Archive of Our Own

Home Cafe

 

Harry looked around the neighbourhood, the map in his hand, and then around the neighbourhood again to make sure he got the right place. He never was very good at reading maps other than the Marauder’s Map, and it got him into trouble the last time he was asked to do a stakeout and ended up in the other side of town.

After he was satisfied with the fact that he was in the correct neighbourhood, he walked into a local cafe that was right across the apartment building where the suspect lived.

There had been a string of break ins in the neighbourhood recently, and they suspected that the perpetrator was a wizard who’s highly skilled in disarming wards. There was such a wizard in the neighbourhood, someone who used to work as a curse breaker. Granted, it might not be the person, which was why Harry was asked to do a stakeout. They had put in a tracking charm that would tell if anyone Disapparated in the affected area, and he would watch the exits for any sign of the man leaving his house during the time the break ins usually happened. If he disappeared and the break ins happened, then they would have stronger grounds for suspecting the man for the crimes.

The bell tinkled as he opened the door that led into the cafe, and he froze midway when he saw the familiar blonde head behind the counter.

“Malfoy?” he asked in surprise as he did a double take. “What are you doing behind the counter?”

“I’m making coffee,” Draco answered easily as he poured hot milk into a cup and created an art using the foam with the help of a small wooden stick. “What does it look like I’m doing? Honestly, if all Aurors have the observational skill like yours, it’s no wonder a lot of petty thefts happen around here.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “Always so sharp-tongued,” he commented as he walked over to the counter and snatched a menu from beside the register. “But really, what are you doing behind the counter?”

“Is it not obvious?” Draco asked with a huff as he placed the cup of coffee on a tray and rang a bell. A girl walked out from the storage room carrying a bag of coffee beans and placed it on the counter, then took the tray and walked over to the guest at the corner who was still waiting for his drink. The girl then walked off into the kitchen after delivering the coffee.

“If you’re eating in, I suggest you just go get a seat and Charisse will be with you shortly,” Draco said as he wiped his hands on his dark green apron.

“And why would you think I’m here to eat in?” Harry asked, still browsing the menu.

“Those who come for coffee on the go don’t take even a tenth of this long to decide on the coffee they want,” Draco said simply as he crossed his arms in front of his chest, as if daring Harry to challenge his theory. “Plus, I live here, just above. I know about the break ins that have been happening around here.”

“Oh,” Harry said dumbly. “Well then, I guess I’ll be getting a seat by the window.”

“Yes, you go do that,” Draco said as he took a rag from beside the sink and began wiping the counter clean of the chocolate powder that he used to make mochas. He usually only cleaned the counter of them once he had a break from coffee making.

“Daddy.”

Harry paused when he heard the childish voice and turned back around, but couldn’t see anything. He thought he was imagining it and dismissed the thought, and was about to walk towards the table beside the window when he heard it again.

“Daddy.”

The tone this time was even more demanding, and a little bit sulky. Harry turned around again and peeked behind the coffee machine that blocked his view. As expected, there was a toddler sitting in a high chair with an empty bowl in front of him and a sulk on his face.

The toddler reminded Harry of a young Draco; all high and mighty and demanding. Although they had reconciled somewhat when the Malfoys defected to the Light side before the break out of the Second Wizarding War, they still weren’t friends. Their circle of friends were different and didn’t coincide, so there was never any chance for them to hang out together and potentially become friends.

Now, however, Harry was intrigued. He never heard about Draco getting married and having a child. Was he really that behind on the gossips?

“Yes, darling, eyes on you now,” Draco said as he turned to face the blond child, ignoring Harry who was gawking at him. He had never heard Draco call anyone by terms of endearment either.

“Am hungwy,” the child stated.

“It’s hungry, love,” Draco said easily, turning around and kneeling down to open the cupboard below the register.

“Hungwy,” the child repeated, grabbed hold of the spoon in his empty bowl and began flailing it. “Daddy, hungwy.”

“Yes, dear, patience,” Draco’s voice was slightly muffled. “I’m getting your food.”

It seemed to mollify the child somewhat as he settled to kicking his legs as he waited, his right hand still gripping the spoon in anticipation. Draco made a little triumphant noise and stood back up, closing the cupboard door. He opened the jar of applesauce that he just took and spooned half of the contents into the bowl.

“There you go. Eat slowly, you hear me? I don’t want you choking like last time,” Draco reminded as he placed the jar back in the cupboard.

The child ignored him in favour of digging into his newly refilled bowl with such apparent happiness that Harry nearly felt his heart melt at the sight of the cute boy.

And he never thought there would come a day when he would refer to anything or anyone that reminded him of Draco as cute. He supposed life did work in strange ways.

“What’s his name?” Harry asked as he watched the kid eat, surprisingly tidy for a toddler.

“The little menace? He’s Scorpius,” Draco answered and turned to stare at Harry. “I thought I told you to take a seat. What if your suspect exited when you’re not looking?”

“That’s a mouthful for a little guy,” Harry said as he chuckled. “I didn’t know you’re married.”

“I’m not,” Draco replied. “Not everyone with a child is married, Potter. It only happens in the fantasy world of yours.”

Harry glared at him. “I don’t have a fantasy world.”

“Oh, don’t you?” Draco asked nonchalantly. “My mother wanted a grandchild, my father wanted an heir, so I took an easy way out and found a surrogate. That way I could have a child without having to marry and do other such nonsense. Women are hard to understand and hard to please. I think I had an easier time caring for baby Scorp.”

Harry laughed. “I guess you’re right on that one,” he said. He turned to Scorpius but was taken slightly aback when he saw the little kid glaring at him accusingly, then huffed and looked away. “Err...”

“What is it, Potter?” Draco asked.

“Daddy,” Scorpius called, and when the two of them looked at him, there was a huge mess on his table and there was applesauce on his cheek. “Feed me.”

Draco chuckled as he walked over and wiped Scorpius’ cheek clean and kissed him. “Silly boy,” he said. “You’re still my number one, no matter what. There’s no need for you to do that to get my attention.”

Scorpius leaned over and kissed Draco on his mouth, then looked at Harry challengingly. Harry’s eyes widened in surprise, as he had never seen such a possessive child.

“Sorry about that,” Draco said easily as he cleaned Scorpius’ table and picked up his bowl and took his spoon from him. “He’s really possessive of what he thinks as his. You should see how he acts towards my father when he thinks he’s trying to steal my mother away from him.”

Harry tried to imagine it, and couldn’t help laughing.

Just then, the front door of the cafe opened and a boy who looked a lot like the girl who worked for Draco—Charisse, was it?—walked into the store carrying a reusable grocery bag.

“I’m back, Mr. Malfoy,” he announced as he walked over to the counter. “And I got Scorp’s favourite applesauce too.”

“Al!” Scorpius exclaimed happily when he saw the boy. “Al! Al!”

“Easy there, love,” Draco said as he ruffled Scorpius’ hair. “Al’s not going anywhere.”

The boy chuckled. “I think he only likes me because I’m bringing his favourite food,” he said, then noticed Harry. “Oh, sorry, were you with a customer?”

“No, he was a classmate, and he won’t stop bugging me,” Draco said. “Charisse’s at the back washing the cups. It’s almost lunch time now, so take turns eating your lunch.”

“Yessir,” the boy said as he walked around the counter. “May I kidnap Scorp for a bit?”

“Sure you can,” Draco said with a shrug. “It’s not good for him to stay out here too long. He’s apparently not only jealous of my coffee machine now, but of Harry as well.”

“Harry?” the boy asked as he picked Scorpius up from the high chair and held him close. “Harry Potter? The famous war hero?”

“Yeah,” Draco said. “Don’t get your hopes up too high, though, kid. He’s now an Auror with less than favourable observational skill.”

“You’re still on that?” Harry asked as he rolled his eyes.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you anyway,” the boy said as he beamed at Harry. “My name’s Alphonse Jones-Kirkland. If you’ve seen the girl working here, that’s my younger sister, Charisse.”

“I see. Nice to meet you too, Al,” Harry said as he shook the boy’s hand, but pulled it back when Scorpius vengefully slapped Harry’s hand away.

“Scorp, that’s not nice,” Draco chided.

“Bad Hawwy,” Scorpius said as he wagged his finger at Harry. “Don’t steal my Daddy. Don’t steal my Al, and don’t steal my Chawis. You bad like the ewil bwack thing.”

“The what?”

“My coffee machine,” Draco said with a sigh. “We ignore him when we’re making coffee, so he has come to dislike the machine with a passion.”

“I’ll bring Scorp into the kitchen now,” Al said quickly, and retreated, while Scorpius blew a raspberry at Harry before turning back around and hugging Al.

“Well, he’s certainly a possessive kid,” Harry commented, blinking at the strange occurrence.

Draco laughed. “That he is,” he said. “Don’t worry too much. If he comes to like you, he won’t be so jealous of you. He used to be that bad towards Al and Charisse too, you know, but he adores them now.”

“Ah, so I still have a chance.”

“So to speak,” Draco said with a shrug. “Well, what would you like to drink then?”

“I’ll just get a cup of latte,” Harry said as he returned the menu to where he got it from, “and one of those cherry Danish.”

“Take a seat then.”

Harry obeyed for once and settled at the table for two beside the window. He looked at the apartment building across and saw the suspect walking out of the building dressed in a gray hoodie and a pair of blue jeans. Although the neighbourhood was part of the Wizarding world, there were a lot of Muggleborns who lived there, so while half of the neighbourhood looked like a typical Wizarding neighbourhood, the other half looked like a typical Muggle neighbourhood. Draco’s cafe just happened to be situated somewhere in the middle.

He watched the man as he walked and turned the corner, disappearing from sight, and then noted the time. He then took the time to take a good look around the cafe, since he didn’t get to because he was distracted by Draco as soon as he stepped in. The decor was tasteful, the colour scheme mostly dark brown to give the feeling of a chic cafe. It was small, but he had seen the line early in the morning, during lunch hour, and after work. He passed by the cafe sometimes after work, but was always deterred by the long queue so he never set foot in the cafe until now.

There was a display case beside the register and there were a lot of pastries and sweets there. There were sausage rolls and pies, Danishes and croissants, and even cakes and macarons. Draco came over with his coffee not long after, and when he took the first sip, he knew why the cafe was so popular in the neighbourhood.

The customers slowly trickled out of the cafe to return to their own daily routine, leaving Harry sitting by the window alone, watching the streets to see if the suspect had returned to the building. He started when the chair in front of him was pulled back, but relaxed slightly when he saw Draco settling in the seat.

“So where’s your suspect?” Draco asked as he looked outside.

“Somewhere,” Harry replied. “He went out dressed like a Muggle earlier. Hasn’t returned for about an hour now.”

Draco hummed noncommittally. “And how’s the coffee?”

“Hard to admit this, but it’s brilliant,” Harry said with almost grudging respect. “And so is the Danish.”

Draco laughed. “No need to sound so bitter, Potter,” he said. “I’ve been baking sweets since I was little. You probably didn’t notice, but sometimes during dinner, the Slytherin table has more desserts than any other tables.”

Harry thought back to their school days, and remembered that there was a day when he was envious of the Slytherins because the chocolate cake on their table looked so tempting. He had wondered if any of the professors or the house elves played favourites to the Slytherins, but knew the truth now.

“And Scorp’s mother is a barista,” Draco added. “I met her when I was learning to make coffee. She was pregnant at that time, and when I talked to her, I found out she was carrying a child for her friend, who wasn’t allowed to get pregnant because it could potentially kill her.”

“So you asked her to carry Scorpius?”

“She offered,” Draco said with a shrug. “She knew about what my parents wanted me to do, and was actually the one who offered this solution. We’re still friends, but she works as an instructor at the coffee school, so we don’t meet often.”

“I see,” Harry said. “But why a cafe? I mean, you have enough money to last more than seven generations.”

“Why not?” Draco asked back. “It’s true that I don’t need to work, but I don’t like being idle either. This way I can still look after Scorpius as I work, and the customers adore him. Some of the elderly witches who frequent my cafe are actually here to see him.”

“I can see why,” Harry said as he nodded. “The little brat is adorable even when he’s glaring at you.”

“Oh, there he is,” Harry exclaimed as he looked outside the window. The man was walking back to the apartment building carrying bags of groceries in his arms. He noted the time, and wrote the time of departure and time of arrival down. “Well, I guess this is all I need to know for today. I’ll return tomorrow.”

“You’re coming back tomorrow?”

“Yeah. We’re doing stakeouts until either the culprit is caught or one of the suspects is caught in the action,” Harry said with a shrug. “I guess I’ll see you and Scorp tomorrow then.”

“Yeah, see you,” Draco said. “Do try not to make Scorp jealous.”

“I’ll try my best,” Harry said solemnly, but then he grinned cheekily. “Nope, he’s too cute, even when he’s jealous.”

Draco rolled his eyes, and as Harry exited the cafe, he walked into the kitchen to join Scorpius and Al and Charisse.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Harry came the next day bringing a peace offering. He had taken note of the brand of applesauce that Al said was Scorpius’ favourite, and brought half a dozen of jars of the applesauce with him the next time he came around. Scorpius’ pout immediately fell from his face and was replaced with a look of awe as he stared at the line of jars in want.

“So this is the bribe, then?” Draco commented as he looked at the jars of applesauce on the counter. “I don’t know if I should be happy that you care enough to bribe him, or unhappy that you are bribing him.”

“You can go either way, and it still won’t matter,” Harry said with a cheeky grin. “Come on, little guy. Do you want this?”

Scorpius was still dumbfounded. He nodded slowly and stared at Harry expectantly.

“Oh, come on. I’m sure your father taught you better manners than that. What do you say?”

“Hey, leave me out of this,” Draco said as he rolled his eyes.

“Can I have some, pwease?” Scorpius asked as he leaned forward in his high chair, trying unsuccessfully to grab one of the jars.

“Well, can he have some, Malfoy?” Harry asked as he turned to face Draco.

“Ugh, you’re unbearable,” Draco said. “Why did you bring so much if you’re not even sure he’s allowed to eat it or not?”

“Oh, I know he’s allowed to. I just don’t know when,” Harry said. “So, can he now?”

“Yeah, sure, it’s almost his lunch time anyway,” Draco said easily. “Come on, Scorpius. Thank the man.”

“Thank you, Hawwy,” Scorpius said solemnly as he watched Draco scoop the applesauce into his bowl. “I pwomise you can steal Daddy sometimes, but not Al and Chawis.”

“Oh, so now I’m worth less than Al and Charisse?” Draco asked in mock hurt.

“Silly Daddy,” Scorpius said in an almost condescending manner as he patted Draco’s cheek. “No matter what you still mine, so Hawwy can steal you a while and you still come back to me.”

Draco ruffled Scorpius’ hair. “Indeed I will. Now eat up, and don’t make a mess.”

Scorpius nodded and began digging in. Draco turned back to Harry.

“So, any update on your man?” he queried.

“No, there wasn’t any case yesterday, so we’re still on stakeout missions,” Harry said with a sigh. “This is almost as boring as doing paperwork. At least I get to eat and no one can say I’m slacking off.”

“You are slacking off right now,” Draco pointed out. “Why don’t you go take a seat and watch him? I’ll send Charisse along with a menu.”

“Sure,” Harry agreed and walked over to the table he had occupied the day before. He had only caught a glimpse of the girl yesterday, and he wondered what kind of person she was like. Was she like her brother Al?

Not long after, Charisse walked out of the kitchen and grabbed a menu from beside the register, then walked over to the table where Harry sat. “Here’s your menu, sir. I’ll leave you to browse the menu and be with you shortly.”

Harry nodded at her and watched as she walked off towards the counter, talking to Draco softly. She was nothing like Al. While Al was bubbly and full of energy, Charisse had an air of quiet intelligence around her, preferring to speak only when necessary. She reminded him of Professor McGonagall, and he wondered if it was a good thing.

That day, he ordered the cappuccino and tiramisu. Draco told him that he had learned to make a lot of cakes since he was little, although the more complicated ones he only learned after he graduated from Hogwarts.

“Scorpius has a vicious sweet tooth, must have gotten it from me,” Draco said as he watched Scorpius sit in his chair while listening to Al talk from the corner of his eyes. He was sitting with Harry again, after getting express permission from His Royal Highness Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy.

Harry had lifted an eyebrow when he found out Scorpius’ full name, but wisely decided not to comment on it, lest he found his coffee laced with arsenic the next day. Not that Draco would do that, but he certainly wouldn’t put it past the Slytherin to put at least laxative in his coffee if he ever wronged him.

“And he has your metabolism, too,” Harry commented. The child was small and lean, only a bit of baby fat left in his chubby cheeks. “I wonder if his face will become sharp and angular like yours when he grows up.”

“Most probably,” Draco said. “He’s mostly my child, after all.”

“I suppose,” Harry said. “You know, watching you two makes me want one of my own; but then, I watch you two again, and somehow not want to be in a ten meter radius of a child.”

Draco laughed. “There’s always the good and the bad when you raise a kid,” he said. “Mother said I was the reason most of my father’s hair turned gray. He probably got that from me too, so I cannot fault him, really. Maybe it runs in the family—my mother’s family, of course.”

Harry nodded in agreement, remembering the members of Black family that he knew. Even when the Black blood was quite diluted, their mischievousness remained. Really, look at Teddy.

“He’s not going out at all today, is he?” Draco said suddenly, and Harry turned to look outside the window as well.

“Yeah, he’s not,” Harry confirmed. “I wonder if the criminal knows we’re onto him and he’s trying to lay low.”

“Who knows,” Draco said with a shrug. “Well, it’s almost closing time. You’re welcome to stay as I clean up, but you have to leave afterwards. We’re going home.”

“Okay,” Harry said. “I’ll be back tomorrow then.”

“Sure. See you, Potter.”

“See you, Malfoy.”

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Harry came again the next day, this time with a bag of husks for Scorpius. He had seen Scorpius chewing on everything the day before, and thought that the kid must be teething. Draco accused him of trying to gain Scorpius’ favours and Harry simply laughed it off.

“So how was your day, Little Prince?” Harry asked as he ruffled Scorpius’ hair. The blonde quietly chewed on the husk while nuzzling Harry’s palm and he chuckled. “Enjoying your gift?”

Scorpius made a garbled sound but made no move to take the husk out of his mouth. He looked at Harry expectantly, and the man took the hint and began stroking his hair.

“He’s like a cat,” Harry commented when Draco walked out of the kitchen and lifted an eyebrow at the strange sight. “They demand to be petted, and you can’t help but obey them.”

“So the Saviour of the Wizarding World has become the slave of a child?” Draco asked as he snorted in amusement. “You should look at yourself. It didn’t take him long at all to have you wrapped around his fingers.”

“It didn’t take long at all,” Harry confirmed. “He had me at ‘Daddy’,” he said cheekily, and Draco rolled his eyes. “It’s strange, isn’t it? I didn’t think love at first sight exists, but look at me now.”

“You’re talking about someone else’s kid, you remember that, right?” Draco asked suspiciously. “Should I be wary that you’re going to kidnap him one day?”

Harry laughed. “Nah,” he said, “not yet, at least. I need to get him to trust me a lot more first.”

Draco shook his head in disbelief. “So, you want anything to eat and drink today?”

“Yeah, I’ll try your mocha and banana bread today,” Harry answered. “Toasted, please.”

“Sure,” Draco said as he went about making the order while Harry kept on stroking the teething toddler’s head. He watched the two from the corner of his eyes, and couldn’t help but smile. He knew that Scorpius didn’t like it when his ‘possessions’ were taken by someone else, but it was easy for him to think of people as his.

If the person showed him more attention than they did to anyone else, that person automatically became his. It didn’t take too long for him to think of Lucius as his too, despite the fiasco involving lots and lots of applesauce when he first thought Lucius was trying to steal Narcissa away from him.

“Here you go,” Draco said as he placed a plate of banana bread and a cup of mocha on the counter in front of Harry. “Enjoy.”

Harry nodded at him and took the plate and saucer with him to the table by the window so he could get on with his suspect watching. Scorpius took out the husk from his mouth and scrunched his nose as Draco rubbed his mouth clean of spit with a tea towel.

“Hawwy? Hawwy go where?” Scorpius asked as he frowned.

“He’s on duty, darling,” Draco answered as he wiped the corner of Scorpius’ mouth. “Now be good and continue chewing on that. I need to go to the kitchen to bake.”

“No,” Scorpius said. “Daddy, I no want alone,” he said earnestly, his eyes wide and hopeful. “Can I come?”

“I’ll ask Charisse to read you a story, do you want that?” Draco asked as he patted Scorpius’ head.

“Awight,” Scorpius agreed as he nodded slowly.

Harry watched the exchange and felt bad for Scorpius. He almost offered to keep him company, but then the suspect exited the building and he sighed, watching him like a hawk until he was out of sight.

One day, he would have to invest in blinkers—the horse’s glasses, so that he would stop being so distracted by the little, adorable, blond menace.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

“Hawwy.”

Harry grinned almost dopily. It was the first time Scorpius greeted him, instead of only nodding in acknowledgement, and although he knew he shouldn’t be feeling like he had just won the war all over again, he did.

“Hey kiddo,” Harry said as he ruffled his hair. “Where’s your father?”

“Daddy at the back,” Scorpius answered. “Bay king.”

“Ah. Well, look what I got you today,” Harry said excitedly as he pulled something out of his bag.

“Really, why are you the one more excited?” Draco commented as he walked out of the kitchen.

Harry stuck out his tongue at Draco and the blonde simply rolled his eyes and watched from the sidelines.

“Oh, a wabbit!” Scorpius exclaimed when he saw the cover of the storybook that Harry got him. “Pete Wabbit,” he read.

“You’re so smart,” Harry complimented as he ruffled Scorpius’ hair. “Your father has taught you about animals, huh?”

“No,” Scorpius replied. “He looks like Mr. Wabbit.”

“And who’s Mr. Rabbit?” Harry asked with a smile. He always found it cute when little children named their stuffed dolls.

“Alright, that’s enough,” Draco said quickly. “Scorp, be a good boy, okay? And Potter, if you want to read to my son, then get on with it. I need to check on my cake now,” he finished, and hurried back into the kitchen.

Scorpius giggled while Harry looked confused. Scorpius then turned to Harry and whispered conspiringly, “Mr. Wabbit is Daddy’s fwiend. Mine is Mr. Paws.”

Harry chuckled and made a note to himself to be sure to tease Draco with it. He would most probably be hanged upside down from the ceiling fan, but it would be worth it.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

For the next two weeks, Harry came to the cafe every day. He would bring gifts for Scorpius, ranging from clothes and food to storybooks and toys. He had commented to Draco how Scorpius would end up in Ravenclaw with how excited he was to learn new things all the time (his exact words were “I think he’ll be even more of a bookworm than Hermione!”).

Scorpius had grown so used to Harry’s presence that when he suddenly didn’t come in the afternoon, he was sulking the whole day, refusing to speak to anyone and only opened his mouth when Draco was feeding him. He stayed in his high chair all day, reading a bedtime storybook by himself, and pouted even when the nice elderly witch from the store right across brought him cookies.

“What’s wrong, dearie?” the witch asked in concern.

“He’s alright, Mrs. Green. He’s just upset that one of our regular customers hasn’t turned up today,” Draco answered as he was wiping the cups dry and stacked them neatly on the counter, near the coffee machine.

“Oh, you mean Harry?” Mrs. Green asked as she looked around the store. “I heard from my grandson that the culprit is finally caught, so he might be held up at work.”

“Yeah,” Draco said. He read the newspaper too, which reported the capture of the thief, who happened to be an outsider. The stakeouts were useless because when they started, the thief had moved on to another neighbourhood. He was caught in that other neighbourhood while trying to break into an Auror’s home while he happened to still be at home, and confessed to having done the break ins in various other neighbourhoods under Veritaserum.

Scorpius finally looked up. “Hawwy not coming anymore?” he asked in a broken and sad voice, his lower lip quivering slightly as tears started to collect at the corner of his eyes.

“No one says that, darling,” Draco said as he knelt in front of Scorpius. “It’s just that he works in the afternoon, so he would have to wait until he finishes work before he can come here.”

“Is he still coming?” Scorpius asked again.

“I don’t know,” Draco admitted. He truly hoped that Harry hadn’t lied when he said he was attached to Scorpius, because if he left, Scorpius would be heartbroken, and he would have to invade Harry’s house with Scorpius’ mother and made him pay. The woman absolutely adored Scorpius too and would not hesitate to make the people who made her baby cry pay.

“I’m hurt,” a voice suddenly spoke from the doorway. “Do you guys have such little faith in me?”

“Hawwy!” Scorpius exclaimed excitedly. “Hawwy! Hawwy!”

Harry chuckled as he walked over to the counter, greeting the elderly witch as he did so. He couldn’t believe that just half a month ago, it wasn’t his name Scorpius was exclaiming so excitedly, and he was at the receiving end of the Malfoy patented glare instead.

“Hey, little prince,” he greeted as he ruffled Scorpius’ hair. “Missed me?”

Scorpius didn’t answer verbally. Instead, he hugged Harry’s arm tight and nuzzled it while humming in agreement. Harry’s smile was fond as he watched the adorable blonde, then peeked at Draco.

“Missed me, Malfoy?” he asked with a cheeky grin.

“You wish, Potter,” Draco said as he rolled his eyes, but inside he was happy that Harry hadn’t left them. He didn’t know why he was happy, but he just put it down to being happy because that meant he didn’t have to see Scorpius being disappointed and heartbroken because he lost one of his favourite people.

“There’s no harm done in being honest like your son, you know,” Harry said as he chuckled. “I got caught up in the debriefing of the mission, but I’ve asked to get the night shift, so I can still come here in the afternoon.”

“So Hawwy still coming every day?” Scorpius asked curiously.

“That’s right, my little prince. I’m still coming in everyday,” Harry said as he pressed sloppy kisses on the toddler’s cheek, causing him to scrunch his nose and try to push Harry’s face away from his. This caused the dark-haired man to laugh and try even harder.

Mrs. Green smiled and walked off to a table so that she didn’t interrupt them. Draco noticed her leaving and gave her an apologetic smile, which she dismissed quickly.

“Alright, you two, settle down and behave,” Draco said as he shook his head. “Would you like anything to drink or eat, Potter?”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll get a cup of mocha with a Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy on the side,” Harry said as he chuckled. “Can I kidnap him for a second?”

“Just stay within my line of sight,” Draco said.

Harry mock saluted him and Draco rolled his eyes while Harry walked off to the table beside the window, settling Scorpius on his lap and began telling him stories of his past cases, although he made sure to tell the kid only the ones that were light-hearted, like that time he helped a young boy find his missing dog.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

The next day Harry came in, he saw a young woman stand behind the counter talking to Draco while holding Scorpius in her arms and rocking him gently. He put two and two together and concluded that the woman must be Scorpius’ mother, and planned to tell Draco that his observational skill really wasn’t that bad.

He walked up to the counter and smiled at them.

“Oh, hello, Potter,” Draco greeted. “Sorry, Scorp’s napping right now.”

“That’s alright,” Harry said quickly and turned to the woman. She had long blond hair that was pulled up into a messy bun, a sharp, defined jaw, and bright blue eyes. She reminded him of Narcissa in a way, and wondered if that was another reason why Scorpius looked so much like Draco.

“I don’t believe we have met before. I’m Harry Potter,” Harry said.

“Elena Rogers,” the woman replied. “I would shake your hand but I don’t want to wake Scorp up.”

“That’s quite alright. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Elena—can I call you that?”

“Sure you can,” Elena said. “I’ve been hearing a lot of stories about you from Scorp, Mr. Potter.”

“Oh? I don’t believe he’s told you that I’ve been bribing him, unless his father told him it was a bribe,” Harry said playfully.

“He seems quite taken with you,” Elena commented as she glanced at Scorpius, and for a second there was a fond smile on her face before it melted off quickly and her expression returned to one of a clinical professionalism as she turned back to Harry. “And from what I heard from him, you seem to be quite taken with Scorp.”

“That I am,” Harry agreed with a chuckle. “He has that ability to make people like him, doesn’t he?”

“I didn’t mean taken with him like you would be taken with a neighbourhood kid who you see when you go to the park,” Elena said curtly. “You’ve come here every day. It’s obviously more than that.”

Harry blinked at her. “I guess I haven’t given it much thought.”

“Well, you should,” Elena said. “At the moment, you are attached to him the way a father is attached to his kid, wanting to be part of his growing up. How long will that last though? Until he’s in Hogwarts? Until you can’t come here anymore? Until you find a partner and have a family of your own?”

“Elena, don’t,” Draco said as he shook his head.

Elena shrugged. “I was only asking. It’s something he should think about, because if he’s leaving then it’s either now, before it’s too late, or later, when Scorp can understand.”

“She’s right,” Harry said, interrupting Draco who was about to protest. “I should give it more thought. For now, however, I just want to be with him.”

“Remember what you said yourself, Mr. Potter,” Elena said. She patted Scorpius’ back to wake him up. “Darling, Mommy has to go.”

Scorpius rubbed his eyes with his tiny fist and yawned before kissing Elena’s cheek. “Bye bye, Mommy.”

“Be a good boy, now, you hear me?” Elena said, smiling at the blonde. Scorpius looked indignant, crossing his arms in front of his chest and pouting.

“I’m always a good boy,” Scorpius complained. “Wight, Daddy?”

“Tell yourself what you want to believe, darling,” Draco said as he laughed. “You’re still a little terror.”

Scorpius pouted and looked around for someone who would defend him, and spotted Harry. “Oh, Hawwy!” he exclaimed happily. “Hawwy, I’m a good boy, wight?”

“To me, yeah. To anyone else, I can’t say,” Harry said as he grinned at the blond boy who gave up and chose to sulk in silence. “Come here, you big baby.”

“He’s still not far from a baby,” Draco said. “A well-versed and chatty brat, but he’s still two.”

“Wow, he’s really smart for a two-year-old,” Harry commented in surprise and saw Scorpius preen slightly. “I mean, I thought he’s at least four, since he can read already.”

“He started reading before he spoke,” Draco said with a smile as he reached out to ruffle Scorpius’ hair. “So you might be right in assuming he’ll end up in Ravenclaw one day.”

“Alright, it’s been nice but I really need to go back to the school now,” Elena said, passing Scorpius off to Draco. “Take care, darling, and you too, Draco. I’ll see you when I have time.”

“See you, Elena,” Draco said.

Elena walked around the counter and left for the school. Draco turned to Harry and shrugged. “Well, that’s Scorp’s mother.”

“Did he ever ask why she doesn’t live with you? Or why she’s not around often?” Harry queried.

“I told him, though I don’t know if he understands. He probably does, but I’ll tell him again when he’s older,” Draco said. “He’s been really good, though, never demanding for his mother because I can’t give it to him.”

“But you are his mother,” Harry said as he snickered and Draco glared at him, which caused him to laugh even harder.

“Keep laughing, Potter, and I’ll show you how women can be scarier than men.”

Harry promptly shut up.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Draco walked out of the kitchen one day to see Harry sitting with Scorpius at one of the tables close to the counter. It wasn’t a strange sight. The strange sight was the tin of cookies and the box of chocolates sitting innocently by the register.

“Potter, you do know that Scorpius can’t eat solid foods yet, right?” he asked as he lifted an eyebrow as he inspected the tin. “And I don’t want to see him high on sugar.”

“Oh, no, those are for you.”

Draco turned to look at Harry strangely. “So now you’re bribing me? What for? I’m already letting you do a lot of things with him, sans kidnapping him, really.”

Harry chuckled. “Do not look a gift horse in the mouth, Draco,” he said teasingly. “Just accept them and be happy. I know you have a vicious sweet tooth.”

Draco glared at the man while Harry ignored him in favour of continuing his story to Scorpius. Draco was sure the stories were made up, because how else could an Auror be stuck doing ridiculous missions all the time? He stopped believing what Harry said when he told Scorpius of how he once had to babysit a child who was too scared to fall asleep.

The Weasleys’ kids, maybe. But a stranger’s kid? Not likely.

And the ones that were actual, real cases were simplified by him, leaving out the gory details and such. He always made it sound like a fairy tale, and Scorpius was taken by these tales, although Draco suspected that Scorpius knew Harry had left out some details because he was still a child.

“I’ll take these to the back,” Draco said as he took the gifts to the kitchen to share with Al and Charisse. It was a slow time for the cafe, as most people were out having lunch instead. The cafe was usually busy in the morning, when people stopped by before work, and in the afternoon, during tea time, and occasionally at night, when people went out to hang out.

Since Harry was the only one in the cafe, the three took their time to eat lunch in the kitchen. Draco, however, was alerted when he heard Scorpius screaming “no!” in an increasingly distressed voice before he began shouting for him. He quickly walked out of the kitchen and saw Scorpius sitting in a high chair wailing while Harry was talking to Ron.

“Daddy!” Scorpius wailed, reaching his arms out to Draco, who quickly walked over to him and scooped him up, holding him close. “Bad Unca stole Hawwy!”

“Ssh, darling, it’s okay,” Draco said as he patted Scorpius’ back. “No matter what Harry is still yours, remember? He’ll always come back to you.”

That seemed to mollify the child somewhat, although he was still glaring daggers at Ron and accusing him of stealing Harry and telling him to return Harry.

“Weasley,” Draco greeted. “What brought you here?”

“I saw Harry,” Ron said with a shrug. “The others have been looking for him; I mean, he doesn’t work the regular shift anymore, and since he works the night shift, we can’t get him to hang out with us.”

Although Draco and the Weasleys hadn’t been on the best terms when the war started, Draco was the medic who saved Fred’s life. It was his first aid care that allowed Fred to survive long enough until he was given proper medical treatment. For the Weasleys, family was everything, so they respected Draco from then on.

“Why aren’t you at work, then?” Draco queried.

“Had the day off,” Ron replied. “So this is your kid? I have to say he’s just as possessive and demanding as you are.”

“I think he’s cute,” Harry said with a laugh. “He takes care of things he thinks as his. That’s a good trait.”

Ron slowly turned to Harry. “Mate, I know that the Muggles say love is blind—“

“What are you trying to say, Weasley?” Draco asked as he scowled and held Scorpius close protectively. “If you have something against my son, you’re welcome to leave and not bother us again.”

“Touchy,” Ron commented. “Well, now that I know where you’re disappearing to, I’ll tell the others, shall I? I’ll drop by your place later before you go off to work.”

“Sure,” Harry agreed. “But don’t tell them where exactly I am. I don’t want them to come here and distress Scorp.”

“Sure, whatever makes you happy,” Ron replied with a shrug and left the cafe, Scorpius’ attentive eyes on his back as he left, before they were back onto Harry.

“Hawwy? Bad Unca your fwiend?” Scorpius asked hesitantly.

“Yeah, he’s by best friend,” Harry admitted. “You don’t have to worry about him, though. He’s not going to steal me away from you; you are the one stealing me from him.”

“Oh,” Draco said as he lifted an eyebrow. “I always thought he would end up with Granger. It turns out I am wrong after all. But should you leave your boyfriend for a prolonged period of time like that?”

Harry rolled his eyes. “You know I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Did I?” Draco asked, but his eyes were twinkling in mirth. “Well then, I guess I’ll go back to finish my lunch. Keep an eye on Scorp, will you?”

“Sure thing.”

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

As promised, Ron stopped by Harry’s flat half an hour before Harry was supposed to leave for work. He thought the closer it was to that time, the more chance of Harry being in his flat instead of still being at the cafe, unable to escape the big doe eyes of a two-year-old blonde.

“Hey, mate,” Ron said as he walked over to Harry’s armchair and plopped down. “So, how are things going?”

“Oh, they’re going swimmingly,” Harry said as he chuckled. “You’ve seen the reason why I’ve asked for the night shift now. It might be a long while until I come back to day shift, if ever.”

Ron laughed. “You realise he’s still Malfoy’s kid, right?” he said. “You better get on his good graces then, lest he forbade you from seeing his kid again.”

“Nah, he’s not going to do that,” Harry said confidently. “Scorp likes me too, and he no doubt will throw a tantrum if Draco stops me from seeing him.”

“As long as we’re not going to see your name on a case file for kidnapping, I think we’re alright,” Ron said, and for a second, he himself was hoping that it truly was only a joke. “Well, if you’re so attached to the kid, why don’t you just go and marry Malfoy then? He’ll be yours forever.”

And Ron was scared again when he wasn’t sure which ‘he’ he was referring to.

“Ron, you’re brilliant!” Harry exclaimed excitedly as he practically leapt out of his armchair and beamed brighter than a thousand suns. “Yes, that’s exactly it! I can have the family I’ve always wanted, and a kid I’ve already fallen in love with, without the hassle of having to have a surrogate.”

“So you’re already certain you’re gay now?” Ron asked. “Last time I checked you were still in denial.”

“Yeah, not anymore, I think my last ex put me off of women for good,” Harry said with a shudder, and Ron shuddered at the memory of the crazed witch too.

“But are you sure? I mean, this is Malfoy we’re talking about, and in case you’ve gone a bit mental since the last time I saw you, I didn’t mean it seriously. I was just joking,” Ron said. “I didn’t mean to give you ideas.”

“Oh, that’s neither here nor there,” Harry said as he patted Ron’s shoulder reassuringly. “Well, I’ve got to go to work now or I’ll be late, but I’ll contact you again about the details of the plan.”

“Wait—what? No!” Ron protested. “I’m not about to give you advice on how to court Malfoy!”

Harry turned to him with an accusing look. “I thought you’re my best friend.”

“Yes, the one you’ve been deserting in favour of Malfoy and Blondie!” Ron complained. “No, don’t use that card on me. I’m not going to be swayed. Nope, not now, not ever—“

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

“Yes, and I try to be interested in things she is too,” Ron finished, and took a glance at Harry who was studiously taking notes. “Hm, what next, you have to give them lots of their favourite food and stuffs. Malfoy has a sweet tooth, doesn’t he? At least you know where to start.”

“Yes, that’s right. He also likes all kinds of sweets,” Harry commented. “I don’t know if I should be giving him books. I mean, I know he likes to read, and he has an unholy obsession with potions, or maybe I should give him books on baking? But he might take it as an insult to his baking skills or something.”

“But doesn’t that mean any sweets at all will be an insult to his baking skills?” Ron asked.

“He didn’t complain about the biscuits I gave him,” Harry commented, tapping his pen against his notepad. “So it should be okay. Also, he bakes, not makes chocolate, so I guess that’s still a safe option.”

“If you say so,” Ron said with a shrug. “Since you’re going for someone with a kid, it’s always nice to be friendly to the kid too... but considering part of your reason is the kid himself, I guess that’s taken care of.”

Harry only nodded as he continued scribbling on a piece of parchment. Ron took a peek but decided to give up when he saw the familiar chicken scratch that Harry always tried to pass off as his handwriting. One of these days, he would make Harry admit that it was written in a cipher, not English.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Draco had not commented at all on the first ten occasions where Harry brought either a box of chocolates or a tin of biscuits with him. There was also a time when he brought over a really rich and decadent whole chocolate cake for Scorpius’ birthday, although Draco had commented then, saying that if Scorpius turned out high on sugar after eating his birthday cake, he was Harry’s responsibility for the day.

By the eleventh occasion, he had started lifting an eyebrow at Harry whenever he gifted Draco something, which was only replied by an unrepentant grin; and by the twentieth occasion, Draco was accusing Harry of trying to make him fat, because he came over every day, and the boxes and tins of sweets were given to him every day too. He also complained that his pantry was now full of sweets because he couldn’t finish a box by himself every day, and Pansy and Elena, whom he had hired to help finish the sweets too, had complained about gaining weight too.

“Seriously, what’s this about?” Draco asked a sheepish Harry as he crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked down at the Auror with an unimpressed look on his face. “I told you that Scorp is as good as yours now, you don’t need to bribe me to let him play with you.”

“I wasn’t trying to bribe you,” Harry mumbled as he stared down at his lap, where his hands were resting, and started twiddling his thumbs.

Draco snorted, and grinned down at the nervous Auror. He had never seen Harry so nervous and up close before, and the little mean streak in him was telling him to make the Auror even more uncomfortable.

If the little voice in his head told him the mean streak wasn’t as little as he said it to be, well, that wasn’t anyone’s business but his. Malfoys and Blacks do have their own mean streaks, after all.

“Why, Potter, if I don’t know better I’ll say you’re trying to court me!”

At Harry’s sudden, wide-eyed look of disbelief, Draco’s teasing grin fell and made way for a disbelieving gape.

“You knew?”

“You’re serious?”

They asked at the same time, and looked at each other in disbelief. Scorpius, who was busy eating from his bowl of favourite applesauce, looked up at the outburst and frowned at them.

“Daddy? Hawwy? What’s wrong?” he asked, chewing on his plastic spoon in thought.

“Nothing, darling,” Draco said as he turned to Scorpius and ruffled his hair. “Why don’t we find Charisse, so she can read you a story before your nap time?”

Scorpius looked like he was about to protest, but chewed on his plastic spoon thoughtfully some more, before he nodded and acquiesced with a small ‘okay’, allowing himself to be picked up and carried to the back by Draco while Harry brought his bowl of applesauce with him.

Charisse and Alphonse looked at Draco and Harry curiously, but said nothing as they took Scorpius from Draco, and the bowl from Harry. Alphonse settled Scorpius down on his lap, feeding the child, while Charisse went to get a storybook to read to him. Once satisfied that his son was in good hands, Draco left the break room and Harry trailed off after him, after giving Scorpius a wave goodbye, of course.

“So,” Draco started once they were back outside, “what brought this on? I told you that you don’t have to worry about me taking Scorp away from you. He’ll give me hell if I ever do that.”

“I know,” Harry said. “You don’t think anyone could like you for you?”

“You didn’t like me for me.”

“True, but I learned to.”

“Did you, really?” Draco asked sceptically, and for good reason too, Harry thought. He had never showed much interest in him, only in Scorpius. However, he couldn’t deny that he had started giving Draco gifts even before Ron suggested it to him.

“I suppose I did,” Harry confirmed. “I never pegged you for the insecure sort.”

Draco sighed. “And I suppose I should have known, since you’re always the reckless, charge without looking sort.”

“Hey! I always look before I charge, I’ll have you know.”

Draco lifted a questioning brow and Harry scowled. “Of course you do, Potter, I’m sure. That’s what you’ve always been famous for—caution.”

“Looking before charging doesn’t mean I’m cautious. It just means I at least know what I’m charging at, to an extent,” Harry defended himself. “And I do know what I’m charging at now.”

“Do you really?” Draco asked, still disbelieving. “You didn’t even know I can make coffee until you chanced upon my cafe.”

“Does it matter?” Harry asked. “The important thing is that I know now. There is no use living in the past, Draco, you know that. And if the only people who know everything about you is allowed to court you, then you shall not have any suitor, because no one will ever know everything about you, especially not the things you keep as secrets.”

Draco sighed. “I suppose you do have a point,” he admitted almost grudgingly. “Apparently being friends with Granger has its own merits.”

Harry rolled his eyes at him. “I’m not that stupid,” he complained. “And anyway, if we already know everything about each other, it will make our time together boring, because there’s nothing new to discover.”

“Even if you’re only going to discover the skeletons in the closet?”

“Yes, even then,” Harry confirmed resolutely, then paused to look at Draco in confusion. “Who taught you that phrase?”

“You, Potter, are a master at ruining moods too, apparently.”

“Wait, mood? What mood? Draco, what mood are you talking about?”

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Aside from the daily gifts to Draco, there wasn’t much difference from Harry’s visits before he made his intentions known and after. He still came over as soon as he woke up, enjoyed some pastries and coffee for breakfast, spent the day with Scorpius and then leave for work until late at night. He spent so much time at Draco’s cafe that Hermione had had to come over to Grimmauld’s place and help keep things neat and clean for him.

“You should learn more cleaning spells,” Hermione told him after she cleaned the place. She wouldn’t let Harry order Kreacher around, only letting the elf do what he wished, and since the elf didn’t want to clean, it was left to her to clean it. “Something that’s stronger or works faster, maybe. I can’t keep coming over to clean your house like I’m your mother, Harry.”

“I know, I will, I promise,” Harry said earnestly. “I just don’t know when.”

Hermione rolled her eyes. “If you spend even a tenth of the amount of the time you spend with Malfoy’s kid...”

Harry huffed and leaned back in his chair. “If you’re only going to nag me, then I have better things to do.”

“Blondes to bother, you mean?” Hermione asked as she lifted a brow. She looked down at the steaming cup of tea in front of her that had been prepared by Kreacher, and took it in her hand. “I know that you are never half-hearted in your determination, but I’m not sure what to think of this yet. If he were another’s child, would you have liked him and his father this way too?”

“Probably not,” Harry said with a shrug, looking down at his own tea, but waited for it to cool a little more. “I like him because he’s... so Malfoy. You know what I mean? It’s exactly because he’s a Malfoy that he’s so interesting to me, I suppose. If it was another’s kid, I don’t know if he’ll attract me the way the little prince does.”

Hermione smiled at him, although he still wasn’t sure whether she was smiling sympathetically or pityingly at him, before she leaned over and patted his arm, carefully balancing the cup so it wouldn’t tip over. “I suppose I do understand. Well, off you go then, you have blondes to terrorise, don’t you? I’ll teach you some cleaning spells when we have time.”

Harry grinned at her. “Thanks, Herm. I know you’ll understand. And thanks for coming over to help me clean up too,” he added quickly. “Um, I’ll send gift vouchers for you and Ron as thanks.”

Hermione took a sip of her tea and laughed, placing the cup back down on the coffee table. “They better worth a house for all the troubles I put up with for you,” she said as she shook her head. “Oh, no, better make that an island. The horror of your recklessness and the terror of your handwriting.”

“What is it that you people have against my handwriting?” Harry asked as he huffed.

“Nothing,” Hermione said, “just that I’m sure even Malfoy’s kid, Scorpius, is it? Yes, I’m sure even he has neater handwriting than you.”

“But that’s because he’s a Malfoy,” Harry whined. “Have you seen Draco’s handwriting?”

“Yes, I suppose there is that,” Hermione conceded. “Anyway, you better head off now. Maybe one day I’ll tag along with you, if only to see the boy, and to taste for myself the legendary coffee and desserts you’ve been talking so much about.”

“Oh, you’ll love them,” Harry said, picking up his much cooler cup of tea and taking an experimental sip. “It made me regret not being in Slytherin back then, to an extent, just because I know they’re always the first to taste his baked goods.”

“Good thing the Dark Lord didn’t know anything about Malfoy’s baking skills and your affinity for his baked goods then,” Hermione concluded. “Otherwise he might have lured you by saying ‘come to the dark side, we have cookies’.”

Harry choked on his tea, and glared darkly at the grinning witch.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Elena, who still managed to scare Harry even now, had got wind of Harry’s intention to court Draco, and he had come up with scenarios of how she was going to kill him should he hurt any of her blondes. Ron had called him paranoid, but wisely kept quiet when he saw Elena as he accompanied Harry to Draco’s cafe one day.

After the incident that was the talk, in which Harry learned the horror of kitchen knives (he blamed this completely on Draco who forgot to mention that aside from being a barista, Elena was also a qualified cook with an unholy obsession with any kind of knives), she agreed to let him continue, with the threat that he would find himself floating down a river with a paring knife lodged somewhere in his body if he ever hurt Draco or Scorpius.

If he had increased the number of wards around Grimmauld’s Place, and had asked (read: begged) Hermione to teach him charms to repel any sharp or blunt objects from his person, well, no one had to know.

“Consider this as warm up before you face the real music, Mr. Potter,” Elena said with a shrug as she rocked Scorpius in her arms, and the blond boy looked at them in confusion, not understanding what they were talking about. “Surely you don’t think the elder Malfoys are going to be more lenient than I am?”

Elena stared at Harry for a second before she continued, “You forgot all about them, didn’t you?”

Harry could only nod mutely.

“Lucius has been less homicidal since Scorpius was born,” Elena said, still rocking Scorpius who was sucking on his thumb while resting his head on her shoulder, deciding that the adults’ conversation wasn’t worth his time and proceeded to ignore them altogether. “He does adore Scorp, no matter what he says or does. If you can prove that Scorp will be distressed if you die, then I’m sure he won’t. Kill you, I mean. Of course, I can’t say the same for other methods of torture that he might know.”

“Is that supposed to be reassuring?” Harry asked as he looked at Elena with wide, disbelieving eyes. “For a female, you’re really rubbish at consoling people, aren’t you?”

“Why should I console you?” Elena asked as she lifted an eyebrow. “In case you forget, I am one of the people threatening to kill you, or to dismember you, at the very least, should you hurt my boys.”

“Well then, excuse me while I find a solicitor so I can write my will,” Harry said with a huff as he settled down in an armchair in Draco’s cafe. Draco was at the back, baking, and had left Scorpius in the care of the two.

“No need for dramatics, Mr. Potter,” Elena said as she laughed. “You’re not going to die so soon. If you hurt them, we’ll have to make you pay, then make you return to them so you can make it up to them. You can’t exactly do that if you’re dead, now, can you?”

“Well, that is at least a little more reassuring...”

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Three months into the supposed courting, Draco had given Harry the key to his flat, which was situated just above the cafe. Draco always brought Scorpius down to the cafe with him so one of them could keep a constant eye on the kid, and because he didn’t feel it was safe to leave Scorpius alone in their flat.

Hermione had asked if that meant they were officially dating now, but Harry answered no. Draco only gave the key to Harry so he could take Scorpius with him back to the flat and play with him there if he wanted to, and look after Scorpius while he took a nap.

“So it seems you’re stuck in a limbo,” Hermione commented. “I don’t think people who are just friends will give their flat key to the other so they can look after their kid like that.”

“It seems,” Harry said with a sigh. “Do you want to come over? You haven’t seen the little prince, have you?”

“No, I have not,” Hermione confirmed, “and yes, I would like that, but if he cries like that time Ron visited, I will leave.”

“Okay,” Harry agreed. “Thank you. He’ll get used to you soon enough, though. He’s somewhat used to Ron now.”

“If by ‘used’ you mean ‘suspicious and constantly gives him the evil eye but doesn’t cry or accuse him anymore’, then well, I suppose,” Hermione said as she chuckled.

“Oh, Ron’s just being paranoid,” Harry said as he waved his hand dismissively. “Scorp doesn’t give the evil eye to anyone much these days.”

“Whatever you say, Harry.”

The two entered Draco’s small cafe and immediately located the two blondes. Draco was hunched over the counter, brows furrowed in concentration as he made a coffee art for the cup of mocha a young witch ordered. Scorpius, on the other hand, was happily nibbling on his spoon, scraping his empty bowl for even the littlest leftover of his lunch.

“Hello, Harry, Granger,” Draco greeted as he stood back up, finished with the art. He turned to Charisse who walked over and took the cup from him, handing it to the only patron in the cafe at that moment.

“Hello, Draco, Scorp,” Harry greeted as he walked over to ruffle Scorpius’ hair. “I hope you don’t mind me bringing Herm along. She wants to see Scorp.”

“A lot of people do,” Draco said with a shrug. “One more doesn’t matter.”

“I say, you make cute kids, Malfoy,” Hermione commented as her lips twitched into a smile as she watched Scorpius nuzzle Harry’s palm with his head. “Were you this cute too when you were a child?”

Draco laughed. “You’ll have to ask my mother,” he said, shaking his head, “but don’t ask my father. He will tell you what a little terror I was. Well, now that you’re here, I’m going to the back to bake some cakes for the orders. You can take him upstairs if you want to,” he added, turning to look at Harry who nodded at him, and he went to the kitchen, Charisse following him there, probably to help with the decorating, as Scorpius had told him once how good Charisse was at icing cakes and cookies.

“Who are you?” Scorpius asked curiously as he looked at Hermione.

“I’m Hermione, Harry’s friend,” Hermione answered as she knelt down slightly so she was eye level with Scorpius. “And who are you?”

“Hew... Hewmayone,” Scorpius tried, his brows furrowed cutely as he tested the name on his tongue, and Hermione decided not to correct him yet. “Hawwy’s fwiend?”

“Yes,” Hermione confirmed.

“I’m Scowp,” Scorpius said. “Nice to meet you.”

Hermione chuckled. “Did your father teach you to be so well-mannered?” she asked.

Scorpius nodded, then turned to look at Harry. “Hawwy, stowy?”

“Oh, right, of course,” Harry said. He carefully picked Scorpius up from his high chair and held him close, turning to face Hermione. “It’s his nap time, and I usually read him a story. Do you want to come along?”

“Sure,” Hermione agreed.

The three went up to the flat, and Hermione noted in wonder at how small the place was. The whole flat was probably smaller than Draco’s room in the Manor, but it was cozy and homey. She never thought she would see the day when Draco would choose family and home over riches and manors, but here it was. There were picture frames on the mantel, so many of them that they almost toppled over, and there were pictures on the walls, too. Most of them were pictures of Scorpius, since the day he was born, up until now.

“It’s nice, isn’t it?” Harry asked when he noticed Hermione’s staring. “I told him as much. It reminds me of The Burrow, in a way, although I think there’s another reason why he chose to move into a smaller flat,” he said with a chuckle. “He told me of how the elder Malfoys nearly tore the Manor down in search of him when he decided to play hide and seek without telling them first, and they thought he was lost. In this flat, it would be much easier to look for Scorp if he ever decides to do that.”

“Well, yes, there is that,” Hermione agreed as she laughed. “Still, although it’s small, you can see the classiness,” she commented. “Only the best of the furniture, eh?”

“You can’t fight the Malfoy genes, apparently,” Harry replied. “Right then, Little Prince, what story do you want for today?”

Scorpius picked the Peter Rabbit book Harry had gifted him back then, and Harry smiled at him indulgently before settling Scorpius on his lap and began reading while Hermione watched from the sides. Not long after, Scorpius was asleep, grasping tightly onto Harry’s shirt, and Hermione smiled at the two.

“You’re really good with kids,” she commented, then reached out to smooth Scorpius’ hair away from his face, “and you, little prince, are very lucky to be so loved.”

“Thank you,” Harry said, “you know I love kids.”

“I do,” Hermione confirmed, “and I’m glad you’ve found a special one to love.”

“So you’re not against me courting Draco?” Harry asked curiously.

“If I am, I would have made it known a long time ago,” Hermione pointed out and Harry could only nod. “I know Malfoy wasn’t the nicest kid, but then again, we were kids. He has managed to raise Scorpius so well, and that speaks volumes about his true character, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Harry agreed. “He’s matured well.”

“I should leave now,” Hermione said as she stood up slowly, and Harry looked up at her from where he sat. “I have things to do back home. You know, the usual stuff, cleaning and cooking,” she said with a grin. “I’ll come with you again sometimes.”

Harry smiled at her. “So he’s captured your heart too, eh?”

“With alarming ease,” Hermione said, nodding solemnly. “Well then, I’ll leave you two boys to nap here. I’ll see myself out.”

“Thank you, Herm,” Harry said, nodding at her. “I’m glad you like him; I’m glad you like them.”

“As am I,” Hermione replied. “After all, once your mind is set on something, it’s really hard to change, and so it’s better if I come to like this family you have chosen, right? And with you in it, they’ll be a complete family.”

“Yeah,” Harry said as he nodded in agreement. “I’m not that stubborn though.”

“Tell yourself what you want to believe,” Hermione said as she patted Harry’s cheek almost condescendingly, and Harry rolled his eyes and huffed. “Ta ta, boys.”

Hermione walked out of the flat, ignoring Harry’s indignant protest at being treated like a child, and walked down to the cafe. There, she came across Draco who was restocking a jar of cookies with a batch of freshly baked ones.

“Hullo, Granger. Leaving so soon?” he asked as he closed the lid of the jar and set the tray on the counter.

“Yes, the boys are having their nap,” Hermione replied.

Draco nodded at her. “Well, have a safe trip home, then,” he said. “Or you’re welcome to stay for coffee for a while.”

“I’ll take you up on that offer,” Hermione said. “Just a cup of latte, please. I’d like to have a word with you too, if that’s not too much trouble.”

“Of course not,” Draco said. “I’ll be over in a minute.”

Hermione walked over to a table for two at the corner and sat down there. As promised, Draco joined them not five minutes later with two cups of coffee, a latte for her, and a flat white for him.

Hermione took a sip of her coffee and nodded approvingly. “You make good coffee, as Harry said. I thought it was his lovesickness talking.”

“You insult me,” Draco said with a grin as he took a sip of his own coffee. “I doubt people will come here for the coffee every morning if it’s rubbish. There’s a cheaper, rubbish coffee vending machine down the road.”

“You have been hanging out with a lot of Muggles too, it seems,” Hermione added, still nodding approvingly. “So, why are you letting yourself be in limbo?”

“Whatever do you mean?” Draco asked, lifting a brow at her.

“Don’t feign innocence,” Hermione said as she shook her head. “I know you like Harry, because if you didn’t, you would have told him as such the moment he confessed to trying to court you. While you have learned to be nicer with your words, it’s not like you to lead someone on.”

“True,” Draco admitted. “It is unlike me to lead someone on.”

“You like him, and he likes you. What’s stopping you, then?” she asked, genuinely curious.

“Stopping me from what?” Draco asked back.

“From accepting him as your boyfriend, of course,” Hermione said, paused to think things over, then added, “and from becoming Scorpius’ other father. They obviously adore each other, and you’re not mean enough to keep them apart for long.”

Draco hummed, taking another sip of his coffee. “Well,” he started, “I can’t exactly accept something that has not been offered, can I?”

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

“Mr. Malfoy?” Alphonse called as he peeked into the kitchen, where Draco was icing a chocolate mousse cake. “Mr. Potter is here to see you.”

Draco made a noncommittal grunt and finished icing his cake before he put the piping bag down and wiped his hands on his apron. “Is he with Scorp?”

“Yeah,” Alphonse replied, “but he insisted that I call you.”

“Thanks, Al,” Draco said as he walked over and patted the boy’s shoulder. “Be a dear and put the cake in the fridge for me, would you?”

“Of course, Mr. Malfoy.”

Draco walked out to the front area of his cafe and noticed Harry sitting at a table for two near the counter, talking softly to Scorpius who was giggling and occasionally patting Harry’s cheek. He was holding onto a porcelain coffee mug, and Draco lifted an eyebrow at that.

“Is that a way of saying my coffee isn’t good enough for you anymore?” Draco asked teasingly as he walked over to the two, and laughed when Harry jumped in surprise and nearly dropped the mug.

“If you make any comment about me being an Auror and yet being caught unaware—“

“Why, you must be psychic, Mr. Potter,” Draco said as he continued to laugh. “Oh, well, since you already made the comment for me, I shall spare you from further indignity. Still, why the coffee mug? Are you getting take away coffee?”

“No, uh,” Harry stammered as he blushed, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, “this is for you.”

“For me?” Draco asked curiously.

“Yeah,” Harry confirmed. “I, uh, I heard you and Hermione talking yesterday,” he said. “I was going down to ask if you need help with anything.”

“Oh,” Draco mumbled as he stared at Harry. “So...”

“Well, I thought that since,” here he paused, licking his suddenly dry lips, “since you have a cafe of your own, I can’t exactly ask you out for coffee, can I?” he asked as he chuckled nervously. “So I brought the coffee to you.”

Draco stared at Harry, unblinking, and Harry grew ten times more nervous. “Of course, um, it’s not going to be anywhere near as good as yours, because I only own a small coffee machine at home, and—“

“Harry,” Draco said slowly, effectively cutting off Harry’s nervous babble, “what exactly are you asking?”

Harry took a deep breath, steeling his nerves, repeating what Hermione told him the day before over and over again in his head, then looked up at Draco who stood towering over him and Scorpius. “Draco Lucius Malfoy, will you go out with me?”

Slowly, a grin appeared on Draco’s face as he pulled a chair and sat down across from Harry. He took the mug from Harry’s hand, and lifted it up to his mouth. “I’d be delighted to.”

Scorpius squealed and clapped his hands together, and Harry was even surer that he would end up in Ravenclaw, being the really smart little boy that he is. Harry reached out a hand to cup Draco’s cheek, and at his nod, leaned over to press a chaste kiss on Draco’s lips.

“Hawwy, kiss me too!” Scorpius demanded, pouting, and Harry laughed before he leaned over to kiss Scorpius too.

“Remember, Harry. Courage is not the absence of fear. It comes from knowing that there is something more important than the fear.”

As he sat there, laughing with his newfound family and showering them with affection and kisses, he knew then that they were the most important things for him, now and forever.

 

End Story

Coda

The small Malfoy-Potter family sat in front of the fireplace in Draco’s flat, which was quite close to the huge lounge window. It was winter, and Scorpius was drinking a mug of hot cocoa while Harry read him a story and Draco sat there, holding onto Scorpius while watching the two fondly.

“Oh, look, Scorp, a shooting star,” Draco said when he noticed the shooting star outside.

The two stopped what they were doing to look outside and caught the star just as it disappeared. Draco hugged Scorpius tighter and stroked his hair softly, and asked, “Did you get to make a wish, darling?”

Scorpius slowly shook his head. “I don’t need a wish, Daddy,” he said, “I have all I want.”

Draco smiled at him. “And you’re so lucky to have everything you want, aren’t you?”

Scorpius nodded. “And if there is something I want,” he added, “Hawwy will get it for me, wight?”

Harry let his head thunk against the wooden frame of the window as he groaned, and Draco almost couldn’t reign in an evil cackle.

End Coda