Draco woke up with a pounding headache. He groaned before going to sit up and found that he couldn't. Slowly opening one eye, he found Harry sprawled out across his chest. He was snoring loudly and one of his hands was balled in his shirt. He blinked before remembering the alcohol induced state they were in the night before. He tried to figure out how to wake Harry up without startling him and decided poking him was the best option.
"Harry?" He said while poking his cheek. His eyes fluttered open before he squinted at him.
"Malfoy?" He said, yawning widely before sitting up.
"Oh Merlin, I think my head is splitting open." He moaned before covering his eyes with his hands.
"You and me both." He winced and Harry crawled towards the end of the bed before rolling off onto the ground.
Draco snorted and then regretted it as his head throbbed. He braced himself against the headboard until the room stopped spinning. He dug around the blankets until he found his wand and waved it before cursing at the time.
"The boys should almost be done eating breakfast. I'm going to try and crawl my way to the dining room. Would you like to join me?" He could see Harry's feet sticking out from underneath the bed as he waited for his reply.
"Go on without me. I'm going to be laying here until I stop seeing smells."
He wobbled down the hall and quickly did a freshening charm before pushing the door open. He was blinded by the morning sun streaming through the windows and hissed through his teeth.
"Draco, I'm happy you're up. It seems we have guests." His Father's voice had him automatically straightening his shoulders as his pureblood mask slipped on, despite his raging hangover. He narrowed his eyes at the people sitting at his table. Cedric Doggory was a pain in his neck and the other man knew it. He could never get over Hadrian rejecting him during their school years. He nodded to the two Weasley twins before sitting down.
"Diggory, how like you to show up unannounced. I'm assuming it's because your family never taught you manners?" He jabbed as he poured himself some tea.
"Come now, Draco! Don't be like that. I heard the news and just came to see a dear friend." He said as he grinned at him.
"Mummy won't like you!" He glanced down in surprise to find Atticus glaring at Diggory with his arms crossed.
"You're being rude and Mummy doesn't like rude people." He continued and Draco snorted into his cup. He could see Blaise looking at him but ignored him in favor of patting his youngest son's back.
"You're right, Atticus. Harry doesn't like rude people." Diggory just shrugged before saying "I'll let Harry decide if he likes me or not." Draco had never wanted to punch someone more in his life. Harry wasn't some zoo animal people could come and gawk at as they like.
"We are sorry for intruding like this, Malfoy." One of the twins said awkwardly before biting into a muffin.
"Some things can't be helped." His Mother sniffed before setting her tea cup down.
"Where is Scorpius at?" He knew his in-laws slept late but his son was an early riser like him.
"Oh, he's showing Conrad around the manor. I hope you don't mind." Draco knew the two boys didn't get along but held his tongue. The Diggory boy wouldn't be dumb enough to start something in Malfoy territory.
~~~~~~
Harry took a deep breath before slowly pulling his shirt on. It had belonged to one of the Twins and he had snagged it a couple of years ago. He looked in the mirror before shaking his head, deciding that he didn't need to brush his hair because it was too much work. He yawned before stepping into his slippers and shuffling out of the room. It had been an hour since Draco left and he had managed to stop himself from drowning in the shower. He gave himself a mental pat on the back for his accomplishment. He hoped he could convince Dobby to make him brownies. Something sweet was just the thing he needed to cure his headache. He stopped and cocked his head to the side when he heard sniffling. He peeked around the corner and saw one of the many doors slightly ajar. Peering through the crack, he could see a pair of legs poking out from underneath the piano in the corner. He heard the sniffing again and decided to interfere.
"Scorp, is that you?" He asked gently and heard a yelp as the boy scrambled out from his hiding spot.
"Oh hello, Moth-Mr. Harry. I'm sorry if I was bothering you." The boy said casually. Harry walked slowly closer before sitting on the ground and patting the spot next to him.
"Is everything alright? I thought I heard crying." He watched the boy freeze before shaking his head quickly.
"Everything is fine!" Harry stared at him before flopping backwards with his arms spread.
"You know I take long showers?" He said and heard Scorpius lay down next to him.
"I usually just stand there but I find the best place to have a good cry is the shower. You come out feeling clean and refreshed." He could heard the little boy breathing hard.
"You cry?" He sounded surprised and Harry turned on his side to look at him.
"Everyone cries, love. There's nothing wrong with it. It took me a long time to understand that. Tears are our way of letting our emotions out, good or bad." Scorpius swallowed hard before looking at him.
"I punched Conrad." He stated and Harry had no clue who that was but let him speak.
"He said that you were going to leave us because Mother did and you two were the same people. I tried telling him that you were different but he wouldn't listen! Mother used to say that I'm the Heir to two ancient and noble Houses. I always have to keep my composure." Harry's heart ached at hearing such things from him. Children weren't meant to have composure!
"He made me so angry and I just hit him. I know I was wrong." His shoulders were hunched and Harry frowned.
"I probably shouldn't say this but there's nothing wrong with fighting for what you believe in. He refused to listen to you and even mocked Other Harry. I've down worse for less." He joked and was rewarded with a small smile.
"He went to go tell his Father what I did." He admitted and Harry couldn't help his giggle.
"That reminds me of my Malfoy! He always threatened "wait till my Father hears about this!" It was a riot." Scorpius giggled with him before Harry sat up. He looked around the room before giving a whistle.
"This is fancy. Are those plates?" He walked closer to the cabinet and saw they had runes carved around the border.
"Mother used to entertain guests in this room. Those plates were his prized possessions. He would show them off to everyone who came over. They're goblin made and are able to detect even the tiniest bit of poison." Harry hated how bitter the normally cheerful boy sounded and had a brilliant idea.
"You know crying makes me feel better but you know what makes me feel even better than that?"
"What?" Scorpius asked curiously and Harry beamed at him.
"Breaking stuff!"
~~~~~~
Draco rubbed his temples as Diggory went on and on about some Quidditch match he had gone too. His parents, the traitors, had excused themselves and he was left with Atticus, Blaise, Diggory and the Twins.
"That sounds silly. Are you sure that's what happened?" He had never seen his son so petty but the boy was contradicting everything Diggory said. Draco had to admit it was hilarious.
"I swear! He jumped off his broom before landing on his teammates. It was brilliant." He sighed dreamily before the sound of feet caught their attention. The doors were thrown open and Conrad came running in, a handkerchief held to his nose.
"Father! Scorpius hit me." He cried out before Diggory caught him.
"Merlin, Conrad! Your nose is barley bleeding. Give me a moment and we'll get you fixed up." His wand was out and he spelled his nose before rubbing his son's hair.
"There you go, lad. Now tell me what happened?" Draco frowned at the boy as he scuffed his shoe against the floor.
"Well Scorpius was bragging about Mr. Potter coming to live with them! He said he liked his new mum better than his old one and I said that he shouldn't get too attached because he's going to leave soon." Draco froze in shock when Atticus stood up on his chair.
"Take that back! Mummy isn't going anywhere. He's going to live with us and so is Aunt Hermy and Uncle Ron!" He shouted as he waved his fist around.
"Atty! We do not threaten our guests." He gasped out, pulling his son into his lap.
"Tell him he's wrong, Father. Mummy is staying with us." He scowled at the Diggory's before Draco caught his attention.
"Atticus, this is a conversation we need to have with Harry. Now apologize for shouting." He said sternly, barely believing the words coming out of his mouth. Atticus couldn't even speak a week ago and now he was yelling at people! He could see the twins grinning at each other.
"Well I think little Diggory should apologize! Saying such things about other people's mums!"
"Why, we would have knocked your block off too!" The Twins said together, their eyes glittering with glee.
"They're right, Conny. What made you say that?" The boy frowned in confusion before answering.
"I heard you say it, Father! You said that you needed to investigate Mr. Potter." He watched Diggory flush before muttering under his breath.
"I'm sorry I gave you the idea, my boy. It seems I need to apologize too."
"And what did you need to investigate?" Diggory looked at him before looking away.
"Well I was worried he'd be like Hadrian. I didn't want you to get hurt again." Draco knew he must look ridiculous with his mouth hanging open but he continued to gawp at the other man.
"Get hurt?" He parroted back and Diggory shrugged.
"Well you're my best friend so I wanted to make sure you weren't getting yourself into another situation." He said delicately.
"Best friend?" He repeated and looked at Blaise in confusion, wondering if maybe his hangover was worse than he thought. His fellow Slytherin just shrugged.
"Yes? Draco, I was your best man at your wedding!"
"You crashed my wedding! I didn't invite you." The other man blinked at him before looking at the Twins.
"You just forgot to mail out my invitation, right?"
"It's finally happening. Cedric Diggory is being brought out of his delusion!" They high-fived before one turned to explain.
"Cedric has been telling everyone for years that you two were basically brothers." Draco felt like he had been hit with a quaffle and the man in question looked no better.
"We eat lunch together almost everyday!" He said, almost desperately and Draco shook his head.
"You stalk me in the lunchroom." It was dead silent before the Twins were howling with laughter.
"We told you, Ceddy!" Draco watched his son walk over before rubbing the other man's back.
"It's okay, Mr. Diggory. I thought you liked Mummy but you just like Father. You can stay for lunch, if you want?" The man gave a sniff before saying "That's really nice of you, Atticus. I would love to." Conrad was rolling his eyes but didn't comment.
"Now let's go find Scorpius."
~~~~~~
Harry cheered as Scorp threw the plate against the wall, making a satisfying bang. The boy was laughing as they continued to break them. Harry had made sure to put a protective shield on him so he wouldn't get hurt. He finally seemed to run out of steam and collapsed next to him on the sofa.
"That was so much fun! I feel a lot better. Thank you, Mummy." He said shyly and Harry sniffed into his hand.
"You're welcome, my sweet boy." Harry knew something had shifted. These two boys technically weren't his children but he didn't care. They had already stolen his heart and he knew what he had to do. He opened his mouth but turned at the sound of stomping. The door was pushed open and Atticus was running through, his cheeks flushed bright red.
"Mummy! What happened? Are you okay?" He demanded, looking them both over.
"Yes, Atty." He said before swinging him around, enjoying the sound of his laughter.
"Harry, do you have something to say?" He froze at the sound of Draco's voice and turned to face him with a guilty look.
"Er, hi Draco! Fancy seeing you here." He used his feet to kick some of the broken pieces under the couch.
"Harry, you do know these plates are worth thousands of galleons?" Harry blinked before looking at the boys.
"What plates? Do you see any plates, children?" Atticus giggled before shaking his head.
"I see where Atticus has been getting his violent tendencies from." Draco said dryly and Harry smiled sheepishly.
"It's the Potter curse." He dramatically fell backwards and could hear the boys laughing as they tried to hold him up. Harry froze when he met soft brown eyes before blurting out "Cedric Diggory? Merlin's pants, you're so big!" He clicked his mouth shut before pinching his nose.
"Sorry, that sounded weird. You died when I was fourteen so it's kind of a shock seeing you as an adult." He explained before cursing himself. Great job, Harry! Tell the man he died in front of everyone.
"Oh! Well nice to see you too." He waved and Harry grinned at him.
"Thanks mate!" He caught red hair in the corner of his eye and threw himself forward. There was only one shade of red that vibrant and it belonged to his favorite family.
"Merlin, is that you Fred?" He gasped before hugging them both tightly.
"Well well well, ickle Harry can tell us apart!" George said before rubbing his hair.
"And he likes me better!" Fred announced as they both smiled at him.
"Percy said you were a Weasley but this proves it!" They said together, causing him to smile sadly. His George hadn't taken Fred's death well and soon they had another person to bury. Life had not been kind to the Weasley family.
"I'm very happy to see you both." He murmured before looking down. A boy was looking at him and blushed when he was caught staring.
"You must be Conrad. I heard you and Scorp were fighting. I hope you can both apologize and make up." He said and the boy squeaked before hurrying over to Scorpius.
"I'm sorry for what I said!" Scorpius looked shocked before he said "I'm sorry for hitting you." Harry beamed happily at them and Conrad flushed before hurrying over to Cedric's side.
"What's this? Does our Conny like Harry?" George teased the boy and he scowled at him but didn't say anything.
"That's too bad. Mummy won't be marrying you." Atticus declared before whispering to Scorpius. Both boys turned to stare at him before whispering again.
"Am I missing something?" He asked and Draco rolled his eyes.
"Atticus has been bravely defending you all morning." Harry bit his lip but couldn't contain his silly expression. It was cute! He had such sweet sons!
"I've never heard him talk so much." Blaise commented and Harry could feel his eye twitch. He couldn't believe the other man was still here! He would have to do something about that. He was brought out of his plotting by Fred pulling at the corner of his shirt.
"Oi! This is mine." He flicked his forehead.
"Finders keepers." George cackled as Harry hid behind Draco.
"So Harrikins, how did you become a Weasley?" George asked as he wiped his eyes.
"Because Ron's my best friend." The air was suddenly filled with tension as both brother's stared at him.
"Ron?" Fred said slowly and Harry nodded his head in confusion.
"Yes? We've been best friends since we were eleven." George pressed his hand against his mouth as Fred said "Ron died when he was twelve." Harry gasped before shaking his head.
"Ron's alive in my universe. He's sharing a flat with Hermione." Cedric murmured "Hermione? Hermione Granger?" Harry felt his stomach sink.
"Yes. She's my other best friend." Cedric shook his head.
"She was killed during her first year by a troll. It was a tragedy." Harry could feel his hands start to sweat. Calm down, he told himself. His Ron and Hermione were fine. He was startled when he felt Draco's hand slip into his.
"I've wondered about that. It makes sense. We couldn't have two Harry's running around so the Veil spit Harry out in a universe where his counterpart was already gone." He mused and Harry took some steadying breaths.
"That makes sense but what do I know? Hermione is the brain of our trio." Blaise hummed before saying "do you still have your mirror? We can talk with your friends." Harry flashed him a dirty look before summoning the mirror. He pressed the red gem on the handle and waited for them to pick up.
He could feel his face heating up before he shrieked "Merlin's saggy pants, Ron! Put some clothes on!"