Chapter Text
The dinner was set for the following Friday night and Harry spent the whole week obsessing over it. On Wednesday Luna threw another wrench into the works letting him know that she actually knew all about Malfoy apprenticing with Ollivander and she even told him about a few conversations she’d had with Draco over the years of visiting her dear friend, the wand maker.
It was all ludicrous and he was so befuddled as to why everyone seemed to be under the impression that he couldn’t ‘handle’ information about Malfoy. He’d had a fire call with his mind healer, and they’d tried to deconstruct his feelings around the man.
It was important to him to give him a second chance. He wanted to approach the possibility of friendship with the man without the years of animosity on his heart. He’d decided Draco deserved to be seen as the man he was today, not the boy who had been born on the wrong side of the war.
He could only hope that Draco was ready to see him as the man he was today, and not the boy hero he’d been forced to be.
He made a tart, treckle of course, for the group. And then he prepared a full dinner for Albus. He ate the same five foods in rotation, and with him already be on edge in a new house, he would need his safe foods to ground him. So Harry packed the Lego lunch box, and shrunk down his lego build to fit in his pocket before apparating to the address that Mione had given him.
The house was built with red bricks that peaked through the cracks of a vine that seemed to be attempting to consume the home. It was a one story with sage green shutters and a black door with a window that one could easily see a warm light leaking through from inside. It was cozy and inviting. Harry stood on the street just staring at the house that Malfoy lived in trying to wrap his head around the thought that he was dying to go inside.
“Daddy, Legos.” Albus said, as always having his priorities straight.
“Yes yes, sorry. First we say hi, we’re going to meet a new friend and then I’ll set up your legos.”
“First hello, then legos.” Albus repeated to himself, giving a little hand flap as they walked down the path to the front door.
“Good job Alby,” before knocking on the door he dropped to a knee and took Albus’s hands. Unlike other kids, forcing eye contact wouldn’t make Albus understand him any better, but he’d found that if he was holding Albus’s hands it had the same effect.
“If it gets to be too much, I need you to tell me. I have your headphones, we can take a break, or go home, okay? If you need a break, you have to tell me, okay?”
“If I need a break, daddy has headphones.”
Harry beamed, so proud of his son. “Good job, alright. Will you hold daddy’s hand? I’m pretty nervous.”
“Take a deep breath.” Albus said, demonstrating with an exaggerated breath. It was what Harry would have told him in the same situation. Albus was so smart, and caring. Harry got a bit lost in his adoration for his sweet little boy and missed seeing the tall blonde man approaching the door with a hesitant smile on his face.
The door opened, and there stood Draco Malfoy in all his blonde ferret glory. “Potter. Welcome to Prince Cottage. Come in.” He stepped aside motioning for them to come in.
He was in gray slacks and a black turtleneck sweater that clung to all his sharp edges. He had a dish towel thrown over one shoulder and when he reached up to push his fingers through his ash blonde hair he noticed his hands were adorned with several rings.
Rings. Merlin help him. Why was that so damn cool.
He felt wildly underdressed in a faded band T shirt and Sirius’s worn out leather jacket. Hermione saved him from his spiriling anxiety by coming around the corner, a small blonde child on her hip.
“Harry! I’m so glad you made it. Hello Albus.” She said, dropping to his level.
“Hello Aunt Mione.” He said, looking off into the distance.
“Albus, this is Scorpius Malfoy, he’s a friend of mine, maybe he can be your friend too. Can you say hi to Scorpius?” She asked, running a hand up and down the back of the blonde boys back as he curled into her. He seemed rather shy.
“Hello Scorbus, my name is Albus Potter.” and he gave a little wave. Eyes locked on his feet where he was rocking back and forth.
Harry beamed, dropping down to his knee. “Albus I love how you said hi to our new friend and introduced yourself, that was so good.” He looked back at Scorpius who was fiddling with Hermione’s necklace and still not responding.
“Scorpius, can you say hello to our guests?” Malfoy spoke up and Harry looked up to find such a familiar expression on the pale face. Malfoy looked nervous, a bit worried but also trying not to be too pushy.
“That’s okay. Scorpius doesn’t have to greet us till he’s ready. Sometimes Albus doesn’t want to talk to people either.” He pulled the shrunken box out of his pocket, “But I did promise Albus that if he said Hello to everyone he would get to play with his Lego’s. Where’s a good spot for lego building, Malfoy?”
Draco looked shocked, but quickly shook it off and cleared his throat, “I’ve got a coffee table that is just begging to be covered in legos. How does that sound?”
Harry laughed, “Brilliant.” He stood, clapping Malfoy on the shoulder, suddenly feeling at ease with the man. “Lead the way.”
Malfoy seemed shocked by the touch but smiled and lead the group into a cozy sitting area that did indeed have a short wooden coffee table that was perfect for legos. Harry sat the box down and resized it.
“Alrighty Alby, have at it.” he ruffled his hair and smiled as he watched Albus get to work on the Phoenix's tail.
With Albus squared away he focused on the blond mystery standing at his side. “Malfoy, thank you for hosting.” He offered a hand and Draco slipped his surprisingly rough hand into Harry’s giving it a firm shake.
He’d always imagined his hands being soft and delicate. But he was shocked to find them callused and strong, and adorned with rings that Harry once again found himself staring at for longer than was likely normal.
“Potter, thank you for coming. I know it’s been.. Well 13 years but I want to thank you again for saving me from life in Azkaban.”
Harry felt himself turn as red as a gryffindor quidditch kit. “Oh-uh I mean - that was nothing! I mean…” He smiled, scratching the nape of his neck. “Yourewelcomeiguess.” he mumbled, giving Draco a shy smile.
Draco was smirking, hands clasped behind his back, his eyes flicked to Hermione who was paying attention to Scorpius and then his eyes traveled to his friend standing in the doorway, utterly gobsmacked.
“H-Harry?” Wesley croaked. Was Harry BLUSHING?! The man thought to himself. His wife had warned him that he might find the night shocking and a bit entertaining but she hadn’t mentioned anything about a blushing boy wonder stumbling over his words because of little ole Drake.
“Wesley! Brilliant, how was your meeting yesterday?” He jumped at the familiar ground.
“Good, good, I think we’re going to move forward with the deal.” He said, wiping his hands on a dish towel that matched the one hanging on Draco’s shoulder.
“Oh brilliant. Congratulations.” The goblins had alerted Wesley to an exciting new investment opportunity. Goblins were notorious for their nack for investments. They could sniff out the next Google as easily as a niffler could find diamonds.
They’d been trying to convince Wesley to invest in something called Uber. The idea was similar to the Night Bus, but for muggles. Wesley had set up a meeting with the CEO and from the grin on his face, it must have gone very well.
“You should consider investing yourself, Harry. Diversify your portfolio and what not.” He waived a hand as he turned to go to the kitchen. Harry followed him, Malfoy in tow.
“Oh I don’t know, I’m not really a risk taker-” He started to say right as Malfoy had taken a sip of wine which he then choked and sprayed all over himself. “Malfoy! Are you okay?” He asked, instantly forgetting what he’d been saying, jumping into hero mode. His mind was already going though the steps of the heimlich maneuver when he realized Malfoy wasn’t choking but laughing.
It wasn’t all that surprising that Harry had assumed choking, considering he’d only seen Malfoy laugh a handful of times, almost all of them being when they were children.
“You-you-” he was snickering, his eyes shining. Harry had always thought they were gray, the same shade of ominous storm clouds. But now, seeing them filled with amusement, they reminded him more of the gray clouds of a cozy fall day. Clouds that inspired comfort and peace.
“You. Harry Potter, ‘are not a risk taker?’” He exaggerated the quotation marks with hand gestures. Harry’s face cracked into a grin.
“Oh my god did I actually say that?” He shook his head, a chuckle escaping him. The chuckle grew into full blown laughter and before he knew it he was clutching his stomach with one hand, and holding on to the counter with the other while he laughed with Draco Malfoy of all people.
And man did it feel good.
With the ice officially broken, the three men chatted away as they prepared dinner. Hermione stayed in the den, which was visible from the kitchen. Harry would steal a glance to check on Albus every few minutes and caught Draco doing the same.
He was really enjoying getting to know Draco the man, the father, the wand maker. The wit that had been used to tear him down as a school boy now had him laughing and bantering right back. Draco shared stories of working with Ollie and watching the next magical generation receive their wands. He told Harry about the first Muggle he ever met.
“Ollie very politely explained that there were some Wizarding families that never left the magical world and therefore never met muggles. Which made the man say ‘well that sounds rather boring, how do you manage without the wonders of the internet?’ And well - did you know about the internet?!”
Harry was folded over laughing as Malfoy told him about discovering google and how he spent 8 hours searching every muggle word he’d ever heard and then moved on to googling magical stuff, learning the muggle interpretations, he’d remembered Olivander once calling Voldemort the wizarding Hitler. So he’d gone down a rabbit hole of world war 1 history and got so sucked in that he hadn’t realized the sun had rose and he was finally saved from the horrors of the holocaust when Scorpius started screaming from his crib.
Since then Draco had become something of a muggle history buff.
“I mean it’s so fascinating. We learn about Greek Mythology and the Roman Empire but - have you ever heard about the city called Pompeii?”
This led to him getting out a box of photo albums and showing him all the places he’d visited with Scorpius. There were pictures of a little blonde boy all over the world. From the steps of the Colosseum to the Aztec pyramids of South America and even one of him standing next to a penguin in Greenland.
“Penguin was his first word. I freaked out and googled where I could find a penguin and booked a flight for the next day.” Draco shrugged and Harry found himself oddly charmed by the idea of Draco booking a flight to another country just so his son could see a penguin.
But then something occurred to him and he looked back to the picture. Scorpius looked about 3 in the picture.
“How old was he?” Harry asked, hoping it didn’t sound rude. He knew he needed to be gentle in bringing the topic up.
“Erm.” Malfoy cleared his throat, “it was just before his 4th birthday.”
Harry hummed, “Albus said his first word when he was 2.5, but then he didn’t say his third until he was almost 4.”
“Really??” Draco turned to face Harry completely, all thoughts of his world wide adventures forgotten.
“Yeah, his speech delay was the reason we got him assessed for Autism in the first place. A speech delay doesn’t always indicate autism but it can be one of the more obvious signs.”
Draco scrunched his brow in confusion, “autism?”
Harry nodded.
“I’m sorry but I don’t know what that is.”
Harry’s lips twitched. A Draco Malfoy that apologized for ignorance instead of treating it with bigotry… the man really had changed.
“That’s okay, the wizarding world is still catching up to the muggle world when it comes to different mental abilities and even the Muggle world is a bit behind in this effect. That is to say while autism is by no means rare, it is rare that someone actually understands what it means.”
“Mental abilities, like occlumency?” Draco asked, cocking his head in way Harry might even call cute, if he was allowed to think Draco was cute.
“Well that’s magical. How much do you understand biology or muggle medicine?”
Draco scrunched his brows in thought, “well I remember early on in our relationship Astoria made me read books about DNA so I would understand something called genetics? She had a blood curse that attached to her DNA so it was possible that Scorpius could have inherited it.”
Harry’s eyes went wide, “oh my, did he? Sorry that was rude I just-“ he’d asked out of genuine concern.
“No no, he didn’t, we’re rather lucky. The curse was rather nasty. It weakened you over time until your 25th birthday.”
“And then…” Harry whispered.
“And then she died. Exactly 25 years after she was born. To the minute. She lived every moment of her life knowing exactly how much time she had left. It was… gruesome. But… anyways, I have a basic understanding of DNA.”
Harry had to shake his head to refocus his thoughts. He had about a million questions about Malfoy’s wife, about her life, her curse, why she decided to have a child, why he decided to risk having a child with the same curse - but it was neither the time nor place. For all intents and purposes the two men were almost strangers. The versions of each other that they knew were long gone. Any tentative friendship they might form would have to start from the beginning.
“Right okay. So no one knows what causes autism but it’s not really what’s important, what is important is that autistic individuals brain chemistry is different than what is called ‘neurotypical’ brains. Think of brain chemistry like… like potions. Some magic is created by ingredients mixed together in all the right ways and the final product is much different than crafting a spell. Right?”
Draco nodded. “Sure, so which brain is autism? A spell or a potion?”
Harry tilted his head, “fascinating question actually - well it’s not a perfect metaphor but I would say autism is more like potion making. A potion requires more intricate work to create something similar to what a spell might do. Like take a sleeping draught. There are how many steps to brewing one? Like ten?”
“There are 7 but continue.” Draco said.
Harry rolled his eyes, “alright Mr second in our class, as I was saying,” he teased and Malfoy ducked his head as if he was embarrassed at the compliment, “the multiple steps mean that it might be more difficult to learn how to produce the magic and it also leaves you open to the possibility of outside influences stopping you from completing it. Autism is kinda like that I guess. They learn in different ways so sometimes their skills look different then ours and because more often than not, an autistic kid is taught as if they are not autistic, they struggle to learn and can fall behind, thus their development is seen as delayed. But there are services and techniques that are created with their brain type in mind that allow them to learn and thrive. All in all we’re still learning about autism, there’s a lot that’s unknown. But what we know for sure is that there’s nothing wrong with Albus, and it’s definitely not that he’s unable to do things, it’s just that he might take longer to learn them, or need to do them in a different way.”
Draco looked pensive, running his pointer finger over his top lip. Harry tracked the movement, facinated by the ring that sat on his finger. It was a simple crown, encircling his finger just like one would encircle a head. In the center there was a black P, it was the only detail to the ring.
Prince Cottage, he had called this place… perhaps it was passed down from his godfather?
“So if it’s a matter of different brain chemistry I’m assuming it would effect more than just their speech development?”
“Oh definitely. It manifests differently in every child, but there are some things that are common enough that they can act as indicators of the disability.”
Draco nodded, taking a seat on a near by armchair.
“What would those indicators be?”
Harry smiled, happy to see he was keeping an open mind.
“Are you thinking of anything in particular?” Harry asked, taking the other seat across from him.
“Well I have to admit, since Scorp started Preschool last fall I’ve had some concerns. For a while I thought he just needed to be exposed to other children to learn to be more like them… but that hasn’t happened. I’ve tried to make friends with some of the other parents and I’ve talked to them on play dates but-“
“But their problems are all different. Somehow they’re the same as eachother’s but completely different then your own.” Harry said, knowing exactly what the man was talking about.
“Yeah.” Malfoy said, eyes wide in shock. “Right like when scorp got sick, he had a fever but he couldn’t tell me what hurt. He just said no to everything I asked. I finally had to cast a diagnostic spell on him and he lost it he threw his toy across the room and threw a window and then he just screamed and rocked on the floor for close to 30 minutes. If I tried to comfort him -“
“The second you touched him it only made it worse.” Harry said solemnly.
“Yes!” Malfoy exclaimed, jumping forward, the anguish on his face was as fresh, it was clear he was still worked up about the event.
“I don’t allow diagnostic spells to be cast on Albus, it sends him into sensory overload. Something about the sensation of it, he can’t handle it. It sounds like Scorp got overstimulated and it caused him to shut down.”
“Okay, overstimulated, what’s that?” Draco asked elbows on his knees, his face open and desperate for information.
They spent the next 20 minutes discussing sensory sensitivities. And they’d just started talking about stimming when Hermione peeked her head around the corner of the study they’d hidden away in.
“Boys, dinner is ready but first, you both need to see something.” Hermione was grinning so Harry tried not to worry.
She made a shushing motion with a finger to her lips and then gestured for them to follow her around the corner and back to the den where two little voices could be heard.
Scorpius sat on the floor, a pile of pictures in front of him, Albus sat in the same ‘W’ leg shape squat looking at the pictures.
One by one Scorpius would choose a picture from the pile, label what it was a picture of wave the picture infront of his eyes, humming and then pass it to Albus. Who would repeat the same word and put it in one of two stacks on the floor next to him.
Draco and Harry watched, matching besotted looks on their faces. Both men were watching their sons make a friend for the first time. It was so precious.
Harry whispered “mione!”
“I already took a photo.” She winked at him. And Harry grinned looking at Draco.
“Good luck getting rid of me now.” Harry joked, looking back at the boys completely missing the blush that exploded over Draco’s face.
But Hermione didn’t miss it, her smirk was full of mirth, this only confirmed all her suspicions of the two. She winked at Draco and he ducked his head, embarrassed. She shook her head, silly silly oblivious boys… this would be interesting.