As soon as I was well enough to walk about with Nova in my arms, I made the trip to the closed ward.

"This is Nova, Dad," I whispered, trying not to cry as I pulled the blanket away from Nova's face so that my father could see her. "Your granddaughter."

But he just continued to stare blankly at the wall, opposite.

"Please, Dad," I tried again, not wanting to give up, "please, just look at her."

He blinked.

And carried on staring at the wall.

I felt a tear roll down my cheek. A small part of me had hoped that seeing his granddaughter would have been enough to bring him out of his 'coma'.

"It's all right, Aurora," Fred said kindly, giving my shoulder a comforting squeeze, "we always knew it was a long shot."

My heart felt so heavy.

And it hadn't helped that it had been a week since I'd given birth and I hadn't seen or heard a thing from Draco.

"He asked about you," Blaise murmured, as he gently cradled Nova in his arms.

My head shot up from where I was laying in my hospital bed. I felt my heart hammer in my chest hopefully.

"Really? What did he say?" I breathed.

"Just asked how you and the baby were doing." Blaise shrugged, not taking his eyes away from Nova as he poked the tip of her nose with his finger.

"Don't you go getting bloody broody, Blaise," Cho muttered, playing with the little white teddy bear that someone had left outside my room.

I had woken up to it on my bedside table and Fred explained that a nurse had brought it in saying she had seen a young man leaving it after hovering outside our room.

"Did she say who?" I had asked, hopeful.

"Sorry, Aurora," he had shrugged apologetically, "it could have been anyone. Perhaps it was Harry feeling guilty about what he'd done."

Without realising I was doing it, I reached out and snatched the teddy from Cho, not wanting her to touch it - not wanting anyone but myself and Nova to touch it.

Cho looked a little alarmed at my action.

"Sorry," I shrugged, clasping it to my chest. "I just feel quite attached to this one."

"I'm not surprised," Blaise said, finally tearing his eyes away from Nova to raise his eyebrows at me, "those teddy's are not cheap. My mother collects them." He added quickly, seeing mine and Cho's bemused faces. "And one like that would cost a small fortune."

My heart fluttered as I looked down at it. There was now no doubt in my mind who it was from.

*****

I returned to Hogwarts a couple of weeks after the Easter holidays, when Nova was six weeks old and finally deemed a healthy weight and size.

Dumbledore had arranged for my own private lodgings, given that I had Nova with me, who was to be looked after by Madam Pomfrey during the day, whilst I sat my classes.

My first lesson back was Potions.

"Hey," I said quietly as I sat down next to him, relieved that my seat was still available.

Draco glanced up at me; a smile tugging at his lips, and I felt my heart glow as a warmth spread through me.

"How is she?" He asked ever so softly, his voice full of such tenderness.

"Beautiful," I breathed, smiling at him sadly.

I shivered as I felt the soft caress of his fingertips on the back of my hand, and it was as though, right then, we were the only two people in the room.

Slughorn chose that very moment to enter, causing Draco to swiftly pull back his hand.

"Welcome back, Aurora!" He said jovially as he slapped his satchel onto the desk, turning brightly towards the class. "I trust mother and baby are both well?"

I nodded, feeling my cheeks flush as the whole class turned to stare at me.

"Good-o, good-o!" He chortled genially, "now, I do have concerns that you have missed quite a bit during your - ah... time off. And so I was hoping that young Draco here could help you catch up? If that's not a problem, of course? You've always worked well as partners in my class, after all."

"Of course, Professor," Draco responded immediately.

I cocked my head up to look up at him, and, as our eyes briefly met, I felt the sudden ache of my jaw from trying to prevent my face splitting into a wide smile.

"I'll come by tonight," Draco said, after the lesson had finished, and we were packing our things away.

I looked up, startled, suddenly wondering what he was talking about.

"To help you catch up," he chuckled, his eyes twinkling in amusement. "You're staying in the room just off the hospital wing, right?"

I nodded mutely, inexplicably touched that he knew where I was staying; that he had bothered to make the effort to find out.

"I look forward to it," he smiled, making my stomach flip.

His face quickly darkened as his eyes fell on a point just above my shoulder.

"Can I have a word, Aurora?"

I span round to find myself face to face with Harry.

I also hadn't seen him since the bathroom incident; he had tried turning up at the hospital but Fred had warned him away - told him to wait until I was better before confronting me.

I guessed that was now.

"Leave it, Potter," Draco hissed warningly, as the rest of the class jostled past us on their way out.

"I just want to say I'm sorry," Harry said looking at me, completely ignoring Draco.

"Forget it, Harry," I said, keen to end this before Draco kicked off.

I turned around to pick my bag up from the desk, when I felt a hand grab my arm, causing me to cry out as Harry tried to pull me back round to face him.

There was a loud clutter as Draco threw his bag on the floor and lunged towards Harry, grabbing a fistful of the front of his robes, jerking him away from me.

"You fucking touch her again and I will personally kill you myself," he spat, fury making a pink tinge rise to his cheeks.

"Draco, stop," I said, looking around nervously; but luckily the classroom was now empty except for us three.

Draco blinked at me, letting go of Harry's robes.

Flustered, Harry straightened himself out.

"I'll not say anything, because of you and your baby," Harry said, still just looking at me. "But I warn you, he-" he jabbed a long finger towards Draco's chest, "is bad news, and I know he's up to something, so if you care about your child then you'll stay well clear."

He flounced out, glaring at Draco as he did so.

"He's like a fucking broken record," Draco muttered angrily.

I couldn't argue with that.