Curious de-ages Drarry again...
warning: relentless fluff ahead.
Draco woke in Mum's lab, wearing Uncle Severus's robes, and standing beside a strange, ginger woman holding a phial and reading a note. She swallowed something, and stared at him, then back at the note, then back at him. He smiled because it was only polite, Mum would like that, him being polite to her friends, but he was just a bit worried about it all.
"It worked," she said, like he'd understand, and then her grip on the blue phial slipped.
He reached for it because Uncle Severus had been very clear on potions and Things We Don't Do in the Labs, Master Malfoy, and Draco really didn't want to be sent to his room for playing in the labs again, because the strange ginger lady was clumsy.
"Does Uncle Severus know you're here? Or Mum?" Ginger Lady looked like Mum when him and Dad used French. Draco would have ignored her like he did with all Mum's odd friends, but they were in the lab and Draco was tired of being sent to his room for Things We Don't Do. "We're not supposed to be here without Uncle Severus or Mum."
She shook herself and looked pretty gob smacked for a grown up, really. "You're right," she said with a shaky smile. "Let's get you to the nursery, shall we?"
"Is that where Mum is?" He squinted. "Are you Mum? Is that Polly Juice? Are you Mum pretending to be Polly?" Yes, yes, that was it. He smiled, glad he'd figured it out. Dad would like that, how smart he'd been. "C'mon, Polly Mum. Let's go to the nursery."
Like he still needed the nursery. Almost five, wasn't he? Far too big for the nursery, whatever Polly Mum said.
***
There were kids in the nursery. Other kids. New kids, which Draco liked because playing with Pansy was weird, she kept wanting to play house and Draco had elves for that sort of thing, didn't he? And he thought maybe they were all boys with their mums, and maybe they'd want to play boy sorts of things, which was good because mums were right awful at Aurors and Death Eaters, right awful indeed.
Still, they were new kids. Strangers. In his nursery. So when Polly Mum squeezed his hand and tried to step further into the nursery, Draco looked up and shook his head just a little, sure Polly Mum would understand. She frowned like she didn't, like it was more French, but she leaned over all the same.
"What's wrong, Malfoy? Er, Draco?"
"Strangers," he whispered, moving in close, "in the nursery."
"It's okay. They're friends of mine," Polly Mum said. That didn't help.
"What if they don't like me?"
"I'm sure they will."
"They might not."
"I'm certain they will."
"You said that already." Really, Mum was much better at this sort of thing than Polly Mum, Draco didn't think she should drink any more of that Polly Juice if it was going to make her stare and such like this, and when he said so, she laughed. Which was nice, he liked making Mum laugh like he liked making Dad proud, but it was nicer when she sounded like just regular Mum.
"C'mon, Draco, let's go introduce you to everyone, shall we?" she asked, and the next thing Draco knew, he was face-to-face with the new kids in his nursery.
***
"Oh. My. Merlin. Tell me that's not who I think it is, Granger." The dark-haired mum - did she belong to the dark-haired boys? Draco thought maybe she did - stared at him and grabbed Polly Mum's wrist. "What the sod happened?"
"Testing." Polly Mum waved about that note she'd had in the lab, the one that made her look at Draco funny, and the dark-haired mum grabbed at that, too.
"You shouldn't grab people," Draco frowned at his blocks, which were a bit of a baby toy, really, but that's what the dark-haired boys were playing with and the ginger boys were a bit scary, so that's where Draco stayed, right there by the blocks and away from the scary gingers. "It's rude. Not polite at all."
"Hurts, grabbing," said the boy with the glasses, rubbing his wrist. Draco thought he might be a bit of all right, for a speccy boy.
"Does she grab you, too?"
"What? No." The boy's cheeks went all red. Draco liked that, so he smiled. The boy smiled back at first, then frowned and rubbed his wrist again. "Why would you think she did?"
"Isn't that your mum?"
"No."
"Oh. Sorry." Draco concentrated. "Which one's your mum, then?"
"She's not here."
"Are you sure? Maybe she's had Polly Juice, too. My mum looks all wrong, but it's still her 'cause we were in the lab and I'm not allowed in the lab without Mum or Uncle Severus, and Uncle Severus would look pretty silly in a dress, don't you think?" Draco thought so, anyway, and he giggled. He expected Glasses Boy to do the same, because Uncle Severus in a dress? So silly.
Glasses Boy shuffled his feet a bit. Draco thought it looked like a silly little dance, but dancing was fun and Dad wasn't around to tell him Don't Shuffle, Son, so he did the same. And it was fun. Then Glasses Boy said, "My mum's not here, she's dead, she died when I was a baby," and secret shuffling wasn't fun anymore.
Draco thought that one over, because he wasn't sure what to say to people with dead mums. He didn't see any dads anywhere, and there weren't any house-elves, either, and Draco was knackered with this puzzle. "Then who brought you?"
"Erm, her." Glasses Boy pointed at the ginger mum who wasn't Polly Mum. "But I don't know her. I don't know anybody, Aunt Petunia's going to be mad I'm gone, I'm not to leave my cupboard without asking."
Draco thought that was pretty silly, too, a boy in a cupboard like the toys, but that probably meant he'd be all right at playing, really, so Draco asked if he wanted to play Aurors and Death Eaters.
"What's that?" Glasses Boy asked, so Draco explained about good guys and bad guys, because Dad said not everyone understood about Aurors and Death Eaters, so it was really a game for special friends, and Draco thought anyone with dead mums and silly secret shuffle dances was pretty special indeed.
***
When Harry - that was his name, Glasses Boy, Harry - and Teddy and Neville said they'd play, George and Ron wanted to play, too, which meant they had even more Aurors and Death Eaters, which Draco thought was all right.
Except that no one could decide who they wanted to be. Well, okay, Harry couldn't decide, because he'd only just heard of the game. Everyone else wanted to start already, so couldn’t Harry just pick something already? But Draco didn't want to play with the others. He wanted to play with Harry, who was too polite to tell the others to shove off even if Draco thought Harry just wanted to play with Draco, too.
Harry seemed pretty scared about all the yelling and such Ron and George and Teddy were doing, too, so Draco stepped in like a proper host should. Mum would be proud. He glanced at Polly Mum for that smile, the "you've been good, wait until I tell your father about this" one she had, and noticed Polly Mum wasn't ginger anymore. Still didn't look like Mum Mum, but she did look pleased, so that was something.
"What are you lot arguing about now?" Polly Mum's ginger friend asked. Draco thought ginger people were far too loud, but he didn't say so, just explained about the game.
"And he wants to be a Death Eater with me, don't you, Harry?" Ron threw an arm over Harry's shoulder and Draco didn't like that. Friend-stealer. He'd have said, too, but Harry didn't look like he liked having Ron's arm on him, so Draco just glared at Ron and folded his arms over his chest and puffed out like Dad did sometimes.
"Nuh huh," Teddy said, shoving in. "He wants to be an Auror with me and Nev, don't you, Harry? You, too, Draco. It'll be fun."
Harry backed away from them both, closer to Draco. "I don't know," Harry looked at Draco for help, and Draco nodded a bit because he could see why someone would want help, with the ginger mauling and such. "What team are you going to be on, Draco?"
Draco really didn't want to pick something until he knew which team Harry would be on, because Harry was his friend and he didn't want to be on the other team from his friend, but Harry wasn't picking and Draco didn't like how Polly Mum's ginger friend was standing so close, really, didn't ginger people understand space? Ron was no better.
"Nobody's going to be a Death Eater," Polly Mum's ginger friend snapped. "Honestly, George, Ron, I'm ashamed of you. And you, Neville. And you, Harry. What are you thinking, Death Eaters?" She snorted.
Well, that was it, then, wasn't it? No game without good guys and bad guys, and Draco really wanted to play, so he said, "I will."
"You will not." Polly Mum's ginger friend glared. Draco glared back.
"I will. You're not my Polly Mum."
"Draco," Harry said, and he looked upset about something, so Draco moved in to block out the scary gingers. "Draco, are you sure that's a good idea? She looks mad."
"Someone has to be the bad guy, Harry, or there's no game. And if this lot's too chicken to do it themselves, I will." Harry didn't look convinced. "Besides, bad guys have more fun. You can Stun people. And tie them up and stuff. All the Aurors can do is poke at you a bit and ask you silly questions." Dad said so, didn't he? And Dad was always right, Dad knew everything.
Harry thought that over. Big thinker, Harry. Draco liked that in a friend. "Okay. Okay, I'll do it, too. We'll be bad guys together." And Harry smiled. Took Draco's hand all on his own.
"Leave them, Gin, they're just playing," Polly Mum's blonde friend said from her armchair. Draco thought Polly Mum's blonde friend might be a bit of all right, too. Maybe that was how it worked, scary gingers and all right blondes. Mum was all right, too, and she was blonde. So was Draco, so maybe that made him all right, too.
"Yes, but did you hear what they're playing? Harry's a sodding Death Eater, Luna. Harry Potter's a sodding Death Eater."
"Well, I expect that'll take some imagination, then," Polly Mum's blonde friend said, and Polly Mum's ginger friend looked all white and funny, like she'd swallowed a bug.
***
They cornered George and Ron first, because Draco thought maybe getting the gingers out of the game might make Harry happier, and sure enough, when they made Ron squeal under pretend Rictusempra (really just lots of tickling, which Harry liked), Harry smiled. Big. At Draco, who smiled back because it was only friendly, that.
But while they worked on making George tap out and George was laughing that someone called Fred would be so jealous he'd missed all the fun, Neville and Teddy came in behind them and then it was Draco and Harry being tickled, and Harry giggled like a girl so hard, he knocked off his glasses.
He didn't like other people tickling Harry like that, but he really didn't like Harry's glasses being on the floor where just anyone could step on them or something, so he called for an Immobulus like Mum did when she wanted him to Stop That Right This Second, Draco Lucius Malfoy, Before Someone Gets Hurt.
He had to explain that to Harry, too. Really, Draco was starting to question what sort of wizarding house he lived in, if his mum didn't Immobulus him sometimes to keep him safe, but then he remembered Harry didn't have a mum, so maybe that explained it?
***
Neville's Polly Mum was called Luna and when Draco asked, no one knew who the dark-haired Polly Mum belonged to except Teddy, who rather thought she was his friend Pansy, but not his mum. Teddy didn't have a mum, either. Dead, he said, and Draco was shocked that there might be two dead mums in one room, it could happen to any Mum, maybe, but Polly Mum seemed all right, not dying or anything, even when Draco pretended he wasn't watching. Then Neville said he didn't have a mum, either, he had a Gran and she was scary, only his Polly Mum Luna - Polly Gran Luna? - wasn't scary at all.
So it was a mystery.
Anyway, Neville's Polly Something Luna called them all in for a snack and a story, and Harry got rather excited about the story bit and kept looking around for someone, which Draco didn't like. He liked Harry excited, stories were fun, but he didn't like Harry looking around when he should have been looking at Draco.
"Who are you looking for? Is your Aunt Petunia coming?" Draco really didn't like that, strange Aunt Petunias who didn't know how to do Immobuluses coming around to take Harry home when Draco'd only just met him and hadn't even said they were best friends yet.
"D'you think she might be?" Harry didn't look like he liked that much, either.
"You can't leave yet," Draco said. "You've only just got here." He'd talk to Polly Mum about it if he had to, Harry couldn't go.
Harry smiled. Shy. Draco smiled back because someone ought to, smiles were best in pairs. "D'you think he'll be back for story time?" Harry asked.
"Who?"
"Teddy's Uncle Dragon," Harry said, and Draco barely knew Teddy, let alone his uncle, though Draco had to admit that was a pretty cool name. "He read us a story before. With Grr. I liked it."
Harry shuffled again and smiled at the floor. Draco thought that was pretty silly, Draco wasn't on the floor, no one was, Harry wasn't smiling at anyone, so Draco took his hand and sort of hopped a bit because it was exciting, new friends.
"I'm sure of it," Draco said, and Harry looked up with an even bigger smile, and Draco swung their hands a bit, then raced off for where Neville's Luna was setting out a blanket for them.
***
But Teddy's Uncle Dragon didn't come, and Harry looked sad about that, even though Neville's Polly Someone Luna did quite well with her book, and the dragon on the last page ate three Muggles and a cow while she was reading, then burped fire as she closed the book. Draco quite liked that bit.
So, he thought, did Harry.
Polly Mum came over when the story finished, and the dark-haired Polly Mum no one belonged to disappeared when Polly Mum took Draco's hand. The one Harry wasn't holding. Harry squeezed tighter, like Draco was going away, and because he understood that, the importance of not going, Draco squeezed back.
"C'mon, you lot," Polly Mum said, "it's time for your nap."
But she wasn't looking at "you lot", she was just looking at Draco and Harry and their hands, and she smiled like she was sad and happy at the same time. Draco thought Polly Juice did very strange things to his mother and maybe she shouldn't take it again if it was only going to make her sad like this. Not all potions were good potions, after all.
"I promise, just this once," she said, then she looked at the ginger Polly Mum, who sighed a bit and pulled Ron and George off for their naps, too.
"Polly Mum?"
"Yes?"
"Can Harry come over again? To play? He's awfully good at it. Best Death Eater ever." Draco smiled at Harry, who squeezed his hand again.
"Is he?" Polly Mum bit down on a smile of her own. "I quite think that's up to you and Harry to decide, Draco. C'mon, bed time. You've had quite the day."
***
He didn't want to nap, but Polly Mum made him, anyway. Gave him a potion and everything, and it tasted all right, not awful or anything like sometimes Uncle Severus' did, and when he asked what it was for, she sort of smiled and said it was nothing bad, it was to help him get big. So, like vitamins then, and that was okay, he'd take vitamin potion, but he asked could they give Harry some, too, so they could be big together?
Polly Mum said this potion was just for Draco, Harry could have one of his own later if he liked, and Draco thought that was all right, then, so long as he wouldn't be big without Harry it was okay.
She put them all to bed, even made Draco a nice new one out of Harry's spare pillow, and warned about fooling around once the lights were out. As soon as she'd left, Draco tried to talk to Harry about being best friends and such, but Teddy hissed, "Be quiet," and Neville was already snoring, so Harry snuck from his bed to Draco's with only a little prodding.
Draco definitely liked that.
Harry climbed up, and Draco had to help him, and they fell back once Harry'd reached the top of the bed. Draco couldn't help the giggling. Teddy hissed again.
When Harry hissed back, it sounded just like a snake. So Draco hugged him, because Harry looked upset about something and Draco quite liked snakes.
"You have to be my best friend," Draco said into Harry's shoulder. "I like you too much for you not to be."
"Really?" Draco nodded. "Okay."
"No, silly, you say, 'I like you, too, Draco.'"
Harry blinked. Polly Mum had taken off his glasses, so he looked different but still just like Harry. Eyes like dragon scales, Draco thought, and Draco meant dragon. Obviously, they were meant to be friends, just look at Harry's eyes.
"I like you, too, Draco," Harry said.
"Go. To. Sleep," Teddy said, like he was the boss of them, and he thumped a bit on his pillow so Draco pulled Harry up so they'd be resting properly.
Funny, he was sleepy. Soon as his head hit the pillow, Draco yawned, and Harry did, too, and they looked at each other for a moment before giggling again until Harry shushed them before Teddy could.
"You have a nice bed," Harry said.
"We can share," Draco offered.
"We are sharing."
"Next time," Draco said. "Next time you come, we'll share." Merlin, he was sleepy. "Sleepover, m'kay?"
Harry blinked lots like he was sleepy, too. "M'kay." Then Harry sleepy-frowned and said, "He didn't ever come back," like that made any sense, so Draco thought about it.
Remembered Harry looking for somebody's Uncle Dragon, and Draco thought Uncle Dragon wasn't very nice, not coming when he'd said and making Harry sad and all. When Draco was sad at bedtime, Just Regular Mum tucked him in and gave him a kiss goodnight right on his forehead. Polly Mum's juice must have mucked that up, too, because she hadn't done it at all, even to sad Harry.
So Draco did it for him and they fell asleep smiling.
***
Which is how Draco woke with Tiny Potter's head on his chest.
part three
Draco woke in Mum's lab, wearing Uncle Severus's robes, and standing beside a strange, ginger woman holding a phial and reading a note. She swallowed something, and stared at him, then back at the note, then back at him. He smiled because it was only polite, Mum would like that, him being polite to her friends, but he was just a bit worried about it all.
"It worked," she said, like he'd understand, and then her grip on the blue phial slipped.
He reached for it because Uncle Severus had been very clear on potions and Things We Don't Do in the Labs, Master Malfoy, and Draco really didn't want to be sent to his room for playing in the labs again, because the strange ginger lady was clumsy.
"Does Uncle Severus know you're here? Or Mum?" Ginger Lady looked like Mum when him and Dad used French. Draco would have ignored her like he did with all Mum's odd friends, but they were in the lab and Draco was tired of being sent to his room for Things We Don't Do. "We're not supposed to be here without Uncle Severus or Mum."
She shook herself and looked pretty gob smacked for a grown up, really. "You're right," she said with a shaky smile. "Let's get you to the nursery, shall we?"
"Is that where Mum is?" He squinted. "Are you Mum? Is that Polly Juice? Are you Mum pretending to be Polly?" Yes, yes, that was it. He smiled, glad he'd figured it out. Dad would like that, how smart he'd been. "C'mon, Polly Mum. Let's go to the nursery."
Like he still needed the nursery. Almost five, wasn't he? Far too big for the nursery, whatever Polly Mum said.
***
There were kids in the nursery. Other kids. New kids, which Draco liked because playing with Pansy was weird, she kept wanting to play house and Draco had elves for that sort of thing, didn't he? And he thought maybe they were all boys with their mums, and maybe they'd want to play boy sorts of things, which was good because mums were right awful at Aurors and Death Eaters, right awful indeed.
Still, they were new kids. Strangers. In his nursery. So when Polly Mum squeezed his hand and tried to step further into the nursery, Draco looked up and shook his head just a little, sure Polly Mum would understand. She frowned like she didn't, like it was more French, but she leaned over all the same.
"What's wrong, Malfoy? Er, Draco?"
"Strangers," he whispered, moving in close, "in the nursery."
"It's okay. They're friends of mine," Polly Mum said. That didn't help.
"What if they don't like me?"
"I'm sure they will."
"They might not."
"I'm certain they will."
"You said that already." Really, Mum was much better at this sort of thing than Polly Mum, Draco didn't think she should drink any more of that Polly Juice if it was going to make her stare and such like this, and when he said so, she laughed. Which was nice, he liked making Mum laugh like he liked making Dad proud, but it was nicer when she sounded like just regular Mum.
"C'mon, Draco, let's go introduce you to everyone, shall we?" she asked, and the next thing Draco knew, he was face-to-face with the new kids in his nursery.
***
"Oh. My. Merlin. Tell me that's not who I think it is, Granger." The dark-haired mum - did she belong to the dark-haired boys? Draco thought maybe she did - stared at him and grabbed Polly Mum's wrist. "What the sod happened?"
"Testing." Polly Mum waved about that note she'd had in the lab, the one that made her look at Draco funny, and the dark-haired mum grabbed at that, too.
"You shouldn't grab people," Draco frowned at his blocks, which were a bit of a baby toy, really, but that's what the dark-haired boys were playing with and the ginger boys were a bit scary, so that's where Draco stayed, right there by the blocks and away from the scary gingers. "It's rude. Not polite at all."
"Hurts, grabbing," said the boy with the glasses, rubbing his wrist. Draco thought he might be a bit of all right, for a speccy boy.
"Does she grab you, too?"
"What? No." The boy's cheeks went all red. Draco liked that, so he smiled. The boy smiled back at first, then frowned and rubbed his wrist again. "Why would you think she did?"
"Isn't that your mum?"
"No."
"Oh. Sorry." Draco concentrated. "Which one's your mum, then?"
"She's not here."
"Are you sure? Maybe she's had Polly Juice, too. My mum looks all wrong, but it's still her 'cause we were in the lab and I'm not allowed in the lab without Mum or Uncle Severus, and Uncle Severus would look pretty silly in a dress, don't you think?" Draco thought so, anyway, and he giggled. He expected Glasses Boy to do the same, because Uncle Severus in a dress? So silly.
Glasses Boy shuffled his feet a bit. Draco thought it looked like a silly little dance, but dancing was fun and Dad wasn't around to tell him Don't Shuffle, Son, so he did the same. And it was fun. Then Glasses Boy said, "My mum's not here, she's dead, she died when I was a baby," and secret shuffling wasn't fun anymore.
Draco thought that one over, because he wasn't sure what to say to people with dead mums. He didn't see any dads anywhere, and there weren't any house-elves, either, and Draco was knackered with this puzzle. "Then who brought you?"
"Erm, her." Glasses Boy pointed at the ginger mum who wasn't Polly Mum. "But I don't know her. I don't know anybody, Aunt Petunia's going to be mad I'm gone, I'm not to leave my cupboard without asking."
Draco thought that was pretty silly, too, a boy in a cupboard like the toys, but that probably meant he'd be all right at playing, really, so Draco asked if he wanted to play Aurors and Death Eaters.
"What's that?" Glasses Boy asked, so Draco explained about good guys and bad guys, because Dad said not everyone understood about Aurors and Death Eaters, so it was really a game for special friends, and Draco thought anyone with dead mums and silly secret shuffle dances was pretty special indeed.
***
When Harry - that was his name, Glasses Boy, Harry - and Teddy and Neville said they'd play, George and Ron wanted to play, too, which meant they had even more Aurors and Death Eaters, which Draco thought was all right.
Except that no one could decide who they wanted to be. Well, okay, Harry couldn't decide, because he'd only just heard of the game. Everyone else wanted to start already, so couldn’t Harry just pick something already? But Draco didn't want to play with the others. He wanted to play with Harry, who was too polite to tell the others to shove off even if Draco thought Harry just wanted to play with Draco, too.
Harry seemed pretty scared about all the yelling and such Ron and George and Teddy were doing, too, so Draco stepped in like a proper host should. Mum would be proud. He glanced at Polly Mum for that smile, the "you've been good, wait until I tell your father about this" one she had, and noticed Polly Mum wasn't ginger anymore. Still didn't look like Mum Mum, but she did look pleased, so that was something.
"What are you lot arguing about now?" Polly Mum's ginger friend asked. Draco thought ginger people were far too loud, but he didn't say so, just explained about the game.
"And he wants to be a Death Eater with me, don't you, Harry?" Ron threw an arm over Harry's shoulder and Draco didn't like that. Friend-stealer. He'd have said, too, but Harry didn't look like he liked having Ron's arm on him, so Draco just glared at Ron and folded his arms over his chest and puffed out like Dad did sometimes.
"Nuh huh," Teddy said, shoving in. "He wants to be an Auror with me and Nev, don't you, Harry? You, too, Draco. It'll be fun."
Harry backed away from them both, closer to Draco. "I don't know," Harry looked at Draco for help, and Draco nodded a bit because he could see why someone would want help, with the ginger mauling and such. "What team are you going to be on, Draco?"
Draco really didn't want to pick something until he knew which team Harry would be on, because Harry was his friend and he didn't want to be on the other team from his friend, but Harry wasn't picking and Draco didn't like how Polly Mum's ginger friend was standing so close, really, didn't ginger people understand space? Ron was no better.
"Nobody's going to be a Death Eater," Polly Mum's ginger friend snapped. "Honestly, George, Ron, I'm ashamed of you. And you, Neville. And you, Harry. What are you thinking, Death Eaters?" She snorted.
Well, that was it, then, wasn't it? No game without good guys and bad guys, and Draco really wanted to play, so he said, "I will."
"You will not." Polly Mum's ginger friend glared. Draco glared back.
"I will. You're not my Polly Mum."
"Draco," Harry said, and he looked upset about something, so Draco moved in to block out the scary gingers. "Draco, are you sure that's a good idea? She looks mad."
"Someone has to be the bad guy, Harry, or there's no game. And if this lot's too chicken to do it themselves, I will." Harry didn't look convinced. "Besides, bad guys have more fun. You can Stun people. And tie them up and stuff. All the Aurors can do is poke at you a bit and ask you silly questions." Dad said so, didn't he? And Dad was always right, Dad knew everything.
Harry thought that over. Big thinker, Harry. Draco liked that in a friend. "Okay. Okay, I'll do it, too. We'll be bad guys together." And Harry smiled. Took Draco's hand all on his own.
"Leave them, Gin, they're just playing," Polly Mum's blonde friend said from her armchair. Draco thought Polly Mum's blonde friend might be a bit of all right, too. Maybe that was how it worked, scary gingers and all right blondes. Mum was all right, too, and she was blonde. So was Draco, so maybe that made him all right, too.
"Yes, but did you hear what they're playing? Harry's a sodding Death Eater, Luna. Harry Potter's a sodding Death Eater."
"Well, I expect that'll take some imagination, then," Polly Mum's blonde friend said, and Polly Mum's ginger friend looked all white and funny, like she'd swallowed a bug.
***
They cornered George and Ron first, because Draco thought maybe getting the gingers out of the game might make Harry happier, and sure enough, when they made Ron squeal under pretend Rictusempra (really just lots of tickling, which Harry liked), Harry smiled. Big. At Draco, who smiled back because it was only friendly, that.
But while they worked on making George tap out and George was laughing that someone called Fred would be so jealous he'd missed all the fun, Neville and Teddy came in behind them and then it was Draco and Harry being tickled, and Harry giggled like a girl so hard, he knocked off his glasses.
He didn't like other people tickling Harry like that, but he really didn't like Harry's glasses being on the floor where just anyone could step on them or something, so he called for an Immobulus like Mum did when she wanted him to Stop That Right This Second, Draco Lucius Malfoy, Before Someone Gets Hurt.
He had to explain that to Harry, too. Really, Draco was starting to question what sort of wizarding house he lived in, if his mum didn't Immobulus him sometimes to keep him safe, but then he remembered Harry didn't have a mum, so maybe that explained it?
***
Neville's Polly Mum was called Luna and when Draco asked, no one knew who the dark-haired Polly Mum belonged to except Teddy, who rather thought she was his friend Pansy, but not his mum. Teddy didn't have a mum, either. Dead, he said, and Draco was shocked that there might be two dead mums in one room, it could happen to any Mum, maybe, but Polly Mum seemed all right, not dying or anything, even when Draco pretended he wasn't watching. Then Neville said he didn't have a mum, either, he had a Gran and she was scary, only his Polly Mum Luna - Polly Gran Luna? - wasn't scary at all.
So it was a mystery.
Anyway, Neville's Polly Something Luna called them all in for a snack and a story, and Harry got rather excited about the story bit and kept looking around for someone, which Draco didn't like. He liked Harry excited, stories were fun, but he didn't like Harry looking around when he should have been looking at Draco.
"Who are you looking for? Is your Aunt Petunia coming?" Draco really didn't like that, strange Aunt Petunias who didn't know how to do Immobuluses coming around to take Harry home when Draco'd only just met him and hadn't even said they were best friends yet.
"D'you think she might be?" Harry didn't look like he liked that much, either.
"You can't leave yet," Draco said. "You've only just got here." He'd talk to Polly Mum about it if he had to, Harry couldn't go.
Harry smiled. Shy. Draco smiled back because someone ought to, smiles were best in pairs. "D'you think he'll be back for story time?" Harry asked.
"Who?"
"Teddy's Uncle Dragon," Harry said, and Draco barely knew Teddy, let alone his uncle, though Draco had to admit that was a pretty cool name. "He read us a story before. With Grr. I liked it."
Harry shuffled again and smiled at the floor. Draco thought that was pretty silly, Draco wasn't on the floor, no one was, Harry wasn't smiling at anyone, so Draco took his hand and sort of hopped a bit because it was exciting, new friends.
"I'm sure of it," Draco said, and Harry looked up with an even bigger smile, and Draco swung their hands a bit, then raced off for where Neville's Luna was setting out a blanket for them.
***
But Teddy's Uncle Dragon didn't come, and Harry looked sad about that, even though Neville's Polly Someone Luna did quite well with her book, and the dragon on the last page ate three Muggles and a cow while she was reading, then burped fire as she closed the book. Draco quite liked that bit.
So, he thought, did Harry.
Polly Mum came over when the story finished, and the dark-haired Polly Mum no one belonged to disappeared when Polly Mum took Draco's hand. The one Harry wasn't holding. Harry squeezed tighter, like Draco was going away, and because he understood that, the importance of not going, Draco squeezed back.
"C'mon, you lot," Polly Mum said, "it's time for your nap."
But she wasn't looking at "you lot", she was just looking at Draco and Harry and their hands, and she smiled like she was sad and happy at the same time. Draco thought Polly Juice did very strange things to his mother and maybe she shouldn't take it again if it was only going to make her sad like this. Not all potions were good potions, after all.
"I promise, just this once," she said, then she looked at the ginger Polly Mum, who sighed a bit and pulled Ron and George off for their naps, too.
"Polly Mum?"
"Yes?"
"Can Harry come over again? To play? He's awfully good at it. Best Death Eater ever." Draco smiled at Harry, who squeezed his hand again.
"Is he?" Polly Mum bit down on a smile of her own. "I quite think that's up to you and Harry to decide, Draco. C'mon, bed time. You've had quite the day."
***
He didn't want to nap, but Polly Mum made him, anyway. Gave him a potion and everything, and it tasted all right, not awful or anything like sometimes Uncle Severus' did, and when he asked what it was for, she sort of smiled and said it was nothing bad, it was to help him get big. So, like vitamins then, and that was okay, he'd take vitamin potion, but he asked could they give Harry some, too, so they could be big together?
Polly Mum said this potion was just for Draco, Harry could have one of his own later if he liked, and Draco thought that was all right, then, so long as he wouldn't be big without Harry it was okay.
She put them all to bed, even made Draco a nice new one out of Harry's spare pillow, and warned about fooling around once the lights were out. As soon as she'd left, Draco tried to talk to Harry about being best friends and such, but Teddy hissed, "Be quiet," and Neville was already snoring, so Harry snuck from his bed to Draco's with only a little prodding.
Draco definitely liked that.
Harry climbed up, and Draco had to help him, and they fell back once Harry'd reached the top of the bed. Draco couldn't help the giggling. Teddy hissed again.
When Harry hissed back, it sounded just like a snake. So Draco hugged him, because Harry looked upset about something and Draco quite liked snakes.
"You have to be my best friend," Draco said into Harry's shoulder. "I like you too much for you not to be."
"Really?" Draco nodded. "Okay."
"No, silly, you say, 'I like you, too, Draco.'"
Harry blinked. Polly Mum had taken off his glasses, so he looked different but still just like Harry. Eyes like dragon scales, Draco thought, and Draco meant dragon. Obviously, they were meant to be friends, just look at Harry's eyes.
"I like you, too, Draco," Harry said.
"Go. To. Sleep," Teddy said, like he was the boss of them, and he thumped a bit on his pillow so Draco pulled Harry up so they'd be resting properly.
Funny, he was sleepy. Soon as his head hit the pillow, Draco yawned, and Harry did, too, and they looked at each other for a moment before giggling again until Harry shushed them before Teddy could.
"You have a nice bed," Harry said.
"We can share," Draco offered.
"We are sharing."
"Next time," Draco said. "Next time you come, we'll share." Merlin, he was sleepy. "Sleepover, m'kay?"
Harry blinked lots like he was sleepy, too. "M'kay." Then Harry sleepy-frowned and said, "He didn't ever come back," like that made any sense, so Draco thought about it.
Remembered Harry looking for somebody's Uncle Dragon, and Draco thought Uncle Dragon wasn't very nice, not coming when he'd said and making Harry sad and all. When Draco was sad at bedtime, Just Regular Mum tucked him in and gave him a kiss goodnight right on his forehead. Polly Mum's juice must have mucked that up, too, because she hadn't done it at all, even to sad Harry.
So Draco did it for him and they fell asleep smiling.
***
Which is how Draco woke with Tiny Potter's head on his chest.
part three