Chapter Text
Draco checked the time before wincing a little. Minerva had sent a patronus asking him to come to her office. He had wracked his brain, trying to remember if they had a meeting set up, but they had one just last week. Perhaps it was about a student?
He was running a tad late. Not that it was entirely his fault. There had been a breakthrough on his experimental potion. Just a little more time and he would have been able to really get into it.
It wasn’t until he reached the corridor that he recognized a familiar mop of black hair.
“Potter! Fancy seeing you here. I could have sworn your horrendous abilities to function would have gotten you kicked out by now.”
“Oh please,” Harry countered. “You would cease to function if I wasn’t around to bother you.” He grinned widely, shaking his head as he paused to wait for Draco to catch up.
“Shh," Draco teased, running his fingers through Harry’s hair when he noticed odd bits of glitter in it. “Don’t give away my secrets.” He paused to make sure all offending bits were disposed of. “What’s with the glitter?”
“Sean Finnigan-Thomas,” Harry explained shaking his head. “It would seem that he has picked up his father’s ability to blow things up. I can’t honestly tell where the glitter comes from. He was supposed to be doing a simple blocking spell.”
“You’d think that Dean’s genes would have mellowed the poor kid out,” Draco murmured, recalling the way Sean had caused his hiccupping solution last month to also blow up.
“Apparently not.” Harry shrugged once before he realized that Draco should still be working on his potion. “What are you doing out here?”
“Minerva asked to see me. Which I am running late for.” The last bit was whispered slowly. It wasn’t as if hurrying now would make him any less late. Might as well take his time.
That had Harry pausing. “She asked to see me too.”
They both shared a look before groaning. “I’m going back to my lab,” Draco called out, only making it a few steps before strong arms wrapped around his stomach.
“I don’t think so,” Harry reprimanded firmly. “They are your sons too.”
Draco sagged into the embrace of his husband. “I don’t even want to know what they did. I just hope property damage wasn’t done this time.”
“They haven’t done anything awful in at least two months.” Harry wished that sounded better than it actually was. Their sons were a handful.
“Last week I caught Scorpius being suspicious. He was hiding in a bush near the black lake.” Draco said, hoping to distract Harry enough that he could slip out of the hold.
Harry tightened his arms and smiled into Draco’s neck when he heard a disappointed sigh. “If that is the only suspicious thing we have to hold over him, then our children are saints.”
Draco snorted derisively. Teddy? Absolutely. Their eldest was definitely leading the chart on who would be getting better Christmas gifts. Albus and Scorpius? Hell no. Their twins were the furthest from saints. Sometimes he wondered if it was possible that his children were reincarnations of Fred and George. Can reincarnations exist with the original still in place?
When Harry straightened up, Draco reluctantly followed him towards the Headmistress’ office. Unfortunately, he could trek the path blindfolded.
“How did your potion go? Any luck?” asked Harry, hoping it would pull Draco into a long-winded discussion. He wanted zero room for Draco to try and weasel out of going to the impromptu meeting.
“Oh!” Draco snapped his head towards Harry, eyes sparkling. “Yes. I was correcting my third years’ essays on why Powdered Root of Asphodel is the main ingredient in both the Draught of Living Death and Wiggenweld Potion. Especially considering how the potions contradict each other. It wasn’t until I noticed a mistake one of the students cited as a correlation to the Salamander blood, that I realized…”
“Don’t say a word,” Albus whispered, using a fake yawn as a means to communicate with his brother. “She can’t prove our reasons behind it.”
Scorpius rolled his eyes. Honestly, Albus never knew when to call it quits. “There were witnesses,” He hissed when McGonagall began leafing through the mail that had just been delivered by a Ministry owl.
“Our word against theirs,” countered Albus, wishing his brother held more fighting spirit. The enemy couldn’t break them if they never gave up!
“You two are fucking idiots,” Teddy hissed, towering over them. “You are lucky I was patrolling and not Simmons. Do you know what she would have done if she had caught you?” He shot a look towards the Headmistress, glad that she was still distracted.
Albus and Scorpius rolled their eyes at Teddy's anger. Teddy being Head Boy was the only thing that truly saved them. They both knew it. But admitting it was another thing entirely.
“It’s not my fault Simmons has a bloody broom up her arse.” Albus dodged the smack Teddy aimed at his head.
“Aren’t you going to stop them?” A shrill voice had everyone in the room wincing. “They are no doubt conspiring together to come up with lies!”
Minerva sighed before glancing towards the substitute teacher for the month. “I am aware that they are conversing.” Her tone was bored, but her eyes were annoyed. “It is a lengthy wait for their parents. Should I condemn them to sit in silence?”
The way the woman nodded vehemently had Minerva wishing - not for the first time - that Neville had chosen someone else to be his replacement while he recovered from a bout of illness.
A chime had everyone but Minerva looking around expectantly, as if they thought something would happen.
“As it so happens, their parents have arrived.” She waved her wand, causing the door to open slowly.
Teddy was the first to spot his parents. He sighed somewhat ruefully while his brothers groaned loudly.
Harry couldn’t help it. By the time they reached the closed door, Draco’s hands were rapidly moving while his mouth was recanting a very in-depth account of things that Harry wouldn’t remember tomorrow. Every time his husband got passionate about his work, Draco lit up in every way possible. It always had Harry falling just a little bit more in love with him—which he thought would be impossible after so long.
When Draco took a deep breath, no doubt about to tell Harry about some obscure thought that his brilliant mind came up with, Harry leaned forward and captured his lips.
Draco made a noise of surprise before he wrapped his arms around Harry’s neck and enthusiastically kissed back. He wasn’t entirely sure Harry had been paying attention to him anyways.
The sound of someone groaning had them pulling apart. At some point, the door had opened. Well, it wasn’t the worst position they could have been caught in. Not like the scandalous article the Daily Prophet printed about them in their youth. Draco still had The boy-who-fucked framed on the wall of their bedroom.
“I apologize for being late,” Draco began, tone nice in a way that didn’t fit him. “Got caught up.” He could see Teddy cover his mouth in an attempt to hide a snicker.
“I’m sure it was important,” Minerva responded dryly, offering them chairs.
Harry shook his head, preferring to stand. It was better to tower over his children, intimidation at its finest.
Small talk was never Draco’s forte. Nor was he going to explain his tardiness. “Was there a death? Explosion? Property damage? Anyone hurt?”
Teddy looked at the ceiling, not completely believing that this was his life. It was sad that his dad’s questions weren’t in jest either. Despite this, he couldn’t help but be amused.
“In my defense—” Albus was cut off by Scorpius placing a hand over his brother’s mouth. For all the scolding Albus had done earlier, he was going to give them away!
Draco narrowed his eyes, looking between his youngest in suspicion. Usually, the two of them would own up to their wrongdoings. They had a family rule. Lying was prohibited, at least to those in the family. As a parent, he could care less what the little buggers did that was wrong, just as long as they told him about it. He couldn’t form alibis for them without knowing details.
“Can you tell us what they are suspected of?” came Harry’s question as he shared a look with Draco. There was more at work here and he wasn’t sure he liked it.
“Suspected of?” The loud screech had Draco’s lip curling in disgust.
“Oh, Prudence. I didn’t see you there.” The polite tilt of Draco’s head might fool some, but Harry could see the annoyed tension in his husband. He entwined their fingers, not missing the way Miss Thatcher’s eyes narrowed. The old woman was a pain in his arse. He couldn’t wait for Neville to return.
“Mister Malfoy.” Prudence's tone wasn’t in the least bit polite, but Draco could care less. Part of him was hoping his children had messed with her, but the part that was horribly corrupted by Harry was steadily wishing the opposite. Damn his husband’s Gryffindor sensibilities.
“Malfoy-Potter but whatever.” Draco dismissed her with a wave of his hand, turning back to Minerva expectantly.
“Albus and Scorpius seemed to have caused an explosion in Greenhouse three. The left side of the building is decimated. None of the plants were harmed, but several of them have been moved to guarantee their survival.”
Draco had to hold in the urge to let out a low whistle. “Now, when you say decimated?” He trailed off suggestively.
“The building is completely unusable, and classes have been transferred to the library until Neville returns.”
The statement had Harry wanting to cover his face with his hands. For the life of him, he couldn’t come up with any explanation as to why his children would do something like this. Normally their stunts and horrible ideas weren’t as destructive.
“What caused the explosion?” asked Draco, trying to rationalize it all.
Minerva looked to the boys, gesturing for them to respond. She had not been informed of the cause. They only had the aftermath to observe.
“We had just come from potions.” Albus looked at McGonagall’s desk, knowing that he couldn’t look at his parents during this. Especially his dad. “And I guess we still had a little Armadillo Bile on our hands from making the Wit Sharpening potion.”
Draco’s brows rose in disbelief. Armadillo Bile was something that should never make skin contact. It was volatile if handled wrong.
“Today we were working near the Alihotsy.” Scorpius added in explanation. “We didn’t know what would happen if we touched it.”
That had Draco really letting out a low whistle this time. The Alihotsy is a plant with leaves that can induce mass hysteria and uncontrollable laughter. When combined with something as volatile as Armadillo Bile, the fumes released by the leaves would have been corrupted. An explosion was not out of the realm of possibilities.
Thatcher scoffed harshly, clearly not buying their explanation.
“Excuse us for a moment,” Harry told her kindly, gesturing for his kids to come with him to a corner of the office.
Draco created a silencing charm around them, one that he knew wouldn’t be broken quickly.
Scorpius shared a look with Albus, trying to silently ask for help.
“In my defence.” Albus raised a finger but paused when no one interrupted him. This was unusual. Typically, his family never let him use an excuse.
“Go on,” Draco drawled, folding his arms across his chest. “I don’t have all day.”
On his dad’s annoyance scale, Albus figured that he was safe for the moment. “In my defence, it was all Scorpius’ fault.”
Scorpius dropped his mouth open, turning to his brother quickly and smacking him on the arm. “What the hell?” This was not a part of the twin code. One does not just simply throw their sibling under!
Teddy, Harry and Draco shared a look. Out of the twins, it was nearly always Albus that was the ringleader. Scorpius just went along with the horrible ideas. It was strange for Scorpius to have been the one responsible.
“I’m suspicious,” muttered Teddy, eyes narrowing. Something else was going on here.
“So am I.” Harry agreed as he looked at Scorpius curiously.
“I want to know why you lied,” Draco demanded, looking at the both of them. “I remember your Wit Sharpening potion to come out flawlessly. Nor was there any Armadillo Bile on your person. Especially considering the medical liability of such an ingredient touching human flesh.”
Teddy leaned forward, hoping to see either of them flustered. This was turning out to be an interesting turn of events. Sure, his brothers got in trouble a lot, but it was never something of this magnitude. He was curious as to where it would go.
His dad’s statement had Scorpius wincing slightly, turning his eyes towards Albus.
“We may have thrown a vial of Armadillo Bile at the plant,” Albus admitted reluctantly when his father turned narrowed green eyes on him. Out of his parents, one would think that his dad would be scarier when upset but just a simple look from his father was enough to make his spine straighten.
“And why would you do that?” demanded Harry, not liking where this was going. “You both knew exactly what would happen and yet, you did it anyway.”
Albus pointedly looked at Scorpius, showing silently that he blamed his brother for this one.
The movement had Scorpius mentally setting a reminder to make his brother pay for such a traitorous action.
“Because Jameson was making fun of Smith for having two fathers! He’s a muggleborn and doesn’t quite understand that some muggle prejudice has no standing in the wizarding world.”
Draco froze before looking at his Harry. It was obvious that Scorpius was upset. “Why didn’t Jameson make fun of you?” Not that he wanted that to happen. He just thought it was strange that the boy would only make fun of one student.
Albus snorted loudly. “No one messes with the children of Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy.”
A noise of affirmation caused Harry and Draco to turn to Teddy who smiled sheepishly. “It’s true. No one messes with us for fear of you two.” At first, Teddy used to be upset. Because it affected friendships too, but it was nice in the end. It was a secondhand power and that worked out nicely on those he didn’t care for.
“What does Smith being bullied have to do with ruining an entire greenhouse?” Harry wasn’t sure what to think. He knew firsthand from his uncle that misconceptions can happen in the muggle world. Jameson might not be tolerant of others, but he certainly didn’t deserve an explosion in retaliation.
“Thatcher wasn’t doing anything about it!” Scorpius explained, brows pinching and a frown forming. “She made snide comments about it, as if rewarding Jameson’s belief. You should have seen Charlotte’s face! It’s not okay for a teacher to do that!”
Teddy bit his lip to stop from smiling. “So you destroyed a building, caused an explosion and nearly caused bodily harm to others in your anger.”
Scorpius looked to the ground. “In hindsight, it might have been a bad idea.”
That had Harry rolling his eyes. “You can’t just explode things when someone else upsets you. I understand that you were angry on behalf of Charlotte, but next time, speak to us. Or go to Minerva.”
When Scorpius nodded his head sadly, Draco looked to Albus. “And you, don’t just follow your brother. Have an original thought of your own for once. Also, don’t come to me when he retaliates for turning him in.”
Scorpius smirked widely, loving the way Albus’ eyes widened.
“But father.” Albus turned to Harry, eyes begging. “You’ll care, won’t you?”
Teddy had to cover his mouth to stop from laughing out loud.
It was hard to ignore the grey eyes that were pleading with him, but Harry knew that Draco wasn’t going to punish anything Scorpius did in retaliation. “I can’t control Draco anymore than I can control you.”
Draco leaned over to kiss Harry on the cheek, wrapping his arms around him. He ignored the renewed groans at their public displays of affection.
“Oh, Salazar.” Albus moaned pitifully. “No one loves me in this family.” He wanted to pout when they all laughed in delight, but that was beneath him. Malfoy-Potters don’t pout.
“I want to know how long you have been on a first name basis with Smith,” Teddy said, smirking at the way Scorpius’ flushed brightly. Now he was getting somewhere.
“I’m not—It’s just—” Scorpius twisted his fingers into his robes nervously. “She’s really nice.”
“Smith?” Draco asked, nose crinkling at the remembrance of Zacharias Smith. “Merlin, I haven’t thought of her father in ages. He was a real prick.”
“Charlotte isn’t her father.”
The firm tone of their son had Harry’s mouth twitching. “Where have I heard that before?” He teased, watching Draco eye him softly.
“Alright.” Draco conceded, eyes still on Harry. “I will keep an open mind.” He snapped his gaze to his son in time to see Scorpius smiling happily. “It will probably be needed for when you get married.”
Albus barked out a laugh at the way Scorpius froze in embarrassment.
“Is this why you were in the bushes?” Harry asked recalling what Draco told him earlier. “Because I hope you are aware that stalking is punishable by the Wizengamot.”
Teddy leaned into his dad for support and laughed into his shoulder. Merlin, he loved his family.
A slight foot stomping was the only thing Scorpius was able to produce as his family laughed openly at his embarrassment. Albus was right. Where is the love?
“Can we get on with the punishment now?” Scorpius begged, hoping to distract them.
“Don’t think we won’t tease you later,” Draco warned before standing up straighter and dropping the charm.
Minerva eyed them in amusement. It shouldn’t surprise her after so many years of seeing their family, but every time she witnessed them together, she couldn’t help but smile. A lot of people had reservations about Harry and Draco getting together many moons ago, but it was all hogwash. One look at the happy family and it was clear that they were meant to be together.
“After going over the implications of the potion and the Armadillo Bile residue, I do believe it was an accident.” Draco began, shooting a look at his children. If they acted surprised, it would give it all away.
Harry didn’t bother to hide his smile. It was just like Draco to be a big sap underneath it all. Which would mean that he would, once again, be the only one punishing them.
Draco held up a hand when it looked like Thatcher was going to explode in outrage. “There was more than just what was mentioned that led to the accident.”
When Thatcher shifted her eyes away briefly, he knew that she understood the implication.
“If we could discuss those privately at another time.” Draco nodded his head towards his children and then towards Thatcher. “This should be handled internally.”
Minerva narrowed her eyes, disliking the lack of explanations being given. “Alright. I will call the three of you tomorrow afternoon for another meeting.”
A raised hand signalled their dismissal. Before anyone could utter a goodbye, Thatcher stormed out of the room, not even bothering to shut the door.
“What a lovely person,” Draco grumbled under his breath, holding on to Harry’s hand as they exited the office.
When Scorpius opened his mouth, Harry held up a hand.
“Oh, don’t even.” He warned. “Her bad behaviour does not excuse yours.” Harry nodded his head in agreement when his son’s shoulders drooped. “The two of you will be helping in the rebuild of the Greenhouse.” He paused a little dramatically. “Without magic.”
“What?!” Albus and Scorpius yelled in unison, not caring that they were making a scene.
Teddy inched away from his family to allow the crowd of people to take him away. This was not going to turn into his younger brothers asking for help. No way. He may be the oldest, but that did not mean he had to be there to clean up their messes.
Draco narrowed his eyes, disliking the lack of decorum. He would never understand why his children liked to be the talk of the school. Episodes like this would travel. He took a step forward, lowering his voice.
“Just because you didn’t get punished by Minerva, does not mean that you are walking out of here free men.”
“How are we supposed to rebuild anything without magic?” Albus retorted, shaking his head angrily. They wouldn’t be in this mess if Scorpius wasn’t such a kind soul. It was despicable, really.
“We aren’t muggle builders.” The unnecessary reminder had Harry snorting internally. Sometimes, it was hard punishing them when all he wanted to do was laugh.
“Figure it out.”
When it looked like Albus was going to argue, Scorpius stepped on his foot discreetly. “Alright. We get it.” He ignored the outraged look on his Albus' face. Arguing would get them nowhere. He pulled on his brother’s hand and started a walk of shame towards the Great Hall, ignoring the gossiping students.
“Scorp, we know nothing about this. The greenhouse is going to look like a bloody wreck!” Their voices carried backwards and it improved Draco’s mood. He would love to see how they accomplish this.
“Probably.” Scorpius conceded. “But if we try hard, I just know father will cave and let us use magic.”
Draco smirked widely, leaning on Harry. “Hear that? You apparently have a weak spot.”
The teasing didn’t get to Harry, he rolled his eyes somewhat fondly. He knew that Scorpius was right, in the end, he probably would cave.
“Are you suddenly not fond of my weak spots?” Harry arched his brow, wrapping his arm around Draco. “Because I don’t remember any complaints when you became my weakness.”
“You should never admit to what can be used against you.” Draco chided, smiling softly.
“Oh, Merlin.” Albus’ complaint reaching their ears. “Will they ever stop flirting? It’s downright embarrassing.”
Teddy nudged his brother’s shoulder, walking in step but pausing to look back at his parents. “I think it’s cute.”
Scorpius shook his head when Albus began a long-winded debate refuting Teddy’s statement. He personally agreed with Teddy. He rather liked to find his parents’ love encouraging. It showed that two people, no matter how different they may be, can really be together.
“You know what is cute?” Albus asked, shaking his head. “That they think we will be what the school is gossiping about.” He gestured with his hands to where a group of second years were gossiping together.
“Oh, they are so cute together!”
“Did you see Professor Potter? He’s so handsome. Professor Malfoy is so lucky!”
“Really? I think it’s the other way around!”
“Ugh, they are both lucky!”
Teddy shook his head ruefully, not understanding the interest of people outside of the family. To him, they were just his parents. “I am more interested in this crush you have on Smith.”
The flush to Scorpius’ face had Teddy and Albus sharing a wicked grin.
“I have decided that I am an only sibling and I have no idea who you two strangers are,” Scorpius mumbled before sprinting forward, placing a wide berth between them.
“Don’t say that!” Teddy called out firmly. “How will we be invited to the wedding if we are strangers?” He bit his lip when Albus cackled loudly.
“You won’t.” There was a pause as Scorpius turned to smirk at them. “We will elope.” He didn’t feel like mentioning that Smith didn’t even know he existed. But that was just a mishap for now. A calculated mishap.
The look of absolute surprise on their faces was worth everything. Even the punishment.