Chapter 50
The problems started when they tried to get Teddy into a carriage. He simply didn’t want to go. Draco cajoled him until everyone else was packed up and then bribed Teddy with a sweet. Draco hated to do it, a bribed Teddy wasn’t actually a satisfied Teddy, but Draco wouldn’t start such a large journey strong arming a screaming toddler into a traveling box. Thankfully the carriage took off before the sweet could fully be consumed so it would be hard for Teddy to have thrown himself out of it. About three hours in, Teddy tried to prove it was not impossible, forcing Draco and company to get creative with their distractions. Teddy was meant to be napping but that was meaningless.
They arrived to one of those receiving lines people do for important guests. The king stood in the position of honor, although he looked like someone shoved him last minute into a formal suit coat, but failed to talk him into the proper breeches. So, not that different from Teddy.
The moment the stage coach opened the door, Teddy shot out of the carriage like a lighting bolt roaring at full volume. Draco and Andromeda left him to it, but the nursemaid was a saint and found the energy to hurry after her charge. Draco groaned out his suffering but pulled himself to his feet so the maid wouldn’t be left on her own. Andromeda’s chuckle followed Draco out the carriage door.
Draco’s mother and Andromeda’s lady’s maid were already out of the second carriage, and Ron was down off his horse, which gave Teddy plenty of people to run circles around while avoiding all the strangers and the big imposing castle. The nursemaid was chasing after him, calling out, “Your grace!” over and over, as if Teddy knew that meant him or wasn't smart enough to know she’d just trap him again somewhere else.
Draco waited until she chased Teddy round once more then he stepped out and nabbed the three year old. Teddy squirmed and shouted and flailed, whacking Draco solidly on his head twice.
Strong arms reached out for Teddy, pulling him off Draco before Teddy could whack him again. “Shhh, it’s alright, I’ve got you,” said King Harry as he bounced Teddy and patted his back.
Teddy buried his face into the king’s jacket. The tears and snot he smeared over it wouldn’t cause any hardship. “I want to go home!” Teddy wailed.
The king smiled down at the little boy, charmed by his tantrum. He nudged Teddy’s nose with his own. “Yeah, I don’t like it here that much myself. But you and me? We can take on anything,” Teddy sniffled a little as he tilted his big round eyes up to look at the king. The king’s answering smile may have been small but it held a warmth that radiated across the king’s face and lit up his eyes. Teddy hiccuped once before burying himself into the king’s chest in silent acceptance. Draco watched the king close his eyes and lean down to kiss the little boy’s head, squeezing him just a bit more as he did so.
The king opened his eyes and realized everyone was watching him. His smile faded and his affection melted away into an expression Draco could now recognize as the mask King Harry wore with the public. The king lifted Teddy a bit higher into his arms, still cradling the boy gently, even if he took a moment to regally say, “Welcome to the castle,” which is all he could be bothered with for a formal greeting. No one waited for him to put in further effort.
The king spared only enough time to kiss Andromeda hello before he walked towards the castle. Teddy peaked over his shoulder and shouted, “DracoDracoDRACO!” until the king stopped to turn back as well.
“You coming?” King Harry called out.
Draco supposed he was. He paused only to ask Ron a favor before walking after the king.
Of course, Andromeda and Teddy were once again staying in the grand guest suite. King Harry released Teddy as soon as they arrived and Teddy once again took off in a mad dash to stretch his legs. He ran into the room he’d used last time and climbed up onto the canopy bed so he could jump up and down on the mattress. Draco kicked off his shoes so he could climb up after him. Teddy almost ran off, afraid Draco would stop his play, but then Draco tried out bouncing on his knees a couple times until Teddy burst into giggles. Teddy jumped even harder then, seeing how high he could go.
“Careful, you’re going to break the bed,” the king cautioned without really meaning they should stop.
Draco looked back just so he could be seen rolling his eyes. To Teddy he said, “Edward, darling, you jump highest when you’re barefoot. Let’s take off your shoes and socks.” Teddy went along with it, so if they did break the mattress at least they wouldn’t get the bedding dirty.
Teddy didn’t stop with his shoes and socks. The nursemaid had wrangled Teddy into a little buttoned up vest over a buttoned up shirt so he’d look good and proper at the castle. Teddy tore it all off. Draco pocketed a button that escaped in the process so he could have it reattached later. “Off! Off! Off!” Teddy began chanting. When he was bare from the waist up he yanked at Draco’s own coat until Draco let him pull his coat sleeve loose. Teddy insisted Draco finish taking the rest of it off. Teddy kicked it to the floor and crowed to freedom. Then he was off running again in no time, leaving Draco to pick up the loose clothing items and lay them out on a nearby dresser. Draco slumped on the side of the bed afterwards, exhausted.
“Hanging in there?” King Harry asked from across the room.
Draco pulled a face that might have been a reassuring smile, but also possibly a defeated grimace. “Couldn’t be better.” They both heard Teddy run by the hall outside again, on his way to explore whatever lay in the other direction. “I spent all day with the most perfect child in the world.”
The king shared his warm, affectionate smile with Draco. “He is perfect,” King Harry said it like he was confiding a secret. It gave Draco pause, to see the king so openly happy.
Draco waved as if it shoo him from the room. “Stop being mushy. It’s weird. Makes it hard not to dislike you when you act like that.”
The king blinked in surprise, his face half torn between confusion and closing off his emotions again. “Wait - are you trying to dislike me?” he asked.
Draco tilted his head and smirked. In this moment of exhausted comradery he felt comfortable enough to tease. “I don’t have to try, your majesty. Disliking you comes as easy as breathing. Due to you being… well, I’m probably not allowed to call a king an asshole. So definitely not that.” The king might have taken it as an insult, but Draco would never know. A crash in the other room cut the king’s flustered retort off before he could get started. Both men got to their feet at once to check in on Teddy, who wasn’t hurt or anything, just very good at causing trouble.
King Harry scooped Teddy up again, promising him crackers in the main room until dinner. All three trooped out. Draco sat at the table and let the king hand off Teddy so he could gather snacks. While Teddy munched, the king pulled off his own formal add ons before he sat at the table, much more comfortable and looking more himself.
“I’m not an asshole,” the king felt the need to insist even though the conversation had passed and Draco had moved on.
Draco didn’t so much ignore him as respond in a sideways fashion. He tickled Teddy to get his attention. “Emotion game, Edward! Let’s see who can make a better King Harry grumpy face!” Teddy loved practicing how to identify emotions, and at once both he and Draco did their best grouchy king impression. Draco managed a believable scowl, but Teddy was very good at furrowing his bushy brows. The king glared at both of them, merging the scowl and the brows so perfectly that Teddy and Draco couldn’t their uproarious laughs.
“Another! Another!” Teddy said.
“Snobby Draco,” the king commanded.
Teddy had to think. “What’s snobby?” he asked.
King Harry shot Draco a smirk before getting his revenge. “Like this,” he said, then did a truly horrible impression of Draco sticking his nose in the air and pinching his lips primly.
Teddy laughed again and tried it himself. Honestly, he did a better job. He must have known the face himself even if Draco would swear he never made it when Teddy was watching.
“That’s not nice, Edward. We don’t tease. It makes people sad. Let’s do a sad face.” All three adopted the most exaggerated frowns, any one of them could have been mistaken for a court gesture. Teddy laughed again and snuggled back into Draco’s chest, finally relaxed and happy.
People came, followed by dinner, followed by the king offering to put Teddy to bed himself and everyone else feeling blessed they need not get up again. The servants left for the night, one leaving with Narcissa to show her to her room, and Andromeda excused herself as well. So it was only Draco still there, nursing a warm mug of tea, when the king returned.
Draco had supposed the king would see himself out, but he didn’t. Instead he collapsed into the chair closest to him, which happened to immediately be to Draco’s right. “I don’t know where that boy gets so much energy,” King Harry said, all affection.
Draco acknowledged his remarks with a, “Mmhmmm.” He sipped his tea and enjoyed the moment of mutual understanding. “I imagine you must have been like that, when you were his age.”
The king snorted. His face drew tight just a little, frowning along the edges. He didn’t shut down, though. “No. I was a very quiet child.”
It was a struggle to imagine it. “Quiet and well behaved?” Draco said it like a joke.
The king’s eyes pinched a bit more and he offered up a grim smile. “Very well behaved.” It wasn’t the same as closing off completely, but clearly he didn’t want more questions. For once, Draco let it go, sipping his tea instead of prying. Perhaps it was offering the space the king needed that let King Harry relax again into the conversation. “Were you like that? A well behaved child?”
Draco snorted into his tea. “Heavens no. I was a brat.”
The king chuckled warmly. “Ah. A trait you never grew out of.”
“Hey!” Draco squawked in faux outrage.
The king chuckled again, shaking his head at Draco’s protest. The king didn’t need to prove his point, because, really, it’s not like Draco didn’t know it was true. King Harry glanced at him with a mischievous smile that dared Draco to argue anyway. Draco probably would have, but he got caught up staring.
King Harry was so at ease, in a playful sort of way that once again pulled Draco back to magical nights where he let himself be talked into all sorts of mischief. Something stirred in Draco, a warm gooey feeling that surprised him. He licked his lips, wondering.
It was King Harry that yanked his gaze away. His own cheeks blushed red and he’d tensed up all over again. “It’s late, I should go.” he looked at the wall as he said it.
It was like a cold bucket of water dropped on Draco’s head. He flinched down into his chair, hiding behind his mug of tea. Where had that feeling come from?
“Yeah, I’m tired myself. We should… go,” Draco agreed awkwardly.
Both men got to their feet.
The king said, “Wait, where are you going?”
Draco quirked a brow as he set his mug aside to be collected later. “Somewhere else. There are only two beds here, remember?”
“Oh, right.” He clearly hadn’t remembered. “Where’s your room?” the king tried to ask casually but something in the tone was off, a bit husky and suggestive.
It was all it took for the moment to come back. Draco’s eyes jumped up to meet the king’s gaze once more and something charged ran between them. It took a moment for Draco to remember the question and answer. “I don’t actually know.”
The king glanced from Draco’s eyes to his lips, then back up again. “You could…” the statement trailed off as the king considered exactly what he was saying. This wasn’t a braggadocious proposal like last time, or the sudden flirtation Draco saw him do with other men he decided to take home. Draco didn’t know what was happening, but it felt different. More real.
That thought terrified him.
“I could just call a servant, yeah,” Draco said, regretting the rasp in his voice but not taking it back. The king blinked and frowned at his words, but Draco looked away before he could see any emotion. It was only two steps to reach and pull the cord that would summon help and Draco didn’t dare dawdle. He heaved in deep breaths as he pulled the cord, winded as if he’d just finished an hour of drills with the soldiers. He turned and forced a smile for King Harry. “There we go, right as rain.”
Disappointment lined the king’s face, but without hostility His smile was genuine when he said, “I had a good evening, Draco. I’m glad you could come.”
Draco didn’t know how to handle the warmth directed towards him. He shuffled his feet and dropped his head bashfully. He felt the sudden need to justify the king’s affection. “Don’t worry about it. Teddy’s a handful, but I promise I’ll help calm him down tomorrow.”
King Harry took a step towards Draco, then another. “You’re not here to be a babysitter,” he reminded.
Draco shrugged. “But you needed me to show up and be helpful.”
The king took the final step and was close enough to reach out and touch the back of Draco’s hand. “No. I’m just glad you came.”
Draco’s breath caught. In that moment he could have been back at the first ball, outside on the steps, where the lion king asked him for one sweet kiss. Draco’s skin prickled just the same where the king touched his hands and his eyes lingered on Draco’s face. The air charged between them, ready for anything to happen, just as soon as Draco reciprocated.
Only, this wasn’t a fairy tale. There was no magic. Any pain that happened here was real and forever.
Draco stepped away. His eyes were on the king’s hand as the contact between them broke, leaving Draco cold everywhere. He glanced up to the king in time to catch a brief moment of hurt cast across his face. Then Draco blinked, and when he looked again the king’s face was nothing. Just a blank wall void of emotion erected between them.
“Um,” stumbled Draco. “Lots to do tomorrow,” he should stop talking but the king wouldn’t stop looking at him, cold and closed off. “You’ll have to, um, tell me about your and Percy’s plan for, um, Slughorn.”
King Harry’s smile was unbelievably thin. “Certainly.” One word, crisp and formal, leaving only silence in its wake. Draco bit his tongue to stop himself anxiously filling it. Still, Draco ached as King Harry made the next move. He dipped his head and said, “I’ll take my leave. Good evening.” He left without looking back.