Chapter Text
“Finally, you’re here!” Astoria huffs, turning around to offer Harry a white rose to place it in the pocket of his robes.
“Sorry, got caught up trying to sort out Scorpius’s robes because he fell into a puddle on the way here,” Harry explains, fiddling with the flower until Astoria bats his hands away in impatience and does it herself.
“You didn’t Apparate?” Astoria asks, surprised.
“I couldn’t let Draco walk on his own,” Harry declares, looking at her as if she’d grown two heads.
“Oh, I forgot that he can’t Apparate anymore,” Astoria replies, turning around to look at herself in the mirror and frowning at her hair, which looks absolutely perfect to Harry.
“You look stunning, by the way,” he says with a smile, admiring her shimmering white dress and the little blue flowers that decorate the fabric and her hair, the colour matching her nails and her eye shadow.
“Thank you,” she replies, and Harry catches a pleased smile in the reflection of the mirror, followed by a grimace. “Can’t really say the same thing about yourself, dear. A moustache and a beard? Don’t you think you’ve overdone it with the Glamour? My guests are going to think that my maid of honour is a lumberjack!”
“Why do I have to be the maid of honour, by the way?” Harry asks, confused. He strokes his beard and finds it rather relaxing. Maybe he should consider growing one; he wonders what Draco would say if he asked for his opinion. Scorpius would probably protest loudly.
“Because I spend more time with you than with all of my sisters combined,” Astoria replies matter-of-factly. “Besides, you are my best friend.”
She flashes a smile at him, and Harry grins back at her.
He’s glad they are still friends, even after everything that happened. It took a while to regain her trust, but Harry worked hard on it. Improving himself is a daily battle, but Harry tries his best, and he feels so loved these days that sometimes he has to pinch himself because it doesn’t feel real that he gets to be this happy.
He still remembers how he felt that day, raw with happiness when the three of them left Astoria’s house, followed by a trail of selkies carrying Draco and Scorpius’s things, heading for Harry’s house. Scorpius had a million questions, but he looked excited at the idea of moving in with him.
“I asked Astoria if I can still go and visit her,” he told Harry, who felt a little pang in his chest at the thought that he was uprooting Scorpius yet again. “And she said that I can. I think Pompom is going to miss me, but I didn’t like her food very much, Harry. I like yours and Papa’s more.”
“Good,” Harry said, tears still threatening to come out. Draco took his hand and held it all the way home, kissing the back of it when he could see Harry was getting wobbly again, giving him reassuring smiles and signing that everything was okay.
Later that night in bed, they cuddled up together, and Harry told him that he was sorry again, that if he had known that Draco was pregnant, he would have never left.
I’m glad things worked out in the end, Draco simply wrote. And I really like living on the island. Scorpius loves it, too.
Besides, having Scorpius made me a better person. I used to be such a selfish moron. I was still so immature, and I didn’t know how to care for other people. I think that now I’m a bit better at that.
“You are amazing,” Harry said, letting his fingers roam on Draco’s warm skin, wanting to feel him close, scared of losing him again now that he had Draco there with him. “I’m sorry for—for missing everything. I would have loved to be there for you when you were pregnant. To help and…I’m so sorry I missed the first five years of Scorpius’s life.”
Draco looked at him for a long moment, his hands pausing in their wandering on Harry’s skin. He took Harry’s fingers and placed them on his stomach, staring at him for a few seconds before he took the pen again.
I haven’t been with anyone, after you left. It’s always been just you for me, Harry.
We could have another baby, if you wanted. I’ve been taking potions to prevent that from happening, but I can stop whenever you want.
Harry’s eyes opened wide, not expecting Draco to want that.
Another baby. An even bigger family.
He hesitated before answering, “I’d love that. But—I think I want to get to know Scorpius better, first. I need him to get used to me and to feel like he can trust me. I want…I know I didn’t raise him, but I really want to be his dad.”
Draco nodded with a smile and then wrote something that made Harry’s heart beat faster.
I have pictures of the pregnancy and of Scorpius when he was little. Do you want to see them?
Harry spent so long staring at them that Draco ended up falling asleep by his side, surrounded by photos as Harry picked them up one by one and felt his chest expanding, his cheeks hurting from how much he had smiled and his face wet from all the tears.
He was an emotional mess for a good while, but Draco was there for him, teaching him how to be a father and guiding him through the ups and downs of parenthood.
The first time Scorpius called him daddy was almost by accident, a shout coming from the garden while Draco was out shopping.
“I need a poo, daddy!”
“Go to the loo, then,” Harry automatically replied.
He found himself crying two minutes later, as he sat outside the loo, waiting for Scorpius to be done so that Harry could check if he had cleaned himself properly. Draco found him there and kissed him, smiling when Scorpius shouted, “I’m finished, daddy!”
Harry still cherishes these moments, and he can’t help but grin whenever he remembers them. The first time Scorpius looked at the three of them, huddled on the sofa watching a cartoon, and placed his little index and middle fingers of one hand on top of the same fingers of the other and made a circle with them.
Family.
Harry had always wanted one, and the one he had was just perfect.
“What are you thinking about?” Astoria asks now, pulling him out of his thoughts.
“How utterly lucky I am,” Harry simply replies.
“Hmm,” Astoria hums, looking calm and serene even though she’s just about to get married. Harry was a wreck before he and Draco tied the knot.
“Speaking of,” Harry says. “I hope Greg knows how lucky he is.”
“Oh, he’s such a sweet man,” Astoria comments, motioning for the door after checking one more time that she looks perfect. “Also, he’s not gay, which makes a whole lot of difference. And he has a very lovely cock.”
“Astoria!” Harry blurts out, his eyes widening in surprise.
“Stop looking so scandalised, Harry,” she says with a mischievous look in her eyes. “You still look so disgustingly in love with Draco. You two can’t keep your hands off each other even though he looks like he’s ready to pop. His bump is enormous!”
“Shh, don’t say anything like that to him or he will hex you,” Harry says nervously. ”We saw the midwife yesterday, and she said the baby seems to have no intention of coming out yet, so she’s scheduled the C-section in two weeks’ time. Draco said it was a lot easier last time with Scorpius because it was winter, but he’s struggling with the heat this year.”
“And he’s pregnant during the only summer when it’s actually warm on the island,” Astoria comments, shaking her head. “Sod’s luck.”
“Scorpius can’t wait to find out if he’s going to have a brother or a sister,” Harry says excitedly. He doesn’t really care if it’s a boy or a girl, as long as both Draco and the baby are fine. He’s been an anxious mess throughout the whole pregnancy, even though he tries not to be too obvious about it.
“Did you give Scorpius the rings?” Astoria asks, casting a Tempus and opening the door to peek out.
“Yes, and he said he’s too old to be the ringbearer again,” Harry replies, looking at the golden band on his own finger, watching it catch the morning light and marvelling at how solid and wonderful it looks on his hand. “He got excited when he saw the chocolate fountain, though.”
“That boy looks more like you every day that goes by,” Astoria comments, but then she’s interrupted by a loud shout.
“Daaad!” Scorpius calls, his curls bouncing wildly as he approaches them. “Papa wants to speak to you. Wow, Astoria! You look incredible!”
“Thank you, my darling,” she replies with a radiant smile. “You look dapper, too. Did Papa choose your bow tie? That shade of green looks splendid on you.”
“Slytherin green,” Scorpius replies with a grin, and Harry rolls his eyes, outnumbered by Slytherins yet again.
“I’ll be back in a moment, Astoria,” he says, ignoring her anxious request to come back immediately as he spots Draco in the parlour, surrounded by people Harry has never met before.
Harry has no idea how his husband manages to look so haughty and cold even if he’s nine months pregnant, but his expression melts into the most gorgeous smile when he spots Harry in the crowd, beckoning him closer.
Harry signs to him to ask if Draco is alright and if he would like something to eat or drink, but Draco shakes his fist no and rests his head on his shoulder instead, his presence so warm and comforting that Harry can’t help but kiss his forehead and wrap his arms around Draco’s waist to have him even closer.
He looks down and notices the bump moving, Draco’s hand automatically reaching for his belly to soothe the baby with a gentle stroke.
“Fidgety little thing,” Harry murmurs. “Always kicking and turning.”
“Scorpius was the same,” Draco whispers, then leans forward to share a sweet kiss with Harry. “I think they take after you. I was a perfectly adorable little baby, always calm and well-behaved.”
Harry snorts loudly, earning a couple of raised eyebrows from Astoria’s posh guests.
“And you think I’m going to believe that,” Harry says, bumping their shoulders together.
A moment goes by, and Harry distantly hears the sound of chatter and of people gossiping behind their backs, but he pays no attention to them, his heart beating calmly as he holds Draco close and feels the love enveloping them like a warm hug.
“Don’t even think about growing your own beard,” Draco mumbles after a moment, and Harry chuckles. “I can’t wait for this farce to be over, so that I can put my feet up and have a cup of tea on the sofa with you and Scorpius.”
“Astoria hasn’t even got married yet,” Harry points out. “But I guess we could sneak out earlier.”
Draco places his fingers on his chin and then moves them towards Harry, mouthing a please that melts Harry’s heart.
“Anything for you, my love.”