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"Hallo!" came a trilling voice from below him. Below?
Harry turned, and saw a tiny boy of about three or four years, barely reaching Harry's knees. Harry kneeled on one leg, trying to come eye to eye with the boy.
"Hello, there. Are you lost?"
"Nope! Are you Harry Potter?" the boy asked, his eyes wide, with literal stars in them.
Harry blinked. He'd never been recognised by toddlers before. Now that he paid attention, he saw a tiny plush doll in the boy's hands, with stubby limbs, a mop of black on the head, glasses drawn over green eyeballs, and a very red lightning scar on the forehead.
"Er, I am. I see you've got me there. Where did you get it?" Harry smiled.
"My aunt Pansy made it for me! Because I looveee Harry Potter! You're the best! Did you really ride a dragon and fight a basilisk?"
Pansy? A creeping realisation came to Harry. Straight, silky, white blonde hair framed the boy's face, and he had a piercing grey gaze. Harry had only ever known one person that had those features. He looked around, scanned the crowds for a hint of blonde hair. Seeing no familiar faces, Harry turned to the boy again.
"Who did you come here with, sweetheart?"
"My Daddy! He's over there," he pointed to Flourish and Blott's.
"Excellent. Let's go find him, shall we? What's your name?" Harry scooped up the boy, carried him as they walked down the street.
"Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy! It's a con-.. con-tell-a-shun!"
Harry laughed. "A constellation?"
"Yes! My Daddy is also a contellation. Is Harry a contellation?" he asked.
How Malfoy had birthed this adorable human was beyond Harry. He chuckled, "I'm afraid not. I'm just Harry, not a cool constellation like Scorpius!" Or Draco.
"That's okay. You rode a dragon, so you are cool," Scorpius proclaimed, patting Harry's shoulder.
They kept up idle chatter as they looked for Malfoy in Flourish and Blott's and several other shops. Harry sighed, and conjured his patronus. He could've owled, but he can imagine how much Malfoy must be panicking by now.
"Find Draco Malfoy. Malfoy, Harry Potter here. Your son Scorpius had wandered over to me, and is safe. We'll be at Fortescue's." The stag leapt away in the middle of Diagon, drawing attention. Harry cringed, and ducked into Fortescue's.
"What's your favourite flavour, Scorpius? We can get anything you want."
Scorpius squealed, and started pointing at every single flavour behind the counter.
"Ah, ah! You'll be sick if you have all that, love. I'm afraid your father will be quite cross with me then. You can choose three, and we'll get a triple scoop, okay?"
And so they got their ice creams, Harry with a single scoop of treacle flavour, and Scorpius with four multi-coloured scoops (he'd made sad grey eyes at Harry, asking for one more scoop. Harry feared that shade of grey was what did him in), and sat out on the patio, keeping up the chatter about dragons, basilisks, quidditch and phoenixes.
"Scorpius!"
Draco Malfoy came barelling towards them, and gathered his son up in one fell swoop. He squeezed the poor little thing, a mix of worry and chide.
"Don't ever run off when we're in public, darling! Never, ever do that again. Do you know how worried I was? You could've been in danger, it's not safe to go anywhere by yourself until you're a grown up!"
Scorpius' face fell, and he put his tiny arms around Draco's neck. "I'm sorry, Dadddy. I won't do it again. But I wasn't in danger, Daddy, Harry Potter kept me safe!"
Finally, Malfoy turned to Harry. "Potter."
"Malfoy," Harry nodded.
"Sincere thanks for keeping my son safe and alerting me, though your patronus almost gave me a heart attack. I was at the Leaky, floo calling the Aurors about my missing son. Thank you again," he spoke stiffly, body ready to flee at any moment.
Harry raised his brows. "Why don't you sit down and have some ice cream. Calm yourself a bit. Scorpius is safe, we were just chatting about phoenixes. He's the smartest and the most delightful child I've ever met, I'd be sad to see him go so soon," Harry smiled, trying to coax Malfoy into staying.
Malfoy had been something of a slippery enigma after the war. He'd disappeared for five years after the war, and then had been hired by the Ministry as a potions consultant. Harry ran into him at the Ministry occasionally, but all he ever got was a stiff Potter before Malfoy fled, quick as anything, thwarting all of Harry's attempts at being nosy. And if there was one thing he knew would never change, it was his tingling curiosity (obsession according to Ron and Hermione) about all things Draco Malfoy.
Malfoy now bit his lip. "Yes, Daddy! Stay! I still have so much ice cream to eat! Pleeaseee..." Scorpius unleashed the look on Malfoy then. Harry was pleased to note Malfoy also couldn't resist it.
Thus, Diagon Alley saw the oddest group of people sitting outside the ice cream parlour. Harry Potter, smiling and laughing at a little Scorpius while sneaking looks at Draco Malfoy; Scorpius Malfoy questioning Harry and Draco about detentions in the Forbidden forest; and Draco Malfoy smiling softly at his son, acutely aware of the burning green gaze watching him.
Scorpius finally finished his ice cream (shared with Draco). Tired from all the chatter and the sugar crash and the warm breeze, he promptly fell asleep on his father's lap.
Harry fiddled with hands. He had about five seconds before Draco left.
"I see Scorpius has inherited his father's obsession with Harry Potter," Harry teased.
Draco's cheeks pinked. "Piss off, Potter. It's your fault for having your face plastered everywhere, with exaggerated tales of bravado, I'm sure."
Harry laughed.
He felt his heart beat faster, cheeks heating up preemptively. "So, um. Scorpius didn't stop talking about quidditch and how much he loves flying. And that his favourite team is Holyhead Harpies. Um. I have tickets for the Harpies match next Saturday. Would you both like to join me?"
He did not have the tickets yet. Might have to grovel at Ginny's feet.
Draco looked shocked for a minute, before he rearranged his features.
"I'm not sure, Potter. We wouldn't want to impose-"
"You wouldn't at all! Really. Scorpius is amazing, I'd love to do this for him. And.. I'd like to hang out with you too. Er, that is, if you want to too, of course." Harry promptly shut his mouth.
Draco was fully red now, flushed to the tips of his ears. He pressed his lips to a thin line, and nodded once. "Fine. Send me the tickets. I'll let Scorpius know."
Harry grinned. "Excellent! Thank you. Er, I mean, looking forward to seeing you there."
"Likewise, Potter. I'll be taking Scorp home now. Have a nice day," he bid Harry goodbye and left, leaving Harry still sitting outside the shop, biting his lip hard, trying not to look like a maniac smiling wide to himself in public.