Fatherhood | drarry teen adoptive parents au

thirty eight | how is harry?

The boys were very grateful for the nursery once term started in particular, and each saw their grades improve dramatically since the previous term. They still made lots of time for Casper, of course, especially now it was public information within Hogwarts that the two of them had a baby.

There had been mixed reactions from their peers and professors alike; mostly shock, but this had quickly turned into support among most people once they'd seen the baby in person, and how diligent his unlikely parents actually were. It was impossible not to fall in love with Casper Potter if you saw him.

Draco and Harry now had a long list of willing babysitters queueing up to have Casper in the evenings, which meant that they even managed the odd date night in Hogsmeade or a party with friends when they could bear to part with the baby (which wasn't as often as you might expect).

All in all, the Christmas term was shaping up to be a good one. But in the Wizarding World around them, all was not quite so idyllic.

Though he'd have liked to ignore her completely, Draco's mother was persistent in her letter-sending over the first few weeks, and through this she kept the boys updated on the worsening situation.

The Dark Lord was still at Malfoy Manor, where he'd been since the evacuation on Harry's birthday, the boys learnt, and was growing more powerful by the day. Narcissa was still managing to elude Lucius, who was apparently furious with the embarrassment that had been caused for him,

I'm going to Uncle Orion's place in the forest, you remember the place we visited one summer when you were small, Draco? she had written, and Draco's heart had dropped. I think I'll be safe there.

"So now the bloody forest house isn't even safe any more," he'd said one evening after they'd put Casper to bed, brandishing the letter at Harry. Angry tears blurred his vision and his heart was beating hard. "We can't go back there ever again, Harry. Nowhere is safe for us."

"It's safe here," Harry had pointed out gently, wrapping his arms round his boyfriend. Draco was crying now; worked up and terrified.

"We'll have to leave one day, though, Harry," he replied in a hoarse voice. "And when we do, my fucking family will kill all three of us."

"They won't," Harry shook his head, pulling Draco closer to him. "They won't."

They stood outside the nursery door together, just breathing and allowing themselves to feel all their terrifying emotions.

After a minute or so of this embrace, Harry saw a couple of Third year girls coming up to them over Draco's shoulder, clearly about to ask to see Casper.

"Er, now isn't a great time, guys," Harry said quickly before they could get their question in, and they pouted with disappointment, but left.

"Were they actually blind?" Draco laughed tearily. "What would have to go through their heads to make them think it was appropriate to approach us just then?"

"No idea," grinned Harry back ruefully. "At least they were trying to be helpful, though."

Narcissa's letters weren't all the same, though. Some were fear-stricken, of course, detailing Lucius' wrath and the Dark Lord's intentions.

There was the usual plea for Draco to help her, which he ignored.

"I'm at fucking school, Mother. Realistically what could I do?" he imagined asking her, though he never wrote the words. He rarely wrote back at all, actually, other than to make noncommittal responses.

He knew it would be good in theory to have his mother on side - she was a skilled witch and knew plenty about his father and the Dark Lord from her time around them. But something told him she wasn't to be trusted just yet. She hadn't quite proved herself to him.

A new, interesting twist to the letters in October was a mention of Harry. Not even as Potter, as Harry.

"How is Harry?" Draco read the three words on the page aloud, over and over. "It's so bloody weird, Harry. She's acting like a normal mother! Like she's never wanted to kill you!"

Harry shrugged, usually keen to see the best in people. "Maybe she's done some thinking about it, and when faced with her own torture and death, her son being gay seems less horrendous in the grand scheme of things?"

"Or maybe she's just being manipulative, trying to make me think she cares," Draco muttered darkly. "I'm not falling for it. I'll say you're fine, though."

The mentions of Harry only increased as the weeks flew by and the term drew further towards a close, however, and then as Christmas got to be just around the corner, an even more surprising note arrived for Draco.

"She wants us to come to her for Christmas?!" Harry asked incredulously, looking over his boyfriend's shoulder in the Common Room at the latest message. "Both of us? And CJ?"

"Looks that way," Draco shrugged. "I'm wondering if we should do it, you know. She is my mother."

Harry stared at him, bemused. "You want to say yes?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe. She has got a new place now, and she's not with my father. Look here, she even says she's looking into divorcing him."

"I believe that, but also don't you think it might be safer for Casper if we just accepted Molly Weasley's invite? Your mother is a deranged lunatic who would probably still like to rip our baby to pieces without a wand, for all her normal-sounding letters."

Draco shifted uncomfortably, not meeting Harry's gaze.

Harry's eyes widened. "Is this just about you not wanting to go to the Burrow? You little fucking snob-"

"No! It's not like that," said Draco quickly. He stared at his hands, fidgeting awkwardly with his rings. "It's not about me thinking I'm too good for them. It's about ...ugh, don't make me say it. I think they're too good for me."

"You're embarrassed that you bullied the younger Weasley kids for being poor when you were twelve, so to avoid their mother being nice to you, you'd rather take our eight-month-old son for Christmas dinner with a violently homophobic, mentally unstable Death Eater?"

"Harry..." Draco winced.

"Shit, yes, that's a good idea! Write back immediately to accept! Fucking hell, Draco." Harry laughed in exasperation.

"I think you've made your opinion clear."

Harry sighed, feeling slightly bad. "Look, Dee, we can visit your mother for two hours on Boxing Day, but no longer, ok? I mean, you can do whatever you like and I can't stop you. But I will stop you taking Cassy if you choose to spend the holiday with your mother. He's a baby and I won't put him in danger."

"Fine," Draco agreed.

He didn't know why he wanted to actually see Narcissa, but he supposed it was just the fact that she was his mother. And of course the constant guilt that told him to look after her and protect her from problems bigger than himself.

And she had seemed more normal in her recent letters. She'd even promised to be civil to Harry. Maybe she truly wanted to make amends, whatever the reason. Even if it was just so she could earn Draco's protection again, he didn't care, just as long as he could trust her.

"Will see you for 2h on 26th," he wrote curtly. "Don't try anything stupid. D."

And so it was decided.

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a/n: thanks so much for reading! hope you're still enjoying.

what do you guys think? is narcissa to be trusted now she's hiding from lucius too? or do leopards never change their spots?

love as always

~paradisedraco