It’s honestly ridiculous at this point, Harry knows, because he should already be used to seeing it around his home, but whenever Harry catches sight of the blonde hair, his body automatically goes into its fight or flight response.
It’s stupid, it’s unnecessary and Harry feels bad about it, however, that particular shade of snow-like blonde is so intrinsically connected to Draco Malfoy in Harry’s mind that his body reacts before his brain can properly compute that the owner of that mop of hair that walks in his home lacks a great few centimeters and a nasty type of smirk to truly be the git Harry has to see every fucking chemistry lesson. Scorpius is truly nothing like his brother.
Well, aside from all the ways in which he is — the Malfoy lineage seems extremely into making carbon copies of each other. Personality-wise though, Scorpius couldn’t be further away: the boy is kind, polite, funny, and great company. Albus absolutely adores him and even though Harry doesn’t spend that much time with the boys he can see they are good friends from the little snippets of conversation he catches here and there.
It’s nice at the same time it is unsettling to know a Malfoy can be a decent person. it makes Harry long for a universe in which Draco also gets the hint and stops being such a pain in Harry’s arse. It is but a dream, he’s well aware.
The only thing Harry isn’t so sure about when it comes to Scorpius integrity as a decent Malfoy is the fact that the boy never invites Albus over.
You see, the Malfoys are filthy rich, everyone and their grandmothers know this, so Harry knows it’s not a matter of a lack of space to have guests over or anything of the sort. The situation rubs Harry the wrong way — it makes it seem like Scorpius doesn't think Albus is good enough to be at his home, which is not a feeling Harry would relate with the younger Malfoy as little as he knows him.
That, of course, means that the root of this problem is most likely Draco’s influence. Harry certainly wouldn’t put it past the git to forbid his little brother from having a friend over because said friend is Potter ’s little brother. Just the thought of it makes Harry’s blood boil.
And sure, one could say the whole thing is none of Harry’s business (the voice sounds suspiciously like Hermione’s when the argument pops inside Harry’s head), because truly, what does Harry have to do with how Albus deals with his own friendships? That’s part of growing up, Sirius would say.
But still.
It feels like Draco is spitting in Harry’s face, like he’s saying ‘ I will allow my brother to play with garbage if he wants it so much but won’t allow him to take it home’
Again, it makes his blood boil. And makes him want to punch something. Or someone. Either way, the whole thing is a bother.
So, taking advantage of the fact that Albus is lounging on the couch doing nothing but scrolling aimlessly on his phone much like Harry is, the older teen lets out his burning question.
“Hey Alb” Harry calls, earning himself an affirmative hum but no eye contact “Can I ask you a question?”
“You’ve already done so” Albus answers with a smirk. Harry throws a pillow at the boy’s face, which he easily dodges. It gets his full attention however, so the younger teen puts his phone away, “Alright, alright, shoot”
Hoping it won’t turn into an argument with his brother, Harry asks “How come you never go to Scorpius’ house?”
Albus frowns. “What d’ya mean?”
“Like, he’s always around, right?” Harry starts and seeing the frown deepen in his brother’s face quickly adds “Not that that is a problem! I live having Scorp over” He raises his hands in mock surrender, but real relief washes over when he sees his brother’s expression soften up “I’m just curious, is all. The Malfoys got a big ass Manor, right? How come you’ve never got to see it?”
“Wow, never took you for a gold digger, Harry” Albus jokes.
“Har har” Harry fake laughs “You’re very funny. Now stop dodging the question.”
“I’m not dodging anything,” Albus says defensively, crossing his arms. “And it’s nothing deep, Scorp’s dad just doesn’t like having people over is all”
Harry narrows his eyes “Just his dad?”
Albus rolls his. “Yes, Harry. Draco has nothing to do with whatever is going inside that head of yours.” Busted , Harry thinks with a wince “I’ve told you to stop badmouthing Scorp’s brother here!”
“Why are you protecting him? You don’t even know the git!” Harry defends himself.
“I know enough from what Scorp tells me” Albus argues.
Harry huffs “Scorpius is a biased party in this, he doesn’t count”
“Counts too”
“No, he doesn’t”
Albus sighs. “Look, ok, I’ll admit I’ve never really talked to Draco that much and don’t particularly understand what the hell goes on between the two of you, but I’m serious ok?” He looks pleadingly at Harry “At least when Scorp is here, please refrain from complaining about his brother.”
Harry hums, half affirmatively half in questioning. “Are they really that close?” He asks, more out of curiosity than anything else.
“They became closer after-” Albus stops for a moment “You know.”
Harry knows.
He remembers the moment quite clearly, when Argos Filch, always so angry and broody, came to class and called out for Draco Malfoy with the gentlest voice anyone had ever heard him use. Draco excused himself from class on a Tuesday morning and by Wednesday everyone already knew why.
Narcissa Malfoy had died.
Harry had driven Albus to the funeral but stayed far away from the ceremony as his brother offered comfort to his crying friend. Not many people were there, which was a weird thing for a Malfoy event but Harry could understand why that moment was an exception. He remembers seeing Malfoy’s friends — Parkinson, Nott, Zabini, Crabble, Goyle — but the blonde mostly stood alone next to his mother’s coffin. From where he stood, Harry could not tell if Draco was crying. Not that it mattered.
That moment had been the first time Harry felt sympathy towards Draco Malfoy. The feeling lasted until the first nasty remark the blonde directed his way when he finally came back to school.
Not that Harry would say anything mean about the whole thing, he of all people knows really well what is like to lose a parent, all the confusing feelings it brings. If Sirius and Remus hadn't been there, Harry knows he would not be the somewhat stable teenager he is. Of course, Draco still has Lucius, but it is clear to everyone that the man is not the emotional support type.
Before the anger took over again, Harry had caught himself many times wondering if the Malfoys had people to help them through their grief. Albus didn’t talk much to Harry about his friends’ emotional state during that time, but he seemed to be faring relatively well considering the circumstances. Now, Harry wonders if that was because of Draco.
Weird .
“I see” Harry says.
“Yeah” Albus takes his phone back from where it lay on the coffee table, getting comfortable to go back to aimlessly scrolling again “Anything else you want to ask?”
Harry shakes his head. “Nah, I’m good with the amount of Malfoy lore for today”
“Alright” Albus shrugs.
The teen goes back to his phone. Harry observes him for only a moment before going back to his own device.
Scorpius’ dad doesn’t like having people over , is what Albus said. He has no real reason to lie.
Maybe Harry truly was overreacting to the whole thing. It wouldn’t be the first time.
So, with a shrug and a sigh, Harry goes back to the infinity of his Twitter feed, thoughts of Malfoys and homes thrown back into the forgotten drawers of his mind.
That is, until it is the next day and the bloody chemistry class comes again and Snape decides they should all work in pairs because of course he does so Draco bloody Malfoy ends up right next to him. Maybe he’s being punished for asking too much. His only comfort is telling himself it could be worse: Ron ended up with Goyle.
“Don’t get in my way” Draco tells him coldly once Snape lets them start their work.
Harry grits his teeth. Alright, maybe Goyle is the right end of the stick after all.
Like ok, sure, Draco is exceptionally good at chemistry, yes, but that doesn’t mean Harry is bad enough not to be able to offer any help.
“This is my assignment too, arsehole” He answers with a huff, opening up his book and scanning the instructions for his next step. “I’ll do it as much as I bloody please”
Draco rolls his eyes. “God, you’re insufferable”
“Look who’s talking”
“Malfoy. Potter” They both freeze at their names being called. Snape stands behind them and Harry is sure that if he were to look up into the man’s eyes he’d instantly die or something “Something you want to share with the class that is more important than your work?”
“No, Professor” They both answer in unison, earning themselves a satisfied hum from Snape.
Once the teacher is already far enough away, Harry turns to scowl at the blonde.
“This was your bloody fault” He whisper-hisses.
“Whatever you need to tell yourself, Potter” Draco whisper-hisses back.
They know better than to keep arguing now that is clear that Snape is in no mood for their shenanigans, so they keep working in silence. It goes surprisingly well and they finish everything perfectly and with time to spare.
Inside the comfort of his mind and with the knowledge that no one will ever be made aware of the thought, Harry admits to himself he and Draco make a decent team.
“Well done,” Snape tells them when he comes to check their work, which, for his parameters, could as well be a bloody congratulations party.
“Thank you, Professor” They both answer in unison again. Snape nods at them, walking over to the other tables.
Harry taps his shoes on the ground, looking at the clock over the classroom door and internally groaning at the fact there are still a good 25 minutes left of class. The good thing is that he no longer needs to do any work. The bad thing is that he’s stuck next to Draco Malfoy.
Glancing to his left, Harry finds the blonde with a similar disappointed face, surely aware of their less-than-ideal predicament. At least they have something in common.
Albus words from the day before come back to Harry’s mind and he finds himself considering the impossible: Scorpius obviously holds his brother in high regard so maybe, maybe , Draco Malfoy is capable of being something akin to a decent person. Maybe .
The clock on the wall seems to be ticking even slower, so Harry decides fuck it and begins to test his less-than-likely theory,
“You know” He starts, getting the attention of the boy next to him immediately. Draco narrows his eyes at him, clearly suspicious of whatever Harry is going to say, but doesn’t try to stop the conversation in any way. Yet. “Albus and I were talking about you yesterday”
Draco’s scowl gets worse “I haven’t done anything to your brother if that’s what you’re insinuating,” he says.
“It wasn’t” Harry says with a roll of his eyes. Always so defensive “Alb was telling me how much Scorpius looks up to you and shit”
The information instantly softens the blonde’s features. It doesn’t seem like his brother’s feelings are news to him, but hearing it from Harry Potter that heard from his little brother must hit different or something.
Draco’s face stays like that for about five seconds before his expression turns suspicious again. “And you’re telling me that because?” The blonde questions
“Weeell” Harry drags the syllable just enough to see the glint of annoyance in Draco’s eyes. He grins“ I’m just wondering how can that be, is all. I mean, we’ve known each other for quite a while, haven’t we?” 5 years, to be exact, since they were eleven. “What does little Scorp see so easily that gives me so much trouble to find?”
Draco’s glare gets impossibly colder. “You think you’re really funny, don’t you Potter?”
Harry shrugs “I’ve been told I’m quite charming, yes”
“I bet” Draco answers sarcastically with a roll of his eyes. “I’m not going to talk about my relationship with my brother with you. I don’t owe you shit”
“See, that’s what I’m talking about” Harry tsks “You don’t seem to be nice at all”
“Maybe you don’t deserve nice” Draco argues back “Have you thought about that?”
“I think this is more of a you-problem, honestly.” Harry smirks. “But it does get me curious”
Draco scoffs “Wondering how to properly take care of younger brothers, Potter? Maybe you should focus more on little Albus than on me”
Haring Albus’ name on Draco’s mouth instantly shifts the tone of the argument for Harry. His playful smirk vanishes, replaced by a firm glare.
“Don’t you dare speak about Albus, Malfoy” He warns.
Draco just rolls his eyes at him “I didn’t say a thing about him, Potter. In fact, from what Scorp tells me he seems like a fine young man. Unlike his brother.”
Harry’s glare stays in place “You know shit about us”
“And I plan to keep it that way” Draco says “You don’t see me asking you any questions here, now do you?”
Harry scoffs, shaking his head at the celling “Well, forgive me for trying to be nice”
“You sure have a funny way of “being nice”, Potter” Draco moves his fingers to show the quotation marks around the words. “So yeah, I’ll forgive you this time but you can stop this now. Actually, you can stop this forever”
Harry opens his mouth to answer but decides it’s not worth it. Their arguments are famous for escalating very quickly and honestly, Harry is in no mood to get detention with Snape. So, instead of giving a response, he simply throws his hands up in surrender and turns away from Malfoy’s glare. The cracks in the wall can be interesting enough for the remaining time he has in this class.
When he leaves, he thanks the universe that he’ll not have to see Malfoy again for a long while. The universe, of course, screws him over.
It’s about 8 pm — Remus and Sirius are out on their weekly date night so the house only has Harry and Albus as its two occupants. Harry is in the middle of boiling water for tea and wondering if he should reheat some leftovers in the fridge or just give up and get some pizza when there’s a knock on his front door.
That’s weird , Harry thinks with a frown, we’re not expecting anybody.
He approaches the door carefully, wondering if he should be this worried or if Hermione just put too many thoughts of stranger danger in his mind. When his eye meets the peephole, the sight that greets him is far more weird than a serial killer would.
Harry opens the door.
Draco Malfoy stands there in all his arrogant posh glory, but all the intimidation points he could have won with the pose are completely shattered by the blood dripping from a cut on his head and the teary Scorpius that stands sniffing by his side.
“Potter” Draco greets, and is clear he’s trying to sound casual though all the blood makes it a nearly impossible task “Scorpius and I have run into a bit of an...inconvenience, per se. Would it be alright if Scorpius stayed the night with you and Albus?”
As if summoned by the mention of his name, Albus comes running down the stairs, taking off his earbuds and asking loudly “Who’s at the door, Harry?”
Harry can’t bring himself to answer, still too shocked by the scene in front of him. It doesn’t take long for Albus to be standing by his side, eyeing his best friends worriedly.
“Scorp?” He asks, eyes going from Draco’s bloody face to the tears his friend is clearly trying hard to contain “What happened?”
Scorpius just sniffes again and tightens his grip on Draco’s shirt, looking down.
"Well?" Draco presses, looking at his brother worriedly before turning back to Harry. Harry just blinks. Draco sighs, clearly loosing his patience. "For the love of- Potter, can Scorpius stay the night or not?"
“Of course, he can stay the night!” Albus answers immediately, going to his friend’s side and grabbing the hand that isn’t on Draco’s clothes. Harry can see the younger Malfoy squeezing hard.
“Potter?” Draco asks again and that combined with Albus' almost murderous glare is enough to take Harry out of his trance.
“Yes, of course he can” He says with as much decisiveness as he can muster “Of course” He repeats, moving out of the way of the door “Uh, come in. Come in”
Draco moves to take his brother’s hand out of his shirt so he can maneuver the kid inside, but Scorpius doesn’t let him, letting go of Albus’ hand to hold onto Draco’s with more force.
“You have to stay too!” Scorpius says frantically, pulling his brother inside the house “You don’t need to go back!”
Draco eyes both Potter brothers uncomfortably, seemingly evaluating his options: it’s clear he doesn’t want to have whatever this conversation is with an audience, but is also clear he doesn’t want to bring Scorpius any more distress.
In the end, Draco decides that calming Scorpius down is more important than whatever pride he’s holding onto.
The blonde moves to wipe the blood on his face with his sweater sleeve. “It’s not that bad” He tries, though it’s clear that the cut keeps oozing out blood “Just a little cut. Nothing I can’t fix”
“Then fix it here!” Scorpius pleads “If you go back, he’ll-”
“ Scorpius”
The boy closes his mouth loudly, but the damage is done. Harry has a pretty good hunch on who ‘ he’ is.
Scorpius’ dad doesn’t like having people over.
“Malfoy-” Harry begins. Draco turns to him with his iciest glare to date.
“Don’t you fucking start” He cuts out whatever Harry was going to say, then turns back to his brother “I’m sorry, Scorp, but you know as well as I do that I can’t stay. I know it is hard, but try to pretend this is just a sleepover, yes? Have fun with your friend” Scorpius opens his mouth “For me” The boy closes his mouth again.
Scorpius is clearly not convinced but the pleas of his brother are effective enough to make him drop the fight for the moment. With a loud sniff, he wraps his hands around Draco’s body and he hugs him tightly.
“Take care of yourself, please” The boy begs.
“Always” Draco promises, reciprocating the hug with just as much force. A couple of seconds later he lets go. “Go on” He encourages.
Scorpius, albeit decisively not satisfied with the turn of events, turns to his friend.
“Can we go to your room?” He asks shyly.
Albus is nodding before he’s even finished speaking “Of course, we can, come on”
The boys disappear upstairs leaving their respective brothers behind. As soon as he hears Albus’ bedroom door slamming shut, Harry decides it’s time to speak again.
“Malfoy-” He tries.
“I don’t want to hear it” Draco cuts him once more. “I’m grateful that you’re able to let Scorp sleep here today but I really don’t want to hear whatever speech you have for me so really, save it”
Draco turns to go back outside, but Harry moves quicker. He closes the door before the blonde has the chance to escape, moving his body to he’s effectively blocking the way.
“What the in the bloody fuck are you doing?” Draco snarls “Move!”
“I’m not letting you walk out of this house looking like this, Malfoy” Harry answers back, decisively.
“Didn’t I tell you earlier, today? I don’t fucking want your niceties!” Draco snaps back.
The blonde’s hands come up to push Harry’s shoulder’s, making the boy’s back slam against the door. It’s not at all effective as a way of making him grant passage, but Harry gets what Draco means with the move and with the way the blonde’s hands stay on his shoulders — I’ll make you move wheter you like it or not.
And honestly, in any other circumstance, Harry would not pass up an opportunity of getting into a fistfight with Malfoy, especially one he’s so sure he’d win. But the thing is, right now, Draco Malfoy can try to put on whatever bravado he wants, Harry can read his eyes like a book.
He’s terrified .
“Malfoy” Harry says slowly, moving his hands up to gently grasp the other’s wrists and move his hands away. He does it effortlessly and pretends not to notice how they’re shaking. “We don’t need to talk. Just drink some tea and clean up, ok?”
Draco seems ready to argue again but something in him breaks. He deflates like a balloon, a tiredness that seems older than them both taking place over his features.
“Ok” Draco agrees finally so Harry lets go of his wrists and moves to guide the boy to the kitchen.
He gestures for Draco to sit down as he gets two cups and some tea. While the water finishes boiling, he finds and damps a piece of cloth for Draco to press against the cut in his head. The blonde accepts it with a small nod as thanks.
It’s the weirdest sight ever: Draco Malfoy sitting at his kitchen table looking like he’s out of a bad horror show and drinking tea out of Remus’ flowery teacups. Harry would honestly laugh if everything wasn’t so tense.
They drink in silence for a while before Harry feels like it1s okay to speak again.
“Are you sure you want to go back?” He asks.
“Yes” Draco answers fast, no hesitation whatsoever.
Harry decides to change the question. “Are you sure it is safe to go back?”
A moment. Hesitation .
“...Yes” Draco answers again, and it’s clear he wishes it sounded as resolved as his last answer.
Harry sighs. He looks up, unsure of what to say. Draco beats him to the punch.
“I’m going back and that’s final,” The boy says and he seems to be trying to convince himself as much as he’s trying to convince Harry. “It’ll be alright”
“You don’t believe what you’re saying” Harry states.
“Does it matter?” Draco asks no one in particular. The hand that isn’t pressing the cloth to his head raises to rub against his tired eyes.
The scene is just so sad , Harry thinks. He can’t even find it funny.
Draco Malfoy, his greatest rival, reduced to a bloody mess and it’s not even funny.
“Thanks for the tea” Draco says as he gets up. “I’ll wash this and return it to you tomorrow” he gestures to the cloth still on his head.
Harry watches him leave.
The next day, he finds the piece of cloth washed and nicely folded resting on his usual seat for his math class. He puts it in his bag and tries not to think about it.
Draco walks the hallways as if nothing happened, the cut on his head covered by some nicely done makeup and a small change in his fringe style. No one notices anything amiss and Harry doesn’t know if he should break the illusion. Draco certainly would hate him even more if he did. Harry isn’t sure if it matters.
He ends up not saying anything but he asks Albus about Scorpius once they’re back home.
“He didn’t say much” Albus tells him sadly “I think Draco asked him not to”
Harry just sighs.
Things don’t change aside from the fact that now Draco Malfoy does his best to avoid him instead of dropping insults at every opportunity. That and the fact that Scorpius seems to be staying over at Harry’s house more and more.
That’s a lie , something tells Harry, everything changed.
Roughly two weeks after the first time it happened, Draco knocks on Harry’s door again.
How does he always pick the days when Remus and Sirius are out , Harry asks himself when he goes to open the door. If any of those two were home, he’s sure they’d never let Draco leave.
“Potter” Draco greets somberly.
It seems worse this time, Harry notes, even though the blood, now coming from Draco’s nose, is already mostly dried. The blonde is standing weirdly, putting his weight on his left side and holding his right arm protectively against his chest. Scorpius is sniffing again, but he seems more resigned. Harry doesn’t think that is a good thing.
“Come on in, Scorp, Albus is in his room” Harry tells the boy gently, moving out of the way so he can come inside.
“Thanks Harry” The kid murmurs. The sound of his steps climbing up the stairs feels deafening.
Now that Harry can properly look at him, he can see Draco’s eyes are just as bloodshot as Scorpius’ were.
“Come inside” Harry asks and he’s not sure if he’s surprised when the blonde obeys.
This time, Harry guides him to their guest bathroom, walking slowly to accommodate Draco’s barely hidden limp. He gestures for the blonde to sit on the counter and pretends not to hear his hisses of pain.
It doesn’t feel real, Harry thinks as he takes out the first aid kit. He gently pulls Malfoy’s arm out of the blonde’s hold, taking care of it first. Then he takes care of the boy’s hands, then his foot, and finally his face. Harry’s gently dabbing a damp cotton ball under Malfoy’s nose to get rid of some of the blood when the blonde speaks.
“I don’t understand you” He says lowly. Not quite an insult and not quite a compliment, just a statement.
“I don’t understand you either” Harry answers honestly.
Draco closes his eyes and Harry finishes cleaning him up. Differently from last time, Malfoy doesn’t seem to be in that much of a hurry to return home this time.
“Will you stay the night?” Harry asks.
“No” Draco murmurs back.
Harry hums.
Draco tells his friends at school that he fell while playing with Scorpius. Harry still doesn’t say anything. He hates himself for it at the same time he basks in the warmth of Draco’s grateful looks.
Everything changed, Harry is well aware.
A knock on his door, blood on his floor, hands that tremble like leafs on a windy day and grey eyes like a storm that refuses to rain.
“Will you stay the night?” Harry asks.
“I can't ” Draco answers." I don't want him to be alone like she was"
Scorpius keeps staying with them — Remus and Sirius don’t press, they never do, but Harry can tell they know something is not right. They’ll just wait till it’s time for them to find out what .
One night, while the younger Malfoy is already inside Albus’ room, there’s a knock on Harry’s door. Once again atop his bathroom counter, Harry cleans Draco’s face with damp cotton balls. There’s also a dampness there that doesn’t come from that water.
It doesn’t feel real, Harry thinks again when Draco’s face fits on the crook of his neck and his whole body starts shaking. It doesn’t feel real when Harry’s arms go up to wrap around the other boy. It doesn’t feel real when they stay like that for hours and days and years.
Once Draco calms down and straightens up again, Harry moves to gently wipe the corner of the other’s eyes with his thumb. His hands stay on Draco’s face after it is done, and the blonde leans into the touch.
The dream-like feeling of it all is what gives Harry the courage to lean forward and connect their mouths.
The kiss is quick and gentle, over in a moment but with a buzz that lingers.
“What are you doing?” Draco asks, voice barely louder than a whisper. His question doesn’t hold any of the venom many of the sort had in the past.
“One day, I was ranting about you” Harry explains “I spent what felt like hours talking until ‘Mione snapped and told me all this hatred I felt was probably just pent-up sexual tension”
“Granger is certainly smart” Draco comments lightly.
“I thought she was insane” Harry tells him “But back then I didn’t know who you were”
“You still don’t know much about me” Draco argues.
“Then let me find out”
Harry kisses Draco again, this time a bit more firmly, a low whimper comes out of the blonde’s mouth and Harry has enough experience to know it isn’t one caused by pain.
“ Harry ” Draco calls and hearing his name on Draco’s lips makes Harry’s legs tremble.
“Stay the night” Harry says. Not a question this time, a request.
“Harry-”
“Please, Draco ”
Draco stays that night.