Harry arrived out of the Floo at dinner time. Albus looked over at him worriedly. He had heard the Howler from his Mum. Heck, everyone in the house had heard it. But his dad looked okay. They must have worked it out. Sometimes he felt sad about his Mum and sometimes a little angry at his Dad for the way things turned out. He even felt guilty about liking Mr. Malfoy so much. But in the end, when he looked at it logically, he couldn't see how it could be any other way. He supposed he and Lily were the calm ones in the family. At least James wasn't being such an arsehole anymore.

They sat down to dinner: Harry, Draco, Albus, and Scorpius. It was a more subdued dinner but still all right. And at the end of it, Draco and Harry looked at each other in that sappy way they had. Albus rolled his eyes, commiserating silently with Scorpius who looked equally ill at ease. After dinner, he and Scorp escaped upstairs to play exploding snap when they heard their fathers go to their room and shut the door. But it wasn't long until they began to hear noises and then voices.


Oh, God, Harry!
Daddy's gonna give it to you hard.
Oh yes! Oh yes! Want it hard and deep!
I'm going to give it to you the way you like it.
Oh Daddy!
Oh! How's that, baby? How's that?
Harry! I'm...I'm close!
Come on me, baby! Come all over me!

And then there was one long, protracted howl.

Open-mouthed, Scorpius looked at Albus and Albus stared at his friend. Suddenly, the two of them burst out laughing.

"Oh. My. GAWD!" squealed Albus. "I've never heard anything so awful in all my life!"

"Merlin's pants! I've never heard my father use that tone of voice," choked Scorpius.

"I never want to hear it again!" Albus aimed his wand at their door and muttered a spell to muffle sounds outside. "Holy crap, Scorp! Do all parents sound like that in bed?"

He shrugged. "I never knew. Never thought about it."

They settled down and sighed. Albus looked at his friend. "When Dad first told us, I began to wonder if...you know. Maybe I would be, too. Gay and not know it."

"Me, too," said Scorpius, seriously. "But I don't think I am. I mean, I like girls. I think they're pretty."

"Me, too. Sort of. I mean, I don't want to be kissing anyone right now. Do you?"

Scorpius reddened. "No."

"Liar!" Albus scooted closer. "Who are you thinking about kissing?"

"No one," he said in a tone that clearly proved he was lying.

"Who? Come on. Tell me."

"You promise not to tell anyone, living or dead?"

Albus nodded eagerly. "I promise. Who?"

"Well...it's...it's Rose. Rose Weasley."

"What? My cousin? Eww!"

"She's not my cousin. I think she's cute. But she won't look twice at me." He said it unhappily. Albus didn't want his friend to be unhappy.

"I could introduce you," he said.

"No! Then everyone would think I liked her."

"But you do!"

"But I don't want anyone to know, least of all her!"

"But what if she likes you back?"

"She doesn't. I'm a Slytherin. I heard her talking about Slytherins one day." He shook his head miserably. "She doesn't like me."

"Well, one only has to look at our fathers to see that nothing stays the same. I bet someday she'll like you." Scorpius still looked miserable when Albus scooted even closer. "Then she'll say, 'Oh Scorpius! Oh baby. Kiss me like that, yeah!'"

Scorpius looked up with a horrified expression.

"She'll get all lovey and say all those awful things."

Scorpius' face froze for a second before he burst out laughing again. The two rolled on the floor wrestling, and after a while, they got out their bag of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes to see what they could do with them.

* * *

The next morning at breakfast they kept looking at one another and giggling.

Exasperated, Draco set down his coffee cup onto the saucer with a clank. "What is wrong with you two? What is so darned funny?"

"Nothing, Father," said Scorpius, straightening his face.

"I think you two forgot to do something last night," said Albus, repressing a snicker.

Scorpius looked at him aghast and kicked him under the table. But Albus knew this would be good. "You know, it's a sign of old age to become forgetful."

"Oh?" said his father with a glint in his eye. He smirked and continued buttering his toast. "And just what is it we forgot to do?"

"You two should really remember to put up a Silencing Charm on your room at night."

Albus waited. Harry and Draco froze and slowly looked at one another. Suddenly both their faces flushed with a horrified blush. They stared down at their plates and no one else for the rest of the meal.

Albus chuckled to himself. Priceless.

* * *

It had been a fun two weeks at the London house, but Albus had to go back to Godric's Hollow. It would be nice to see Mum but he worried she would be sad and weepy. At least he had Scorpius for another week there. On their last night, they were all invited to Malfoy Manor for dinner. Scorpius was excited to see his grandparents, but Albus was a bit nervous going to such a grand place.

"Don't worry," said Scorpius, shrugging on his dress robes. "Grandfather and Grandmother will like you."

"I don't see why," he muttered. After the Big Detention, Albus had made it his job to find out about the Malfoys. It seemed he couldn't discover anything about them without his dad also being intimately involved. No wonder Dad and Draco got together after all these years. It seemed sort of inevitable. In a kind of gross way.

Even if Draco had been a reluctant Death Eater, Lucius Malfoy was not so much. He was the genuine article. And Albus was a little scared to meet him. He would never admit that to his friend, but it was there nonetheless.

They Flooed over and Albus stared open-mouthed at his surroundings. The place was HUGE! It was like the Ministry only it was a house. There was marble all over the place and sculptures and paintings of stern-faced witches and wizards, and house-elves kept popping in all over the place, not the same one twice.

Scorpius was rich!

"I never knew you had this much money," whispered Albus to his friend. "You're buying the sweets on the Hogwarts Express from now on!"

Scorpius merely smirked. He looked a lot like his father when he did that.

They walked into a room that was clearly a library. It seemed to have more books than Hogwarts did and Albus repressed the urge to whistle. A good thing, because Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy walked in at that moment.

Lucius Malfoy was very tall. He had a look about him that seemed to imply that everything that was not him or his was beneath him. Albus instantly disliked him, especially remembering the things he had read the man did to his dad.

Narcissa, on the other hand, was difficult to fathom. When she saw Scorpius and Draco, her face immediately became animated and beautiful. But before that, she looked as if she was smelling something unpleasant.

Albus noticed his dad physically stiffen when they came into the room.

"Welcome, Mr. Potter," said Lucius Malfoy. His eyes swiveled toward Albus. "And...Mr. Potter."

Harry cleared his throat. "This is my youngest son, Albus."

"Charmed," said Lucius, who looked nothing of the sort. "Youngest? Oh that's right. You have...several."

"An older boy-he's thirteen-and a daughter, nine."

"Quite the brood." His attention flickered away and landed on Scorpius. He, too, brightened upon seeing his grandson. "Scorpius. Have you been enjoying your summer?"

"Oh, yes, Grandfather. I've been spending it with Albus. We've been having a great time."

"I see. Perhaps you would like to give your little friend a tour of the manor while we talk with the adults."

Albus sensed this was more of an order than a suggestion. And Scorpius was on it immediately. They hadn't gotten far up the stairs when the loud voices began. He and Scorp looked at one another and straight away crept back down the stairs. Albus took out a pair of Extendable Ears and fed it through the crack in the doors.

"I see by the Daily Prophet that the two of you are...engaged?" said Lucius in a tone that indicated he was less than pleased.

"Father, we came tonight to tell you-"

"Why must all the most important details of your life, Draco, be told to us in the public eye!"

"Hey," said Harry. "You're the one who gave your 'blessing' should we decide to get married. And now that we are you're suddenly pissed? Make up your bloody mind!"

"I don't think that tone is necessary, Mr. Potter," said Narcissa coolly.

"Of course it is. You're husband is being an absolute prick and I won't have it."

"May I remind you," said Lucius, "that you are a guest in my house."

"Yeah, I remember being a guest in your house. Many years ago. I didn't much like it then, either."

Lucius made a strangled sound. "The Dark Lord had commandeered our home for his own purposes!" he sputtered. "You know that very well-"

"And you were just chomping at the bit to deliver me to him, weren't you?"

"Dammit!" yelled Draco. "This is insane! Do we have to rehash something that happened twenty years ago?"

Everyone fell sullenly silent.

Narcissa finally cleared her throat. "The damage is done. And now we are joining both our houses. I think we must move on from the past and plan the future. Draco, have you decided any wedding plans?"

"Er...we...we wanted a Christmas wedding. Before or after. You know."

"And guests? Have you considered this?"

"Um...no. We've only just-"

"Mrs. Malfoy," said Harry softly. "Perhaps you would consider planning the wedding for us. That is, if you want to. Draco and I would be pants at this sort of thing."

"Speak for yourself, Potter," came Draco's mumbled reply.

But there seemed to be delight in Narcissa's voice. "What a wonderful suggestion, Mr. Potter. Have you chosen groomsmen?"

"Scorpius wants to be my best man," said Draco proudly. "And Harry's eldest James will be his. We've already got the rings. As...as you already know."

"Yes," said Lucius.

"Then it's settled. Mr. Potter, do please supply me with a list of preferred guests. May I suggest we have the ceremony here? It is quite private and can accommodate many guests."

"It will probably be a small wedding," said Harry, his voice less than composed.

"Nevertheless," said Narcissa. "Even a small wedding will be wonderful here. A lovely warming charm in the snow near the gazebo or an intimate dinner in the downstairs ballroom."

"Is there an upstairs ballroom?" asked Albus, turning to his friend.

Scorpius looked at him as if the question were stupid. "Of course."

They reeled in their Extendable Ear and pondered the conversation. "They have a lot of history," said Scorpius finally.

"Yeah," said Albus, almost embarrassed.

"Is it all really in Hogwarts: A History?"

"And loads of other books."

"My family doesn't come off too well, do they?"

"Well...that was a long time ago."

Scorpius walked thoughtfully across the foyer. "I know what people say behind my back. I heard it the moment I arrived at Hogwarts, the moment the deputy headmaster called my name for the Sorting Hat." He pivoted and his grey eyes fixed on Albus. "Why did you want to be my friend?"

Scorpius looked uncomfortable and a little lost. Albus didn't like that expression on Scorpius. It made him look hard and cold. "We were partnered in Potions, remember? You seemed all right to me. And you seemed to know what you were doing. More than I did." He smiled crookedly before that smile faded. "Why did you want to be my friend?"

"My father encouraged me to make friends outside my house. You were the only one who was even remotely nice to me."

"Really?" Albus felt his stomach do a flip. "My dad always told me to trust my instincts and not take things at face value. I guess I never really knew what that meant before. You were a Slytherin but I was scared that I'd be sorted into Slytherin."

"Why?" Scorp's tone was edgy but still curious.

"Well...you know. You hear things. Voldemort was a Slytherin."

"So was Severus Snape and you're named after him."

"I know. Dad said he was the bravest man he ever knew."

"So why were you afraid?"

Albus shrugged. It seemed stupid now and he felt his face burn with embarrassment. "I just thought-"

"You'd turn evil?" he snorted. Scorpius wasn't smiling. He had obviously heard it all, too.

"Not exactly. It was that I wouldn't fit in. That I wasn't...you know. Clever enough."

Scorpius' serious expression opened into a smile. "Weren't clever enough. Only you would worry about that." He walked over and put his arm around Albus' shoulders. "You're damned clever, you know. And you have all that dorky Gryffindor bravery. I don't know what you're worried about."

Albus felt a burst of camaraderie in his heart for his friend. He smiled sheepishly. "Get your hand off!"

Scorpius stepped back and laughed.

* * *

If before dinner was strained, dinner itself could be cut with a Diffindo. There was very little conversation. Most of it was between Narcissa and Draco.

Near the end of the meal when pudding was served, Lucius turned to Albus, who froze in place with that implacable stare.

"Albus Potter, you are friends with my grandson."

"Y-yes, sir."

"I commend you on your choice. A Slytherin can be a most exceptional ally."

"Ally?"

But Lucius Malfoy did not elaborate. His gaze swept away from Albus and the boy felt as if he were dismissed.

After pudding they retired to the library for more strained chat until his father finally suggested that they leave. Albus was first to the Floo.

That night, he and Scorpius talked late. It was their last night together in the London House and Scorpius wanted to know what to expect at Godric's Hollow.

"Mum is really fun. She'll probably challenge us to Quidditch. She's really good. Not as good as my dad, but she'll beat us. Lily is even better than me. But I'll hex you if you tell her that."

"Is it nice having brothers and sisters?"

"Well...I don't know if it's nice exactly. James can be a pain. He's always teasing me. Sometimes I really hate him. And Lily whines a lot though she's better now that she's older. She'll be going to Hogwarts in a year. I guess at Christmas and stuff it's fun. We get a lot of family to come then."

"The Weasleys, you mean?"

"Yeah. Everyone comes over and then we all go over to Nana and Papa Weasley's."

"Who are they?"

"My grandparents, stupid. It's in Ottery St. Catchpole."

"That's a Wizarding village, isn't it?"

"Just like Godric's Hollow. Only it's sort of both."

"I've never been. I've only been to Hogsmeade."

"It's fun."

"So...with this wedding being at Christmas, will Rose be there, do you think?"

"Probably...Oh. Yeah. You're sweetheart will be there."

"Shut up!"

Albus smiled and batted his eyes. "Then maybe you can kiss her under the mistletoe."

"There won't be mistletoe there...will there?" His tone was hopeful.

Albus laughed but sobered quickly. "Say Scorp. What do you really think of this wedding? Don't you think it's kind of...well. Gross?"

"They already live together."

"And do stuff," said Albus, remembering the night his dad forgot to use the Silencing Charm. He shivered thinking of it.

"So I guess it's okay," said Scorpius. "It will just be kind of...weird. It's already kind of weird to see my father...kissing...another man."

"Me, too." He rolled over in bed and looked across the room to Scorpius. "They're happy, though. I guess that's what counts."

Still, he was not exactly looking forward to Christmas this year.


On to Chapter Five
"Draco"

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"Harry"

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