Draco must've been in a talkative mood, because that evening, after super, he said, "Potter, I think we need to talk about what happened today."
Harry had been about to pull out a book from the bookcase in the drawing room, but he pushed the book back into its spot, turned, and sat on the sofa instead. "Alright," he conceded.
Sitting on the armchair, Draco was crossing his arms defensively. "I don't like that I was attacked with Leo. All I was doing was buying curtains for the nursery and new linens for that awful room, and those two widows came for me. And the worst part is that Leo was caught in the middle and hurt. As a parent, failing to protect your child is one of the worst feelings imaginable."
"I'm sorry that happened and I'm grateful that the two of you are fine now. I think it'd be best if I went with you on shopping trips for now; just until the public realizes that you aren't a Death Eater anymore and leaves you alone."
"Alright, but it wasn't just a widow from your side who attacked me; I got it from both sides, starting with a Death Eater's widow. They blame me for being a Death Eater and they blame me for not being a Death Eater enough. I can't win."
"For now, but once the public cottons on to the fact that you're with me and that's my son you're carting around, then things will change. I won't say they will be better, because knowing Skeeter you'll still be attacked by reporters, but it will no longer be because people hate you."
"So you think that because people love you, that they'll stop hating me?"
"Yeah, basically."
"I think they'll hate me all the more, for having your baby when I don't deserve you. And what is worse, is that Leo will still be in the middle of it."
"Well then I'll have to make them see. I'm sure if they see us together enough as a family, then they'll figure it out. And I'll try to come up with something nice to say about you next time the reporters swarm me for a sound bite."
"And how are you going to reconcile our "family" with your dating Weasley?"
"Keep the two of you away from each other?"
"That would be nice for a start, but it's more than that. Rumors are going to fly. They are going to say that you are leading a double life; that you are with both of us romantically. And they are going to ask about Leo's conception."
Harry got the distinct impression that Draco didn't want the reporters digging into the circumstances surrounding Leo's conception. Given that Draco was already concerned with the public hating him, it was understandable. "Well Malfoy, what do you want me to tell them about it?"
"I don't want them to know it was anything other than the usual. I don't want Leo to know that he wasn't made in love or that he was just another chess piece at play in the war. I want him to feel loved and special. I want him to think you want him too."
"I do want him, honestly, I do. I've always wanted a family and Leo is great. I keep picturing having him and Teddy for the weekends. We'll do typical father-son things like going to the park and flying and I could read him a story at night."
"You could do some of those things now. Not the flying, but you could take him to the park or read to him. He likes when I read to him."
"You'd let me take Leo without you to the park?"
Draco cringed at the thought. "When he's older, yes, but right now I would prefer to go with you. What if he gets hungry and I'm not there? Or what if he starts crying and you don't know what to do?"
Harry was a bit surprised that Draco was offering to go with, instead of flat out refusing the trip; it seemed like a rather grownup thing to do. Come to think of it, this entire conversation was rather adult of them. Maybe, if things kept going like this, they could eventually work their way up to acting like normal separated parents. It was a heartwarming thought that brought a smile to the corner of his lips. "Alright, you can come with me. Let's do the park soon. I'll fire-call Dromeda and see if she and Teddy can come."
"That sounds nice. And maybe you will turn out to be right about people thinking more highly of me, if I'm seen out with you. It couldn't hurt to try."
"Good. I'm glad we had this talk; that was a good idea," Harry said.
"We aren't done yet."
"We're not?"
"No, we're not. Besides the fact that you haven't told me how you feel, we still have to talk about your girlfriend."
Harry didn't want to talk about Ginny, so he decided to go with the first topic and hope Draco would drop the second. "I'm supposed to tell you how I feel?"
"That is how it's generally done, yes. Whenever something happens with me, my parents sit our family down and we each tell each other how we feel. We don't do so outside the family," here Draco shuddered, "but within the family that is a privilege we enjoy with each other. It keeps families close. I know Leo's not old enough to participate yet, but I'd like to get things established early on so that we develop good habits."
"Alright, let me give it a go," Harry said, trying to think of how to put his feeling into words. It wasn't something he ever had to do before, not even with Ginny, but it sounded like the type of thing a healthy family might do. He wanted to have a healthy family, for his son's sake. "I was panicked when I heard, because I wasn't there and I didn't know what had happened or how bad it was. Then I was relieved when I found out that the two of you weren't hurt worse than you were. And I was happy when Healer Strudwick said Leo would be fine and we could take him home."
"Good to know. Is there anything else you want to add, or are you ready to move onto the topic of Weasley?"
His feelings exhausted, Harry saw no choice but to move on. "Look, I didn't invite her over and I told her she couldn't come into the room. I'm sorry she keeps screaming and upsetting Leo."
"She's not only upsetting Leo. She makes me feel like a criminal who has no right to be around you. Like I shouldn't be in your house, with your baby, and with you visiting us in hospital. I'm some sort of scum that is supposed to stay hidden on the bottom of her shoe, only I keep popping up in front of her."
There was a long silence then as Draco waited for a response and Harry felt increasing pressure to say something. Draco was looking at him expectantly, clearly waiting, and refused to say anything until he did. Only he didn't know what to say. Finally, he just blurted out what was on the tip of his tongue, "I don't know what to do about that. She's my girlfriend, so she's going to be around sometimes, even if I try to keep her away. She doesn't like you and it's hard for me to blame her."
"Because you blame me too."
"No, not as much as she does. Are you forgetting the Chamber of Secrets? Your family has done a lot of nasty shite to her."
"That was my father, not me. I suppose the son is guilty of his father's crimes and Leo will spend his lifetime paying for mine and my father's."
"No, it's not like that."
"It's not? Leo won't have my mistakes hanging over his head like I have my father's?"
"No, he won't. I won't let it be like that. And I won't let Ginny keep holding what your father did over you, but there are still plenty of things you personally have done to her and her family. And when you do see her, you always have a nasty or snide remark for her; that's what I was mostly referring to when I said I could see why she dislikes you. Try being nice to her if you want her to be nice to you." That came out rather well and Harry started feeling proud of himself, like he could do this being an adult thing.
"Even if she doesn't like me, she shouldn't be transferring the blame to Leo. If this keeps up, he's going to grow up thinking that he's not wanted. If you have children with her, she's not going to include them in with him. He's going to be the unwanted stepson."
"I don't want that. I guess I can talk to her about the screaming…"
"You need to do more than talk to her about the screaming. She either needs to accept Leo in your life or never, not even for a nanosecond, be present at the same time and place, even if it's just waiting out in the hall. I won't have my son treated that way. It's not fair to him. He didn't ask to be born into this mess, so he shouldn't be the one to suffer for it. If I have to pay, so be it, but he won't."
"What do you mean, if you have to pay?"
"I was betrothed to Pansy Parkinson. Obviously that future is lost to me now. Instead of being forced into an unhappy marriage, I'll be a single father. Instead of finding another adult to love, I'll be alone with Leo, with only him to love. I won't get the daughter or the spouse I always wanted; I could do without Pansy and I'm glad to be rid of her, but I always imagined that I would have what my parents have with someone. Now no one will want me, because of all the baggage I come with. I don't just have a child with someone, I have a child with someone who hates me and whose girlfriend loathes me."
Harry had never thought about what Draco was giving up, but now the sympathy crept up on him and he felt a pang in his heart for the wizard. Maybe, just maybe, he should try to make things easier for Draco. "I don't hate you. And I'll have a talk with Ginny about Leo."
Draco nodded curtly and rushed off to his room, his face an unreadable mask. Harry sat there on the sofa and wondered about what had just happened and why Draco had rushed off so quickly. Might Draco have been crying?
The promising lead on Greyback's son from that morning was completely forgotten in the turmoil of the day. The Aurors worked it without Harry and wouldn't have let Harry go out in the field on this one even if he had pressed them on it, because he simply didn't have enough training.
They did go shopping the next day. The reporters were on them before they even exited out of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, which they had flooed into, specifically trying to avoid the mob that followed Harry. Outside the shop, which George later said was brilliant publicity, the three of them posed for a photo and Harry even gave a sound bite.
"Yesterday, my son, Leo, and his father were attacked right here in Diagon Alley while trying to shop peacefully. Leo was injured and had to be taken to St. Mungo's. Is this the thanks I get for destroying Voldemort for you people? I don't appreciate my family being attacked and it needs to stop immediately. Consider this fair warning, because next time it happens, I'll go after the culprit like I would Voldemort himself." Harry wouldn't have said it to protect himself, but he did it for Leo.
Draco, it turned out, wanted books and a new owl, since his owl had also been killed during the war. For Harry, the owl emporium was just a little too soon, because the wound from losing Hedwig was still too new, so he waited outside, holding Leo. By the time Draco came back with his new eagle owl, Harry had drawn a small crowd of admirers, asking about and cooing over Leo. Then they went into the bookstore together, Harry taking Leo over to look at the baby books. Their final stop was the baby store.
There were a number of things Harry wanted in relation to his planned proposal to Ginny, but he decided not to buy any of them with Draco looking over his shoulder. He did, however, buy a very expensive double pram that was already charmed with dozens of safety features, including that it recognized the parents and wouldn't let someone else just walk off with the baby nor roll without someone actively pushing it. Harry would still have to ask Hermione to help him add a few more safety features, such as floating, but having it partially pre-charmed would save him loads of time. And it was a double, which meant that there was room for Teddy.
That night, Draco called Harry into the nursery to help him put Leo to bed. "Here," he said, handing Harry a children's book about magical ducklings. There was soft lullaby music coming from a Wizard's Wireless in the corner, giving the air a tranquil feel. Every so often the radio would let out a tweet, peep, cheep, or even the occasional twitter sound, as if it was determined to be the soundtrack for the night's story.
Harry opened the book, holding it out above the crib for Leo to see, since the baby had already been dressed in pajamas and put down. It was a bit of an awkward position for reading, but he wanted his son to be able to see the bright colorful pictures and the letters were large enough for him to make out at an angle. Besides, there was only one seat in the room, the rocking chair, and Draco was already sitting in it.
"Oooo," Leo cooed excitedly, flapping his hands in the direction of the book. He was sitting up on his own unassisted. With all the contraptions Draco had and the amount Leo was held, Harry hadn't realized his son was so proficient at sitting, but he was. All of that time the baby spent squiggling on his side must've been by choice.
"Alright Leo, let's see," Harry started, looking at the title page with four colorful ducks. "The Four Magical Ducklings." Then he wondered if he was doing it right and turned to look at Draco, who was watching him from the rocking chair. He locked eyes with Draco; was Draco judging him? Was there something else he was supposed to be doing? Draco always seemed to talk with his hands, acting out the story with his body and Harry wondered if that was what he was supposed to be doing too. Should he try to act out a duck?
Draco smirked and made a circular motion with his hand that seemed to say, "Get on with it."
Harry looked back to Leo and the book. He turned the page and read, "Blue duck, red duck, yellow duck, green. Four magical ducklings." He pointed to the proper colored duck as he read and then turned the page, the radio making the sound of a scale played on a xylophone. "Blue duck jumps and flaps his wings, magic blowing in the breeze. The mossy log provides a safe landing, away from the dangerous grindylows below in the bog." Another page turn, again with the accompanied xylophone. "Red duck lands in the muck, what bad luck, his shoddy spell casting surely sucks." Page. "Mellow yellow duck shrugs and goes the long away around; he doesn't ruffle his feathers with a charm or a twitter, not when it could mess up his crown!" Another turn of the page. "Lucky green duck breathes in deep and takes a running leap; magic catching under wing, green duck jumps clear across the muck with a, 'Cheep, cheep, cheep!'" A final page turn and the triumphant call of a trumpet from the radio. "The end."
That was the shortest book Harry could remember reading, ever. It certainly wasn't the best either. He looked down at Leo, trying to judge what affect the story had on his son. It was supposed to be a bedtime story, but if anything it had excited the kid, because Leo was happily munching on his fingers, drool running down his hand, while he bounced on his bottom. It definitely hadn't put the baby to sleep, but Harry had to admit that Leo certainly liked to be read to.
"What now?" Harry asked, cocking his head to the side to see Draco, while still keeping Leo in his sight.
"Now we turn off the light and sit quietly until he gets tired of us, lays down, and puts himself to sleep," Draco answered, before casting a Nox on the lights.
Harry stood awkwardly over the crib for a minute, his eyes adjusting to the dark. There was a Clabbert-shaped nightlight that emitted a small amount of light, which shined off of Leo's open green eyes.
"How long does this take?" Harry whispered.
"As long as it takes. Longer if you don't shut it, PaPa."
"But his eyes are wide open—I can see—maybe he's not sleepy."
"He will be. One more peep out of you and I'm kicking you out of the room, PaPa."
"Alright Father," Harry emphasized, since Draco insisted on calling him that pompous version of papa, "but he's staring at me. Are you sure we shouldn't leave the room or do something? Don't you normally sing?" Harry could recall a great many times when Draco's singing could be heard in Grimmauld Place and they'd only been here a little over a week. The radio was still emitting soft noise, although the nature of it seemed to have changed to boring soothing sounds. Why wasn't it playing a lullaby at least?
"If we both leave, he'll scream and never go to sleep. And I only sing to calm him down and get him in the mood for bed, because it entertains him and keeps him up. Now out with you; you're keeping him awake!" Draco hissed quietly, clearly irritated by Harry's inability to just shut up and be quiet.
"Fine. Night Leo, PaPa loves you," Harry whispered, leaning down to kiss Leo on top of his messy head of hair.
Then Harry exited the room, closing the door behind him and leaving Draco to the seemingly impossible task of putting a baby to sleep by doing nothing for a sufficient period of time. He was about to head upstairs to his own room to bathe, but then he heard the sound of Leo's whining cry and it stopped him. He thought Leo was crying for him, because he left and Leo wanted him, which brought a smile to his face. He hesitated a moment and then leaned up against the door.
Draco's voice was soft and soothing. It was muffled by the door, but Harry had heard the formally unfamiliar song enough times in the last week to recognize it as Schlafe, mein Prinzchen. He'd gotten the translation of the title, which was Sleep, My Little Prince, from Draco the other day, but didn't know the other words.
I knew it! He does sing Leo to sleep! Harry thought to himself. A year ago he would've ascribed a malicious motivation behind the deception, but now he didn't. He just thought that Draco wasn't yet ready to share all of the secrets of bedtime. Maybe Draco worried that if Harry knew, then Leo could be taken away and Draco left behind. Or maybe Draco simply didn't realize what he was doing.
The new pram wasn't yet ready the next day for their trip to the park with Teddy, but that was alright, because Draco was used to carrying Leo on his hip. Dromeda had Teddy's single pram and no qualms about using it, so Harry pushed the newborn in it, Dromeda walking alongside. Both babies were too little to enjoy the playground or the little duck pond, but they spread out a picnic blanket in the shade and enjoyed the light breeze. They brought snacks and drinks with them and sat there chatting and having a nice time. Harry mostly listened as Draco and Dromeda got to know each other, each telling stories about the person they had in common in their lives: Narcissa.
And then Leo exclaimed, "Guck!" and lurched out towards the grass, falling onto his stomach from his formally sitting position.
They all looked up at the baby, Draco pausing mid-sentence in telling Dromeda about something his mother had done when he was little. Sure enough, one of the ducks had waddled towards the picnic blanket and was pecking at something in the grass a mere ten feet away.
"Guck! Guck!" Leo exclaimed again. He was reaching his little hands out towards the bird, which took off several feet into the air, squawking, and lurched backwards, away from the baby.
"Oh, my word," Dromeda said, reaching her hand towards her mouth in surprise.
"He just said duck! That's his first word," Draco said excitedly.
"Guck! Guck! Guck!" Leo continued, yelling louder.
"Do you think he got that from the book I read him last night?" Harry asked, also excited.
"Yes, I read it to him all the time. Quick, transfigure his teddy bear into a harmless duck," Draco answered, Leo's cries increasing in fervor as he didn't get what he wanted.
"What?" Harry questioned.
"Transfigure this stuffed animal into a duck." Draco was shoving the toy at Harry now.
"Why me? Why can't you do it?" Harry was worried he might do it wrong, leave a sharp talon on, and accidentally get Leo hurt. He trusted Draco with Leo more than he trusted himself.
"Because if you haven't noticed, I failed sixth year transfigurations and was too busy having a baby last year to make it up. I can mostly only transfigure inanimate objects. And I only got into the NEWT level class because I can transfigure an apple into a dragon. He's not asking for a dragon, he's asking for a duck."
At this point Leo was no longer shouting anything recognizable as a possible word, but screaming at the top of his lungs, clenching and unclenching his hands in a fruitless attempt to reach the bird, which had flown clear away of the noisy little human.
"Oh give it here, you two," Dromeda intervened, seizing the stuffed toy and instantly transfiguring it into a living duck, only without the claws or the sharp beak.
Dromeda handed over the toy to Leo; the duck tried to squawk in protest, but the noise was muffled by its soft cloth beak. Leo stopped crying immediately, clutching the toy tightly. The baby rolled over onto his back, clutched the struggling pseudo-animal to his chest, and laughed, tears still glistening on his cheeks.
Draco leaned over and wiped the little face with a burp cloth. "There, you got your duck. That wasn't so bad, was it?"
Harry stared on in amazement of the whole situation, from Leo saying his first word to actually getting his way by his great aunt transfiguring a toy into a living duck. Harry recalled his own childhood when all he had to play with were stones, cheap toy soldiers, and Dudley's castaways. No one would ever have given him a duck if he'd asked for one, no matter how big of a fit he'd thrown. But maybe Draco would've gotten his way. Draco, who was as spoiled as Dudley.
"You're spoiling him, aren't you?" Harry accused Draco.
"What?" Draco asked surprised, not knowing what Harry meant.
"You are giving our son every little thing he wants. Now it's a duck, next it'll be a dragon."
"A dragon would be easier for me to do," Draco admitted, not getting Harry's point at all.
"You can't just give him everything he wants, right when he wants it."
"Why not? That's what my parents did with me."
"And look how spoiled you turned out. He needs to learn that he can't always get what he wants and that he has to work for it."
"He's a baby; he's not going off to work in a factory to earn a toy. He said the word. Duck's a hard word to say for a four and a half-month-old baby," Draco argued.
"Okay, maybe indulging him this once is okay, but did it really have to be a living duck? Look, it's almost gotten away from him." Harry pointed to the duck, which was flapping its wings in an attempt to break free, but was held onto by one ankle in Leo's chubby little hand.
"Transfigure its bones back to cotton then." Draco reached over to grab hold of the duck around the body, but it was harder to do than it looked, because the bird was moving. Thankfully Leo found the whole thing amusing and was laughing as he held on.
"Why don't you do it?" Harry asked Draco.
"Because if I do it, the bones might break instead of turning into cotton. Do you really want our son's first duck to suffer so, PaPa?"
Just then the bird broke free from both Leo and Draco and flapped its wings once to gain altitude. Harry jumped and caught it around the mangled leg. He held it by the neck, steadied his wand, and transfigured it back into a stuffed animal, although retaining the duck shape. "There. Leo shouldn't be given real animals to play with; he can have stuffed ones," Harry said handing the toy back over to Leo, who sat up to reach for it.
"Guck?" Leo asked in a much more subdued tone, clutching the animal to his chest as he sat on his bum.
"Yes Leo, this is your toy duck. The other duck is too wild for a baby," Harry replied.
"Guck guck?" Leo asked.
"Yes, it's still a duck, Leo, it's a toy duck. Father can charm it to chirp, can't you?" Harry asked Draco.
Charms were something Draco was proficient in. He quickly cast a few spells on the stuffed toy, making it seem more lifelike. Now it ruffled its feathers, held its wings aloft, opened and closed its eyes, and made loud quacking sounds.
"Guck!" Leo exclaimed excitedly, tossing the stuffed bird into the air. He watched as it flapped its wings and came down nearby, a foot in front of him. He plopped himself onto his stomach, and scooted and wiggled as best he could. But he couldn't crawl yet, so he couldn't reach the bird.
Draco handed Leo back the stuffed toy. "I don't see what the big deal was about. It wasn't dangerous; Aunt Dromeda saw to that," Draco said. "I bet my cousin was given live animals to play with."
They both looked then to Dromeda, who said, "If it shut Dora up, you bet I did. But leave me out of this; this argument is between you two parents to figure out."
"The big deal is that I don't want him getting used to getting his way all of the time. Think how much of a nightmare he'll be when he's a toddler if you spoil him rotten now," Harry replied.
"I have to spoil him; he's a Malfoy and it's expected of a Malfoy to be spoiled. If I don't, I'll be accused of neglecting the Potter baby. There will be stories in the Prophet about how he's not being treated like any other Malfoy would. Then you will convince the Wizengamot to take him away from me and give him to your Weasley."
"Trust me, with the way Ginny is about him, I wouldn't want her having him. And if anyone does accuse you of neglecting him, I'll go on the record saying that it is me who doesn't want him to have live animals yet."
"Promise?"
"Yes, I promise," Harry reassured.
"Did you hear that, Aunt Dromeda?" Draco asked.
"Yes, and I'll testify to it in a court of law," Dromeda answered with a bored drawl, knowing what her nephew was after.
During Leo's entire adventure with the ducks, Teddy was lying quietly in his bouncer chair. He let out squeaks of excitement too and grabbed at his toy bar, since he couldn't reach the actual duck. When the bird almost got away, Teddy's eyes jumped immediately to Harry catching it. He'd tried to hold his own hands out in hopes of getting a chance with the new toy, but he was once again overlooked by the older baby. Well if he couldn't get a duck of his own, maybe he could make one.
Harry looked over to Teddy, checking that his godson was okay. Teddy was fine, except he had a contemplative look on his face, like he was concentrating very hard on something. Harry guessed it was a turd and hoped Dromeda would change it.
In the meantime, Leo rolled over onto his side and fell asleep, his duck pressed to his chest. Free of its keeper, the bird struggled slowly, but surely it went. It broke free and paused in front of Teddy's chair, letting out a loud squawk. To which Teddy replied, "Uuuh.
Dromeda picked the toy up and handed it over to Teddy, who squealed with delight. He put the soft beak of the toy in his mouth first, then he grunted and appeared to be taking a dump. He squirmed, grunted, and pushed and then a beak popped up on top of his nose. It was a small beak at first that barely covered his little nose, but then he kept right on grunting and squirming until the appendage grew and resembled a full-sized beak.
Harry was the first one to notice, "Hey everyone, look at Teddy. He's trying to look like a bird!"
Draco and Dromeda looked. "Dora started doing that around the same age, but I think she was a little older.
"So Teddy changed into his first animal and Leo said his first word today. And here you were, PaPa, thinking that our boys were too little to do anything with," Draco said with a smirk, lying back on the blanket with his hands under his head.
"I guess you were right. Thank you for the nice family outing."
Draco had been thinking of all of the snarky retorts he could use, but none of them worked well in back of Thank you. Thus he nodded and kept his comments to himself.
Author's Note: So what do you think? My daughter used to tell me the word guck all the time when she was a baby.
Up next Harry will propose to Ginny. Does anyone have any ideas?
Please Review!
