Summary: Harry goes to the cafe just recently opened in Diagon Alley, to meet up with Teddy - who he's not seen in a year. Turns out Harry's heart is still as big as ever and maybe he's hiding more than his family thinks?
The saviour of the wizarding world meets a certain young wizard, learns to love cake again and is still cringe-worthily-slow on the uptake.
A/N: Little bit of Ginny bashing that I'm not ashamed of (it'll get explained I swear) and lots of fluff and time skipping (sorry about that)
I do have a second chapter planned, and slightly written but it's hard deciding where the story should go. (feel free to kick me every so often if you want it faster! I just need a push in the right direction sometimes)
Anyway, enjoy! I'm going to go and try to get some editing done!
[come kick me on tumblr as well!: *please don't be too mean* - I'm kidding - the meaner you are the more likely I'll actually get something out of my writing folder...]
[Novae Terrae: Latin for New World]
Harry stares at the parchment in his hand again;
Harry,
It was lovely to hear from you. I'm actually in London for a while,
it would be lovely to see you. Meet me at Novae Terrae,
it's a new cafe in Diagon Alley, at 1 pm on Tuesday?
-Edward
'Edward' the boy thinks he's so grown up now... He'll always be little Teddy to me. Harry smiled as he walked down Diagon Alley, smiling at the few faces he recognised. As he walked he noticed a new shop opposite Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, this must be the cafe Teddy meant, he thought as he read the sign 'Novae Terrae'. He recognised the words but couldn't place them.
"Harry! I'm so glad you made it!" Teddy exclaimed, walking around the counter and wiping his hands on his apron before hugging his godfather. His hair was a shade of blue the sky would be jealous of, his eyes turned from a light blue to a warm pink as he walked up to his godfather. Harry had spent enough time with the boy to be used to his physical changes by now.
"Teddy! Good to see you!" Harry hugged the boy -who's not much of a boy anymore- and looked around the little shop, "is it your's?" he asked, feeling stupid, surely he would have told me if he got a shop!
But Teddy laughed it off, "No." He waved his wand and the door locked, displaying a 'closed' sign, "No I just work here, It's Scorpius' shop really."
"I heard my name, you're not saying anything untrue again are you?" This man must be Scorpius, he was tall, taller than Teddy (who was taller than Harry now), and rather lanky, his hair was an electric blue (similar to Teddy's) and he had eyes the same colour.
"Well unless you've given me Novae Terrae since last I checked, then nope, everything I've said is true," Teddy laughed.
"You must be the famous Mr Potter," Scorpius said, sticking his hand out, "Ed here never shuts up about you." Harry shook his hand, his fingers were cold, but long and slender; Who does he remind me of?
"Oi!" Teddy says, mock offended.
"It's true! 'Oh my godfather can cast the most beautiful Patronus! Oh my godfather is the nicest person you'll ever meet! Oh my godfather this, my godfather that!' It's nice to meet the infamous man!" Scorpius winks at Harry, who's struggling to keep his laughter in.
"Shut up, else I'll tell your father you ate all the chocolate cake, again," Teddy said, his hair turning red slowly.
"Oh! I'm shaking in my boots!" Scorpius joked, offering Harry a seat and a menu, "Seriously though, don't tell him. He'll come down here if you do," he said seriously as he walked behind the counter, "I don't know about you, but he's scary enough sat at home, thank you."
Teddy's hair turned green as he laughed. Harry watched the two fondly. Everyone got along with Teddy... It was nice to see the boy again though, he'd been in France visiting his Grandmother for the past year. It'd been a tough year without Teddy around...
"What'll you be having then Mr Potter?" Scorpius asked after him and Teddy had finished messing around.
"Harry, please - and I don't know...what ever you suggest," WHO does he remind me of?
Scorpius smiled politely, but had a glint in his eye, "Certainly, Harry."
"SCORPIUS DON'T YOU DARE!" Teddy shouted after the boy, but he was already gone, "Oh dear..."
"Do I need to be worried?" Harry laughed.
"No, he's just going to give you almost everything on the menu..." Teddy sighed but his eyes were a warm pink, and held a certain fondness.
"He seems nice.." Harry said, in a suggestive tone that reminded him of when Dumbledore had pointed out that Hermione was attractive...
"He always surprises me," Teddy said, sitting opposite Harry, "But in good ways."
They fell into a comfortable silence. Harry was about to speak when Teddy piped up, "Oh! You mean, are we-?" Harry smiled and nodded slightly, "NO! Oh, Merlin's beard, no!" His whole face, and his hair, had turned a light pink colour.
"I was only asking," Harry laughed.
"Right...well. No," Teddy was still pink, "I mean, that's like you and Ron! We're like brothers!"
"Uh, huh. If you two are so close how come I haven't heard of him before?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Er... well that's because..." He was red now, he could give the Weasley's a run for their money.
"Here we are!" Scorpius burst through the door, several trays floating in front of him. Harry saw Teddy shake his hair back to blue out of the corner of his eye.
The trays were full of food, sweet and savoury, strawberry flavours, apple flavours, blueberry! No chocolate though.
"Help yourselves," Scorpius said, bringing his own chair over.
They dug in, Harry hadn't tasted food so good since Hogwarts! He stayed there for a few more hours, getting to know Scorpius a bit, and catching up with Teddy (or 'Ed' and Scorpius called him). They invited him back on Thursday -they weren't open every day, because they both had college- and he agreed.
Pretty soon it became habit, Harry visited Novae Terrae every day they're open. This goes on for almost a month, before Harry offers to keep the shop open on the days the boys have college - Scorpius was over the moon and Teddy's hair had turned purple in excitement. It was good for Harry to get out of the house, he was going mad locked up in Grimmauld Place by himself with nothing to do. Hermione liked to remind him that the same thing had happened to Sirius. Pretty soon Ron and George were coming over for lunch as well. Within two months Novae Terrae was a booming business.
Teddy had told Harry, one day after work, that he'd never seen Scorpius so happy. "It's not that Scorpius was un-happy, but ever since his Mother had died his Father has become insufferable..." Scorpius had explained one day that he didn't understand why his Father was like this, his parents hadn't even loved each other. They loved him, but their marriage had been arranged, there'd never been anything between the adults. Harry never met Scorpius' father, but he decided he didn't like the man much. In those two short months Scorpius had become like a son to him.
Which meant a lot to Harry these days, because his children didn't speak to him. Ginny had left him before Albus had started school, she'd taken James out of Hogwarts and left the country, with the children. Harry had no idea what he'd done, or why she'd done it. Or even if his children wanted to talk to him and she just wasn't letting them. None of the Weasley's had heard from Ginevra since she left, none of them blamed Harry, but that just made it worse for him. He felt like they should, after all he drove her away, but the Weasley's still loved him like he was family. Hermione believed Ginny had hexed the clock, but she couldn't fix it - the Weasley clock permanently said Ginny was 'travelling'. The Weasley's had accepted that Ginny would make contact with them when she was ready. These days no one talked of her much.
It was a rainy Sunday when Harry finally met Scorpius' Father.
The shop was closed for the day, Harry was cleaning up the front and the boys were in the back, studying for an upcoming exam.
The bell on the door rang, which was weird enough because no one was supposed to be able to open the door once it was locked.
"Sorry, we're closed-"
"Scorpius! Why haven't you answered-" The man who walked through the door was Scorpius' height, and wearing a black cloak, with the hood up so Harry couldn't see his face.
"Sorry, would you like me to get Scorpius for you?" Harry asked, politely, the man grunted a yes, still not moved from where he seemed frozen to the floor.
Harry ducked out the back, "SCORP! CUSTOMER FOR YOU!" He ducked back to the front when he heard a 'SHIT SHIT SHIT!' and the sound of feet on floorboards. Harry assumed the strange man was a friend of Scop's from college - or perhaps a boyfriend. Harry tried not to worry himself with what Scorpius did in his free time, but he worried about the boy.
Harry noticed that the man still hadn't moved, and seemed to be staring at him, but he ignored him and continued tidying up for the day. The sooner he was done the sooner he could get home. He'd had a particularly long day; a red-head he though was Lily had passed the window just two hours earlier. He hoped he hadn't gone to full stage hallucinations now...
Scorpius scrambled down the stairs, picking himself up and straightening his clothes before he walked through the door, Harry noticed that his hair wasn't the flamingo pink it had been earlier. It was blond. He could out blond Malfoy with that hair! Harry realised then that he'd never actually seen Scorpius' natural hair colour...they boy had cast a spell that gave him the ability to change his hair (and eyes) whenever he wanted -a lot like Teddy does.
"Thanks Harry, I'll finish out here, could you possibly choose a special for tomorrow please?" Scorpius asked, trying to usher Harry out of the shop-front. But he had a look in his eye that made Harry grab his arm and whisper in his ear.
"Are you okay Scorpius?" He nodded furiously in response and shut the door behind Harry. Teddy came running down the stairs a moment later.
"Did you see him?"
"Who?"
"His Father! Merlin's beard, Harry! Keep up!"
"His father? Oh, you mean the man in the cloak? I didn't see his face."
"Did he see you?" Teddy looked scared for a second, but it passed before Harry was sure that's what he'd seen.
"Well yeah... He seemed rather-"
"WELL WHAT IS HE DOING HERE!?" Harry was interrupted by a resounding bellow, who he assumed was the strange man because it was much deeper than Scorpius' voice.
"Father, please!" Scorpius begged in a loud whisper.
"Is he okay?" Harry asked Teddy, who looked as concerned as Harry felt, "Do you think we should go help?"
"How exactly are we going to help?" Teddy asked. Harry shrugged.
They waited by the door a little longer, but both voices seemed to have returned to an appropriate level. Harry dragged Teddy into the kitchen -it wasn't right for them to be listening at the door. They were busy getting ready for tomorrow when the kitchen doors burst open. The cloaked man walked in, wand raised and pointed at Harry -who hadn't looked up.
Teddy and Scorpius squeaked though, which made Harry look up, "Nice to meet you sir, Scorpius is a fine young man." And he turned back to the recipe he was looking at.
Teddy looked like he was ready to slap his godfather. How is someone, so famously known, so stupid!?
"Father, please! He means no harm!" Scorpius pleaded.
"No harm!? Listen to yourself Scorpius! He's infected your mind!" The man spat. Something in Harry's brain started working and he looked back up, slowly.
"Malfoy?" Harry's hand was on his wand by instinct. He could hardly believe he was so stupid. Scorpius was a spitting image of Draco! And who else would be so quick to point their wand at Harry!
"Don't act as if you didn't know!" Draco spat, wand still raised.
"He didn't..." Teddy murmured, his head low and his hair limp and grey, "Harry, I love you, but you're so stupid do you know that?"
"What?"
"Mr Malfoy, I believe Harry didn't realise you were you, or even that Scorpius was a Malfoy himself until just now," Teddy explained. Harry relaxed, and realised that Teddy was using non-verbal magic to calm Draco. His father would be so proud of him...Harry thought.
Somehow, none of them are quite sure how, Scorpius and Teddy managed to get Draco and Harry sat at a table, with tea and scones. And not only that but talking. Like old friends. Which Harry had thought they were. At least the last time he'd seen Draco he'd considered him an old friend.
When Draco removed his hood, Harry couldn't stop himself from gasping. His face was covered in scars. He certainly hadn't looked like that last time he'd seen him.
"Oh don't act surprised, Potter," Draco spat.
"I'm not acting, Draco," Harry had an itch in his fingers to reach up and hold Draco's face. He sat on his hands instead.
Harry flinched at the way he spat out the words, "Oh really? Well it was your wife that did this to me."
"Ginevra did this to you?" Harry whispered. He'd conditioned himself into calling her Ginevra instead of Ginny, he thought it would hurt less. It didn't.
"Ginevra is the name of your wife isn't it?" Draco said with a bored voice, he sipped at his tea.
Harry couldn't take his eyes off Draco, his face was still as hard set as ever, but his eyes were soft. Old and worn, like he'd been in a battle with hell, and hell had won. "She's not my wife," he whispered. His brain wasn't entirely following the conversation, he couldn't believe Ginny could do that to Draco. His Ginny had been sweet, caring...
"Oh..." Draco's eyes flashed in understanding, "I'd say I'm sorry, but..." He gestured to his face, as if to explain that he hated the woman and had every right to - which Harry thought he did.
"Don't be, she broke my heart," Harry muttered back, he was more intrigued by Draco's hair, he'd always had it slicked back, but now it was long and tied behind his neck, but there was a couple stray hairs, hanging over his eye. They curled ever so slightly...
"Yes, well women tend to do that..." Draco muttered back, shifting under Potter's gaze.
Across the room the boys were sat. "I've never seen him this calm..." Scorpius said, "I've never seen Father sit and have a conversation with anyone like this... Not for years!"
"Harry looks so hurt..." Teddy mutters, he hadn't meant to say that aloud, but Scorpius heard him and snapped his attention to his now as-good-as-father.
"No I mean she left, took the kids too," Harry's mouth was just talking, he wasn't thinking about what he was saying, he was more interested in that little fleck of blue in the bottom of Draco's eyes. How have I never noticed that before?
"Oh," Draco gasped, and looked up at Harry for the first time. He hadn't realised that Potter was staring at him. He was about to tell the Gryffindor to cut it out, but he noticed that Potter had very green eyes... Slytherin green in fact.
"Is he okay?" Scorpius asked, noticing Harry's pained expression for the first time.
"His wife left.. Out of the blue... Took his boys and girl with her... It was years ago..." His brow creased in concern as he realised what Harry was hiding, "We all thought he was okay..." Teddy decided then, he'd go for dinner at the Burrow next time he was asked, he needed to tell Ron and Hermione to keep an eye on his godfather.
"How the hell would anyone be okay after that?" Scorpius asked, "Especially someone as family-orientated as Harry..."
"I can't believe we never realised... He always said he was fine..he even seemed fine..." Teddy and Scorpius were mentally kicking themselves. Harry grew up fighting one of the most powerful wizards of all time, he was just expected to save the world - of course he knew how to fake okay...
"You know, Scorpius is a great kid," Harry said, adoring the proud look Draco got on his face when he said that.
"He is. I was worried he'd turn out...well like me. Especially after his mother died... I just couldn't deal with the stress..." Draco was lost in thought, Harry rather liked that look on him, "It's a miracle he turned out so okay.."
"He's more than okay," Harry said, his own eyes glistening with pride, "He's looked after me these past few months."
Draco hated that he loved the proud look on Ha-Potter's face. Scorpius had become everything he wished he'd been and more, "It's a new world now. Since Voldemort died. It's our children's world now..."
Harry agreed, and once again found himself wishing he knew where his children were - whether they were okay or not. His gaze drifted out the window, to the bleak sky. The orange shop opposite caught his attention and he suddenly realised-
"Oh, shit! I've got to be going! I promised Ron I'd grab some drinks with him; but how about you come in tomorrow? It's a beautiful business Scorp's got here," Harry beamed, standing and pulling his cloak around himself.
Draco considered it for a moment, but agreed that he'd find time to pop in tomorrow. Harry smiled and squeezed Draco's shoulder as he turned to leave, he waved goodbye to the boys before he left through the door. Draco watched his enemy-turned-friend-turned-enemy-now-turned-friend-again as he walked over to the shop opposite. It scared him that Potter knew more about his son than he did. It scared him more that he'd leaned into Harry's touch. That he missed it. He knew then that he was screwed.
