Draco Malfoy's mind was made up the day his son Scorpius received his acceptance letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He knew that when he sent him to school, with his hated family name, the boy would be an outcast. Even the Slytherins would hate him. The Malfoys were the only ones among the Dark Lord`s followers not to be sent to Azkaban after Lord Voldemort's death, and the wizarding world hated them for it.
He could never remove the prejudice the wizarding world had against him, but perhaps, he could make the way easier for his son. Malfoy picked up his quill and gritted his teeth. He knew what he had to do, but that did not mean he liked it. So he began to write.
Dear Mr Potter...
***
Harry Potter paced his office, a letter in hand. He had originally put the letter away and resolved not to think about it, but not once had his mind left it. The letter itself was simple enough, requesting a brief meeting with him at his earliest convenience. He received hundreds of similar letters each week. Being the head of the Auror department and the “boy who lived” meant there were few people who didn't want to meet him and ask for his advice about one thing or another. But this was different. This was from Malfoy . . . and it was polite!
Re-reading the letter, Harry tried to take in any hidden messages it could hold. He had become pretty good at this over the years, but would still have preferred to have Hermione do it for him. But she would tell Ron, and Ron would flip out if he thought Harry was in touch with a Malfoy.
Looking it over again, he noticed something he had missed originally, an underlying tone. Was it? Surely not from Malfoy? Pleading? The usual arrogance was there, but it seemed to be forced rather than natural, as if the writer felt that it should be there but didn't quite have the heart to carry it out properly. Then there was the mention of his son. He was only spoken of briefly, but fatherly pride seemed to layer every word. Maybe he had changed? It couldn't do any harm to meet with him, could it? And the others didn't have to know. Not about the first meeting anyway. So he began to write.
Dear Mr Malfoy...
***
Draco grimaced. When he had asked to meet with Harry at his earliest possible convenience, he hadn't expected it to be this soon. He was Head Auror, for Merlin's sake! Didn't he have work to do? Of course, he knew that Harry must have pulled some strings to meet with him this quickly. He actually felt a little guilty about this but was refusing to admit it to himself. Why should he care that Potter was so damned nosy that he felt an urge to rearrange his whole schedule to meet with him? Again a pinprick of guilt shot through him. Seizing a handful of Floo powder, he unrolled the piece of parchment that contained the Floo directions to Harry's office and set off.
When the spinning sensation stopped, Draco opened his eyes and peered around. There had been something odd about those Floo directions; didn't all Ministry office directions start with the surname of the employee? He glanced down at the parchment, but it had already been consumed by the green flames.
Realizing the office was deserted, he resisted the urge to nose through the papers arranged carelessly on the desk and took a seat. As he had a really big favour to ask Harry, the last thing he wanted was to get caught going through his things. Glancing around the room, he couldn't help but notice what a big office it was, even for the Head Auror. Ministry offices were usually quite small, with just enough room for necessities. This room was different. Someone had taken the time to decorate it. On one wall were small, colourful handprints that Draco could only guess must have been done by his children. It was all very unprofessional.
Suddenly a noise from outside made Draco freeze -- the sound of children laughing and playing as they raced around. Realization hit him like a Bludger. This must be his house! Harry had invited him for a business meeting at his house! More voices outside made Draco jump and he strained to hear what was being said.
“Come on Dad, just one quick game!” The first voice was a young boy's. He sounded a lot like his father.
“No, I can't! I have a meeting now! Come on, let me past.” Harry sounded as if he was laughing.
“One game, Dad, please! Uncle Ron's going to play! Quidditch is SO much more important than a meeting!” a second boy pleaded.
“Is it Kingsley, Dad? Can we say hello? Please, I want to tell him that I got a new broom! Please!” A small girl's voice this time. What was this? Potter's kids were on first name basis with Shacklebolt, Minister of Magic? It sounded as if he was a regular visitor.
“It's not Kingsley. No, you can't say hello anyway. No, I can't play but I will later, and no, you've never met him. Now off you go.”
“Can I say hello later, Dad? Please!” whispered the girls voice.
“Maybe, if you're really good.”
With much conspiratorial whispering, the children finally left and Harry opened the door and strode in. Noticing Draco sitting in the chair with an amused grin on his face, he smiled ruefully and apologized for the delay.
“Don't worry, I...” Draco broke off, wondering what exactly to say. How did you ask your childhood enemy for help?
Noticing his hesitancy, Harry said, “I heard your son is starting at Hogwarts this year. He'll be in the same year as my son Albus, plus Rose and a few of his other cousins.”
Mention of Scorpius kicked Draco back into action. “Actually, that's why I'm here.” Harry motioned for him to continue. “Well, I know this is a lot to ask, but, you see, the thing is that... well. I'm afraid that when Scorpius goes to school, everyone will hate him. He'll be bullied and rejected because of things that aren't his fault. But your family, it practically rules Hogwarts.” Draco shrugged lamely. “Well, I hoped you would help.”
“Help how?” Harry asked.
Draco frowned suspiciously, a slight sneer playing about his lips. “What, just like that? No - `what's in it for me?` or gloating, or anything?”
Chuckling lightly, Harry brushed off the insult and answered, “I'm an Auror. `How can I help?` is sort of in the job description. So, how can I help? ”
“Let my son spend some time with your family. Please. If they like him, then they'll stop the others from bullying him. He's a good kid. He doesn't deserve to be hated,” Draco finished quietly, his voice little more than a whisper.
“Well, there's only one question that needs to be addressed now,” said Harry, bluntly.
Apprehensively, Draco met Harry's gaze, wondering what he could mean.
“Do you want to face the whole family at once, or a bit at a time?”
Draco couldn't help but smile.
***
“By the way, I've invited a few other people to dinner tomorrow.”
All of the Weasleys and their spouses, along with five friends of the family and 27 children, had been enjoying a huge party at the Burrow, celebrating Percy's promotion. The table had had several Enlarging Charms placed on it and a Strengthening Charm as well, but it still bowed slightly in the middle. Now the children had all been sent to bed and only the adults and Teddy Lupin were left up.
“Well, it's your house, mate. You can invite who you like, but I don't think Gin will appreciate the extra cooking,” warned Ron from across the table where he was playing wizard chess with his brother Bill.
“Who's coming?” asked Teddy, Harry`s godson, who had moved in permanently with the Potters since his grandmother had passed away a few years earlier.
“Well, I don't want you all to think I've gone mental or anything, so don't say anything until I have explained why, OK?”
He had everyone`s attention now, so he took a deep breath and continued. “I invited the Malfoys.”
For a moment it looked like his request for silence was going to be granted. Then Ron screamed, “ARE YOU MENTAL?” and the spell was broken. Everyone seemed keen to agree with him just as loudly as they could.
“Quiet!”yelled Harry, using a Sonorus Charm to make his voice carry over the noise.
“Malfoy doesn't want the whole of the wizarding world to hate his son. Is that really so bad?”
Harry knew that family was a soft spot for the Weasleys, but it was risky bringing it up so early in the argument.
“Can't we just not hate him from a distance?” asked a thoroughly confused-looking Teddy.
Harry turned to look directly at Teddy, forcing him to meet his eye. “You`re related to the Malfoys and you live with us.”
Ted blushed furiously. “I'm nothing like them,” he muttered, averting his gaze.
“Do we have to be polite?” questioned George, drawing Harry's attention away from a beetroot-coloured Teddy.
With an exasperated sigh, Harry fixed him with a glare that would have made Mrs Weasley proud.
“Not a single Weasleys` Wizard Wheezes product within 100 miles of the house. That will count for everyone!” he added, glancing up to the room where his two sons and their cousins were pretending to be asleep but were probably planning something that would have made the Marauders proud.
“Malfoy wants his son to associate with people his own age before he goes to Hogwarts. He's worried about his son! He cares about his son! Caring about people is a decent human quality and if Malfoy has one decent human quality, then he must have changed since we knew him at school! All he wants is for people to not hate his son. The kid's only eleven! Even if you can't pretend that you don't hate Malfoy for one night, at least go easy on the kid.”
He glanced over at his wife, Ginny, who gave him a reassuring smile. He had talked to her before the rest of the family had arrived because he had expected her reaction to be louder than the rest of the family's put together. But she had simply kissed him on the cheek and told him that in future that he should guard his office door against Extendable Ears. Apparently she had listened to the whole conversation and agreed that Scorpius Malfoy deserved a chance at a normal life.
Returning sharply to the present, Harry realized that the mutinous mutterings had resumed amongst the party. But Harry could tell he had won them over. He just hoped that nothing would go too badly wrong.
A Second Chance by Phoenix Queen
Story Notes:
One hundred thanks to my amazingly patient and generally fabulous beta Wendy, without your help I wouldn't have had a clue what I was doing. :-)
Chapter Notes: Hope you enjoy! :-)
Chapter Endnotes: Please R & R! The little white box at the bottom gets lonely when you don't!