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“Hey dad?” Scorpius asks softly, and Draco glances at the boy with a raised eyebrow. “Are you and Harry going to get married?” He asks, and Draco suddenly splutters at the question, eyes widening at the question. Scorpius laughs light-heartedly at that, sitting up a little straighter on the couch.
“Where’s this coming from?” Draco asks, coughing slightly as he sets his wine glass aside, staring at his son. Scorpius still has the same grin on his face, clad in his comfortable jogging bottoms, which were actually Potter’s old pair. How he managed to get those was always a mystery to Draco.
But he reckoned his son must’ve gotten them when he stayed over at Potter’s home during their second year.
“Dunno, Albus says you’ve been hanging out more” Scorpius shrugs, and Draco sighs, motioning for Scorpius to come to him. His son does so without reluctance, plopping down next to his dad and leaning into his side.
“Would you be okay if we did?” Draco asks softly, wrapping an arm around his son. It was a gesture so unlike his own parents, but that’s exactly why he did it. He never wanted his son to feel like he did with his own father growing up. He just wanted him to be there for him, be someone he could talk to.
And he made sure to make that known to Scorpius. It was difficult sometimes, and Scorpius was definitely starting to get into his own teenage phases, which was expected of any 13 year old boy, but he still came to him.
“I like Harry, and Albus would be my brother, which is nice I guess-” Scorpius whispers, leaning his head against his dad’s shoulder.
“But?” Draco presses softly, hoping that Scorpius would tell him, trust him enough with this. “Do you believe it’s too soon?” Draco asks when Scorpius is silent for a moment.
“Is it?” He asks, looking up at him with desperate eyes. Draco sighs.
“I don’t know Scorp, there’s not really a guide, your mum and I…. I loved her but not in the way she loved me. I had years to get past that, but if it’s too soon for you-”
“No dad,” Scorpius whispers, taking a deep breath. “I… what if she thinks it’s too soon? I feel like I’m betraying her by wanting this.” Scorpius reveals softly, and Draco feels his stomach churn painfully at that, to hear so much pain in his son’s voice.
“Scorp-” Draco says, looking at his son. “You know what your mum told me when she found out about Harry and I? She forced me to talk to him, because she wanted me to be happy as well.” Draco says, and Scorpius looks up with wide curious eyes.
“You never told me that.” He says, and Draco chuckles softly, pressing Scorpius a little closer. The memory of Astoria was still painful, even if they had split three years after Scorpius was born when he came out to her. It took her some time to accept it of course, but she did in the end.
And their divorce was never ugly, in fact, they stayed good friends afterwards. And Draco admired that, and he was glad that despite his appearance, his son had inherited his personality from his mother.
“Your mum and I went drinking in a pub one night, and Harry was also there, and she caught me staring. She walked right up to him, and told the tosser I thought he was hot,” Draco grumbles as Scorpius snorts. “Yeah Harry had the same reaction, git complained about butterbeer in his nose for two bloody weeks.” Draco muses.
Scorpius grins at that, laughing along with his dad before his face slowly turns serious again, an expression that did not seem to belong on the thirteen year old.
“I’m glad mum approved,” He murmurs, wrapping his arms around Draco’s middle. “Besides, Harry makes better cookies.” Draco raises an eyebrow at that.
“The cookies you swore he didn’t give you?” He challenges, and Scorpius seems guilty for a moment before he puts on a cheeky grin.
“Love you dad.” He grins, and Draco grumbles, rolling his eyes.
“You’re a menace-” Draco mumbles, but he presses a quick kiss to Scorpius’ head.
“Iewl dad!” He cries out, and Draco laughs at the reaction, allowing Scorpius to detangle himself. It was another part of his puberty phase he was desperately trying to deny. He had always been more affectionate than others, and maybe that was Draco’s fault, but he didn’t particularly care.
Astoria was just like Scorpius, and Draco would rather have Scorpius grow up like her, than him.
But he was going through a phase where it wasn’t ‘cool’ anymore to let your dad kiss your head, or even hug you. He would get embarrassed when they were out already, and sometimes even flat out refuse hugs, and get angry when Draco forgot that he wasn’t supposed to in public.
Draco smirked as he settled onto the couch again, sipping from his wine again. The sound of the movie continues, and Draco hopes Scorpius hasn’t lost too much of the plot with their talk. But he can’t even truly ponder whether he did, as everything suddenly exploded around him.
Draco cries out, heat enveloping him and he feels something hit him hard from the side. He’s knocked sideways, and he tumbles to the ground, gasping breathlessly.
Pain seems to explode throughout his body, and his ears ring. Scorpius, where was Scorpius? His eyes widen, vision blurring as he tries to locate his son. Footsteps are behind him, and he reaches for his wand immediately, whirling around. Two men seem to approach him, wands raised.
His hand shakes, but he still whips his wand, firing the first curse that comes to mind. He doesn’t even know what curse, his mind too hazy, but it’s blocked almost laughably easy.
“Look at that, finally got you, you filthy death eater scum,” One person speaks, and Draco throws more curses, until he feels something hit him. He’s thrown backwards, colliding painfully with one of their chairs. His back flares up with pain, and his head snaps back, straining his neck.
Scorpius, where was Scorpius?
“Incarcerous.” Draco jolts as he feels ropes bind his arms to his torso, and he falls to the ground. He blinks, feeling blood drip into his left eye. Someone wrenches his wand out of his hands, and he glares up, his vision finally clearing. The two men in front of him were wearing masks, their faces hidden.
But all Draco could think about… “Search for the boy.” The first man huffs, keeping his wand trained firmly on Draco. His grey eyes widen at the request, head whirling around.
“NO!” He cries out, which earns him a quick silencio. Scorpius, where was his son?! He can do nothing but scream silently as the second man moves behind him, walking around the mess and rubble to the open door. Dread settles in Draco’s stomach. Scorpius’ wand wasn’t in that room, it was in the kitchen, far away.
Scorpius was unarmed, and he had no way to get out. Draco screams again as the man goes into the room, and suddenly a loud scream echoes through the room as Scorpius jumps from behind the couch, completely hidden from view.
“Vibe check!” He yells, clocking the intruder in the back of the head. The man crumbles instantly, and Scorpius can just duck fast enough to evade a hex thrown at him. Draco screams as Scorpius dives for the wand, grasping it and throwing an attack at the other intruder.
Draco growls, narrowing his eyes and scrambling to get his feet under him. He throws himself at the last intruder, and the person side steps just fast enough to avoid him. But that’s all his son needs.
“Stupify!” Scorpius yells loudly, and Draco can’t help but feel pride as his son successfully casts a spell that he shouldn’t even know yet. Another curse is send his way, just seconds before the man is hit. Scorpius hisses in pain, his wand dropping to the ground but he can only focus on Draco.
“Dad-” Scorpius gasps, looking at him when suddenly Scorpius goes completely rigid and an agonising pain leaves his lips. The incantation registers seconds later; crucio. Scorpius screams as he crumbles to the ground, writhing on the ground.
“Stop it!” Draco screams, but no noise came out. He can’t tear his eyes from Scorpius but he forces himself, turning to the man Scorpius had just unsuccessfully stunned. His mask was gone, revealing his face. He was panting, eyes not truly focusing, and seemingly unaware of the wand that was still on the ground.
“You’re getting what you bloody deserve death eater, and now that I know your weakness-” The man hisses, words slurring slightly. “Crucio!” He yells again, and Scorpius screams loudly, back arching off the ground. Tears jump in Draco’s eyes and he yells again, stop it! Please stop!
But the man doesn’t stop, and Draco wants to do nothing but attack the man directly but he knows he can’t. He throws himself towards the wand, grasping it. Quickly he ends the silencio before chanting the incantation to release the ropes around his body.
“Avada-”
“Confringo!” Draco yells, and he whirls around as his surroundings explode again, throwing his body over Scorpius’. He gasps, eyes wide as he looks at the body of his son.
“Scorpius?!” Draco gasps, and the boy whimpers at the touch, trying to writhe away. Draco can feel tears burning. “I’m sorry, but I have to-” He tries, before sliding his arms under Scorpius legs and back, lifting him up before he apparates away.
He gasps as he lands in Harry’s living room, collapsing to the ground and barely able to keep Scorpius up.
“Draco!” Harry yells, and Draco whimpers, wide eyes looking up at Harry. “Albus firecall Hermione, now!” He orders, and Draco barely has enough comprehension to realise why Harry would send Albus away.
“Scorp… take him… crucio-” Draco tries to make sense of the words but he can feel panic restrict his airways, squeezing his chest. Harry nods immediately, taking Scorpius from Draco and taking him over to the couch. The boy cries out at the touch, but Harry holds him tightly so he doesn’t fall.
He puts the boy on the couch, a pillow beneath his head. Scorpius whimpers softly, but there’s not much that Harry can do apart from making Scorpius as comfortable as possible.
He turns to Draco, who was slowly getting to his feet. “Draco!” Harry yells, darting forwards and catching Draco before he could crash to the ground. Draco groans, and Harry guides him over to one of the chairs. “What happened?” He asks, and he can’t hide his relief as Hermione rushes into the living room.
“Scorpius f-first-” Draco hisses, and Hermione seems to hesitate for a moment before she nods, moving to Scorpius. There was a large cut on his left arm, and his shirt was damaged slightly but he didn’t seem to be injured as much as Draco was apart from enduring the cruciatus curse.
Hermione quickly heals the cut, letting her wand travel over the rest of his body and healing injuries beneath the skin as well. Scorpius lets out a shuddering breath, face slightly relaxing. Hermione turns towards Draco, crouching in front of him. She tips his head up to look at his face. Her face is pulled into a frown, eyebrows knit together.
“What happened?” She asks softly, repeating Harry’s question.
“I don’t know, 2 men-” Draco winces as Hermione lifts her wand, pointing it at the side of his face, and she whispers a few healing spells. “Attacked me.. because I was a death eater.” He finishes, grimacing slightly as he feels his skin knit together almost uncomfortably so.
“Al, do you reckon you could get some water from the basin, and bring some clean cloths?” Harry asks, and Albus nods, almost reluctantly walking out of the room. Harry was just glad Rose and James were with Ginny tonight.
Hermione heals more cuts and scrapes on Draco’s face, fixing his dislocated shoulder and removing something stuck in his leg, and healing that as well.
Albus eventually comes back with the water, and Harry is the one to sit down next to Draco as he soaks a cloth in the water. Draco eyes at his boyfriend for a moment before Harry starts wiping away the blood on his head.
“You look horrendous-” Harry supplies, and Draco snorts at that, but he silently allows Harry to clean him up, his eyes never leaving Scorpius.
*
*
*
“Your dad was always as bad as you were with sneaking around.” Draco muses softly, not looking up. Scorpius’ hand was still on his own, and his thumb gently brushed over the back of his hand. Albus almost seems sheepish at being caught, but Draco gestures for him to come in.
Scorpius was currently in James’ bed, where he would hopefully be more comfortable than the couch. Albus seems unsure, but he closes the door behind him nevertheless, walking into the room and sitting down on the bed carefully so he wouldn’t wake up Scorpius.
“Is he okay?” He asks, and Draco forces a small smile on his face.
“Just tired,” Draco says, looking back at Scorpius’ face again. A few hours ago he had woken up crying, muscles twitching painfully as if still under the effects of the curse, so Hermione gave him a potion to knock him out. His son was sleeping peaceful, and not feeling any pain right now.
Draco turns to Albus again, who seemed almost dead on his feet, worry all too evident on his face.
“You know he saved me, like a bloody Gryffindor,” Draco starts, and Albus actually snorts at that, nose scrunching up slightly.
“Or loyal like a Hufflepuff.” Albus points out, and Draco smirks at that.
“His grandfather would hate it, but I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had been sorted into Hufflepuff,” Draco whispers, glancing back at Scorpius. “I suppose I'm more surprised he wasn’t.” He adds eventually.
“He loves you, he didn’t want to be the one to break the Malfoy tradition.” Albus murmurs, and Draco eyes at Albus with a raised eyebrow.
“When did you grow to be so perceptive?” He asks, and Albus blushes slightly at that, grinning sheepishly. Draco shakes his head with a small smile. “He said something to one of the men in our flat, when he attacked-”
“Like?” Albus asks, cocking his head slightly. Draco frowns at that, trying to remember the strange phrase.
“He said ‘vibe check’-” Draco says, and almost immediately Albus’ face contorts and he lets out a surprising laugh, hand slapping over his mouth to stifle his laughter.
Albus groans, but his eyes twinkled with amusement. “That’s my fault, it’s something muggles say… Rose told me a few weeks ago. Scorp and I have been using it as a joke,” Albus explains softly. “I can’t believe he actually used it-” He muses, but there was a fondness as he glances at his best friend.
Draco still doesn’t quite know what the phrase meant, but at least he now knows where it came from and that it wasn’t something to be concerned over. Maybe why his son would shout a muggle joke in such a situation…
“Will he be okay?” Albus eventually asks, worry back on his face. Draco sighs, wanting to lie to him to shield him.
“Crucio is an unforgivable for a reason, it’s painful. But Scorpius is strong-”
“Like his dad,” Albus says cautiously, and Draco can’t help but smile softly at that. “Someone did that to you too, right?” He asks, and Draco takes a shuddering breath.
“Just as nosy as you dad,” Draco murmurs, but he eventually nods. “A long time ago, during the war.” Draco explains, not knowing how much Albus knew about him during the war. But he was sure that he knew he used to be a death eater, and what he has done during the war.
And he also knows that Scorpius would’ve been adamant about defending him, even if he might not even deserve it.
“I’m sorry he did that,” Albus says eventually, and both of them know who he is. “You’re not that person anymore, Scorp loves you.”
“I’m the adult here, Potter.” Draco quirks, the name slipping without thinking about it. Albus snickers, and Draco can’t help but think about the fact that he wouldn’t have dared to speak to his own father like that. Sure his dad wouldn’t have hit him, but he wouldn’t have tolerated it either.
And when the dark lord came to their house it wasn’t like he had any power to make him stop…
“Is it okay if I stay with him tonight?” Albus asks after a short silence, and Draco sighs. He knows he can’t exactly send Albus away. Both boys were stubborn in their own way. Still, he appreciated that Albus asks.
Draco sighs, reaching for the blankets on the other side of Scorpius and lifting it. Albus beams at him, walking around the bed and crawling in. He makes himself comfortable.
“Night, Draco-” He murmurs, and Draco is just glad he didn’t call him Mr. Malfoy, or sir, anymore. Maybe in the future… if Harry and Draco would get married… he would call him something different, but for now Draco was enough to put a smile on his face.
“Goodnight Al.”