Fatherhood | drarry teen adoptive parents au

twenty seven | cologne and apple sweets

The next morning, Harry was awoken around 10 o'clock by the sound of Draco's owl tip-tapping at his window, a small parcel attached to its leg.

Quickly, Harry fumbled the latch open and let the bird in onto his sill, stroking its sleek feathers in wonder. "I've barely been here twelve hours, Aquila, what's he doing sending you so soon?"

"I imagine they're probably starving you, so here's some things to keep you going. Love always, D.M.," Draco had written on the tag.

Harry's mouth filled with saliva and he ripped into the parcel to find decadent treats Draco had clearly had prepared for him by the Manor's cook - fresh rolls filled with succulent roast meat, a bundle of roasted asparagus tips, and some little pastry bakes that smelt of sage, truffle oil and melting cheese.

"Ohh, they're still warm, Aquila," Harry noted, before biting into one with ferocious hunger. "You must have flown fast!!! Good owl!"

He devoured most of the picnic before drafting a short letter and fetching Hedwig from her cage. Aquila hopped on the little perch in Hedwig's place and pecked thirstily at the water dish.

"You going to do a little errand for me, little darling?" Harry asked Hedwig softly. "Going to go to Draco?"

He secured the rolled letter deftly to the bird's leg with a crimson ribbon he found in his case, and petted her lightly before sending her on her way.

"Give Draco my love, darling," he said as she headed off into the distance.

I'm sitting here with the emptiest arms I've had in months, read the soft parchment Hedwig carried the 70 miles between the couple.

No Draco and no Casper to fill them - I may as well not have arms, because I don't want anything as much as I want you both in them, and of course I can't have that right now.

The idea that you care about me enough to send such beautiful food for me is mind-reeling. Because you're right, I hadn't eaten a thing until Aquila arrived. It tasted like heaven, truly, but more than that I wanted to cry because of how careful you are with me. No one else has ever been so gentle or tender as you are.

How's the Manor? How's Cas? Is he sleeping? Are you sleeping? Are your parents being awful? God, I can't wait to come and see you and make it better.

I've got all this love and it's all for you; I've got nowhere to put it so it's just bleeding recklessly out all over the place. You should be here to soak it up. Or I should be there.

Give Casper a kiss for me and tell him I love him. And tell him not to get any bloody bigger in the next two days. Sometimes it really does feel like he grows overnight and I want him to stay little so we can protect him from the world.

I'm sending Hedwig as a hint because I know you'll have to send her back. Would love to hear from you if you have time but I know Cassy can be a handful and you might be busy so no rush!

Love always, from

Your Harry

A smile flitted across Draco's face as he read the words, his lips mouthing along with the shape of the letters. He bounced Casper on his knee as he read, and kissed his little head when he was done.

"That's from Daddy," he said quietly. "He loves you and he misses you. And he'll see us really, really soon!"

Cas gurgled and tipped his head back to look at his father. He was chewing gently on one of Draco's fingers; at 3 and a half months old he was just about to start teething, and the silver of Draco's rings presumably felt cool and soothing on his gums.

"That's nice, isn't it, sweetheart?" Draco asked softly. "That your other Daddy is coming to stay here?"

He shifted the baby onto his knee, and searched the desk drawer of the bedroom for the quill he'd used earlier on. He selected another sheet of Malfoy family crest paper, cringing slightly at the implication, and began to draft out a reply.

When it came to the bottom of the page, Draco dipped a dinky finger of Casper's into the inkwell and left a minuscule baby fingerprint next to his own 'D.M.' signature. The he spritzed the page with his cologne till the whole room reeked of Draco's essence and the ink nearly ran.

Harry will like that, he thought.

"There you go, Heddy," he said, slipping a packet of apple sweets into the envelope on her leg for good measure. "Give this to Harry for me."

She cooed once, then soared straight up into the sky once more. Draco watched her leave, wishing he could follow her as easily to the boy that he loved.
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a/n: thanks for reading again! the support is so kind ❤️

i made up the name of draco's owl at the start by the way because it doesn't seem to be canon anywhere, but thought it was fitting since 'aquila' is 'the eagle' in terms of constellations!! and draco has an eagle owl so makes sense i think.

please vote and comment if you enjoyed! if you catch my attention maybe i'll return the favour .... 🤍

~ paradisedraco