Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy - Growing Harry - PG-13 - Part Five
Title: Growing Harry (part five)
Pairing: Harry/Draco eventually
Rating: PG-13 for the moment
Summary: Harry has some terrible news and his entire way of life is thrown off balance as he is forced to take responsibility of not just himself. Post-Hogwarts, post-war.
Warnings: Character death but not Harry or Draco, however very integral to the plot
A/N: Thank you to my beta katze_boston
Word Count: 2111
Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four
Part Five
Harry sat across from Draco laughing loudly at something the blonde was saying. It was the weekend after Easter and the warmest that London had seen so far this year. They were sitting in the back garden in Harry’s adopted home, sipping lemonade while the children were playing on the lawn further down in the garden. Harry’s bare feet were propped up on a spare seat which sat between him and Draco and the dark haired wizard couldn’t honestly say when it was he had last felt so relaxed, well, as relaxed as one could feel when one’s best friends had been in the ground for a little more than three weeks.
“I like this,” Draco mused as he sipped on some lemonade and watched the relaxed expression flittering across Harry’s face.
“Like what?” Harry asked as he reached for his own glass of the cool yellow liquid.
“To see you smiling,” Draco watched as Harry stared self-consciously into his glass and blushed.
“Watch yourself Malfoy; you don’t want your old school mates to hear that you’ve turned into a sappy ponce! You being a Slytherin and all that,” Harry poked his tongue out playfully and Draco stared at him scandalised.
“Well you’re not a very good Gryffindor either, are you Potter? Can’t even be gracious enough to accept a nice comment! Aren’t you all supposed to be polite?”
“Chivalry is boring after a while,” Harry grinned.
“You mean you’re not the perfect little hero who’ll come and save me in my hour of need?” Draco teased; he just enjoyed watching the pretty flushes which seemed to adorn Harry’s face every time he was around lately; it was far more attractive than the flush he got back at school when angry.
“This is so strange for me, sitting here talking with you like this,” Harry said, suddenly sounding serious.
“Why is that?” Draco pushed his chair back and slipped off his shoes and put his feet up next to Harry’s on the vacant chair.
“I have such trouble associating you with the boy I loathed so much,” Harry admitted and stared intently at Draco while he waited for some sort of reaction.
“I know, but we all grow up don’t we? We realise we were wrong and all that. What are they called?” Draco snapped his fingers while he waited for the word to come to him. “Epiphanies, that’s it. I had an epiphany and things changed pretty dramatically after that,” Draco smiled.
“And when was this epiphany you speak of?” Harry asked, sounding bemused.
“Seventh year, well, when everyone else was in seventh year. I was home for Christmas, I hadn’t been marked and I was beginning to think very much that I didn’t want to ever be marked. I was just helping Snape who in his own way was planting little seeds of doubt in my mind about Voldemort. It was his very discreet way of telling me what side he was on I suppose,” Draco sighed.
“He never did get right to the point,” Harry smiled amiably. There was never any acidity in his tone anymore when he spoke of Snape, he knew now that he had given up more than anyone for their cause.
“That’s true. Anyway, I hadn’t seen mother and father in a long while and I knew that as soon as I saw him, Dad was going to start on about getting marked, and I was right. We were having dinner on Christmas Eve, around the fancy dinning table we had. He’d been released from prison and could pull enough strings that even if the ministry knew we were in the Manor then they wouldn’t come looking for us,” Draco shook his head and blushed. He hated think about his life back then, about how corrupt the Ministry was, about his parents, about his role in the first year of the war; but he knew he owed it to Harry to explain, just like he had owed it to Hermione and Ron when they’d become friends.
“So we’re sitting around the table that’s covered is covered in more food than I’d seen since Hogwarts and suddenly he brings it up and demands that on Boxing Day I come with him to see Snakeface and get marked. I just sat there listening to him prattle on and on, getting more and more agitated the longer I stared at my brussel sprouts. Suddenly he just jumped up from the table and started screaming at me about my duty as a Malfoy, to him, to our ancestors, and to my mother, who hadn’t said a single word the entire time. She looked almost as sheepish as I felt, and I realised for the first time that my Dad, my father, the man I had always admired was an absolute nut case. His eyes were all bloodshot and his hair was all wild and thin, he looked emaciated and our house was in tatters because none of us had been able to live in it for so long and he was talking to me about honour? Look what had happened to our name, to our ancestral home, to me! All because of what he believed in! It was lying in ruins around us and he couldn’t even see.” Harry nodded and rubbed his foot against Draco’s in reassurance, he knew this must have been hard for him to say and wanted him to know that he was there for him now.
“So finally I stood up from the table; I was taller than him by then. I hadn’t seen him for so long, and the last time I’d stood next to him he stood a good head and shoulders above me. Anyways, I looked down at him, and my face must have shown a look of utter disgust because that’s all I felt for him anymore, disgust. What he’d done to us all was unforgivable and for the first time I really saw him. It wasn’t Voldemort, it was him, he had free will, he could have chosen to leave it all alone but he didn’t. So in any case, I told him that I wasn’t to be marked and he went utterly ape! He staggered from the table; he grabbed my mother and held a wand to her throat. I didn’t know what to do at first. He just kept saying, ‘if you don’t I’ll kill her Draco, I mean it, I’ll kill her,’ and I knew he meant it. He’d killed before, he’d do it again, he didn’t care that she was his wife, and my mother, he was beyond caring. I stared wildly at my mother who was trembling so badly in his arms I thought she might faint. I was so terrified for her, she’s no angel, my mother, but I knew she was always on my side, not the side of some half dead snake and I didn’t want her hurt, so I agreed.” Harry raised an eyebrow waiting for the conclusion of the story.
“I told him that I was just scared and I apologised and smiled. It took every ounce of strength I had in me to smile like that, but I did, and the fool accepted it. It must have been a real fucking shock when he woke up the next morning to find his wife, son and key to the family Gringotts vault missing. Mother and I went to Snape and told him what had happened and he revealed to us what side he was truly on. That’s how I found myself at Order headquarters, and we were given sanctuary there until the end of it all. I never saw my father again. That is the story of my epiphany,” Draco smiled weakly and lifted his glass of lemonade to his lips. His hand shook and the ice in the glass clinked against the sides. Harry sat up and patted Draco’s knee comfortingly.
“You made the right decision,” He reassured.
“I know, but the right decisions have never been the easiest ones,” Draco laughed but there was no humour in his voice. Harry was about to say something more when Hannah and Johnny joined them both at the table, Johnny reclaiming his chair by shoving the older wizards’ feet from it, making them laugh. The kids were both out of breath and gulped down lemonade from their own almost full glasses.
“What are you little monsters up to?” Harry asked as he ruffled Johnny’s hair.
“I saw a rabbit and I was going to chase it!” Johnny said enthusiastically.
“I stopped him! The poor thing was frightened!” Hannah said hotly.
“Well, I think we should go inside, it’s getting late and you’re both back at school tomorrow.” Harry watched as the smiles vanished from their faces. He knew Hermione always took them to school on the first day and made them a really fun lunch. Harry had already planned it all and had popped to the supermarket while Draco had been busy roasting lamb and the children were drawing at the kitchen table.
“Hey guys, it’ll all be alright, I promise,” Harry smiled at Hannah who attempted to smile back but managed more of a grimace. “Right, inside, why don’t you go upstairs with Hannah, Johnny? She’ll start running a bath for you and I’ll be up in a moment to check you’re alright, okay Han’?” Hannah nodded and quietly the two children filed into the house. Harry stretched lazily, revealing a nice strip of honey coloured stomach, Draco noted with appreciation.
“I should really get going,” Draco said reluctantly as he got up to help Harry carry in the pitcher of lemonade and the four glasses. Harry looked at him and frowned.
“Do you want to leave?” He sounded incredibly disappointed and a little hurt.
“No, of course not, I just thought you’d be tied up with the children for the rest of the evening,” Draco said as they wandered back into the kitchen. Harry covered the top of the pitcher in Clingfilm and set it in the fridge while Draco put the four glasses into the sink.
“We’ll probably just watch a DVD or something.”
“A what?” said Draco, drawing a chuckle from Harry.
“A muggle movie, Draco. Surely you’ve mixed with Muggles enough to know what a DVD is?”
“I heard the term but I’ve never really watched one. I’ve been to the pictures a couple of times, though!” Draco sounded incredibly proud of himself and Harry laughed heartily.
“Well, what they do is take the film you’ve seen on the screen and make it so you can watch it at home! Thank goodness Hermione was Muggle born, else I’d have to spend all my time reading.” Draco laughed at the way Harry shuddered and they moved into the living room and plopped down onto the large over-stuffed sofa. Draco stared at the many books in the shelves that flanked the fireplace.
“Where do you watch it then?” Draco asked, he couldn’t see a place for a large screen in the room. Harry smiled and got up from the couch and approached a cabinet Draco hadn’t ever really paid attention to before. Harry opened up the large doors at the front and revealed a television and underneath was a silver box.
“Television and DVD player,” Harry explained. “We’ll wait for the children to come down and choose one,” Harry sat next to Draco and found himself snuggling into his side. He looked up into those grey eyes he had come to like so much over the last week or so and smiled sheepishly as Draco leaned in and brushed their lips together. Draco reached up and cupped Harry’s chin to give himself more control and kissed Harry more deeply. Harry moaned softly into Draco’s mouth as the blonde pushed his tongue into Harry’s. Harry wrapped his arms around Draco’s shoulder and clung to him as they began to kiss passionately. Draco buried a hand into Harry’s black hair and whimpered as Harry sucked on his tongue.
“Uncle Harry! I’m going to get in the bath now!” Johnny shouted from the top of the stairs and Harry pulled back reluctantly from the kiss. They smiled at one another, lust swirling in their eyes. They disentangled themselves and Harry stood from the couch.
“I’m coming up in a second Johnny, go ahead!” Harry shouted up to the boy and turned to Draco. “Don’t go anywhere,” He winked seductively at the blonde before disappearing up the stairs, taking them two at a time.
“Hadn’t planned on it,” Draco smiled to himself and waited for Harry to reappear.
Pairing: Harry/Draco eventually
Rating: PG-13 for the moment
Summary: Harry has some terrible news and his entire way of life is thrown off balance as he is forced to take responsibility of not just himself. Post-Hogwarts, post-war.
Warnings: Character death but not Harry or Draco, however very integral to the plot
A/N: Thank you to my beta katze_boston
Word Count: 2111
Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four
Part Five
Harry sat across from Draco laughing loudly at something the blonde was saying. It was the weekend after Easter and the warmest that London had seen so far this year. They were sitting in the back garden in Harry’s adopted home, sipping lemonade while the children were playing on the lawn further down in the garden. Harry’s bare feet were propped up on a spare seat which sat between him and Draco and the dark haired wizard couldn’t honestly say when it was he had last felt so relaxed, well, as relaxed as one could feel when one’s best friends had been in the ground for a little more than three weeks.
“I like this,” Draco mused as he sipped on some lemonade and watched the relaxed expression flittering across Harry’s face.
“Like what?” Harry asked as he reached for his own glass of the cool yellow liquid.
“To see you smiling,” Draco watched as Harry stared self-consciously into his glass and blushed.
“Watch yourself Malfoy; you don’t want your old school mates to hear that you’ve turned into a sappy ponce! You being a Slytherin and all that,” Harry poked his tongue out playfully and Draco stared at him scandalised.
“Well you’re not a very good Gryffindor either, are you Potter? Can’t even be gracious enough to accept a nice comment! Aren’t you all supposed to be polite?”
“Chivalry is boring after a while,” Harry grinned.
“You mean you’re not the perfect little hero who’ll come and save me in my hour of need?” Draco teased; he just enjoyed watching the pretty flushes which seemed to adorn Harry’s face every time he was around lately; it was far more attractive than the flush he got back at school when angry.
“This is so strange for me, sitting here talking with you like this,” Harry said, suddenly sounding serious.
“Why is that?” Draco pushed his chair back and slipped off his shoes and put his feet up next to Harry’s on the vacant chair.
“I have such trouble associating you with the boy I loathed so much,” Harry admitted and stared intently at Draco while he waited for some sort of reaction.
“I know, but we all grow up don’t we? We realise we were wrong and all that. What are they called?” Draco snapped his fingers while he waited for the word to come to him. “Epiphanies, that’s it. I had an epiphany and things changed pretty dramatically after that,” Draco smiled.
“And when was this epiphany you speak of?” Harry asked, sounding bemused.
“Seventh year, well, when everyone else was in seventh year. I was home for Christmas, I hadn’t been marked and I was beginning to think very much that I didn’t want to ever be marked. I was just helping Snape who in his own way was planting little seeds of doubt in my mind about Voldemort. It was his very discreet way of telling me what side he was on I suppose,” Draco sighed.
“He never did get right to the point,” Harry smiled amiably. There was never any acidity in his tone anymore when he spoke of Snape, he knew now that he had given up more than anyone for their cause.
“That’s true. Anyway, I hadn’t seen mother and father in a long while and I knew that as soon as I saw him, Dad was going to start on about getting marked, and I was right. We were having dinner on Christmas Eve, around the fancy dinning table we had. He’d been released from prison and could pull enough strings that even if the ministry knew we were in the Manor then they wouldn’t come looking for us,” Draco shook his head and blushed. He hated think about his life back then, about how corrupt the Ministry was, about his parents, about his role in the first year of the war; but he knew he owed it to Harry to explain, just like he had owed it to Hermione and Ron when they’d become friends.
“So we’re sitting around the table that’s covered is covered in more food than I’d seen since Hogwarts and suddenly he brings it up and demands that on Boxing Day I come with him to see Snakeface and get marked. I just sat there listening to him prattle on and on, getting more and more agitated the longer I stared at my brussel sprouts. Suddenly he just jumped up from the table and started screaming at me about my duty as a Malfoy, to him, to our ancestors, and to my mother, who hadn’t said a single word the entire time. She looked almost as sheepish as I felt, and I realised for the first time that my Dad, my father, the man I had always admired was an absolute nut case. His eyes were all bloodshot and his hair was all wild and thin, he looked emaciated and our house was in tatters because none of us had been able to live in it for so long and he was talking to me about honour? Look what had happened to our name, to our ancestral home, to me! All because of what he believed in! It was lying in ruins around us and he couldn’t even see.” Harry nodded and rubbed his foot against Draco’s in reassurance, he knew this must have been hard for him to say and wanted him to know that he was there for him now.
“So finally I stood up from the table; I was taller than him by then. I hadn’t seen him for so long, and the last time I’d stood next to him he stood a good head and shoulders above me. Anyways, I looked down at him, and my face must have shown a look of utter disgust because that’s all I felt for him anymore, disgust. What he’d done to us all was unforgivable and for the first time I really saw him. It wasn’t Voldemort, it was him, he had free will, he could have chosen to leave it all alone but he didn’t. So in any case, I told him that I wasn’t to be marked and he went utterly ape! He staggered from the table; he grabbed my mother and held a wand to her throat. I didn’t know what to do at first. He just kept saying, ‘if you don’t I’ll kill her Draco, I mean it, I’ll kill her,’ and I knew he meant it. He’d killed before, he’d do it again, he didn’t care that she was his wife, and my mother, he was beyond caring. I stared wildly at my mother who was trembling so badly in his arms I thought she might faint. I was so terrified for her, she’s no angel, my mother, but I knew she was always on my side, not the side of some half dead snake and I didn’t want her hurt, so I agreed.” Harry raised an eyebrow waiting for the conclusion of the story.
“I told him that I was just scared and I apologised and smiled. It took every ounce of strength I had in me to smile like that, but I did, and the fool accepted it. It must have been a real fucking shock when he woke up the next morning to find his wife, son and key to the family Gringotts vault missing. Mother and I went to Snape and told him what had happened and he revealed to us what side he was truly on. That’s how I found myself at Order headquarters, and we were given sanctuary there until the end of it all. I never saw my father again. That is the story of my epiphany,” Draco smiled weakly and lifted his glass of lemonade to his lips. His hand shook and the ice in the glass clinked against the sides. Harry sat up and patted Draco’s knee comfortingly.
“You made the right decision,” He reassured.
“I know, but the right decisions have never been the easiest ones,” Draco laughed but there was no humour in his voice. Harry was about to say something more when Hannah and Johnny joined them both at the table, Johnny reclaiming his chair by shoving the older wizards’ feet from it, making them laugh. The kids were both out of breath and gulped down lemonade from their own almost full glasses.
“What are you little monsters up to?” Harry asked as he ruffled Johnny’s hair.
“I saw a rabbit and I was going to chase it!” Johnny said enthusiastically.
“I stopped him! The poor thing was frightened!” Hannah said hotly.
“Well, I think we should go inside, it’s getting late and you’re both back at school tomorrow.” Harry watched as the smiles vanished from their faces. He knew Hermione always took them to school on the first day and made them a really fun lunch. Harry had already planned it all and had popped to the supermarket while Draco had been busy roasting lamb and the children were drawing at the kitchen table.
“Hey guys, it’ll all be alright, I promise,” Harry smiled at Hannah who attempted to smile back but managed more of a grimace. “Right, inside, why don’t you go upstairs with Hannah, Johnny? She’ll start running a bath for you and I’ll be up in a moment to check you’re alright, okay Han’?” Hannah nodded and quietly the two children filed into the house. Harry stretched lazily, revealing a nice strip of honey coloured stomach, Draco noted with appreciation.
“I should really get going,” Draco said reluctantly as he got up to help Harry carry in the pitcher of lemonade and the four glasses. Harry looked at him and frowned.
“Do you want to leave?” He sounded incredibly disappointed and a little hurt.
“No, of course not, I just thought you’d be tied up with the children for the rest of the evening,” Draco said as they wandered back into the kitchen. Harry covered the top of the pitcher in Clingfilm and set it in the fridge while Draco put the four glasses into the sink.
“We’ll probably just watch a DVD or something.”
“A what?” said Draco, drawing a chuckle from Harry.
“A muggle movie, Draco. Surely you’ve mixed with Muggles enough to know what a DVD is?”
“I heard the term but I’ve never really watched one. I’ve been to the pictures a couple of times, though!” Draco sounded incredibly proud of himself and Harry laughed heartily.
“Well, what they do is take the film you’ve seen on the screen and make it so you can watch it at home! Thank goodness Hermione was Muggle born, else I’d have to spend all my time reading.” Draco laughed at the way Harry shuddered and they moved into the living room and plopped down onto the large over-stuffed sofa. Draco stared at the many books in the shelves that flanked the fireplace.
“Where do you watch it then?” Draco asked, he couldn’t see a place for a large screen in the room. Harry smiled and got up from the couch and approached a cabinet Draco hadn’t ever really paid attention to before. Harry opened up the large doors at the front and revealed a television and underneath was a silver box.
“Television and DVD player,” Harry explained. “We’ll wait for the children to come down and choose one,” Harry sat next to Draco and found himself snuggling into his side. He looked up into those grey eyes he had come to like so much over the last week or so and smiled sheepishly as Draco leaned in and brushed their lips together. Draco reached up and cupped Harry’s chin to give himself more control and kissed Harry more deeply. Harry moaned softly into Draco’s mouth as the blonde pushed his tongue into Harry’s. Harry wrapped his arms around Draco’s shoulder and clung to him as they began to kiss passionately. Draco buried a hand into Harry’s black hair and whimpered as Harry sucked on his tongue.
“Uncle Harry! I’m going to get in the bath now!” Johnny shouted from the top of the stairs and Harry pulled back reluctantly from the kiss. They smiled at one another, lust swirling in their eyes. They disentangled themselves and Harry stood from the couch.
“I’m coming up in a second Johnny, go ahead!” Harry shouted up to the boy and turned to Draco. “Don’t go anywhere,” He winked seductively at the blonde before disappearing up the stairs, taking them two at a time.
“Hadn’t planned on it,” Draco smiled to himself and waited for Harry to reappear.