Who Will Stop the Rain

Father and Sons

"Dad! Dad, come look," cried Cetus excitedly. Draco suppressed a smile and wandered over to the display window of Quality Quidditch Supplies where his sons, Cetus and Scorpius, stood with their noses pressed against the glass, eyes wide with envy.

"See something you like?" he asked lightly.

"It's the Firebolt Supreme," breathed Scorpius, sounding awestruck. "Fastest broomstick in the world!"

"The Bulgarian national team just bought these," Cetus informed Draco. "The old Firebolts only managed a top speed of one-fifty. These can clock in at one-seventy."

"Impressive," Draco nodded.

"And expensive, no doubt," Astoria pointed out, drawing her husband a reproachful look. Draco ignored this and rested his hand on his eldest son's shoulder.

"Is that what you want?" he asked. Cetus nodded vigorously and Draco smiled, "Well you run on inside with your brother and tell the shopkeeper we'll be buying one today."

The boys sprinted into the shop before their father could change his mind, slamming the door shut behind them. Astoria glared at Draco, "Don't you think it's a bit much?"

"It's his birthday," he shrugged. "It's what he wants and I can afford it. What's the problem?"

"I'm trying to keep him grounded - metaphorically-speaking," she argued. "You said your own father showered you with gifts when you were growing up and it only served to inflate your ego. Aren't you just doing the same thing?"

"My father bought a dozen broomsticks to get me on to the school team. Although I maintain that I would have gotten on the team without his help, I was certainly talented enough," he drawled. "This is Cetus' birthday present, the two situations are hardly comparable. Besides, he'll be starting Hogwarts this year, I want him to have the best of everything before he gets there."

Astoria glanced through the shop window and frowned - the shopkeeper was already wrapping up the broomstick and handing it to her son. She glared at Draco, "You already bought the damn thing, didn't you?"

"I had to pre-order it months in advance to make sure he got it in time for his birthday," he explained with a careless shrug.

"You don't go and buy a vault's worth of gifts for our son without consulting me first!" she hissed.

Draco groaned, "What's the big deal? It's my money to spend."

"You should consult me in these things before you go and do them!" she argued. "Parenting is supposed to be done together. Not one person does things and the other finds out later!"

Draco opened his mouth to argue but shut it when Cetus burst out of the shop, brandishing the broomstick above his head in victory, "I can't believe you already bought one! Thank you, thank you, thank you..."

Cetus ran into his father's arms and hugged him tightly. Astoria pursed her lips and said nothing, but gave Draco a look that said, We're not done talking about this. He gave his wife an apologetic look, although he didn't feel sorry at all; the elated expression on his son's face in that moment was worth all the gold in his vaults and then some.

Suddenly there was a commotion behind him. Something smashed to the ground and people screamed. Draco began to turn to see what all the fuss was about when--

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Green light exploded across Draco's vision and he gasped. He knew the words, but he didn't register their meaning at the time. He just remembered falling and Cetus falling with him into darkness.

***

Draco's eyes flew open and he stared blankly at the dark ceiling above him. The room was still shrouded in darkness, so he couldn't have been asleep for very long. He sighed and wiped the tears and sweat off of his face, shame and exhaustion washing over him in waves. He never slept well nowadays, but then it'd been years since he'd had a restful night's sleep, even before Cetus had died.

Rather than mulling over that moment for the millionth time he forced himself to consider the tasks for the day ahead. Every step took tremendous effort on his part nowadays; Get out of bed. Shower. Brush teeth. Eat. Walk. Breath. Christ, the mere thought of it was exhausting. But he couldn't hide in his small fortress of solitude today, he had to get up - he wanted to. It was Scorpius' birthday, after all.

The same age as Cetus was when he died, he told himself unhelpfully. He'd get to see Scorpius in the morning before dropping him off at his mother's for his party. He had a fairly good idea what gift he wanted this year, he just hoped it would make him smile the way that he used to.

Draco promised himself that he would get up soon, but for the moment he was content to lie in the dark, listening to the rain batter off of the window. He found it soothing and it helped lull him into another uneasy sleep, into the same nightmare he had had every night for the last two years. "Dad! Dad, come look," cried Cetus excitedly...