It was 4:27pm, the train was going to arrive in three minutes so they all turned towards the direction in which the incoming train would arrive while casually chit chatting about things they barely cared about. But as soon as they had turned, Harry caught a glimpse of a familiar deep purple flashing nearby, before he felt a pat on his shoulder.
Instead of greeting him the way a normal friend would, his other best friend once again took the opportunity to remind him how incompetent he was as the Head of the department. "Harry, you've gotten a few numbers wrong in the report you submitted to me this morning." the Minister for Magic deadpanned. Unlike her husband, she appeared perfectly composed even though she must have rushed here from the Ministry. Given she had come from the Ministry to King's Cross Station, two locations with so many people showing up every day, even the Minister for Magic was not allowed to simply apparate onto the platform.
"Oh…" He was trying frantically to recall the numbers he had gotten wrong and could come up with nothing. It was not really a surprise to him that there were mistakes as he had rushed through the last few pages in his quest to leave on time but he was feeling rather conflicted about this conversation. While he felt bad about adding to Hermione's troubles when she had already been so busy all the times, he could literally feel the blood rushing towards his face to be embarrassed in front of Draco, the way he had been many times in his youth, but this time by his best friend who should have known better than to publicly talk about his failures in his job.
A mischievous smile broke on her face. "Just kidding… you did make a few grammatical mistakes but you really should at least proofread your report once before turning it in." Harry looked suitably ashamed while he mumbled an apology like a schoolboy but he would have felt much more annoyed at his friend had she not been as overworked that he knew he should have tried harder to make things easier for her.
Ron had quickly reached her side before placing his arm a little possessively behind her back. "You're so cold, Hermione! Shouldn't you at least give your husband a hello kiss before talking about work yet again with Harry?" He sounded way over-the-top that Harry was struggling not to roll his eyes. Remarkably, Draco had kept his impassive expression while still fixing his gaze on the direction in which the train would be arriving soon.
"Why? I literally just saw you ten minutes ago. Are you jealous?" She teased him while giving him what looked to Harry as perhaps a flirting smile, it was not an easy thing to tell with her. Ron turned his cheek towards her for her to kiss with his eyes closed but she placed her hand softly on his face instead. He opened his eyes a bit disappointedly. After all these years, it still made Harry uncomfortable to see his best friends acting too intimate but he never made any comment because it would only encourage Ron to tease him everytime he kissed Ginny in his presence.
In any case, it was nice to see Hermione acting more playful once in a while. Harry's relationship with her had changed quite a bit over the past few years since she had become the Minister and his direct boss. Sure she had been understanding and supportive as always, but he had almost forgotten that it could be quite fun being around her, not that he could blame her given all her responsibilities and burdens.
After a moment, she turned around to say a quick hello to Ginny, before addressing Draco a little cautiously, he had turned a little sideway a moment earlier, which allowed him to see the train when it arrived but also be more aware of the interaction between the Potters and the Granger-Weasleys, "How are you, Draco?"
"I am fine... thank you, Granger." He had turned towards her before replying a little stiffly with a nod. Unlike with Ron, Harry had never imagined needing to worry about how Hermione would treat the Malfoys but seeing Draco greeted Hermione really reminded him of all the times Draco had called her by that word. Technically, he knew he should not have to feel worried because he knew for a fact that Draco had changed but he felt nervous nonetheless.
"Good … How's Scorpius?"
"He's doing great… By the way, I don't think I have thanked you for your Christmas present for Scorpius." Harry found himself relaxing, at least Draco did seem to be making an effort to be friendly.
"Oh, it's no problem. I haven't gotten a chance to thank Scorpius yet for the flowers myself, they're gorgeous! But I hope you don't mind me asking, is he experiencing any… discomfort or trauma following the incidents? I've been…" All of a sudden, they heard the first horn from a distance but no one turned to look at the train as it started pulling into the station. "... worried about him."
"He is truly doing great… it would be a lie to say that he had not suffered but well… let's just say the incidents have brought us closer." Hermione looked satisfied with his answer but Harry was a little surprised when Draco added. "I really appreciate your concern… hmm, it seems like he's now friendly with your daughter as well."
"Oh, they are friendly but I believe Rose sees him more as a competitor than a friend, I'd say he's the only competition she takes seriously in their year." Hermione obviously enjoyed the topic as she flashed Draco a knowing smile. Ron looked back and forth between the two of them. He seemed eager to interrupt but was not sure what to say.
"I'll take this as a compliment even though it has nothing to do with me. Scorpius is keen to learn everything that in a way, I have the easiest parenting job in the wor…" As they had been too engaged in this conversation, the two couples and Draco had been oblivious to the other people on the platform until now but Draco remaining words got drown out this moment as the train compartment doors opened with students excitedly rushing out to meet their families.
Harry saw it before Draco had even started turning towards the train but surprisingly, while James and Lily were getting out from the compartments at the front, which were a considerable distance away from them, a pale boy with white-blonde hair hopped off the train from the very last compartment excitedly. The boy was likely the first fourth-year to get off and he all but ignored his own trunk as he happily rushed forward to fling himself at his father, not caring that he was only hugging his father's back.
Harry could hear Ginny saying "Aw" next to him with her joined hands placed in front of her chin, not unlike when she had seen the most adorable puppies in Muggle London over the last weekend. Draco Malfoy looked bewildered, which was no small feat at all as he had such an extraordinarily calm demeanour these days, when he turned to greet his son, he was obviously surprised to receive his son so early with such an enthusiastic hug after years of prolonged and anxious wait on the platform.
"I've missed you so much, dad!" Scorpius' high-pitched voice had an infectious quality that all of them were smiling at his excitement, except Ron, who seemed to be struggling to maintain a neutral expression. The boy happily hugged Draco again now that the older Malfoy had turned to face him.
"I-I've missed you too, S-Scorpius." Harry could swear that Draco's voice was sounding a bit nasal and shaky even though it seemed that he was trying hard to appear as composed as possible. He could totally understand why Draco would be overwhelmed by this open display of affection having drifted so far apart from his son following Astoria's death and having almost lost the boy in the incidents. Merlin… he would have cried himself if Albus would greet him in a moment with such an excited hug. But considering all of Albus' troubles, he doubted that could happen in all the coming school years. Nonetheless, he was extremely happy for Draco knowing the hard journey they had taken to finally come together as father and son but he wished Albus could be as honest as Scorpius with his feelings someday.
Just as his thoughts had turned towards Albus, he noticed his youngest son had gotten off the train as well. While he looked nowhere as troubled and withdrawn as he had been in the early years, Albus did not look as happy and carefree as he had been at the start of Christmas either. In fact, he looked visually tired compared to all of his other schoolmates. At least Albus did give him a smile, albeit one that looked a little weak, as he slowly walked over to greet his family. By this time, James and Lily had reached them and were taking turns greeting each of their parents as well as their aunt and uncle. Rose had gone off after Albus but had of course reached Hermione and Ron, who were standing more further away from the train than himself, sooner.
Ginny had her arms open, waiting to hug Albus, when he finally reached them. Thankfully, he did not hesitate at all and went automatically into her arms as he greeted, "Hi, mum." Harry was being hugged by Lily while Scorpius, who had taken a moment to check that his best friend had arrived before turning back to his father, was happily talking to Draco, whose hand still lingered behind Scorpius' back after their affectionate hug.
Harry saw that Ginny had whispered something to Albus, to which he mumbled a few words he could not hear in response while holding her a bit tighter before finally breaking off from her.
As Albus turned to face him, Harry realised with disappointment that he had returned from feeling rather comfortable around his son, not having to worried about what to say, back to feeling unreasonably nervous around him, even though he had written more than ten letters to him since the end of Christmas break. Of course knowing what to write was different from being articulate in real life. He took a moment to look at his son, who looked like he had grown almost an inch taller but seemed slimer as well even though he had been thin to begin with. He looked healthy but the bags under his eyes were too noticable to Harry's liking. He wanted to act casual but seeing the dark circles, he became momentarily distracted by his concern about whether Albus had been sleeping well that he forgot to speak.
Albus looked like he was waiting for him to say or do something before saying anything himself that for at least fifteen seconds, the father and son stood awkwardly facing each other in silence, until the boy could not stand this any longer. "Hmm, hi dad."
Harry gave a cough, before saying, "How are you, Albus?"
"I'm good." He replied, not caring to reply any further. Harry thought Albus did not look good at all.
Out of the corner of his eye, Harry could see Ginny happily hugging Scorpius, who returned the hug every bit as affectionately. They looked so comfortable in each other's arms that it was hard to believe that this was only the second time the two of them had hugged. He sighed as he wondered how his wife could embrace another's child so effortlessly when he struggled so bad to hug his own son. Looking at Albus, who had started looking down to avoid making eye contact with him, he felt scared that all the lovely progress over the past few months had been just a dream or all pretense in Al's part that he desperately felt the need to do something to hold on to some proof that their relationship had truly improved.
He took a deep breath before slightly opening his arms and asked timidly, "May I?" He tried to keep his beating heart in check and reminded himself that the worst that could happen was Albus declining to hug him in public. He doubted his son would feel irritated enough to yell or want to burn something in his face again after everything that had happened this school year.
Albus seemed to blush a little as he shrugged and moved closer without opening his arms to let Harry hug him first. He cautiously wrapped his arms around the boy before Albus decided to hug him back too, albeit only with one arm. The hug only lasted for five seconds or so but it felt much longer and was every bit as awkward as the last hug the father and son had shared a few months ago on the same platform when both of them had tried to initiate the hug at the same time which had resulted in them hugging at an awkward angle. Surprising himself, Harry was the one who let go first instead of his son because he was constantly worrying about the way Albus would react to things, in this case, a hug which lasted for too long, that he would rather cut it short than risk irritating Al.
A/N: I know the chapter is a bit short but I really like the exchange between characters here myself, especially Draco with Hermione and Draco with Scorpius. I feel kinda bad about the setback in Harry and Albus' relationship but I see it as a continuous process with Albus withholding secrets while parenting was just something that had never come natural to Harry. Anyway, why am I always more tired and unmotivated after taking a holiday?