House: Ravenclaw

Class: Charms

Category: Standard

Prompts: [Trope] Frenemies

[Color] Orange

[Last line] As I looked across the table, I knew this was forever.

Word Count: 1377

Major Warnings: N/A

Common Ground

Harry was elated to hear that his youngest son Albus chose his own path and was sorted into Slytherin. What he was unprepared for, however, was the news that his son and Draco Malfoy's son, Scorpius, grew to become close friends. Harry had helped Ginny with dinner and was just finishing up setting the table. Mrs. Weasley gave them a nice hand-knitted tablecloth in her signature orange yarn. He couldn't help but roll his eyes at the irony. He hadn't spoken to Draco in years, and now he and Scorpius were coming over for dinner. Harry had never thought he would be dining with his old school rival.

"So Dad, you knew Scorpius's dad when you went to Hogwarts?" Albus asked, snapping Harry out of his thoughts.

Harry turned to face his youngest son and smiled. Albus was wearing an orange sweater. It was fitting for how excited and full of energy the child was. "Yeah, we knew each other." he responded plainly.

"Were you two friends too?"

Harry shook his head. "No, we weren't. We were more like school rivals." Harry explained delicately.

"Rivals? Like you both tried to get the highest scores on exams?" Albus tried to understand.

Harry laughed. "No, not like that. Besides, your aunt Hermione was the one who always got the highest scores. We just had different ideas on how things should have been at the time."

"Was it because you were in Gryffindor, and he was in Slytherin?" Albus asked with a sigh.

Harry didn't want Albus to feel like people in different Hogwarts houses couldn't be friends, because that wasn't true. Yet, he couldn't deny that was how he originally felt. As he and Draco got older, the issues were not based in house rivalry, but conflicting ideas on how to treat people and how Draco refused to look beyond the traditional prejudices of his pure-blood family. "It wasn't that. I had plenty of friends in other houses. It was just complicated between us."

"Did you ever get into a fight with him?" Albus asked bluntly.

"We did duel a few times." Harry answered honestly.

"Like in dueling club? James said they started it up again a year before he went to school."

"Once."

"Did you win?"

"It was a draw." Harry raised a dubious eyebrow at his son. "Why are you so curious about this, Albus?"

"Scorpius had an idea that we could convince you two to become friends, like us." Albus said. After, he gasped and quickly covered his mouth.

I guess he wasn't supposed to say that Harry thought. Harry chuckled. "Well, maybe now that you and Scorpius are good friends, maybe Draco and I could work something out."

A bright smile flashed across Albus's face. "Really?"

Harry ruffled Albus's hair affectionately. "Yeah, but I can't promise anything."

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. "They're here!" Albus shouted as he raced to the door.

"Albus, slow down!" Harry heard Ginny holler from the living room.

Harry placed down the last bit of silverware before heading towards the front door. Albus had beat him to it and had already opened the door. "Hey, Scorpius! Hi, Mr. Malfoy!" He greeted them with an ear-to-ear grin.

Harry was surprised by how much better Draco had looked than he did the last time Harry saw him. When Harry saw him last it was during the Battle of Hogwarts and Draco looked pale, sickly, and terrified. Now, Draco looked healthier, and his pale skin had a slight glow to it. Scorpius looked a lot like Draco looked when he was younger, but he had longer white-blonde hair. Harry also noticed that Scorpius did not show signs of fear or tension when standing next to his father, so that meant Draco treated Scorpius better than his father had treated him. "Hello, Albus. It's nice to finally meet you." Draco greeted Harry's son politely, shaking Albus's hand.

"I see now." Albus said, looking directly into Draco's light grey eyes.

"See what?" Draco hesitantly inquired.

"Why the duel you and my dad had ended in a draw! You're both really strong. I can tell." Albus stated, proud that he was able to notice the similarities between his dad and his dad's school rival.

Draco seemed taken aback by Albus's statement. Harry pinched the bridge of his nose and dropped his head in slight embarrassment. "Oh, so your dad has talked about me?" Draco asked, genuine surprise in his voice.

"I asked him about you since Scorpius and I found out you two knew each other." Albus explained. "He said you two were school rivals."

"That does summarize it well." Draco agreed with Harry's description.

Albus leaned forward to whisper to Draco "if you guys want a rematch, you should duel in the backyard, so Mum doesn't get mad."

Harry raised his head and looked at Albus, then at Scorpius. "Actually since dinner will be ready soon, why don't you show Scorpius the Quidditch field we made in the backyard?" Harry lightly suggested.

"Yeah! Come on, Scorpius! You can borrow James's broom!" Albus said as he grabbed Scorpius's arm and began pulling him towards the back door.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Potter!" Scorpius shouted as he was being dragged away.

"Nice to meet you too, Scorpius!" Harry shouted back, trying to hold in his laughter. His smile faded as he turned back towards Draco. "You look better." Harry noted.

Draco shrugged. "You seem to be doing fine." Draco's eyes met Harry's and he sensed something behind them. "You look like you want to say something. Why not say it?"

Harry quietly sighed, not in annoyance, but in reluctance. He thought about what Albus said, and figured he made a good point. "I was wondering if we could talk."

Draco nodded. "Sure."

Harry and Draco sat down in the living room. Ginny left to finish preparing dinner and nodded at Harry encouragingly. If Ginny approves of Malfoy being a regular guest, that was a good enough sign for Harry. He just needed to find a place to start. "I talked with Albus before you both arrived. Apparently our kids have been conspiring." Harry started.

Draco shrugged again. "They're young Slytherins. I assure you, conspiring is a hobby of theirs."

"They've become best friends." said Harry.

"And let me guess, by their logic, they want us to be friends too." Draco put together.

"I know it's about twenty years too late to say this, but I'm sorry. For everything." Harry apologized quietly. "Especially for what happened in the bathroom in sixth year. I still feel awful about that. I didn't know that was what the spell did."

Draco raised his hand. "Stop. Potter, if you and I started apologizing to each other over every damned thing we did to each other in school, we'd be here until sunrise. Look, you saved my life. I can't hate you."

"I don't hate you either, Draco." Harry added. "You saved my life too. I can tell you've changed, and I was thinking we could leave the past behind us and try to work things out. I'm open to finding common ground, and if you don't want to be friends, I understand."

Draco let out a small chuckle. "Do you remember what I said to you at the start of first year, Harry?" Harry's eyes widened since Draco used his first name instead of his last name. "I wanted to be friends from the start. We just didn't see eye-to-eye on things. Then, before we knew it, I was stealing a glass ball, and you were knocking me flat during a duel."

Harry smiled as he reminisced about his school days. "So, what do you say?"

Draco gave Harry a half smile. "Well, I say why let the kids' conspiring go to waste?"

"Sounds good enough to me."

Once everyone was rounded up for dinner, Harry took a look around the table. Draco had chosen to sit across from him. He felt good that he was able to at least begin looking at a friendship with his old rival. What Draco said was true, maybe he and Harry could be friends after all. He felt confident about the future. As he looked across the table, Harry knew this was forever.