Considering the older Malfoy had been the one to invite Harry to stay for tea, he was rather reserved throughout the meal, both in his eating and talking. Despite having prepared a mountain of food, Draco only ate a bread roll, some cheese, some apple and a small fruitcake of Molly's that he seemed to have eaten out of politeness.

Made with six fruits such as dates and cherries, nuts like pecans and almonds, with six spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg, Molly's fruitcake was the most flavorful and delicious kind Harry had ever eaten in his life and a firm holiday favourite for all the Weasley households. While Draco seemed to like it, his compliment was not all that enthusiastic, he did turn to Harry after finishing and said, "Please give … Mrs Weasley my thanks for her generous gift, Potter." Harry had a feeling the older Malfoys had used to call the Weasleys names that it was difficult for Draco to address Molly properly.

Scorpius, however, had a completely different reaction to the cake. He had been excitedly talking and giggling with Albus and politely but happily answering Harry's questions but his whole demeanour changed the moment he bit into his cake. He was silent and deep in thought for a minute that made the Potters very anxious.

"Scorpius, what's wrong?" asked an alarmed Albus when he saw Scorpius' shining eyes.

The tears did not fall but the boy wiped his eyes anyway with his sleeves. His happiness seemed a little forced when he answered, "I'm fine, Albus. Really. It's just… my mum used to bake christmas cake when she was much healthier, it was not the same kind as your grandma's so they taste nothing alike though. These are very good and I love them… but eating them kind of make me sad because I miss my mum's… Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. Please don't tell her that! Please tell her that I'm very happy and grateful to receive her cakes."

It was heartbreaking to see that even in his sorrow, Scorpius was so desperate in protecting Molly's feelings. Now that Harry thought about it, the boy might have cried the first time because he had been reminded of his mother as well. Instead of giving him a full hug this time, Albus wrapped an arm around Scorpius' shoulder and prompted him to lean towards his shoulder. Harry saw that Draco had placed a gentle hand on Scorpius', but again, he seemed to trust Albus enough to let him do the comforting.

"It's okay for you to feel sad and cry, Scorpius. You don't have to pretend to be happy all the times, and I'm sure my gran would understand even if she knows. No one would ever believe you to be ungrateful." Albus comforted his friend in his most soothing voice while wiping a tear that had finally escaped Scorpius' eye with his napkin. His words seemed to be exactly what Scorpius needed to hear that he looked instantly better even though he would not allow Albus to let go. Harry had never seen such mature sensitivity from his son first-hand and he could not be prouder.

Scorpius resumed eating after a while and said with cake in his mouth, "But this … really" chew, chew, "is… very good!" Albus laughed easily at his friend.

"And I … really am… very … happy!"

"Of course you are." Albus' affection for Scorpius was evident in his voice.

Harry had tried to stick with tea at the beginning but had given in to the temptations pretty early on in part because he really was hungry and the foods did smell exceptionally good. Also, it was just way easier to deal with the dead air when he had the excuse of eating. He ate some egg, mushrooms and smoked salmon, all of which among the best he had ever tasted.

The adults had made some polite small talk but the atmosphere was undeniably awkward between them.

"Do you like the food, Potter?" While Draco's tone was not unfriendly, he had to be the least hospitable host Harry had ever met. So much for The Malfoys are always the best in hosting meals and parties, but he knew enough to try not to make things difficult for his host.

"They are delicious, even though there's way too much for breakfast. I would be able to eat more if I don't have a family lunch to look forward to."

"Good, I am glad you like them." He said then ate some apple with his fork and knife, before three minutes of silent eating between the former rivals, the boys had been constantly giggling and chatting between themselves though.

"Do you have any plans for the rest of Christmas holiday?" Harry asked his host because this seemed like a safer conversational topic.

"Oh...yes. We are leaving for Southern France in two days. We will spend a week there, including the New Year's Eve." Draco actually looked pleased about the trip.

"You didn't tell me you are going to France, Scorpius!" Albus' pouty lips had returned yet again.

"It's only decided yesterday night so I thought I could tell you today, Albus. I'll definitely buy you something from France though, what would you like?"

His son thought for a moment and said, "Anything except more fancy accessories. They are more suited for you than me."

The blonde boy looked a little hurt, "I thought you liked the ring I got you two years ago. It was not feminine at all and was such a bargain."

"I do like it but I really don't have much opportunity to ever wear a silver engraved ring or to use a twenty-Galleon-handkerchief."

"I guess…" Scorpius recovered and said in his bubbly voice, "but I can always get you chocolates! Sweets always make you happy!"

"Sure, chocolates would be great, except not the 100-piece-gift box please. I couldn't resist the temptations last time and ended up being sick for two days."

The boys were having such a great time bantering with each other that their fathers might as well be invisible. It was funny how a "conversation" between the fathers had so naturally became the sons', the fathers stayed quiet and were perfectly contented with the entertaining back-and-forth between their sons that they even shared a knowing smile.

Harry had long lost count of how much his son had eaten by the time the Slytherin boys rose from the table, he was going to get into so much trouble for allowing him to eat like that.

"Dad, Albus and I are pretty full. May we retire to my room to play?" Scorpius asked. Harry had to agree with Albus that Scorpius was unnecessarily posh at times.

"Of course. Have fun, Scorpius. And Albus," his son was rather surprised to be addressed, "welcome again and I hope you have a great time here."

"Thank you, Mr Malfoy, especially for a wonderful breakfast."

"You're welc…" Draco's cordial reply was interrupted when Scorpius wrapped his arms around his shoulders. His eyes widened and his words were completely lost in his mouth.

"Thank you so much for the wonderful breakfast, dad! This is already the best Christmas ever! " Scorpius only seemed to realise his interruption when he let go. "Oh… I'm sorry, dad. That's pretty rude of me, isn't it? I am so sorry."

"There is nothing for you to be sorry about, son. It was wonderful." Malfoy's voice sounded suspiciously thick to Harry.

"Great! I'll see you later, dad! And Mr Potter!"

"Have fun, Scorpius. I'll pick you up at noon, Albus."

Albus was about to leave with Scorpius when he turned and pleaded again, "Could you please come back a bit later, dad?"

"I'll try, son, but I can't guarantee anything." Albus looked disappointed but was gone in a second anyway.

"It's pretty amazing that our sons would turn out to be best friends." said Harry with a warm smile on his face.

"Perhaps it is destiny." Draco's response caught him off-guard, it sounded a bit too romantic.

"Can I ask you a question, Draco?"

"Go ahead." His voice and expression betrayed nothing but Harry could tell he was curious.

"What did you think when you first heard that Scorpius had make friends with Albus?"

Harry would be lying if he said that he had not been shocked back then when he had first found out that their two boys had become friends. Albus had sent his first letter home on his second day of school, in which he had told his parents that he had been sorted into Slytherin and casually mentioned that he had found a "best friend", a strange Slytherin boy named Scorpius Malfoy. Harry had not known whether Albus had known anything about the Malfoys' past at the time until Albus' recent account of the boys' first meeting. For Harry's part, he had been okay about the friendship despite having heard of the "Son of Voldemort" rumour at the time, as he had thought it bogus given Scorpius' resemblance to Draco. Also, as alienated as Draco had been from the wizarding public, he had been sure that his former rival had changed. However, he had honestly believed that Draco would have an issue with it that the boys would inevitably be separated soon. It had been a surprise to him to gradually realise that not only had Malfoy been okay with the friendship, he had also gone to great length to be kind to Albus by buying him presents on special occasions and to make him feel welcomed during his visits. Of course, the irony that the boys would ultimately be separated from each other by Harry himself instead of Draco was not lost to him.

"I have thought about a lot of things…" Draco's warm expression had been replaced by a serious one, "but mostly I have felt relieved and grateful."

"Relieved and grateful?" He was so surprised that repeating the words was all he could do.

"Relieved that Scorpius was happy even though he was bullied, grateful that Albus was able to accept him and was willing to stay by his side when he was upset." Harry could hear the emotions in his voice, lately Malfoy's talk had become so heartfelt that it was hard to believe that he was the same prat Harry had known in Hogwarts.

"I didn't know…"

"I had asked him to send me a note as soon as possible but I did not get one until three days after he left. I had a nightmare in which I had returned to Hogwarts and was bullying my little boy myself. It was three days of agony that I almost ended up going there myself to check on him." He looked so pained even by the recollection that Harry felt regretful to have brought this up at the first place.

"I'm sorry…"

"Turned out it had taken him three days to write the letter because... he had been worried about my reaction to the friendship. He had described his friend in details without even telling me his name so I could understand how important Albus had already been to him." Surprisingly, there was a tone of bitterness in Draco's voice.

"Draco… you don't have to tell me if this upsets you."

"Upset is a strong word, but I can't say that it didn't hurt at the time to think that my son could possibly think me capable of separating him from his best and only friend." Harry was awashed with shame thinking that he had thought exactly the same of Draco, not to mention he himself had done that terrible deed.

"Growing up I might have many things, but my parents were not affectionate people. Even though my father would not hesitate to satisfy my material desires, he was simply not a good father. Deep down I had always known that my mother loved me but she cared about my father's opinions too much to show it. I have never been able to feel unadulterated love myself until Astoria and Scorpius. He is one of the best things that have ever happened in my life and I have wanted to be a better father to him than my own had been to me but…" Draco let out an uneasy laugh, "I have always been terrible at articulating my feelings and Astoria had been so good with him that I was contented for her to do the talking for the both of us. Little did I know, I had become the same distant father as my father had been."

A/N: last bit is a shameless plug of my previous fanfiction "Scorpius' Letter", just kidding :P It's taken directly from that fic but I only did it because I genuinely thought it would be a great topic for the previous rivals to talk about to get them to connect with each other. As I have mentioned in the very beginning, I do envision my version of these characters to be the same ones in my previous stories so times like this can really give them more depth. Feel free to check out that story if you are interested ;)

On a side note, I'm sorry if this chapter's ending is a bit abrupt and awkward. I usually try to end my chapter with a cleaner ending/ cliffhanger but this one is done because I want a relatively consistent range of chapter length and there isn't a good cutoff point for this conversation.

Thank you for all the lovely comments, they make me so happy.

PS: Of course Draco has to eat apple!