Chapter 3: Pirates
'I'm sorry, I can't do it anymore. My life is not ideal for him. Please take care of Andrew.'
-
Draco's expression stayed stoned as he looked at the letter for the millionth time. He would occasionally look up from the small round table that currently occupied his son, Albus, his parents, and Hermione.
When he got summoned to his son's flat at five am, this was not what he was expecting.
"And remind me again where you found him. Or a better recount is how? There were a ton of people at Ginny's party last night, how did you two find him." Draco spoke first.
The other members at the table were still in shock and nursing their hangovers from the festivities from the night before.
"Well, it was more like he found us," Scorpius spoke up. Albus sat extremely close to him with a large mug of coffee nestled between both his hands. Sleep that night never found the couple and it showed.
"After Harry and Ginny left, Al and I turned off the lights and walked down the hall to the exit. Andrew, I suppose," he said referring to the name left on the note "found us."
"Not really, he was just standing there, staring at us with glowing eyes," Albus said in a low tone.
Hermione looked up from the note she had undoubtedly read more times than Draco and looked at her best friend.
"Harry, this is rather... unusual. Most abandoned kids are left at the Ministry or home, not at a party full of well-known witches and wizards. But regardless I am going to have to ask you..."
Harry nodded, "I already contacted a few of the Aurors on call. They have begun to inspect the area around Ginny's party and making a list of guests to question." Harry lifted his glasses above his eyes and shut them tightly. "Boys, I will use this conversation as an official statement, but Hermione and I need to speak with Andrew as well."
"You will do no such thing. That child has been through so much and he needs to sleep properly and rest. Didn't you hear, that our children found him dirty and without shoes? He has been traumatized. He also doesn't have a mother or father anymore. You will not bombard him with a million questions." Ginny stared hard at both Hermione and Harry. "Albus come with me to check on the poor thing will you."
Without a word, Ginny moved from the table and grabbed her son before he could protest as they headed towards the bedroom of the sleeping child.
"Well, I guess that will put your investigation on a hold, won't it," Draco mumbled taking a sip of his coffee.
"Yes, but not forever. We have protocols that are in place." Hermione said stiffly. "After breakfast, we will ask him a few things. I guess it is best if he doesn't see us as an immediate threat. Scorpius, did he say anything major last night to you or Albus?"
Scorpius looked up from his spot at the table. First towards Hermione and finally at his dad. "Not really, but we think something might be wrong with him. He couldn't remember his name or his age."
"You think he may have a disability?" asked Harry confused.
Shaking his head, Scorpius looked nervous, "no. Not to be disrespectful or bring up any bad memories for you Minster. But, when... well during the war, I read that you erased your parent's memories to keep them safe, being muggle and all. How did that affect them? Because Albus and I..."
"You think his mind has been adjusted to alert the memories of his past," Draco said, not as a question but as a statement.
Scorpius nodded. Harry looked over to Hermione who was surprised by the question. She adjusted herself in the chair that she sat in, no doubt uncomfortable with the memory of the war and her parents.
"Well, I only had to erase myself and magic from their memories. Not their names or their personal lives together. It is a difficult spell to cast and takes an extreme level of concentration." Hermione stated looking at everyone at the table and holding her head high.
"Well we aren't sure if he has been obliviated, he just seemed to have no idea of any detail of his past life. Not even if he liked waffles or not. So we assumed as much and this was why it was important to have you here as well dad, among other things we trust you, and other than Harry, you are the best I know at Legilimency and Occlumency."
Draco's lips curved up slightly at the compliment. "I have always been better at Occlumency than Potter."
"Malfoy, I am head of the Aurors department. Where we are called to use these skills on daily basis. When was the last time you needed to invade someone else's mind in your day-to-day task?" Harry smirked across the table at his old rival.
Before Draco got to respond, the kitchen was entered by a smiling Ginny, and Albus who was holding a half-awake toddler.
"Look who was awake, and too shy to come out of the room. Oh Harry, if he isn't the most daring thing I have ever seen. I mean we made pretty good-looking kids, but this one is so adorable I could just eat him right up."
Harry scrunched his face and looked from his wife to his youngest son, and the child he was holding. The child had his face tucked into Albus' neck, so Harry only got a side view, but his hair was thick and curly, and the coldest black Harry had seen. Even in comparison to himself. His eyes were big and grey, the child couldn't have been more than three or four years old as his frame was small.
Harry had to admit he was adorable.
Albus and Scorpius had a few spare clothing items at their house from times Gabe, Teddy and Vic's son, had come over to spend the night at their house. They were about the same size.
Coming towards the table, Albus took a seat next to his fiancé and the boy lifted his head slowly. He did a quick scan of the room and buried his head back into Albus'.
"Hi Andrew, remember me. I am Scorp. We had muffins last night for dinner."
Ginny's eyes widened, "Oh my. Let me begin cooking breakfast for everyone." She said springing into action. Making Harry smile as he remembered her cooking for their children when they had a full house a few years ago.
"This is my dad, Draco Malfoy." Scorpius continued talking as the boy's eyes fell on Draco who was across the table from him. He waved at the little boy so as not to frighten him, and Scorpius continued, "This Harry Potter, he is Albus' daddy and the nice lady who is cooking for you now is Ginny Potter, Albus's Mommy." The little boy looked at Harry and his eyes moved to Hermione. "This is the Minister for Magic, Hermione Granger-Weasley. She is Albus' auntie. Everyone here is going to help me and Albus figure out what happened to your parents okay?"
Scorpius reached out and rubbed the back of Andrews's curls. The boy didn't flinch, expecting the contact. It was Scorpius who held him as he fell asleep the night before.
"Food is ready. I kept it simple, seeing as I couldn't take the smell of most food items after last night. I assumed the rest for you all. There is toast, eggs, and bacon. You boys need to go shopping as well." Ginny placed three big plates of food in the center of the table.
Without hesitation, everyone began making themselves a plate. Scorpius made one for himself, Albus, and Andrew feeling rather at ease doing so.
Andrew turned around in Albus' lap, not ready to lose contact, looked around the room, and let his eyes fall on Ginny.
"Tank you." He said softly to her.
It took Harry holding Ginny's hand to stop her from reaching out and cuddling him into insanity.
—
After breakfast, and to Ginny's dismay, Harry and Hermione began talking with Andrew about the night before.
Just as Albus and Scorpius had mentioned, the boy didn't remember much. He only could recall small things about his life, such as the existence of the wizarding world. He also told both friends about finding Albus and Scorpius the night before and coming back to their house.
Just as Draco was coming in to assist with the Occlumency, said boys had been sent by Ginny to shower and get ready for the long day that was sure to follow them. She promised to keep an eye on the young boy, who had taken a liking to her during their breakfast.
Scorpius looked up at his fiancé as he stepped out of the shower with a towel wrapped around his middle. Even with everything going on, he still couldn't help but smile at the view in front of him.
"Scor, I don't want Andrew to leave us yet," Albus said bluntly. "I mean, I know we probably aren't the most qualified but we watch Gabe all the time, and we don't do worse than James. Plus-"
"It seems like fate, that we found him." Scorpius finished his sentence.
Albus smiled up at him for the first time in the main bedroom, "exactly."
Scorpius patted the space on the bed next to him, gesturing for Albus to sit down. He had already showered and done his hair. He was just waiting for Albus to get dressed so they could head back downstairs.
"I want to say I am surprised at you, but I am not." Albus looked confused at the statement, "Let me explain love. You are amazing with kids, and taking care of everyone in your Albusy way. I'm just surprised you were this direct about what you wanted, I thought I was going to have to say something first."
Scorpius reached over and grabbed his fiancé's hand in his.
"The hard part will be telling our parents that we want to keep him here. I hardly believe they think we are ready for such a responsibility. But if we don't then he will probably be put in a foster care home with a lot of other kids, and I think he can handle that, it's just-"
"You'd rather he be here with us," Scorpius said cutting him off again. Albus nodded and squeezed his hand tighter. "I do."
"Perfect, get dressed, and let's go talk to our parents." —
"You did amazing Andrew. I am so proud of you. Most adults can't even sit still for as long as you did." Hermione's voice praised as both Albus and Scorpius walked into the room.
All the adults smiled down at the little boy, who looked pleased with himself. "Did you guys find anything?" Scorpius asked walking to stand near his father.
Draco shook his head, "whoever did the charm, did a good job. I believe that since he is so young things might come back to him, but it might take a while."
Harry nodded in agreement, "Yes usually wizards and witches are tortured into answers and breaking the charms but in this case, we for obvious reasons do not want to go poking around if we do not have to."
Albus walked over to where Andrew was sitting silently talking with Ginny. He has a big smile on his face that only brighten when Albus sat with them on the couch.
"A few Aurors got back to me while you boys were gone. They talked to a few people who left right before we all did, and no one saw anything strange. It seems that Andrew was left only moments before you boys found him in the hallway. The only piece of evidence we have to use is the note that was left behind." Harry looked over to Hermione, "we are going to take that into the office and see what can be done with it."
"Yes, and in the meantime, we are going to take Andrew to stay with-" Hermione began to speak.
"Al and I were just talking and we wouldn't mind if Andrew stayed with us." Scorpius looked over to his fiancé and almost mother-in-law with Andrew smiling and laughing, "Actually we insist on it."
Hermione looked shocked but Draco and Harry just smiled at one another. "I guess we owe Ginny a couple of sickles," Draco smirked over at Harry.
At his son's confused face Draco continued, "she swore that the two of you wouldn't let the child go with ease. She said her motherly instincts could see that you were becoming attached if you will."
"Yes, especially Albus who has yet to leave his side for more than twenty minutes at a time," Harry said. "So Minter, it's your call, can the boys temporarily keep Andrew here while everything gets settled in?"
Hermione looked between the men in the room and sighed. "I will get the paperwork together now. It seems there are never any days off for the Minter." She gathered her belongings, "Harry, Ron, and I will see you and Ginny at the house for dinner as planned?" She asked looking in the direction of the floo.
Harry nodded, as he went in the same direction.
"Dad, could you umm, could you stay for a moment," Scorpius said a quick goodbye to Harry and Hermione who were heading into the living room to tell Albus and Andrew the good news.
Draco nodded and took a seat at the kitchen table once again.
"I am excited that Andrew is staying with us, but I am scared for more reasons than I know how to say."
"You and Albus, are more than capable of taking care of three year old. You do it all the time." Draco said referring to Gabe and all of the other Weasley children. He was always secretively happy that his son had been an honorary member of such a huge family. This was something that he and his late wife couldn't do for him.
"Yes, but... that's for fun short bursts." Scorpius never looked up at his father, just down at his hands. He knew this was a good idea, it was all just happening so fast.
"There is no parenting book that will give you all the answers and erase your fears. You are well into your twenties and I still feel the same way I did when you were only twenty seconds old." Draco smiled at his son, "That's how your mother used to tell me I was doing just fine, by my worry. She must have been right, and I must have done something right because you are perfect."
Scorpius looked up at the mention of his mother and father's kind words, "I'm not perfect dad, but thank you. I love you."
Draco smiled at his son, looking through the opening to the living room. " Besides Albus has a knack with kids and Ginny has taken quite a liking to the young boy. Between the two of them and your old dad coming around you two will be fine while everything gets settled."
"You like Andrew? I mean I know it's only been a few hours, but do you think he is a good kid? And you guys didn't find anything strange when looking into his mind?"
"I think Andrew is a great kid, he looks a bit like the Potters, but he opened up to us all rather quickly when you and Albus were getting ready. That immediately reminded me of you." Draco looked skeptical, "I told Harry and Hermione that I would keep this to myself until we looked into it. But there was a lot of darkness in his memories. Not tragedy, but actual darkness like nightfall. It was very odd for a child."
At his son's nervous expression he continued, "I wouldn't worry about it until need be. Just keep an eye on him and if there is anything usually tell one of us as soon as possible."
Scorpius was deep in thought when he heard his father lift from the table. "You and Albus are still coming to dinner tomorrow night to see your aunt and cousin, correct?"
"Oh yes, we wouldn't miss it. I am thinking of having Albus ask Ginny to watch Andrew, I don't want it to bring him to meet Aunt Daphne before we get things settled. I haven't seen her in such a long time, I think it's best if we take things slowly."
His father nodded, hugged him, and walked to the living room to say his goodbyes and head over to the floo network.
—
Ginny was the last to leave the flat, an hour later making sure that the boys had everything they needed and promising to check on them in a bit.
She was smiling at the idea of getting to watch Andrew the next night as her son and Scorpius had dinner plans at the manor.
Albus was sitting on the couch with Andrew as the two had picked out three muggle movies to watch.
Scorpius came in with a tray of popcorn, candies, and drinks.
The couple had decided to stay in and get to know the child a bit better. Muggle movies were one of the couple's favorite things to do when it was just them and they happened to have a few kids' movies for when Gabe came over.
"Alright boys, I got all the goodies what are we going to watch?" Scorpius said setting the tray down on the floor.
After talking with Andrew about him coming to stay with them and making sure he was comfortable with it, the trio began building a nice palate of blankets and pillows on the floor to start their movie day.
"This one has a picture of a pirate on the covers," Andrew said excitedly kicking his feet on the floor as Albus took the case from him and put the movie into the device on the TV.
"Excellent choice! That is one of our nephew's favorites as well." Albus said smiling and coming back to sit down.
Andrew looked wide eyes at the snack placed infant of him, "can I have some of these now?" He asked. Scorpius had brought out, making the couple smile at his manners.
Albus brought his fiancé into his arms and held him close as Andrew sat a few feet away stuffing his face with wide eyes as the movie began.
Both men stayed quiet, but knowing the other felt comfort that they didn't know was possible.
A/N: Hello everyone sorry for the late post my computer broke and I had to get a new one. Sigh. Good news I will have another chapter ready for you all between now and 24 hours to make up for it.
Thanks for for the follows, reviews, and alerts. Please keep them up and I hope you all enjoy! Jazz.
