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Chapter Text

Friday, March 7th, 2008

Harry was actually early for once, to pick up his godson, Teddy, from his wizarding primary school. Andromeda had already left for the weekend to visit Ted Senior’s mother. Who had been in and out of the muggle hospital for the past six months. Meaning, that Teddy was staying with Harry on the weekends for the foreseeable future, which of course, Harry never minded. The more time he got with Teddy the better.

When he arrived, he was told that the students were still out on the playground. So, Harry volunteers to find Teddy himself.

It was a nice spring day, and everyone was enjoying the sunny weather while it lasted. Harry made his way through the building without getting stopped. Teddy had been going to the same school for over five years now since he was only four years old. Therefore, all the staff knew Harry and didn’t bother him for autographs or pictures. It had been just under ten years since he’d defeated Voldemort but he still couldn’t quite shake his celebrity status. No matter how much he wished he could.

While he was scanning the playground looking for Teddy, he noticed two boys, close to Teddy’s age, taunting and shoving a smaller boy. The boy couldn’t have been older than six or seven and he had almost white, pale blonde hair. There was no question in Harry’s mind whose child they were. He was the spitting image of his father.

Harry heard rumors that Malfoy had been married and had a son shortly after the war, but he had never seen the boy himself. Harry looked around for a teacher, to draw their attention to the situation but there weren’t any near. They were all at the other end of the schoolyard trying to wrangle some of the younger students back inside to get ready for pick up. Harry had never been one to stand for bullying even if it was, the son of his own childhood bully. Harry strode over to the group and stopped just behind the older boys.

“Hello boys, is there a problem over here?” Harry said in the voice he used with the more troublesome kids at the community center.

The blonde boy just stared at Harry with a blank expression and said nothing. On the other hand, the older boys quickly turned around, looking up at Harry. Their mouths dropped open, as they gaped at him for a moment. Finally, the shorter of the two finally spoke after several seconds had passed.

“Hello Mr. Potter!” The boy said, plastering on an innocent smile.

“Wow! It’s nice to meet you, sir!” The taller boy said excitedly.

“It might have been nice to meet you if you weren’t picking on this younger boy.” Harry nodded to the blonde, who seemed to shrink and started staring at his shoes, as he shuffled his feet.

“But, Mr. Potter….” The taller boy started.

“His dad was a death eater!” The shorter of the two blurted out. Harry narrowed his eyes at them.

“It shouldn’t matter who his father is or was during the war. That was almost ten years ago. Before he was even born.” Harry nodded his head at the blonde again. He paused looking between the boys.

“Has this boy ever done anything to harm or insult either of you in any way?” Harry fixed the older boys with a stern look and when they didn’t answer, Harry went on. “That’s what I thought… You should never treat someone differently just because of who their family is… Now, I never want to see either of you picking on him or any other kid, ever again. Do you both understand me?”

“Yes sir.” The boys said in unison and hung their heads, looking ashamed. Harry was fairly certain they were mostly just embarrassed that they were being scolded by Harry Potter rather than actually feeling any regret for their actions, but it was a start at least.

“Good. Make sure you remember it! I’m going to have a word with the teachers and I will be following up with them to make sure you keep your word.” Harry gave them both another stern look, then nodded for them to leave. Which they did, practically tripping over each other to scramble away.

Harry watched them run off back into the building for a moment before turning back to the younger blonde boy. He stepped forward before crouching down in front of him.

“Are you alright? Did they hurt you?” Harry asked the boy, who still wouldn’t meet his eyes.

“I’m fine.” The boy mumbled still shuffling his feet, before he seemed to find his courage and looked up. Now that Harry finally got a good look at the boy, it was like looking at a slightly younger version of Malfoy at eleven. Sharp features, almost as pale as a ghost, and startling silver-grey eyes.

“My papa did bad things during the war so they push me down and call me names sometimes.” The boy paused, then continued. “I used to tell the teachers but they don’t care that much. Papa told me it’s all his fault, and I should ignore them. He said they would get bored and stop after a while. But I guess they haven’t got bored yet.” Harry felt the blood rush to his ears as his blood pressure started to boil over. No matter what Malfoy had done, this boy in front of him was just a child. Harry also had a hard time picturing the Malfoy he knew telling his son to do nothing in the face of bullies.

“Well, I will have a word with the teachers about that. I’ll go to the director if I have to. Okay?” Harry said. The boy gave him a small smile. “And you know, your dad may have done some bad things but he was still just a scared kid. We all were. Even me, so don’t let anyone bully you for something your father did as a teenager. Alright?”

At this, the boy flung himself onto Harry, hugging him around the neck and almost knocking him back onto his arse. Harry laughed and hugged the kid back. Again, Harry was having a hard time reconciling the boy in front of him with the image he had of Malfoy in his head.

This boy seemed sweet and open whereas the Draco Malfoy, Harry had always known was sharp and guarded. Maybe it was the lack of a looming war or maybe it was just the lack of Lucius as a father.

Harry knew that Draco had tried to make amends after the war. Draco had worked with the Ministry to locate missing Death Eaters and their safehouses shortly afterward in exchange for no time in Azkaban. Harry had even spoken for him and his mother at their trials but after that, he hadn’t had much contact with Malfoy. Other than a perfunctory hello at a few events over the years.

Harry did send a letter to Narcissa every May 2nd. After the first year, when she’d replied with a fourteen-page apology on behalf of herself and Draco, her replies had always been polite but fairly short. She rarely mentioned anything about her son or grandson. Harry wasn’t even sure where they were living now. Since the Manor, along with a good chunk of their gold, had been seized shortly after Lucius’s trial. Who had immediately been sent to Azkaban. It wasn’t long after, that news broke that Narcissa had filed for divorce.

“Thank you, Mr. Potter, dad always said you were a nice man who helped people.” Harry couldn’t help but smirk at that. Imaging Malfoy ever saying anything so nice about Harry was a weird thought. But Harry just chuckled as the kid pulled out of the hug looking shy again.

“What’s your name kid?” Harry asked.

“Scorpius.” Said a voice behind them, that Harry would have recognized anywhere.

Harry and Scorpius both looked around to see Draco Malfoy standing only a few feet away with his arms crossed across his chest, and one perfect blonde eyebrow raised. Malfoy looked exactly like Harry remembered, only slightly less juvenile. He was still tall, with sharp chiseled cheekbones and jawline, but he seemed to grow into himself where he used to be a bit lanky. He looked like he was now made of lean muscle and oddly solid. He was wearing a perfectly cut, dark navy, muggle suit with brown polished oxfords. The suit didn’t look quite as expensive as Harry would have expected but it certainly showed off his lithe figure. Malfoy looked good, Harry couldn’t help but think, but just as quickly shook the thought from his mind.

“Papa!” Scorpius squealed, running over to his father and hugging him around the waist, while Harry stood up to face him. Malfoy had a broad smile on his face as he looked down at his son and hugged him back. Harry didn’t know if he’d ever seen Malfoy smile so openly. It was oddly pleasant, and a nice change of pace from his signature sneer.

“Potter.” Malfoy said as he looked back at Harry. The smile quickly slid off his face, being replaced with a mask of indifference. He gave Harry a nod. Scorpius seemed to grow shy again and stood slightly behind his father now.

“Malfoy. I was just talking to Scorpius. Apparently, he’s been having problems with a couple of the older students. They were picking on him when I arrived.” Malfoy glanced down at his son as a troubled look took over his features.

“Hm, yes. I’ve heard.” Malfoy said but seemed reluctant to say more.

“Scorpius said the teachers don’t seem to care. Is that true?” Harry asked.

“Well, the director didn’t think it was that big of an issue. ‘All kids get picked on’, or some rubbish like that. She also informed me, in not so many words, that I was lucky Scorpius even got into the program in the first place.” Malfoy gave him a false smile and shrugged one of his shoulders.

“That’s bull shit!” Harry blurted out. “Um, sorry Scorpius.” But Scorpius didn’t seem all that bothered. He was hiding a laugh behind his hand. “I just mean, they shouldn’t be letting any kids get bullied.” Malfoy just raised an eyebrow at him. The irony that Harry was standing up for the son of his own school bully seemed not to be lost on either of them.

“Still have that savior complex I see, Potter.” Malfoy smirked at him. Harry just rolled his eyes.

“Oh, shove it Malfoy! Kids shouldn’t get picked on for who their parents are… Or at all for that matter!” Harry said with a bit of a bite. Malfoy looked thoroughly taken aback and Harry couldn’t help but love it. Even after all these years, getting one up on Malfoy was still fun. “I’m going to have a word with the director. If she doesn’t think bullying is an issue, I’ll tell her that Teddy will be going somewhere else.”

Malfoy just blinked at him for a moment seemingly stunned, then furrowed his brows. “I thought you didn’t have any children, Potter?”

“Oh…I don’t. Teddy’s my godson. Andromeda’s grandson?” Harry gave him a questioning look. Malfoy seemed to catch on and nodded. “He’s technically your cousin, right?” Harry thought out loud.

“Yes, well… Andromeda doesn’t have anything to do with us.” Malfoy said stony-faced.

“Harry! There you are!” Teddy came bounding up at that moment, neon green hair and all. He stopped short when he noticed who Harry was standing with. “Oh, er… Hello Scorpius. Mr. Malfoy.” Teddy said politely then looked to Harry seemingly to try and get a clue as to what was going on.

“You know Scorpius then?” Harry asked. Teddy nodded in response. “Did you know he’s your cousin?” Teddy nodded again, but his mouth turned to a thin line. There was obviously something he didn’t want to say in front of Scorpius and Malfoy. Harry could only imagine what Andromeda would have to say about her sister and nephew. “Did you know he was getting picked on?”

Teddy shuffled his feet, looking completely uncomfortable, but nodded for the third time before mumbling “Yes, sir.” He looked thoroughly sheepish now.

“Right.” Harry said sharply giving his godson a disapproving look.

Harry turned back to look at Scorpius. Malfoy put a protective hand on his shoulder, but Harry just crouched down in front of him again anyway, ignoring the older blonde for the moment. “I usually pick up Teddy on Tuesdays and Fridays. You let me know if those boys or anyone else for that matter, pick on you again. Alright?”

Scorpius looked nervously up at his father, who just squeezed his shoulder. Scorpius turned back to Harry and with a small voice said. “Alright.”

“I try to pick him up early. I like to avoid the crowds. I’m sure you can understand.” Malfoy said. “But thank you for the offer though. You don’t have to trouble yourself.”

Harry looked up from where he was still crouching, meeting Malfoy’s eyes. “No trouble at all.” Harry smiled at him and then looked back at Scorpius. “It was nice to meet you Scorpius. I’ll make sure I’m early for pickups so you can come find me if anyone bothers you or if you just want to come say hi.” To Harry’s surprise, the boy let go of his father and threw himself at Harry again, hugging him around the neck. When Scorpius let go of him, Harry stood up and stuck out his hand. Malfoy looked between Harry‘s outstretched hand and his face twice before he took it and gave it a quick shake.

“Thank you, Mr. Potter.” Scorpius said, smiling up at him.

“Please, call me Harry.” Harry smiled down at Scorpius, who was beaming now.

“Alright, come on Scorpius. Your grandmother is waiting in the car.” Malfoy said taking Scorpius’s hand. He looked at Harry with an unreadable expression. “Thanks, Potter.” With that Malfoy and Scorpius walked away hand in hand. Scorpius looked back at Harry smiling just as they rounded the corner. Harry couldn’t help but think ‘Did Malfoy just say car? Like a muggle car?’

“Ready Teddy?” Harry turned to look at Teddy, who looked thoroughly confused. “I need to stop by the director’s office first. Do you have everything?”

“My backpack is inside.” Teddy said. “Am I in trouble Harry?” Teddy was still looking a bit unsure from earlier.

“No, of course not Tedward. Go grab your bag and I’ll meet you by the Floos. I shouldn’t be too long.”

The conversation with the director got a bit heated for a moment. He had stormed into her office unannounced in her defense, but all his leniency was gone when she tried to play it off like it wasn’t a big deal. She tried to say that children of death eaters would have to deal with that sort of attitude their whole lives and there simply wasn’t a way to stop it completely. She quickly changed her tune when he threatened to pull Teddy from the school, stop all personal donations, and remove all the community center’s free advertisements. He was baffled that he had to explain to a grown woman that bullying for any reason was unacceptable.

Harry also informed her that he would be checking in with the Malfoys regularly and if he heard that there was another incident, he would be involved personally. He didn’t often pull the Harry Potter, Boy Who Lived Twice, Co-Founder of The Black Lily Community Center, and Savior of the Wizarding World, card, but he felt it was for a worthy cause this time. Helping out kids in need, was one of the biggest reasons he and Hermione had started the Community Center in the first place.

Once Harry and Teddy had made it back to Grimmauld Place, Teddy headed up to his room to do homework. At the same time, Harry went to the kitchen to help Kreacher with dinner. Harry had freed Kreacher just after the war but he had flat-out refused to leave Harry or Grimmauld Place. Harry had at least convinced him to move into an actual room upstairs instead of living in the cupboard. Even though he usually slept in the closet on a pile of blankets anyway. Harry worked it out so Kreacher had a couple of days off a week and was paid a monthly wage. Although Harry was fairly certain Kreacher just had all his gallons stuffed in his wardrobe with his collection of Black family heirlooms, and on his days off he would just mill about the house, same as always.

“Good evening Kreacher.” Harry said, giving the old elf a warm smile.

“Good evening, Master Harry.” Try as he might Harry still couldn’t get Kreacher to call him just Harry.

“What are you making?” Harry asked looking into the pot that was simmering on the stove. It looked like some kind of tomato sauce.

“Spaghetti Bolognese. It's Young Master Teddy’s favorite.” Kreacher said in an annoyed tone. Even though so much had changed, Kreacher was still a grumpy old elf in the end.

“Do you need any help?”

“I never need any help.” Kreacher grumbled. “I’m not so old, that I need to be hung on the wall yet,” Kreacher said a few more things under his breath that Harry couldn’t quite make out. He also couldn’t help chuckling a bit.

“Right. I’ll just set the table then, shall I?” Harry asked. Kreacher didn’t reply to this. He just harrumphed at Harry.

Once the table was set and the pasta done, Kreacher apparated up to Teddy’s room, to tell him dinner was ready. Harry could never convince Kreacher to eat with them, but Harry considered it a win that Kreacher at least let Harry help him with dinner most nights. He didn’t want to push the old elf too far. Hermione had spent the first few years trying to convince him to take a holiday or retire. Ever since then, her tea always seemed to be just a tad too cold whenever he made it for her. She always had to use a warming charm on it. Harry was very fond of the way Kreacher made his tea just right every time, and didn’t want to risk it.

Harry let Teddy ramble on about his school week and everything that had happened to him in the few days since Harry had picked him up on Tuesday. He asked Harry about the weekend quidditch camp, which starts in two weeks. Teddy had been to every quidditch camp the community center had since it opened six years ago, and he was always the best flier there. After that, he’d chattered on a bit more about some silly thing he and his friends had done before Harry finally asked him a question.

“Teddy, do you hang out with those boys that were picking on Scorpius at all?” Harry tried not to sound accusatory. He didn’t want Teddy to think he was in trouble and couldn’t talk to Harry about things.

“Um, not really. They aren’t very nice. They tried to be friends with me once. After they saw you picking me up but they’ve been mean to Natalie before so I told them I didn’t want to play with them.” Teddy looked at Harry questioningly.

“Okay good, and you don’t pick on Scorpius, do you?” Harry asked.

“NO!” Teddy immediately blurted out, then looked down and said to his mostly empty plate. “But…um… Gran says I shouldn’t talk to him.” Teddy looked back up at Harry. “But Tammy said he’s nice. She sometimes talks with him because usually he just sits and reads by himself. None of the other kids want to play with him. They um… they’ll call him names and stuff.”

“Okay. I’ll talk to your gran about it, but I want you to let me know if you notice that he’s still getting bullied. If you see anything make sure you tell a teacher right away. Okay?” Harry said, giving Teddy a reassuring smile.

The rest of the weekend passed like any other. Teddy and Harry went to breakfast on Saturday morning at Harry’s favorite muggle dinner. They went flying around the back garden and watched far too much muggle television. When Andromeda showed up on Sunday afternoon, he and Teddy were still in their pajamas. It worked out for Harry because he wanted a chance to talk to Andromeda alone. So, he told Teddy to go upstairs, change and pack, in hopes that would be enough time. He asked about how Ted’s mother was doing. Andi told him it was getting worse, like the last couple of months and she probably wouldn’t be around much longer. He then tried to ease into what he guessed would be an uncomfortable conversation.

“So, you know that Teddy’s cousin goes to the same school as him?” Harry tried to sound casual, but Andromeda narrowed her eyes at him.

“Narcissa’s grandson, yes.” Andi replied. Her stare started to get a bit icier.

“Well… he’s getting bullied, and when I asked Teddy about it, he said you told him not to talk to Scorpius.” Harry gave her a questioning look and, asked. “Why did you tell Teddy to stay away from him?” Andromeda stared at him in stunned silence for a moment as he saw the rage building behind her eyes.

“What do you mean, why did I tell him to stay away from that boy?” She practically spat back at Harry.

“Have you even seen him? Spoken to him?” Harry asked crossing his arms. When she didn’t reply, she just continued to glare at him. He went on. “I met him Friday. He’s a sweet kid. Teddy also told me that his friends think Scorpius is nice as well, and from what I can tell, he could use some friends. Scorpius isn’t Draco. The war is over for Merlin’s sake.” Harry tried to reason.

“Harry James Potter, don’t you dare try to lecture me. I don’t want my grandson associating with that… that…”

“That what?” Harry cut her off. “Child, because that’s what he is Andi. He’s an innocent child. Like half of us who fought in the bloody war. Like Draco was!” Harry started raising his voice and took a deep breath to calm himself.

“Yes, well, Draco might have been a teenager but he still took the Dark Mark. He wasn’t innocent, and my sister was definitely no child!” Andi was now red in the face. Harry couldn’t really argue with that. Draco and Narcissa had certainly done some awful things in the past, but Harry was worried about Scorpius. He couldn’t help but think of another boy long ago who was constantly bullied and didn’t have any friends. He didn’t want that fate for Scorpius.

“Have you even talked to your sister in the past ten years?” Harry asked, raising an eyebrow, but Harry said before she could answer with the obvious no. “Because I have. I write to her every year. She was only a teenager when she was forced to marry Lucius. You and Sirius got out, but have you ever thought that maybe she and others like her just didn’t have the right friends to help them out? Maybe, we could ensure Scorpius grows up with the right friends.” Harry put up his hand when Andi looked like she was about to argue. “Just hear me out. He’s a kid. He is Teddy’s cousin whether you like it or not. The war is over Andi. If we can’t move on from old grudges, history is only going to repeat itself.”

“The war may be over but nothing can ever bring back my husband… or my daughter and her husband. Nothing! And those people are part of the reason they’re gone.” Andi’s voice cracked, and Harry reacted instantly. He pulled her into a tight hug, smoothing her hair. They stood there like that for several minutes. Andromeda softly cried into his chest and Harry comforting her.

“They’re kids Andi. We can’t change the past but we can try and make things better going forward. I’ll respect your decision. Teddy’s your grandson and you know I’ll honor whatever you decide, but just think about it… For me. Okay?” Harry whispered into the top of her head. She nodded her head still, against his chest. “He’s a sweet kid, Andi. You wouldn’t have to deal with Draco or Narcissa. You could just let them talk at school; if Teddy wanted, they could hang out here. You’d never even have to see any of them.”

She pulled out of the hug and wiped her eyes. “I’ll think about it, Harry. I can’t make any promises.” She seemed to be searching his expression for something when Teddy came bounding down the stairs.

“Got everything?” Andi asked. Her voice still sounded a little thick but not enough that he thought Teddy would notice. He hadn’t known how this talk was going to go, but he hadn’t counted on making her cry. Almost everyone had lost at least one person in the war, and Harry knew from experience, that sometimes grief could rear its ugly head out of nowhere. It happened less as time went on but it was still always there, just under the surface. Waiting.

“Yes ma’am.” Teddy said then turned to Harry. “Bye Harry. See you Tuesday.” Teddy hugged Harry’s waist. Harry hugged him back and ruffled his now bright pink hair.

“See you Tuesday.” Andi said giving him a small smile. He hated that he’d upset her. He’d only been trying to help. Sometimes he was an expert at sticking his foot in his mouth. He reached out, pulled her into another hug, and whispered ‘sorry’ in her ear. “Don’t be silly. It’s fine.” She whispered back and with that, they gathered up Teddy’s bags and left through the sitting room’s Floo.