When they finally pulled apart, Ginny's hands rested on Scorpius' shoulders as she said, "Have a wonderful term, Scorpius."

"T-thank you, Mrs Potter." While his eyes were red from crying and there were clear tracks of tears on his cheeks, his smile was one of the happiest and most brilliant Harry had ever seen, and he had seen a fair share of genuine Scorpius' smiles from Christmas day. Clearly, the rest of this odd trio looking on agreed as well based on their serious but pleased looks.

Ginny had dropped her hands to her sides, "You can call me Ginny, Scorpius."

The boy sniffled loudly then gave her a sheepish smile, "I don't think I would ever be able to get used to calling you or Mr Potter by your first names… somehow that just seems a bit disrespectful, it feels especially wrong to call your first names in front of Al-"

"There you are, Harry." He turned to see Ron standing right behind of him with Rose and Hugo. "It's getting so crowded here so early but I must say, it's much easier for me to spot you when you are standing with ponytail over here."

Draco rolled his eyes but did not rise to his bait.

"Dad, I should get on the train…" Rose was talking to his dad when she took in Scorpius' appearance then asked hesitantly, "Bre… I mean, Scorpius, are you alright?"

"Good morning, Rose." Scorpius literally sangsong his greeting. "I feel absolutely wonderful! I had the most amazing Christmas day with Albus on the Manor, we built two snowmen and I had my very first snowball fight. It was the best Christmas ever! Then I went on a fantastic trip with my dad in France, the weather was so nice over there…" No one seeing Scorpius describing his Christmas like an excited five-year-old now could have doubted his happiness but Harry agreed that the boy's splotchy appearance was indeed alarming that Rose was right to feel worried.

"O-okay… I'm glad you're feeling great but I should go now." She turned away with her trunk before being grabbed by Ron, who would not release his daughter until she accepted his goodbye hug.

Meanwhile, Ginny had pulled out a handkerchief. "There, Scorpius." She held it out towards the boy, intending for him to take to wipe his face himself but hesitated there. The boy turned towards her, looked at the handkerchief with a faint sad smile but sensing her uncertainty, he did not reach out for it. For five seconds, which felt more like a minute to the bystanders, both of them seemed unsure about what to do until she shrugged exaggeratedly as if saying "screw it" before proceeding to gently wipe away Scorpius' tears herself. The whole thing was actually a bit counteractive as the poor boy looked as if he was about to tear up again any moment. Ron, who had returned after bidding Rose and Hugo farewell, seemed desperate to ask a thousand questions about what he was witnessing but painstakingly suppressed his curiosity.

It was about time for the boys to leave. Draco was talking to Scorpius, who kept nodding to what his father said, while Ginny was hugging Albus goodbye. She was whispering something to his ears that Harry could not hear, but it was okay because she deserved her private moment with their son. Of course the both of them could say their goodbyes together, but Harry believed that this would work better so he kept a little distance. Just like Ginny had reminded him that Albus needed to feel specific love from him, he thought it beneficial for the boy to feel specific love from each of his parents. He knew that he had been getting better but his wife had always been the more loving one, despite being tough as nails when she had to.

Now it was his turn, he moved in front of Albus while Ginny took a step aside. "Remember what I said, Albus. You can talk to me about anything anytime… If you ever need me, I can come up on a weekend like the last time we met, or I can have a talk with Professor McGonagall so we can even arrange something with the Floo. I'm just a letter away."

"I understand, dad. I appreciate it." replied the boy, who looked preoccupied but was not smiling.

"Y-you don't even have to talk to me… if you ever need to talk with someone. You could talk with your mum, Teddy, Neville … or Scorpius of course. Please don't bottle up your emotions, son, just make sure you talk to someone... when you need to." he asked almost pleadingly. He had not realised how concerned he was about Albus' returning to Hogwarts until this moment. While their relationship had continued to improve over the holiday, he had found it once again difficult to talk to the boy after learning about his nightmares as he had been worrying about ticking him off. Back in his own fifth year after Voldemort's return, he had been his most irritable self that he found himself snapping over everything. Even though his son had been more pleasant than ever over the break except for his brief snapping after the nightmare, he found himself overthinking about everything all the times, such as Al's lack of smile at the moment, that he wanted desperately to do something to help. He could not help feeling a bit humiliated by the way he was rambling on when he was nervous. After sixteen years, he still often felt like he knew absolutely nothing about being a father.

His son turned to look at his best friend at the mention of his name, which brought a gentle smile to Al's face. Scorpius was hugging Draco, who was returning the hug with one arm, and was easily saying, "I love you, dad." Draco had his eyes closed while taking a breath like he was trying to savour the moment.

"Thanks, dad… I'll think about it." Of course Albus would feel more comfortable sharing his deepest troubles with his best friend, he had shared almost everything with Hermione and Ron back in Hogwarts himself. Despite hoping that his son could confide in him someday, he was grateful that Albus had his own Hermione or Ron… No, Scorpius was unique that he did not need to be compared with his best friends, he thought to himself as he remembered how he had encouraged Albus to make a few more friends two years ago. His boy had retorted But I don't need a Ron and Hermione. I've got a friend, Scorpius, and I know you don't like him but he's all I need. It was a comfort to think that his son had known all along what he had needed. He wondered if he had been kinder to the young Malfoy all along, could he have been able to prevent the disasters from happening. Of course if Ginny were able to read his thoughts, he would likely be hexed in his face right now. He really should stop thinking about all the what-ifs, but he sure was grateful that Albus had Scorpius, a loyal and caring friend who had proved that he would do anything for him.

He was wearing an affectionate smile himself when he continued, "Well, I hope you have a great term, son. I will see you in the Easter break." Albus turned back to look at him for a few seconds, before both of them simultaneously tried to initiate a hug which resulted in them hugging at a rather awkward angle. It was a bit embarrassing but already a thousand times better than his last sendoff.

The red engine whistled for the first time as the fathers broke off their hugs. The boys turned and smiled towards each other.

"You should get going, Albus." He turned towards to blonde boy, "I hope you have a nice term too, Scorpius." The blonde boy nodded his thanks but he turned to stare at his father with a meaningful look as if urging him to do something. Everyone looked between the Malfoys as Draco blushed and tried to avoid his son's gaze. Scorpius persisted until his look turned from encouraging to disappointed, before the older Malfoy coughed, "Hmm," everyone looked at him curiously, "Harry?"

He answered unsurely "Yes?"

Until now Harry had not realised Draco had kept one hand behind him the whole time which was likely why he had hugged his boy with only one arm. He held this hand slowly out towards him to reveal a mundane-looking paper bag but stopped midway for a second before straightening his arm all the way. "Hmm… I got you something f-from our trip."

"Oh...thanks." He tentatively reached out to receive the bag. It was a bit awkward but he tried to give the Malfoys an accepting smile as he saw how his new friend looked visually nervous, which was so different from his usually dignified appearance, while Scorpius was beaming witnessing this. In retrospect, perhaps Scorpius had only written that he wanted to say hi to the Potters to make sure that his father would give this out and he would be there to witness it. From his peripheral vision, he could see that Ron's jaw had dropped again, just like their last time here. Ginny, however, was giving them an encouraging smile as well.

"I-it was nothing too expensive or special. Scorpius was always trying to look for something nice for his friends that I thought I might as well get a little something my..." It was so unlike Malfoy to trail off like this before finishing his sentence. Harry felt a bit sorry for Draco for ever feeling the need to justify giving out a present.

"I kept trying to explain to dad that shopping for friends is part of the fun of travelling. Anyway, we should go now, goodbye." Scorpius was about to turn away with a satisfied look after seeing his father's mission accomplished.

"Scorpius?" Everyone was stunned to see Ron called Scorpius for the first time, but no one was as startled as Scorpius himself. "Yes... M-Mr Weasley?"

"Hermione... and I want to thank you for your flowers." Thank Merlin that Ron remembered to thank the boy because he had completely forgotten about Hermione's request. It was Ron's turn to have all his blood pumped towards his face now.

"You are welcome, Mr Weasley. Thank you so much for your presents as well, they are brilliant!" Harry believed that out of everyone he knew, Scorpius had to be the person who gave the most sincere thanks.

"Hm… No problem." Ron gave a bashful smile, which the boy returned with a much more genuine one before helping Albus to move his trunk onto the train. Apparently, he had already reserved a compartment with his own trunk in advance. When Harry looked up to the compartment window, he realised that Rose had once again opted to sit with the Slytherin boys that she had been an attentive audience to all that had been happening just now. James and Lily had come to the last compartment to say hi with Ron, as well as saying another goodbye to them, before the train whistled again and began to pull away as the four parents there waved their children goodbye.

"Harry, when do you have to arrive in the office?" Ginny asked.

He instinctively looked at his watch even though he knew that the Hogwarts Express always departed at eleven. "At two." He could totally see where this was going.

"Harry and I are going to have lunch somewhere, would you two like to join us?" She was asking both Draco and Ron but was only making eye contact with Draco while giving him her friendliest smile.

"Sure, I can go back to the store anytime I want." Ron replied quickly but he was looking at Malfoy too, his expression looked relatively neutral but he had straightened his neck a little like he was eager to know Draco's answer as well.

"Thank you for your invitation, but I should get going. Thank you for everything you all have done for Scorpius as well, they meant a lot to us. Goodbye."

"Malfoy?" Draco was turning away when Ron once again surprised them for different reasons, Harry was surprised that he seemed to be able to follow through on his promise while Ginny had no idea why Ron would stop Draco at all as Ron's present was one of the few things from Christmas that he had not told her.

"Yes?" Draco had turned back with the most puzzled look that had ever graced his face.

"Can I talk to you in private for a minute?" For the second time of the day, Ron's face looked almost as red as his hair.

"Hm…" His new friend looked rather hesitant as if thinking over what possibly was there for Ron Weasley to talk to him about or debating whether Ron had any malicious intentions that he instinctively looked towards Harry for answers. He gave Draco an encouraging nod and smile. After a beat, he said, "I guess so."

Ron moved towards his former rival while the Potters stepped about two metres away to give them some privacy. Harry knew he probably should not be looking towards them at all but he could not resist.

"Do you know what is going on, Harry?" Ginny gave him a questioning look after silently waiting for half a minute.

"I might but sorry I can't tell you unless Ron let me. All I can tell you is, this is quite an admirable thing for Ron to do, especially because he has held grudges against Draco for so many years."

"Okay… by the way, I don't think I have heard it wrong but did Scorpius say Ron had given him a present?" Ginny gave the blonde and ginger men a look as if asking does it have anything to do with this?

He sighed, he had never been good at lying but he had absolutely no hope against his wife. "Hmm… I think so." He did not even know whether he was answering her spoken or unspoken question. Ginny would have continued her passive interrogation had there not been a significant change in the men's interaction. Until now Ron had been the one doing most of the talking while Draco occasionally responded with a few words and a nod or two, however, just then Draco had started to say something earnestly which ended with him slightly bowing his head. If there was any question about whether this had been expected, one only had to look at Ron's o-shaped mouth and wide eyes to see the answer. They exchanged a few more words before both of them started back towards them, with Ron lagging a little behind.

"Harry and Ginny, I have to leave now. Have a good day." Malfoy looked all business while Ron was looking rather shell-shocked.

"Draco?"

"Yes?" He raised an eyebrow for being stopped again that it looked like he was meaning to say Now what? instead, at least he had not started turning away this time.

"I have gotten a chance to talk with Teddy about him meeting Scorpius, he liked the idea very much. My plan is to have you two meet with Teddy and Andromeda at the same time, so I would still need to have a talk with her, if this is okay for you."

His look turned solemn but seemed a little embarrassed for having appeared annoyed earlier. "Of course, that would be the most appropriate and respectful thing to do, especially after she had shown us such graciousness at my mother's funeral... Thank you for organising, Harry. Please let me know if you require any help." The longer he had really gotten to know Draco, the more obvious his noble upbringing had appeared to him, which of course might as well be invisible to him in Hogwarts when his former nemesis had been acting like a prat all the times.

"I'm thinking about a more relaxed dinner at my home during the Easter break, so it should not be much trouble. I will let you know if there is anything." They exchanged a bit more pleasantries before Malfoy left the three of them.

"What's wrong with you, Ron? You have looked so strange since your talk with Draco." Ginny asked in a slightly concerned tone.

"Hm… I apologised to Malfoy about including a toy ferret in a present to his son, as I had promised Harry. He accepted it rather readily… but the ponytail… he kind of took the opportunity to apologise for almost poisoning me to death just now, after twenty-four years… I can't believe it…" This took even Harry by surprise, but if Draco was willing to take the initiative to make peace with Ron after so many years, perhaps making both of his best friends befriend their former enemy was not too much to hope for.

Later, when he looked into the paper bag of present Draco had given him, Harry realised there was also a thick letter sealed with silky green wax laced with gold.

A/N: I know that my chapter titles are boring. I was actually so tempted to name this chapter "3 emotionally stunted idiots" (imagine if Harry, Ron and Draco form a support group or something) but it would stick out too much among the other titles :P

By the way, I have rarely PM replied signed reviews before last week because I had a bad experience doing so before that I genuinely was not sure what's the done thing here and was afraid of creeping people out. Sorry for the people who have reviewed before but I will try to PM reply all of the future signed reviews from now on because reviews mean so much to me. Your words have kept me going for so long that I would love to communicate with you in a less passive way but feel free to let me know if you would prefer not receiving PM.