When he was facing his son again after breaking of from the hug, Harry said honestly, "I've been worried about you, son."
"I told you, dad." Albus sounded a little bit weary but not pissed off like he would be in second or third year. "I'm fine. Besides, Neville, Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey have been constantly trying to look out for us, to make sure that we're okay..." He muttered the last bit which Harry suspected was not meant for him to hear, "...especially me."
Hearing McGonagall's name reminded him of the fact that his former professor had to deal with the publicity disaster that was having a student died under her watch, which naturally would make her even more protective of the two boys despite them being part of the cause of Craig's death. Not for the first time, he could acutely feel his affection and appreciation for the headmistress grow, not unlike the time when she had stood up to Umbridge by promising to do everything she could to help him become an Auror and the time she had intercepted Amycus Carrow in the Ravenclaw common room before the Battle of Hogwarts.
"Good, I'm grateful for them." Seeing the look Albus gave him, he continued, "They don't have to go out of their ways to do this, Albus. They're doing this only because they're worried about you."
Al sighed. "I understand, dad… It's just that everyone seems worried about me these days. Even James comes to talk to me like every week at dinner lately, and..." Harry caught his son eyeing his best friend, who had let go of Ginny but was excitedly chatting with her, briefly with a tired expression he had never imagined Al would wear looking at Scorpius. He was grateful that his eldest son had been trying harder to be there for Al and that Scorpius seemed to have done his part in staying by Al's side the best he could but he felt bad for the young Malfoy that his son would feel so uncomfortable by the attention everyone had shown him that he would even feel unhappy with his best friend. Still, he could understand where his boy was coming from remembering the way everyone had seemed to be walking on eggshells around him on his fifth year following Sirius' death and Voldemort's return.
"I know how you feel, Albus… I've been through this before so I understand that it could be frustrating… Please don't take it personally because your professors, your friends," he gave Scorpius a brief look himself, "and your family are worried about you only because we all care about you a lot…" There was so much more Harry wanted to say to his son but could not get himself to say it right here and now that he just left out a breath before saying, "W-we, hmm, I love you so much, Albus."
His son sighed, "I know, dad... And It's not like I'm complaining about this but I'm not a trauma…" he trailed off awkwardly, Harry thought perhaps Al realised that some thoughts were better left unsaid.
Seeing that Albus seemed to have enough of this conversation, he decided to move on to something which could hopefully make Al feel better, "It's okay, we don't have to talk about this if you don't want to… Anyway, are you excited about getting your own broomstick tomorrow?"
This really did grab Albus' attention, but not in the way he had expected. "Tomorrow? I thought it's over the weekend… don't you have to work, dad?"
"Of course I do, but the plan's for your mum and the three of you to spend tomorrow afternoon at Diagon Alley together before I join you all after work so the two of us can pick out your broomstick together. I've mentioned this to you in a letter I sent out last week." Albus had to be the only wizard who could forget the day he was going to get his very first broomstick. On the other hand, Harry could see Scorpius, who was standing at the side, perking up at the mention of Albus getting his broomstick, that Al did not even get to respond.
"Oh, you're getting your own broomstick tomorrow, Albus? And you didn't tell me!" Scorpius obviously was bummed that Al would keep something as important as this from him but the disappointment seemed to be overshadowed by his excitement for his friend.
Albus shook his head a little but gave his best friend a smile, "Because apparently I've forgotten about this myself."
"I can't believe you could forget about getting a broomstick! But this is perfect! You can try it out when you visit at the Manor later in the break." Judging from the looks of the boys, anyone would have guessed that it was the enthusiastic Scorpius instead of the slightly amused Albus who was going to get his own broomstick the next day.
Albus nodded to his friend like he was looking at an overexcited puppy. "Sure, that sounds like a plan."
"And I'm going to Diagon Alley tomorrow too, so we can meet up and buy books and sweets together. I think I may try to get another pet tomorrow and dad even promised to let me visit Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes tomorrow!" Albus looked mildly surprised but Harry could see Ron's jaw dropped in his peripheral vision.
Ginny interrupted at this moment, "Albus, I've promised Draco that we will bring Scorpius to the shop so you can give your friend a personal tour if that's okay for you." Scorpius was looking at Ginny with starry eyes.
Al shrugged, "Sure I can do that, there are some lame stuf..." catching sight of the dangerous look his uncle was giving him at the moment and Scorpius' growing excitement, he backtracked, "I mean, there are many cool products as well that I'm sure you'll love it."
Scorpius could not contain his excitement any longer, he squealed in delight while holding his friend's hands, "Oh Albus, thank you so much! It'll be perfect with you there, I heard it's so chaotic there that I was afraid I'd get knocked down by a screaming Umbridge or something if I just go with my dad." Even though Al was shorter than Scorpius, he reached out a hand to mess up Scorpius' hair while giving him an affectionate smile, "Of course you wouldn't have been knocked down, you idiot."
Ron was not even trying to control his laughters that Hermione slapped him in his back. Harry caught sight of Ron trying to give Draco a smug smile after he had calmed down. Scorpius had seemed embarrassed by Ron's reaction but he had calmed down as well now that he was casually chatting with his friend. Harry could see James giving Scorpius a wave now that he was done talking with a girl from his year and the blonde boy nodding with a smile in response. At this moment, Hermione walked over to greet Scorpius.
"Hi, Scorpius." The Minister for Magic gave the boy her warmest smile.
"Oh hi, I mean good afternoon, Ms Granger, I mean, Ms Minister. I-It's such an honour to meet you, I've first read your translation of The Tales of Beedle the Bard when I was three." Albus looked at his friend with an eyebrow raised, as if saying Really?
"You can call me Hermione, Scorpius. Nice to meet you too but that's a little bit embarrassing… I'd prefer you to just see me as Rose's mum or Albus' aunt, so I hope you can be comfortable around me like the way you're with Ginny. Besides, we have met with each other before... but of course this is a much more relaxing time and environment. Anyway, I just want to say a quick hello and to thank you for your lovely flowers. It's really sweet of you to have sent the flowers."
The boy gave her a bashful smile, "I'm so glad you liked them, but I should be thanking you for your present, it's such a great book. I love it so much that I've already read it thrice."
Harry could see Hermione looked genuinely happy that her present was appreciated, "You're welcome, Scorpius. I believe you're the first person I've met who actually love the book. I wondered if it would be too difficult for you but I'm glad I took my chance."
With a pat on his shoulder, Hermione went back to Ron and left the two boys. It was curious that Draco had been standing nearby the whole time since the hug, occasionally chatting casually with him, Ginny and even Hermione, or just contentedly looking at Scorpius while his son was chatting with others.
Considering that they should leave the station soon, Harry thought that it was about time for him to bring up the sleepover and of course the Easter gathering so he moved a bit closer to greet Scorpius, "Hi Scorpius."
"Hi Mr Potter… Oh Merlin, I didn't mean to interrupt so rudely just now while you were talking with Albus. I'm so sorry!" Scorpius looked all flushed and embarrassed that Harry could see a healthy pink on his cheek under his ivory skin.
"It's all good, Scorpius, don't worry about it." Harry patted the blonde-haired boy on his shoulder. "How're you doing?"
"School has been really good lately, Mr Potter, but I've been really looking forward to the break because I really missed spending time with my dad. Thank you so much for letting Albus to visit." No one could have doubted Scorpius' sincerity, if only Albus could wear his heart on his sleeve like his best friend do.
Harry gave Scorpius a good natured smile, "You're welcome. Speaking of Albus' visit at the Malfoy Manor, would you like if Albus sleeps over this time instead of just staying for the day?" Albus' jaw dropped slightly, it was obvious that Scorpius had not even mentioned his desire of having a sleepover with him at all, which was a bit unexpected. However, what was more unexpected was Scorpius' reaction to his question.
Instead of screaming in excitement like Harry had expected, Scorpius looked absolutely horrified when he turned to his father, "You asked Har...I mean Mr Potter, dad? I told you I was going to ask another year…" Harry found it interesting that Scorpius would only call him by his name while not talking to him.
"Yes, I did, son, but the fact that Harry is asking you about it should prove to you that I did the right thing and you were being silly to worry about it." Draco was completely unfazed about Scorpius' overreaction.
"Yeah… but you couldn't have known. It only turned out okay now that he's fine about it… it'd have been bad if Harry were unhappy…" The boy trailed off and looked down in embarrassment as he realised he was openly talking about him in front of the Boy who Lived himself.
Draco surprised Harry when he did not take the cue and responded anyway, "Believe it or not, I actually understand Potter better than you expected, Scorpius. He's far too noble to be upset about something like this." There was a bit of smugness in his voice that his former nemesis reminded Harry of his arrogant younger self for once in quite a while. He could feel his cheeks warming as he was not sure if he should take this as a compliment or not. It sounded so strange to his ears that Draco was describing him as noble. "Besides, I had him promised that he would pretend that I hadn't asked if he did not agree to it."
"That's not the point, dad…" Scorpius mumbled before turning back to Harry. "Thank you so much for giving your permission, Mr Potter. It's very kind of you for agreeing to let Albus sleeping over at the Manor. I'm terribly sorry that I've just appeared very rude again." Harry was suddenly reminded that Scorpius was a pureblood hearing how posh and formal he sounded, it was such an easy thing to forget with the bubbly boy.
"It's really no problem at all, Scorpius, especially because I think a sleepover would do Albus some good too. Hmm... I know I haven't been all welcoming to you from the start but you don't have to talk so formally around me." He could tell Albus was looking at him attentively from the side.
"Oh, I didn't do it intentionally, and you've always been nice even though we had barely talked before… well, except for that once... in the alternate universe… Mr Potter…" Harry thought Scorpius was giving him much more credit than he deserved that he wondered if the boy even knew how bad things had gone down from the adults' point of view. According to what he had learned from the boys, he had pretty much done the exact same thing to them as the Harry from the alternate universe had, to separate them in school, except it had actually been worse for him. Because Albus had been in Slytherin that whole time, he had gone to great length to force Professor McGonagall to place his Slytherin child in another class with students of other houses just so the boys would not have been able to have any contact with each other. Also, Albus had been forced to move into a different dormitory for the same reason. Then Draco had come over to duel him and put him in his place.
Remembering how much this boy had loved history, he wondered if he had forever shattered the image of the Boy who Lived in Scorpius' mind back then. At the time, he had believed that he had done it for Albus' safety but looking back after getting to know Scorpius, he knew Draco had been right all along and he felt so ashamed of how cruelly he had treated this sweet lonely boy, no, he had wronged both of these boys and so much of what he had done following Godric's Hollow was to make up to them. He wondered if the sweet Scorpius would still think the same about him and call him nice if he had known just how nasty he had been to him before. Just thinking about it made him feel undeserving of the young Malfoy's respect, and this boy had indeed been the most well-mannered child who had always been polite and respectful towards everyone.
"I guess it's kind of like how it never feels right for me to call you Harry." Scorpius continued shyly, he appeared to notice nothing about the turmoil that had been going on in Harry's head. "But this is really amazing, I'm really looking forward to Albus' sleepover."
He was going to reply when Al coughed once loudly, "Hmm… Sorry to interrupt but I don't think anyone has asked me about a sleepover before."
"Oh Albus, I had wanted to invite you for a sleepover at the Malfoy Manor."
"I've gathered as much. I just didn't expect to be the last to know." Albus deadpanned.
"Well, I thought Mr Potter wouldn't be happy about it so I didn't tell you because it'd be disappointing to mention it only to not be able to do it, even though I have mentioned it to my dad, who apparently had asked Mr Potter without me knowing." Scorpius seemed nervous that he was rambling without looking at his friend much.
"Now who's keeping secret from me? And you were upset just a minute ago because I didn't tell you about getting a broomstick." Albus was giving Scorpius his poker face but Harry was sure Scorpius could never fall for that.
"Hmm… I-I wasn't mad at all, I was just teasing you. And i-it's completely different… I just t-thought that this may… may not be the best time to ask Mr Potter that I should wait for another year before mentioning it to you…" It appeared to Harry that Scorpius did fall for it and thought that he had upsetted his friend, which was kind of ridiculous considering his son was looking at his friend fondly while shaking his head.
"And I…" Albus wrapped an arm around Scorpius' shoulder while trying to suppress a laugh, "was teasing you as well. Of course I'm not mad at you!"
Scorpius took a very deep breath before saying, "Oh Albus, you really scared me!" The boy patted his chest a couple times to soothe his nerves. Albus burst out laughing then Scorpius started laughing a moment later as well, not caring that everyone from the three families was all staring at them now. Harry could see Rose, who had been talking with Ron, James and Hugo, rolling her eyes.
The two boys seemed to be having so much fun that Harry did not want to intrude but he and Draco had agreed after all to surprise Scorpius about the Easter gathering here right when everyone who would attend except for Teddy and Andromeda was here. He looked at Draco, who gave him a nod, before coughing loudly once, "Hmm," the two boys stopped laughing and Scorpius looked curiously towards him. He could tell that Al, on the other hand, had immediately comprehended what he was about to say.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, boys, but there's another thing I would like to ask Scorpius about." Harry was very nervous because this was something he had been working on for months. He knew that everyone was looking at him, Draco, Albus, Ron, Hermione and their kids, Ginny and his other kids, but he was only looking at the keen grey eyes of Scorpius Malfoy's as he tried to make his voice as clear as possible, "Scorpius, I'm having a gathering on the Sunday after Easter at my home. Ron's family will be joining us for the whole day while your relatives, Teddy and Andromeda, will join us for dinner. Draco has said that he doesn't have plans for the day, so…" Harry had never seen Scorpius' eyes as wide as they were now and the boy looked like he was holding his breath, he had to take a breath himself before continuing, "Would you like to meet your cousin, Scorpius?"
A/N: The separation of the boys is perhaps my least favorite part of Cursed Child because I hate seeing Harry in this light but it only makes sense that his action in this world had been even worse when Albus had been Slytherin all along.
I've never said it before but the return of the boys for Easter break is supposed to be the official beginning of the second part of this fic, I guess the only thing I can say is: please bear with me and my long-windedness, I've worked really hard to put out chapters as regularly as I can.
Thank you so much for your continuous support. Shout out to Cris46 for your lovely comment but unfortunately, I can't reply to guest comment.
PS: I love writing Scorpius because he's an angel.