Harry Potter stood facing the window that looked out the back garden, standing tall in his crisp dinner jacket, white dress shirt, and slacks that smelled expensive. He had been catching up on some correspondence before the gala, needing to stay constantly busy himself, so he could avoid the reality of life that was falling about his ears. He had been distracted by the sounds of shrieks of laughter, and the childlike calls of innocence. Harry moved to the window, and took root as he watched three small bodies tumbled together in the back garden, the eldest a boy of seven with jet black hair was laying on the ground as the two younger girls toppled upon his lanky body. The little girls were sitting on him, it looked as if they were wrestling, the girl age five had long red hair, a breath-taking picture of her mother was pounding the boys chest and the youngest a girl with porcelain skin and jet black hair was doing her own attempts of tickling her brother but resulted in pinching.

He heard the door to the library open with an aged squeak but he didn't turn to face the intruder. He knew who it was, their presence was a constant in the Potter Manor house, also the person was his dinner companion to the gala tonight. But he had yet to turn and greet the company as he was quietly battling the conversation in his head as he watched the children play on the magically protected lawn.

Silence was all consuming for the other patron, and he began to fidget but as if it was a struggle of power between the two companions that was constantly battled, he remained stoically quiet walking over to the sideboard and pouring himself a tumbler of scotch. There were only a few thats that Draco Malfoy truly appreciated, and one was the taste of a well aged malted scotch, and Potter was never one to disappoint. Swishing the dark liquid around the crystal tumbler for a moment before taking the first taste, he would have let out a moan in his own personal study, but since the current atmosphere in the library was serious he remained impassive as the seventy five year scotch trickled down his throat. It was almost blasphemous to not outwardly appreciate the drink. He swiftly and silently moved to the floor length window to spy at what was distracting Potter's attention and spotted the children.

The children.

Draco choked down the bitter tasting saliva when he noticed the tight grip Harry's hands were in behind his back. The children were a sensitive subject as of late. It was situations like these that made Draco happy he was childless and still a somewhat bachelor, no matter what his relationship was with the Greengrass heir this week; he was appreciative he was not in the same boat as Harry Potter. Draco had known it had been a long couple weeks since the burst of reality that sent Harry Potter reeling. The first shoe dropping was that of the very public and rather messy split Ginny Potter-Weasley had bestowed upon Harry during a dinner. It had blind-sighted him to say the least. Sure their relationship was on rather rocky terrain, as it had been in the past, but he had not expected nor assumed she flirting with divorce. The idea had never crossed his mind in their entire marriage. But of course Harry did not lose his composure at that moment, nor did he lose it when he read the morning post a week later to find Ginny was now in a serious relationship with an ex quidditch player, and was expecting his baby. Harry had yet to take his ring off, and she was already looking at wedding catalogs the gossip columns said when they spotted her on a quiet autumn afternoon. He only needed a stiff drink after that public slap in the face, but he had remained doing his daily routine with his children, work and public life.

It was the finally shoe drop that caused Harry to go on a bender, he had shown up to Draco's house demanding firewhiskey, goblin's gin and dragonbreath vodka. It was also the first time Draco has seen Harry completely out of control, pissed beyond belief and not wearing his wedding ring. Draco had mistakenly asked what had happened to the golden band that he had never seen the boy who lived without, and Harry muttered something along the lines of cursed it into seventeen million pieces transfigured them into clay pigeons and used them for skeet shooting. A surprising hobby Harry had taken to like a fish to water. It wasn't later when Harry was obliviated drunk, the type of drunk that has results of being obliviated, that he had confessed the most recent of drama in his life. It was so hurtful that Draco took the bottle in hand and tended to filling Harry's drink up more.

But weeks had passed, life resumed and Harry turned into a quieter version of himself. They did not speak of his night of consumption and treaded lightly about the subjects that surrounded the children, Ginny and his ending marriage. So standing in the library with Harry at this point and watching the children play was awkward for more then one reason.

But Draco Malfoy did not excel at keeping quiet, in fact he was quite the chatterbox when he was with his fellow companions, a running joke Astoria and Harry laughed about explaining he talked so much because he was kept mute as a child. It was only half true, confirmed by his mother Narcissa Malfoy.

"How did Hadrian's quidditch camp go?" Draco asked knowing the child's love for the sport. He was born to ride a broomstick at the young age of two had his first broom, purchased by his favorite Uncle Draco, and he was zooming about the garden with Harry chasing him about to keep him from falling to the ground. It was a safe and easy subject to lure Harry from his solitude.

"Naturally he excelled, his quidditch instructor said he had a bright future." Harry said shuffling from one foot to the other. "Their team won the quidditch trial." Draco snorted at the idea of watching a group of six to nine year olds playing the sport seriously was quiet laughable.

"What position did Hadrian play?" Draco asked swirling his scotch a bit before bringing it to his mouth and took another drink. He watched the boy as he rolled from beneath the assault of his sisters, and scamper off away from the fray. He was tall with a lithe build, but not to be misconstrued as weak, he was completely muscle. He figured at this moment, he was a strong chaser, but if he kept his build and bulked up a bit, he would become quite a decent keeper.

"He played chaser, and subbed one game as seeker. He preferred the chaser position." Harry said turning finally from his children and going to get his own drink but returned within the minute and they watched the scene unfold as the two girls, Keely, the red head, and Eilley, the child with black hair, chase their older brother down to the other end of the garden. It was cute to watch the small legs give chase to the taller boy, Draco chuckled at one point when Eilley stumbled to the grass to her hands and knees but was up within moments bounding after her siblings.

"They seem to be managing well." Draco observed looking more at Harry now, Malfoy was breaching onto platitudes of personal turmoil that they typically glossed over in their friendship. He watched Harry let out a harbored breath.

"I haven't." Harry finally muttered his face darkening at the thought of the act. So much has been dumped on his lap within the last month. He looked to Draco and shrugged, "I couldn't bring myself to do it. They are so young, I don't think they would fully understand the gravity of the situation."

Draco blanched at his reasoning, as sound as it sounded he knew it was just the typical Potter avoidance of the issue. That was one of the many things he has become accustomed to as Harry Potter's closer friend, a confidant if you will call it that. He was an olympic gold medalist in the art of avoidance, especially if it surrounded conflict or drama. "Potter, Hadrian is not that young, and the girls will notice soon enough."

"I just want to spare them the hurt." Harry muttered to himself more than to Draco to hear. If Draco had been a girl, he would have melted into the carpet swept Harry into an embrace and hug the hurt from his soul, but he was not of the gentle sex. He stared awkwardly at Harry until finally reaching out and patting his shoulder four times before retracting his hand to his side.

"Always the noble." Draco mused turning back to the children who were giggling as their golden retriever Lucy came bounding across the field colliding with Hadrian and licking his face.

"I don't know how noble it is to betray your children." Harry explained and walked away from the picture outside of the window. He placed the empty tumbler onto the sideboard and readjusted his jacket, easing the wrinkles into manageable creases. This would be the first major gala he would attend without Ginny on his arm, and since the split of their relationship. He began dusting the black sleeve of minuscule dust particles. "Well I mean how does one explain to child that their mother abandoned them."

"For a Frenchmen no less." Draco supplied trying to lighten the mood but Harry's eyes darken at the comment. "Sorry mate, do they have such parenting books that touch on this topic?"

"None that I have found." Harry sighed, his hands went up to his hair and scrunched it out of frustration. It had been true, he had ventured into the muggle London, and in one of the big book stores he had perused the self-help shelves, and the parenting area, but there was no title that screamed, "How To Tell Your Kids That There Is A No Good Rotten Whore." that was the title he had asked the helper at the desk. The girl looked at him as if he had grown a third hair and then she looked as if she was going to cry.

"Well I am sure that anyone would say that honesty is the best policy." Draco said muttering under his breath backing away from the window and staring his friend down. "Maybe not brutal honesty but some form of that, and possibly a new toy to soften the blow."

"They don't have toys that come in the variety that says "I'm sorry mummy is such a loose cow." Harry muttered darkly. His feelings pertaining to Ginny were still quite harsh, around his children he had not uttered her name. The children were use to lapse of time without their mother. She was an international quidditch star turned model. Her job was always her priority, even when she was several months pregnant with Hadrian she had performed a perfected Wronski Feint to win a quidditch match. It was at breakneck speak and if Harry had been at the pitch he would have pulled her off the broomstick for endangering herself and their unborn child. No matter the magical medical releases she had, Harry was always uncomfortable with how free Ginny had been during her pregnancies. Sure he was always kept on bated breath around her exciting lifestyle, but when she was the vessel for another life he had a tendency to become overbearing for her safety.

"Loose cow?" Draco asked about his friends profanity. His smile on his face caused Harry to snort a bit.

Harry shrugged, "I don't know what else to call her, I don't want to slip up in front of the children with angry words, they don't need to have any hatred for her."

"For what she has done, I think their hatred would be warranted." Draco replied. "I mean deserting them is one thing, but the other thing is completely unpardonable. I mean Potter what are you going to do about it?"

It being the last shoe to drop. It had come in the form of the last fight between Harry and Ginny when she had stopped by to pack up her clothing. He had meant to be away, but Eilley had come down with a head cold and no one in the extended family was able to pick her up from daycare. So Harry had to leave work and take her back to the house to find Ginny ransacking their bedroom. Thank goodness Eilley had fallen asleep on his shoulder during the trip home for he had placed her in bed before confronting Ginny, the first time seeing her since she had broken up their marriage at the party nearly two weeks prior.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked stepping into the master bedroom, a once cherished room that was filled with many happy memories of lazy mornings with the children and Ginny, but now it was cold, a chaotic mess with clothes, shoes, and luggage strewn about the floor.

"What do you mean, what am I doing here?" Ginny spat in his face, her temper heighten as seeing him. "We had discussed that you would not be here while I came to collect my things." It was true, but they had also written and agreed that the time was going to be that coming weekend when he was taking the children to the seaside.

"Eilley came down with a cold." Harry shrugged as he moved into the room, noticing her jewelry box was already moved from its spot on the dresser. He eyed her suspiciously. "I thought you were coming this weekend."

"Well I didn't want to wait, and I didn't think I had to abide by rules to enter into my own home." Ginny spat returning to her pack, banishing contents of a drawer to the floor as she hastily picked through the different effects and banishing them with her wand into her bag.

This ignited a spark in his eyes. "Your house, you lost all claim to call this place home when you broke it."

Their words began to slice like knives, and the shouting could be heard from outside and for once Harry was truly happy he had made his house unplottable, the last he needed was this argument publicized, but both began making low blows at one another. Harry claiming she an cheating whore, and Ginny retaliated with her own screams saying he had never been satisfying in any aspects of the word. He retaliated with a blow at her being an unfit mother which caused her to slap him hard across the face before delivering the darkest of verbal attacks.

"They aren't even your children." Ginny snapped snidely. "I've been cheating on you since before Hadrian was born." Harry brandished his wand and pointed to the door. His normal bright face was dark, made of stone and ice.

"Get out. Now." Red sparks were spitting from the piece of wood in his hand. Ginny turned with a glare summoning the bags, and magicking them to another place and turning on her heels herself disapparating on the spot. Leaving a broken Harry to fall to almost fall to the floor but he caught himself and stumbled down to the study. He needed to look for anything to make what she said a lie. He found a photo album from when Hadrian was born, it was such a happy time. The tiny bundle wrapped in his arms, everyone exclaiming how much he looked like Harry, but Harry stared close at the picture. It couldn't be real. He flipped a few pages forcing his eyes to no believe her hateful barb. Keely had been a spitting image of her mother, a red head at the start of her life but he thought he saw a resemblance of himself in his daughter. A few more pages and it was the birth of Eilley. The picture of him holding the small bundle swaddled in a yellow blanket, his eyes bright and full of love. There was no way her words were true.

Her words had galled him since they escaped her mouth, and standing in his study with Draco Malfoy reminding him of the horrid facts made bile fill his mouth. He had taken the tests. He needed the truth, and when the results returned it was when the other shoe dropped, and Harry turned up on Draco's doorstep needing bottles to drink.

Because there were no books that said helped a parent with telling his children, "I'm Sorry Your Mummy Is Such A Whore And I Am Not Your Biological Daddy. But I Am Still Your Daddy."

Hadrian and Keely.

The idea of Hadrian and Keely not being his children was laughable, he loved them with every breath since they were born, but the tests confirmed that he was not biologically related to the pair.

Eilley though, his beautiful bird, was confirmed ninety nine percent his child.

Harry returned to the window. He watched below as the kids remained happy, not knowing this truth, a truth he wanted to burry, stifle, wanted to curse into the oblivion. And for now it was going to stayed locked away from the children, and he was going to go to a gala, represent his family name, drink a glass, maybe dance with Narcissa or Astoria, and try to laugh.

He would deal with the rest another time.

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So what do you guys idea has been puttering around my head for a few weeks. I know I am horrible at starting a story, abandoning it, but I truly feel this has potential to keep in interested.

I hope you all like it. I don't know how far into Weasley bashing I will get, I think I am going to keep it closely to canon with other character pairings, and I will see how much I will involve the Weasley's in Harry's life now. As always I have made Harry and Draco as mates.

I hope you enjoyed it.

Ema