"I don't mean to worry the two of you, but don't you think Scorp's development is a bit…slow?" Hermione asked.
We'd gone to visit the Weasley family after work one evening to show off Scorp's first pair of glasses; we had to go to them, because Ronald Weasley was not allowed to know the secret to our place ever since Harry gifted me with a new Fidelius as a wedding present.
Harry had grown tired of his stay-at-home parenting and begged me to quit my job and stay home with the baby, so he could go back to work. So as of September first, I was once again the stay-at-home parent. Shortly thereafter, I began to suspect Scorp's vision wasn't what it should be. I'd made an appointment, proving my suspicions correct, and today I'd picked up the glasses. The little round frames seemed to accentuate the facial similarities this child shared with my husband. The first two looked like me, but number three was the spitting image of Harry, especially once the glasses were in place.
That's why I was expecting a gathering where Harry's friends said things like, "Awwwwwwwww, he's sooo cute, Draco!" or "Excellent job picking out those glasses, Draco, they're perfect!" or "I wish our two horrible children were as perfect and bespeckled as yours, instead of the horrible, terrors they are." But no, neither Granger nor Weasley said any of that. Instead they ask if my perfect son had something wrong with him, because he wasn't mentally challenged like Hugo.
Harry had given birth to our third child, a boy named Scorpius James Malfoy, just over a year ago. Scorp had tame black hair, light blue-gray eyes, and was on the small side for his age. He was also the quiet, calm child I'd asked for. I was very pleased with the fact that I finally had a baby who was fine sitting in one spot and playing quietly for hours, despite the chaos of Sev and Lily all around him. Even when Sev had gone off to Hogwarts and Lily had decided Scorp was going to be her new play thing, Scorp had my back, refusing to do much more than sit on his bum and babble nonsense at his sister.
We'd had a birthday party for Scorp last month, just before Sev went away. It was like one last crazy day before the calm. I missed Sev dearly, often feeling out of sorts when I found the house too quiet. But it was never too quiet for long, because then Hurricane Lily would blow in and I'd be praising Scorp for how wonderful he was for not taking after his brother and sister and hoping he stayed this way forever.
"Yeah, he's way behind. Remember how Hugo was at that age?" Weasley asked.
At that, I got up and punched Weasley in the face. The soft arse went flying back, apparently not expecting this response from me. Hugo was a demon at this age and I was pissed beyond belief that he would suggest my son didn't measure up to his demon.
Then I turned to Granger, "Don't you dare suggest that there is anything wrong with my son again! Especially do not compare my Scorpius to your Hugo. There is no comparison. I don't care if Scorp doesn't walk; I don't want him to. I don't care if he doesn't crawl. He can sit there and be happy, which is more than any other baby can. This may be hard for the two of you to understand, but I actually begged Harry for a child just like this one. I love him this way. We did your holistic willing the fetus to be what you want it to be thing, same as you, but in our case, we got precisely what we wished for. Looking at Hugo, however, has me questioning what the fuck did you imbibe him with? He's literally the opposite of what I consider my ideal child. And now that I'm once again in charge of staying at home, the only person whose opinion matters, should be mine. The rest of you can fuck off if you have a problem with it or my son."
"Draco, don't you think you could say that a little nicer to my friends? Did you have to punch Ron?" Harry asked.
"Yes, I did. What Weasley said was uncalled for. What right does he, father of the notorious Hugo, have to say anything to me? Not only is he not quiet, but he doesn't seem all that smart either. If that's what greatness is, I am glad we decided not to put any in our baby," I said to Harry.
"Okay, I will admit I started freaking out when Hermione started channeling supreme intellect and leadership skills and whatnot and I did imbibe Hugo with bravery, a sense of adventure, and a fun-loving spirit. I just wanted my kid to be a bit of fun, in addition to great. The fun stuff is just sort of taking over, because he's a kid. He's only five. The greatness and intelligence will come later," Weasley said.
I seriously doubted that. Hugo had started school this year and immediately the teacher had requested that the kid be tested for special needs. Turns out he wasn't just ADD, but borderline autistic, and dyslexic. As a result, he was behind the other kids, especially when it came to learning to read and write. Maybe Weasley and Granger specified so many traits that there was no room for anything they left out, like proper social skills and not having dyslexia. We didn't specify those things with our Scorp either, but I was reasonably certain he'd come with them, just like most kids did.
"Scorp is only one. Whatever you think he should be doing, like walking, he'll pick up eventually," I said.
"But Draco, if he's not going to walk or crawl, then he should be talking," Granger said, like an annoying know-it-all.
"Yeah, I'm really worried he isn't talking more. Remember how much Lily and Sev talked at this age?" Harry asked.
"Yes, I do, because if you'll recall, I was the one home with them all day. So I know that they both said about the same number of things as Scorp. Scorp is just quiet about saying them and only when it's necessary. There may not be any of the screaming out words in order to get attention, but that's not what I wanted. Trust me, I've been home with him for a month now: Scorp is just where he should be developmentally. Advanced even. Have you seen how he manipulates those blocks? Building towers at his age? And getting all the shapes through the proper holes in the sorter too? Could any of your kids do that at one?" The last I asked to the Weasleys, pointing to where our Scorp was indeed correctly inserting shapes into his shape sorter; faster now that he could see. Why on Earth had this gathering not been about praising me for being the world's best father for getting those glasses?
"Rose was very bright. She figured it out at two," Granger said, leaving out that Hugo still had yet to master it, mostly because he refused to sit still long enough to try.
"He'll even out eventually. They all do, right Draco?" Harry asked me, looking for reassurance.
"Yes, especially now that he can see with those stylish new glasses I picked out," I said, again hinting at where I should be praised. They didn't get it, the plebeians, so after a moment I continued. "If he was a bit slow to move, it might've been that he couldn't see."
"They are nice glasses," Granger finally said.
"Nice, they're awesome! They're just like mine," Harry said, pulling his off to compare. He did fail to mention in front of his friends what an excellent job of it I'd done, but he wasn't perfect.
I smiled at Harry and gave him a nudge. Then the conversation ended when a loud bang reverberated through the house and it became apparent that Lily and Hugo were no longer in the room with us.
"Where's your brother?" Hermione asked Rose, who was playing with Scorp, handing over the shapes and watching Scorp insert them into the correct holes.
"How would I know?" Rose asked indignantly and went back to what she was doing.
I sent Harry off to save our daughter and Weasley went with him, still rubbing his jaw from where I'd hit him. The disaster was such that I insisted on leaving, to punish the monsters responsible for creating it.
Only later, did I finally get Harry to praise my actions leading up to Scorp getting the most perfect pair of glasses and restoring our son's sight. Took him long enough.
Author's Note: Only one chapter left. I do think Hugo will end up being great one day, but the most successful are often not at the top of their class in school.