This story takes place in the That's Life Together universe and can be read by itself or as part of the larger series, though it'll definitely be easier to follow if you've ready at least a couple of the other stories. You can find all works in the series listed, in order, on my author's profile. This story takes place in November 2019, after "Family Pictures" and before "Wall-rugs and Magic Trees".
A/N: Well, friends, I've been promising this story since before Christmas. If you read "That's Christmas," you'll have met little Alex already in the later chapters (that story covers 25 years of Christmases). If you didn't read it yet, that's fine, because those later chapters happen AFTER this story, so you're good. As the title implies, this is Alex's story. I don't want to give too much away, but let's just say that Harry and Draco never wanted Lyra to be an only child.
Also, a little disclaimer. My series is generally fluffy and happy. Some people have said that it's their "safe, happy place," and that description couldn't make me more pleased. I love that. But... But, with that being said, this story starts off not so fluffy and happy. Every relationship has its ups and downs, and this story starts on a little bit of a down. I promise you it's not the majority of the story and it swings back up, but as Harry once told Draco, couples in good relationships "weather the low-times together because they are partners in every sense of the word, so when that passes, their happiness can soar even higher." (Chapter 6, Conversational Intelligence)
So, without further ado...
Family Matters (Alex's Story)
Chapter 1
"Lower your voice. You're going to wake Lyra." Draco kept his own voice level and even, hoping to get through his husband's thick skull.
Harry scowled then raised his wand and threw up a charm to prevent the sounds of the kitchen from escaping. The Crup and cat had already made their escapes at the first signs of discord. It wasn't often anymore that Draco and Harry had an all-out brawl, but when it did, it was epic enough that the pets remembered.
"You're being ridiculous," Harry growled. "Fucking, pig-headed, imbecilic—"
"Why don't you tell me how you really feel," Draco interrupted, his stomach twisting. He loved bickering with Harry but hated real fights. And this felt real.
Harry turned and started stalking. "Am I, or am I not, your husband?"
Draco rolled his eyes but didn't deign to answer the rhetorical question.
"No, seriously, answer it. I need to make sure you remember."
"For fuck's sake," Draco muttered. "Of course, you are."
"And does that make your mother my family? Because the last time I checked, she was my mother-in-law, the grandmother to our daughter, and the aunt to my godchild. She's my family too. So, what's your fucking problem?"
"It's a Malfoy problem, Potter. Not a grandmother problem, or a mother-in-law problem, or an auntie problem. The manor is in debt, and it's my responsibility to figure it out. It has nothing to do with you, and I refuse to let you use the Potter vaults to bail it out. It's not. Your. Problem."
Harry stepped back like he'd been slapped, and his eyes narrowed. "Because your problems aren't mine."
"In this case, that's exactly what it means. Glad you're catching on," Draco said with a condescending smile. It really wasn't Harry's problem, and if he had to piss him off to get him to back off, he would.
Harry got quiet, something that only usually happened when he was at the edge. He walked to the kitchen window and peered out into the barren garden, the November wind kicking around the leaves on the ground.
Draco tried one more time to make Harry understand. "Look, the problems at the manor are decades in the making. I need to take a look at the estate and see how I can make it profitable again. That's not something you can just go in and save, as much as you love doing that."
Harry whirled on him. "That's what you think this is? That I just feel the need to save things and am compelled to help?" His voice was harsh. "Gods, Draco, you'd think after fifteen years together, you'd understand me better than that."
"You're twisting my words," Draco spat out, goaded now and no longer able to hold on to any pretence of calm. "But you can't deny that you like to fix things, and this isn't yours to fix! It's mine."
"Yours." Harry turned his back on Draco, and Draco's stomach went cold. Harry's voice was quiet as he pulled on his wand harness and grabbed his cloak. "Right. Well, I'll just go, then, and let you deal with what's yours. Don't forget Lyra's spending the night with Molly and Rosie tonight. I might be late getting home."
Draco felt the panic rise up in his throat. "Harry," he heard the plea in his voice. "This isn't about us. It's just a family thing for me and my mother to figure out. Try to understand—"
Harry turned back and there were tears in his eyes. "A family thing. Right. Because I don't understand those, having never had a family."
"Harry—"
But Harry was gone, closing the door gently behind him. The light click of the door echoed through Draco's chest louder than any angry door slam.
"Fuck."
The morning sort of set the tone of Draco's entire day. He hated it when they fought, truly fought, and it flavoured everything he did and every conversation he had.
He couldn't get it out of his mind as he spent the morning with his mother, Lyra playing with Linney, his mother's house-elf, while the adults examined the financial documents. The manor was not only in debt, but it was also growing further in debt with each passing season, the estate income no longer able to keep up with the increasing needs of the ageing buildings and grounds. Draco needed more than just a one-time cash dump to fix the problem. He needed to better utilise the resources so it became profitable again.
"Draco," his mother interrupted his brooding as they took a break for tea. "What's bothering you?"
He raised an eyebrow and glanced to the window seat where Lyra was eating a biscuit and playing with some blocks, her green eyes intent on the toys in front of her. "Nothing," he said quietly. "I'm just trying to work out some solutions. I'll need to research alternative farming methods, and maybe if we bring in a new steward, we can—"
His mother put her hand on his and met his gaze. She didn't say anything; she just waited.
"Sorry," he muttered. "Harry and I had a disagreement this morning, and he left for work in a snit."
She nodded and patted his hands. "Well, you've both come a long way in talking things out. I'm sure it'll be fine. Try to remember to attempt to see his side of things."
Draco snorted, irritated. "He's just being stubborn and trying to push his way of things, and in this case, he's overstepping."
Narcissa eyed him, and he could practically feel her unspoken judgement.
"Just say it, Mother," he said after setting down his tea. He reached over to start cleaning up the parchments and ledger books.
"All right then," she said, taking another sip but keeping her eyes trained on him. "Your relationship is very different from those you saw growing up. Your father and I had separate roles in our marriage, in our lives, and even in our parenting."
He opened his mouth to interrupt because of course, he knew all this, but she held up a hand to stop him, so he let her continue.
"If there's one thing with which I've been impressed while watching you and your husband over the years, it's been your willingness to take on everything together. It confused me at first, but Andromeda had some very pointed opinions on it and bid me watch and see. And she was right. You're stronger together than you are separate. That's something that your father and I, as much as I loved him, never really understood."
Draco knew better than to argue with her, so he considered her words as he took Lyra home. 'Together,' she'd said, and dammit if that didn't hit a little too close. He and Harry had always, since those first few months, agreed to take things on together. To go through life as partners.
And it worked for them. It'd worked for them for over sixteen years. So why was this different?
Because it was Malfoy Manor? It was the Malfoy estate? He had a duty to the estate that was his, not Harry's, to pass on to his descendants.
He looked at Lyra. Fuck. Not descendants. Children. Lyra. His daughter.
Their daughter.
And Harry simply wanted to help.
Draco had been right that just dumping some money into it from the Potter vaults wouldn't help, that they needed long-term solutions, but the money would certainly make it easier to put those long-term solutions into place. Draco only had to be willing to allow Harry to help.
Except, could it even be considered help when it was your husband?
The sick feeling in his stomach he'd harboured all day was joined with the sting of disgust with himself. He'd been wrong, but he'd also been hurtful.
So, as he dropped Lyra with Molly for her Grandma-and-cousin-sleepover, Draco put his plan into action.
He Apparated to their favourite Indian restaurant, the one they'd frequented since the early days of their relationship but didn't get to as much now that they'd moved from London, and picked up all of their favourites: Keema Matar Samosas, Chicken Tikka Masala, and Lamb Biryani. He kept them under a warming charm, opened a bottle of wine to breathe, then sat down on the sofa to wait.
It wasn't until nearly nine o'clock that Draco began to get concerned. Harry had said he might be late coming home, and it was a Thursday, which meant that he sometimes met Ron after work at the Leaky for a pint or put in an extra few hours on paperwork to get it completed before the weekend. It wasn't out of the ordinary.
And after their fight, Draco would have been surprised if he'd not been late. But not this late. Not without a message.
Draco's stomach twisted further when a quick Floo-call to Hermione found Ron eating dinner at her kitchen table. So the pub with Ron wasn't at fault, and neither of them had spoken to Harry since lunch.
By a quarter till ten, Draco was ready to panic. Surely, Harry would come home. The fight was bad, but it wasn't something they couldn't work out. Draco looked at the food on the table, and the bile in his stomach burned. There was no way he could eat, so he removed the warming charms and slowly put the food away, put the cork back in the wine, and headed upstairs to his empty bedroom.
He was about to begin changing to his pyjamas when a tapping on the window drew his attention. A moment of panic fluttered in Draco's stomach, only passing when he noticed it was only Otus, Andromeda's screech owl. If Harry was there, perhaps he'd just got caught up with Teddy and had dinner there. With Teddy in Auror training and Harry in charge of the training program, it wasn't completely unexpected for Harry to spend extra evenings with his godson.
Draco took the scroll from Otus's legs and opened it.
Harry, Draco,
Teddy has just Portkeyed into St Mungo's. He's lost a lot of blood and is unconscious. They've stabilised him, but it seems he was out in the field this afternoon and there's no word as to what actually happened.
I'm sure you'll want to be here. He's on the Spell-Damage floor in one of the private rooms. I'm hoping you'll be able to talk to the Aurors here, Harry, and get us some more information than they're currently willing to give.
See you soon,
Andi
The blood in Draco's veins froze. Teddy was only in training. There was no way he'd be in the field alone…and Harry wasn't home.
Oh, Merlin.
He ran to the Floo in Harry's office, tossing in the powder and calling out the Floo address. "Hermione," he called out as soon as the flames turned green, sticking his head through the flames. "Hermione!"
"Draco?" Hermione fell to the floor in front of her sitting room fireplace. "What's wrong?"
"Tell me you've heard from him," he demanded. "Gods, tell me you know where he is."
Hermione's eyes grew wide. "No, I really don't. He's still not home?"
Draco shook his head. "And Teddy is at St Mungo's."
Her face hardened. "Step back. I'm coming through. Ron!" he heard her yell before he pulled out of the fire and sat down on the rug. He could hardly function, the rush of fear settling into a firm, pulsing dread in his chest.
It was only about thirty seconds later that Hermione stepped through the flames followed closely by Ron. She dropped down onto her knees in front of Draco's feet. "What's going on?" she asked quietly. "What do you mean Teddy is at St Mungo's, and why would it have anything to do with Harry?"
Draco just shook his head. "We had a fight this morning, so I thought he was just not home yet since he was still angry. You know how he is."
"I do."
"But then this came from Andi," he said and held out the letter, watching her scan the words. "And Harry's not home, and Teddy—"
"—wouldn't be in the field alone," Hermione interrupted, her face blank. She stood up. "Ron, go with Draco to the hospital. I'm going to the Ministry to see what I can find out. Maybe Harry's there, in which case I'll bring him with me. If he's not—"
Draco groaned. "Hermione—"
"Don't panic yet. Being Department Head means I can get some answers. Now go to Teddy. I'll be there soon."
Her quiet reassurance calmed Draco slightly, so he stood, went to the closet and pulled on Harry's favourite jumper for comfort, and then followed his husband's best friend to the Floo.
Hermione was already gone.
St Mungo's was busy, though not inordinately so. Healers and staff hurried about periodically, but there was a general calm to the Spell Damage Ward. Draco approached the private rooms near the end where he could see several Aurors milling about. Ron made his way to them as Draco veered towards Andromeda.
"Draco!" His aunt approached and kissed his cheek lightly. "Where's Harry?"
Draco held his face in place, refusing to let her see his fear. "I'm not sure. Hermione is at the Ministry. She'll be here soon and hopefully, he'll be with her."
Andi's eyes seemed to scan his face, but she didn't say anything. "I see. Teddy's doing well. He's unconscious."
He nodded. "The healing potions will do that. What was wrong with him?"
She took a deep breath, but when her voice came out, it was steady. "He'd been hit twice. The first appears to have been a Severing Charm; it nearly took off his right arm. The second was a Withering Curse. It seems to have hit him fully on his torso."
Draco sucked in a breath, but she laid her hand on his arm.
"His Portkey must have activated within seconds. It didn't have time to do much damage, and he'll make a full recovery. There's some healing to do with his organs, but he'll be fine."
"Thank Merlin," Draco said, thinking of the boy he'd seen grow into the young man lying in the next room. "Gods, he really got lucky, didn't he?"
Andi nodded. "Whoever got him back here that quickly is a hero. It's doubtful he was able to trigger the Portkey himself."
Draco looked up at that. "And they don't know who it was?"
"No, they're not back yet," she said quietly. "The Aurors won't tell me more, but from what I can tell, no one knows anything. Teddy's training ended at three and the other trainees all left. There was no reason for him to be anywhere dangerous."
Mind whirling, Draco felt like every fear had been confirmed. "Can we see him?" he asked, trying to push his concerns for Harry out of his mind until they knew more. Teddy was the more immediate concern.
Andromeda led Draco into the dimly lit hospital room, the monitoring charms beeping quietly above the bed. Teddy lay more still than Draco thought he'd ever seen him, his usual blue hair a dull brown. Draco felt his knees weaken at the thought of how close he'd been to losing the young man.
"Teddy," Draco murmured as Andi pushed him into a chair by the bed. He reached for Andi's hand and pulled her close. "How do we do this? How do we sit and wait and watch them hurt themselves?"
Andi conjured a chair next to Draco and tucked her arm under his. "Where's Harry?"
He felt a sob escape and was helpless to stop it. "I don't know. Merlin, I don't know."
She rested her head on Draco's shoulder, and he let the silent tears fall.
A/N: I don't generally post a story until I'm done writing, but I really wanted to get this one out there. I am about 2/3 of the way done with the first draft, and I'll be posting updates twice a week (Sundays and Thursdays). I expect it'll probably be around 8 chapters in total, as I'm currently in the middle of chapter 5, but that may change as I approach the end. I hope you enjoy it!