Scorpius shouted out the moment he saw Al materialised at his fireplace, "Welcome, Albus!" before rushing over to immediately give Albus a hug.
Albus looked very happy to receive his best friend for three seconds before abruptly letting go and yelling out in confusion. "Ow, what is that?"
Scorpius looked disappointed that the hug had been cut short but he turned towards his friend in concern to see what was wrong and caught sight of the pink Pygmy Puff trying to bite his best friend on his neck at the same time as the adults. Harry had not known that these little creatures could act so feisty and it appeared to him that Severus the Pygmy Puff was feeling quite possessive over his master. He took a step forward, intending to help his son but someone had beaten him to it.
Scorpius rushed forward to lift the fluffy creature up and scolded, "Bad Severus! Naughty Severus! Albus is my best friend and it's very wrong and completely unacceptable for you to bite my best friend! I won't give you any snack today so you will think about what you did wrong!"
The little creature appeared to not have understood his master but quickly freed himself from the boy's hold and rolled back up to his shoulder. Meanwhile, the two fathers and Albus exchanged a few looks while trying to suppress their urge to laugh until Al cracked first and burst out laughing, "Hmm… why am I feeling I am being scolded for acting naughty?"
Al had even imitated Scorpius' pitchy voice when pronouncing the last word. Harry was caught between wanting to laugh and openly cringe from second-hand embarrassment. He tried not to think about what Severus Snape would think if he could somehow witness the present scene of the young Malfoy scolding a cute Pygmy Puff named after himself.
Scorpius appeared red-faced, "Albus, you're mean, and to think that I was just trying to rescue you… But I guess you're right, I should have given him a different name."
The boy sighed as he turned sideways to take a look at Severus, which was leaning contentedly on Lavender and was giving them his best doe-eyed look appearing completely ignorant that he had done anything wrong.
"At least his teeth don't even feel sharp at all so it was hardly painful, just… a bit uncomfortable."
"Maybe it was his plot all along that I wouldn't be able to discipline him without feeling I'm disciplining my best friend or Severus Snape so by taking their name, I would go easy on him." Scorpius wondered aloud.
Harry doubted the little fur-ball could plan something as elaborate as that but it did appear way more cunning than one would expect it to be and he doubted Scorpius could be harsh in his "punishment" anyway. He himself had been trying so hard not to laugh but he noticed that Draco's lips were tilting up in an unnatural smirk that he suspected the boy's father was experiencing the same struggle as he was.
He looked at a luxurious clock on the wall made of gold, dark green marble and likely hundreds of gems and saw that it was seven-thirty-five, this had already taken way longer than he had expected.
"What took you so long, Albus? Did you get everything?" He made sure to sound as casual as he could but it was genuinely surprising to him how long Albus had taken to arrive considering how excited he had been about the visit.
"Yeah, I got everything… I just happened to have to go to the toilet just when I was about to leave." Al mumbled.
"Oh, are you not feeling well?"
"I'm perfectly fine, dad."
Harry could tell that Al was feeling a bit annoyed to be fussed over in front of the Malfoys but he wanted to reply I just wanted to make sure you're okay. He resisted it as he felt like that might not be received well.
Scorpius seemed to notice the awkwardness that he asked a little bit too cheerfully, "Had you forgotten something, Albus? I thought you were all packed and ready to go yesterday afternoon when you sent me your letter."
"Yeah, I did." His son seemed reluctant to tell even his friend what he had forgotten. "I hm… decided to work on my es-essay yesterday night so I took out my notebook. I got stuck halfway through so I was hoping you could help me with it but I forgot to put them back in."
An essay? This was so uncharacteristic of Al that Harry wondered if he had misheard.
"Oh, of course. Let me take a look!" Scorpius extended a hand toward Al, wanting to receive his friend's essay right here and now. The eager way Scorpius was reacting to an essay was reminding Harry strongly of Hermione.
Draco sighed, "Scorpius, I know you're very eager to help but we should at least let our guests have something to eat first." Draco's use of the plural guests was not lost on Harry.
Something was bugging Harry though to realise that his son would rather ask for his friend's help at a sleepover than his or Ginny's. It would be too much wishful thinking for him to ever expect Al to feel comfortable asking James for help but surely Al would know that his parents would be happy to help.
"Albus, are you sure you want to spend your visit working on your essay? You could have asked me or your mother for help."
Albus raised his eyebrow, "No offense but are you sure you or mum would be able to help me on my history essay, dad?"
Harry had of course failed his History of Magic O.W.L while Ginny had fared slightly better by getting an Acceptable. He was quite confident that his wife, like he, had forgotten most, if not all of what she had learned on the subject. She was, however, an expert of "History of Quidditch" that she was very capable in reciting all the scores and results of the last ten British and Irish Quidditch Leagues and the last fifteen Quidditch World Cup and she absolutely took pride in that.
He could feel his cheeks warming as he reluctantly agreed, "I guess you're right… we won't be able to help you much on history. I hope it won't be too much trouble for Scorpius." He turned apologetically towards Scorpius.
"Of course not, Mr Potter, it would be my pleasure to help Albus with his essay." There was a sort of twinkles in Scorpius' eyes that it almost looked to Harry that the boy was being asked to fly on his Firebolt Supreme instead of reading his friend's essay.
"That's good. Albus, I hope you have a wonderful time. It's getting late so I should get going. Your mum will pick you up tomorrow evening."
A part of Harry really wanted to immediately turn towards the Floo to flee but of course it would be too rude to the Malfoys and as much as he was in a hurry, he did not want to risk jeopardising this delicate friendship that had taken him quite a while to build, so he took the time to nod towards Draco and therefore, received the exact reaction he had expected and wanted to avoid.
"You're going to work already? It's not even eight. Have you eaten anything, Potter?"
"Not yet but I'll grab a bite on my way. First day of work after a holiday is always crazy and chaotic I'd be lucky to be able to return home before midnight."
"Oh, but there's no need for you to buy it somewhere else, Mr Potter. You can easily grab something to eat here, breakfast is ready and we have all sorts of food. There is way too much for the three of us anyway." Scorpius gave him a very earnest look akin to Albus' puppy dog eyes on Christmas day that Harry knew immediately that he was defeated and all hope of returning home before midnight was completely lost by this point.
As Harry reluctantly followed his host to the dining room to have breakfast, he saw Scorpius struggling to pry the pink Pygmy Puff he was holding off his hand onto a house model almost half as tall as Albus and about half as big as Al's room, while Severus was trying equally hard to cling onto his master.
Harry had no idea how authentic the furnitures of the miniature house, which included pretty wooden tables and chairs, luxurious sofas and beds, mirrors, delicate wall clock, and chandeliers, were but the house was three-storey tall and there were well over ten windows per floor. This house, completed with a small "garden" with what looked like real living flowers shrunk to fit inside, might as well be the Malfoy Manor for Pygmy Puffs and the two little creatures could very well host a party for hundreds of their little friends in a house this big.
"Stop, Severus! I'm not taking you to breakfast. Lavender has been a good girl and has been well-behaved towards my guests, so she gets to come with us to breakfast. You've been naughty so you're grounded. I'll bring something for you afterwards."
Immediately after Scorpius had succeeded in getting rid of his clingy pet, the Pygmy Puff rolled off without a care in the world to enjoy the grandeur of his home that Harry strongly doubted that it would learn its lesson at all. It had been unexpectedly entertaining seeing the young Malfoy interacting with his new pets and he had tried hard to maintain a neutral expression for fear of embarrassing Scorpius. Al, on the other hand, was openly laughing again while they continued on their way to the Malfoys' dining room.
"Stop laughing at me, Albus, or, or... I won't rescue you next time." Harry could tell that the blonde boy was having fun despite feeling annoyed with his friend.
"Oh, so you're gonna let your Pygmy Puff attempting to bite open my artery?" There was an amused smirk on his son's face.
"Of course not! I mean, it's not like he could do that much damage…"
"True, but that doesn't mean I'd want my neck to be used as a chew toy."
"And I wouldn't let him!" The boy reacted immediately before realising his mistake, "That's not fair, you know I wouldn't just stand by and watch but you wouldn't stop laughing at me, you're supposed to be grateful for my help."
"Who said I'm not grateful? I'm incredibly grateful that you rescued me from your naughty Pygmy Puff, Mr Malfoy."
"You don't sound too grateful, Albus…"
They were still bantering by the time they entered the dining room. Al had been getting along much better with his siblings lately but their interaction was still nowhere near as comfortable as this. Harry could not dare to hope that Albus could ever get this close with James and Lily but he hoped that in time, he would learn to trust and rely on his siblings again, especially because he was trying to cope with his nightmares and traumas from the incidents.
Back when he had first learned that Ginny had been pregnant again with Albus, Harry had felt so happy for themselves, but he had felt happier for James and Albus for having a brother so his children would always have each other. Ron and his brothers might have become brothers to him but acquired siblings would always be different from blood siblings.
Growing up as an orphan, he had wondered as a child if his life would have felt easier with a sibling. Having witnessed how great it had been for Ron and Ginny to have siblings they could always trust (well, with the exception of Percy) despite some obvious drawbacks like the constant comparison, he had known that he wanted at least two children when the time had come for him to start his own family.
Breakfast was a similar affair to the buffet on Christmas morning with a variety of breads, pastries, jams, cheese, fruits, eggs, hams, sausages and drinks, which was enough for ten people. Harry knew that the Malfoys could afford it and no doubt Draco had wanted everything to be perfect in front of his guests but he seriously hoped that they were not as wasteful as they appeared.
The food was incredibly appetising that Harry could hear his stomach grumble at the sight of the buffet that his face turned pink as a result. If Draco had heard it, he did not comment on it at all. Al had instantly made himself at home devouring the dishes while Scorpius carefully set his purple Pygmy Puff down next to him in front of a small dish placed on a wooden block covered by a napkin and immediately proceeded to pick out small pieces of food, like chunks of cheese, diced fruits and small pieces of bread for his pet.
Harry could not care less about table manners despite eating in front of Draco in this grand dining room when he knew that he was already running late for work. He took five minutes to eat a piece of toast, some sliced fruits, a bit of egg and top it off with a goblet of pumpkin juice while Draco was observing him out of the corner of his eye without attempting to make small talk with him.
"You're such a good and beautiful girl, Lavender. You don't go around biting my friend and you eat quietly without making a fuss. Mum would have loved you so much because you're in her favourite colour. If only you could teach Severus some manners..."
Albus rolled his eyes at the last bit.
By the time Harry finished his quick breakfast, Scorpius had only just started buttering a slice of toast for himself after feeding (as well as petting and baby-talking to) his beloved Pygmy Puff.
A/N: Sorry that this chapter is so short because I haven't been writing much again. I've been told I shouldn't feel pressured to update but I don't want to miss a month because I'm stubborn this way and I fear that if I go too easy on myself, I'd stop writing completely before I know it. More importantly, this fic has recently passed its second anniversary and its views have passed 50K. I wouldn't be here without your support and it meant more to me than usual to give you something before the end of the month even though this chapter isn't much.
I also want to update sooner than later because I'll continue to be busy for the next two months, especially because I'm taking an over 2-week-long trip from late March so there's a possibility that I won't be able to update until May and I wouldn't want you to think that I've abandoned the fic.
Thank you AxelsFire96, kahn1969, HogwartsDreamer113 and JennH for commenting. I appreciate all kinds of support but getting reviews just makes all the hard work feels much more worth it.
PS: Scorpius' Pygmy Puffs have gotten lives of their own and they demanded to be written.