Harry had been working on average more than eleven hours a day for six days a week for the past half year and he knew very well that he would be working just as much for the foreseeable future. There was simply too much work to do by too few Aurors that he failed to see the point of taking leave knowing he would likely be going back to work anyway that he might as well cashed in a few days (actually more like most of his annual leave). Public holidays were the rare holidays that he could truly be free from his job, except they were always way too short, especially when he had three children with whom he would make the best use of his holiday by going out or visiting family or friends every day that he always felt more exhausted following a holiday.

Harry woke up on Tuesday feeling as if he had slept for a mere ten minutes instead of a healthy six hours, dreading the mountain of tedious paperwork which would inevitably be waiting for him on his desk. He knew he would work happier earning less but on the field instead of being stuck behind a desk most of the time but Hermione needed all the help she could get. Perhaps it would be the right time for him to retire by the time his best friend stepped down as the Minister for Magic (Ginny was right, they did have more than enough to support the rest of their lives what with both his father and Sirius' inheritance, as well as the significant portion of income they had saved over the past twenty years, if they did not squander away their fortune in any unreasonable way).

As tempting as it was to go to work just a little later than usual in the morning, he knew there would be plenty of urgent tasks that needed to be done within the day that leaving late would simply mean returning home later that he might as well leave for work earlier.

Ginny was still fast asleep when Harry went to the bathroom. However, she was awake by the time he went over to say goodbye after getting dressed even though she seemed to be in no hurry to get up. Her hair looked messy and tangled and there was a red sleep mark on one side of her cheek yet she looked utterly perfect to him when she gave him a radiant smile.

"You're leaving so early, are you sure you don't want to get back next to me and stay for half an hour more before leaving?"

"Nah, I'd bet ten Galleons that there'd be no way I could get back before ten even if I leave this second. I'm just hoping that by leaving home earlier, I'd at least be able to see the kids before they go to bed tonight."

Ginny let out a dramatic sigh, "Of course that can't be helped, my devoted husband always working for the greater good of the entire wizarding world."

The family had another cozy evening the night before, Albus and Lily had drunk butterbeer while the rest of the family shared a bottle of mead. Harry certainly had not drunk enough to get hungover but he was starting to wonder if Ginny had drunk a bit too much.

"Surely you can at least help me drop Albus off at the Malfoy Manor, right?" Ginny gave him a dreamy look which could have made him granting her any wish normally.

By now Harry certainly did not mind seeing the Malfoys more than he had expected. In fact, he enjoyed meeting with them but it would be rude for him to leave them immediately after dropping his son off now that they had gotten much friendlier. "I'm not sure that would be a good idea considering I want to return to work as soon as possible, Gin. Knowing Draco, he probably would make me eat a buffet or a four-course breakfast before going back to work…"

Draco had promised to feed Albus all three meals of the coming two days, which Harry strongly suspected would be all buffets. The boys were truly trying to make full uses of their time that Albus had gotten permission to floo to the Malfoy Manor as early as he wanted this time. While Draco had promised that a house-elf would definitely be waiting to receive Albus and notify the masters no matter what time he decided to arrive, Harry was totally expecting both Malfoys to be sitting near the fireplace, waiting for Albus this very moment.

Harry added after taking a look at the clock, which showed that it was seven ten. "And I don't even know if Albus is up yet." He knew very well his flimsy argument likely would not get him anywhere but he was still trying to hold on to the hope of returning home before eleven.

"Well, I will bet ten Galleons that Albus is all dressed and ready, waiting for you at the living room this very second. And you could totally use the buffet because you always forget to eat when you work too hard, remember the time when you fainted at work because you had starved for more than twelve hours while having a fever?"

Hermione had notified Ginny that time through her Patronus about two years ago and he could not help being annoyed with his best friend because Ginny had brought that up at least twenty times since then as an excuse to baby him. Being babied by his wife was the last thing any Auror, let alone the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, needed to do his job.

Harry was about to protest again when she added, "Besides, I had just pulled an all-nighter to finish my latest feature so I'm dead tired and not ready to see anybody." She closed her eyes to pretend to go back to sleep. For whatever reason, Ginny preferred to write in the early morning, which had always driven her editor crazy.

Harry let out a defeated sigh. Ginny was such a considerate wife most of the time that he had hardly any reason to complain, and dropping Al off really was not that difficult a task to do as he wondered if he would have the chance of seeing the famous Pygmy Puff house in person. "Fine, I'll drop him off."

Ginny opened her eyes so quickly to give him a spirited and triumphant look that she looked fully awake to him despite the small bags under her eyes, before sitting up to kiss him on his mouth. Well, at least the goodbye kiss was worth it.

Five minutes later, Ginny called out as he was about to leave their room while straightening his robes, "Say hi to Draco and Scorpius for me!"

"Sure, I will." Harry answered automatically before realising the significance of his answer. He wondered how it had happened that the Malfoys had become family friends to him.

Just as Ginny had predicted, Albus was fully dressed with his new broomstick and school bag by his side by the time Harry got to the ground floor of the house. They had a few bags enchanted with an extension charm but none of them fit a teenager and Harry was not particularly good at the charm that it tended to wear off after one day at most. This seemed like a great idea for a future present for his son but it would have to wait. For now, Albus' own worn and bulky school bag would have to do. Again, there was a mug of milk in front of the boy, who was so focused in the book he was reading that he appeared to have not heard his dad.

"Good morning, Albus." Harry made sure to greet the boy softly that he would not be scared by the sudden intrusion.

He turned and replied with a small smile, "Good morning, dad."

The boy then looked over at the clock and asked with a frown on his forehead, "Are you going in to work already?" His judgemental tone suggested to Harry that his fourteen-year-old was playing parent to himself again. What did it say about him as a father when his son was constantly concerned about his well being?

"Yes." Harry replied instinctively before amending, "No… I mean, I was going to leave for work but I promised your mum to drop you off at the Malfoys' first."

Albus seemed to have forgotten his worry for his dad, "Oh, that's brilliant! I was just wondering if I should wake mum up so I could get to the Malfoys' early." Harry could not help thinking, his son was awfully predictable whenever his best friend was concerned.

"Hmm… I suppose you're all ready to go then?"

"Of course!"

The boy stood up but seemed to reconsider as he sat back down immediately to check his bag. Harry was amazed by how much he had packed for an one-night-sleepover as he saw the boy dragged pajamas, boxes of sweets, his set of chess and other games, books and so on out of his bag, perhaps it had already been enchanted with an extension charm after all.

"Oh… I've forgotten s-something…" Albus seemed embarrassed to admit that he had forgotten something after all, maybe he did not want to delay him going in to work.

"That's no problem at all, go pick up whatever you need… I'll wait for you her-" Harry looked over to the Nimbus 2000, which he had grown to love himself as much as the one that had been broken all those years ago and thought about the inevitable small talk with the Malfoys (not that he disliked them or talking with them) which would undoubtedly further delay his departure for work, he really wanted to return home before midnight on the first day back to work. Maybe he should just head over himself first to get this over with as soon as possible.

Albus was already halfway up the staircase when he called, "Albus, would you mind if I head over first with your bloomstick?"

His son was stopped in his track as he turned to regard him. He narrowed his eyes as he replied, "O-Okay I guess…"

Perhaps Albus did have good reasons to feel suspicious about it but he had resumed going up as he called out. "I'll be back in a minute."

Harry turned to pick up the broomstick. He did not doubt that Albus would return soon knowing how eager he was to spend two whole days with his best friend but it was not like the fourteen-year-old would need any supervision using the Floo so he flooed over without waiting for his return.

Harry was greeted by two anticipating Malfoys standing less than three feet away from the fireplace the moment he arrived. Scorpius, in particular, even looked a bit breathless and red-faced. It appeared to Harry that the Malfoys might have rushed forward the moment they realised the Floo had been activated. They looked fully awake and properly dressed for the day before seven-twenty Harry had to wonder how long they had been awake and waiting.

Scorpius' face fell for a millisecond there before it rearranged into a bright welcoming smile. Harry noticed that Severus, the pink Pygmy Puff, was sitting comfortably on the boy's right hand while Lavender perched on his left shoulder. The purple Pygmy Puff appeared particularly clingy but it was struggling to cling on Scorpius' collar with her tiny paws.

Scorpius' voice sounded pitchier than usual when he greeted, "Good morning, Mr Potter, I-I thought you were Albus… y-you two really do look similar."

The boy panicked a little as he realised what he had just said that his shoulders jumped, which startled Lavender a little, before him covering his mouth with his free hand, "Oh, please don't tell Albus I said that. He always hates hearing that."

Harry was quick to reassure the boy, "Don't worry, Scorpius, of course I won't tell him… Anyway, Albus will be arriving in a minute."

Scorpius let out a nervous laugh before giving him a grateful smile, "Thanks, Harry, that's brilliant … I mean Mr Potter."

Harry took a step toward the boy before saying patiently, "Scorpius, you do remember me saying that it's okay for you to call me Harry?"

"O-Of course I remember. But I do prefer calling you Mr Potter, it's just that it slips out sometime."

"That's fine, I don't mind either way."

Draco seemed to realise that Scorpius was feeling embarrassed by how awkward he had been behaving and took it upon himself to change the subject, "Good morning, Harry. I thought Ginny was going to bring Albus over."

"Good morning, Draco. I thought she would be too but she's feeling too tired after pulling an all-nighter to finish a piece so I agreed to come over instead, I'm on my way to work anyway." The Malfoys did not have to know that he had tried his best to avoid coming even though it had been nothing personal against them.

"I see, thanks for coming over, and thank you again for letting Albus sleepover here. I really appreciate it." Draco's expression was solemn without a hint of smile, which formed a big contrast comparing to Scorpius' warm but nervous smile, but by now he had known his friend well enough to be able to tell that Draco was being sincere even though he might appear all rigid and formal expressing his gratitude.

Harry sighed, it made him feel uncomfortable to be repeatedly thanked for something that should not have been a big deal at all. "You had already thanked me before, Draco. And I am not doing it just for you and Scorpius, I'm selfish and want my boy to have some fun while I'm slaving away at work too, someone oughts to."

Unfortunately, Draco seemed determined not to let this go easily. "It is something I can't possibly take for granted knowing how much it means for Scorpius… But forgive me, Harry."

He could never get used to Malfoy apologising to him that he responded by flashing a friendly smile that probably looked extremely awkward. He was thus quite relieved when Scorpius chose to come over at this moment. "Oh, Mr Potter, do you want me to take your broomstick? No, I mean Albus' broomstick, his Nimbus 2000."

Scorpius had reached out his free hand toward the broomstick a bit similar to how Rose had reacted when she had first seen the broomstick. Harry noticed the boy seemed extra gleeful with excitement. Draco, however, seemed to notice the broomstick for the first time and there was a certain degree of surprise there even though his face was still relatively impassive. Harry carefully handed the broomstick over to Scorpius, Severus seemed to have noticed that the boy wanted to use both hands that it quickly rolled up Scorpius' arm then rolled across his back to join Lavender at the boy's shoulder. (Harry had absolutely no idea how it was able to do this without falling but the Pygmy Puffs sure felt at home on Scorpius' body). The boy received the broomstick with reverence that it might have been a broomstick belonging to his idol instead of a thirty-year-old model belonging to his best friend.

"I guess Albus had told you that he had gotten a Nimbus 2000 then?"

"Yes!" It was an answer to his question but to the two adults, it sounded like a cheer of excitement that Draco even raised his eyebrow in response.

Noticing his father's reaction, Scorpius coughed once before amending, "I mean, yes. Albus did mention in a letter that he had gotten a Nimbus 2000 and he has agreed to let me give it a go later."

The main reason Harry had some reservations about getting this broomstick for Al was because of how ancient it was. Even though his own brothers-in-law would remember his own Nimbus 2000 with fond memories and would agree that it was still a brilliant broomstick, he had worried about how Albus' schoolmates would react to him getting a thirty-year-old model that he was taken aback that Scorpius, the son of the Slytherin Seeker who had gotten into the house team by buying the whole team the most advanced broomstick of the time, would react so excitedly towards the dated model.

Of course that bribing Slytherin Seeker was not the same person as he had been, but he too was reasonably puzzled by this new knowledge, "You had gotten Albus a Nimbus 2000, Harry? That sounds quite old even for you."

There was nothing teasing, mocking or remotely judgemental in Draco's tone, Harry could tell it was pure curiosity, so he explained patiently, "Yes, I did but for your information, I would gladly had bought a Firebolt for him. It was Albus who picked this broomstick."

"Oh, I see." Draco was not doing a good job masking his confusion but he did not follow up with another question that Harry guessed he was still thinking. Why would he pick such an ancient broomstick?

"Scorpius, you don't think a Nimbus 2000 would be a bit too... old for Albus?"

Harry was genuinely interested to know what his son's best friend thought about the broomstick. He was well aware that Scorpius was nothing like Albus' other schoolmates in his year to the point that he might feel happy for Al even if his son had gotten an average Cleansweep broomstick but he hoped to at least gain a little insight.

"No… not at all."

It was obvious that Scorpius was trying hard to come up with a good explanation as he furrowed his brows. "I mean… I was expecting Albus to get perhaps a Nimbus 3000 but somehow… the moment I read that he had gotten a Nimbus 2000, I-I just realised it was the perfect model for him. I don't know how to explain it but even when we do fly together on the school ground these days, Albus isn't one to care about being fast… he really just wanted to prove to himself that he could do it when he tried again last year. I would never forget the look of pure happiness on his face the moment he succeeded after trying and failing for almost ten hours over two weeks." This boy had to be the most supportive friend as evident by his look of pride for his best friend.

"He has never cared about playing Quidditch and what is cool and what others like. More than anything, he prefers to feel normal and just to blend in. If it had been him from a year ago, I probably could not have imagined him getting your old broomstick model but he's a bit different now, perhaps a bit more confident, that he doesn't seem to mind about these things as much. There's something about a Nimbus 2000 that just sounds… right for him."

Harry was struck by a new wave of appreciation for Scorpius Malfoy, this awkward and shy boy who had literally followed his son to the ends of the Earth and had stuck by Albus' side when he had been most alone and helpless, which was more than he could say about himself, who had long naively believed that Al would grow out of his "phase" in time and secretly hoped that he would make other friends (friends who would be more like Ron and Hermione than Scorpius Malfoy) whom he would spend more time with.

Scorpius was observant and had a mature sensitivity to decipher Al's feelings from his observation that it appeared to Harry that the young Malfoy might know his son's heart better than anybody else. Ginny might be Al's mother but Scorpius had the benefits of being inseparable with Albus for nine months of the year and who knew how much of his secrets and feelings Al would willingly reveal to his best friend in his letters.

He suddenly remembered that he had yet to apologise to the boy for mistaking him as the dark cloud. He opened his mouth but closed it again when he remembered Draco was standing right next to the boy. Called him a coward but he would really prefer to apologise in private instead of in a hurry right in front of his former nemesis, not to mention, Albus was due to arrive any second.

He knew that some sort of response was warranted so he replied a bit belatedly, "I see… that's… good to know. Thank you very much, Scorpius."

"You're welcome, Mr Potter." Scorpius gave him a beaming smile.

Harry returned a smile that could not reach his eyes as he asked himself how could this boy be so forgiving and behaved so sweetly towards himself when Scorpius knew that his childhood hero had cruelly tried to separate him from his best and only friend. He noticed the Malfoys exchanging a confused look that they could sense his embarrassment even though they might not know why he was feeling this way, so he asked offhandedly, "Hmm… how about you, Scorpius? I mean, what broomstick do you fly?"

He certainly did not mean to embarrass the boy but unexpectedly, Scorpius blushed as he mumbled a little guiltily even though the boy had no real reason to feel guilty or embarrassed, "I-I fly a F-Firebolt Supreme."

"Oh. That's… nice." Even Harry had not tried a Firebolt Supreme before and he was determined not to show his longing to try the world's fastest broomstick in front of Draco.

"I-It's truly a wonderful broomstick but I've never flown half as fast… actually I believe I've never flown one-twentieth its maximum speed. I've told dad that I could fly his old broomstick but he insisted on getting a new one for me because he said that all Malfoys should have their own broomsticks. I've said that any good Nimbus would do but he insisted on getting this broomstick for me. I haven't even flown it that many times because I did not feel comfortable bringing it to Hogwarts… and I feel kind of bad for owning such an extravagant broomstick because how many Quidditch players would kill to hav..." Scorpius suddenly stopped rambling as he realised he had said way more than he should and revealed a thing or two that his father might not have wanted Harry to know.

Draco appeared very interested in looking at whatever outside the mansion while Scorpius' face had turned into a tomato, Harry was extremely glad to see the Floo activated finally. Clearly he was not the only one to feel relieved as he saw the hosts turned intendedly towards the fireplace.

A/N: I'm not sure if this was the longest wait for my fic so far, but it's certainly the longest wait without any warning and I'm sorry about that. I found out after my last update that I'd have to take an exam just two weeks later, which I failed miserably. For a while, I was very stressed out and there are still many things going on in my life it's not easy to find the time to write. I hadn't written a word for a whole month and am only slowly getting back into it.

I always enjoy writing the Malfoys the most that I have tried to incorporate their presence in the fic even when they are not physically present in a chapter because I miss them a lot, but of course it's best when I can write them for real (especially Scorpius, I'm biased I know). The bit about Albus learning how to fly is inspired by me finally learning how to ride a bike recently after… well, sometime after I've started working.

Thank you AxelsFire96, Ronnie Jane, HogwartsDreamer113 and Scorpiusisthebest for commenting. As always, I couldn't have done this without the wonderful support of my readers. Life is very busy but your comment would be my biggest motivation.