Scorpius's Request - HP Fanfic (13/?)
Title: Scorpius's Request (Chapter 1)
Author: starshinedc
Word Count: 1899
Warning(s): None for this chap
Summary: Little Scorpius comes into Harry's life very unexpectedly when Draco is kidnapped by persons unknown and just wants his daddy back. Will Harry be able to fulfill that wish? And if he can't, who will take care of the child in Draco's absence? Eventual HPDM, R/H
Whatever he'd been expecting, it hadn't been this. Ernie Macmillan - maybe; it was difficult to recognize the bloke with half his face smashed to bits - was in the hallway, leaned heavily against the wall, wand clutched in one shaking fist. Ron was saying he'd come from nowhere, actually, which made little sense to Harry. And, from Ron's baffled expression, it made just as much sense to him.
"Macmillan?" Harry tried, cautiously moving towards him.
His good eye swiveled in Harry's direction and there was a heavy beat of silence before a brittle "Harry?" was breathed.
"Ernie." Harry pulled out his polyjuice antidote and chucked it at him, waited a long moment but nothing happened. He looked at Ron, who nodded and stepped forward. He took Ernie's arm and pulled it around his shoulder, his hand leaving a red print on the wall. "Get him to St. Mungo's. We'll interview him there."
"Right, then."
"But the house- The fidelius-" He broke off, coughing blood into his hand.
"Why did you and Draco lift the charm?" Harry demanded.
"Had to," he wheezed. "Imperiused Draco... doesn't remember. And then... wore off and..."
"What wore off?" Ron demanded.
"Polyjuice. He... almost... woman." He held up on the wand, voice growing weaker. "Grabbed this... appa... apparated..." Ernie collapsed against Ron, who exchanged glances with his partner.
"Be my secret keeper?" Harry asked.
"Gladly. Five minutes." With a nod, Ron disapparated, taking Ernie with him.
Harry left the boxes where they'd been and went outside, casting several of the protective wards he kept around his own flat. He circled the entire area, casting a disillusionment charm on himself to be able to do this without prying eyes.
Wards up, he went back in and went towards the loud crack he heard until he saw Ron. "Have you ever done a fidelius charm?"
"No, you?"
"Nope."
They looked at one another for a long moment before, in unison, spoke again. "Hermione."
-8-8-
Both discovered soon enough that the fidelius was charm was easy enough with Hermione giving them instructions through the floo, even with Lucius berating them and questioning their motives throughout.
"It was bad enough that you were stealing my son's belongings, but now you're planning on this?"
"You're letting Weasley be the Secret Keeper?"
"What are doing that for?"
"Isn't that woman a Muggle-born?"
And so the questions continued, Narcissa having left quite a while before to scour her other portraits and use the portrait network to try and track down her son, until Harry and Ron blasted the portrait with a simultaneous silencing charm. Glowering at the two aurors, Lucius sank into the armchair and waved a hand dismissively.
Ron glanced at Harry, mimicked the gesture. Harry snorted and Hermione rolled her eyes. "Very mature, Ronald. Don't be rude."
"Hermione, he's spent the entire time we've been in here being rude."
"His son is gone and rather obviously in danger, and the home he thought he and his son would be safe in has been compromised. Of course he's going to be a little irritable."
"A little? Hermione-"
"Ron," Harry interrupted, "just let it be. We've shut him up and Hermione's explained the spell to us. We can put the house back to rights now and leave him entirely."
"Are you still going to take Scorpius's things, though?"
"Maybe," Harry replied after a moment. "Hermione?"
Her fire-head bobbed. "I think it's a smart decision. Scorpius would probably feel much better surrounded by more familiar things."
Harry nodded. "Good. I'll do that then, but in the morning. I'm going to stay here tonight, just to see if anyone comes this way. Ron?"
"We'll do it in shifts."
Hermione sighed. "Well if you're both staying there, I suppose I'll take care of Scorpius for the night."
Scorpius, Harry recalled and felt a wash of uncertainty. He absolutely and without a doubt trusted Hermione, but the idea of anyone else taking care of the little guy made him nervous. And how would Scorpius react if someone else took care of him? Would it even be an issue, really? Scorpius was a smart, versatile little boy from what Harry had gathered about him over the past few days. He would probably understand that Harry couldn't always be the one to take care of him; he'd probably be glad that Harry was doing something more constructive in locating Draco.
"It certainly wouldn't be safe for him there," Hermione was saying. "And I probably shouldn't go..." She sighed. "Honestly, the pair of you shouldn't even be doing this yourselves. You need to let Kingsley know that you're both working on this case and that it's open and valid."
"There's no time for that, Hermione. They'll come this way tonight or they won't come 'round at all."
"And if they arrive when neither of you are prepared? You don't even know what you're up against. You told me yourself that the magic they used is very strong."
"Hermione, the magic Ron and I can do is very strong."
Hermione's expression took on the all-too familiar 'don't be an idiot' hue when he or Ron were about to attempt something potentially (more like completely) dangerous. "You're not immortal, Harry James Potter."
Harry imagined Hermione's children would cower in terror before that look. Harry'd been facing it since he was eleven and was somehow still standing... and even he still winced a little. He knew he wasn't immortal. He'd faced death and overcome more than once, but even he knew his luck was bound to run out one day. He was more careful that Hermione seemed to think he was, though. He wasn't going to just run out and get blasted by spells at random or unnecessarily risk his life. Who cared if he wasn't married like Ron and Hermione were or any of that? Being single didn't make him stupid.
He sighed, shaking his head to banish the thoughts. "I know I'm not, Hermione. But there's no time to call anyone else in. The charm's been lifted for over an hour and Macmillan's escaped them-"
"Assuming he's not one of them," she interjected.
"Right. But if he isn't, they'll come straight here. At least one of them will."
"Assuming Macmillan really did steal one of their wands."
"Hermione, are you just going to doubt everything he said? He was really beat up. Harry and I think he was telling the truth."
Harry didn't need to actually pay attention to Hermione's next words to know what they were going to be. Yes, injuries could be faked or they could've even been incurred willingly. But Harry remembered Macmillan's wand. He'd been a member of Dumbledore's Army. Harry had taught him how to produce a corporeal Patronus as he had with everyone else and sometimes that required him studying wands.
What Macmillan had apparated with was most definitely not his wand. And no wizard in their right mind would attempt such a thing without their own wand, particularly not someone who published books for a living. He rose and began to pace.
And Ernie was, as Harry recalled, steadfastly loyal. He'd been quite a git, honestly, but loyal. He'd never sold them out, he'd stayed and fought in that battle. He was loyal. He wouldn't have made this pact with Draco, Harry was sure of it, if he'd intended to betray him all along.
Harry went to Draco's desk, found a blank piece of parchment and began to scrawl what he remembered of Macmillan's babbling.
A woman, polyjuice potion, Draco imperiused and not remembering, and a stolen wand. He pieced them together with his own assumptions and frowned slightly. So they'd used Imperio, or had made Ernie do it, on Draco to make him reveal his home, but had wiped his memory afterwards. It was probably then that the polyjuice potion was wearing off, as if the ending of the fidelius charm had taken longer than anticipated. And the one who's wand they now held belonged to the smaller of the captors, the one who was really a woman.
Harry frowned. "Ron, did you remember to grab the wand Ernie had on him?" When Ron didn't answer immediately, Harry tuned in to their conversation. They weren't bickering anymore, they were... being romantic. It was always, and would always be, awkward when Harry heard that. Because Ron was cheesy and Hermione soaked it up like a sponge.
"Oi," he said, louder this time, and nabbed both their attentions. "Did you remember to grab the wand Ernie had on him or not?"
"Course I did. It isn't my first day at this, mate." Ron fished it out of his pocket and tossed it Harry's way. He caught it quickly, studied it. He didn't recognize it, but he was pretty sure he knew someone who might.
"We'll take this to Ollivander's in the morning after we get the fidelius back on the house. He should tell us who it belong to."
Ron grinned widely and Hermione nodded. "Assuming it was sold by him, yes."
And then Ron rolled his eyes. "C'mon, Hermione, do you really have to think that all our ideas'll end up going pear shaped?"
Harry shook his head and started to fold up the parchment when one of the pages on the desk caught his eye.
bodies sliding, twisted together and burning
He flicked his gaze Ron-ward to make sure that he and his wife were still bickering - much more familiar than the shmoop - before shuffling a few pages out of his way so he could better read the one that had caught his attention.
Five minutes later, he was hard as a rock and didn't notice Ron was speaking to him until his partner's hand was being waved in his face. "What?" he asked blankly and realized Hermione had gone. He fought the blush that wanted to seep into his cheeks and kept embarrassment out of his gaze. No need to let Ron know he'd just been reading bloody porn. Godric, Draco had a way with a pen. It wasn't even a whole scene. It was just straight to the point pornography.
"I said I was going to take the first watch. And since we were going to walk out of here with Draco's stuff anyway, you should make dinner."
"What? Why me?"
"Because," Ron replied with a sharp nod and then strode out.
"I'm gay!" Harry called out after him. "That doesn't automatically make me a gourmet chef!" Ron didn't answer, so Harry rolled his eyes and looked back at the porn. When he glanced up again, it was to see Lucius glowering at him and Narcissa smiling at him from the portrait.
Harry fought the blush again and wondered how the hell Draco wrote things like this when his parents could come in at any moment. Extremely grateful for the silencing spell he and Ron had put on the portrait, Harry rose, adjusting his robes to keep certain... situations hidden, and quickly left the room.
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Author: starshinedc
Word Count: 1899
Warning(s): None for this chap
Summary: Little Scorpius comes into Harry's life very unexpectedly when Draco is kidnapped by persons unknown and just wants his daddy back. Will Harry be able to fulfill that wish? And if he can't, who will take care of the child in Draco's absence? Eventual HPDM, R/H
Whatever he'd been expecting, it hadn't been this. Ernie Macmillan - maybe; it was difficult to recognize the bloke with half his face smashed to bits - was in the hallway, leaned heavily against the wall, wand clutched in one shaking fist. Ron was saying he'd come from nowhere, actually, which made little sense to Harry. And, from Ron's baffled expression, it made just as much sense to him.
"Macmillan?" Harry tried, cautiously moving towards him.
His good eye swiveled in Harry's direction and there was a heavy beat of silence before a brittle "Harry?" was breathed.
"Ernie." Harry pulled out his polyjuice antidote and chucked it at him, waited a long moment but nothing happened. He looked at Ron, who nodded and stepped forward. He took Ernie's arm and pulled it around his shoulder, his hand leaving a red print on the wall. "Get him to St. Mungo's. We'll interview him there."
"Right, then."
"But the house- The fidelius-" He broke off, coughing blood into his hand.
"Why did you and Draco lift the charm?" Harry demanded.
"Had to," he wheezed. "Imperiused Draco... doesn't remember. And then... wore off and..."
"What wore off?" Ron demanded.
"Polyjuice. He... almost... woman." He held up on the wand, voice growing weaker. "Grabbed this... appa... apparated..." Ernie collapsed against Ron, who exchanged glances with his partner.
"Be my secret keeper?" Harry asked.
"Gladly. Five minutes." With a nod, Ron disapparated, taking Ernie with him.
Harry left the boxes where they'd been and went outside, casting several of the protective wards he kept around his own flat. He circled the entire area, casting a disillusionment charm on himself to be able to do this without prying eyes.
Wards up, he went back in and went towards the loud crack he heard until he saw Ron. "Have you ever done a fidelius charm?"
"No, you?"
"Nope."
They looked at one another for a long moment before, in unison, spoke again. "Hermione."
-8-8-
Both discovered soon enough that the fidelius was charm was easy enough with Hermione giving them instructions through the floo, even with Lucius berating them and questioning their motives throughout.
"It was bad enough that you were stealing my son's belongings, but now you're planning on this?"
"You're letting Weasley be the Secret Keeper?"
"What are doing that for?"
"Isn't that woman a Muggle-born?"
And so the questions continued, Narcissa having left quite a while before to scour her other portraits and use the portrait network to try and track down her son, until Harry and Ron blasted the portrait with a simultaneous silencing charm. Glowering at the two aurors, Lucius sank into the armchair and waved a hand dismissively.
Ron glanced at Harry, mimicked the gesture. Harry snorted and Hermione rolled her eyes. "Very mature, Ronald. Don't be rude."
"Hermione, he's spent the entire time we've been in here being rude."
"His son is gone and rather obviously in danger, and the home he thought he and his son would be safe in has been compromised. Of course he's going to be a little irritable."
"A little? Hermione-"
"Ron," Harry interrupted, "just let it be. We've shut him up and Hermione's explained the spell to us. We can put the house back to rights now and leave him entirely."
"Are you still going to take Scorpius's things, though?"
"Maybe," Harry replied after a moment. "Hermione?"
Her fire-head bobbed. "I think it's a smart decision. Scorpius would probably feel much better surrounded by more familiar things."
Harry nodded. "Good. I'll do that then, but in the morning. I'm going to stay here tonight, just to see if anyone comes this way. Ron?"
"We'll do it in shifts."
Hermione sighed. "Well if you're both staying there, I suppose I'll take care of Scorpius for the night."
Scorpius, Harry recalled and felt a wash of uncertainty. He absolutely and without a doubt trusted Hermione, but the idea of anyone else taking care of the little guy made him nervous. And how would Scorpius react if someone else took care of him? Would it even be an issue, really? Scorpius was a smart, versatile little boy from what Harry had gathered about him over the past few days. He would probably understand that Harry couldn't always be the one to take care of him; he'd probably be glad that Harry was doing something more constructive in locating Draco.
"It certainly wouldn't be safe for him there," Hermione was saying. "And I probably shouldn't go..." She sighed. "Honestly, the pair of you shouldn't even be doing this yourselves. You need to let Kingsley know that you're both working on this case and that it's open and valid."
"There's no time for that, Hermione. They'll come this way tonight or they won't come 'round at all."
"And if they arrive when neither of you are prepared? You don't even know what you're up against. You told me yourself that the magic they used is very strong."
"Hermione, the magic Ron and I can do is very strong."
Hermione's expression took on the all-too familiar 'don't be an idiot' hue when he or Ron were about to attempt something potentially (more like completely) dangerous. "You're not immortal, Harry James Potter."
Harry imagined Hermione's children would cower in terror before that look. Harry'd been facing it since he was eleven and was somehow still standing... and even he still winced a little. He knew he wasn't immortal. He'd faced death and overcome more than once, but even he knew his luck was bound to run out one day. He was more careful that Hermione seemed to think he was, though. He wasn't going to just run out and get blasted by spells at random or unnecessarily risk his life. Who cared if he wasn't married like Ron and Hermione were or any of that? Being single didn't make him stupid.
He sighed, shaking his head to banish the thoughts. "I know I'm not, Hermione. But there's no time to call anyone else in. The charm's been lifted for over an hour and Macmillan's escaped them-"
"Assuming he's not one of them," she interjected.
"Right. But if he isn't, they'll come straight here. At least one of them will."
"Assuming Macmillan really did steal one of their wands."
"Hermione, are you just going to doubt everything he said? He was really beat up. Harry and I think he was telling the truth."
Harry didn't need to actually pay attention to Hermione's next words to know what they were going to be. Yes, injuries could be faked or they could've even been incurred willingly. But Harry remembered Macmillan's wand. He'd been a member of Dumbledore's Army. Harry had taught him how to produce a corporeal Patronus as he had with everyone else and sometimes that required him studying wands.
What Macmillan had apparated with was most definitely not his wand. And no wizard in their right mind would attempt such a thing without their own wand, particularly not someone who published books for a living. He rose and began to pace.
And Ernie was, as Harry recalled, steadfastly loyal. He'd been quite a git, honestly, but loyal. He'd never sold them out, he'd stayed and fought in that battle. He was loyal. He wouldn't have made this pact with Draco, Harry was sure of it, if he'd intended to betray him all along.
Harry went to Draco's desk, found a blank piece of parchment and began to scrawl what he remembered of Macmillan's babbling.
A woman, polyjuice potion, Draco imperiused and not remembering, and a stolen wand. He pieced them together with his own assumptions and frowned slightly. So they'd used Imperio, or had made Ernie do it, on Draco to make him reveal his home, but had wiped his memory afterwards. It was probably then that the polyjuice potion was wearing off, as if the ending of the fidelius charm had taken longer than anticipated. And the one who's wand they now held belonged to the smaller of the captors, the one who was really a woman.
Harry frowned. "Ron, did you remember to grab the wand Ernie had on him?" When Ron didn't answer immediately, Harry tuned in to their conversation. They weren't bickering anymore, they were... being romantic. It was always, and would always be, awkward when Harry heard that. Because Ron was cheesy and Hermione soaked it up like a sponge.
"Oi," he said, louder this time, and nabbed both their attentions. "Did you remember to grab the wand Ernie had on him or not?"
"Course I did. It isn't my first day at this, mate." Ron fished it out of his pocket and tossed it Harry's way. He caught it quickly, studied it. He didn't recognize it, but he was pretty sure he knew someone who might.
"We'll take this to Ollivander's in the morning after we get the fidelius back on the house. He should tell us who it belong to."
Ron grinned widely and Hermione nodded. "Assuming it was sold by him, yes."
And then Ron rolled his eyes. "C'mon, Hermione, do you really have to think that all our ideas'll end up going pear shaped?"
Harry shook his head and started to fold up the parchment when one of the pages on the desk caught his eye.
bodies sliding, twisted together and burning
He flicked his gaze Ron-ward to make sure that he and his wife were still bickering - much more familiar than the shmoop - before shuffling a few pages out of his way so he could better read the one that had caught his attention.
Five minutes later, he was hard as a rock and didn't notice Ron was speaking to him until his partner's hand was being waved in his face. "What?" he asked blankly and realized Hermione had gone. He fought the blush that wanted to seep into his cheeks and kept embarrassment out of his gaze. No need to let Ron know he'd just been reading bloody porn. Godric, Draco had a way with a pen. It wasn't even a whole scene. It was just straight to the point pornography.
"I said I was going to take the first watch. And since we were going to walk out of here with Draco's stuff anyway, you should make dinner."
"What? Why me?"
"Because," Ron replied with a sharp nod and then strode out.
"I'm gay!" Harry called out after him. "That doesn't automatically make me a gourmet chef!" Ron didn't answer, so Harry rolled his eyes and looked back at the porn. When he glanced up again, it was to see Lucius glowering at him and Narcissa smiling at him from the portrait.
Harry fought the blush again and wondered how the hell Draco wrote things like this when his parents could come in at any moment. Extremely grateful for the silencing spell he and Ron had put on the portrait, Harry rose, adjusting his robes to keep certain... situations hidden, and quickly left the room.
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