"Okay, how did you weasel yourself out of that one?"

"Please, the fact that you're surprised is insulting," Draco Malfoy drawled from his lounge chair, stretched out with only his sunglasses and swim trunks on. His head tilted slightly upwards as if to soak up the sun despite a white canvas parasol shading him.

As expected of his wife, Hermione Granger had planned an hour by hour itinerary for their vacation, something that Draco was determined to sit out on at all costs. Don't get him wrong, he adored Hermione and her enthusiasm but he would rather eat sand than have to spend a whole day on a historical tour about decrepit old buildings and the (only) 'charming' seaside village on the island. All it took was one little white lie about wanting to spend a day with his childhood friend and reminisce on happy memories of coming here. Pansy was only too happy to dodge the Gryffindor witch's scheduled 'fun'. Harry however was not at all pleased when he realized that he would be the sacrificial lamb that was going to go on this educational tour.

Pansy snorted, "The look on Potter's face when he realized what was happening was priceless. I almost feel sorry for him."

"I'm sure he can handle it," Draco says dryly, "He's the chosen one after all"

Draco and Pansy share a laugh at this before settling back again to their comfortable silence. The beach stretched on for miles and was empty aside from him and Pansy, the water was the perfect reflection of the crisp blue sky. He let his head roll slightly to the left to glance at his companion who was sat cross-legged on her own lounger, hunched over a stack of parchment, "You're supposed to be relaxing"

"I am relaxed," she answers without looking at him. Aside from the black swimsuit she wore and the sunglasses pushed back up on her head, Pansy did not look like she was on vacation at all. She flips the stack of parchment back to the first page and turns to the blonde, "Draco, you know about business. Can you tell me what you think of this?" She chucks the paperwork over and it lands on the blonde's stomach. He irately pushes back his sunglasses to the top of his head before glancing at the unwelcome reading material.

"You going into business?" Draco scrunches his eyebrows in confusion as he skims through it, "And quite aggressively at that," he adds when he sees one too many businesses listed in her proposal.

Pansy shrugs as she finally relaxes on the lounger, letting her body sink to the headrest and stretching her legs out, "But what do you think of them? You think they've viable?"

"There's certainly a market for them," Draco frowns as he studies them a little bit further. Pansy only hums as she mulls things in her head. Draco took that as a sign that his input was no longer needed and tosses the parchment back to Pansy's lounger, letting it rest by her feet.

"It feels so strange to be back here. Seems like a lifetime ago," Pansy muses. The Malfoy vacation home was a moment in Pansy's childhood that always held fond memories. She, Theo, & Blaise would come every summer since they were six. Their parents would spend the afternoons drinking cocktails as they gossiped their afternoon away. Pansy and the rest of her friends would spend the whole summer exploring the island and learn all of its secrets while in the care and supervision of their respective house elves, "Remember when you broke your arm? Climbing that tree?"

"Not a fond memory, Pansy"

Pansy laughs, "All because Blaise said you couldn't do it,"

"But I did," Draco reminds her, "I just lost my footing on the way down,"

"You cried for an hour and didn't talk to us for a whole day," Pansy grins at him, "You were just as dramatic then as you are now"

"I feel like crying after breaking your arm was a justified reaction," the blonde says defensively.

"Except for the 30-min soliloquy on how Blaise was going to rue the day he was born,"

Draco glares at her and Pansy hums in amusement as they turn back to watch the the stillness of the water. On a clear bright day like today the ocean around the island barely moved, it looked like smooth glass, a mirror that blanketed the earth. Sometimes when the tide was really low you could even walk way out of the island and reach the ocean cavern that peaked out from the distance.

"So, business wasn't the only thing my father brought up on my last visit," Pansy suddenly says without looking at him, "He says someone approached him, interested for my hand in marriage. He's in his 30s, but his wife died two years ago. And he doesn't mind marrying...damaged goods. It would be like an arranged marriage, I guess."

"What did you tell him?," Draco asks his oldest friend who looked like she was at war with herself.

"You know, I really envy you and Granger sometimes," Pansy deflects the question as she smiles at the blonde, "I always think how wonderful it must be to be with your person...your, dare I say, soulmate"

"Pans..."

"What if this person is my last chance, Draco? You know divorcee's in our pureblood society don't really do well. Not the women at least."

"It's not like you to be so defeatist, Pans,"

"You have Granger, Theo has Daphne, even Blaise has Weasley. Watching you three can get a little lonely sometimes, is all,"

Draco remains silent as he watches his friend pluck at a loose thread on her lounger, "Shouldn't you marry for love? Isn't that the point of getting married?,"

"I married for love once, remember? That's what got me into this mess. Maybe a match based on logic and compatibility is what's best for me ," Pansy tries to laugh it off but it comes out forced, making it even sadder to listen to.

"Pansy,"

Pansy wipes a tear away, "I'm fine. Hey, do you still have broomsticks stored in here?"

Draco studied the witch. He knew her well enough to know that the conversation was over and she was now looking for a happy distraction, "Of course? Same race route?"

"Down the mountain, through the cavern, finish with a loop around the island?" Pansy grins at him

"You're on," Draco grins back.

"God can the Malfoys be any more pretentious,"

Hermione winces, "Well...I admit it is a bit much, isn't it?" She rolls Scorpius' pram back and forth just so her hands could do something and diffuse her embarrassment.

"A bit?" Harry blanches as he eyes the looming structure above them. The spires and towers could almost rival that of Hogwarts', "Their vacation home is a castle. A castle! Let that sink in, Hermione"

The Gryffindor witch grimaces. After being with the blonde wizard for so many years, it sometimes escapes her notice what an anomaly her husband is. She doesn't notice it as much in their muggle home as they've kept their lifestyle as normal as they could but, rare vacations like these often slap her with the reality of how grossly wealthy the Malfoy heir really is.

The Malfoy castle vacation home is found on a tidal island in Mount's bay in Cornwall. It's known as St. Michael's Mount to the muggles, a cursed island overrun by hostile flora and fauna, besieged by strong forces of gale winds that drove sailboats that get too close to their doom. If a muggle ever looked towards it from across Mount Bay they would only see a blurry image of the island, obscured by dark skies and thick fog.

The wizards however know this place as the Grey Rock. To them the island looked like paradise surrounded by the clearest, calmest waters-so calm in fact that you can barely see a ripple insight. On the south side of the island, on the highest point of the mount sat the Malfoy castle, built and founded by Aubyn Malfoy in the 1650s after he and his wife fell in love with the island when they had visited England. To the eastern side of the island was a sprawling garden that had peacock topiaries (a symbol of the Malfoy ancestry) and blooms of 320 species of roses. The west was where the beach stretched to kiss the waters of Mount's Bay, and to the north, at the skirt of the mountain lay the small wizarding village that sprawled out by the harbor.

"It's kind of charming, isn't it," Hermione mused as they strolled through the cobbled streets where a few dozen vacationers loitered around. Harry and Hermione had been following a very cheery local as he told them about the history of the island. There were very few shops in the tiny island considering that there were very few residents to begin with. There was an apothecary, a cafe, and an inn for the guests. There was a tiny second hand bookstore and a small watering hole that sold their own local version of whiskey and beer.

"Yeah...charming isn't exactly the word I would call it," Harry said dryly as he eyed the village. Aubyn Malfoy was basically a glorified landlord who developed the island. He started with the inn and a few cabin units. When witches and wizards started moving in he let them rent land from him so they could open their own shops and livelihood, "I have never seen a family as out of touch as the Malfoys. 'Hey I need a vacation house lets buy the whole island' Yeah. Very charming and very normal,"

"Harry, stop," Hermione shushes him as she tried not to laugh. She eyes the tour guide who didn't seem to have heard them talking ill of his homes' beloved founder.

"Dad, this is boring," Teddy whined as he tugged on Harry's side.

"Tell me about it, bud," Harry answers without thinking, "I wonder how Malfoy dodged this bullet—"

Hermione raises an eyebrow at him.

"of Friendship," Harry finishes his sentence carefully.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Very funny you two. Come on this is cool! I grew up learning about the muggle lore of this island so imagine how excited I was to learn that it's been a tiny wizarding community this whole time! Makes you wonder if other "forbidden and dangerous" muggle places are just wizarding communities hidden in plain sight."

Teddy and Harry looked unimpressed and unconvinced which made the witch scowl in displeasure. Thankfully she didn't have time to reprimand their behavior as the tour guide cut them off.

"And this here is our founder, Lord Aubyn Malfoy himself," The tour guide announced as he pointed to a white marble statue that was currently pacing ever so slowly at the harbor, "He likes to walk at the harbor during this hour. Most of the the day he's on his bench at the town square letting the birds sing to him. On evenings he disappears to the east gardens where his wife's statue spend her time"

The white animated statue reminded both Hermione and Harry of the sentient chess pieces from the giant chessboard from hell back in their first year. They both shivered involuntarily at the collective memory. The tour guide then leads them back to the town square where they had started and merrily suggested them to try the local creamery for some ice creams and sundaes to cool off. This was the first thing the tour guide has said all day that was remotely interesting to Teddy and Harry.

"Harry, you're a professor. You could at least be more interested in learning," Hermione said stiffly in her seat as they sat down for their frozen desserts.

"Oh, I'm all for learning, Hermione. I'm just not interested in Malfoy: A History," Harry says dryly as he licks his spoon clean off his chocolate ice cream. Hermione rolled her eyes and she and Harry silently watched Teddy who was still at the ice cream stand picking out a flavor. His hair would change color to match the flavor he would taste. It was now the color of cotton candy pink. The ice cream vendor looked endlessly amused.

"So, Teddy was telling me about your little trip to oceanarium," Hermione turns to her best friend.

"Yeah, it was a good trip," Harry shrugs as he continued to dig into his summer treat.

"I heard you invited Pansy," The Gryffindor pressed on meaningfully.

"I can't imagine where you're going with this, Hermione," Harry says flatly as he put down his spoon in defeat knowing full well that the witch was on a war path for answers.

"You never bring anyone to meet Teddy,"

Harry had no answer to that. Not that Hermione needed any.

"That's a big deal," Hermione acknowledges. Then after a beat of silence,"Have you told her how you feel?"

"No," Harry says tightly before letting out a frustrated sigh, "Even I don't know how I feel,"

"Harry..."

"It's just...so simple," he finishes lamely, not knowing how else he can explain his ease with Pansy Parkinson "I can actually talk to her about everything and, just—," Harry stops to let himself think for a while and gather his thoughts, "Okay. Remember back in fifth year, when you lot were being jerks to me about hearing Voldemort's voice in my head, the whole school not believing me that he's back. And on top of that I had to deal with Cedric's death and Dumbledore ignoring me?"

"I said I was sorry for that, Harry!" the witch exclaims defensively.

"It was pretty shit, Hermione,"

"I'm sorry!" she repeat, blushing furiously at her shame.

Harry laughs then sobers up, "Well, I didn't remember until quite recently. But, back then—and I've never told anyone this. I actually bumped into Parkinson one night. That was the first time I've seen her alone without any of her Slytherin friends around. I was so sure she was going to dock points from me for being out of bed or report me to Umbridge."

"Right, she was a prefect then," Hermione nods along, "and on the inquisitorial squad"

"Right," Harry presses on, "But she didn't. Instead she looks at me and says, 'I believe you' then walks away,"

"Wow"

"Exactly," Harry nods, "I don't know. There's just something about Parkinson that puts me at ease, like I can trust her. Mind you, she was still batshit crazy and annoying as hell during our last two years in Hogwarts and not to mention, she did openly sell me out to Voldemort but that's just the thing. Is it insane that I like that honesty from her? I mean everyone was probably thinking the same thing but she's the only one who ever said it to my face. I mean Dumbledore...he practically did the same thing. Orchestrated my death since the moment he left me on the Dursleys' doorstep. But instead of saying it to my face he let me suffer all those years and lose people I love along the way, I—"

Hermione put a hand on Harry's hand and gave it a squeeze. The war hero took a deep breath, "I get it, Harry. Pansy is incredibly transparent. It is comforting to know that if she doesn't like you she really doesn't hesitate to show it."

"Kind of explains why she only keeps to five friends—I made the list by the way," Harry wasn't sure if it was something worth boasting about.

Hermione huffed, "I rank under Crookshanks apparently,"

"Your cat has been ruining lives since 1993,"

"Shut up," Hermione laughs, "God, I know Pansy doesn't hate me, but she can't seem to warm up to me," The Gryffindor witch muses as she thinks about how Pansy is still keeping her at an arms length. She doesn't take it against the witch though. Hermione knows that she can come off a bit strong at first. It literally took a troll for Harry and Ron to take her in.

"Maybe if you stopped being insufferable," Harry teased. He laughs as Hermione playfully whacks him on the arm, "Really Hermione? A gratitude journal? Come on, even you know that's a bit too much,"

"It's supposed to help you get through tough times. Put positivity in your daily ritual," Hermione sniffed defensively, "I was going for thoughtful"

"You also attempted to schedule fun," Harry said flatly, "In which nothing listed in there constitutes as fun,"

Hermione groans, "God I'm terrible, aren't I? I haven't taken a vacation in years. I think i've forgotten how to. And Draco. Draco has been so patient with me, but we haven't even had a proper date, just the two of us, ever since Scorpius was born. It's just been a string of diapers and ministry meetings these days,"

"Eh," Harry shrugs then grins, "Luckily you have me to guide you, maybe loosen you up a bit. Step one: let's burn that itinerary of yours. I love you but I am not going to go on a garden tour to hear about 300 species of roses. Step two: we're going to spend the rest of this vacation, on the beach, doing absolutely nothing,"

"Are you quite done, Harry Potter?" Hermione shakes her head in amusement then smiles softly at her best friend, "I missed this. I missed you." She squeezes his hand and Harry gives her a small smile back, "You haven't been like your self in a long time."

"I haven't felt like myself in a long time," Harry concedes.

"About Pansy, well— I'm just glad that you're finally letting people in again. I know how hard it is for you to trust people after everything you've been through,"

"Yeah," Harry says softly, "I just don't want to do anything rash and stupid and ruin things again,"

"You're not going to ruin things, Harry,"

"But Ginny—"

"Wasn't your fault. It was her decision—"

"But if I had just seen signs. Paid more attention—"

"Harry, stop putting the weight of the world on your shoulders. You're not responsible for other people's reactions," Hermione placates the war hero, "Sometimes you just have to accept that no matter how hard you try...shit just happens,"

Harry blanches, "That's your advise? The brightest witch of her age? Shit just happens?'

"I have mom brain and I'm taking care of two children, bite me," Hermione laughs as she fondly thinks about her two blonde boys.

"Rules?"

"Same as always. No hexing on dry land but open waters is fair game," Pansy says as she adjusts herself on her broom. She and Draco had trudged back up to the castle and docked on the highest spire that had a landing platform on its tip. Draco had thrown on a shirt and she pulled on her linen shorts and tee. If there was anything Pansy can remember from all their races was that someone always ended up in the water. She pulled down her goggles and adjusted her flying glove.

"What are we racing for?" Draco does the same with his own gear.

Pansy licks her lip in thought before she says, "A favor," then adds as an afterthought, "A no-questions-asked favor"

"Interesting," Draco smirks at her, "It's a deal, Parkinson," Then he turns to the tiny house-elf standing with them on the landing gear, "Kinney, call it,"

The house-elf nods enthusiastically and counts down from three. When he snaps his fingers as he reached one, the two Slytherins take off. The first part of the racing course was simple enough. It was a straight dive down from the castle landing platform to the forest floor. From there you had to level out at least five feet off the ground, flying low amongst the branches and trees and the real first challenge begins. It was a test of agility if anything, bobbing and weaving like needle and thread. Pansy and Draco did this so many times that at a certain point they had actually memorized where the trees grew and could fly through the forest with their eyes closed. But that was of course, years ago and by now new trees and branches and formations had sprouted in their favorite racing route.

"Keep up old man!" Pansy shouts gleefully as she gains an inch lead against him.

"You're four months older, you hag!" he screams back, his voice garbled against the whistling wind in her ears. Pansy laughs harder as she urges her broom to go even faster. It isn't long before the two come bursting out of the forest, upsetting the sand that met the forest line. A cloud kicks up and covers them making it harder to see but neither of them slows down, refusing to let the other get an advantage.

They had come out of the south side of the island, the next obstacle was the underwater caverns that stretched like a tunnel from the south side of the island to the north. Draco and Pansy had found this peculiar island feature when they were eight. Nothing in Aubny Malfoy's library could explain why water didn't exist in these caverns despite the entrance being submerged during high tide. It defied all laws of nature—but then again, so did most magic.

It was like flying through an underground train tunnel except that the cavern twisted and turned in places that a rigid train system would not. Aside from that, it as incredibly dark inside with only glowing fungi to light your path. This was again a test of their natural instinct and muscle memory. Aside from a few new rock formations, there wasn't too much that had changed which made it easier for the two to navigate.

"You're welcome to give up now while you still can," Draco's voice echoed in the caverns.

"In your dreams, ferret!" Pansy's cackle bounced maniacally as they sped on.

They shoot up into the air on the other side, right in front of the harbor. From there it was just a matter of pure speed as they raced above the water, around the entire island. The finish line would be whoever circled back to the harbor first. One would think this was the easiest part of race, except that now all rules have gone out the window. It was open season for hexes, and knock back jinxes and having an opponent as an obstacle was a little less predictable compared to static rocks and trees. To this day, no one has actually won the race because they mostly spent the last leg of their races trying to knock each other off their brooms.

Draco draws first blood and soon there were hexes and jinxes accompanying the whipping of the wind around them. Having been doing this since they were kids made them so evenly matched that they were dodging and weaving through each other's spells even as they continued to speed around the island. They finally reached the south side, back where they started from and was now rounding back, halfway to their finishing point.

"Give up now, Parkinson!"

"You first, Malfoy!"

"Don't say I didn't warn you!"

Draco trips Pansy up. He sends a pillar of water in front of her, startling her and making her lose control over the broomstick. By then they were flying so fast that any sudden movements would cause the broomstick to react quite violently. She gives a short shriek as she plunges down to the water. Draco's victory laugh was cut short when out of nowhere water whips out at him, like a giant tentacle, and slaps him off his broom. The two Slytherins disappear under water just short of the finish line, the harbor a few more meters away. They bicker all the way to shore as soon as they surfaced (like they always do)

"You fell first! I won!," Draco says angrily

"Fuck. Off. We both fell at the same time and you know it!" Pansy screams back, "And besides you didn't reach the harbor either."

"I was closer by an inch!,"

Pansy gives a frustrated shriek before she all but pounces at the blonde and try to push him down under the water. This ensues another bout of wrestling like the children that they are.

"Ahem" someone clears their throat.

Pansy and Draco look up at to see one Hermione Granger, arms crossed, raising an eyebrow at them. Harry was smirking in amusement while his (god)son gaped at them in awe. Scorpius was in his pram trying to eat his toe.

"Hello dear, how was your day?" Draco says pleasantly as he and Pansy unhand each other. He pulls himself up to the harbor while Harry takes Pansy's hand to help her up. The two Slytherins nonchalantly try to straighten their drenched clothes, trying to look dignified despite looking like drowned cats.

Before Hermione could answer, Teddy bursts, no longer able to hold his excitement, "THAT. WAS. SO. COOL! You two came out of no where! First you two were flying! Then you were swerving and barreling! And Ms. Pansy—! And then Draco—! Then the water—!" His excited ramblings were accompanied with enthusiastic hand gestures of explosions and broomstick maneuvers.

He ends his speech with a satisfied sigh, "Man, I wish I could ride a broom. Aunt 'mione made us listen to stories about this old fart" Teddy points with his thumb to the marble statue who looked back at him in disdain before walking away with his nose in the air.

"Teddy, he is not an old—!" Hermione tried to admonish the 11-year old.

"Teddy, your great great great great great great grand-uncle Aubny Malfoy was, in fact, an old fart," Draco says as a matter of factly.

Hermione shoves him back in the water.

"Are you sure, Harry?"

"Yeah, are you sure Potter?"

"He's sure," Draco says flatly, "Thanks, Potter. Don't wait up for us," The Slytherin boy grabs his wife and all but drags her out of the castle as quickly as he could. Date nights were far and few ever since Scorpius was born and Hermione got that promotion. This was the first time in a while that they were going to be able to have a night alone to themselves and sit down for a nice dinner that wasn't hasty take out.

"If something comes up—" Hermione tried to leave some instructions.

"They'll be fine!" Draco insisted as he pushes the worried Gryffindor witch out the door. It closes shut with a resounding thud and Harry and Pansy were left with a fussy one year old and a hyperactive eleven year old who took off immediately, running back and forth around the castle, eager to explore more of it. The two adults start walking towards the south wing where all their rooms were situated. The south wing had its own dining area and living space so it saved the group some time in trying to access the castle's facilities.

"Any other bright ideas, Potter?" Pansy says dryly

"I was just trying to be a good friend," Harry rolls his eyes at her as he bounces Scorpius up and down. The tiny cherub baby was still in a good mood so it gave Harry time to not worry about him too much. They enter the nursery to put Scorpius down for bedtime, "Besides, I'm sure you've had enough excitement for one day,"

"Yes, but babies?" Pansy eyed the infant in Harry's arms as he places him on the changing table.

Harry blanches, "Please don't tell me you don't like children"

"Children, I'm okay with. Children—okay, I love children," Pansy made sure to set the record straight, "But babies? Absolutely terrified of them,"

The war hero laughs, "I can't wait to hear why"

"They're just so squishy and fragile," Pansy squirms in discomfort, "And I don't think I'd be very good with them, is all" When Harry only throws her a dubious look she presses on, "Just, my mother she's not what you would call nurturing and i'm scared that..." Pansy trails off in frustration, not finding the right words to say as she watched Harry bundle up Scorpius in a fresh set of clothes. He picks him up and holds him against his chest as he turns to look at her.

"That you'll just be like her?" he finishes for her

"I'm just not ready to face the possibility that that monster might be inside of me too,"

"You're not your mother," Harry tells her honestly.

"You don't know that,"

The war hero shrugs then holds out Scorpius to her, "Here, hold him,"

Pansy eyed the cheery Malfoy heir as she tentatively places her hands under his armpits, slipping her hands under where Harry's was. Harry pressed Scorpius firmly in her hands until she was fully carrying his weight. Harry watches her with in amusement as she holds Scorpius at an arms length, "What now?"

"Jesus Christ. Okay maybe don't hold him like a bloody quaffle, Parkinson" Harry laughs at her, "Here" he helps her situate Scorpius against her body, one arm under his bum and another across his back and supporting his head. The warmth and weight of the infant was instantly comforting to the Slytherin witch.

"Oh," Pansy blinks as she starts to enjoy holding Scorpius, "This isn't so bad,"

Harry gave her a pointed look as if to tell her, I told you so. Behind them, Teddy darts across the doorway, doubling back when he notices Harry and Pansy in the room, "Dad! The house elves left dinner on the table. I already ate mine. It was potatoes and roast and carrots and—"

"Slow down, Teddy," Harry laughs at the boy who seemed to moving a mile a minute all the time, "Go get ready for bed I'll be right behind you." Teddy was gone in a flash racing down the Hallway to the room he and Harry stayed in. Harry shook his head and started to head out the room.

"Woah, woah, woah, where do you think you're going?" Pansy hissed at him. Harry stops and looks back at her in confusion.

"To tuck my son in for the night?"

"You can't leave me with this!" She looked panicked.

"Relax, you'll be fine. Besides Scorpius is an agreeable baby if I ever saw one," Harry grins at her, "If he starts crying I'll just be in my room,"

"Potter," Pansy angrily hissed but the Gryffindor merely shrugs at her with glee as he disappears into the hallway. Pansy cries internally as she looks down at Scorpius who was babbling against the crook of her shoulder. This was probably the first time she had ever been alone with Scorpius let alone hold him. She had to admit there was something about the weight of an infant in her arms that seemed to pull at her heartstrings. The blonde baby grabs a strand of her hair and she pries it off with her finger. When his tiny hands wrap around her finger instead, she was a goner. She pressed her cheek against the top of his head and sniffed the top of his head. Have babies always smelled this wonderful, she wondered to herself.

Her bliss was cut short and she was brought back to reality. It started with gurgling, then continuous fussiness and then a piercing cry and all hell broke loose. Pansy was flying down the hallway with the wailing child in her arms as she bursts through Harry's room.

"There's something wrong with him and I swear I didn't do anything!"

In the room, Harry was sitting on the bed reading to Teddy who was already under the covers. Harry puts the book down and moves to take Scorpius, "Relax Parkinson. You didn't do anything wrong," Scorpius was now wailing on Harry's shoulder, "He's probably just hungry. Or sleepy. Or both. You never really know,"

Pansy still look shaken and terrified so Harry tells her that he'd take care of it, assuring her that she did a good job watching over him. He disappears to the hallway again to carry Scorpius back to the nursery room. Pansy stood rooted to the spot, her heart still racing from the fear of possibly hurting Scorpius.

"You okay, Ms. Pansy?" Teddy asks from his bed.

Pansy blinks up, startled, "What? Oh, right. Yes i'm fine Teddy, thank you"

The eleven year old pushed himself up to a sitting position and eyes her, "Want to finish reading to me? Dad was just about to finish chapter 5."

Pansy eyes the book that Harry had left. She blanches when she realizes that it was a compendium about deep sea predators, "This is what your father reads to you at night? An encyclopedia volume on sharks?"

Teddy shrugs, "It's my favorite one,"

"You know...I know someone who turned themselves into a shark—well, half a shark anyway," Pansy says as she plops herself at the edge of the bed and skims the last page that Harry had left off on.

"No way, that is so cool." Teddy was perked up instantly.

"Yeah, Viktor Krum, turned himself into a shark so he could breath underwater for a bit. It was for some inter-school competition," Pansy recalls the fourth year tri-wizard tournament when the bulgarian and the french schools all came to hogwarts for the year.

"Viktor Krum the quidditch seeker? He's pretty good I guess"

"Are you insane? Viktor Krum the hottest, youngest, most amazing—beautiful seeker, in all of quidditch history," Pansy says as-a-matter-of fact.

"Aunt 'Mione says dad was a really good seeker too," Teddy says thoughtfully. He was of course, always going to be team dad.

"Okay...but did your father lead an international team to quidditch world cup history at the age of 18?" Pansy snorts, "I don't think so."

"No, but his father did defeat a dark lord when he was 17 so..." Harry drawled from the bedroom door. Pansy and Teddy's gaze snap towards him and see him leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed. He gave Pansy a pointed look.

Pansy merely smirks at Harry, while she pretends to whisper to Teddy (still keeping her voice loud enough for Harry to hear), "Oh my god he won't shut up about that," Teddy breaks off in peals of laughter, worsening at the sight of the face Harry makes.

"You are a terrible influence, Pansy Parkinson," Harry laughs as he shoos her away so he can finally get the excitable 11-year-old to sleep. The witch laughs her head off as she leaves the Potters' room.

A/N: 1 St. Michael's Mount is a real place (Google it it's so beautiful) I just mixed and matched some non-fiction and fictional details to make it fit the lore more. Like Aubny Malfoy is not real but St. John Aubny is (the Aubny's are the real owner of the castle).

2 "Dodge this bullet of friendship" is one of my favorite Community lines.