Chapter 17
Harry awoke that morning to an unfamiliar room and the faint sound of music coming from downstairs. He was horrifically hungover, and his head pounded as he pulled on his clothes from the night before. He ran his hand through his hair and made his way down the stairs, head pounding with each step as he followed the sound of the music. As he got closer, he recognised the song as Jeff Buckley, and he followed it all the way to the closed door of the kitchen. Harry lingered outside a little while, listening to the unmistakable sound of Draco’s voice, which was surprisingly strong, singing a song Harry had forgotten had existed.
“All my blood, for the sweetness of her laughter. It's never over
She is the tear that hangs inside my soul forever.”
Harry felt chills go down his spine as Draco sang along, his voice deep and true. Harry could also smell something delicious cooking, so he knocked and opened the door, stopping short at the sight before him. Scorpius was sat at a round wooden table, a plate laden with pancakes before him, wriggling happily in his seat along with the music, his face covered in syrup. Malfoy stood at his stunning cream aga, clad in soft looking plaid pyjama trousers and a long sleeve top, his hair pulled back from his face by a black alice band, flipping pancakes in a saucepan.
“Morning, Harry. Take a seat, and I’ll get you some food.” Draco said, voice soft and full of affection, not taking his eyes off the stove. Jeff Buckley ended and something that sounded weirdly like church music came on, and Harry sat himself next to Scorpius, and it took him an embarrassingly long amount of time to recognise the song. He nearly choked on his own spit when next to him, Scorpius began to sing along to the lyrics.
“Well I guess would be nice!” the child sort of screamed happily. “If I could touch you’we body.”
Harry tried to hold back his snort, but didn’t succeed. He started giggling as Draco joined in with the singing, and he watched with a smile on his face as the father and son sang along very dramatically. Before he knew it, a plate piled high with pancakes was being slid before him, and Malfoy sat opposite Harry with his own plate, and they all began to eat. The pancakes were perfect. Even better than Molly Weasley’s, though Harry would never say that out loud. Draco looked so happy as he watched Scorpius get syrup in his hair and all over the table; his smile showed all his teeth and his eyes were scrunched up with mirth, and Harry felt a flood of affection for him so strong it took him by surprise.
****
The note from Harry had Draco’s heart rate increased to a dangerous level as he threw Scorpius’ favourite toys, snacks and books into a bag. He had last seen Harry four days ago, the morning after their perfect date that he had been so worried he had ruined, and since he had barely heard from the other man, who had holed himself up with research.
But then a message had come through Imogen today, requesting his urgent presence at Saint Mungo’s with Scorpius in tow, and Draco was going as fast as he could. Scorpius insisted on wearing a princess dress over his batman pyjama’s, and Draco didn’t have the mental energy to fight him on it so he just sighed and nodded before grabbing Scorpius’ arm and taking them straight to the hospital.
“Mr Malfoy? You can go straight through.” the receptionist said on his arrival, and he nodded, striding through the corridors to Harry’s office, Scorpius balanced on his hip.
“Draco! Scorpius! Come on in.” Harry enthused when Draco knocked, opening the door with a wide smile and ushering them inside. Daisy was sat perched on the edge of Harry’s desk, and smiled warmly at Draco.
“Scorpius, do you want to go play with nurse Daisy for a few minutes whilst I have a chat with daddy?” Harry asked, crouching down to Scorpius’ level. Scorpius eyed Draco warily before nodding and taking Daisy’s hand. Draco couldn’t help the panic that gripped him as they disappeared down the corridor, still not fully recovered from what had happened with his mother, and he felt a warm hand fall on his shoulder.
“Draco, breathe. It’s okay, he’s safe.” Harry reassured him, guiding Draco into the chair, before pressing his warm hand to the back of Draco’s neck. Draco let himself lean into the touch, sighing.
“Right, well. I finally have some good news for you. We know what it is.” Harry walked round to his side of the desk, sitting down and grabbing a pile of parchment. “It took us a lot of time and hours lost to reading your family's medical records, but we got it.”
Draco could have wept. Indeed, as Harry shuffled through his documents, Draco felt tears gather at the corner of his eyes, and he tried to blink them back before they had a chance to fall.
“Turns out, the sacred twenty-eight tried to eradicate research into the affects of inbreeding on the magical core,” Harry paused, looking up and staring straight at Draco, a smile playing around his lips. “Did you know that you and Astoria Greengrass have six common ancestors in the last two centuries? That's a lot of shared DNA. on top of the insane inbreeding of the Blacks that you also inherited from your mother, the lack of genetic diversity between you and Astoria meant that Scorpius’ magical core didn’t get to develop properly.”
Jesus christ. Draco didn’t know what to do with himself, or the information he was receiving. He nodded, even as he felt like it was all his fault.
“Of course, it makes sense that pureblood families would try and hide this, because they hinge their claim to power on the purity of their magical ancestry. Its the reason they engage in so much inbreeding in the first place. The idea that this very culture causes weaker magic? It would have ruined them. So they tried to burn the evidence, but someone clearly deemed it important enough to save.” Harry slid a document across the table to Draco, and it was blackened and singed at the edges.
“Do you have this potion?” Draco asked after reading through the document. His hands were shaking. His whole body was shaking. It felt hard to breathe. Relief and anger at his parents- at their whole fucking society- warred inside him and the maelstrom of emotions threatened to overwhelm him. Harry nodded, eyes bright.
“We do. We think we do. So many of the ingredients are illegal so we’ve done our best to replicate it. Its completely safe for Scorpius to drink, but there is a small risk it doesn’t have the intended affects and doesn’t fix him the way we hope it will. If that happens, we’ll have to start a process of receiving special dispensation from the ministry to use the original ingredients, which would be a lengthy process, though not impossible.”
Draco nodded, but he sort of felt like he was about to have a panic attack.
“Draco, I appreciate how overwhelming this is. Scorpius is going to come back here in about three minutes, and drink the first dose of the potion. Then we’ll send the two of you home to rest, and he’s to come back here in two days for magical core observation, okay?”
Draco opened his mouth to say something when the door opened and Scorpius skipped in, Daisy waving to him before closing the door and continuing her rounds. Scorpius climbed into Draco’s lap and stuck his face in Draco’s neck. Having him there was like an anchor, and Draco’s storming, swirling thoughts calmed down.
“Hey, champ, can you drink this for me?” Harry addressed Scorpius, passing him a vile of pearlescent liquid. “It might taste a bit icky, but I have a brownie here for good boys who drink all their medicine.”
Scorpius chugged down the potion, making a face at the end. “Bleugh. Not nice.” he said, pushing the empty vial at Harry. Draco chuckled despite himself, holding Scorpius tighter.
“Here you go, buddy.” Harry passed over a napkin with a brownie wrapped inside, and Scorpius started munching away happily, as Harry grinned at Draco in that disarming way of his, and Draco wished that when he and Scorpius went home, Harry was coming with them.
“Come for dinner.” He blurted.
“Huh?” Harry asked, looking surprised, which was fair because Draco felt surprised for even asking.
“Dinner tonight, if you’re not busy. We’ll have takeaway and watch a film, so it's not the most interesting, but still. I want you to come.”
“Yeah, yeah that sounds lovely. What time?”
“Say half five?” Draco suggested and Harry nodded, smiling widely.
Scorpius was having an emergency bath after accidentally spilling yesterday’s leftover soup all down himself when Harry arrived.
“Up here!” Draco called when he heard the sound of apparition in his living room. Seconds later, Harry was knocking and poking his head round the door.
“Harry!” Scorpius called, splashing Draco with bathwater. Draco flinched away from it but still ended up soaked.
“Right, Mister. Let's get you out.” Draco said, wiping bathwater from his face and wrapping Scorpius in a towel, picking him up and tucking him under his arm. Scorpius giggled, eyes alight with laughter and he seemed so much calmer after what had happened with Narcissa.
“Harry, if you don’t mind waiting downstairs? I’ve left the local takeaway menus on the kitchen table so you can decide what you want whilst I get this one into pyjamas?”
Harry nodded and went back downstairs, and he was joined soon enough by Draco and Scorpius. Scorp was back in his bunny rabbit pyjamas and fluffy slippers, and Draco was dressed in soft corduroy trousers and a soft crew neck sweater. Harry never expected to see him dressed so muggle, but he looked soft and comfortable and desperately enticing.
“Does fish and chips work for everyone?”
****
Draco tidied away the remnants of their takeaway in the kitchen whilst Harry took Scorpius into the living room and checked that the potion was working the way it should whilst Scorp chose a film. He could hear Harry chatting to Scorpius and his son giggling through the wall, and it warmed his heart.
“Ready to watch, Scorp? What have we chosen sweetheart?” Draco asked as he walked into the room, smiling when he saw Harry sat on the sofa, Scorpius curled into his side, sucking his thumb.
“Caws” Scorpius mumbled around his thumb, and Draco nodded, settling in. He didn’t see the point in Cars, thought it was a stupid film, but Scorpius loved it so they watched it all the time. Much to his surprise, Scorpius didn’t shift over to him when he sat but instead stayed curled up against Harry, Harry’s arm curled protectively around his little body. Draco beamed at them, and Harry shot him a shy smile back, and Draco reached out, linking their little fingers together against Scorpius’ back. Harry’s blush was delightful, and Draco spent most of the film watching him instead of the television screen.
Scorpius is fast asleep by the time the film finishes, his feet in Draco’s lap and his face smushed against Harry’s thigh.
“He’s such a sweetheart.” Harry murmurs and Draco nods, helpless against the sight before him. He had never, ever considered dating before, not for Scorpius’ whole life, but seeing the two of them there together in the home he had poured blood, sweat and tears into making safe and happy had him wanting to have Harry in his living room for the rest of his natural born life.
Draco hefted Scorpius into his arms and took him up, laying him gently down on the bed, before hurrying back downstairs, inordinately worried that Harry would have disappeared in that time. He wasn’t, Draco heaved a sigh of relief to see him sat on the sofa, staring out of the window as cars trundled down Draco’s surburban road. It had started to rain and the world took on a fuzzy quality, turning soft at the edges.
“Wine?” he offered, re-entering the living room.
“Ah, I shouldn’t, I have work tomorrow.” Harry said, shaking his head. Draco sat down, hoping Harry wasn’t gearing up to leave. It had been about a week since they had last seen each other, and memories of their date- and their first kisses- had haunted Draco’s every thought since then. The sight of Harry, flushed soft with drink, staring unabashedly at Draco had swam through his dreams, and Draco wanted more so desperately.
He sat down on the sofa as close to Harry as possible, their thighs touching. Harry turned to look at him, his green eyes boring into Draco’s as the two of them sat there, just taking one another in. Draco doesn’t know who leaned in first but suddenly they’re kissing. The angle is awkward and their knees keep knocking together and Draco kind of just wants to crawl into Harry’s lap but he’s not sure they’re there yet and he needs to take it slowly, so he doesn’t move from his seat. Harry’s soft hands cradle his jaw and they’re warm and gentle and Draco feels like he’s melting.
“Are you staying?” Draco asks bravely, biting his lip as he pulls back. Harry’s eyes are hazy and his lips are pink and he looks so lovely.
“I have work tomorrow, or I would. I’m sorry. Soon, though- if you like? This weekend, maybe? And I’ll see you again before then for the next round of Scorpius’ potions?” Harry says and Draco tries not to feel disappointed because of course Harry has to work and he’s offerent to come at the weekend but saturday just feels so far away and now Scorpius feels safe enough to sleep in his own bed Draco has started feeling awfully lonely at night. He’s never shared a bed for a whole night with anyone, especially not someone he likes as much as Harry, so he doesn’t even fully know what he’s missing but he knows he’s missing something; warmth, and safety, and intimacy.
He nods, and Harry puts his shoes on before giving him a gentle kiss on the cheek as he leaves, with a promise to stay over that saturday. Draco is already mentally counting down the days as he walks Harry to the door then gets himself ready for bed. His bed feels cold and large and utterly lonely as he clambers in, and he falls asleep to the memory of broad palms against his face and soft lips against his.