The Hogwarts Express was known for its punctuality so Harry did not arrive too early to the platform despite wanting to talk to Draco Malfoy, believing that Draco would not enjoy the sour looks and whisperings he would inevitably receive wherever he go longer than necessary. On this Sunday, five days before Christmas, Harry and Ginny passed through the gate to the platform at 4:10pm, twenty minutes before the train was due to arrive. Having explained his intentions to talk to Malfoy with Ginny, she calmly kept her pace with him while he marched down the full length of the platform, scanning the crowd for the white-blonde ponytail of Draco Malfoy. To his disappointment, he had not arrived yet, while the Saviour's agitated behaviour had immediately drawn the attentions of the majority of anxious families who were waiting to pick up their children, further agitating him.
He felt himself relaxed as he was joined by his best friends on the platform. As important as Hermione's job was, she always managed to take times off for her family, he would never stop admiring his best friend's organisational and time-management skills. He noticed the rest of the Weasley clan clustering somewhere behind them.
"Hello Harry, you don't look too well. Are you feeling nervous for Albus' return?" The Minister for Magic asked after giving him a quick hug.
"What?" Things with Albus had been going surprisingly well that he was genuinely surprised by his friend's concern. "No...no. Actually, I'm looking for Malfoy. There is something I would like to talk to him."
Hermione looked somewhat surprised but understanding. Ron, however, looked affronted. "What? You haven't even greeted your best mate yet and here you are, looking for the ferret? Don't tell me he has suddenly become your best …" He shut up the moment he noticed the uniform glares given to him by both Ginny and Hermione.
Even though he knew he had done absolutely nothing wrong, Harry instinctively looked down guiltily as he explained, "Well, it's just that there's something about Scorpius that Draco has every right to know…" It was somewhat weird for Harry to be saying Malfoy's first name out loud and he would not be surprised if Ron would take offense with that but even though he was used to referring to Scorpius by his first name, it would still be confusing to use Scorpius and Malfoy in the same sentence to refer to the two different Malfoys respectively.
"Harry, I think you are doing a good thing. Just Ignore Ron." Hermione patted him in the back as she said reassuringly.
He was about to make some awkward response when Ginny nudged him urgently and pointed him to the opposite direction, where Draco Malfoy was walking stiffly towards the platform. He was not sure if it was a dress suit he was wearing or just an everyday suit that looked ridiculously fancy. At least it was in dark green instead of black, it appeared that Malfoy had finally done mourning.
Harry felt a knot in his stomach as he debated how he should approach the widower. After Godric's Hollow, it had appeared as if they had finally become friends after all these years but they were not united in crisis right now, and there had been too complicated a history between them for him to just casually walk up to say hello. He waited for Malfoy to meet his eyes to decide.
Feeling Harry's glance, Draco turned his head slightly towards his direction. He seemed kind of surprised to find Harry appear to be expecting him, but then he curtly nodded at him without a smile, a greeting not much different from the ones they had shared the past three years, then returned back on course to the front of the platform. He ended up standing about twenty feet away from them, determinedly trying to ignore all the bitter looks and "Death Eater" talks.
Harry felt unexpectedly disappointed. It was not like he expected them to be best friends now, but he had honestly believed that something had changed between them since Malfoy had opened up to Harry about Astoria and the Malfoys had joined the Potters in witnessing Harry's parents' murder. Another part of him did understand that even if they were friends, Draco Malfoy probably would not want to be seen openly approaching the Potters and the Weasleys. Remembering his purpose and feeling Ginny's encouraging nudge toward Malfoy's direction, Harry took a deep breath then walked over to Draco with Ginny. Hermione walked over after a few seconds as well, followed by a very reluctant and grumpy Ron Weasley.
Draco did not turn at all until Harry had reached his side, he said with a faint smirk, "Well, how may I help you, Mr Harry Potter?"
Harry sighed, why did Draco have to make everything so difficult? At least it could have been worse, Malfoy had finally stopped emphasising his "Potter" every time he pronounced his name, that had to be considered an improvement after thirty years. "Good afternoon to you too, Malfoy. I just want to check with you to see how Scorpius has been doing since G… well, since that night."
The smirk was gone immediately from the pale face, replaced by a concerned stare. Draco narrowed his eyes suspiciously and asked, "Why would you suddenly be so interested in my son's well being? Do you know anything I ought to know?"
Harry wanted to kick himself inside, he was terrible at making small talks and presently, he could feel his cheeks warming from nervousness, guiltiness and embarrassment. "No… it's just… It was my fault that Albus has run away and dragged Scorpius into any of this. I have never properly apologised to you about that, and if anything had happened to Scorpius…" Harry could not bring himself to finish, relating the sufferings he had experienced when Albus had been lost to Draco's, he could only blame himself but as far as he knew, Draco had been an excellent father to Scorpius and had deserved none of that.
Draco seemed to relax as he turned to Ginny and spoke with a straight face, "Well, Mrs Potter, I imagine you have a very difficult job in convincing the Saviour that the world does not revolve around him, good luck." He gave a barely detectable smile which Ginny returned more openly before turning back to Harry. "As for you, Mr Potter. I appreciate your concern. I can assure you that Scorpius has never been happier than he has been for the past two months. But I do want to say that, as his father, I am not delusional and blind. You may be indirectly responsible but it could not be said to be your fault. I am completely aware of Scorpius' mistakes in this whole affair. Given the … rumour, I have always taught him to see safety as his highest priority. It may have been your son's fault, but Scorpius has been very reckless in his own right. I have already reprimanded him for his reckless behaviours." Harry could not help feeling terrible for the poor boy who had already been through so much, he did not even want to know what "reprimand" entailed for Draco Malfoy.
"Also, technically, it was partially my son's fault that Albus was lost along with him the third time. He did have the best intentions, and… no offense to you and to the Minister" He gave Hermione a look before turning back to Harry, but ignored Ron's glare, "he was justified in distrusting the Ministry with it, (he was obviously being discreet in referring to the Time Turner for fear of being overheard) but Scorpius really should have known better to turn it in when he could."
Harry had known that Draco Malfoy had changed for years, but never had his glaring difference in personality and maturity been displayed in such plain view to him before. This Draco might still be reserved and distant, but he was sensible, wise and understanding, not to mention brave, determined and was a devoted and loving father, given how he had volunteered to join their rescue mission. His outward appearance might have looked very much similar, but his inside could not have been more different from his ignorant, self-absorbed, bullying younger self. Hermione had a very serious look on her face, no doubt thinking about her failures in the Time Turner disaster, while Ron might have looked displeased, he seemed to be able to see the sense behind Draco's words.
"That being said," everyone looked up to Draco's words, having thought that he had finished, "I can totally see where Scorpius was coming from at the time. I would likely have followed Albus and made the same mistakes if I were him as well." Draco gave a meaningful look from Harry to Ron and Hermione, who were both looking rather stunned and confused. Harry could still hear Draco's words in his kitchen, I envied you those friendships more than anything else, he could tell instinctively that what he meant was that he would have abandoned everything to join his best friend on a time traveling adventure at their boys' age had he shared this kind of friendship with someone as well. Harry tried to look away and coughed, it was embarrassing that he was the one feeling naked with his thoughts when Draco was the one baring his deeper desires to them.
"You okay, Harry?" Ginny looked sideway to him with a slight frown. Looking at her, he could tell that Ginny had understood Draco's words as well, she was perhaps imagining how it would have been for her to have such a best friend as well. Harry gave a half-hearted nod when he turned to see that Draco was looking at him amusedly.
There was a minute of awkward silence when nobody quite knew what to say. Fortunately, the silence was broken by the noise of the train engine, they had been too absorbed in their conversations to notice that the train was almost there. Seemingly having reached an unspoken agreement that it would be easier for them not to resume the conversation, the Potters and Malfoy stood together in companionable silence with the Granger-Weasleys talking between themselves nearby, oblivious to all the pointed looks and whisperings around them, waiting to pick up their sons after what had felt like the longest school term in their entire lives.
A/N: One of the things I have wondered ever since reading the script is what the Potters, Draco and the Weasleys remembered from the period of time between first time travel and second time travel after the alternate realities have been reversed. I am aware that Harry might have done things differently and the interactions between Harry and Draco might have been altered as well, but since it's implied that he had already been worrying about the dark cloud right before the first time travel, I have decided to keep things simple to assume that Harry experienced most of his interactions in the first alternate reality in the real world as well.