|| Cupcakes || A Harry's 37th Birthday Oneshot || Drarrmione ||

Draco checked the recipe again, feeling foolish and proud of himself at the same time as he carefully mixed the cake batter. There was a small weight resting against one of his calves, accompanied by a persistent tugging, that he was only half paying attention to. Still, he made quick work of mixing the ingredients together enough for a toddler to take over.

"Papa, I help!" was being chanted in time with the tugging, making him sigh when he finally spared a glance downward. His bland, impatient brow did nothing to deter the eager, wide-eyed, and pleading look he was getting from his still baby-faced firstborn.

"I did say you'd be allowed to stir," he told the boy dryly. "Are you ready to help me?"

Scorpius beamed at him. "Yessy yessy yessy yessy!"

Draco hid a sigh as he reached down to scoop the three-year-old up and balance him on his hip, ignoring the chuckle from behind him. "Stir slowly, alright? We don't want to accidentally knock the bowl down or spill any batter, do we?"

Shaking his head in agreement with all the seriousness a toddler could muster, Scorpius carefully began stirring the batter to the best of his ability.

"Mum, are you actually doing your part over there or are you just giggling your little arse off?" Draco sneered, regretting the words long before a tiny hand with nails in dire need of trimming came up to pinch his nose hard enough to make his eyes water. "Scorpius!"

"Bad word, Papa," Scorpius said with a sharp look he'd somehow already picked up from his mother. He leaned up to kiss the pink marks he'd left of his father's nose in apology, but offered no other signs of remorse.

"My part is finished," Hermione said from the island, amusement lacing her tone. "Icing has been in the fridge for a bit now. You were too focused on cracking eggs without magic to notice me get up, I imagine?"

"Quiet, witch," he mumbled, earning another frown from Scorpius.

"Papa, be nice," he said, heaving a great sigh. "Gum-ppy head."

Draco discreetly rolled his eyes.

"Papa is a grumpy head today, isn't he?" Hermione agreed. "Maybe he slept poorly. Maybe he's nervous about how Daddy's cupcakes will turn out?"

Scorpius pondered her suggestion for less than a moment before he'd released the stirring spoon in favor of giving Draco the hardest hug he could manage. "Daddy wuvs cuh-cakes, Papa."

"Oh for the love of," Draco hissed, glaring over his shoulder at Hermione, who snorted.

"I'm not nervous, but thank you, love," he forced himself to say, kissing the unruly mess of platinum curls resting against his shoulder. "Is the batter ready?"

He ended up giving it a few more proper stirs, with Scorpius helping by holding the bowl still, before letting Scorpius 'help' him pour the batter into a cupcake tin. Scorpius obligingly joined his mother when it came time to put the tin in the oven, wisely staying away from the potential danger.

"Papa cawe-ful?" he asked.

"Papa was very careful," Draco assured him, an assurance he repeated a while later when the cakes were finished baking.

Draco cheated on the next step by using charms to both remove the cupcakes from the tin and cool them enough to be iced. Feeling spiteful as Hermione continued to sometimes chuckle at him for reasons unknown, he also used magic to ice all but two of the cupcakes, leaving them for Scorpius to try his hand at decorating.

At the last minute, he charmed the gold-icing words "Happy Birthday" to read "Potter Stinks" on one of the cupcakes and made the rest say "Old Git" to make himself feel better. Hermione's immediate snickering ruined the effect.

"Why'd you do this if you're going to be so fussy about it?" she asked him.

Draco glared at her. "Just because I'm making him cupcakes for his birthday does not mean I need to be nice about it."

"You cannot possibly still be annoyed that Cassie's first word was Dada instead of Papa."

"That has absolutely nothing to do with this. He just doesn't deserve that kind of effort from me."

"Scorpius said Mama first and you didn't care," she reminded him

"Little boys are allowed to prefer their mothers. I can forgive him for something I also did when I was small."

"But because Cassiopeia said her other father's name first, it's a turf war?"

Draco glared at her, the expression leaving his face in an instant when a familiar gurgly giggle reached them. The birthday boy himself was still smiling tiredly when he entered the room with their six-month-old against his chest and his face unusually shiny.

"Why are you covered in drool?" Draco asked, mildly offended that Harry seemed almost entirely unbothered by his slobber covered face.

"Because Daddy's baby girl woke him up with birthday kisses," answered Harry, wandlessly summoning a towel from the fresh stack beside the sink. He wiped the drool from his mouth, cheek, and forehead before giving Cassie an affectionate, gentle, kiss to her hair as he sat across from Hermione. "My sweet girl."

Scorpius giggled as Draco scowled, suddenly more than happy to plate the bloody birthday cupcake and deliver it, not bothering to set it down gently enough to keep it from clattering. Harry's surprised glance made his scowl twist into a bitter smile.

"Happy bloody birthday, Potter," he snapped, stalking out of the room without another word.

Harry blinked and moved his gaze from the now empty doorway to his wife. "Is he still mad about her first word?"

"He might be a bit jealous that he didn't one up you on this, yes," she said.

Harry nodded, trying not to smile. "Ironic."

"Why's that?" Hermione asked, smiling as Scorpius padded over to his sister and sweetly kissed her cheek in greeting. Harry ruffled his curls with a small grin.

"Well," said Harry, gently lifting Cassie under her arms and bringing her to eye level. "Cassie, where's Papa?"

Cassie's fist, that she had been contentedly teething on since they entered the room, left her mouth with a small pop. "Papa?" she said.

Hermione started to giggled uncontrollably into her hand, trying to muffle the sound as Scorpius glanced between them, terribly confused.

"Whas funnie?" he asked.

"Don't worry about it," said Harry. "It's kind of a grown up joke, kiddo. Sorry."

Scorpius shrugged, only mildly put out by being unable to enjoy the joke, and went back to trying to keep his sister's attention. "Cassie know two words now," he said, his voice full of pride.

"Cleverest infant of her age, isn't she?" Harry agreed, making Hermione roll her eyes.

"Go cheer up our husband, you prat. We ought've to know he'd be bitter today," she said.

Harry stood, giving Scorpius another pat on the head and a wink. "We'll be back," he said, sparing one last glance at the "Potter Stinks" cupcake Draco had put before him. On impulse, he swiped a finger against the green icing and offered it to Cassie as they went in search of Draco.

They found him in the library, glaring at the peacocks on the grounds with his arms crossed over his chest and bright overcast light reflecting off his hair. The same hair their children had somehow acquired in spite of genetic dominances, in spite of the potion that had allowed all three of them to have equal genetic responsibility for their children. A potion that should have made Harry and Hermione's dark hair overrule the famous Malfoy blonde. Instead, Scorpius inherited Hermione's curls and the unnatural stubbornness Harry had never learned to tame, as well as his mother's freckles and cleverness, and Harry often took credit for his budding skills on his training broom. Draco's genes had won out on the complexion, coloring, and eyes in their son, but as far as they could currently tell, he'd only won out with Cassie's hair color so far.

Her skin was a few shades lighter than Hermione's, due to the paleness of both her fathers, but it was still delightfully golden and she'd tan instead of burning as Draco tended to, Harry was certain. She shared Scorpius' smattering of freckles across her cheeks and nose, shared their mother's curls and smile, but had surprised them with her multicolored eyes.

Much to Draco's annoyance, he hadn't won there either. Her right eye was the color of whiskey and honey, her left, Harry's jade green. Even though Draco outwardly complained about the green one, Harry knew better than to think he was actually annoyed that it wasn't grey.

Granted, Cassie was so very small. Harry had faith that she'd start to show more evidence of Draco as she grew. If nothing else, she'd likely be just as spoiled at Draco had been growing up.

"We found him," Harry said to Cassie.

"Go away," said Draco. "Eat your bloody cupcake, Potter."

"Potter-Malfoy and I'll thank you to remember that."

Draco shot him a glare. "What do you want."

Harry grinned. "I have a present for you."

"It's not my birthday. You're a bit late for that."

"Oh it's not from me," said Harry. "It's a late present from Cassie."

Draco slowly raised a brow. "I swear to all that is good a sacred, if you hand her to me and she's got a dirty nappy, I'll throw it at you, birthday or not."

Harry rolled his eyes and gently tapped Cassie's cheek to get her attention. "Hey, sweet one, who's that?"

She followed the finger he'd pointed at Draco and smiled when she saw him. "Papa," she said softly.

Harry did his best not to laugh at Draco's stunned expression and didn't know how long they stood there before his husband remembered how to talk.

"When did she…?"

"Do you think I stopped trying to teach her how to say 'Papa' and 'Mama' just because she figured my name out?" he said. "I did try to make sure she said your name first, you know. I suppose 'Dada' was easier to say."

Draco gave Cassie a small smile. "What's my name?" he asked her.

"Papa."

Harry shook his head and passed her to Draco, snorting when she was rewarded with tickles and kisses for her cleverness. He kissed Draco on the cheek before ducking away.

"She's all yours. I'm gonna go eat my cupcake and spend some time with our son," he said as he headed for the door. "Oh, and by the way? Her nappy's wet."

"Only wet?" was the growl that followed him out of the room and Harry chuckled. She was, but he chose to let Draco have a moment of annoyed panic as payback for the writing on his cupcakes.

When a folded up nappy hit him in the back later that morning, Harry laughed until he cried and almost choked on a mouthful of icing in the process. Hermione shook her head as she vanished it to the trash can, shooting a very familiar look at Draco.

"What if that hadn't been closed properly?" she asked him. "Or worse, filthy?"

Draco sniffed, unconcerned, and continued to cuddle Cassiopeia to his chest, offering her a cupcake to lick icing from as he sat down beside Scorpius at the island.

He was hardly bothered when both his children and shirt were stained green by the time they finished the treat. He was, however, annoyed when Harry thanked him for the cupcakes.

"Shut up already, Potter."

He hissed when sharp nails dug into the back of his hand.

"No' nice," said Scorpius.

"Sorry, love," Draco said automatically, but he stared at Hermione, telepathically channeling blame in her direction.

She hid a smile by sipping her tea and affectionately ran her fingers through Scorpius' hair without a word.