Chapter 15
The rest of the day at Malfoy manor went off without a hitch. More apologies were given and Draco apologized to Harry again for his previous behavior. The gryffindor didn’t hesitate to forgive and accept. Harry offered his own apology to the blond child. Draco gave him a look of confusion and asked why.
“I never really gave you a chance. You were right- I deemed you as evil and bad simply because someone else told me so. I pushed you away when you’ve proven to be a better friend in a day than Ron and Hermione had in an entire year. So I forgive you Draco if you can find it in your heart to forgive me as well.”
Harry watched as various emotions played on his classmate’s face. His heart was beating unusually fast as he feared he had lost his chance to truly befriend the slytherin prince. Blue eyes met his before a smile fences upon Draco’s face. Harry let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, beaming when the boy in front of him reached out to give him a hug. Harry flinched slightly but relaxed almost immediately and returned the hug. The adults watched the scene before them with fondness. They could tell that this was the start of a beautiful new friendship.
With all of the excitement of the day dying down, the family sat around the sitting room talking about trivial things, jumping from one topic to the next while the boys sat at their feet looking at one of the books they found on magical creatures.
They eventually got bored to which the adults offered up some alternatives. Lucius opted for them to work on their school work. The man watched as Draco and Harry looked at each other before turning back to him with their noses scrunched up. Narcissa and Bella giggled, Lucius chuckled while Severus smirked along with Tom and Rodolphus. Severus then offered to let the boys help him with gathering a few potions ingredients in the forest theen helping him down in his lab. That proposition appealed to, and even excited Draco, but Harry much liked the idea of staying inside with Narcissa who wanted to go to the kitchen and try out some recipes she found.
The prospect of spending some one on one time with Harry filled her with joy especially since she hoped that they could make the child a permanent addition to their family. Severus had been dropping hints since this morning and both his husband and wife found the idea to be appealing. The only issue was that it was still much too early to decide or many any major decisions. The relationship between Harry and the adults in the house was still much too fragile, much too fresh. The throuple wanted to develop more stability between them. Although this was a slight hurdle, the slytherins were quite hopeful that by the end of the summer they would have developed a strong relationship, especially if the child was willing to go forward and try to build a friendship with Draco.
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The family dispersed soon after. Rodolphus and Bellatrix decided to head back home for the time being. Severus and Draco left the sitting room and apparated to the side of the manor just outside of the greenhouse attached to the side of the house. The pair walked in a comfortable silence. It gave them both time to think about the recent events that had been playing out in front of them. As of late the potions master could not stop thinking about the small gryffindor with eyes so much like his deceased friend. He knew that Harry was nothing like Lily or James, and he presumed that was the very factor that made him all the more loveable.
Ever since this morning, he could not stop thinking about what it would be like to call the child his. Something felt right about having him in his arms whenever he comforted him. His heart fluttered when those green eyes looked up at him seeking protection and validation. Their past had been anything but friendly, of that they both knew and it would always be something that Severus would always have guilt over. Despite that though, it seemed like Harry was more than willing to give the man a chance.
They had always wanted more children, or at least talked on the aspect of it. The thing was that after Draco was born, Healers had given them the unfortunate news that if Narcissa was to bear anymore children that there was a high likelihood that it would kill her and any child that she bore. The news had devastated them since Narcissa had always dreamed of having a large family of her own, especially since she herself knew the joys of having siblings. Still, they thought about other alternatives to bringing more children into their home. There was always adoption and surrogacy, the former seeming easier than the latter.
Looking over at his child, Severus wondered what Draco’s thoughts were on the idea. After all he was a part of this family too. They finished gathering the necessary ingredients the pair headed down to the potions lab in the basement. Severus turned on the fire for the cauldron while Draco pulled out the mortar. He added four sprigs of lavender along with some dried herbs. He went to work on grinding the mixture into a paste while Severus went about gathering the correct amount of Flobberworm. As he attracted the slime Severus asked,
“Dragon, do you like Harry being here?”
He kept his tone light and casual as if the topic was offhand. He could see out the corner of his eye, his son turning silver eyes to him as he contemplated the question. There was a smile on his face when the man looked up from his task.
“It’s great,” he nodded. “It’s nice to have someone to talk to around here.”
Severus made an offronted noise. “And what are we? Chopped liver?”
He turned to his student with a raised eyebrow when he giggled but the corners of his mouth quirked up into a smirk.
“You know what I mean.” Draco said with an amused shake of his head. His daddy nodded in understanding. A moment of silence passed between the two as they added ingredients to the cauldron. Severus watched as Draco added more herbs to the mixture before asking,
“What would you feel if he were to stay here permanently?”
Draco looked up from where he was peering into the mixture, his features contorted into an expression of shock and disbelief. “Really?”
Severus nodded. “Would you like that idea?”
The potions master suddenly felt nervous. What if he said no and didn’t wish to add another child into their home? Would he be jealous? Would he assume they didn't love him or was trying to replace him?
“I like it!” The tween’s voice broke through his inner ramblings. Severus looked up at his son who suddenly seemed like he was trying hard not to bounce around. It warmed his heart.
“Really?”
Draco nodded. “Mmhmm. Harry was sad before but now he seems to like it here. At least a little bit. And-and I was hoping maybe he’d like me too.”
The last part was whispered but Severus heard him all the same. He could make out the underlying sense of insecurity in his boy’s tone. He frowned a little and wrapped his arms around him. Flinching a little at the contact, his son soon relaxed against his chest and wrapped his small arms around his waist.
“I like to think that Harry thinks as highly of you as you do of him.”
The blond child looked up at his father. “Really?” His voice wasn’t as confident as it was a couple of minutes ago, and for some reason his insecurity broke Severus’s heart. He smoothed his hand through the baby soft hair and offered Draco a smile.
“Really.” He looked down at his cauldron, then back to his son. “Well, this still needs another hour so let’s go see what your mother and Harry are up to.”
Draco took the hand offered to him and followed after his father.
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Harry’s jaw dropped when he walked into the spacious kitchen. There were so many windows that went from the ceiling to the floor giving a great view to the garden. The island stood in the middle of the kitchen and the child noticed there was an opening sky light above the island that let in more light inside. Narcissa moved around the kitchen gathering ingredients for biscuits. When she closed the cupboard, she giggled to herself quietly at Harry who was still staring wide eyed around the kitchen. She cleared her throat and a smirk pulled at her lips when he looked at her with flamed cheeks.
“Well Harry,” she smiled. “How about we make some cookies for the house?”
She was rewarded with a beaming smile.“I get to help?”
“You like to cook?”
“I love to cook.” The child answered, smiling up at the blond woman. “I used to cook all of the time when I lived with my aunt and uncle.”
Narcissa smiled. “Well then, let's get to baking.”
The two worked together side by side in a comfortable silence. They moved around each other, handing over any ingredients needed. Everything was calm until Harry turned around with a giant bowl of cookie dough in his arms. Somehow a bit of egg had fallen on the floor causing Harry to slip and let go of the bowl. His eyes widened in shock when the bowl fit the floor, splattering chunks of cookie dough everywhere including all over Narcissa’s gown and even on her face. Green eyes remained glued to the mess on the floor and Harry could feel his body begin to shake as he waited to be punished for his stupidity. When he wasn’t hit, he looked up slowly at the woman in front of him; his eyes widening when he saw that her body was shaking with her giggles.
Bright blue eyes looked down at the scared child and offered him a soft smile when her laughs subsided. The Malfoy matriarch reached down and offered out her hand. Harry slowly reached up and wrapped his fingers around her thin fingers.
“I-I-I-I am s-so sorry,” the child stuttered. Narcissa shook her head, a smile still plastered on her face.
“Think nothing of it Harry. I do think this dough will make my skin glow don’t you think?”
Harry’s nerves eased with the teasing tone. He opened his mouth but no sound came out.
“In fact,” she said, picking up the overturned bowl. “I think that you should try some as well.”
His eyes widened once again as the woman took a handful of raw cookie dough and dumped it on Harry’s hair. The blond broke out into a new fit of giggles as she watched the brunette look at her stunned. When she stopped laughing, she offered him a playful smirk. Something in her demeanour caused Harry to lose the rest of his tension. His eyes scanned back and forth between the smiling woman and the bowl of dough on the counter. A cheshire grin broke out on his face as he pulled out his wand.
“Wingardium Leviosa”
Narcissa watched as the child levitated the half full bowl off of the counter, eyes widening when said bowl stopped above her head. She slowly looked at the grinning Potter heir.
“Don’t you d-”
She let out a shriek when Harry released the spell causing the contents of the bowl to fall onto her styled blond hair. Wiping the gooey contents from her eyes, she watched as Harry bent over, holding his stomach with laughter. It was one of the most beautiful sounds she had ever heard. She wiped most of the goop off her face, and looked to the counter and picked up two eggs. Cracking them open onto Harry’s head, it was now her turn to break out into laughter at the look of shock on his face. They both stopped and looked at each other before drawing their wands on each other.
Before long there was a full on food fight around, both witch and wizard danced around each other laughing and dodging flying foods. That was how Severus and Draco found them. They could hear their laughter through the foyer and went to investigate. Kitchen was a complete disaster that was sure to cause Dobby to give them an earful but the scene itself warmed the potions master from the inside. The last couple of days Harry had been so closed off and had hardly let anyone really see him relax. He was skittish and so timid, yet here he was running around the kitchen with his wife, who only showed her carefree side to family.
Draco looked on with a happy smile. His thoughts weren’t too off from his Daddy’s and it made him happy to see Harry and his mother so happy together. If what his father said was true, then it was a high chance of Harry really becoming theirs forever. He had always wanted a brother, or sister, and now he had the chance to finally have one. He looked up when Severus cleared his throat causing the two to freeze in their tracks. The look of shock and horror on their faces was one for the picture books, and Draco giggled while his professor smirked.
“Having fun are we?” He asked, crossing his arms over his chest. The smirk never left his face.He was rewarded a bright smile from his wife who’s cheeks were flushed a slight red. Harry looked at him shyly but his smile was genuine. Narcissus straightened up her gown as best she could and pushed her hair from her face.
“We were making biscuits.”
Seveus raised an eyebrow. “More like wearing it to me.”
“We got sidetracked is all.” The matriarch said with a slight roll of her eyes. She returned her lover’s smirk and placed her hands on her hip.
“I should say so. How unbefitting of a Malfoy to partake in such antics.”
Harry looked on in fear, afraid that he was now in trouble but when he looked over at Draco the blond boy was smiling and looked to be trying not to giggle. He looked back at the two adults and noticed that Narcissa had folded her arms over her chest in a stance that was similar to his professor; a smirk now resting on her lips.
“A malfoy does as she pleases. Especially when it comes to having fun.”
Severus scoffed in mock disgust. “Fun. Throwing food should hardly be classified as fun.”
“Such a stick in the mud you are, my dear Severus.”
Said man tsked. “How so?”
A Cheshire grin formed on her face and both boys looked at each other before turning back with attention. They watched as Narcissa moved in close to Severus’s face, grin still plastered on her face before she reached behind him to the pile of goo stuck to the counter. In a flash, the potions professor’s head was covered his chocolate chip cookie dough. He looked at his wife in horror while she just fell over laughing. The two children stared at the woman in shock and turned back to their professor. They had to admit that he looked pretty silly and it caused them to let out a few giggles which only resulted in an icy glare.
The giggling stopped but the man looked at his wife who was still holding her stomach with tears running down her face. He smirked before taking her into his arms and smushing his face into her neck causing her to let out a shriek and more laughter. When he pulled away, Severus chuckled to himself before pulling the small ball of dough off of her cheek and popping it into his mouth.
“You’re right. That is fun.”
They smiled lovingly at one another before turning to the two children who had made their way next to each other. Severus knelt down in front of Harry.
“Did you have fun today with Narcissa?”
The child in question looked up at the blond woman before looking back into his professor’s dark eyes and gave him a gentle smile and a nod.
“Yes sir.”
Long finger caressed the baby soft cheek and smiled. “I’m glad to hear it. We’ve actually got a little bit of time for dinner so why don’t you and Draco go finish a bit of homework while we wait.”
“But what about riding,” the blond projected. “Papa said we could go riding.”
Severus turned to his son. “And we can, and will. But he’s still working on papers in his office. He should be done in a bit, and everyone here needs to go shower and change beforehand anyway.”
Draco conceded. “Okay.”
“Now, off you get.”
The malfoy heir grabbed Harry’s hand and both ran off in the direction of the stairs to go shower, leaving the adults alone. Severus turned to Narcissa.
“Did you have fun today?”
There was a light in her blue eyes that Severus hadn’t seen since Draco was born. She smiled up at the brunette. “I had so much fun. The child is a delight and he’s so fun of light when you get to know him.”
“I know.”
Narcissa looked up at her husband and saw he had a contemplating look on his face.”
“What are you thinking about?”
He looked down at her. “I asked Dragon how he would feel about having a brother.”
The healer raised her eyebrow. It took her a second to put the pieces together. “What did he say?” She whispered.
“He’d love to have Harry here permanently.”
“But what of Lucius? And your Father?...and you?”
Severus turned. “I have no doubt in my mind that Luce would have no problem making Harry a part of our family. And I can tell you for certain that my father loves Harry as much as we do.” He looked into blue eyes. “And I know you do. I know you love him.”
“You love him too.”
“I do.” Severus sighed. “I know our past has been less than pleasant but something feels right when I hold that child in my arms. He’s never had anyone love him like a parent does. Ever since I held him when we rescued him from his relatives,” he spat. “I knew I would risk my life for that boy. I’d die for him the same way I’d die for Dragon. And you and Lucius. He’s not who he portrays. He’s so much better. He’s softer, loving and loyal almost to a fault. But he’s a bright child. And more than anything I want him to be my child. Our child.”
There were tears in his wife’s eyes and he pulled her close to his chest. “I do love him. I know he’s only been here for such a short amount of time but...but he feels as much as ours as Dragon. I want to protect him, love him, baby him, hold him.” Narcissa looked up at her husband. “I want him to be ours.”
Severus nodded and caressed her cheek. “We’ll talk to Lucius.”