The next few weeks before the Easter break had been rather uneventful. Harry had maintained his owlpost correspondence with Draco and they had agreed that Draco should not tell Scorpius anything more about the gathering than what he had already known earlier about having the chance to meet Teddy soon, until his return at the start of the break. The news would be a surprise for the boy, which would be delivered when all of them gathered on the platform in person. He had, however, updated Albus on everything about the gathering, including the inclusion of the Granger-Weasleys and their intention to keep it a secret from Scorpius. He had told him that Hermione had already told Rose about it but had made sure that she would keep it a secret because if she were to hear about the gathering on the spot, they were afraid she would publicly refuse to come and thus ruining things for Scorpius.
Albus seemed a little skeptical about his uncle and Rose's presence at the gathering even though he agreed that Scorpius would love meeting Hermione, but he was not against it as he seemed to understand Harry's logic behind the decision. However, Albus seemed to be really looking forward to surprise his best friend. He predicted that this would be the happiest surprise Scorpius would ever have received in his school years but lamented the missed opportunity for this to be the most unexpected surprise as his friend had already been aware of the possibility of meeting Teddy soon. Nonetheless, Al seemed sure that this was going to be brilliant.
True to his words, Harry had continued to painstakingly avoid asking about the nightmares in all of his letters to Albus even though it had been all that had been on his mind at the time of his writing and not surprisingly, his son had not volunteered any news on that front himself. Asking about Albus' classes and his daily life no longer felt as safe as it had been, because once Harry had seen his son at his most vulnerable state after the nightmare, he could not unsee it that he feared to upset Al in any way, especially after he had learned parts of his nightmares. Since he had already pulled out his trump card of the gathering earlier, Harry had a hard time coming up with anything else to cheer the boy up or to distract him, anything he was able to mention seemed to pale in comparison to the gathering but he hoped that they could mean something nonetheless.
He had sent the newest catalogue from Quality Quidditch Supplies to Al while suggesting a few bargain deals of great quality. He had told Al that the whole family or the two of them could go flying together over the Easter weekend depending on what Albus wanted so he could try his new broomstick out but made sure to assure Al that he should get a broomstick only if that was truly something he wanted, instead of something he would do just to humour his old man. Albus did not seem as enthusiastic as he had hoped about the broomstick but at least he did assert that it was something he truly wanted for himself. James would have been over the moon if he were going to get a new broomstick but of course, Al would not be Al if he could so easily be cheered up by such mundane things like a broomstick.
The other thing Harry mentioned which had appeared to be received more positively was the suggestion for Al to visit his best friend at the Malfoy's Manor in the Easter break or for the young Malfoy to visit the Potters' home in addition to the Easter gathering. Following the incidents, Albus' Christmas visit to the Manor as well as the boy's nightmares, not only did Harry believe that the Slytherin boys should spend more time together during the short breaks, he also could not even remember his own rationales for not allowing his son to visit his friend in the past few years at the first place.
While there were a few days of the actual holidays when Albus should always reserve for the family (not that the lonely Malfoys should not be invited to join them from now on), each of the two breaks were over two weeks long that even if the boys visited each other once or twice, Al would still have plenty of time left to spend with his family, in which Harry would have so much work himself that he could not afford much time for his children anyway despite wanting so much to spend the whole breaks with them. He would be too busy to drop Albus off at the Manor but Ginny could do that just fine or his fourteen-year-old boy could totally floo over himself. Of course he had consulted with Draco about this in one of his letters and believing that Harry had taken notes from his previous letters and had again been trying to help Scorpius, his friend had thanked him so earnestly that Harry had felt too embarrassed to confess that he had suggested it more for the benefits of his son than the young Malfoy, even though he had had no doubt that Scorpius would indeed be very pleased about this.
Although Harry had expected his son to respond well to the news, he could not have expected to receive this answer on the same day from Al.
"Thank you for letting Scorpius and I visit each other over the break, dad. I told him immediately and he's already started writing a list of some of his latest and favourite books that he's going to show me now that I've shown the tiniest bit of interest in reading. (It sounds crazy but I think the Malfoys have 15,000 books or so that according to Scorpius, it's absolutely necessary.)
By the way, I know what you're trying to do with all the updates about your gathering, the catalogue and now this news. I am looking forward to get my own broomstick and I do appreciate your efforts but just because there has been something bothering me lately doesn't mean you need to go out of your way to cheer me up. I prefer your letters to be more normal and natural, more like how they were before Christmas when you'd write and ask more about our everyday lives. Honestly, this is exactly the reason why I prefer to keep something to myself, to prevent you all from fussing over me.
You're not the only one who has gotten all worried about me now. Scorpius and I had always gone everywhere together but lately he has started following me to the bathroom! He has also been constantly looking sideways at me which made me kind of uncomfortable but I can't exactly tell him off because I know he's just feeling concerned and I don't want to hurt his feelings. It's nice to finally have some good news I could share with him to ease him up a bit. I really am doing okay. Thank you again, dad."
Although Harry was glad that Albus seemed to be doing truly okay and he felt bad for smiling inappropriately at the thought of Scorpius dutifully following his son around everywhere trying to make sure that he would not have a breakdown behind his back, he was feeling frustrated by the letter at the same time. First he had been forbidden to ask about the nightmares, then he was discouraged from deliberately trying to cheer Al up, what was a father supposed to do now?
Harry's heart was filled with nervous excitement when he arrived on Platform 9¾ on a Tuesday in late March about half an hour early, with Ginny by his side, not unlike a similar occasion a little more than three months ago. Had it really been just three months? Welcoming Albus home at the start of the Christmas break felt like ages ago. Things had evolved in an unbelievable pace since the beginning of Al's fourth year. If someone had told him on the first of September that Voldemort's daughter would snare the Slytherin boys into a time-travelling plot which would kill another innocent Hogwarts student and would almost succeed in bringing the Dark Lord back to life, that he would go back in time to witness his own parents' deaths with his own eyes, that he would become good friends with Draco, that he would be able to repair his relationship with Al as a result of these terrible incidents, that he would witness his son suffering from nightmares not unlike those which had plagued him for the majority of his life, that he would come to admire and adore the young Scorpius Malfoy himself and that he would spend so much time and effort in organising this gathering with his family, the Malfoys, Teddy, Andromeda, as well as the Granger-Weasleys, all within the span of seven months, he would never have believed it. He could not believe that Easter break had finally arrived, the time had come to put his plans into action.
Today felt so similar to the start of Christmas break yet it was so different at the same time. As soon as Harry had crossed the barrier to get on the platform, he immediately noticed the very familiar white-blonde hair from afar. Unlike last time, he did not hesitate at all to walk straight towards Draco Malfoy, as Ginny give him an encouraging nod. Like last time, Malfoy had noticed his approach early on but unlike last time, he had turned towards them to give them a very faint but friendly smile, which would absolutely be mistaken as "an arrogant smirk" by Ron or some of his other brothers-in-law. As always, Draco was wearing a fancy dress suit yet this time it was in navy blue and black with an elegant white shirt underneath while he had his hair in a single braid with some delicate but fashionable design. Harry could not help stealing a quick look at his own suit, which was a bit wrinkled and had been worn frequently for the past five to ten years with a few small stains here and there which suddenly looked much more obvious than a minute earlier, and instinctively running his hand through his untamable hair, before turning back to face his friend as they reached his side.
Draco Malfoy was standing with perfect posture with his hands behind his back when he said, "Good afternoon, Potters."
Ginny cheerfully greeted back, "Good afternoon, Draco. How're you doing?" while Harry gave Draco a friendly nod.
"I'm fine, thank you." Draco's expression softened as he added, "I can't wait to have Scorpius back at home. Of course his education is very important but sometimes I wish he can spend more than three months a year at home."
"I'm sorry, Draco." Ginny responded sympathetically before asking, "The Manor must feel enormous without him there?"
His face clouded a little for a second, only to recover into a more neutral expression immediately after. "Yes, indeed. But I've gotten used to it. I've been putting things in order for the past week to prepare for Scorpius' return, it helped to make the wait more tolerable."
"It certainly would be nice for me to be able to see my kids all the times but I can't deny I'm quite glad at times that they're all in school for months on end. I've no doubt that Scorpius is an angel at home," she said with an affectionate smile as if she was talking about her own child, "but it can be such a nightmare to have our three kids together in one room…" Draco laughed at her joke, his laugh was a little reserved but it did not sound forced or fake to Harry, before he proceeded to talk about how he had been trying to redecorate some of the rooms of the Manor to make them more pleasant. Ginny listened attentively while giving him some suggestions here and there.
Harry was not too surprised that he could hardly get in a word in this conversation. Everyone who had known both Ginny and him seemed to prefer Ginny's company to his, which was no surprise as Ginny was charming, intelligent, witty, caring and basically the life of the party, and it appeared that Draco was no exception. Since their first dinner at his home, Draco had visited once again for dinner. Harry had been able to put off visiting his friend at the Malfoy Manor for now but he had a feeling he would have to give in eventually in the near future as their two families became closer and closer.
Without the worry of needing to tell some difficult news and the interruption of his tactless best friend, the second dinner had gone even better than the first. As Draco had always carried himself with a seriousness which often made Harry nervous, he rarely had been able to bring himself to talk too casually or joke with Draco but Ginny would just talk to Malfoy the same way she would talk with his brothers and miraculously, Draco had seemed okay about this. Harry had been very relieved that Ginny was getting along so well with Draco but he envied her ability to instantly make strangers warm up to her.
Being not fully occupied in the conversation, Harry noticed that a surprisingly large number of people around them were openly whispering about the strange sight of the former Death Eater chatting easily with the Potters and he immediately felt bad for Draco. It had been twenty years but it seemed like the wizarding world was no less ready to forget about the Malfoys' past than it had been all those years ago. Malfoy had proven himself to be a devoted husband, a loving father and in giving up his Time-Turner, assisting them in fighting and apprehending Delphi to save their sons, he had essentially saved the world. What more did he have to do to convince the world that he had changed. Draco, for his part, had appeared or had pretended to not notice any of these, which did not truly bring Harry any relief. He wondered if his friend had simply gotten too used to them that he just chose to tune it out and not think about it.
Witnessing people shamelessly gossiping about Draco right in front of him also made Harry uneasy as he remembered how much he had felt annoyed by the way so many eyes would follow him wherever he went, especially when he had appeared in any crowded location. Harry had never enjoyed the attention but compared to what Draco and Scorpius had to deal with in a daily basis, being thanked by a crying old lady or being asked to sign an autograph occasionally was hardly anything worth complaining about.
A/N: My busiest days are over so hopefully I'll have a bit more free time to write over the holiday. Lately, it feels much harder for me to come up with a title for a chapter, maybe it's proof that there isn't much of a standout theme in a number of my chapters. Sometimes I feel like I'm being very repetitive with some content, and perhaps half of the length of this story is Harry's thought. It seems to have become my style by now but I keep feel like I'm just too long-winded and should get on with the plot.
Thank you again for your lovely support, you're the reason I keep going. Please comment. Happy Easter =)