Chapter 6

Draco watched Lyra dash from her room in her best dress, eager to see Harry. She chattered to Alex, who was wearing a fresh set of clothes passed on from one of the many Weasley grandchildren, his little trousers sagging in the bum. He held Lyra's hand and just let her talk.

Draco turned back to Hermione. "You take Lyra, I think. I'll take Alex. Did the social worker say she needed him to bring anything?"

Hermione shook her head. "They've been through his house and packed up everything they think he'll need."

"What about the rest of the family's things," Draco asked quietly, remembering Harry's lack of any of his parents' belongings. "We can't just leave everything there to be thrown away."

She patted his hand. "We'll gather everything up and put it into storage for him when the Aurors are done with their investigation."

"I don't like the idea of his going off with just anyone, though," he mumbled, his stomach turning at the thought.

"They're an approved foster family, Draco," Hermione chided, pushing her hair behind her ear. They take care of children until we can find them a permanent family. It'll be okay. They're trained for it."

He took a deep breath. He trusted Hermione, but he didn't like the entire situation. He tried to put it out of his mind and turned to the kids.

"Okay, everyone ready? Alex, I'm going to carry you. Lyra, hold Hermione's hand and don't pull away."

She shot him a look that would have looked at home on the face of any twelve-year-old, making sure he knew his warning wasn't necessary, before taking Hermione's hand. "I'll see you after we Floo, Alex," she said to the boy as Draco scooped him up. "Don't worry."

Alex tucked his face into Draco's neck and held on tight.

"We'll go first." Draco tossed the powder into the fire, called out his destination, and then stepped through. Alex whimpered as they spun, but then it was over and Draco stepped out into the St Mungo's reception, which was blessedly empty of visitors. He gave Alex a little squeeze. "We're here. You can open your eyes and watch for Lyra."

Lyra's voice finally pulled Alex's attention back to the fire. "Down, please," Alex whispered, and Draco set the boy down, marvelling as Lyra took the child's hand, pale fingers wrapping around small, golden ones.

"Let's go see Daddy," Lyra told Hermione, her tone bordering on an order.

"Lyra," Draco corrected out of habit. "That's not how you speak to your aunt."

She shot Draco another challenging glance, then receded. "Sorry, Papa. I'm just really excited to see him. Can we go now, Aunt Hermione? Please?"

Hermione smiled and gave Draco a knowing look, then proceeded to the lifts. Lyra proceeded to chat to Alex the entire way. "When Aunt Hermione had a baby last year, I got to come here and see him. His name is Hugo."

"That was almost two-and-a-half years ago, actually, Lyra," Hermione corrected. "I'm surprised you remember it."

"I have a very good memory." She ruffled Alex's hair. "But not as good as Alex's. I can't save people with my memory."

Alex's cheeks turned pink, and he stepped closer to her, not saying anything as the doors opened and they emerged onto Harry's floor. His steps slowed, though, as they approached Harry's room, even as Lyra's went faster.

"Alex?" Lyra turned, obviously eager to get to the room where she could see Ron and Molly outside the door.

"I've got him, Lyra. You go on." Draco knelt next to the boy, and his daughter looked torn, glancing between her new charge and the door to Harry. Finally, she nodded and sprinted the rest of the way.

Alex's eyes seemed to be staring into the distance, unfocused. "Alex," Draco said quietly. "Buddy, do you need me to carry you?"

Alex simply stood.

Hermione's hand on Draco's shoulder startled him slightly. "Do you want me to stay with him so you can go with Lyra?"

Draco looked closer at the child, remembering the feel of his breathing against Draco's skin, the warmth of the child cuddled into his back. "No," he said quietly. "I think it may be all the strangers. Perhaps see if you can clear things out a little?"

"Sure," she agreed before following Lyra.

"Alex, do you want to go with Lyra to see Harry? He's awake now, and he'll be happy to see you."

Alex didn't say anything, and Draco picked him up, his little body remaining stiff in Draco's arms.

"It's okay," Draco soothed, unsure what else to say. "Nobody here will hurt you."

The small group had dissipated by the time Draco reached the threshold of Harry's hospital room, and they could hear Lyra's chatter from inside mixed with Harry's low tones. Alex relaxed slightly, allowing Draco to hold him a little closer.

When they entered, they found Harry sitting up in his bed, dressed in pyjamas from home and Lyra cuddled up on his lap. Two pairs of matching green eyes swung their way, making Draco chuckle. "See? It's just Lyra and Harry. Do you remember Harry?"

Alex nodded, but wrapped one arm tightly around Draco's shoulder and put his other thumb in his mouth.

"Hi, Alex," Harry said with a warm smile and quiet voice. "I'm glad to see you're okay. Lyra was telling me all about playing with you. Thank you for taking care of her while I've been sick."

"You're welcome," Alex mumbled around his thumb.

Draco took a seat and listened to his daughter fill his husband in on everything he'd missed. It was several minutes before he realised that he was unconsciously rocking Alex slowly back and forth, soothing both the boy and himself. The longer they sat there listening to the others talk, the more the child seemed to relax, even nodding or shaking his head in answer to Harry's occasional questions.

That is until Hermione entered quietly behind Draco and it all fell apart. "We're ready," she murmured, and Draco nodded, the sick feeling he'd been ignoring since their conversation at the house suddenly making itself known.

Harry was following the conversation, and his eyes saddened as he stared at Alex.

Right. It was time.

"Alex," Hermione said quietly. "You remember Helen, right?" She gestured to the woman who knelt in front of them. "Remember how she took care of you when they found you with Harry?"

Alex didn't move, but his eyes were wide.

"She has another family whose job it is to take care of kids until they have a family to live with all the time. They're very nice, and they're super excited to meet you."

"Alex isn't coming home with us?" Lyra asked, her voice becoming shrill. "Daddy?"

Harry shushed her. "This is how they do things, sweetie. He already stayed with you and Papa longer than they wanted him to."

"No," Alex finally said, his voice ringing through the room louder than Draco had heard it yet, but it sounded panicked.

"Alex," Helen said, "you'll really like it there. They have a bedroom ready for you, and another little boy for you to play with."

"Play with Lyra," he said, starting to cry. "No."

Helen sighed and stood, stepping back as Draco got to his feet. "This is why we generally take them to the foster home right away," she said, her eyes sad when she looked from Alex to Draco. "I'm sorry. It's hard for them to make yet another change amidst all the other turmoil going on in their lives. With the situation what it was and Alex being under the DMLE's care, I let it go on longer than I should have. I should just take him. The longer we draw this out, the worse it'll be."

She reached for Alex, and Draco couldn't help himself. He turned away, tightening his arms. His mind began spinning with possibilities, Alex's sobs and shaking body reverberating through Draco's chest.

"Just give me a minute," he said, running his hand through the boy's hair. "Let me think."

"Draco?" Harry said, the question in his voice familiar. Draco didn't know how to answer; he just knew that he needed to think this through, that the entire situation wasn't sitting right with him.

"Hermione," Draco said quietly, "can you take Lyra and Helen out for a few minutes? I want to talk to Harry."

Hermione narrowed her eyes, and Draco looked into their brown depths, urging her to trust him and give him a few minutes.

She softened her gaze and smiled gently before turning to Lyra, holding her hand out for the girl. "Lyra, honey, your parents want to have a few minutes of grown-up talk. Let's go see Grandma Molly, okay?"

"But what about Alex?" Lyra asked, scooting off the bed and taking Hermione's hand. "I don't want him to go."

"Alex is kind of scared right now, so he's going to stay with your Daddy. I'll make sure you get to say goodbye before he goes, though, okay?"

"But why—" Lyra's voice trailed off as the door closed behind them, and Draco met Harry's eyes.

"Alex," Draco said quietly, "I'm going to put up a magic spell that will make it so you can't hear what Harry and I say, okay? It's grown-up talk."

Alex nodded and closed his eyes tight, still not letting go, so Draco withdrew his wand.

"Muffliato."

"Alex?" Harry asked, testing the spell, then nodded in satisfaction as the boy didn't answer.

Draco sat down in the chair, situating them both comfortably, then looked at Harry. "Angelina said the night he stayed at the house and I was here, he barely slept the entire night, and when he did, he woke screaming."

"Poor kid. Lyra seems really worried about him."

"She is," Draco agreed. "I've never seen her like this, really. She barely lets him out of her sight, and he seems to relax with her. I just…" he trailed off, looking down at Alex's brown curls. "I can't see him going off with strangers. He's been through so much, and right now, we're the only familiar people he has in the entire world. It's going to be hard enough when they find his Muggle family, but these other people are wholly unrelated to him."

Harry's voice was quiet, but his eyes were serious. "Draco, they're trained for this. I'm sure Hermione wouldn't let him go to just anyone."

"I know, and I'm not saying anything against them, I'm only saying that he knows us. Why can't he stay with us until they find the Muggles."

"And then what? Then he's even more attached to us, and it's even harder?"

"Harder than pulling him away from us now, only days after his parents were murdered before his eyes? Merlin, Harry, I can't imagine. And how can we know these supposed foster parents know how to handle that? Do they have the time? Will they care? Will they understand him?"

Harry stared at him, searching for something that Draco could only guess, but when he spoke, his voice was thoughtful. "It won't be easy. The Healers say I'm not going to be back to normal for a few weeks. And your work is going to fall behind."

Draco closed his eyes, running through his plans. The holidays were coming up anyway. He rarely got much work done then anyway. And he could cancel the conference in January, which would free up even more of his time. He opened his eyes and nodded. "I can handle that. Are they letting you go back to work?"

"Not for at least two weeks," Harry said, sounding petulant.

"Well, see? Then you'll be home to help."

Harry was watching them closely, and Draco could see his mind turning through the details. "He's going to need therapy, I'd think. And extra attention."

"Yeah, he will. And we can give him that."

"It'll be a huge adjustment for all of us. Especially Lyra."

Hope that he didn't even realise was there began to swell inside him, but that feeling was something to consider at another time when he had the emotional energy to invest.

"Okay," Harry said finally, "let's just take it one step at a time. See if he'll stay here with me for a few minutes and you go talk to Hermione; find out if this is even possible."

"Are we allowed to throw your name around to make it happen?"

Harry rolled his eyes, but they landed on Alex and narrowed. "Whatever you need to do, yeah. He needs a place to feel safe while they locate his family." Harry held out his hand. "You're a good man, Draco Malfoy."

Draco rolled his eyes, but a familiar heat flooded his face as he took Harry's hand. "Fuck off." He laid the now-sleeping Alex down next to Harry, and Harry caught his shirt, drawing him in for a gentle kiss.

"I love you, you know," Draco muttered against his mouth before he pulled away. "Thank you for understanding."

Harry let out a harsh little laugh and shook his head slightly, then nodded to the sleeping boy. "How could I say no?"

Draco dropped a kiss on each of the heads of dark curls on the bed and went to find Hermione.

A/N: We're in the second half of the story now. I originally predicted it'd be 8 chapters, but I'm working on chapter 8 right now and am not at the end just yet. I'm thinking it'll probably be about 10 chapters when complete. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and I'll be back with an update on Sunday evening.