Albus was as expected, eagerly waiting for Harry right in front of their fireplace when he returned. His son had already put on his cloak and shoes, looking ready to leave at a moment's notice.
"Are they ready, dad?"
"Yes, they are ready. Apparently, Scorpius' been up since six." Harry was now leaving the fireplace to let his son get into it. "You can go on ahead while I pick up your grandma's cakes and join you in a second."
Albus did not need to be told twice, he was gone by the time Harry had finished the sentence. Ginny was at Harry's side by the time he reached the table to retrieve Molly's box.
"You'll be back immediately after you drop this off, right?" She had placed a hand behind his neck.
"Of course, this is Draco Malfoy we are talking about. It's not like there's much for us to talk about. I should be back in about five minutes." Harry could feel his ears warming up.
"Good, I feel like we haven't been able to spend more than ten minutes alone this week. Say hi to Draco and give Scorpius a hug for me."
"You Weasley women are so maternal… I don't think I'm close enough with Scorpius to hug him though, especially in front of Draco. But I can tell them you wish them both merry Christmas." Molly's cakes were quite heavy that he had to be extra careful while getting into the fireplace.
Harry first realised that he had returned to the Malfoy Manor's sitting room not by sight, but by the delighted shout that penetrated his eardrums the moment he arrived "...BUS, I MISS YOU! This is going to be the BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!" Then he was greeted by the sight of the blonde boy hugging his son so tightly that he wondered if Albus was able to breathe at all. Albus might not be hugging his best friend as intensely, but he was gladly returning the hug as well. It was amusing to think that they were hugging as if they had not seen each other for months to years, instead of a mere five days, but their pure happiness and excitement for seeing each other was undoubtedly infectious. Standing by the boys' side was Draco Malfoy, with the warmest and most genuine smile Harry had ever seen on that pale face. Even Harry was so attentive to the boys hugging that he had forgotten to get out of the Floo, still holding Molly's box.
Malfoy was the first to turn and notice Harry, he tried to suppress his smile to look more impassive as he said, "Potter. Please, come on out."
Harry was now feeling rather dumb to have stood inside the fireplace for a whole minute. At Malfoy's words, both boys released each other then turned towards his direction. Albus immediately rushed over to receive the box so he could get out easier.
To hide his earlier embarrassment, Harry looked down to brush off the soot on his cloak immediately after he got out, which did nothing to ease the awkwardness he felt when he looked up, with everyone else looking at him.
After a moment's silence, Draco said, "Good morning, Potter." Harry kind of wished that Malfoy would call him Harry like he had done in the letter, but it did feel natural to hear the word "Potter" out of Draco's mouth.
"Good morning again, Draco. Ginny wished you and Scorpius merry Christmas." He did not seem to notice that Harry had called him by his first name, or if he did, he did not react to it except for stiffly but politely returning the holiday greeting. The air was still thick with awkwardness, luckily, Scorpius piped up happily at this moment. "Good morning and merry Christmas to you, Mr Potter! Oh, and merry Christmas to you too, Albus!" Albus was now grinning at his best friend.
Harry was glad to have the excuse to turn away from his former nemesis, he fondly looked at Scorpius and said, "Merry Christmas to you too, Scorpius. How is your holiday?"
"Oh, it's awesome, Mr Potter! I have read three new books and they are all very interesting. I got to do a lot of decorating this year and that was a lot of fun. Oh… thank you so much for your extra present this year by the way, I was so surprised to receive two presents from you and Mrs Potter."
"You're very welcome, Scorpius. I hope you like it." Harry did not want to tell the boy that this was his first real present to him. For the past two years, Ginny had insisted on sending Scorpius Christmas and birthday presents as the Malfoys had been doing the same for Albus since the very beginning. Harry had no objection to that but he had always left his wife to it even though Ginny had always made sure to include his name when sending out the presents. Whether it had been his guilt, pity or sympathy, Harry had decided to send the young Malfoy a Christmas present for real this year and had Ginny sent her own present. Unless Draco's parenting style was similar to the Dursleys', which Harry highly doubted so, it would be safe to assume that Scorpius could use some extra presents given how few relatives and friends he had.
"I do! I've already read two chapters. The tips look like they would really come in handy in my O.W.L.s studies, I can't wait to finish it." Harry had taken a long time in picking a suitable present for Scorpius. Knowing that he was a bookworm, sending a book seemed like the safest bet but he was afraid that he would have gotten something that the boy had already owned. He ended up picking a book on defense against dark arts that he had discovered early in his career as an Auror and had found it extremely useful in his work. There were a lot of practical tips and spells that he believed could be of use for the young Malfoy in both his studies as well as dealing with bullies. The book was lesser-known and a bit advanced for his age but judging from the boy's intelligence, he should be able to appreciate it to its full potential. Albus, as well as most of the other students his age, might consider it more of a punishment than a present to receive it though.
"That's good to hear." Harry gave Scorpius a cordial smile, the boy grinned in return then got distracted by the box Albus had been holding.
"Albus, what's this you are holding?" He asked curiously.
Harry had forgotten about the box. At this question, he took it back from Albus then turned to face both Draco and Scorpius when he said, "Scorpius, these are some cakes for you from Albus' grandmother, Molly Weasley."
Scorpius' mouth formed an "O", then he slowly said, "That's … very nice of her." There was a frown on Draco's puzzled face, he was no doubt feeling surprised by the Weasley's matriarch's generosity, especially considering the beef between the two families. He seemed to hesitate a bit before asking quietly, "But why?"
"My mother-in-law is the most maternal woman I have ever known. She has knitted me a jumper after only briefly meeting me once. It hurts her to think about children being lonely in Christmas." Harry's adoration for Molly was very evident in his voice.
"No offense but it's hard to reconcile the word 'maternal' to the woman who managed to kill my intimidating aunt." Harry winced before he saw the good-natured smirk on Draco's face and realised that he was joking. The Malfoy's brand of humour would certainly take him some time to get used to.
"Grandma bakes the best cakes in the world, Scorpius! You're going to love them!"
The young Malfoy was blinking rapidly, he seemed overwhelmed by the kindness he had been receiving. "Everyone… seems so nice this Christmas…"
Noticing the emotional state his best friend was getting into, Albus immediately enveloped Scorpius into a hug as his friend let out a sob. Draco was looking slightly upset to see his boy cry but he seemed glad that Scorpius was not crying tears of sadness and that Albus was there to provide some comfort for him. He realised Harry was still holding the cake box, so he came over to take it somewhere, presumably to the kitchen, giving the boys some space. Harry remembered Draco saying he had difficulties talking and reaching to Scorpius after Astoria's death. It impressed him that Draco Malfoy, of all people, had been able to place such remarkable faith on Albus, the then thirteen-year-old son of his former nemesis, to comfort his only son when he himself could not. Harry was feeling rather uncomfortable witnessing the scene, he wished that he had left the room with Draco when he had the chance.
Fortunately, Scorpius had recovered sooner than Harry had expected, within a minute he was laughing at some bad joke Albus had just said to cheer him up amid his tears. Having wiped his face with a handkerchief, he turned to Harry and said, "I'm … so sorry, Mr. Potter. I didn't mean to cry. It's so embarrassing…"
At this moment, Harry felt such an urge to do exactly what both his wife and mother-in-law had asked him to do, to pull this lonely boy, a boy who would be moved to tears just because people were being nice to him during Christmas times, into a hug. However, he was afraid that Scorpius would find it offensive, Albus would find it embarrassing and Draco… he would return any second now and Harry did not even want to know what he would think to see Harry Potter hugging his son, so he settled on a fatherly pat on Scorpius' shoulder. "That's alright, Scorpius. There's nothing for you to feel embarrassed at all. You must have been through a lot of unhappiness for someone your age."
"Hmm… I guess. But I'm fine. No, I'm good, I'm feeling great. I have received five extra presents this Christmas, including the cakes, and I got to hang out with Albus on Christmas day, which is definitely the best present ever!" Harry smiled warmly as he could tell how genuine the boy's happiness was.
"Dad, do I have to leave at noon? Can I stay longer?" Albus was now looking at Harry with what could only be described as puppy eyes. It was astonishing how willingly he had transformed from moody teenager who wanted nothing to do with his dad to attention-seeking child who would take any opportunity to be spoiled by his dad.
Even though Molly had said that Albus could spend as much time as he wanted with Scorpius, Harry could tell that if he knew, he would easily spend his entire morning and afternoon with his best friend and no time at all with his own family, so it would be better for Harry to pretend that Albus must leave on time but to arrive a bit later to pick him up, lunch with almost thirty people usually took a whole hour to set up outdoors anyway.
Harry feigned a more serious expression and said, "Albus, you know how important the Christmas lunch is for your grandparents, of course you will have to be there."
Albus was sulking disappointedly with his pouty lips but did not try to argue. It was now Scorpius' turn to comfort his best friend. He patted him on the back and said, "It's alright, Albus. We can do so much in almost four hours. Besides, I would spend a lot of time with my relatives on Christmas day too if I still had relatives to spend time with."
Scorpius had a way of making everyone felt bad about him without meaning to. Instead of being in need of comfort, Albus was now attentively looking at his friend's face to see if he was alright, his disappointment completely forgotten. Luckily, Scorpius looked perfectly happy, albeit rather confused by Albus' sudden attentions.
Presently, Draco walked in and said, "Breakfast's ready, boys. You can come to the dining room if you are ready."
Albus regretfully looked at Scorpius and said, "Oh, I have already eat…" Upon seeing the slight disappointment on his friend's face, he amended, "but I should still be able to eat something I guess."
Harry could completely understand why his son would agree to eat even though he had eaten, but as his father, he had a responsibility to make sure Albus would not make himself sick from overeating. "I guess you haven't eaten too much for breakfast, Albus, so whether you eat anything or not here is your own choice. But don't say that I didn't warn you if your grandma thinks you are sick when you refuse second-helping of her famous roast beef." His son's pouty lips had returned but he started moving toward the door anyway.
Harry now turned to Draco and said, "Draco, I should leave now. I will return between noon to one to pick Albus up, hopefully I can return later to give them a little extra time."
Surprisingly, instead of nodding silently, Draco Malfoy was looking rather uneasy. He seemed to be working up to say something while Harry was looking on puzzledly. The moment seemed to drag on until he had lost his patience, "Is there something you would like to say, Malfoy?"
His voice was low when he spoke, "Hmm… I am wondering, would you like to stay for a cup of tea? And perhaps breakfast if you have not eaten?" Although he had asked while looking Harry in the face, he had seemed very much tempted to look down.
A/N: I hope I'm not turning Scorpius into a cry baby. IMO he's just too pure for this world.