~ The Hogwarts Preschool ~
Harry poked his head inside the door. Ginny was rocking her son, Michael, to sleep while Lavender was quietly reading a story to Isabella and Daniel. He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. Ginny glanced up and saw him standing there. She smiled warmly at him and walked over, still gently rocking Michael.
"Hi," she whispered. "He's almost asleep so keep quiet okay?"
Harry nodded and quickly whispered, "Do you mind if I take Daniel for a few hours?"
"No, go ahead," Ginny said. "Draco usually picks him up at 4pm on a Monday so have him back by then."
"Thanks," Harry replied gratefully. He glanced over at his son and saw that both Daniel and Isabella were captivated by the story Lavender was reading. He decided that it wouldn't do for Daniel to be upset by being dragged away from the story so he walked over and sat down with his legs crossed beside his son on the floor at Lavender's feet.
The little boy looked up at Harry with large silver eyes. "Daddy?"
Harry smiled when he heard his beloved son call him daddy. "Yes."
Daniel moved closer to Harry and snuggled up against his leg. Harry reached over and pulled Daniel into his arms. They hugged each other silently for a moment before Daniel whispered, "missed you" in his father's ear.
"I missed you too," Harry whispered. He moved Daniel's small body away from him a little so he could see his face. "I love you so much, Daniel."
Daniel's face lit up. "Love you Daddy."
Daniel sat happily in his fathers lap and gazed up at Lavender, waiting for her to continue the story. Isabella was obviously feeling a bit left out as she inched her way over to the Potter boys.
"Hello, sweetheart," Harry said to her warmly. "Would you like to sit with us?"
Bella nodded shyly and Daniel beamed at her.
"Daddy came back," he told his friend solemnly. Daniel moved over on Harry's lap and Isabella stood up to sit down with the two of them. She continued to stare up at Harry in awe.
Harry, meanwhile, was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable with the probing stare so he tickled her. She giggled happily but soon started screaming as Daniel joined in, tickling her a little too enthusiastically. Suddenly the two of them were rolling around on the floor, each trying to tickle the other one.
Harry stood up, alarmed. He looked around the room but Ginny and Lavender seemed more amused than worried.
"Do they do this a lot?" he asked Lavender, who grinned at him.
"Only everyday," she replied. Isabella now had Daniel pinned to the ground.
"Get off me!" he cried loudly as he strained against her hands, which were holding his hands down beside his body.
Isabella started laughing. "No. Me win!"
"Okay, you won, Bella, now get off Daniel," Lavender instructed firmly.
The little girl looked put out by this instruction but she did as she was told. She stood up and walked a little way away from Daniel. Harry watched in stunned silence as his son quietly stood up and launched himself at Isabella, tackling her to the ground.
"My god, my son's a monster," Harry said quietly.
"Don't worry. Bella is just as bad, if not worse," Ginny said with a laugh. "She takes after Ron like that. We have yet to see any of Hermione's traits in her. Oh well, perhaps when they're at school she'll be as academic as her mother."
"I think I might take Daniel down to Hogsmeade for a few hours now," Harry said, trying to pry his son off Isabella.
"Good idea," Lavender said dryly, as she picked up the now crying little girl. "Shh, Bella, Daniel will be back later."
~ Dervish and Banges ~
Inside the magical equipment store, Harry was looking at the range of children's broomsticks. He'd learnt from Daniel on the way down to the village that the little boy didn't have one. Harry was aghast at the thought of his son not owning his own broomstick. Daniel was currently testing out the latest FlyBoy ™ model. It was a little bit big for a two-year old but Harry was confident that Daniel could handle it until he grew into it properly. Anyway, as the sales assistant said, kids grow so fast these days.
Harry made a mental note to ask Draco why their son didn't have a broomstick. Perhaps I'd better wait and ask that when things are a bit better between us, Harry thought. He might take it the wrong way at the moment.
"We'll take it," Harry said to the young sales assistant who was trying to pretend she wasn't staring at him. So much for subtlety. And here we go again, Harry thought with a sigh. At least when I was locked up in a cell, I didn't have people staring at me all day long.
Once he'd paid for the broom, he carried Daniel down to the empty field near the Shrieking Shack and watched Daniel fly on his broomstick. Naturally as it was intended for small children, it hovered barely high enough that his feet just scraped the ground if he stretched down.
Harry lay back on the grass and drank in Daniel's childish peals of laughter and squeals of excitement. It was so good to be back with the people he loved. Now if he could just convince Draco to be a family again.
~ The Hogwarts Preschool ~
It was far later than Harry intended when he finally dropped Daniel off at the Preschool. It was almost four and Draco would be there any second. He wasn't ready for another confrontation, Harry had decided. He needed time to plan a strategy for getting Draco back.
Daniel was clinging to Harry's legs, the small broomstick lying forgotten on the floor beside them.
"No go, no go," Daniel was chanting as his tear-stained face stared up at Harry imploringly.
"I have to, darling," Harry said. He pried Daniel's arms from around his legs and squatted down so he was closer to Daniel's level. He brushed the little boy's tears away and smiled sadly at his son. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Stay," Daniel said, flinging his arms around Harry's neck. Harry wrapped his arms around his son and rocked him gently back and forth.
"I want to, sweetheart," Harry said, feeling his heart break at the sound of his son sobbing on his shoulder. "I want to be with you all the time, but I can't. I'll be back tomorrow. Your Dad will be here soon."
"Want you and Dad," Daniel said, sniffling as he rubbed his nose across Harry's shoulder.
*
Draco stood in the doorway of the Preschool with silent tears streaming down his face. He hated it when Daniel cried and he knew that it was his fault that his son was so upset. He could see the love and the torment etched on Harry's face as he tried to convince Daniel that he had to leave. It wouldn't surprise Draco if Daniel thought that Harry was leaving forever. Time was a tricky concept for children and tomorrow didn't really hold much meaning to Daniel right now.
"Are you okay?" Ginny asked Draco softly as she came to stand by his side.
"I will be," he replied, smiling. "Can you ask Hermione to take Daniel with her when she picks up Bella?"
"Sure," Ginny replied, looking curious.
"If she asks why, just tell her I need to talk to Harry without any interruptions," Draco said quietly. Daniel and Harry hadn't noticed him yet.
Ginny's eyes sparkled with hope as she nodded. Draco looked back at his husband and son and was startled to see Daniel's clear silver eyes staring up at him, his little arms still wound tightly around Harry's neck.
"Dad-dad-dad-dad-dad," Daniel called out but he didn't come running the way he usually did.
"Hello, my darling boy," Draco said, walking over to drop a kiss on Daniel's head. He ignored Harry for the moment and concentrated on Daniel. "I need to talk to Daddy for a while. Can you stay with Bella for a little while, while Daddy and I sort things out?"
Daniel didn't look too happy about this.
"He'll still be here, I promise I won't let him go anywhere," Draco said seriously.
Daniel smiled and let go of Harry, who reached up to massage his neck.
"Look," Daniel said, thrusting his newly-acquired broom in Draco's face. "Daddy gave me."
"It's…lovely," Draco said pleasantly. However, his eyes narrowed as he glanced over at Harry.
"We'll both see you at dinner, okay?" Draco said to Daniel, who had hopped on his broom and was scooting around the room on it.
"Okay," Daniel called out, his fathers forgotten in favour of flying. Isabella didn't have a broom either and it looked like she was going to make a play for Daniel's.
"Let's go back to my…our rooms," Draco suggested to Harry, who nodded.
TBC
A.N. A huge big thank you to Panther who said that it was Frances Potter and I who showed him/her how great h/d can be together. I was speechless to see my work connected with Frances Potter who I am in awe of. Although I'm sure she's cringing at the association as her work is so much better than mine. All I can say is I'm not worthy! And thanks again to Panther. *shakes head, still amazed*
Also, I'm writing a response to a challenge. It's Sirius/James with a background relationship between Harry/Severus. Not my usual work, but I'm really putting in a lot of effort here to live up to the standards set by incredible writers such as Frances, Rhysenn, IvyBlossom, VanityFair, Aiden Lynch etc. So, I have decided that I need a Beta Reader for that fic. I've never had one before but I think for this one, to really make it good, I need someone to pick it apart and help me put it back together again. So if you want the job – email me courteney@girlofyourdreams.com I'd really appreciate it. *smiles*
And, thank you to Aglaia for my very own LiveJournal. I'm so excited – if you like my work, go read my Journal and bookmark it. I will be posting updates of how my stories are going (as well as general rambling) and even cookies for some of my stories that take longer than this one to update!! Can you tell I'm excited? *grins*
http://www.livejournal.com/users/courteney/