Chapter 7
The next few saturdays were much the same, and Draco watched over the weeks as Scorpius’ magic did little in the way of improving. It was difficult, he’d admit, but what wasn’t difficult was seeing how his usually shy son came out of his shell around Daisy, chatting her ear off about whatever it was he was learning at school, with her beaming down at him. One week, he even insisted in bring her a bouquet of daisy’s he’d plucked from Brandon Hill park, and her smile had been genuine and there had been tears in her eyes as she’d accepted the small gift. It was times like that when Draco realised he had actually done a good job as a father, that maybe he was beginning to make up for the mistakes of his youth in the ray of pure sunshine that was Scorpius Malfoy.
What was also pleasant- most surprisingly so- was the rapport he had been building with Potter. The man was for the most part still guarded around Draco, but every now and then Draco would ask him a question that caught him off guard, and a kind and genuine personality shone through in Potter’s careful answers. Their meetings in Potter’s little office strewn with papers and stereotypical posters of the human skeleton began to focus less on Scorpius and more on what they had each done that week. Draco exchanged stories and information of the muggle world and Potter did the same with the wizarding world. He told Draco about life under Kingsley’s ministry, and Draco complained about Blair, and they laughed a lot more than Draco had ever thought possible. Being able to coach a smile onto Potter’s often severe face felt like an accomplishment, and Draco was embarrassingly proud of himself every time he managed it.
On the seventh saturday, just as Draco was packing his backpack before apparating, there came an urgent knock on the door. Draco opened it to see Maryam stood on his doorstep, Zara peeking out from behind her. Maryam was clearly out of breath, and from the look on Draco’s face he could see it was an emergency.
“He’s, he’s at the house, and I just need Zara out of the way for a bit. Can you please take her? I know you have the hospital appointment, but there are books in her backpack, and she’ll be well behaved.” Maryam panted. Draco cursed in his head. The ‘he’ Maryam was referring to was her borderline abusive stalker of an ex-husband, who refused to let Maryam live in peace, despite the fact that his infidelity had been what had caused the marriage to crumble.
“Of course, Maryam. And you will stay here, okay? No, No. I’ll still take Zara, you need a rest, and its not safe for you to be alone with him. The fridge is stocked and you know where everything is. Take an afternoon off, you deserve it. But I need to get going now, okay, let me call scorpius. Hey, Zara, can you hold my hand? Thats it, good girl.”
Draco didn’t know what the fuck to do. There was no way he could get all the way to london. He could apparate with both children, but he’d have to obliviate Zara, and that went against all the ethics he’d developed over his house arrest. Shit. shit. There was nothing for it, was there?
Draco knew a charm from his seventh year days, which he’d learnt when he’d been forced to torture the students. It was a modified form of obliviate, that caused the person to forget what they were about to experience as they were experiencing it, rather than them actually having to experience it and forgetting afterwards. It had meant the students had felt no pain, and now it meant that Zara wouldn’t even be momentarily traumatised by side-along apparition. He cast a quick muggle-repelling charm on his front doorstep and cast on Zara, hating himself as he did so, and took both the children’s hands, before apparating into the waiting room.
As he landed he felt something… wrong. A feeling that made all the hairs on the back of his neck stand out. He cast his eyes about the room, keeping the children close, but couln’t see anything out of the ordinary. There were three people in the waiting room. One woman with a child sat next to her who looked pale and thoroughly miserable, and one older-looking woman he thought he vaguely recognised who was clearly waiting for her child to return. Draco shook off the feeling and sat down, getting out a book from his bag to read to the kids.
Potter and Daisy had fawned over Zara, and Draco had uncomfortably explained the situation and the spell he had used. He had expected Potter to react with suspicion and thinly veiled hostility, but instead he was met with a face full of sympathy and understanding. Not sure what to do with that, Draco just shifted on his feet and ran his hand through Zara’s curly hair.