't make me change my mind!" He crossed his arms over his chest in defiance. "Besides when all else fails, my mum knows how to change a nappie."

"Thank goodness one of you does," Hannah teased. "She's a brilliant mum, she'll make a wonderful great-aunt. That's one lucky baby, you know. I think even Ernie's excited, though I doubt he'd ever say it out loud." And, once again, it made her wonder about her own future. Having a little one or two of three of her own. She and Ernie had joked about being aunt and uncle so much that she couldn't picture him snuggling someone else's baby. But she knew he wanted to reunite with his old friends. And she wouldn't deny him that chance.

"He's still quietly putting articles about divorce statistics into his drawer at work. Draco doesn't know, but..." Teddy shook his head. "I'm surprised Ernie's being as reluctant as he is. I would think he'd be the first lining up to marry the girl if he was in Draco's position." He pushed the cart further down an aisle. "Is it time for toys yet? I'm dying here!"

Hannah sighed, thinking on Ernie's reluctance. She couldn't help wondering if it had anything to do with losing his dad. It didn't make sense, the link between the two thoughts, but... Well, Ernie's head was a complicated place lately. So instead of dwelling, she tugged the front of cart with a giggle. "Fine, you big whiner. Toys for a newborn it is. A newborn who won't even know toys exist for several months, but if you insist!" Glancing back at him, she grinned. "Told you you'd be rubbish at this stuff."

Teddy grabbed at his chest with one hand. "Wounded right through the heart, Hannah!" Sure, the baby wouldn't use the toys for months, but that didn't mean they couldn't be prepared! "Besides, there will be photographs. Do you want that innocent little baby thinking he had no toys? Or she." He frowned. "This really is difficult, you know."

"Your cousin," Hannah reminded him, a smile on her face. "You want to talk sense into him, go right ahead. Can you imagine, though? There used to be a time when you didn't get a choice in finding out or not, you just had to wait and see." Sighing a bit wistfully, that dreamy expression crossed her face. "Part of me always wanted that moment, you know? Where they put the baby in your arms for the first time and say 'congratulations, it's a...' and then you find out right then?" And a brief moment later, she remembered she was with her ex-boyfriend, someone who she'd briefly wondered what it might be like to have children with. Shaking her head to snap out of it, she led him to a wall of learning development style toys. "Unless you wizards have always had the ability to find out?"

Teddy peered closely at her. "What is it?" he asked on noticing the slight change in her demeanor as she spoke about "that moment" of finding out the baby's gender. "You alright?" He shrugged, not knowing the answer about wizards and babies. He had never really had reason to be interested in such matters previously.

Her cheeks flushed a bit, but the smile stayed on her face. After all, she wasn't about to tell him what she'd really been thinking! "Just wondering what it's like, is all. All those nieces and nephews I have and I wasn't around when a single one of them was born. They were all while I was away at school."

He frowned as he thought that over. He had always missed his family when he was away, but it had helped having Draco near him. He wondered how it would feel to have absolutely no family around for months on end. Deciding he didn't like the idea, he cast Hannah a sympathetic smile. "Hope you are making up for lost time then?" He pointed to some stuffed animals. "Bribery will help them forget Auntie Hannah was off learning to be a witch while they were born I bet."

A slightly wicked grin crossed Hannah's face and she giggled. "I like the way you think, soon-to-be-Uncle Teddy." She picked up a variety of animals, including a unicorn and a hippogriff, which obviously the muggle world didn't have, and sighed happily to herself. "They'd never believe me if I told them things like unicorns really existed, you know. My nieces love them." She tucked the finds under her arm, then gave him a 'look'. "I don't see you shopping, Nott. You want to spoil that kid with toys, get to picking! You can't just watch me shop all day."

Suddenly faced with tons of options, Teddy stared as he tried to choose. "You know...I want one of everything!" It was something he would have said as a child and he immediately thought of his mother and father chuckling. He smiled sheepishly. "I have trouble deciding, I suppose."

"It's a baby, Teddy," she reminded him with a gentle smile. "You've got at least eighteen years to spoil it completely rotten. Many of those years will require toys." Plucking a large plastic train set off of the shelf, she placed it in his arms and winked. "But you have to start small. It's got no motor skills for now!"

"But what about teaching the baby those things? We need to have all the toys in place!" He examined the train, frowning. "What if it is a girl? Don't we need something fluffy?"

Pretending to look indignant, Hannah placed both hands on her hips and gaped. "Excuse me?"

Teddy had the good sense to pretend to look contrite. "Well, the baby is not old enough to say she likes trains! If she does...I'll buy every one in the store!"

"The baby's not old enough to say anything," she teased with a giggle. "In fact, right now? The baby doesn't exist yet. But you could get a little of everything so she can have multiple and varied interests. Musical toys! They need musical toys, what if they're raising the next Weird Sister?"

"Ooooh. Can you imagine?" He went over to the small selection of musical instruments. "How about this one?" He asked pointing to a simple guitar. "It has all the notes in a button!" He started "strumming" the guitar in the middle of the aisle. "Look! He'll be famous." To illustrate his point, he started waving his head all around in a way that would have embarrassed even his mum.

His mum, maybe, but not Hannah. She was surprised, though, and giggled harder. "Didn't know you had it in you, rock 'n roll god." Not to be outdone, she grabbed the tiny tambourine beside the guitar and shook it, tapping her hip with her extra hand in time to his 'playing'. "Oh, absolutely. Eat your heart out, Donnie Tremlett, Baby Malfoy's out to beat you down!" Good thing the toy store was probably used to people acting completely ridiculous surrounded by toys. Because they? Were definitely being completely ridiculous.

Laughing, Teddy grabbed Hannah's hand to dance with her. "Baby Malfoy and...the weirdos?" He suggested.

"We'll be the greatest backup band ever!" Hannah assured, twirling. "The new wave of wizarding music. We'll be the next big thing. Kids will want to be us, parents will drag kids to the concerts. Brilliant!" she declared, dipping into a curtsey with a flourish.

Teddy let out a low whistle. "Bravo, bravo!" Shaking his head at how silly they were acting, he placed the guitar into their cart. "We have to buy it now," he said seriously. "The child's future depends on it!"

"That, and I'm pretty sure if we don't, the store manager will get pretty ticked off," she added with a laugh. "After all, we've played with it more than the baby probably ever will now. Watch, after all that and the kid's going to grow up and be a Healer and cure dragon pox. Ah, well, whatever's best for him. Or her."

"Ugh, underachievers." Teddy sighed as he started rummaging through a sale bin of small items. "I had such high hopes..."

Playfully, Hannah gave him a sharp nudge with her elbow, then smiled. "And what if she grows up to be Minister, hmm? Still going to be terribly disappointed she's not the goddess of music?"

"Not if that means the world changed enough for her to get there." Teddy looked away, suddenly a little angry as he thought about his niece or nephew's future. It had to change for that baby. "Sorry," he added quickly, turning back with a phony smile.

But just because they weren't dating anymore didn't mean Hannah didn't know the difference between his smiles. His genuinely happy smile, his shy smile, his adoring smile, and his definitely not quite completely there smile. No, she knew Teddy better than that and he was anything but happy. "It will," she said softly, reaching out to rest a hand on his arm. Her playful grin had faded into a concerned look. "It won't be like this forever. Everyone fought too hard for peace to just turn around and ruin it, I know it. Your little niece or nephew is going to be phenomenal. She'll have you to guide her, after all."

Teddy still felt a warm wave rush over his when she touched him. Would that ever stop? Was that just par for the course when it came to love? Nonetheless, he was grateful for her encouraging words. "Well, it will need someone with those crazy parents," he pointed out, looking mischievous.

Though the sound was soft, Hannah gave him a giggle for his efforts. "If half the stories you've told me are true, and plenty of times I have to wonder, then he or she is going to need more than just you!" That and both of his or her parents were barely out of childhood themselves, and a rough childhood they'd had. Or, at least, a rough life as teens. She had the feeling neither of them had ever actually wanted for anything. "You're going to dress them up in silly robes, aren't you?"

"Now why would I do that?" Teddy's innocent little smile reappeared as he picked up a little alligator outfit. "Look! It has a head and everything!"

Hannah buried her face in her hand but the groan she gave was good-natured. "You're as bad an uncle as I am an aunt." When she peeked back up at him, it was with a bright smile on her face. "Wait'll you find the House ones. My sister-in-law loved the badger, and she didn't even get it. Now... What do you think? A baby snakie?"

"A snake?" Teddy wrinkled his nose. "I love my House dearly, but I'm not thinking snake when I think of my baby!" He tossed his alligator find into their cart. "Though naturally he'll be the perfect little Slytherin there ever was..."

"And just what will Uncle Teddy do if his precious niece or nephew gets carted off into Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, hmm?" She could only imagine the look on Draco Malfoy's face if his eldest son became a Gryffindor and she had to stifle a giggle.

"I saw that!" He tapped her lips with his finger while trying not to remember how soft they had once felt against his own. "And I suppose if the little bugger MUST be different, I'll survive." He heaved a great pretend sigh before chuckling too. "Seems almost silly now, but...some of those mates are as much family as my mum." He shrugged. "Maybe because I never had brothers or sisters?" He had wanted them at times, but Draco had filled that hole nicely usually.

She shook her head, trying to control the rush of blood in her cheeks when he touched her so gently. "No, no, that's not necessarily it," she countered, though she was smiling. "I've four of them and yet Megan and Susan are just as much my sisters as any of the others. And I'd do absolutely anything for Ernie if he asked."

"I would too," Teddy assured her before nodding toward the check out. "What do you say we get out of here and grab some lunch?"