Draco wondered if it was possible to die of surprise. He just might, before his two years with Potter were up.
When Potter had taken him Side-Along from the Manor, Draco had expected to end up outside either a quaint, dilapidated house like the Weasleys' Burrow or another noble manor, given the multiple titles Potter now held. When they landed in park on a thoroughly Muggle street in London, Draco had been guess what:
Surprised.
"Potter, why are we here? These are Muggle houses, it's obvious you don't live here," Draco drawled, turning to him, but Potter was writing something on a scrap of paper with a Muggle pen. When he finish, he thrust it at Draco.
"Here. Read it, then you'll understand."
The residence of Lord Harrison James Potter can be found at Number 12, Grimmauld Place, London
"Got it memorized?" He took the paper back when Draco nodded. "Now say it again in your head," he said absentmindedly, burning the paper with the flame from some odd silver contraption he flicked open and clicked.
Draco ran through what he had read and watched as Number 12 sprouted from the ground and shouldered its way into place between Number 11 and Number 13.
"Welcome home, I guess," Potter said, brushing ash from his shirt and picking up one of Draco's trunks. "Better get you inside and settled, I've left those two with the elves too long."
Draco wondered distantly if "those two" were Granger and Weasley and why it mattered if they were left with the elves. Perhaps Granger was still going off on her harebrained scheme to free them all and get them to start demanding gold. It would never work.
Potter stopped at the top step to unlock the door with his wand. As soon as it swung open, Draco was assaulted by a wave of noise.
It sounded like children.
Surprise!
Draco could hear a child screaming and an elf trying to calm it down.
"Master Reggie, please don't cry, Master Harry is being back soon, very soon."
Another child was shouting, "Kreacher, where's Daddy? Reggie wants Daddy!"
"Master Harry is coming home soon, Master Teddy, but Kreacher is not knowing when," another elf, Kreacher, he assumed, answered.
All the noise ceased as soon as Potter walked through the door.
Draco though his eyes might pop out of his head.
"Sorry about the welcome. Those two are really attached to me some days and they throw fits, but they can always tell as soon as I'm inside the wards. Merlin, I'll be glad when they stop that."
Draco struggled to find words and articulate them into a question.
"Ch-children?" he finally forced out through his frozen throat.
"Yep," Potter replied, "two boys. Both three years old, but one's five months older than the other. One's actually your cousin, of a sort. Your aunt Andromeda Black Tonks's grandson." Potter's expression looked open and cheerful, but his eyes were very guarded. Draco just nodded, figuring he'd have time to wrap his head around it later. "C'mon, you can meet the boys and I'll get you set up with a room, then I'll explain some of those things I told you about on Tuesday."
And Draco had no choice but to nod dumbly and follow Potter into the hall.
Potter was waiting for Draco in the living room after Draco unpacked, being smothered with hugs and chatter from two overjoyed little boys. One of them was tugging on Potter's arm and talking very fast about his hair while it changed color and length very quickly.
Ah, that must be the cousin, Draco thought. He'd heard his Metamorphmagus cousin Nymphadora had had a child with the werewolf Lupin before she died.
The other boy was curled into Potter's side, giggling at the young Metamorphmagus, with Potter's arm wrapped protectively around him. He had the same messy hair as Potter, just as dark, but his was rather curly instead of straight, and bright green eyes like Potter's. When Draco came closer, though, he could see that they weren't exact copies. The green of the boy's eyes was brighter, almost glowing, the same color as the Killing Curse, and there was a ring of bright blue around the edge. The boy looked like Potter's child, but he wasn't the mirror image of his father they way Potter had been.
All three looked up as Draco approached to couch. Potter grinned.
"Boys, this is Draco Malfoy. He's going to be staying with us for a while. Draco's actually your cousin, Teddy. Malfoy, these are the boys, Edward Remus Lupin Potter," Potter gestured to the boy who now had waist-length blue hair, "better known as Teddy, and Regulus Harrison Gaunt Potter," he patted the boy still tucked tightly to his side, "better known as Reggie. Sit, Kreacher's fetching tea, and I'm sure you have questions," he gestured to a chair.
The blue-haired boy, Teddy, jumped up and dragged Draco by the hand to the nearest chair. Just as energetic and welcoming as he'd heard the boy's mother had been, Teddy seemed to have accepted Draco as family already. The other, Reggie, was still giving him a cool, calculating look that unnerved Draco. It looked far too old and hardened for his child's face. After a moment's study, Reggie turned to Potter.
"Is he here 'cause the War?"
-0-
Harry looked into his son's bright, intelligent eyes. He could see Reggie was thinking hard about Malfoy, so the question did shock him like it did the blonde. He gave a small, sad smile.
"Yes, he is."
And Reggie understood not to ask those questions. He was a very perceptive boy. He could tell Malfoy was burning with questions he didn't know if he could ask, so Harry took pity on him.
"Reggie, why don't take Teddy and see if the familiars want to join us for tea?" The boys smiled and jumped up to run off upstairs. Harry turned to Malfoy.
"Don't ask anything yet, just listen. I'm going to explain some about the boys. Not all right now or maybe ever, but some. You live here now, I can't keep the same secrets from you as I do from Ron and Hermione." He took a deep breath and launched into the story.
"By blood, both those boys are my sons and when I die, they'll both receive titles. I was named Teddy's godfather when he was born during the War. When Remus and Dora died, Andromeda took him in, but about a year ago she got sick. She may not recover, so she passed his guardianship to me and told me to blood adopt him as a Potter. He can't claim any titles I received from the Potter line, but he'll get the Black Lordship. He has Black blood, and the title was willed to me by the last true Heir of the House of Black, so it's mine to do as I please with." Harry knew Malfoy, as an Heir to a Noble House himself, would want to know about the titles, since Harry had claimed so many. The rules of the nobility were complex, and every noble scion worked to make sure none of the titles died out. Harry was doing his part by splitting his titles amongst his sons and any other children he might have.
"And Reggie?" Malfoy asked, seeing Harry get a little distracted. "He's definitely a Potter by birth, he looks too much like you to be a blood adoption. Who's his mother?" Harry shot Malfoy a sharp look, causing him to flush a little. "I'm sorry, it's none of my business."
"Reggie is… an unusual case. He has no mother. He was born of ritual, so he has no carrier either. He has three father, as well. Myself, obviously, and Regulus Black, for another. If I have no more sons, he'll get the titles from the Potter line. He could be eligible for the Black title, I guess, but Regulus was a younger son and Andromeda was the eldest daughter. Plus, Reggie will hold the Gaunt titles directly while Teddy won't directly inherit any." Draco looked confused, to put it mildly.
"I thought all the Gaunts died out fifty years ago. Where did he get those titles?"
"Tom," Harry answered simply. The finality of his tone must have convinced Malfoy that it was one of those things he couldn't ask questions about, because he simply nodded and looked away.
Luckily for them, the two boys came rushing back into the room at that moment with their familiars.
"Ah, good boys!" Harry exclaimed, glad to avoid the awkward moment. He was sure there would be plenty more to come in the next two years. "Why don't you introduce Draco to your pets?" Teddy grinned, gesturing a golden wolf cub over to where Malfoy sat.
"This is Romulus, he's my f'miliar," the boy began as the wolf sniffed at Malfoy's hand. He must have determined the blonde to be trustworthy, since a moment later he licked it. "I named him after one of the brothers in the myth, Romulus 'n Remus. Remus was Father's name." He looked sad for a moment, then brightened. "He talks to me. I can hear him in my head. Daddy says it's 'cause I'm part wolf 'cause of Father and we're… what was it, Daddy?"
"Kin, Wolfling," Harry laughed, "and I think it must be, I've never heard of it happening before, but children of werewolves are so rare."
-0-
Draco was astonished. He thought his head might explode from all the new information. How much Potter knew about being a noble, his children (Potter has kids!), the mysterious things he wouldn't talk about.
This was not the same Potter he knew at school. Hell, this was not the same Potter who pulled him up onto a broomstick, saving him from the death Draco had sentenced himself to. This Potter laughed and smiled with real joy. This Potter had no weight of a world only he could save on his shoulders. This was a young man, full of life and vitality, whose only challenge was being a single parent to two young children at the age of nineteen.
And Merlin, was it a beautiful sight.
Draco was glad the wolf, Romulus, seemed to approve of him. Even if it was a cub, it still had sharp teeth and a dangerous glint to its eye. When Teddy finished chattering, Reggie, the mysterious one stepped forward, followed by two snakes. The silver one wrapped around his neck and shoulder and turned pure white eyes on Draco.
"This is Tronus," Reggie said shyly. "I named that after Daddy's 'Tronus Charm. He protects me like Daddy, and he talks to me, too. He tells me stories when Daddy's gone, like Daddy does at bedtime." He stroked one of the snake's coils and hissed something in Parseltongue. "Tronus says he trusts you now, but if you do something bad, he'll bite you. He's poison."
Draco shivered. Parseltongue was a fascinating language, but when the boy spoke, his eyes darkened and his pupils turned to slits like a snake's. He turned away instead.
"Potter, I thought your Patronus was a stag. That's what came bursting out at me in third year and nearly killed me." Potter flushed a little and laughed, obviously remembering Draco's failed Dementor prank.
"It's changed since… since the Battle." Ah, one of those forbidden subjects then. Now Draco was curious, but he was too polite to ask. Luckily, Teddy had no such scruples.
"Show him your 'Tronus Charm, Daddy! Let Draco see!" Potter flushed even more, but couldn't refuse when Reggie's quiet voice joined in.
"Oh, alright." The boys cheered and backed away, clearing a space. Potter must do this regularly, then. "Expecto Patronum!"
Well, this is interesting.
-0-
Harry's dragon Patronus was huge and nearly solid, like it always was when he used the memory of his first look into Reggie's eyes. It was the only good memory he had of that month. Reggie was the only good thing he got from his… experience.
Malfoy studied the Patronus as it circled around him, teeth bared, studying him back. Eventually it stopped directly in front of him, paused a moment, then lowered its snout to his brow before fading away. It was a moment longer before Malfoy turned to him with a questioning eyebrow raised.
"Do you know how much power you need to have a Patronus be a magical creature? The only thing more rare is someone who's Animagus form is a magical creature." Potter looked down, embarrassed.
"That is my Animagus form," he mumbled, pulling at his fingers.
Draco was floored. He sat back down and allowed himself a moment to take in just how much magical power Potter had. He must be the most powerful wizard since Merlin himself! Draco had never seen a hint of it in six years of school together, either. He thought a second longer, then smirked.
"A dragon, Potter? Is there something I should know?"
Potter blushed but met his eyes with a direct stare.
"It's not what you're thinking. Dragons form very close family units, and mates bond for life. That was a Hungarian Horntail, same as I faced in the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament. They have the strongest bond between parent and child and are known for being the most protective of their offspring." Clearly Potter was not about to be teased.
Another hissing noise distracted them. Potter crouched down and extended his arm toward the second snake as it slithered out from under the couch. This one was also a silvery color, but had a stripe of black down the center of its back. Its eyes were black as well, deep pools of shadow that turned to Draco as the tongue flicked out, tasting his scent on the air.
"Malfoy, this is my familiar, Severus."
"Why Severus?" Why would Potter name his familiar after a man he hated?
"The eyes," he answered simply. That was true. Only Severus had eyes that dark and empty, with such a cold stare. "He's also not afraid to tell me off if I need it. He's the first one I found since the Battle who would. Snape wouldn't stand for idiocy in his class, and I needed someone to not let me be an idiot now." He gave a tiny smile, just one corner of his mouth. "He even called me a dunderhead when we met. How could I name him anything else?"
Draco was glad someone else remembered his godfather and mentor as more than a spy or Dumbledore's killer. Severus Snape was more than his roles. He was a man. Somehow, that idea had gotten lost in the War.
All in all, Draco decided this new Potter wasn't so bad.