SPOV
When i woke it was to the bright lights of the sun washing through from the infirmary windows.
"Al?" I asked, peering around the room. A pang of fear and sadness filled me to discover he wasn't at my bedside. Was he hurt?
I motioned to one of the medical elves to come over to me, wincing as the movement pained me.
"What might I assist you with master malfoy."
"Albus Potter? Do you know if he's alright? Was he here? Could you get madame Pomfrey for me?" I stuttered nigh on incoherently.
"Master Potter? He would not leave your side all night, every night, until the headmistress herself came to retrieve him with his father and yours. That was only just this morning."
I tried getting up at the Elf's explanation but he pressed me backwards with a deceptively strong hand. "If you would wait here I shall fetch Madam Pomfrey. The moment he was gone I rose and donned my robe and slippers. I made my way to the headmasters tower in a hurried shuffle and spoke to the Griffin that guarded its entrance.
"Are Al and my dad in there? I need to see the headmistress."
"Password."
"Toffee ice cream?" I tried, remembering the password form the month before. Dad Always had a list of passwords written on a slip of parchment on his desk. A heavy rumble began as the staircase turned to reveal itself. "Lucky me." I offered as i hobbled up the staircase. My left leg hurt where i had impacted the cloud of Al's dark magic.
"You mean you kept its corpse for analysis here in the castle? Shouldn't a representative of the ministry have taken it off to be dissected or something?" I heard as Al's voice reverberated through the chamber on the other side of the entry way.
"We thought we might be able to learn more than Hermione's team of unspeakables. Academic research should be conducted by academics, not bureaucrats. That had been the Headmistresses voice.
"Regardless Headmistress… Draco… dad… i'm telling you they were not after the reapers corpse. They were after me."
I knocked on the door and heard thee grow silent. There was no tell tale 'enter' called from the other side. Harry's face emerged from a crack in the door and he sighed when he saw who it was.
"Scor. You're awake." Harry offered widening the opening so that i might move inside the room. I came over to behind Al's chair and leaned over to hug him fiercely where he sat. I didn't care who saw me. Besides it still looked innocent enough a move to Harry and Minerva. If not to my dad.
"You're awake Scor!" My boyfriend shot… I smiled at my brains use of the word boyfriend.
"We weren't sure you were going to make it… you've been in a coma for three days…" Harry shot at me… I felt shock at the revelation, but barely had time to process the news.
"Three days? what have you all been doing for three days? You still don't know what happened?" I asked as though they were idiots.
"You will hold your tongue Scorpius. I am in no mood to deal with two children at once. Professors, might we continue this at another time? I must… educate my son and my protege…" My father was furious, I could tell.
"Certainly, we have Albus's version… i trust you will report to us what your son says?" Minnerva questioned.
"If i don't i'm certain Harry will speak with him too. He will relay anything my son might think to omit." Draco shot motioning towards his colleague.
"You two… come with me… now." My father ground out leading us from the chamber in thinly veiled anger.
The moment we were outside Al whispered "Are we alone?"
"Only my dad is here. Why?"
Without waiting Al grabbed my hands and kissed me so deeply I could feel his sheer relief washing over me. "I'm so sorry you got caught in my spell. I was trying to get the dementor off of you. They were trying to kill us and I couldn't see. I swear i never meant for you to get so hurt."
"Al… my dad is right here…" I offered, my eyes shifting to my father. His expression had softened when he watched the tender way Al had grabbed and kissed me. He had looked shocked when it happened but now there was something else budding in his expression.
"Sorry Draco… but i don't care if you're there… I really thought he might never wake up… i needed that." Al whispered softly.
"So… I guess you know now…" I said into the air, breaking eye contact with my father. I could no longer stand to meet his gaze.
"You never told me you were gay." My father monotoned matter of factly. As though he might have been fine with it. I was furious with him and now myself for not speaking to him sooner.
"I wasn't ready… I didn't think you would take it this… well…"
"And now that you've ensnared my favorite student who is blind and helpless and has no recourse to leave you should he lose his only guide… now you're ready to tell me."
"Or… you could be supremely happy for us and trust in me when I tell you that that is not how it is." Al corrected.
"Swear to me you don't feel a hint of fear that rejecting my son might leave you stranded without any recourse to navigate your school enviro—"
"Stop it Draco… I would die for your son… I don't want to hear any more on the subject. You're like a second father to me… I'm telling you that I… your protege… love Scor… your actual son… and he says he loves me too… what more is there to say other than that?"
My father nodded at the fierce explanation.
"If you tell me that's how it is then I believe you. If you tell me that… then I guess… I'm very happy for both of you." My father corrected with a smile towards me. "But you, you have to promise you love him. You have to be sure about this. You cannot hurt him I swear it." My father shot seriously my way. I was so embarrassed that i could only nod in answer. Again it shocked me to know how close the two of them were. They were like a little family already… and again i thought about James and Harry and Ginny and how many weekends and movie nights and trips i had shared with them, laughing over popcorn or amusement park games while my father was erstwhile bonding with Al.
"Well Scorpius… I can honestly say you chose very well… you should consider yourself extremely lucky that Al would have you." Both Al and I blushed at that.
"I cannot believe you're taking this so well Father." I started in my surprise.
"Me too actually… my spell put Scor in a comma for three days… I thought when we finally spoke this morning you were going to be furious with me…"
"Noooo… don't be silly… i don't blame you for saving him… again… he just needed some time to recover… Poppy told me he'd wake up eventually."
"She never told me that!" Al cursed angrily. "I thought he might never come to. Besides it was Scor who came to my rescue Draco. It wasn't the other way around. He saved me… and only because he was later overrun by dementors did i think to use Malignea Maxima. He was so brave to charge them for me. Honestly." Al offered in defense of my bravery.
"You came up with that dark spell on the spot Al?" my father inquired curiously. Al was even more talented with dark magic than with potions. That thought again put a kind of fear in my heart.
"Yes… a kind of reverse patronus. I'm pretty sure its what the dementors are casting when they perform the kiss on us. I just repurposed the technique for use on them instead."
Al always explained things matter of factly… no matter how serious the facts sometimes were.
"You sure you don't think you could do better than Scorpius here?" My father asked.
Only Draco Malfoy would hear that his protege devised a black spell akin to an unforgivable curse… on the spot… and think him over worthy of his own son.
"Thanks father… good to know how highly you think of me."
"He's joking Scor. Aren't you Draco?" Al asked with a smile.
"The joke is going to be the look on your fathers face when i break the news to him." Draco smirked demonically at that. I had never seen my father look so mischievous in my life. It was almost like i was looking at a teenage Draco.
"You will not!" Al barked at my father. "I'm not ready yet!"
"Too bad. I've waited a long time to give your father a good shock and now that i have some ammunition i don't feel like waiting." Albus's mouth fell agape at my father's statement.
"Father… you can't betray Al's secret like that."
"Well I might be persuaded to change my mind on one condition." He looked so smug I almost laughed. This did not sound like my father at all.
He leaned in to Albus's ear and I watched my boyfriend grow as red as a tomato.
"What? Whats the condition?" I asked in disbelief. "Come on you two! You can't not tell me?"
"If it comes to that… Draco… I… agree." Al offered cryptically, stuttering bashfully throughout his reply. "Scor… would you lead me back to our room? I think we should get you back for a rest." He offered, waiting for me to lead him away. My father gave me a look and turned to leave.
"You have to tell me now… Come on Al."
"No you'll laugh… or think its weird… besides we're nowhere near… anyway…"
"Nope… good luck getting back to our room without me… I want to know what he said…"
"Thats no fair Scor!' Al protested with a blush.
"Spill boyfriend." I ordered, causing him to blush even harder.
"Well he… that is to say… Draco made me promise I would… take your name… if we… ended up… getting married one day… He said he wanted me to be a Malfoy when… i mean… if… you know…"
I could feel myself blushing too at the mention of marriage. There was no way we were even close to that… my brain froze at the real implication…
"My father approves of you that much?" I asked, voicing the thought out loud. He nodded shyly at me.
That was such a huge deal… I couldn't express how I had striven and continued to strive for his approval… He was such an exacting father… this was one of the few things in my life he had complimented me for… blessed even… it just was… "wow" i caught myself saying out loud. "What about Harry? You don't want your dad to know just yet? Not that I care much. Other than Harry I don't know why we would need to keep this a secret."
"You wanted to be out together?" Al asked curiously of me.
"Well the only person I didn't want knowing was my Dad… so now i don't really have a reason to hide being with you… Harry knows about me already…"
"James… knows about us too… how are we going to deal with that whole issue?" Al parroted darkly…
"First things first… are we staying a secret or no? So that your dad doesn't find out? I cannot describe the relief i'm feeling right now, that my father took it so uneventfully. I thought he might disown me."
"Hmm… I don't know yet…"
"I think your dad will be way easier than mine. He adores me the way Draco does you." I added in the way of argument. "Telling Harry about us won't be a problem, trust me love."
"Ok then… well i don't think you have much of a choice now Al…" Harry shot coming up from behind us. "I wanted to come check on you since we hadn't spoken too much after the attack… Draco said he had finished questioning you both and that i should come and see you about the reaper… but I seem to have interrupted something quite private…"
"DAD!" Albus squeaked in surprise, a look of horror on his face.
"Scorpius… am I correct in assuming I just heard you call him love?" Harry inquired oddly, pointing to Al.
"He just… Scor didn't… I mean Scorpius… Malfoy was… he only… and we… that is to say…" Al stuttered in terror, tears forming in his eyes.
Who could be afraid of Harry Potter? The man was like a saint. He was on the cover of no less than a dozen modern history books and memoires retellings of the great wizarding war. Parents asked him to bless their newborns for Merlin's sake.
"Woah woah woah there. Calm down Allie… what's wrong?" Harry asked coming over to his son to place a gentle hand on his head. "So you're gay and you're in love with Jame's best friend right? I think i've got the gist of it… should we go get some butterbeers or lunch or something? My treat." Harry offered matter of factly. He was so used to dealing with issues head on. Were we that obvious to adults? Or were all the adults around us just so used to dealing with wars and dark lords that issues of the young seemed inconsequential by comparison?
"Dad…" Al croaked through a few sobs, burying his face in his fathers robe. I felt exposed suddenly… this seemed too private even for me to be watching. Harry grabbed his son in a hug and whispered it was alright. Over and over "Its alright Allie."
Obviously it was alright, his father was Harry Potter. I couldn't fathom how other Al had been made to feel by his aloof nature and proclivity for dark magic. Perhaps he thought his family would see him as a villain. They had fought villains all their lives… history was written by the Potter's victories against their villains… maybe he didn't want them to think of him as some darkling himself.
"Scorpius… take my wonderful son to his room to get changed and then lets meet in a couple hours for lunch in hogsmeade. Say one thirty?" Harry offered towards me with a smile. His son pulled back to dry his eyes and he stared forward looking for his fathers face. I could tell how much he wished he could see. For a moment i realized that words were not enough in these intimate situations. It was why i massaged him, read to him, had started wearing an oud cologne. He needed more to convince him everything would be alright than words. It hit me that normal kids could be as afraid as I had been to come out to their parents… but to think how much more afraid Al was now that he couldn't see anyones reactions… could only rely on their words…
"Tell him again Harry… one more time… tell him unequivocally… I can see in your eyes that you're fine with this… but you have to promise him again… out loud." I ordered softly. Even my father who could see perfectly fine had made me promise to him that this was real… not minutes ago. Harry nodded at that.
"Al… I adore that boy over there… I think he's going to be more than great for you… I also really couldn't give two figs if you like boys or girls… so… are we on for lunch later or not?" Harry finished. I watched Al nod and look in my direction. "Thank you for that… thank you so much…"