* ~ The Eighth Year Universe Series ~ *
PART FIVE
Blame it on Hate
Did You Want the Crown, or Does it Weigh You Down?
The chapter title is from the song:
Homecoming Queen by Kelsea Ballerini.
On Tuesday, Harry's plan to catch up on the week of paperwork he had missed while he was Acting Head Auror did not go to plan chiefly because the idiots he called friends kept interrupting him.
"Harry," Draco said, ducking his head into the office.
"Yes?" Harry said, without looking up from the report that he was double-checking and signing.
"I don't know if there's a polite way of saying this, but I don't think there is," Draco said matter of factly, "Why the fuck has your wife invited us to Thanksgiving?"
"Yeah, we're not American," Theo agreed as he stepped into the office.
Harry sighed, "Do you two do everything together?"
"Pretty much," Theo returned offhandedly.
Draco shot him a long-suffering look and said, "Not everything. But really, Harry, Thanksgiving?"
"I know," Harry muttered, signing his form and looking up at them, "But Daphne got the idea in her head, and you know how she is when that happens. She thinks with the year we've had, it's important to give thanks for getting through it."
"Which is a nice sentiment and all, but Thanksgiving is an American thing. The witches and wizards thanking the native American tribes of witches and wizards who helped them settle in the new world and all that," Theo said with a wave of his hands, "She can't rewrite history just because she feels like it."
"Don't be dramatic, Theo," Harry snorted, "She's not rewriting history. She's just celebrating a holiday that makes no sense because we're not American, and we don't know anyone who is."
"Right," Draco said sarcastically, "Because that makes so much more sense. Either way, we won't be coming."
"Uh-huh," Harry said.
"Why don't you sound bothered about that?" Draco asked irritably.
"Because it's not true," Harry remarked, signing another form, "You'll tell Hermione that you're not going, and she'll have a rant at you. She'll tell you how it's important to support your friends, especially with everything they have been through this year, then she'll give you a guilt trip about how Theo nearly died and tell you that you ought to be thankful."
Draco glared at him.
"I hate you."
"No, you just hate how right I am," Harry said, looking up and smirking at the blonde man.
Theo chuckled under his breath.
"He's right."
"Don't take his side!" Draco objected.
"If you two are going to have a lovers quarrel, can you take it to Theo's office? Or a cleaning cupboard?" Harry asked dryly, "I do actually have a ton of work to do."
"Oh, of course, Head Auror Potter," Theo said dramatically, "Wouldn't want to get in the way of all that important paperwork, would we Draco?"
"Absolutely not, Theodore. Head Auror Potter better watch that big, important head of his though. If it gets much bigger, he'll be trapped in this office forever," Draco joined in.
Harry rolled his eyes and lifted a hand; they assumed it was to dismiss them. That was until Harry balled his hand into a fist then thrust his fingers out, creating a strong wind and pushing Draco and Theo out of his office. With a wave of his hand, the door slammed shut behind them.
"Harry James Potter!" A stern voice came from the office next door, "You knocked the entire rota off of my desk!"
Harry grimaced, "Sorry, Liz."
"Get your sorry arses out of here and back to work you two, now!" Elizabeth barked at Draco and Theo.
Harry grinned when he heard another door shut loudly.
Maybe this paper-pushing thing wouldn't be so bad after all.
That afternoon, on his lunch break, Harry slipped into Neville's new domain – the cavern that was the filing room.
"Hey, Nev, you around? I brought pumpkin pasties."
Neville appeared from behind a filing cabinet.
"Thank you; I haven't eaten all day."
"Yeah, I know what you're like," Harry chuckled, handing his friend a pasty, "You're like Hermione when she gets buried in a book."
Neville took a bite and hummed appreciatively.
"How goes the Head Auror gig?"
"Fine since I kicked Draco and Theo out of my office," Harry said with a roll of his eyes, "Pair of clowns, honestly."
Neville snorted, "You've just noticed?"
Harry shook his head and sank onto a moth-eaten sofa.
"Did you put this here just for me?"
"No, it's been there for years, so watch out. You never know what might crawl up your arse," Neville joked.
Harry jumped up and cast "Scourgify!" on the sofa. He was rather disgusted by the number of dead bugs that fell out of it.
"Not gonna sit back down?" Neville grinned.
Harry poked him in the chest.
"You're not my favourite person today."
"I'm not your favourite person on any day," Neville returned.
"That's not true. It's usually a battle between you, Daphne and Lilly," Harry shrugged, "Depending on what day it is, how hormonal Lilly is and how bitchy Daphne is."
"That sounds fair," Neville mused, "What's with the Thanksgiving thing, by the way?"
"Oh, don't you start too," Harry said with a sigh, "It's Daphne's way of dealing with the shitty year, I think. And yes, I know we're not American, and therefore it makes no sense but-"
"She feels the need to thank everyone around her for helping each other through the shittest year we've ever had," Neville said with a nod, "I get it."
"The shittest year we've ever had? Come on, I know it was bad, but surely 1997 takes the biscuit?" Harry said, taking a bite out of his pasty.
"I don't know," Neville admitted, "1998 was pretty bad for me, the first half of it anyway."
"Yeah," Harry sighed, "Me too, but nearly losing you this year…that hurt a damn sight more than the Battle of Hogwarts did."
Neville smiled at him, "Yeah, I love you too, mate," he said, clapping Harry on the shoulder.
Harry just chuckled in response, and they fell into a comfortable silence.
Harry got a nice little break from paperwork later that afternoon. As a bonus, he also got to take out his irritation at Draco and Theo.
"Nott – duelling room for your first refresher," Harry called, ducking his head into the consultant's office.
Theo stepped outside, "Ready to get your arsed kicked?"
Harry shot him an amused look.
"Sir," Harry reminded Theo.
"There's no need to call me sir, Head Auror Potter," Theo returned, god he was quick on the uptake.
"Oi, don't use my own lines against me!" Harry said, pointing at Theo and kicking open the door to the duelling room.
Theo sniggered and stepped inside. Harry followed him and shut the door behind him. He knocked on the clear glass that lined one side of the room.
"Say hello to your audience, Theo."
Theo looked over. On the other side of the glass, Draco, Ben and Owen were waving to them. Theo gave an overly dramatic wave, then did a bow as he crossed the room.
Harry shook his head, an amused smile on his lips.
"Enough with the theatrics. What are you doing, training for the ballet?"
"Excuse me," Draco's voice cut in, "That is my line."
Theo chuckled and drew his wand.
"That is his line. Use your own."
Harry drew his wand and walked forward. Theo did the same, stopping when they were almost nose to nose.
"Scared, Nott?"
"You wish," Theo grinned.
"Harry, that's our thing," Draco's voice cut in, "And frankly, I'm offended that you're doing our thing with someone else."
Harry shot Draco an amused look, "Even if that someone else is your boyfriend?"
"That's not the point; it's still our thing!" Draco objected.
Harry and Theo walked back to their places, and Harry ignored the huffy look on Draco's face. The moment he and Theo spun around, the duel began, and it was as fast-paced as it was interesting. Theo had realised that his magical power wasn't what it used to be, so he was inventive instead. For the most part, that worked, but when he conjured a snake, Harry just asked it not to hurt him and banished it to his snake cabin.
Things went sideways when Harry told Theo to practice the more powerful spells, to push himself and see what he could still manage and what was too much for him. In hindsight, that hadn't been a great idea because all it took was for him to lose concentration for a split second. His shield charm faltered, and before he could refresh it, a spell hit him.
The others ran into the duelling room when they saw Harry get knocked back into the wall.
"I'm fine," Harry said, raising a hand and taking in a sharp breath.
"There's more blood than white on your shirt," Draco pointed out. He gripped Harry's shoulder and steered him into a chair, "So I beg to differ."
Harry looked down at the three slash wounds that had cut through his shirt; there was a substantial amount of blood there.
"Ah…okay. I thought it was just a graze," Harry admitted.
"That's because you have a ridiculously high pain threshold," Draco said, casting a quick charm to slow down the bleeding.
"Harry, I'm so sorry," Theo said shakily.
Harry shook his head, "It's fine, Theo. This is why I wanted you to practice – don't sweat it, alright?"
"He's right, Theo," Draco said, pushing Harry's shirt off his shoulders, "Far better this happens in a duelling room when we can fix it quickly and easily than if it happens in the real world."
Theo nodded, but the two juniors had fallen silent.
"Holy shit," Ben breathed.
Harry frowned and looked up at him.
"What are you…" he trailed off and followed Ben's line of sight, "Oh, the tattoos?"
Ben was amazed, "Uh yeah, I just didn't expect that."
"Nobody does," Harry said with a slight smile, "I'm kind of addicted."
"Kind of?" Draco retorted, murmuring a spell under his breath which made a saline solution come out of his wand.
Harry gritted his teeth as the solution washed out the wounds.
"I'm with Draco on that one," Ben admitted, "I can see more ink than skin."
"Owen – first aid kit?"
Owen threw the first aid kit to Draco, who opened it up and grabbed a thick flannel. He pressed it against the worst wound to stop the bleeding.
"We all got a tattoo together, well apart from Theo because he was too busy impregnating his wife."
Owen made a face, "Dude, that's my cousin you're talking about."
Harry snorted in amusement, and Theo rolled his eyes.
"I was on my honeymoon where yes, I accidentally impregnated my wife, but I love my twins very much, thank you, Draco."
"I was just explaining your absence," Draco joked, shooting his best friend a grin over his shoulder.
"We all got our Animagus form tattooed on our forearms, and when Theo got back, he decided not to join the clique because he didn't want a red panda on his body – wasn't manly enough for him."
Harry chuckled, "Draco and Neville weren't that keen, but I ended up getting a bit addicted. I got one for everyone I loved who has died and then just sort of kept going."
"Do they hurt?" Ben asked.
Harry shrugged, "Sometimes, depending on where on my body they are."
"You could always get the artist to use a numbing charm like a regular person," Theo remarked, "But you've got a bit of a pain fetish, so you don't."
Harry rolled his eyes, "I don't have a pain fetish, I sort of…it's not that I enjoy the pain, but the pain is part of the process. It's how I let go of people I love. I endure the pain, and then I try not to let it consume me like it used to when I was younger."
"I kind of get that," Owen admitted.
"Are they all magical?" Ben added.
Harry shook his head, "Nah, some of them are, but not all of them."
Draco had been silent for the last few minutes as he concentrated on fixing Harry up. The wounds had bled a lot but had just been flesh wounds, so he had been able to seal them up with magic which meant there had been no stitches.
"You're all good. You want a shot of pain potion?"
"Nah, I'm good," Harry replied, "Thanks – bit ironic, you fixing me up from a slashing curse, isn't it?"
"Just shows how far we've come," Draco answered with a smile.
Harry smiled back, and Owen raised an eyebrow at Theo, "Inside joke?"
"Harry nearly killed Draco with a homemade cutting curse in sixth year," Theo replied, "We joke about it now."
"I swear to Helga, I do not understand you lot," Owen snorted.
"You and me both," Ben added.
Harry chuckled and got to his feet, aware that the Juniors were still looking at his tattoos.
"You want to know what they all mean?"
"No," Draco and Theo chorused.
"Yeah," Ben had said.
Owen nodded, "Yeah, I do too."
"Here we go again," Draco muttered in Theo's ear.
Harry grinned, "Right well, I'll tell you them in the order that I got them."
He pointed to the phoenix on his left forearm.
"This one was the first. Then I got this one."
Harry pointed to a tattoo on his chest – it sat directly over his heart. It was a stags head in great detail, all black and white bar from the flowers that adorned the antlers.
"It's for my parents," Harry said, "A stag for my dad and the lilies are for my mum."
Harry turned around and said.
"The big one in the middle of my back was the first magical one."
The tattoo was huge and took up the centre of his back. It was a mandala with Hogwarts castle at the centre. It was in black and white like the stag, but because it was a magical tattoo, there was more to it than that.
"Draco, touch the castle."
Draco rolled his eyes, "Why do I have to do it?"
"Because I might get sacked if I tell the baby Aurors to touch me," Harry joked, shooting Draco an amused look.
Theo sniggered and stepped forward, pressing his finger against the castle. When he did so, the skin coloured backdrop surrounding the castle turned black, and fireworks began to go off.
"Cool, but why the fireworks?" Ben asked, "To celebrate the end of the war?"
"Nope," Harry replied, "Daphne and I didn't just fall in love. There was a lot of back and forth, but it was on Bonfire Night under all of the fireworks that we technically started dating."
"Gryffindors," Theo said, shooting Ben a grin, "Romantics."
Ben rolled his eyes, "Yep," he agreed as he thought of Dan.
Harry quickly moved the subject forward so that Ben didn't spend too long moping.
"I got this one next," he said, showing them a tattoo on his left shoulder blade. It was of a dog and a wolf running in the moonlight. It was the first tattoo that was entirely in colour, "It's for my Godfather and his best friend."
"Then I got this one," Harry said, pulling up his right trouser leg to show them a colour tattoo of a Boa Constrictor. It curled around his lower leg and mesmerised Ben.
"Is the head moving, or is it a trick of the light?"
"Nah, it's another magical one," Harry said, dropping his trouser leg, "It's my snake, Dave."
"I thought you had loads of snakes?" Owen asked.
"He does, but Dave's his favourite," Draco said, an amused smile gracing his lips.
Harry ignored the slight jibe.
"I got this one after Daphne, and I got married - " he motioned to a laurel tree on his chest. It was on the opposite side of the one for his parents. The tree was bare of leaves and instead adorned with blue icicles. There was also a crown wrapped around the trunk of the tree.
"She called herself the Ice Queen," Harry explained, "But since I was the one that managed to thaw her, I made sure this was a magical one, so it does this…."
He ran his finger up the trunk of the tree, and the icicles fell from the tree, then lush green leaves bloomed in their place.
"Of course when he unveiled that one, we all slagged him off for the motion it takes to make the tree bloom," Theo grinned, "Apparently, all you have to do is stroke Daphne to thaw her," he winked.
"Daphne punched him in the face when he said that, by the way, just for the record," Harry cut in.
"We'll show you the memory sometime," Draco added, smirking at Theo.
"What a show of loyalty," Theo tutted, but it was clear that he was joking.
Harry chuckled, "I got this one when we adopted Teddy - " he pointed out a tattoo on his right shoulder blade. It was of a wolf cub with pink fur, and the words "Wotcher!" were woven around it.
"Theo, would you do the honours?"
When Theo touched the tattoo, the wolf cubs fur began to cycle through all of the colours of the rainbow, as did the writing around it.
"It's for Teddy and his biological mother," Harry explained, "They are both metamorphagus's and Teddy's father was a werewolf, so," he shrugged.
"Then you got the family crest, didn't you?" Draco asked.
Harry nodded, "Yep – the Potter family crest with the motto in Latin around it- " he showed them the crest on his right bicep, "Non Desistas. Non Exieris – Never Give Up. Never Surrender."
"Which you didn't know until your new wife told you what your family motto was," Draco smirked.
"The one on the stain glass window in the entrance hall of your family manor," Theo added.
"Firstly, fuck you, and secondly, it's a cool family motto," Harry said, pointing at his two friends, "Thirdly, this is when I went on a bit of downward spiral with my drinking. I didn't relapse, but I struggled not to, Daphne and I were trying for a baby, and it wasn't working out, so I got a bunch of depressing tattoos for dead people without numbing charms, yes Theo, but it was my way of coping."
Ben frowned, "How many dead people do you know?" He asked, looking at the remainder of tattoos – there were still quite a lot that Harry hadn't explained.
"A lot," Harry admitted, "This one is for a friend I lost during the war - " he pointed at a tattoo of the Triwizard Cup with a scroll around it bearing the words, "The Good Die Young."
"Yeah, we know," Ben reminded Harry, "We were in first year when Cedric died. You did take it really badly, everyone kind of thought…" he trailed off and shrugged.
"Yeah," Owen said. He suddenly looked awkward as he crossed his arms.
Draco noticed, "What do you know?" he asked the Hufflepuff.
"Nothing," Owen lied.
Theo narrowed his eyes at the younger man.
"Oh, you're going to have to get better at lying, kiddo. What did you see or hear? Or see and hear?"
Harry rolled his eyes, "Oh fuck it, I'll tell you myself."
Draco raised an eyebrow, "Well, this should be good. You've spent quite a few years denying that anything happened between you and Cedric despite half the school trying to set you up that year."
"That's because nothing did happen between Cedric and me, physically anyway," Harry said, "But what Owen heard was a heart to heart in the corridor outside the Hufflepuff common room. Cedric and I got on well from the get-go. He just got me, you know?"
Theo shot Draco a knowing look, but Draco said nothing.
"So when everything started to get a bit too much that year, I had a bit of a breakdown to Cedric, and I cried, and it was incredibly unmanly," Harry said with a shake of his head, "And a bunch of stupid first years heard it and were cursed into oblivion to keep their mouths shut."
Owen smiled sheepishly, "Yeah, I was one of those stupid first years."
"And we can't fault that, Harry," Theo said, nudging his head in the direction of the Cedric tattoo, "You lost a good friend. Naturally, you mourned him."
Harry cleared his throat, "Yeah. Anyway, this one is for Mad-Eye Moody-" he touched a tattoo on his back of a magical eye which swivelled, "It's like he's always watching my back that way."
"And this one is for Dumbledore," Harry continued, lifting his sleeve to show them his right forearm. The tattoo was of a lightbulb, and the words around it said, "Happiness can be found in even the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the light."
"Which does this," Harry said, tapping the lightbulb twice to illuminate it, "And it's handy when you can't find your wand in the middle of the night."
Draco snorted in amusement.
"This one is for my owl who died in the war," Harry said, showing them the Deathly Hallows symbol with a snowy owls face inside the resurrection stone symbol. This tattoo was towards the base of his back.
"This is for Fred Weasley," Harry continued, lifting his trouser leg to show them a tattoo on his lower left leg. It was the orange "W" logo for Weasley's Wizards Wheezes with the words "Mischief Managed" above it.
"This is the one I got for Al after we adopted him," Harry said, pointing to one on his lower back of a pumpkin with the name "Alastor Sirius" inside of it and the date, "31. 10. 2002" underneath it.
"Then you got that one," Draco said, touching the only tattoo that was visible semi-regularly out with his Auror life. It was a small constellation on his right forearm, and it meant something to Draco too.
Harry nodded and sighed, "Yeah, it's the Andromeda constellation. I got it after Teddy's grandmother died. She was a great woman, a great friend."
"A great aunt," Draco said sadly.
Harry nodded, "She would have killed me for putting her name anywhere on my body because she hated it, so that was the alternative. Then just after she passed, Andrea was born, who we named after Andromeda. This is the tattoo I got for her."
Harry motioned to the tattoo next to the one for Alastor. It was a love heart with the infinity symbol going through the centre of it. Above it was the name, "Andrea Lilly" and below it was the date, "9. 8. 2003".
"Then there was this one for Thea," Harry said, motioning to another tattoo in this grouping. It was a symbol they didn't recognise with the name "Theodora Tracey" alongside it and the date "17. 08. 2005" underneath it.
"What's the symbol?" Ben asked.
"It means hope," Harry answered, "And that was something we didn't have much of when Thea was born, so I found it fitting."
Draco nodded in agreement.
"And this is the most recent one," Harry finished. He pointed to a tattoo on his torso – it was the Auror sigil (two wands crossed over each other), and underneath it were the initials "J.S".
"For Jack," Theo realised.
Harry nodded, "You haven't seen that one?"
Theo shook his head, "No, but it makes sense."
"What's that one then?" Ben asked, pointing to a dark, black symbol near Harry's collarbone.
"That's not a tattoo," Draco said, shooting Harry an amused look, "That's a mark of dark magic."
"Like the Dark Mark?" Ben asked in surprise.
"Sort of," Harry replied sheepishly, "When you do dark magic – specifically blood magic, it leaves a mark."
"You did dark magic?" Owen asked, raising an eyebrow at him, "You?"
"I know, isn't it hilarious?" Draco quipped.
Harry snorted.
"What did you do?" Owen asked.
Harry sighed, "Neville and I swore each other in as blood brothers."
"So you got matching dark magic sigils to signify your brotherhood," Theo said with a raised eyebrow, "Cute."
"Cute?" Harry snorted, "You've got some nerve."
Draco made a face, "He has a point."
"Oi, are we forgetting about the fact that you kissed me and told me you loved me?" Theo objected.
"You were breaking up with me!"
"You can't break up with your best friend!"
Harry shook his head in amusement as they began to bicker. He looked over at Ben, who was frowning.
"What is it?"
"You told us about all of them, apart from that one," He said, his eyes on Harry's waistline where he could just see the top of a tattoo.
Harry looked uncomfortable, "Yeah, that one doesn't matter."
"Why?" Owen asked curiously.
"Because," Harry said evasively as Draco and Theo's argument came to an end, "It just doesn't."
"What did you say to him, Ben?" Draco asked, "He looks flustered."
"I just asked him about that last tattoo," Ben said, motioning towards the tattoo in question.
Draco frowned, "I didn't know you had a new one."
"Yeah, well…" Harry shrugged.
Theo frowned too, "Neither did I. Let's see it then."
Harry made a face, "Do you have to, though?"
Draco raised an eyebrow, "Is it Daphne naked or something? Because I've seen that."
"So have I, FYI," Theo cut in, "I was privy to her and Blaise's wartime shower sex."
"It's not that," Harry said irritably.
"Just show us then," Draco said.
Harry sighed and pulled the waistband of his trousers down by a fraction to reveal the tattoo. It didn't mean much to Owen and Ben, but Draco and Theo instantly understood the meaning. It was of an hourglass; the sand had all run out of the top into the bottom. In the empty top section were a bunch of numbers which only meant something to those who understood their meaning – 1606802000.
"Is that a badge number?" Owen asked.
Theo nodded and looked at Harry.
"It's mine."
"Yeah," Harry said, "You died, and you know how I deal with that kind of loss, Theo."
Theo swallowed and cleared his throat, "I never knew I meant that much to you. I know it's always been the four of us, but I always thought I was the weak link, you know? That Neville and Draco meant more."
Harry shook his head, "You've never been the weak link, Theo. You've always been the smartest one, the one we all rely on when we're in a tough spot. If we're the next generation of Marauders – you're the Remus."
Theo smiled; he understood the significance of that.
"So I'm the one that keeps you all alive then?"
"We all keep each other alive," Harry said sincerely, "And that's the way it should be. Neville spent a long time worrying that he was the weak link when he realised that he was the Pettigrew of the group, but he's not a coward – he's far from it. Just like you are the Remus of the group, but without his hang-ups and Draco, you're the Sirius but without his inability to hold down a serious relationship. I'm the James, but without my father's ego. We're a better version of them. That's why we made it through all that we did."
Theo smiled and patted him on the shoulder.
"Nice speech, sorry about the slashing thing."
Harry shrugged, "Ah, don't sweat it."
Ben and Owen shrugged at each other because they had no idea what that exchange had been about. They all headed out of the duelling room together, and Theo frowned.
"So let me get this right – I'm the gay one?"
Harry snorted, "Remus and Sirius were together – you're both the gay ones which is pretty accurate, all in."
"Fuck you, Potter."
"Shut it, Pothead."
The two former Slytherins had spouted out different insults in unison.
"Some things never change," Harry chuckled as he slipped into his office with an amused smile.
"Drinks?"
Daphne raised her eyebrows at her sister through the fireplace.
"Yes, Astoria. Drinks, alcoholic beverages-"
"I know what drinks are, smart-arse," Astoria cut in irritably, "I just don't understand why you're asking us to come and have them."
"Because you're my sister, and I love you," Daphne said, "Because I'm worried about you, and I want to make sure you're doing okay."
Astoria shot her sister a suspicious look.
"Because you're nosy and want to meet Amber?"
Daphne didn't even bother trying to lie.
"Well, there is also that."
Astoria chuckled to herself.
"Fine. As long as it's not a lot of people."
"Just a few," Daphne promised, "The girls from my friend group."
"Okay," Astoria said, "8 pm, yes?"
Daphne nodded and smiled brightly,
"Yes, see you then. I love you!"
"I love you too. Bye."
"Bye," Daphne chirped.
It still felt strange for Draco, going to visit his mother in Greengrass House. It didn't matter how long she and Cygnus had been married for; he didn't think he would ever get used to that. he raised his hand and sounded the door knocker
Almost immediately, a house-elf answered the door.
"Good evening, mister Draco," She said, bowing lowly.
"Good evening Lorky. Is my mother at home?"
The house-elf nodded vigorously.
"Lady Greengrass is in the drawing-room."
Lady Greengrass, he couldn't get used to hearing that either. It just reminded him how linked he and Daphne were these days, a fact that Theo still liked to wind him up about.
Draco nodded, thanked the elf and made his way into the drawing-room. His mother looked up in surprise when she saw him.
"Draco," Narcissa said, "What a pleasant surprise."
Draco smiled and walked over to her.
"I hate how surprised you look to see me in your home."
Narcissa raised an eyebrow at him.
"I think I can count on one hand the number of times that you have visited me since I married Cygnus."
"I know," Draco said guiltily, "It's always you visiting me, visiting the grandchildren. It's not fair, Mother."
Narcissa said nothing, but Draco knew that she agreed.
"It is why I have done a lot of thinking on this," Draco continued, "And a lot of discussing with Hermione, Sadie and Theo."
Narcissa looked intrigued.
Draco cleared his throat, "Hermione is going back to work soon, as soon as she can, I believe. How would you feel about tutoring Elladora and Caspian at Potter Manor with the Potter children? Caspian and Theodora would be with the Nanny Elf, of course, so it would really only be Elladora."
Narcissa's eyes widened, "You trust me?"
"Of course I trust you," Draco said softly, "I've been stupid not to until now. Without you…I wouldn't be here. You saved my life, more than once."
Narcissa swallowed a lump in her throat and nodded. She reached out and took his hand.
"I would be honoured to tutor all of my grandchildren, Draco."
Draco grimaced, "Sweet Salazar, please don't say that. If you start calling her my sister, I think I'll throw up."
"Daphne is your step-sister," Narcissa pointed out, "And all of her children call you Uncle Draco."
"Look, Mother, I don't want to get into the specifics of it, but calling her my sister after the things I did with her in darkened corners of the dungeons makes me feel more like a Black than I would care to admit."
Draco had expected some sort of scolding for that, for being too crude or something in that ilk. He had not expected his mother to let out a reluctant laugh at the joke at her family's expense. Her laughter was infectious, and Draco found himself laughing too as he sat with his hand in his mothers, finally feeling content enough to thank her and admit that he loved her.
* ~ TBC ~ *