Harry Potter: Dark Lord, Loving Father
Chapter 2: And so Ensues Chaos...
It'd been a long first day back at Hogwarts, Harry realized, letting out a long breath as he sat down next to Draco Malfoy at the Head Table in the Great Hall.
"Did you get tormented, Mr. Saviour?" Draco asked, snidely, barely turning his head to look at his co-worker as the man sat down, smirking widely.
"Whatever, Malfoy," Harry retorted, leaning back against his chair, slouching a little, knowing he'd be getting hell from the blond for doing so, soon enough. "Of course, all the students, except for my kids and Scorpius were all too enthralled to have the Saviour of the Wizarding world as their Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. Have you realized how ironic this whole charade is, Draco?" he whispered, as he sat up straight upon seeing the condemning look Draco was giving him.
"I've considered it -- why don't we talk about this in your quarters later tonight?" Malfoy responded, looking straight ahead, speaking comfortably.
After he'd said this, Neville Longbottom came and sat down next to Harry, starting up their own conversation, albeit, a little wearily. "Do you always have to sit next to him, Harry?" the shy professor pestered his old friend from school.
"He's my friend, just as you are, Neville. Besides, he's not as bad as you think he is -- under that cold exterior, he's just another helpless soul," Harry told Neville, grinning broadly, earning him a sharp elbow in the ribs. "Also, he's just another professor now, not like he could get his father to sack you, right?" Another elbow -- that was going to bruise, eventually, he thought in the back of his mind, leaving a mental note to pay the Malfoy back later.
"I suppose, but Harry... I'm worried about your relationship with Ginny, shouldn't you act a little more concerned, at least?" the Herbology professor implored, true concern for the other showing in his eyes.
"Don't worry, Neville, things will turn out just fine, trust me," Harry returned, looking over his rectangular frames, peering directly into his friend's eyes, turning his gaze away and sitting straight once more when Headmaster Fudge cleared his throat, causing the teachers to quiet down, but didn't work at all on the students.
Clearing his throat louder, then bellowing at the student body, ordering them to be silent, which only earned a scattering of giggles from the congregation, which eventually died down.
Following the rather pleasant dinner, Harry and Draco met outside of the ex-Gryffindor's quarters, near the Gryffindor tower. "Next time, let's meet by your rooms, Draco... I'm sure that people will be suspicious of me letting a Slytherin, of all things, into the lions' area."
"Understood," Draco agreed, following Harry into his rooms. "So, you've decided on an alter-ego, yet?" the taller man asked, looking at the rows of books adorning the shelves in Harry's entry room.
"Er," Harry froze, slowly turning to face the man who asked the offensive question. "No, of course not -- I've been thinking of much more important things, like resumes and the like, moving, and other things. You should know better... bloody hell, Malfoy, you've said it yourself: I can only do so much at once, being the Gryffindor that I am."
"Well, keep it in the back of your mind. How do you suggest you make your entrance, anyway? Gaining followers without acting too much like the Dark Lord before you... after all, you're the one to defeat him -- don't want to make the same mistakes he did, right? You have a plan, you have to," Draco said, staring at Harry's slowly paling figure.
The brunette grated his teeth together, clenching his wand which he'd pulled out to light the fire, scowling at Draco, Harry fought down the horrible urge to hurt the man. Why would he injure the man when he'd done nothing but try to help? And casting such a spell, this time at night would raise suspicions, and Harry would much rather keep his job.
"I'm sorry," he spat, still clenching his wand, angrily casting the spell to bring life to the before vacant black pit. "I really need to redecorate, don't I?" Harry realized, laughing darkly, still uncomfortable in his own skin, attempting to calm himself. "I mean, who's ever heard of a Dark Lord that had Gryffindor colours and symbols pasted all over his lair?"
"If one did, I believe Hell would officially freeze over and the world would come to an utter end -- after all, there'd be no need for Hell when the Dark Lord was such a stupid pansy," Draco agreed, smirking, knowing that this would be exactly what Harry needed to hear.
Laughter rang out, richer and deeper than before from Harry's throat (somewhat surprising Draco) running his left hand through his hair as he put away his wand, the anger dissipating as fast as it had came. "Thank you," he murmured, taking in deep breaths. "Well, shall we have some tea to pass the time?"
Much later that night, Draco and Harry were out amongst the trees of the Forbidden Forest, searching for some poor animal to torture and maim, dressed in thick black robes, the hoods raised, just in case they ran across centaurs or someone else in the forest, even though that was highly unlikely. It wasn't called the "Forbidden Forest" for nothing, or so Draco reminded Harry. At one point, the two professors came across a unicorn drinking from a small stream, shaking Harry deeply, as he recalled the time he saw Voldemort drinking the blood from another unicorn, cold sweat covering him, as he clung to Draco's shoulder.
"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," he muttered, just a few inches away from the blond's ear, suddenly terrified of what he had chosen to do. "We should go back to the school and just forget about this whole thing..."
"Are you out of your bloody mind?!" Draco hissed back, shaking Harry out of his stupor. "Just because you remembered something from our first year that time we were in the forest together doesn't mean you're weak or that you're even going to end up like that bastard!"
Harry wept, tugging on Draco's robes, leaning on the taller man. "I'm sorry -- you shouldn't have such a... faint hearted master," he whispered in a frail-sounding voice, burying his face in the black cloth of the Malfoy's sleeve.
"Harry," Draco said with a sigh, pulling the smaller man towards him, wrapping his arms around him -- he didn't know what possessed him to do such a thing, but if this was what helped Potter regain himself, it was what he'd do.
"...Dad?" came a voice from within a couple yards of the two, causing Draco to clench Harry tighter to him, almost protectively, looking around them. Spotting Albus and Scorpius, the elder Malfoy relaxed his grip, making Harry look in the same direction.
"Dad," Albus began, "... what the hell are you doing? Seriously, are you making out with my best friend's dad? Euch!"
"You weren't making out with Mr. Potter, where you, Father?" Scorpius asked, making quite a face at the scene.
Harry couldn't help but falling to the wet ground, pulling Draco down with him as he failed to hold back his laughter. "I'm sorry, Draco, once more... I've made you all so dirty," he apologized, getting back to his feet, casting a charm on the tall blond to clean away the mud, eliciting a raised brow and a red flush from Draco.
Clearing his throat, Albus called the attention back to himself and Scorpius. "Dad... what are you guys doing out here? I didn't... barge in on anything, did I?"
"No," Harry responded to the two teens, eyeing them closely, steadying Draco as he tried to reorganize himself. "You didn't... now, what are you two doing out here?"
"...Can't lovers have a midnight stroll? You two are certainly at it," retorted Al smartly, hooking arms with Scorpius, who was all too eager to join in.
"Unlike you two, your father and I are patrolling the grounds, and thus, have an excuse," Draco replied, knowing the two's antics all too well by now. "And don't think that just because it's just this once that you'll get away with it -- I'm sure that you two have been here more often than you're supposed to."
"You two are going back to the castle this instant, or you'll be getting weeks of detention and no Hogsmeade weekends!" Harry threatened, glaring at Albus.
Albus just smirked at his father, turning to Draco, who was fully over the last blunder by now. "So, what is it that you dragged my father along to find, professor?"
Harry thought of something, as his son chattered with Draco, taking a few paces away from the group, noting that the unicorn was gone, now... like because of the ruckus they were making. "Accio, Gaunt ring," he cast, quietly, hoping this would work without anyone else realizing. Unfortunately, the two pieces came to Harry from the direction of the Slytherins.
"What the hell, Dad?! How did you know about the ring?" Albus reacted, pointing at the old, tarnished ring Harry held in his hands. "That was the friendship token that Scorpius and I shared!"
"Huh?" the wizard was stumped at what his son was say. "What is this nonsense you're spouting at me?"
"You mean you never had one when you were a kid?" Al asked, flabbergasted. "You really are as pathetic as I heard Gryffindors were.... Merlin, and to believe I thought you were cool, once."
Draco stared at the broken ring in the other wizard's pale hands and recalled Harry talking about some sort of ring being the last Deathly Hallow that he needed to complete the set. Maybe the legend was real, as Potter had been insisting upon earlier that summer.
"Albus Severus Potter, Scorpius Malfoy, you two are to report back to the common room this moment -- or you'll get detention like you've never had before," Draco threatened, pointing his wand at the two, knowing that this threat, coming from him, would work on the two Slytherins.
"Yes, sir!" the two chorused, then ran off out of the forest.
Once they were well alone again, Draco shook Harry lightly, making eye contact. "So, Potter, you're not as dense as I once thought you were -- but don't get me wrong: you haven't fully redeemed yourself yet."
Harry raised an eyebrow, staring up at Draco, imitating one of the Slytherin's many expressions, "Well, master, what's next?" he asked, somewhat sarcastically.
Thanks a million to Boogum and KouenTaisa, especially for the input with this chapter.
Dedicated to the Albus lover, Grae.