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Chapter 32 Lunch
Remus looked up the scroll he was writing on as Harry came stumbling in to the kitchen. Remus always thought it was cute how Harry wouldn't bother to wake up fully in the mornings before coming down the stairs to seek out his guardians. It'd been a rough night. Harry had woken up yelling, tears streaming down his face. He had dreamed about the resurrection ritual in the cemetery only Sirius had been there too, dying alongside of Cedric.
"Morning." Harry mumbled as he sat down close to Remus. He'd slept through breakfast. Draco had already eaten more than three hours ago and gone back to his room. He liked to be alone and was happy drawing or reading in his room. Remus often worried about if that was really true or if Draco was in denial about his parents' death but Draco talked to Healers when he was in Saint Mungo's and seemed fine. Remus supposed being Lucius and Narcissa's beloved son had given Draco a solid foundation that Harry hadn't had, and Draco didn't blame himself for their death. Remus concentrated on Harry now and noticed some lingering pain in his eyes from the nightmare. He kissed Harry's head as it rested against his shoulder.
"I'll make you some toast and some tea." Remus got up slowly from the table, allowing Harry to straighten up. "I'm meeting Clara at Noon, we're going to lunch then dealing with about three things on our to do list for the wedding."
"Oh."
"It'd be boring but you could come along." Remus set a plate of toast and a cup of tea in front of Harry.
"No, I'm fine, I'll just watch the telly." Harry shrugged.
"You don't have to be fine, Harry. It's all right not to be fine." Harry took a bite of toast and didn't answer. Remus sat back down on the bench next to Harry. "Would you want to have lunch with Dad?"
"Yeah." The answer, spoken around another bite of toast, was immediate.
"I'll drop you off there before I meet Clara." Remus smoothed his hand through Harry's hair. "You're ok?"
Harry took another bite of his toast and chewed it carefully before swallowing it. "I know Voldemort's gone – I just…I wish I wouldn't keep remembering it." Remus nodded silently, hoping Harry would say more. "And…I miss him. It's been over a year now. I only knew him for two, it's not fair."
"It's not."
"And you miss him too."
"I do miss him. But he's still with us, in our memories…and I think his spirit visits us sometimes…sometimes, I think I can feel his presence here."
"Do you?" Harry looked at Remus intently. "Could you tell me the next time you do?"
"Yes." Remus put his arm around Harry and kissed his cheek. "Now eat up, then shower and we'll have to go. You slept late this morning."
"Mmmph." Harry answered as he shoved the last bit of toast in his mouth and ran up the stairs.
"Auror Malfoy, your son is here to see you." The receptionist's magically amplified voice rang across the whole floor. Harry watched as all the aurors stood in their cubicles to look over at the reception area. They were like gophers emerging from their burrows. Harry had to swallow a laugh as he felt like he was watching a muggle nature show.
"Wotcha Harry! Hi Remus!" Tonks waved at him as she rushed over and he waved back, happy to see a friendly face. She gave him a big hug. "How've you been?"
"Good." Remus answered as Tonks hugged him. Tonks asked a question about the wedding preparation, which Harry listened to half-heartedly as he looked around the floor. He slipped his hand back into Papa's. Papa had a calming, reassuring presence which Harry was very thankful for. It was the first time he'd been back in the Ministry since Sirius's death and after the recent nightmare, his feelings about Sirius and the Ministry were very raw.
"Harry!" Kingsley put a firm hand on Harry's shoulder. "Nice to see you. Here to visit?"
"Um, yeah, I thought maybe Dad and I could have lunch." Harry said, feeling the urge to flatten his hair against his forehead to cover his scar as all the aurors continued to look curiously at him. He looked around the floor again, he didn't see his dad anywhere.
"Show's over, you lot." Kingsley said loudly. The aurors all quickly disappeared back into their cubicles. "Your dad's in a meeting with the Head Auror. He'll be out in a moment." Kingsley smiled at him warmly.
"Would you like some tea while you wait?" The receptionist asked politely.
"No, that's ok. Thank you." Harry tried to remember his manners. With relief he saw his dad walking towards him. He noticed the green eyes scan the waiting room.
"Did I forget - " Harry felt his stomach turn as he heard his Dad's Malfoy voice.
"No, we decided to drop by." Remus said quickly. "Harry wanted to have lunch with you."
"Really?" Cassius asked smoothly. Harry nodded, still gripping Papa's hand tightly. Cassius tilted his head and looked at Harry closely. He closed the distance between them and pulled Harry into a hug. "Ok, kiddo?"
"Yeah." Harry whispered as he wound his arms around his Dad.
"I forgot my money at home." Cassius smiled ruefully at Remus.
"I brought you some, I wasn't sure." Remus smiled back.
"Papa thinks of everything, doesn't he?" Kingsley jabbed Cassius in the arm.
"He does." Cassius glared at Kingsley.
"Harry," Remus put his hand on Harry's head. "I'm going to meet Clara now. Do you want to hang out with Dad until I come back and pick you up? Or you can floo home after you eat, Tabby and Draco will both be there."
"I'll wait for you." Harry replied from the cocoon of Cassius' arms.
"Is that ok?" Remus asked Cassius. "It'll be a couple hours at least."
"Sure, I'll put him to work, I have loads of filing he can do." Cassius tightened his arms around Harry.
"I'll see you both later then."
"Remus."
"It's all right." Remus said quietly, touching Cassius's arm briefly.
"No, it's not." Cassius whispered and after a moment of hesitation he leaned over to give him a kiss. "I love you." Harry looked over at the receptionist and noticed she was wearing a dreamy expression on her face. He wondered if all the aurors would believe her when she told them that she'd seen Auror Malfoy kissing his husband.
"I love you too." Remus smiled. "Bye, Harry, I love you." He kissed Harry's cheek. "Talk to Dad if you need to, all right?"
Harry nodded, "I love you, Papa." Remus said goodbye to Tonks and Kingsley and walked to the lift.
"All right, I have to drop this report off at my desk, then we can go to lunch." Cassius took Harry's hand. "This way."
Cassius' cubicle was neat and impersonal. As they had walked across the floor to get to it, Harry noticed that all the other aurors had family pictures on their desks or walls. He made a mental note to bring a picture the next time he visited. He knew there would be a photographer at the wedding, they could take a new picture then.
"It's not exciting or anything."
"We're going to lunch, Cassie – want to come?" A black haired auror poked his head into the cubicle. Harry recognized him from a few Order meetings.
"No." Cassius answered coolly, the other wizard didn't seem insulted by the aloof tone.
"Harry! So nice to finally meet you." The wizard smiled and stuck his hand out. Harry shook it. "Liam Tessen. My son's just finished his first year at Hogwarts – in Gryffindor, you're his hero."
"Oh." Harry blushed.
"Wants to be a seeker just like you – of course, he didn't make it on the house team his first year. But we're hoping next year, maybe as a chaser."
"Is Cassie coming?" Bartleby, who had been Harry's professor briefly, came into the cubicle.
"No, he's abandoned us for Harry." Tessen answered as Cassius set the report on his desk.
"We've got to get going. Hill's meeting us at the Cauldron." Bartleby looked over at Harry. "Hello, Harry." Harry gave a small wave.
"Right then. Nice to meet you, Harry."
"Nice meeting you." Harry echoed. Tessen and Bartleby walked away.
"Ready?"
"Yeah. Where are we going to go?"
"Well, there's the cafeteria here or -."
"I've never been to the cafeteria, that would be fun." Harry said.
"Cafeteria it is. Let's go." Cassius swung their hands as they exited the cubicle. Harry hadn't realized that he'd still been gripping his hand the whole time. No wonder Tessen was smiling at them.
"Dad." Harry said quietly as they waited for the lift.
"Hmm."
"Everyone was staring at me."
"Were they?" Cassius looked around. "I didn't notice."
"How could you not notice?"
"I just don't notice them – not anymore – everyone always stared at me when I started, so I just ignore them all."
The lift arrived and Harry and Cassius got on with a few other people.
"So…how was your morning?"
"Fine."
"Papa said you had a nightmare last night." Cassius had been injured at work the day before and Remus had given him a strong potion which had caused him to sleep through Harry's nightmare.
"I…I don't want to talk about it right now."
"Harry…Papa always tells me it's important to talk about feelings." Harry laughed. "Well, he does." Cassius sounded a bit defensive.
"I know…I just don't want to cry in the cafeteria." Harry took a bite of his sandwich.
"All right then. So we'll talk at home." Cassius picked up his sandwich. "And don't think I'll forget, I got a full night's sleep last night."
They ate silently for a few minutes.
"I got my marks in the Owl Post this morning." Harry said as he swallowed another bite of his sandwich. The letter had come right before he and Remus had left for the Ministry.
"And?"
"I did really well in DADA and Transfiguration. And my grade went up in Herbology."
"Snape still being a bastard about Potions?"
"Yeah."
"Well, when you take your NEWTs he won't have any say. We can practice more over the summer – if you want." Harry nodded since his mouth was full. "Did we give you anything for your marks at mid-year?"
"Yeah, Papa took me out for ice cream."
"Where was I? I like ice cream."
"You were in Bulgaria."
"Oh." Cassius ate one of his chips. "Should we go to ice cream tomorrow? That way Papa can come with us."
"Yeah." Harry took a drink of his juice. "And Draco could come. He got his marks too."
"He doesn't have to, it could just be us."
"It's ok…" Harry shrugged, trying to look indifferent.
Cassius reached over and put his hand over Harry's. "I like having you all to myself sometimes too." Harry grinned, he knew his parents tried not to show any favoritism but it was hard when Harry had only just gotten used to being the center of attention to have Draco there too.
"No, he could come and Tabby and Gramps could come too."
"Sure, the whole family." Cassius squeezed Harry's hand briefly before taking his hand back.
"Could…could we have lunch again sometime? Just you and me?" Harry twirled a chip on his plate.
"I don't see why not. I usually don't have plans, so anytime you wanted to come by…"
"Brilliant." Harry smiled.
"I could use a file clerk. And depending how you do today, I might hire you or at least up your allowance."
"Hi Papa." Harry said, looking up as Remus entered the cubicle. Harry was sitting on the floor next to the filing cabinet. Cassius was writing a report up. They'd been sitting in comfortable silence for over an hour, occasionally interrupted by a comment or two.
"I see Dad meant it when he said he had filing." Remus looked at the sizable stack of papers next to Harry.
"I've done half of it already." Harry said proudly. Remus raised his eyebrow and looked over at Cassius.
"I knew where everything was." Cassius said defensively.
"Oh, sure." Remus nodded. "Good job, kiddo. Where'd you go to eat?"
"The cafeteria, it was really good," said Harry.
"How was lunch with Clara?"
"Fine, we've got the band all sorted, the photographer and the flowers too." Remus rubbed his neck tiredly. The full moon was the next day.
"Oh, you need to sit." Cassius stood, shoving his chair towards Remus.
"I'm fine."
"You're not."
"Surely you have more than one chair." Remus looked around.
"He doesn't – that's how he keeps people from talking to him too long." Tessen said over the cubicle wall.
"Shut up, Tessen! Remus, please sit." He pushed the chair towards Remus again.
"Here. I have an extra chair in my cubicle – it's the one that should be in here." Tessen entered the cubicle holding a chair. Cassius glared at him. Tessen smiled back.
"Thank you." Remus smiled. "I'll return it when I go."
Tessen laughed and went back to his desk.
Remus sank down in the chair. "I ran into Aspasia. The paperwork's all gone through. I start back to work after Harry gets on the Hogwarts Express."
"That's good." Cassius said as he sat back down, ruffling Harry's hair.
"You ready to go home, Harry?" asked Remus.
"Could I stay longer, Papa?"
"Is that all right?" Remus asked Cassius.
"Yes. I have to write up a report, I don't have any meetings."
"And then I can finish all the filing."
"I'm worried about the fact you find filing appealing." Remus said with an affectionate smile. "We're going to have to come up with some more exciting activities at home."
"It's…it keeps my mind busy." Harry said, taking another paper from the stack, he could feel both his parents looking at him with concern.
"Did you talk to Dad?"
"We're going to talk after dinner." Cassius answered.
"Good. Right then, I'll see you both at 5." Remus stood. He leaned over and kissed the top of Harry's head. "I love you, Harry." Harry reached up and touched Remus's face.
"I love you too, Papa."
"I'll put the chair back." Cassius said quickly as he stood.
Remus smiled. "I love you, husband."
"Love you too." Cassius murmured against Remus's lips.
"Bye, Remus!" Tessen called out as Remus walked by his cubicle.
"Bye, Liam."