Draco was breathing, barely. He did not respond to Harry's frenzied cries, nor did he open his eyes. Harry immobilised him and apparated them to St Mungo's, where Draco was hastily placed on a gurney and carted away.
"I need to go with him!"
"Are you family?" asked a healer.
"I'm—no—I'm Harry Potter!" said Harry, stupidly, but it seemed to work. Harry was permitted to stay near Draco as healers pored over him, diagnosing curses and stopping the blood flow.
"Can you tell us anything about the assailants? It may help us diagnose the curses used," asked a healer. Harry explained everything he knew about Death Eater Catchers.
"Is he going to be okay?"
"He's in a critical condition," said the healer.
Harry cast a patronus.
"Tell Professor McGonagall that Draco Malfoy has been injured and Scorpius must come to St Mungo's immediately." His stag galloped away. He quickly cast another, telling Ron to what had happened.
Then he waited by Draco's bed, feeling sick.
Ron arrived ten minutes later, his freckles garish on his pallid face.
"Is he okay?"
"They don't know yet."
"I've informed the auror office, they're at his flat now, collecting evidence," said Ron.
"If they don't catch the people who did this, I will," said Harry, fiercely.
Ron put an arm around him for a quick side hug before dropping him.
"Have you sent for Scorpius yet?"
"Yeah, they're probably sorting out the portkey now."
Ron sighed and leant back in the plastic visitor's chair.
"What happened between you and Ferret, anyway? Did you break up? He's been really down all week."
Harry stared at him, baffled.
"Break up? We weren't... together."
"Okay, mate," said Ron, evidently unconvinced.
"We weren't! And when did you see him this week?"
Ron looked at him as if he was being deliberately stupid.
"We have a standing weekly chess date."
"But I wasn't there to umpire."
Ron laughed.
"Harry, mate... you don't need an umpire for chess. That was just Ferret's plot to get you to spend more time with me."
"What...?"
"Same with the bloody pub quiz with Dean and Luna. You think he wanted to see them?"
"I thought he's been lonely."
"I guess. I mean, he sees his muggle friends literally every day. And you know how traumatic it was for him to see Dean and Luna. He did it so that you'd start hanging out with us again."
He stared at Draco, who was incased in a thick bubble of healing spells.
"I didn't..." he suddenly understood something. "Did he owl you all and tell you to leave me alone this week?"
"Yeah, he said you needed a bit of space. Seriously, what happened?"
"We slept together. Then I freaked out and vanished. Not before making some cryptic remarks about him being a Death Eater."
Ron looked deeply unimpressed.
"Nice one, mate. Just what he needed; to feel more insecure about his past."
"Yeah, I know, all right? And then I went on a date with Blaise Zabini and realised what a monumental twat I was being, and when I went to apologise, I found him like this!"
Ron made a face.
"What a fucking mess."
Harry nodded glumly.
The door opened. Scorpius came barrelling through it, looking tiny and terrified in blue pyjamas.
"Dad!"
He stopped short at the bed, his face working, then turned to Harry.
"He's going to die," he said.
"No, they don't know yet," said Harry. He held out his arms and Scorpius crawled into his lap.
"What if he dies?" he asked.
"He won't." said Harry, hoping he wasn't lying. Scorpius nuzzled into his shoulder, trying not to cry.
"But what if he does?"
"He won't. And I'll take care of you until he's better, okay?"
Scorpius nodded and started to cry quietly into Harry's shirt. Harry made soft noises and stroked his hair, conscious that Ron was watching him.
"We need to tell Eve and Nick and Flora," said Harry.
"You can't!" said Scorpius, jerking his tear-stained face up to look at Harry. "It's against the Statute!"
"I really couldn't care less about the Statute, Scorpius. When Draco wakes up, I want his friends to be here. And they'll be worried about him."
"They'll send him back to Azkaban!" said Scorpius shrilly. "We can't!"
"Mate, drop it," said Ron.
"Scorpius, darling, listen to me," said Harry. "Let me worry about all this. I'll go to the minister tomorrow and explain the circumstances."
"The Minister for Magic?"
"Yes"
"If he says okay, they can't get dad in trouble, can they?"
"No."
"Okay," said Scorpius. He turned tearfully towards Ron and stuck out his hand. "Hello, I'm Scorpius Malfoy."
"Ron Weasley. You can call me Weasel."
"My dad almost poisoned you once." said Scorpius, shrinking nervously back into Harry's arms.
"That was kind of an accident," said Ron uncomfortably.
"Evil can't be undone," said Scorpius.
"Ferre—Malf—your dad wasn't evil," said Ron. "He was just a bit of a prat. Anyway, we're friends now."
"You're friends?" repeated Scorpius.
"Yeah," said Ron. "He's really good at chess!" he added defensively.
"I didn't say anything!" said Harry.
They waited in the hospital for another hour. Scorpius alternated between standing very close to the bed, staring at Draco, and curling up in Harry's lap. He did not cry again. Finally, a healer told them Draco was in a stable condition, and that nothing more would be done for him that night.
"Come on," said Harry to Scorpius. "You can stay at mine."
When they got back to Grimmauld Place, Harry went to the kitchen and made pancakes.
"Midnight Breakfast," said Scorpius, when Harry put a plate in front of him.
"For when bad things happen." said Harry.
Scorpius shook his head.
"Only sometimes. Sometimes it's just because Dad is happy."
Harry found it hard to eat his pancakes, after that.
Scorpius encountered no such difficulty. He ate every bite. His table manners were exemplary. When he was done, he placed his cutlery neatly on his plate and stared at his clasped hands.
"Henry Biggs said... Henry Biggs said you're only being nice to us because you're sleeping with Dad."
For a second, Harry thought he had misheard. But Scorpius looked so unhappy that he knew he hadn't.
"The more I hear about this Henry Biggs, the less keen I feel on him," said Harry, weakly. Scorpius didn't say anything. He didn't even look at Harry.
"Scorpius..." Harry sighed. "Look. There is nothing that could happen between me and your dad that would change the fact that I love you."
Scorpius put his head on the table and sobbed. Harry had never heard him cry like that, and he instinctively knew that Scorpius wouldn't have cried like that in front of him, if Harry hadn't told him he loved him. He would never have allowed himself to..
Harry walked around the table to crouch by Scorpius. The moment Scorpius felt Harry, he melted into him.
"I... I don't want to go to a home for war orphans," he said, between great, gulping sobs. Harry picked him and carried him to the sofa.
"Your dad's going to be fine," he said, kissing the top of Scorpius" head. "But if he's not, you can come live with me."
"Do you promise?"
"I promise. Although you could also live with Nick and Flora, you know, or Eve. You have so many people who love you, Scorpius. So many people who would love to take care of you."
"But I could live with you? You promise?"
"I promise. You want to shake on it?"
Scorpius nodded. Harry held out his hand. It was awkward, given the way Scorpius was nestled in his arms,
"I promise you can live with me. I promise to take care of you," he said.
Scorpius took his hand and shook it.
"Thank you," he said.
Grimmauld Place produced a small, neat bedroom, all hung in Ravenclaw colours. Harry tucked Scorpius in and left the door open.
"Harry?" said Scorpius, as Harry was about to leave.
"Yes?"
"I love you too."
Harry went back in and kissed him on the forehead before going to his own bedroom. He had an owl to send.
The next morning, Draco was still unconscious. He had been changed into a loose hospital gown and was heavily bandaged.
"Here are his personal effects," said a healer, handing Harry a neat pile of clothes, a wallet, and keys.
"I'll keep them safe," said Harry, moving to stow them in his robes until something caught his attention, a crinkling in the inside jacket pocket. Harry reached in a found a letter. It was a little crumpled, and in very familiar handwriting. Harry's handwriting. Glancing around to check that no one was looking, he unfolded it.
Malfoy,
Andromeda has given us the all clear! I'll take Scorpius over at ten tomorrow.
I may be completely wrong here, but it seems like you think you're ruining Scorpius' life. And I guess it makes sense that you would worry about that, because (at least from my perspective), your dad ruined yours. But I grew up without a father, and I would have given anything to have someone love me like you love Scorpius. I know you think he'd be better off without you. I promise you, he wouldn't.
I'm sorry if I'm overstepping by saying all this. I just thought you should know that you have no idea how lucky Scorpius is to have you. You're a wonderful father.
H. Potter
Something was clutching in his throat. Draco had never mentioned that letter, never responded to it. No, he'd just kept it in his pocket. For months.
He folded it back up and put it away.
"Come on, darling." he said Scorpius. "We're going to the Ministry."
Harry held Scorpius' hand tightly as he fought his way through crowds of interested well-wishers in the atrium.
"Is that Teddy Lupin?" asked a witch, smiling beatifically at Scorpius.
"No, it's Scorpius Malfoy," said Harry, pulling Scorpius closer.
"Oh, how—how lovely," said the witch.
"Excuse me, we're in a hurry," said Harry.
Hermione was waiting for them outside Kingsley's office.
"Hello," she said. "You must be Scorpius. I'm Hermione."
"Hermione Granger," breathed Scorpius, looking starstruck.
"Yes. I've heard all about you from Harry and Ron, of course. I'm so sorry about your father."
Scorpius seemed at a loss for words. Hermione turned to Harry.
"I think this is a wonderful idea. Harry. I can't believe I didn't think of it before. I've written a draft of the amendment already."
"But I only owled you about it last night!"
"It's very rough. Just a few notes, really," said Hermione, taking out an enormous stack of paper. Harry laughed and his
"I've missed you," he said.
Kingsley sat behind his desk. He did not seem surprised to see them.
"There was a rumour that you were rampaging around," he said to Harry. He turned to Scorpius. "Mr. Malfoy I presume?"
"Scorpius. How do you do?" said Scorpius.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Scorpius. I'm Kingsley. I was sorry to hear about your father. How is he today?"
"They're still trying to figure out what spells were used by his attackers," said Harry. Kingsley nodded gravely.
"How can I help you, Harry? Hermione?"
"I'm just letting you know that I'm going to be bringing Draco's muggle friends to St Mungo's. Five of them."
"Harry"
"I'm not asking. Kingsley. I'm telling you. If you had put Draco under ministry protection when I asked you, this wouldn't have happened."
"The Statute..."
"That's what we wanted to talk about," interjected Hermione. "We'd like to propose an amendment to the Statute of Secrecy to facilitate muggle-wizard interactions.
Under the new legislation, a witch or wizard would be able to file for exceptions to the Statute on the basis of
personal relationships." She put her stack of papers on Kingsley's desk. "It would function something like muggle immigration systems."
"Does that mean that we could tell Eve and Nick and Flora about Hogwarts?" asked Scorpius.
"We're telling them no matter what." growled Harry.
"Yes, well," said Hermione, slightly nervously, "under ordinary circumstances there would be an application procedure—"
"Just try to put me in Azkaban. Just try," said Harry.
"Harry," said Kingsley. "There's no need to be inflammatory. You may of course inform Mr. Malfoy's friends about his position in the wizarding world, given the circumstances. I'll send the paperwork over to St Mungo's. As to the amendment. I'm intrigued by the idea, myself. Don't forget I lived in the muggle world for quite some time, during the war. I well remember the difficulties the Statute posed in making meaningful connections there."
"Right. Well...good," said Harry, who had come prepared to fight. Scorpius went to the desk and took Kingsley's hand in both his own.
"You don't know how much my dad wanted this. Even if he—it would have made him happy. Thank you."
Harry never tired of watching Scorpius disarm people.
When they took leave of Hermione. Scorpius blushed furiously red and said something in a low voice.
"What was that?" asked Hermione, kindly,
"Would... would you let me write you a letter? You wouldn't have to write back. I wouldn't bother you, I promise. Only dad always said you were the cleverest witch he ever met, and I-
Hermione had gone bright red as well.
"Oh! That's... unexpected," she said. "Of course you can write to me. I love getting post."
She scribbled her address on a piece of paper and gave it to Scorpius, who folded it reverently, as if it was a priceless treasure.
"Come on, Scorpius," said Harry. "Let's tell your friends you're a wizard."
Scorpius sighed.
"Eve is going to be so mad," he said.
To be continued...