draco took a screenshot | drarry

epilogue

Wiltshire hadn't changed much in the fifteen years that had passed, yet at the same time, it felt like an entirely different city.

"There yet?"

"No, not yet, lovely."

The three-year old in the backseat huffed adorably and kicked around in her car seat.

She wasn't the only restless person among them; the man sitting in the driver's seat was far from calm.

The small family of three was miles away from their house in Los Angeles. Harry and Draco had ultimately decided to settle down there—but they were currently back in their true home, no matter how far away from England they moved.

Harry was planning to retire from modeling, he had been scheduling less and less shoots to spend time with his family.

They'd traveled all over the world together: Australia, Brazil, Portugal, Slovenia—name any country, it's likely to be stamped in their passport.

Draco's knuckles grew paler as they gripped more tightly onto the wheel with each turn. Each kilometer brought the family closer in distance to one who, until very recently, had been pushed out of his mind.

He felt a warmth on his forearm and flinched at the sudden contact.

"You're okay," was the soft reassurance that fled from his husband's lips; it wrapped around his heart and slowed down its frantic beats.

Harry pointed out the window and Draco's gaze followed his finger.

The park that had began their relationship so long ago greeted them, still beautiful as ever.

There was no time to make a stop though, because it was 6:45 in the evening, and they had only fifteen minutes to make it to their destination on time.

After the park was out of sight, Harry leaned in his seat a bit and grinned back at his daughter.

His eyes had begun to crinkle faintly from years of sweet laughter; his hair still the messy brown it always had been. There would be no changing that—not until it turned snow white, anyway.

Draco lovingly watched the interaction unfold in his rear view mirror.

He appeared older, but no wrinkle could be found on his porcelain face.

Many would argue that time had treated the couple well.

Faster than Draco would have liked, they pulled up to the gate that guarded his childhood home. He leaned out of the car and typed in the new entry code his mother sent him, before letting out a breath and pulling up the rest of the long driveway.

Harry gave him a warm smile and got out first, trying his best to be as comforting for him as he could. He unhooked Esther's seat belt and picked her up out of the car seat, waiting for Draco to catch up.

He was very obviously stalling when it took him an extra two minutes to "re-tie his shoes" that, mind you, had no laces to tie to begin with.

They walked side-by-side up the walkway, Esther in between them holding tightly onto both of her fathers' hands.

The significant decrease in the number of flowers Narcissa had planted along the sidewalk didn't go unnoticed to Draco; he remembered how fond his mother always was of gardening.

They approached the large front door and Harry rang the doorbell, momentarily letting go of his daughter's tiny hand to pat Draco's reassuringly. The door swung open only a few seconds later, revealing Narcissa, who looked as regal as ever.

Harry knew then where Draco got his powerful genes from; Narcissa hadn't aged a bit since he last saw her.

Her eyes welled with tears and she lurched forward suddenly, dropping her composure. She pulled Draco in for a sweet hug.

She whispered something to him, and he responded by hugging her back even more tightly, his words likely failing him.

Lucius materialized in the doorway behind her raking his eyes over the scene almost longingly, before giving a polite nod to Harry. Something inside of him appeared to make him rethink his decision, however, and much to Harry's surprise, he walked past his wife and extended his hand out to him.

"How are you doing, Mr. Potter? It's a delight to see you again," The comfortable tone and kind greeting felt odd coming from the man before him, but nevertheless Harry was very pleased.

Taking it as a good sign, he returned the handshake and offered him a smile. "Doing well, Mr. Malfoy, same goes to you."

Throwing him for even more of a loop, Lucius smiled down at the little girl clinging to Harry's side.

She stared up at him with wide, curious eyes, a wiry brown curl obscuring part of her view.

"And who might this little one be?"

"That's our daughter, Esther," Draco replied to his father before Harry could. He stood facing him, hands buried deep in his pockets to hide any signs of trembling, "We adopted her about two years ago, now," he finished.

Draco pulled one of them out, as steady as he could manage, and held it out for Lucius to shake.

His father scrutinized him with a look he couldn't quite place, one that lasted almost too long. He moved to pull his hand back when it was grabbed suddenly, and before he knew it, he was enveloped in unfamiliar arms.

Narcissa finished dabbing at her eyes and gestured warmly for Harry and Esther to follow her inside, leaving the two alone.

When Draco began to hear another person weeping besides himself, he pulled away.

Never in a million years would he have thought he would hold his father, let alone see him cry because of it.

"Draco, I can't even begin to tell you how much I regret how I've treated you-" Lucius got straight to the point, but broke off into painful sobs, each exhale a stab to Draco's heart. He could feel that his father truly meant each word he said.

Lucius cautiously reached out and held one of his son's hands, turning it over in his own and studying it when he didn't recoil. "There are no words in this world I can put together to express how sorry I am," his gentle grip tightened softly around Draco's smaller hand, as though it were the most precious thing in existence.

"I shouldn't have lost my temper with you all those times, and I should never have kicked you out. I should have acted like your father; and I am so sorry that I didn't give you the childhood you deserved," his voice broke more with every syllable, every tear running down his troubled face, "It has plagued me every single damn day,"

The tone of his voice confirmed to Draco that he wasn't exaggerating in the slightest.

Draco let out a whimper that his father once would have reprimanded him for, and dove into his arms again. It pained him greatly to know that it had bothered his father so much, even though he knew he should have been glad.

The past would always be a part of him, but, it wasn't something he was eager to block out of his mind anymore.

He forgave his father the moment he opened his mouth to speak that day, whether Draco was willing to admit it or not.

As their dinner began, he made a mental note to bring up something to Harry; he wanted to move back home.

Where it all began, and where it would all end.