The Twincident

Chapter 6: Time with Draco

Harry was sitting on the sofa, twiddling his fingers in his now pyjama clothed lap, because he wanted to get into something more comfortable and the pyjamas he had worn the night before was that, when Draco arrived. The blonde stood by the door for a few moments as they stared, almost nervously at each others, then he grinned.

"You're not going to vomit on me, are you, Potter?" Draco said, a smirk on his face.

Harry smirked back at him, "Oh, I will try very hard not to. I am feeling okay at the moment, but if I need to puke again I will be sure to run to the loo… if I have the time, I suppose, sometimes you can't help but to puke right where you are,"

Draco chuckled and shook his head, making his way over to the sofa and sitting on the other end of it.

"So, why'd you ask uncle Sev to send me down here? I mean, don't get me wrong, I do very much appreciate the day out of classes, but…" Draco said, a worried glint in his eyes.

"I, erm, well…" Harry sighed, "You were kind to me, after what happened, and I didn't want to be alone. But I didn't particularly fancy being hounded by a Gryffindor, either, so I figured I could use the opportunity to, maybe, attempt to get to know you. If that is okay, anyway. If not then you may leave, I guess. I just… I figured there was more to you than meets the eye,"

"There's more to everyone than meets the eyes, right?" Draco said, "I mean, we all wear facades, all the time, depending on the situations we are in, the people we are surrounded by. The way we act with our guardians is different to how we act with our friends, and so on. If we're lucky then we might find someone, or multiple someones, who we can be our true, authentic selves around, but it is rare to be able to do so,"

Harry hummed in agreement, a small smile gracing his face, a pang of pain glancing his heart. The twins were his someones, and Neville and Luna, he supposed, but the twins were the first to reach out. And now they were… not really there, not yet, and not in the same way.

Harry swallowed thickly, "Uncle Sev?"

Draco grinned, "He is my godfather,"

"Oh," Harry said, a tad shocked, "I, erm," he really didn't know what to say, he didn't think the Malfoys were the type to let a half-blood be the godfather of their child.

"It's a shock, right?" Draco smirked slightly, "The Malfoys choosing a half-blood as the godfather of their only child," he muttered, "I don't mind, really, Sev is great. It was my mother's idea. She… likes him, I guess. They're not super close friends, but they are friends, of a sort. And she got father to agree because she made the point that, if everything went tits up, then them having named a half-blood as my godfather would be seen as an okay thing to do by society, and they wouldn't completely lose face,"

Harry hummed, "Makes sense, I suppose,"

"She also made a point to say that should something happen to them, and I be in danger, she didn't trust any of their pureblood friends to be able to protect me. They weren't strong enough, or smart enough. And Sev is strong, smart, and willing to protect me. Even from them, if need be," Draco sighed, leaning back into the sofa cushions and looking up at the ceiling.

"Do they… Do they hurt you?" Harry asked quietly, concern in his voice.

Draco scoffed, turning his head to the side so he could look at Harry, "It's a bit hard to hurt someone when you barely see them. They followed the more traditional pureblood method of parenting by allowing the house elves to raise me, and my tutors, of course. They would spend about an hour or two with me before bed, and dinner time. Breakfast and lunch were to be eaten separately. The only times that changed were if we were to go on holiday, my birthday, Yule, Christmas, Ostara, if they were hosting an event or going to an event, or if they decided on a family day out. I saw Sev more than I saw them. I would spend the weekends with him, and school holidays unless my parents needed me. He would come and see me between classes when he could, too,"

"I'm sorry," Harry said softly.

"What are you sorry for?" Draco asked, confused.

"I… I'm sorry that you're hurting," Harry said.

"I'm not-"

"Draco, I may not have been raised by my parents, but I am almost pretty sure I know what parents are supposed to do. And maybe I don't have the best examples of it in my aunt and uncle, but I know that they raised their son. Even if it was in a slightly fucked up kinda way. They loved him, and cared for him, and protected him. And I know that even if they didn't physically hurt you, it does hurt, mentally and emotionally, when the people who are supposed to do those things for you, don't do those things. Especially if you see others being raised in the way you long to be raised, or if you are pawned off on someone else when it is most convenient for them. No matter how well that someone else treats you," Harry said.

"I'm used to it. I'm fine," Draco shrugged, swallowing deeply.

"You shouldn't have to be used to it," Harry said, "And I don't think you are fine, but I'm not either, and that is okay. We can be not fine together,"

Draco chuckled darkly, "Why are you being so kind to me?"

"Why were you so kind to me when everything went down the other day?" Harry said, raising an eyebrow at the other boy.

Draco shrugged, "I figured you were in pain and needed a buffer between you and the Weasel. I also just… You defended the Slytherins, and it is rather unheard of for anyone to do that from the other Houses, but you did. The person with the lesser reason to stand up for us, and yet you did it anyway. And I couldn't just leave you there, with them hounding you,"

Harry smiled slightly, "Well, thank you. I appreciate it,"

"It was nothing," Draco shrugged.

"It was something to me," Harry whispered.

"So, er," Draco cleared his throat, "How are you feeling?"

"Okay, I guess," Harry shrugged, "Just… trying to get used to everything, and trying not to panic at the thought of everyone knowing I am pregnant with the Weasley twins. Especially Umbridge, Dumbles, and the other Weasleys,"

"It's not your fault, Harry. You and your magic saved them, they would be… they would be dead without you," Draco said.

"I know," Harry swallowed thickly, "But that doesn't stop me from worrying. Especially when I know exactly what everyone thinks about them, and me. And then there is the fact that Severus has adopted me. People are going to be mad about that, too. Call me a traitor for allowing the first adult that has actually given a shit about me, my health and safety, to adopt me, because that adult is a Slytherin. Not that I mind, of course, Severus is great… But everyone else will mind. It all just seems rather stressful, to be honest, and I don't know if I want any part of it. Especially when You-Know-Who eventually finds out, that will be a whole other thing to deal with, and I just… can't,"

"Well, you're not alone, and you won't be alone again. We'll protect you from the idiots as much as we can," Draco said softly, a slight, concerned smirk on his face.

Harry just nodded, wanting desperately to believe him, and yet finding it incredibly hard to do so.

…

Severus entered his quarters after his last lesson of the day to find Harry curled up in the corner of the sofa, sleeping peacefully with a forest green fleece throw covering him, and Draco sitting in the other corner reading a book, though his godson looked up at Severus when he heard the door close.

"How has Harry been?" Severus asked quietly.

"Alright," Draco shrugged, "Rather nervous, though. Worried about everyone else and their reactions. How did the idiots take the news?"

Severus scoffed, "Well, they would have taken it better had the absolute arse of a Headmaster hadn't been so blasé about it, and that's putting it lightly. But hopefully I will have a few days to do some damage control before Harry feels up to going back to classes,"

Draco nodded.

"Can you stay a little bit longer whilst I go to the bank to pick up Evie?" Severus said.

Draco smiled and nodded.

It didn't take long for Severus and Evie to floo back to the rooms, Evie beamed when she saw Draco, running over to him and allowing him to pick her up and hold her on his lap, her little arms around his neck as she quietly chattered about her day to him and asked if he would be staying over for the night.

"I have some school work to catch up on, but I shall attempt to stay over on the weekend if you would like me to," Draco said.

"Yeah," she beamed.

Draco left the rooms half an hour later, with his arms full of his school work for the day, and Severus went about making dinner whilst Evie curled up next to Harry on the sofa.

Harry woke slowly, smiling down at Evie when he noticed her lying next to him.

"Hello, Evie, how was your day with the goblins?" Harry said.

"Good. How was your day?" she said.

"Good, thank you," he said, beaming at her as much as she was beaming at him.

Harry listened intently as she excitedly chattered away about her time with the goblins, and smiled at Severus when he came over to them to say that dinner was ready.

Harry smiled as Evie ran over to the table, and he sat up slowly, with Severus looking down at him with concern in his eyes.

"How are you feeling?" Severus said.

"Tired, and hungry, and worried… though not about the twins, just everything else. How did everyone take the news?" Harry said as he stood, a small yawn escaping his mouth.

"Not completely terribly. Though it could have gone better. If you want to take a few days off so I can do some more damage control then that is fine. How was your time with Draco?" Severus said, still very concerned.

"It was alright, actually. We just talked about… everything, I guess. Or nearly everything," Harry shrugged.

"Good," Severus' lips twitched upwards a little at the corners.

They sat at the table and the three of them talked, and laughed, as they ate the delicious bolognese that Severus had made for them.

And Harry thought that maybe he could get used to this. Sitting, and eating, and laughing with his newfound family.

One day.

Hiya, how are you all today?

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Sorry for the slight delay in updates, life is just very messy at the moment, and my brain fog and fatigue has been rather terrible the past few weeks or so. Along with everything else, haha. The joys of chronic illness. But I will survive. I hope.

Anywho, I posted an essay/petition where I (un)officially explain why I think I should be cast as my favourite character, Severus Snape, in the new HBO series, despite the fact that I am a woman. It would mean a lot if you went and read it, but no pressure. It isn't going to lead to anything, unless, by some miracle, it goes viral, but it was fun to write. Feel free to go and check it out.

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