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As Harry looked at the portkey in front of him, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of apprehension. Despite understanding fully how Portkeys were created, knowing the witch who created this one personally, and being able to Apparate away instantly if anything went wrong, he never got over the absolute terror of trusting an inanimate object with his fate.
His hands were shoved in his pockets as he sat on a rock beside the can of beans waiting for the appropriate time. His head tilted up, hair falling out of his eyes to allow him a clear view of the sky above where snow was falling softly through trees that had long abandoned their leaves. Soft sounds of distant laughter could only barely be heard as he let himself relax fully and enjoy the crisp, beautiful day.
He heard footsteps crunching through the snow towards this abandoned corner of the park and a quick glance showed him a flash of platinum hair on a small boy darting through branches and giggling with glee. At the tiny voice's mention of "quidditch" he went back to looking up at the falling snow. There were still a few more people expected and he didn't feel much like making small talk with a stranger, especially if the said stranger had a small child.
Once, Harry and Ginny had talked about having children. Honestly, he could have stopped that thought much sooner. Once, Harry and Ginny had talked. The thought made him bitter, their divorce still recent enough that his ring finger still had the pale mark of where the wedding band once sat. Now it sat at the bottom of a lake and he didn't have a single regret on that. All he regretted was wasting so many years when he could have been living a happier life.
Even as he thought it he felt guilty. It wasn't like Ginny had done anything wrong. For all he knew, her ring sat beside his at the bottom of that lake. They had gone together on the day their marriage had ended and thrown them as one last unified decision before turning around and Apparating away from each other for the last time.
"'Cuse me, sir," a small voice asked at Harry's ear and he barely suppressed a jump as he turned to look at the boy next to him. At once, he knew who this child was. He didn't need to look up and see the man standing arrogantly in the background. At just over three years old, Scorpius Malfoy was the spitting image of his father.
"Ah, should you be talking to strangers?" Harry asked, unsure if Draco would want him talking to his child. His eyes shot up and met Draco's who rolled them and took a step forward.
"Really, Harry," Draco said. "It's not like you could ever be a stranger. Your face is plastered everywhere."
Despite their agreement years ago to use first names, it still felt strange hearing his name come from Draco's mouth. But then again, he'd stopped thinking of the man as Malfoy after that conversation also. It had been six years since then, and while the meeting had been cathartic, it had not been the start of a friendship between the two men.
"You know my daddy?" Scorpius asked. "Daddy talks about you but I never seen you before."
"I do know your dad," Harry confirmed, and Scorpius laughed and ran back to Draco who scooped him up as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Are you and daddy friends?" Scorpius asked.
"Ah..."
"We were not friends in school," Draco said. "Remember how daddy told you he made bad choices? Well, Harry made good choices so we didn't get along until much later."
"Oh," Scorpius said, face scrunching as he tried to make sense of that.
Harry was spared from any more conversations when another group came up and he noticed the Portkey starting to shake. It was time to go. They all gathered around and Harry couldn't help but keep an eye on the small blonde child to make sure he also got a hand on the object. Though he had no kids of his own, Harry felt irrationally protective of Scorpius. There was no time to dwell on that feeling though as he felt yanked forward violently.
Portkeys were just as terrible as he always remembered and he fought against the urge to curse violently as they were spat out and he landed with a hard thump on the ground. "Oof."
"Are you okay?" Silver eyes blinked over him and for a brief moment, he thought he was looking at a young Draco Malfoy before he snapped himself out of it and realized it was Scorpius again. "You falled down really good."
"I'm bloody brilliant," Harry said, earning a shocked gasp from Scorpius.
"My daddy says not to say 'bloody'," he said. "He said it isn't a very polite word and Malfoys must always be kind and polite."
"That's enough, Scorp," Draco said, moving into Harry's view and shoving a hand down at him. Harry looked at it for a moment, unsure what he was supposed to do with it. Just as Draco started to look uncomfortable and as if he regretted offering, Harry reached forward and clasped it and let Draco pull him up with surprising strength.
"Thanks," Harry said, standing up and letting Draco pull him out of the spot they'd arrived in just as another group appeared. None of them fell, Harry noted bitterly. It wasn't until the next group was clearing the area that Harry realized he'd kept hold of Draco's hand and he let go quickly.
"I can't believe the great Harry Potter was brought down by a Portkey," Draco said with a chuckle. It was a surprisingly warm sound coming from him and Harry felt himself flush bright red.
"Why are you turning red?" Scorpius asked, pointing at his face. That did nothing but make Harry feel himself heat up even further.
"What did we say about asking questions?" Draco asked, looking away from Harry to lock eyes with his child.
"Uhm....to ask lots?" Scorpius tried and Draco messed his hair affectionately.
"That's right. Curiosity is a wonderful thing. But you may not always get an answer." He looked up at Harry who had managed to get his emotions back under control. "Well, we should get to our seats. It was nice seeing you, Harry."
Harry watched them walk away after a mumbled goodbye. They were almost completely swallowed up by the crowd when he suddenly moved into action. People parted before him even though he wasn't particularly tall and by now he was so used to the deference that he hardly noticed.
"Draco!" He called once the pair were close enough to hear him over the hum of the crowd. Draco turned around, Scorpius' hand clasped in his as they came to a stop. There was understandable confusion on the man's face and Harry didn't even fully think about what he was doing.
"I...I was just wondering if you wanted to sit with me," he said, the words running together so fast Draco raised an eyebrow and Harry repeated himself slower. "I. Was just. Wondering. If you guys. Wanted. To sit. With me."
"We don't need your charity," Draco said at the same moment Scorpius said, "Yes! Our seats are poopy."
Harry laughed at the little boy's choice of vocabulary and even Draco's admonishment didn't dim the boy's smile as he looked up at Harry.
"Well, my seats are definitely not poopy," he said. "And without Gin or Ron it's a bit empty. We're - ah - not on the best terms at the moment." He knew he probably didn't have to clarify since their divorce and his public spat with Ron had been plastered in the Prophet for a solid week, but sometimes it was nice to pretend his private life was actually private. Of course, if anyone would understand it was Draco whose own divorce had also been printed, though not on the front page.
"Please do not encourage my son's use of that word," Draco sighed, but indicated Harry should lead the way to the seats.
They were moving through the crowd slowly when Harry noticed the boy trying to peer at all the vendors around the path. It was adorable how similar to Draco he looked, but how absolutely childlike he acted. Harry almost wished he'd known Draco when they were children. Perhaps they would have been friends.
"Want to sit on my shoulders?" Harry asked. Scorpius looked at his dad briefly who nodded, then lifted his hands up to Harry. Harry lifted him, only struggling a little with the angle before settling the toddler on his shoulders where he could see over most of the crowd.
He started babbling happily about everything he saw and Harry chatted back while Draco walked in silence beside them. Once, Harry glanced over and saw Draco looking at them both with a half smile which quickly schooled into indifference when he saw Harry's attention on him. Before long, they made it to the stands and Harry navigated them to a central set of stairs that very few people were taking.
"Wow!" Scorpius said when they arrived at their seats. They were slightly above the tallest hoop and had an unobstructed view of the entire field. Harry grinned at Scorpius' excitement as the boy bounced in his seat while they waited for the match to start.
"Thank you," Draco said, voice stiff as if the words caused him pain. Harry smiled broadly, realizing it probably wasn't often Draco thanked people. Though if that was because he couldn't bring himself to do it or because, as a former Death Eater, people didn't do kind things, Harry wasn't sure.
"Of course," he said. "The seats were just going to be empty anyway. But it seemed like....I dunno...we ran into each other for a reason." He felt silly even saying it.
"Don't expect me to become best mates with you," Draco clarified. "I'm not looking to take Weasley's place."
"I wouldn't want you to take his place," Harry said, looking away from where he'd been watching Scorpius cheer for the acrobatics of the Montrose Magpies' name sake flying in complex patterns around the stadium. He could never imagine Draco being friends with him the way Ron was. Their relationship was far too turbulent for that. Besides, he'd never looked at Ron and wanted to pull him close and kiss him senseless the way he did with Draco.
As if reading his thoughts, Draco looked at Harry as well, and once again, Harry felt himself flush bright red. He hoped the lights of the stadium hid that reaction but Scorpius chose that moment to look up at him.
"Why are you red again? You get red a lot when you look at daddy," he said. The casual tone, as if he wasn't outting Harry's darkest secret to the one person who could destroy him with it, made Harry cringe. Yet he couldn't be upset at a child. Especially this child who, despite his grandparents, radiated innocence.
Harry was saved from answering when the blast of cannons went off and the match was called to a start. He soon lost himself in his favorite sport as one of the most exciting games he'd ever seen unfolded before him. It was immediately clear that the Montrose Magpies were far outmatched by their opponents, the Tutshill Tornados. Despite the Tornado's scoring six times in the first ten minutes, the Magpies finally started to put up a defense.
After the first hour, the Tornados were up by enough that even catching the Snitch wouldn't win the game for the Magpies. Scorpius was starting to tire and he turned to Harry and asked to be picked up, despite Draco trying to hold him. When Draco sighed and agreed, Harry picked the boy up and almost immediately he put his head on Harry's shoulder and feel fast asleep.
The rest of the match passed quickly after that and while Harry couldn't cheer or scream as he normally would, he found he didn't mind much every time the boy in his arms sighed and or let out a small snore. It was mildly amusing that a Malfoy could worm their way into his heart so easily when Draco had definitely not done the same.
As the match ended and everyone started filing out of the stands, Harry let Draco lead while he kept hold of the sleeping child. Scorpius slept through the entire walk down and all the way to the Portkey station where their Portkey would leave fifth in line. Draco reached out to take Scorpius, but the boy clung tighter to Harry and he couldn't bring himself to move the boy.
"Why do you turn red around me?" Draco asked suddenly, and Harry wished the comment had been forgotten.
"You must know you're attractive," Harry said. "And I've always kind of, I dunno..." He trailed off, not wanting to actually admit anything.
"You fancy me," Draco said. Harry tried to deny it but once again he felt himself heating and knew he was turning red under the scrutiny. Finally, Draco chuckled and put him out of his misery. "It's alright. I also find you attractive. Objectively, of course. Terrible personality. The whole hero complex thing is unbearable." A smile quirked at the edge of his lips and Harry returned it.
"Oh yeah?" Harry said. "You're not that easy to get on with yourself. The pure blood bullsh...poop." He knew the toddler was still asleep but didn't want to say something that would get him in trouble. "Plus how terribly posh you always are. Do you even know what dirt is?"
"Just because I don't roll in mud doesn't mean I'm posh," Draco retorted. "It's because I have class."
"You're ridiculous, you know," Harry said.
"So are you, Potter," Draco retorted.
Harry was saved from responding again when their Portkey was called and they stepped up to the old newspaper. As much as he wanted to hold on to Scorpius, he unwrapped the boy's arms and handed him over to Draco. Sleeping through a Portkey was rough, but there was no way he'd sleep the way Harry landed.
On cue, they all reached out to touch the object. The facilitator counted them down and just as Harry started to feel the pull, he felt Draco bump his arm and his train of thought was distracted and he almost didn't feel the dizziness of being whipped through space. When they landed, his feet were on the ground and an amused Draco was looking at him over Scorpius' head.
"You were overthinking the landing," Draco said. "Looks like I distracted you."
"Looks like it," Harry agreed. "Could...would you like to distract me again sometime? You can bring Scorpius or.... or maybe we could go somewhere just the two of us?"
"I'd... I would like that," Draco said, a note in his tone that told Harry something else was coming. "But it's not easy to find someone to watch Scorpius. There's not a lot of people I can trust."
"That's alright," Harry said, unsure if Draco was letting him down easy or voicing a valid concern. He hoped it was the latter. "Maybe we can go to Diagon Alley sometime and get ice cream? Can he eat ice cream?"
Draco paused to consider for long enough that Harry felt self-conscious again. The others that had come through the Portkey with them were long gone and the cold was starting to get bitter.
"You're going to spoil him," Draco said. "But yes. We'd love to get ice cream sometime. Send me an owl, alright? I need to get him home and to bed."
Harry nodded, feeling like he was looking down at the scene from above with lightness in his heart. He tried not to smile too broadly to look like an idiot as Draco Apparated in front of him. He had a date with Draco Malfoy.