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It's not that Draco has come to dislike magic over the years, it's more that he's got used to it, become disillusioned with it. He's seen the most dark and dangerous things it can be used for, and he's seen all the mundane things too. He's seen it used for cooking and cleaning, and for packing trunks and doing paper work. He's learned a hundred household spells, a thousand spells you use for work or school, and several dozen spells he wishes he could erase from his memory entirely because they're so abhorrent.
So it's not that he hates magic, but he doesn't understand why he ever saw it as anything other than mundane and dull and occasionally dark. Maybe he didn't. He grew up with it after all. Maybe it's just that the entitlement to power has faded away over the past few years. Magic doesn't feel like his own personal gift for being special and having the right lineage anymore. It's just a thing everyone has.
It only takes two moments to change all that.
Draco must have been to hundreds of weddings over the years, and they're all the same. Everyone dresses up in ridiculous, uncomfortable clothes. Lots of small talk is exchanged. Several people cry. Even more people get drunk and argue (sadly he's only ever seen one duel). The happy couple are utterly self-absorbed and make him feel sick. It's just a bore. He always insisted he wouldn't inflict this pain on anyone, but here he is.
Astoria looks breath taking. She hasn’t been in the best health recently, it’s part of the reason they’re doing this so soon, but today you wouldn’t know about her illness. She’s glowing, radiantly happy, dark eyes shining behind her veil. Draco can see how wide her smile is, and he can’t help but beam back at her as he gently takes her hand in his and supports her up the single step onto the dais he’s standing on.
“Are you okay?” he murmurs very softly.
She rolls her eyes at him. “You aren’t allowed to worry about me on our wedding day.”
“I’m not worrying. I’m being polite.”
She squeezes his hand tightly. “I couldn’t be better. I’m marrying you.” She touches a hand to his cheek and there’s a softness in her eyes that makes his chest tight with emotion.
It’s difficult to remember anything that happens in the ceremony. It’s a blur of pure joy. He remembers trying desperately not to break down as he promised to love Astoria in sickness and in health. He remembers her fond little laugh as he took two shaky attempts to put the ring on her finger. He remembers her smiling bright as the sun as she’d paused for the briefest moment to look up at him before throwing her arms round his neck and kissing him.
It’s the magic that he remembers most clearly though. Wedding vows are one of the most powerful charms, and through the whole ceremony he can feel it, like silver threads curling around them, entwining their lives into one single strand, turning them into a couple, into a family. And then with that final statement, “I now declare you bonded for life,” there is an intense burst of warmth and happiness, like the most powerful Patronus in the world circling them and holding them safe and protected in its light.
Silver stars rain down on them, wrapping them together. Draco has never felt magic like it. Good, and light, and so powerful. Anything but mundane. It feels special. Like every drop of energy in the room is solely focused on them and their happiness, and the bond between them. It, in combination with Astoria’s kiss, leaves him feeling delightfully stunned and overwhelmed. Heart soaring. Like he could never feel sadness again in his life.
It takes a long time before Draco stops feeling little silvery, warm tingles running between his left hand and his heart whenever Astoria smiles at him, or touches him. He never realised before that he could feel so strongly, or that magic could work so deeply and positively into his heart and into his life.
A few years later their son is born. Scorpius is, in Draco’s opinion, the most amazing child ever to exist. He’s bright and bubbly, he laughs at everything, he pulls Draco’s hair, there’s nothing he won’t try to eat, and he’s simultaneously a complete menace and a ray of sunshine. It feels as though their family is fully complete, and Draco’s days are full of wonder and happiness, and a great deal of exhaustion.
When Scorpius is perhaps seven months old, he sees and enjoys magic for the first time.
It’s not as if there has been no magic around him until this point, but it’s been the usual mundane sort. Either that or it’s been worked into the household objects they use and the toys Scorpius plays with. On this particular morning, though, Astoria is sleeping, Scorpius is bored with absolutely everything and whining incessantly, and Draco has a headache.
Thinking of ways to entertain his son just feels impossibly difficult, but he knows Scorpius has always liked things which shine or flash, so without thinking about it he starts letting off little brightly coloured sparks from his wand.
Immediately Scorpius stops crying and stares at the sparks. They send his face glowing red and blue and purple and gold. For a few seconds he sits in silence and watches them. There’s a look of pure wonder on his face, like he’s never seen anything so incredible before.
Draco can see him tracking the sparks through the air, eyes wide, amazed. After the fourth spark has whizzed over his head he reaches out a hand and tries to bat at the next one. An enormous grin crosses his face as a silver spark flashes past his fingertips, and he looks up at Draco and claps his hands, giggling.
Draco beams at him. “It’s magic, Scorpius.” He makes his wand stream multi-coloured bubbles, and Scorpius bats at them as they go past, looking utterly delighted. “You’ll be able to do this too, one day,” Draco tells him.
The bubbles all burst, Scorpius sets off crawling toward Draco and makes a grab for the wand. Draco holds it out of reach, laughing.
“No, I don’t think so. Not yet.”
Scorpius sits down very hard, looking distinctly put out. He blows a couple of bubbles and gives a nonsensical string of complaining noises.
“I know you want it,” Draco says patiently, “but if we burn the house down your mother will never forgive us.”
Scorpius sticks his tongue out and reaches for the wand again.
Draco sighs. He waves his wand and sends glittering golden stars rain down from it. Scorpius’s eyes go wide again and he gazes at the stars like they’re the most incredible thing he’s ever seen. They are rather beautiful, Draco thinks as he watches them cascade through the air and dissipate with a soft hiss on the carpet. He’s never thought about the effortless beauty of magic before, but it’s right in front of him now, and the way Scorpius is looking at these simple little charms… Draco wonders if he once looked at magic that way himself.
What other flashy spells does he know? There must be hundreds. He’s just never thought of them before.
For the next half an hour or so he sends sparks, and jets of light, and smoke rings, and bubbles, and cascades of rain, and flocks of silver birds, and glowing flower petals dancing and glowing and sparkling around the drawing room. Scorpius is mesmerised by the whole thing, and the more he grins and reaches for things, the more Draco finds himself having fun.
He hasn’t enjoyed himself like this for the longest time. Testing himself. Seeing what he can do with a bit of creativity. At one point he levitates one of Scorpius’s favourite toys, and Scorpius sits and points at it, something confused and stunned on his tiny face, as if to say ‘it’s never done that before, Dad’.
The more fun Draco has, the more ambitious he gets. He casts spells he hasn’t thought of in years, just because the effect is pretty, and then he begins to wonder if he could make a Patronus work. He never has before, but maybe Scorpius would just enjoy the silver mist.
He looks at his son’s beaming face, currently Scorpius is batting at some bright blue butterflies made entirely of light, and says, “Expecto Patronum”.
To his immense surprise, a silver fox pounces from the end of his wand and prowls across the room. Draco feels a surge of happiness so strong he feels his heart might burst. Scorpius stops paying any attention to the butterflies and turns to watch the fox which walks a circle around the boundary of the room before wandering over. It goes up to Scorpius, and Scorpius reaches for it, his hands passing right through the shining body. The fox curls up on the floor beside him and puts its head down as though to sleep.
Scorpius pats at it gently, and Draco realises he’s entirely forgotten to breathe. He inhales, and swallows. His throat feels strangely tight. He feels like he might-
“Draco.”
A soft voice comes from the doorway behind them. The fox vanishes as Draco jumps and turns round. Scorpius lights and goes crawling across the floor toward his mum.
“I-” Draco’s voice comes out constricted so he clears his throat. “I thought you were sleeping.”
Astoria smiles and scoops Scorpius up into her arms. “Hello, Scorpius. Hello, yes that’s my hair.” She gently untangles Scorpius’s curious fingers from her hair and settles him on her hip. “I was sleeping. But I thought you two were entirely too quiet. I wondered if you were up to mischief, but… You weren’t.”
“No,” Draco says. He gets up off the floor and smooths his robes down. He walks across to his wife. “Is it time for his bath? If you’re tired still, I can-”
Astoria puts a hand on his chest. “I’m okay. But if you really want to get completely soaked you’re welcome to help.” She kisses him lightly on the cheek. When she pulls back she looks him right in the eyes, then she walks away, babbling excitedly at Scorpius.
For several minutes Draco leans in the doorway of the drawing room, gathering himself together, then he follows the other two upstairs.
That night he’s lying in bed in the dark, staring up at the murky ceiling high above him. Astoria is curled up beside him, one arm wrapped across his chest. She’s breathing softly, like she’s asleep, so he’s surprised when he feels her murmur words against his shoulder.
“I didn’t know you could do that.”
He glances sideways at her and very lightly strokes her hair. “Do what?”
She looks up at him, eyes bright even in the dark room. “The Patronus. It’s a fox. You never told me.”
“I’ve never done it before,” he says. “Scorpius was bored so I just started… I thought he’d like the silver mist. You know how he likes shiny things.”
Astoria runs her fingers lightly over his ribs, making him shiver. “He makes you so happy.”
Draco nods. “He’s our son.”
Astoria smiles and kisses his shoulder. “I love you. I love you both, very much.”
Draco gathers her in close. “I love you too.” They lie still for a moment. Draco listens to his wife’s breathing, enjoys the warmth of her life. It’s something he always makes himself value, whenever he remembers to.
“Astoria?” He says finally.
“Mmm?”
“Do you enjoy it? Magic?”
She lifts her head and frowns at him. “What do you mean?”
“Scorpius. When I was doing those spells… He looked like they were the most amazing things he’d ever seen. It was enjoyable, casting spells for him. I hadn’t thought of it as something fun for a long time…”
A smile spreads across Astoria’s face. “I’m glad you were having a good time.”
Draco props himself up on his elbows and looks at her properly. “I was thinking about our wedding too. Do you remember?”
Astoria rolls her eyes. “Do I remember? Draco, please.”
“I liked how the magic felt, the bonding charm… I’m not sure I realised magic could be so… so good.”
She wriggles closer to him and lightly trails a hand along his jaw. “I think it can be whatever you want it to be.”
“Can it?” He asks, watching her.
She nods. “It’s a bit like life, really. You can choose what you want it to be. What you want to use it for. You can tear people apart, or bring them together. Stick with what you know, or be brave. Have fun.” She kisses his jaw very softly.
He smiles and brushes a few strands of her fringe from her eyes. “I’ll never understand where your wisdom comes from.”
Astoria flops her head down on the pillow and grins at him. “My mother most likely. Although I make a good bit of it up on the spot. If you say it with enough conviction you can make anyone believe you.”
Draco takes her hand and kisses the tips of her fingers. “I believe you.”
“You’ve always done slightly inadvisable things. But I love you for it.” She closes her eyes and exhales, relaxing into the bed. “You should sleep, Draco. Scorpius will be screaming in a few hours.”
“I suppose.” Draco squeezes her hand tightly. His mind is still racing too much to sleep though. He still feels slightly abuzz with everything that had happened earlier. Scorpius’s joy, his own happiness, the fox, and the bright glow of all that magic seeping through the air.
Maybe Astoria is right. Maybe Draco has only ever known the dark and the mundane of magic because it’s all he’s ever been taught to value. Maybe there’s more to it than that. And of course it would be Astoria and Scorpius to show it to him. Who else?