Dad Says (Harry X Draco)

Chapter 12

"Magic," said Eve, staring at the cupboard Harry had set on fire and then doused. "Fucking magic."

"Is that why your books are never heavy, Scorp?" asked Fran. Scorpius nodded.

"It's called accidental magic."

Harry laughed.

"Your accidental magic makes your books lighter? You really are a Ravenclaw."

"But why didn't Draco tell us this before?" asked Nick.

"It's illegal. They would have sent him back to prison."

"Wizard prison," said Eve, faintly.

"So how come you're telling us? they send you to prison?" asked Nick.

"Harry's a war hero," said Scorpius.

"Er." said Harry, as Nick and Flora stared at him. Eve still had her eyes fixed on the cupboard Harry had enchanted.

"But is Draco okay?" asked Flora. "You said he'd been attacked again."

"Of course he's okay," said Eve. "He's got magic!"

"Well. Magic can't really solve everything. And the people who attacked him used magic, as well."

"Draco always said the people attacking him were enemies from prison," said Nick.

"Wizard prison," said Eve.

"Not exactly. Draco... sort of fought on the wrong side of a war."

"So you guys enemies?" asked Nick.

"Not... not really."

"You were," said Scorpius. "He broke your nose."

"Yeah, well, we weren't... close."

"You cursed him. That's why dad has those scars on his chest." Harry was extremely uncomfortable.

"That was you?" asked Nick, his voice odging towards hostility. "Those scars are fucking horrible!"

"Language," said Flora.

"I didn't know what that spell did! And he cursed me first!"

"He told us they were from a prison knife fight!"

"Look, it complicated! We were sixteen"

"Hang on," said Eve. "This happened in school?"

"Yeah."

"The same school that our Scorpius is currently attending!"

"It wasn't the school's fault-"

"What the hell kind of school for wizard psychopaths is this? It doesn't sound safe!"

"Hogwarts is the best place in the whole world," said Scorpius.

"But is Draco okay?" asked Flora again.

"He's... I don't know," admitted Harry. "But I wanted you guys to be able to visit him in hospital."

"Wizard hospital," said Eve.

***
She kept this up when they arrived at St Mungo's.

"Wizard doctors," she said.

"They're called healers."

"Wizard medicine."

"It's more like potions you know what, never mind."

But Draco was still unconscious. A healer explained that they were keeping him in stasis while they tried to figure out how to close his wounds. They kept re-opening, she said. Fran and Andy seemed perfectly happy to accept the sudden existence of magic, but Nick and Eve and Flora were clearly too shocked by the sight of Draco's bloodied wound dressings to notice the spells that were wrapped around him.