Once again, Draco finds himself on pancake duty on a fine sunday morning and can hear the pitter-patter of Scorpius' little feet upstairs. He has been excited and on high alert since Granger's letter. Draco didn't dare touch the letter until Scorpius was awake; not because he didn't want to know what it contained but he respected the fact that it was addressed to his son. Which was totally fine. So once Scorpius got downstairs for breakfast, Draco gave him the news and Scorpius had settled on his lap while he read him the letter, in which Granger was inviting him to join a book club of sorts for children where she would be reading one of her stories. She also included that Draco was welcome to join if he wanted and he didn't need any convincing. He would not reject the offered olive branch and maybe this could be the opening he'd been hoping for, for the past few weeks.
Though the idea of visiting Granger excited Scorpius, Draco is worried he will not have a great time there. Scorpius isn't the most sociable boy, and he doesn't really have other kids his age in his life. He is used to having Blaise, occasionally Daphne and Theo and sometimes Pansy and Goyle over, but none of them have kids of their own and Draco is not the social type either. Maybe he should have sent Scorpius to one of those kids gardens Mrs. Ellsworth suggested, but the idea of Scorpius accidentally using magic in front of muggle children shut the idea down pretty fast. So he isn't really sure if going to this reading is a good idea, but he supposes Scorpius needs to start somewhere.
As if on cue, Scorpius appears in the door way holding Ringo. Draco is secretly delighted to see that he is not wearing one of his dinosaur t-shirts. Rather, he is wearing trousers, a light salmon shirt ("to bring the blue in his grey eyes," said his mother when she bought it) and a bowtie. Draco doesn't know what prompted his gentlemanly attire, as he usually refuses to wear anything remotely fashionable unless forced, but he is not complaining. "Daddy," asks Scorpius before digging into a mountain of chocolate chip pancakes, "is my hair nice?" Draco hasn't had enough time to notice his hair, but it seems like Scorpius has tried his hand at hair styling. With his hair slicked back like he used to wear it when he was young, Scorpius looks exactly like him.
"Looking good buddy," he answers, then asks "what's the occasion?" Scorpius gives him an exasperated look over his glass of milk in a fashion that reminds him strongly of Blaise. "I was invited to a party, daddy. Nana Cissy says a gentleman always looks nice for a party." Draco can't argue with that, but he also can't imagine muggle kids wearing a bowtie to the library, though he also doesn't have the heart to tell him otherwise. Once they finish their breakfast, Scorpius forgets Ringo at the breakfast table in his haste to get to the car and when Draco goes back to fetch it, realises that he put a matching bowtie on the toy as well.
Scorpius' high spirits continue during the ride to the library as well. He asks him about the concept and what is expected of him for the hundredth time and Draco thanks his mother for instilling some sort of etiquette in Scorpius. Out of all the kids he's seen here and there, Scorpius is the only well-mannered and easy to manage 5 year old boy he has encountered. Once they park and walk through the garden of the library to get to the main building, Scorpius insists on stopping to pick some cornflowers and marigolds for Granger. "Well, now he is over-doing it," thinks Draco but he loves his naivety and wants his son to be the most adorable, so he crouches down to help him out.
He is not sure if they were late or everyone's early, but by the time they go in, the rooms is almost full and everyone's pretty much settled. They sit towards the back and Scorpius observes his surroundings with interest and agitation. He has never seen so many kids in one place before, plus they are raising a ruckus, making him uneasy. Draco gives his tiny hand a reassuring squeeze and Scorpius returns his gesture with a weak smile. But then Granger enters the room in a pale yellow dress, with her hair in a messy bun and sits on the floor among the kids to read, and renders Scorpius speechless.
Draco doesn't know what he was expecting from a children's book reading, but he has enjoyed himself. Granger has a way with words and her creative way in which she's disguised their world from the muggles is fascinating now that he knows her stories are based on her experience in and knowledge of the wizarding world. Draco thinks it would be kinda funny if Granger would sit down and write a series of books describing Potter's life and adventures and pass it as a fantasy novel.
After Granger answers some questions the kids have, the session is over and Draco leads the way to where she is currently talking to a few kids and their parents. Scorpius is uncharacteristically quiet and holds Ringo a bit tighter than usual and the flowers tighter than necessary. When she sees them, she gives a small wave and a brilliant smile that encourage Scorpius. This catches the attention of the woman who she has been talking to and causes the woman to turn towards Draco, and as he makes eye contact with one pregnant Ginny Potter, he realises that even in the muggle world that head full of long ginger hair could only ever belong to a Weasley.
He doesn't know who is more surprised to see the other one, but neither of them makes any comment when they approach. There is a little boy standing next to them. The boy, who Draco supposes belongs to Potter by just looking at his untidy hair, seems to be around Scorpius' age and looks as bored as Draco feels out of place. His indifference turns to interest as he comes to stand before Granger, with Scorpius hiding behind his legs, reminiscent of their first encounter with her. He takes the lead with "Hello Granger, we just came to say hi." She waits patiently for him to approach her and Scorpius walks toward her without looking at anyone and offers the now half dead flowers to her with a small "Hullo Ms. Granger. I picked these for you with my daddy." Granger seems not to have expected this small gesture, but after telling him they are her favourite she puts a few in her hair. It is then Ginny Potter, who breaks the silence. Her declaration "Wow, this is the most polite and well-mannered child I have ever seen, I must have done something wrong with James" makes Draco secretly proud, but he is not surprised to hear that an offspring of Potter and a Weasley came out mischievous and insolent. When he hears his name, the boy turns his attention to his mother and asks her "why is he wearing a big necklace on his neck mummy?" This causes the women to laugh and Granger is the one correcting him, but Scorpius is affronted and Draco feels justified in his judgement of Potter's spawn.
"It is called a bowtie Jamie and people wear it to look nice. And look at Scorpius, doesn't he just look adorable?" Hearing his name pushes Scorpius into action and he walks towards James this time and holds out his hand, introducing himself with "Hi James, I am Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy. And I am not adorable; I am handsome." James looks at Scorpius for a while and his son's hand hanging in the air gives Draco a horrible flashback to that time Potter rejected his offer of friendship, but before he can curse history for repeating itself, James gives Scorpius a huge grin, shakes his hand and says "I'm James Sirius Potter. But you can call me Jamie. My brother Al does, too." With that, the two boys start chatting among themselves and leave the grown ups in awkward silence. It is she-Potter, Draco needs a way to separate those two, who breaks the silence once again.
"So Malfoy, tell me, where did you get such a sweet boy? I need a bit of luck for this next one." Draco takes it as what it is; Ginny Weasley is trying to break the ice and be nice to him, so obviously he answers in a similar fashion: "With that husband of yours, you might need more than a bit of luck." When she laughs and agrees with him, he supposes that she isn't all that bad.
They chat for a while and Draco learns that James is a year younger than Scorpius, finally something he has done before and better than Potter, and that the Potters have another 2 year old son, Albus Severus, whose name leaves a bitter taste in Draco's mouth ("who in their right mind would give such horrible names to a child?" is the first thing he thinks in response). Apparently the boys seem to be quite opposites, where Albus is shy and calm, James is boisterous and adventurous. The latest one, coming in a few months, is apparently a girl and she-Potter is quite happy not to have six boys before she could have a girl. Draco quite agrees, the world doesn't need that many Potter-Weasley hybrids.
He is curious of a potential Granger-Weasley hybrid, but is quite frankly too cowardly to ask her such a personal question. He thinks if she had any children, they would be right here by her side. Unless they are too young to enjoy a book reading. Then they might be at home with their dad, and come to think of it, Weasley is curiously absent. Which reminds him of Potter; he is glad that he hasn't shown up, but then again Potter has always been against education and learning. Draco remembers him dozing off in History of Magic. He wonders if Potter would have been able to pass his classes if it wasn't for Granger. Speaking of Granger, before they leave, he manages to casually invite her out for a cup of coffee without making it seem like he had been planning for it for a while, and under she-Potter's hawk-like gaze, she agrees to it.
He recognises the change in his son's mood while they are walking back to the car; it is difficult not to because Scorpius is actually skipping. Never in his life he would have ever guessed that his precious little son would end up enjoying the company of Potters' ill-mannered, aptly named child. It is fine, he reminds himself, they will never see each other again. When they get in the car and head towards home, Scorpius casually asks him "can I invite James over daddy?" and his hopes and dreams come crashing down.