Scorpius Malfoy
A week passed by quickly, and Draco felt like he was walking around in a dream. Even when Harry left to deal with a job, he felt like it was all too good to be true. Blackbird was a beautiful home. Harry was loving and caring and supportive. Both Teddy and Scorpius were doing great. Of course, that meant he had to receive a letter from his Master calling him over.
Draco didn't want to leave. He wanted to stay with Harry in their perfect little bubble, but the world didn't end, and Harry assured him it would be fine. He would take care of Scorpius. At least that calmed Draco some. His son would be well cared fort and fed at appropriate times.
The night before he was bound to leave, Draco lay wake, dreading the next day. Not because he was worried about Scorpius for once, though. He just didn't want to leave. He rolled over and wrapped an arm around Harry. Then again, who would with a partner like Harry. He closed his eyes drowsily and let himself finally relax.
Harry woke up slowly the following morning. He stretched and reached out next to him. The bed was empty, and a soft huff left his lips as his insides froze. He pulled his arm back and curled up as he reached for the wards with no response. He couldn't do this, not again. The ice in his chest turned hollow as he sat up slowly, his body frozen from despair. His eyes trailed over the room, unseeingly, before he pushed himself up and headed over to the shower. Dull green eyes looked back at him when he looked into the mirror. He needed to pull himself together… for Teddy. He didn't want his son to see him like this. He stepped into the shower and cleaned Draco's scent from his skin. As his hands moved apathetically to clean him off, he noticed the magic still lingering inside him. He drew a deep breath as the emotion that went with the magic came back to him.
"Fuck," he whispered as he sank down on the floor. Was he really so unstable that Draco not being home when he woke up had this big an effect on him? He couldn't be that dependent on him. That wasn't healthy for either of them. He drew a deep breath and tried his best to calm himself down. Draco's Master had asked for him. Harry knew that. He checked the wards again. Teddy and Scorpius were still in their rooms. How come he hadn't noticed the first time he checked? That just confirmed it for him, though. He needed to speak to Tatiana. He drew a deep breath and got back up so he could clean off properly.
Once clean and dressed, he headed out to the kitchen to start on breakfast. A buzz went off against his wrist and he turned to smile at Teddy. "Good morning, cub," he said. "Sleep well?"
Teddy nodded. "Has Draco left already?" he asked.
"He has," Harry said. He saw concern in Teddy's expression and assumed he could tell that he was in pain.
"Are you okay, dad?" Teddy asked.
Harry sighed. "I'll call Tatiana over," he said. "I will be okay, Teddy. I promise." he cleaned his hands off. "I should go wake Scorpius. What do you say about a trip to the Zoo today?"
Teddy smiled. "Yeah, that sounds great," he said. "Will that be okay with Scorpius, though?"
"Want to have some fun?" Harry asked. He had a feeling he knew what is son was after. "Hair or eyes?"
"Can you style his to look like yours?" Teddy asked.
Harry nodded. "I probably can," he said. He ruffled Teddy's hair before hugging him. "Let's not do anything without Scorpius. We don't want to confuse him."
Teddy smiled as his father walked out of the room. He really liked it when his dad understood what he was after without him having to explain everything. It was usually a lot of fun. He smiled at Scorpius when they returned. "Did you tell him?" he asked his father.
"No, you go ahead," Harry said.
"So, dad asked if we wanted to go to the Zoo today and see animals," Teddy said, and he saw how Scorpius seemed to perk up at that. "So people don't start acting silly around you, we figured I can change the way I look." he wanted to keep Scorpius safe and a man with a child who did not look like him could draw the wrong kind of attention. People were such busybodies sometimes.
"You can do that?" Scorpius asked.
Teddy nodded. "Yeah, like this." He deactivated the lock on his powers and shifted his hair through several different colours before he settled on a blonde just a few shades darker than Scorpius', while his eyes remained green. "What do you think, Harry?" he asked.
"I think people at school would accuse me of bleaching your hair and that would get problematic, but for the Zoo it is fine," Harry said. If they against all odds did run into someone who knew them, he could deal with it.
"Could I have green eyes too?" Scorpius asked.
Harry chuckled. "I'll see what I can do," he said. "You should eat some breakfast." He helped the boys out with their breakfast food of choice before walking back to his room. He might as well check if he could do what Scorpius was asking him to do. When he walked back into the kitchen, his hair was half-and-half. The right side of his head was blonde, the left black.
Teddy laughed. "That's cool," he said.
"I was messing with my eyes too, but it felt like I was doing too much," Harry said. He attached a pin to Scorpius' shirt and smiled as his eyes turned green.
"Awesome," Teddy said.
Scorpius looked at himself in the mirror as they got ready to leave later. He smiled as he saw the green eyes. Teddy was right, that was kind of cool. He walked up to Harry and took his hand as Harry wrapped his other arm around Teddy. He teleported them over to a quiet corner before the entrance to the Zoo and moved over to the line.
"Giving the missus the day off?"
Harry stared blankly at the woman sitting in the ticket booth as he paid for them. What kind of question was that? Way to assume things she had no business knowing.
"It's hard to give someone a day off when they've been dead for seven years," Teddy said. He wasn't lying even if his mother had been dead before that, but seven years ago she was dead." He didn't like the sound of this woman, and mentioning his dead parents mostly got people to shut up.
The woman stared at Teddy for a moment. Thankfully, they could move on before she said anything else. She did continue looking their way though and saw how the bigger boy signed to his father. She blushed and focused back on her work.
Harry and his boys didn't think much else of her as they continued into the park. Teddy had his camera and he was going wild. Harry laughed as he looked over at his son. He had a feeling there would be a lot of pictures of him and Scorpius. He did steal the camera a few times, so he got some pictures of Scorpius and Teddy together. What he really wanted was for Scorpius to feel like everything would be okay. His father would come back home, and it was fine that he was gone for now.
They wandered into the reptilian house and the boys ran ahead of Harry, but never so far Teddy couldn't see him. Harry felt Teddy alert him after a while of them wandering around and looked over. 'What?' he signed.
'Scorpius is talking to a snake,' Teddy signed.
Harry moved forward quickly until he could squat down behind Scorpius, partially to guard the boy from others nearby and partially because he wanted to see if Teddy was right.
"Hey, little one, your scales are so bright and pretty," Scorpius hissed.
Harry was doing his best not to react too much because he didn't want to draw attention to what Scorpius was doing. He had spoken parseltongue, though, and Harry had been able to hear what he said. That was an amazing discovery. "Do you understand me, Scorpius?" he hissed.
Scorpius stiffened at first as he remembered what his father had said. It could be really dangerous to talk to snakes because people were mean about it. On top of that, they were in the non-magical world, and he was not supposed to show magic while there because it was against the law.
"Two speakers, how interesting," the snake behind the glass hissed.
Scorpius turned around. "Harry, you speak too?" he hissed as he caught on to what had happened.
Harry nodded. "I do, and I can hear you," he said. He was signing for Teddy, so his son wouldn't be left out of the conversation. That settled that. Scorpius really needed to learn sign, because he would need it so he wasn't rude to Teddy.
'You can hear him speak parseltongue,' Teddy signed. He smiled softly. He liked that Scorpius had a cool ability too, and someone could speak to Harry. That was good, even if it wasn't him.
'I can. Snake's use vibrations and this is magical, so it is possible that is why it works. I will have to let Glint and Master Vekk know,' Harry signed. He rose and placed a hand on Scorpius shoulder so they could move on. The boys ran off again and Harry followed as his mind was slowly putting two and two together. Draco had a Dark Mark. His wife had left him because of decisions regrading Scorpius. Scorpius sought out his magic, and he could speak to snakes. He could test this. There were things he could say and do that would give him the answers he wanted, but he would rather ask Draco. Was Scorpius the child he had healed?
Harry did his best not to show that he had questions he wouldn't give himself the answers to. He could wait, and there was enough going on as it was.
Both Teddy and Scorpius collapsed into bed that evening, exhausted but satisfied with their day. Draco hadn't returned. Nor would he, the day after or following that.
…
Harry woke up in the middle of the night several days later and checked the wards. He got up and headed over to Scorpius room. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked as he saw the little boy standing by his bed with tears in his eyes. Harry shone a light in and he sighed. "Oh, my," he said. "How about we get you into the shower, so I can clean this mess up?" he said. He helped Scorpius and threw all the soiled clothes and sheets in the wash. He cleaned the bed properly and replaced the sheets.
"Now what happened, Scorpius?" Harry hissed as he sat down with the towel so he could help the little boy.
"Nightmare," Scorpius hissed back.
Harry smiled softly at him. "Okay," he hissed. "It happens."
"You not angry?" Scorpius asked.
Harry shook his head. "No, not at all," he hissed, while wondering who in their right mind got angry because of something like that. He hoped it wasn't Draco. He helped Scorpius into new pyjamas and back to bed.
"Stay, please," Scorpius hissed as he reached for Harry. He was the only constant he had right now. Him and Teddy. It was better than with grandma, but he still missed his dad a lot.
Harry sat down in an armchair and grabbed a book. His voice rose and fell for a while as he read to Scorpius in an attempt to calm him down and scare the bad dreams away.
The book hit the floor with a soft thud, a while after Scorpius had fallen asleep.
…
Small feet made their way over to the master bedroom the following morning. Teddy's eyes narrowed as he found the room empty. He checked the kitchen and the living room. There was no way Harry would have left them alone. That got him thinking, though, and he headed towards Scorpius' room. He wasn't the only child after all.
"Teddy."
Teddy turned around and smiled brightly. "Grandma!" he exclaimed. "You are back." He ran up to her and hugged her. His father forgotten for the moment.
Andromeda smiled at her grandson as she ran her hand through his pale blonde hair. "Trying something new?" she asked.
Teddy chuckled before throwing himself into an explanation of everything that had happened while Andromeda was gone. "So I'm pretty sure dad and Mr Draco are a couple now. I mean Scorpius is still here while Mr Draco is working," he said.
"Andy!"
Andromeda looked up and sighed gaily as she saw Harry and the boy he had sitting on his hip. "Good morning, Harry," she said. "I see you have made additions." She was smiling at him as he walked up to her and gave her a one-armed hug.
"Draco needed to do something for his Master. He needs a phone so he can communicate because he has been gone for almost a week now," Harry said. He placed Scorpius down on a chair so he could get breakfast out for them.
"Dad had to speak to Tatiana," Teddy said before shoving a spoonful of yoghurt in his mouth. He figured it was better his grandmother knew about that, and Harry sometimes forgot to mention certain things when they had already been dealt with.
Harry saw the tail end of what Teddy had said and sighed. "I didn't take him leaving well. Tatiana just thinks it is insecurity. It will settle as long as I don't do anything stupid," he said. "What do you want for breakfast, Scorpius?" he asked.
"Toast with peanut butter," Scorpius hissed.
"Okay, kiddo, but you really should speak English," Harry said.
"You don't hear me then, though," Scorpius said.
Harry smiled. "No, but until you can sign for everyone else it is rude to them," he said. "I'm used to it." He looked over at Andromeda. "We found out a couple of day ago that Scorpius speaks parseltongue." He handed Scorpius his sandwich.
"And you hear him speak," Andromeda said. "Have you told Glint and Vekk." She knew a discovery like that might actually make a difference for them.
Harry shook his head. "I was going to as soon as possible," he said. He rubbed Scorpius' shoulder. "Scorpius. This is Andromeda Tonks. She is Teddy's grandmother. I'm sure you have met her before in the park with Teddy."
Scorpius hadn't really taken his eyes off the newcomer. She looked familiar in a way, but her dark wavy hair and soft grey eyes made her look very different from his grandmother. It was the way she moved though, while softer than Narcissa, their mannerism was eerily similar. His grandmother loved him. He knew that, but she was kind of scary, and she screamed a lot at his dad. Still, Harry was right, he had met Andy before. She had brought Teddy to the park, and she had been really nice then. He just hadn't made the connection.
"It really shouldn't be that surprising, I guess," Andromeda said. "You look a lot like your father did at your age. Though, I see that Harry has been playing around."
"We needed to look like a unit," Harry said. "Just so people would leave us alone."
Andromeda nodded. She watched Harry with the boys as they got ready for the day. He moved between them and helped them both. Though, Teddy turned to her a fair bit too.
"We need to get more clothes," Harry said. "Teddy is growing like weeds. Would you like to come along?"
"I would love to," Andromeda said. They went over to Ferngale since they were heading out in the non-magical world. She sat down in the passenger seat of the car as Harry strapped the boys in. She saw no difference in how she treated them. Now, he would care for any child in his care, she had seen that with David, but this was different. He expected to be a part of Scorpius life with the way he lingered just a bit longer to make sure he was okay.
Scorpius kept close to Harry as they wandered from one store to the next. He had his own bag of clothes that he had found. He had thought that they were just getting things for Teddy. He hadn't expected to get anything. He was glad he was, though. The things in his bag were cool. He had a dinosaur hoodie that he really liked. The shirts were way more fun than the ones in the fancy shop where his father usually brought him. He took Harry's hand and held it tightly.
"Well," Andromeda said. "I guess that should do for now."
"Pizza," Teddy said. He grabbed his dad and signed eagerly as he told his father exactly what he wanted.
Harry laughed. "Fine, we'll pick up some pizza," he said. He picked Scorpius up and hugged him close. "You okay?" he asked.
Scorpius nodded. He had been worried about going with Andy, but she was really nice, if a little sterner than Harry was. "I miss dad," he said.
Harry smiled. "I know," he said. "We better make sure he can contact us when he is going to be gone like this."
"Or make sure he doesn't need to be away like this," Andromeda said. "What is his Mastery in?"
"Potions," Harry said. He could see the cogs moving in her head. "You did need an additional brewer, didn't you?"
"Considering, the twins can't look at a cauldron without blowing it up," Andromeda said. "They are worse than you. At least you can be put in charge of stirring and chopping without accident." She had tried to no avail to fix that. At first, she had just thought their problems were because of Snape, but that clearly wasn't the case.
"I can follow instructions, you mean," Harry said. "I was thinking of offering him the lab at Blackbird, since you usually use the one at the Nest."
Andromeda nodded. "I can see that," she said. She had more things she wanted to talk to him about, but she would wait until the boys were in bed that evening. For now, she was just watching Harry interact with the both of them. It was clear from the way he acted that more children certainly wasn't a problem for him. It made her glad to see that he had this now.
"You are very sweet with Scorpius," Andromeda said as they sat down in the garden that evening with a glass of wine each.
"Would you rather I wasn't," Harry said neutrally. He wasn't sure where she was going, and he wanted to make sure they were on the same page.
Andromeda gave him a peeved look. "I will assume that Draco isn't like his father. Are you sure you should be moving this quickly? I'm asking for your sake. I love you, Harry. Are you sure about this?"
Harry sighed. Then he smiled in a way that, at least to Andromeda, showed he was serious. "He is brave and understanding. I can speak with him and not have to explain every little detail. We haven't had more than a week together, but I…"
"It is hard to explain, isn't it," Andromeda said. She was sure she could never explain the love she had shared with Ted.
"I can see the similarities between how I felt with Susan and how I feel now. I don't think any of my other relationships compare," Harry said. "Being with Draco feels right. He has already proven that he isn't going to fuck up because I have a child. He isn't going to leave because of my magic because he is also a mage. He isn't going to leave because I can't hear, because he knew that getting into this. He also has a son who he wants safe and happy." He leaned back and sighed. Draco ticked a lot of his boxes. He cleared a lot of the worries he had gained over the years.
Andromeda was smiling as she watched him. "I really hope this will work out for you," she said. "You are animate in a way you haven't been in a while. As much as you love Teddy and I, you need a partner."
Harry twirled his glass. "Am I insane for going for another member of the Black family. Is that something that will be a problem? I'm asking just so I know how to prepare for it. It won't change my decision to be with him."
"You aren't a Black by blood. You have been granted the Lordship through choice and power," Andromeda said. "Technically, back in the day choosing to marry a member of the family would have been appropriate, so you shouldn't have any problems with that."
Harry nodded. "Of course that doesn't mean there won't be other issues, especially if people realise that he is Draco Malfoy, and I am Harry Potter even if I left that name behind years ago," he said.
"But you will be a collective of three mages," Andromeda said.
"And we will need to be careful about showing that power, or we will harm our children," Harry said. If people branded them enemies, then their children would suffer.
"You might have to show it, though," Andromeda said.
Harry nodded. "I know," he said.
They spoke long into the night before they went to bed.
The next few days, Scorpius kept close to Harry. He responded politely when Andromeda spoke to him, but he didn't reach out to her. She didn't mind. She could focus more on Teddy and give Harry the chance to focus on Scorpius without feeling bad. At least Scorpius was quickly learning how to sign.
…
Harry collapsed into bed. He had been comforting Scorpius for well over an hour just to get the poor boy to fall back asleep, again. He wasn't sure what the nightmare had been about, but Scorpius had been really upset. He sighed as he pressed the palms of his hands against his eyes and rubbed slowly. His hands fell to the bed as the wards pinged. He pushed himself up and threw his bedroom door open as Draco walked in through the front door.
Draco noticed the relief in Harry's eyes before he felt his magic reaching for him. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked as he reached out to grab Harry's outstretched hands. "You are crying. Why?" he asked.
Harry laughed at the complexity of answering that question. "I don't know. You've been gone for almost two weeks with no information. It is two in the morning, and I've spent the last hour comforting Scorpius because he had a nightmare. I'm happy to see you are okay," he said as he dropped one of Draco's hands to reach up and touch his face. He moved closer and stopped. "Okay, please go clean up. You stink," he said.
Draco chuckled. "I will," he said. Harry let go of him so he could head into the bedroom. He felt a little bewildered. He had been prepared to dodge spells, so this was a nice surprise. Though he had expected that because of the way Scorpius' mother had acted. Harry was not his ex and he needed to remember that. He stepped into the shower and cleaned off the grime from the past few days. He knew he needed to explain to Harry why he had been gone for so long. It was only right. He sighed softly. At least Harry wasn't angry with him. That was good. He glanced over to the mirror and shook his head. He looked awful. Well, he wasn't going to look any better without proper sleep.
Harry was sitting in bed, clearly waiting for him to come out. Draco walked up to him, reached out for him. "I'm sorry," he said once Harry was looking at him. "I wish I could have communicated, but Master sent me out into the middle of nowhere and there was no way for me to get a message to you."
"We need to get you a phone," Harry said. "I can't take a patronus message since I can't hear, and you need a way to contact me, not our sons."
Draco smiled at him. "Okay," he said. Harry moved his legs and he sat down next to him. "I didn't mean to be gone for so long. How… how has Scorpius been?"
"Glued to me," Harry said. "He is distrustful of Andromeda. She came home a few days ago. He speaks with me, and he answers her, but he doesn't talk to her…" He drew a deep breath. He wasn't going to wait with asking this. "Did you know he can speak to snakes?" he asked. He really hoped that Draco did know.
Draco had frozen. "How did you find out?" he asked as his mind went through every scenario possible. The Dark Lord could talk to snakes and Harry had some pretty bad experiences with the man, was it possible… He focused back on Harry as he started speaking once more.
"We went to the Zoo. He spoke to one of the snakes in the displays," Harry said. "Teddy noticed and pointed it out to me." He met Draco's eyes. "I can hear him," he said. "So we have been speaking."
Draco closed his eyes and rubbed his face with his hands. He didn't know what to think. He had told Scorpius that speaking with snakes could be dangerous. People associated the ability with a bad person. Harry could do it too, though. Heck, he had instigated people finding out about it back in their second year. How could he forget about that. It had been insane and cool all at the same time. "You still hear parseltongue?" he asked, latching on to the most important part of the information Harry had offered.
Harry nodded. "I haven't spoken to Glint or Vekk yet, since Scorpius hasn't warmed up to Andromeda. Now that you are home. I can head over and let them know," he said. He sighed. "I'm tired. We need to speak more on this topic, but I need sleep, and it looks like you do too."
Draco nodded. "Me too," he said. "I need this." He reached out and pressed a hand over Harry's heart. "I haven't slept well since leaving here." He moved up and pulled Harry with him so they could get some much-needed rest. Anything else they had to say could wait until the following day.
…
Harry woke up slowly the next morning. He felt groggy. Had he stayed up way too late the night before? He rubbed his eyes and checked the wards. His heart skipped a beat as he realised that he wasn't alone. He felt the weight of the warm arm over his waist. He reached for the hand and squeezed.
Draco had been awake for a little while when he noticed Harry waking. He felt Harry's shoulders stiffened before warm fingers linked with his as Harry relaxed against him. He kissed his shoulder before Harry turned over towards him. "Good morning," he said.
Harry smiled softly at him. "Good morning," he responded. "I missed this." He moved closer to Draco and wrapped his arms around him, placing his hands flat against his back.
Draco leaned down and kissed him, deepening the kiss and feeling Harry's hands kneading against his back. He moaned into Harry's mouth and rubbed against him. He pulled away, and moved so he could speak with Harry. A smile spread over his lips as he watched Harry breathing heavily. "Tell me what you want," he said.
Harry checked the wards before licking his lips and smiling sultry at him as he reached up slowly and pressing his hands against Draco's shoulders. "Fuck me," he breathed.
Draco grinned. "As you wish," he said. "Turn over." He moved back, pulling Harry with him. He kissed him. He grabbed Harry's wrists and turned him around to place his hands on the headboard. He kissed his way up his neck as Harry spread his legs for him. He felt how Harry pushed back against him as a grin spread over his face. He felt Harry's magic spread around him as he rubbed the backs of his hands and Harry adjusted to him. He started moving slowly at first, listening to the moans and whimpers filling the air. It was like music to his ears. He loved how free Harry was with his voice and the sounds he made. He wished he could whisper things in Harry's ear as they moved together to make each other feel good. It wasn't likely to happen, though. He could dream anyway, couldn't he? He kissed Harry's shoulders softly.
Harry pressed back against Draco, happy that he was home again. Happy that they were together. Draco pulled him close a moment later and rubbed his hands down his chest, and their breathing calmed.
Draco moved out of bed slowly. He reached back towards Harry and smiled at the dazed look in his eyes. He tugged at him and managed to get him to climb out of bed with him. He pulled Harry close to him and kissed him. He could tell that Harry was limping as they headed into the bathroom. He started the water and placed his hands against Harry's back. "Can't walk straight, love. Am I that good?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "Sex fiend," he muttered, but he didn't mind. He was quite glad to be back with Draco.
"You begged for it," Draco stated. He ran his hands up Harry's back. "How do you feel?" he asked. He smiled as Harry hummed as he looked up at him.
"I feel amazing," Harry whispered huskily.
Draco smiled as he leaned down to kiss Harry. "You really know how to confidence boost a guy," he said as he pulled away from the kiss. "Let me take care of you."
"I'd be happy to," Harry said. He sighed happily. "However, Teddy is up and Scorpius will be soon to follow."
Draco rubbed his back slowly. "I guess we should get out of here then," he said. He helped out where Harry needed it as they cleaned up before heading back to the bedroom so they could get dressed. He took Harry's hand as they headed over to the kitchen.
"Good morning, Teddy. Scorpius. Andy," Harry said calmly as they entered the room. "Scorpius, see who showed up last night."
The younger boy turned around. "Dad!" he shouted as he threw himself out of his chair. Draco caught his son and hugged him close as Harry walked over to sit down. He saw the knowing look Andromeda shot Harry and the look he shot back at her. The dynamic between these two was something he would have to get used to. "Aunt Andromeda," he said as he stood up.
"Draco, it is nice to see you," Andromeda said. "Even if this maybe wasn't the way I had envisioned it happening."
"Good or bad?" Draco asked.
Andromeda chuckled. "Oh, I think this is good," she said. She watched the way Scorpius clung to his father. The way the boy acted clearly showed how important his father was to him. She looked at Harry, who glared back at her playfully. "I need to speak to you later," she told Draco.
Draco nodded slowly. "Okay," he said.
"Why did it take so long?" Scorpius asked.
Andromeda moved back and signed for Harry, and Draco smiled gratefully at her, since that meant he didn't have to stay facing Harry as he explained what had happened. "Master Ortiz sent me over to Ochsenstall in Austria to collect ingredients that should have already been collected. I wandered around to do that for almost a week, and then he sent me over to Izmir in Turkey to locate a seller who hadn't delivered, and I swear he does not know how to do his research," he said. "It was bad and the reason I came back so late. Has it been good with Harry and Teddy?"
Scorpius nodded. "Harry is really nice," he said. "I like being here much better than being with grandmother." He paused. "Is that bad?" he asked.
Draco smiled at him. "No," he said. "No, I don't think that is bad, though mother might be sad about it. You can't change how you feel for her. That wouldn't be fair on you. Mother will hopefully understand some day." There was pain in his eyes as he looked over at Harry.
"We still don't quite know how we want to handle Narcissa," Harry said. "I am polite to her. She is a daughter of the family and I treat her accordingly."
"My sister drifted away from me a long time ago," Andromeda said. "I don't know how to fix that. We will not judge you or Scorpius based on the actions of your parents, though."
Draco nodded. "Thank you," he said. "The rest we will figure out eventually." He didn't know how to handle his mother either. He looked down at his clean arm. It would be different, though. He was not afraid to stand up for himself now. His magic had recovered, and he knew how powerful he was. He felt Harry's hands on his shoulders and he leaned back against his lover. He saw the look in his aunt's eyes. She was smiling softly at him. Hopefully his presence would calm Scorpius around her.
"I want to head to Gringotts. I hope that is okay," Harry said.
Draco smiled up him as Andromeda signed, 'Go, we will take care of the boys.'
Harry bent down and kissed Draco before hugging the boys.
Andromeda a chuckled as he left. "Well, that will be interesting," she said. She looked over at Draco and watched him while the boys finished their breakfast. "I own a business, and I'm wondering if you would be willing to work for me," she said once Teddy and Scorpius had headed off to play. They were putting things away, and she could tell that he was uncomfortable.
"You… you are serious?" Draco asked.
"Harry says you are Potion Master. I am in need of another who can brew," Andromeda said. "I'm not making this offer because you are with him, though it may seem that way. I have been looking for a while, and none of the people I have spoken to so far are ones I wish to work with."
Draco swallowed thickly. "I have been looking for work. Where…?" he was confused. What did Andromeda work with?
"I own Nostrum Nest," Andromeda said. She saw the darkness moving over Draco's face. "You approached Natasha or Nathaniel?" she asked.
"She didn't want to speak with me," Draco said. "She was quite clear that I was more disgusting than the dirt under her boots."
Andromeda sighed. "You don't need to work with them," she said. "There is a lab here you could work from." She would be speaking with the twins though. She was not happy learning that a potential brewer had been turned down because they had something against him. The Winters were too old to have been at Hogwarts when Draco was an active Death Eater. Still, that hadn't really been his choice. She was with Harry in this. Young Death Eaters didn't really have a choice. It had been do or die. It was the ones who had refused change who were the problem, and Draco did not seem to be one of them.
Draco considered her offer. It would mean a steady income for him. More stability for his son. "My Master will call again," he said.
"It is time you broke free from him," Andromeda said. "Once Scorpius is okay with me, you should invite your Master here. Speak to him from a place of power with Harry by your side. You know how it should be done."
Draco closed his fists. He hadn't played these games for a long time. In a way, he had missed it. "Harry does this?" he asked. He had to know that Harry would be okay with political games before he pulled him into any.
"When needed, his focus is his family and his job. That can be yours as well, unless you want to do more," Andromeda said.
Draco shook his head. "I couldn't do that unless we…" He shook his head. That was too far into the future for him to consider it. He didn't want to raise his hopes up. He would just hurt himself if things didn't work out.
Andromeda smiled at him. She knew where he had been going. "Harry knows how to play the game. I taught him how. He does it as a Black should. We would expect the same from you. Play the game as a Black, not as a Malfoy. I'm sure Narcissa taught you how."
Draco drew a deep breath and nodded. "As long as that is all it is," he said. "A game away from home," he said. He did not want his son involved if he could help it. That should be Scorpius' choice.
Andromeda bowed her head. "That is how we are treating it," she said. She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Come nephew. Let's join the boys, shall we. They headed outside just a bit ago."
Draco nodded. "Let's go," he said, glad to know that she was connected to the wards.
They sat down outside and watched the boys play. Draco leaned back. After the removal of his mark, he had slowly regained some of the confidence he had once held. He knew what he wanted. He wanted Harry. He wanted Scorpius to be happy. He wanted to develop potions. He didn't want to be relying on someone else to make that happen. He looked at Andromeda. What Andromeda was offering was a proper job, though. "I'll take the job," he said.
"Good. There are some other things we need to discuss, but we should wait until Harry is home," Andromeda said. "Things like schedule, for example. We need a setup that will work for Scorpius. That means the two of you will share care of him. I will help of course, especially since Teddy is still under my care as well, but your son needs one of you two." She paused for a moment. "He is very attached to Harry, and I know Harry wanted to speak to you about that."
Draco nodded. "I'll remember to ask him," he said.
Andromeda smiled at him. "Good," she said.