Archive of Our Own

James:

They figured James’s House when he turned five.

It was a regular morning. Harry was minding the twins while Draco caught up on some reading. Suddenly, there was a distressed shout from the gardens.

“Dad! Father! Come quick! Hurry!”

Draco jumped and dropped his copy of Potions Weekly. The next second, Harry was out the door, still wearing an apron and approximately sixty percent of the twins’ breakfast. Draco cursed and followed him, quickening his pace as James’s yells became louder and more frantic.

“James, we’re here!” Harry yelled, running over to him at once.

Their son was hovering anxiously under a tree, gazing up in the branches with a teary expression. Draco frowned and quickened his pace. Whatever had happened, it had really upset their son.

“What is it, Jamie?” he asked, coming to a halt alongside Harry. “Are you hurt?”

James shook his head and pointed a shaky finger at the tree. Harry and Draco followed the trail, high up in the branches until they saw it. A small, black ball of fluff was huddled in the tree, hissing blearily and clinging to the branch for dear life.

“He’s stuck!” James nearly wailed. “We have to help him, we just have to!”

Harry hastened to placate their upset child. “Okay, okay,” he crooned, pulling James into a hug. “Father and I will figure something out.”

“We will?” Draco blurted.

Harry and James turned to him, with identical expressions of indignation.

“What?” Draco demanded. “I’m just saying that if it can get up the tree, it can get down. That’s what cats do.”

“You’re not seriously suggesting we leave the cat up there,” Harry countered incredulously. “Draco, the poor thing is stuck!”

“Father, he could get hurt!” James put in, turning large, teary eyes on him. “Please? It’s the right thing to do.”

Draco shot Harry a dirty look. He was such a bad influence on their children. But James looked close to tears now and quite frankly, that was a boat that did not need rocking.

“Fine,” Draco muttered, pulling his wand out. “Stand back. I’ll cast a Leviosa.”

“What? No!” Harry yelped, snatching the wand away.

“No magic,” James elaborated with a sniff. “You could scare him and then he’ll fall and get hurt!”

Draco gaped at both of them. “Well, what do you want to do then? If you’re suggesting we climb up the tree to get to that flea-bitten...”

“Perfect!” Harry interrupted. “Thanks for volunteering.”

Wait, what?

“Why me?!” Draco yelped.

Harry gave him a cheeky grin. “Because I have to feed the twins,” he countered. With that, he took off with a spring in his step.

Traitor.

“Father?”

James tugged at his sleeve and gazed up at him with hopeful, brown eyes. Draco heaved a weary sigh and grabbed hold of a low hanging branch. He knew when he was beaten.

“Stand back, son. This could get rough.”

Twenty minutes later, Draco was back on the ground with a clingy, hissy feline in his arms and several scratches to boot.

“You got him!” James exclaimed. He ran over to pet the cat, smiling happily when it purred and bunted into his fingers. James laughed and threw his arms around his father. Draco ruffled his hair. He didn’t plan on making a habit of it, but it was nice being the hero every now and then.

“You did the right thing by helping him, James,” Draco told him. “That was very brave.”

“Can I keep him?”

Damn it.

A few hours and several pretty pleases later, Oscar the cat sauntered into the Malfoy-Potter household and celebrated his adoption by shredding Draco’s latest Apothecary Report.

Later that night, he went to check up on James only to find his boy asleep with the cat snoozing on his pillow. Draco sneered as the flea-infested creature slitted one eye open and gave him a smug look.

“Yeah, laugh it up,” he retorted. “I hope you enjoy the Gryffindor Common Room.”

Oscar hissed.

Scorpius:

A year later, little Lily was born. Albus and Scorpius were expert toddlers now and getting their grubby, little hands in everything.

That’s when Scorpius showed his House colours.

Harry had taken the boys down to the park for a little fresh air. Of course, Draco would have a fit if he knew they were playing in the sandbox and that’s precisely why he was at home with the baby today. Harry smirked to himself.

What his husband didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him, after all.

The boys were doing fine. Albus was busy making vroom vroom noises as he drove his plastic truck through little sand hills. Scorpius was hard at work, digging with a small spade and shovel.

Harry chuckled and observed the two fondly. Scorpius in particular, was a very diligent worker when he put his mind to it. Even while playing he was working, scooping sand into his pail before tipping it out to make a hill.

Things were going rather well until a little girl caught her foot and stumbled, right into Al’s precious racing course. Al gazed in abject dismay as his game was cut short. He threw his truck away in a fit of petulance and started wailing.

Harry clucked his tongue and got up, intending to comfort his son.

Scorpius had seen the commotion too. He approached his brother with a quizzical frown, taking his time to assess the situation. Al wailed and pointed frantically at the truck and the destroyed hills, demanding some sympathy from his sibling.

Harry stopped in his tracks as Scorpius suddenly took charge. He gave Al a hug and retrieved the truck. Then, he tipped his pail over and made a new hill, just for his brother to play with. Al brightened up immediately and commenced his vrooming. Scorpius watched him for a few moments to make sure everything was back in order before going back to his digging.

Harry couldn’t have been prouder.

“Hardworking, loyal, generous and nurturing,” he mused as he rolled the stroller back home. He’d never given a second thought to Hufflepuff, but after seeing Scorpius today...well, every parent should be so lucky.

“I’m so proud of you, kiddo,” Harry whispered, pressing a kiss to Scorpius’s blond hair. Scorpius smiled indulgently and patted his cheek. Harry pressed another kiss to his head before ushering his boys indoors.

Draco smiled and set Lily down as soon as he caught sight of them. He gave Harry a kiss and the twins a hug each.

“You’ll never guess what happened today,” Harry began. “So there we were at the park and...”

“Harry,” Draco cut him off with a frown. “Why do the boys have sand in their hair?”

Albus:

Al took a while before finally settling on Slytherin.

It happened at the beach.

Draco settled back in his deck chair, keeping an eye on the kids from the safety of their rented beach house. Well, two kids, at any rate. James was nine now and had demanded a swimming lesson in no uncertain terms. Harry had opted to take him for a dip. Scorpius had tagged along to look for sea shells.

Draco smiled as his eyes settled on little Lily. She was three now and rather independent for her age. Even though she was preoccupied with building sandcastles and Al, now five, had selflessly volunteered to take care of his baby sister, Draco didn’t dare take his eyes off them.

It was a good thing he was watching too, considering what happened.

Lily was busy putting the finishing touches on her castle when a larger boy ambled up. Draco frowned as the boy had words with his little princess. Lily’s face scrunched up in displeasure and she said something. It must have been rather insulting because the boy sneered and kicked at her castle, effectively destroying it. Lily shrieked in dismay and then promptly burst into tears.

Draco’s jaw clenched and he got up, intending to go down there and have words with the ruffian and possibly his parents.

Then he saw Al.

Draco stilled and watched as his son prowled behind the bully in a manner that could only be referred to as ‘extremely sneaky’. His expression was intent and determined. And he was cradling something carefully in his hands. It looked like a...

Draco grinned and leaned against the rails, watching avidly now. Oh, he couldn’t wait to see how this would turn out.

The bully was still busy crowing over a sobbing Lily. Al had plenty of time to work. Quick as a snake, he reached out...

...and dropped the snapper crab down the boy’s pants.

The resulting scream echoed through the beach.

The boy ran away like wolves were chasing him and Al watched him go with a smug expression and cheerful wave. Lily’s stunned expression gave way to a fit of giggles and before long, the two were busy reconstructing the castle.

Draco chuckled and returned to his sunbathing, making a mental note to buy his son an ice-cream later.

Slytherin House was in very good hands.

Lily:

Lily of course, was next.

She had always been an inquisitive child so Harry thought nothing of it when he found her going through his case files one day.

“Honey,” Harry chided, pulling the folder from her fingers. “We talked about this. You know you’re not supposed to touch my work things, don't you?”

Lily blinked at him seriously. “You spell wrong,” she announced.

Harry blinked in surprise before gathering himself. “I don’t ‘spell wrong’,” he told her. “Now, why don’t you go play so I can...”

“But you do too spell wrong!” Lily insisted with all the authority of a seven year old who knew what she was talking about.

Harry sighed and decided to indulge her. “Okay, what did I spell wrong then?”

“This,” Lily elaborated, pointing at the first paragraph. “You wrote effect for affect. Aunt Mione says it’s a very common mistake.”

Harry stared at his notes. He had in fact, made that same mistake. Several times, actually. “I...must have been in a hurry,” he reasoned.

Lily tutted and shook her head. “You should concentrate on your homework, Daddy,” she chided. Harry just stared as she bounded away.

Ravenclaw, then. Why was he even surprised? Apparently, he and Draco had just acquired the entire set.

“Oh, and Daddy?”

Harry jumped as Lily made an appearance again.

“Yes, sweetheart?” he asked.

“Work on your handwriting.”

“We got an owl from Lily,” Draco informed his husband over breakfast. “She’s having a great first year at Hogwarts. She loves her classes and wants to try out for the Quidditch team. Apparently, Gryffindor house needs a new Chaser. Have you heard anything from the boys?”

Harry nodded and pulled out the letter he’d received just this morning. “Well, let’s see. Scorpius got thirty points for Ravenclaw with his essay on Bowtruckles. Of course, he also lost ten points for sneaking into the Hufflepuff Common Room to see Al after curfew. Oh, and James wants us to send him a new blanket for Oscar. Apparently, the Slytherin dorms gets a bit drafty this time of year.”

Draco rolled his eyes. “Does that cat still sleep in his bed? Honestly, he's almost of age.”

“Hey, you’re the one who rescued him from that tree. This is on you.”

Draco gave him a flat look. Harry laughed and nudged his husband, prompting a reluctant smile. They gazed down at the letters they had acquired over the year: Lily’s missives from Gryffindor house, Scorpius’s verbose reports from Ravenclaw, Al’s harried notes from Hufflepuff and James’s untidy scrawl from Slytherin accompanied by a set of inky paw prints courtesy of Oscar.

Wrong on every single count, Draco thought with no small amount of bemusement. It was good to know his kids could still surprise him after all these years.

He shook his head and turned to Harry. “Did you ever see this coming?”

“No,” Harry conceded. “But I wouldn’t change a thing.”

Draco smiled and pulled him in for a kiss.

To tell the truth, neither would he.