Wizarding fairytales

Summary: Draco has a bedtime story to tell a young Scorpius.

Rating: K.

Disclaimer: All characters belong to JK Rowling. The only thing I own is the plot.

"Once upon a time," Draco began as he folded back the fluffy quilt on his son's bed; "there was a wizard…"

"Like you and me, daddy?" six-year-old Scorpius looked up at his dad with wide eyes as he hopped beneath the warm sheets and settled his blond head back against the comfortable pillows.

"Not quite like you and me," Draco told his son gently. Scorpius snuggled down beneath the quilt and Draco tucked it in around him tightly before continuing; "this boy didn't know he was a wizard for one thing."

Scorpius wrinkled his nose suspiciously as if such a notion was simply absurd; "he didn't know?" he asked, clearly baffled.

"No," Draco explained patiently, "he didn't find out who he really was until he was eleven-years-old, when he got an letter telling him he'd been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Until then, he was living his life as a muggle and knew no differently. Nobody had ever told him the truth."

Scorpius looked impressed that such a big secret had been hidden for so long and Draco continued with a little smile; "do you want to know the best part?"

Scorpius nodded eagerly, his hair already touselled on his blue pillow; "uh-huh."

"This boy was already a hero and everyone in the wizarding world knew his name. He was famous."

"Why?" Scorpius questioned, curiously.

"When he was even younger than you are now, just a baby in fact, a terrible dark wizard tried to curse him, only he couldn't."

Scorpius looked intrigued. "Why not?"

"Because this boy was loved," Draco told his son simply, "by his parents and they gave their lives to protect him and love was something that this terrible wizard had never had in his whole life and his dreadful curse backfired. The only sign this little boy was different from any other boy and showed he had even survived a curse at all, was the scar on his forehead- it was shaped just like a jagged bolt of lightening."

"Wow," Scorpius said, awed. "What happened to the dark wizard, daddy?"

"He came back," Draco said gravely, "over and over again, and do you know what the worst part was?"

Scorpius shook his head, fascinated. "What?" he demanded.

"Each time he came back again, that same boy had to face him, over and over and as the years went by, the dark wizard had a whole army of evil wizard's right behind him."

"Like a war?" Scorpius guessed, sucking his thumb.

"Exactly," Draco said softly as he tweaked his son's snub nose, "just like a war."

"Then what happened?" Scorpius asked, looking perplexed as he removed his thumb from his mouth with a pop.

"The boy formed his own army and went to battle," Draco told him.

"Really?" Scorpius' slate-grey eyes were growing bigger and bigger in his little face.

"Yes. It was a terrible battle of good against evil and for a while the wizarding world thought it would have to go over to the dark side once and for all," Draco's voice was distant and his eyes far away now; "we all thought there was no hope…"

"Who won the war, daddy?" Scorpius asked his father cutting into his thoughts, intrigued.

There was a pause before Draco smiled down at him, his own grey eyes bright. "The right side, Scorp. The right side won."

"Good," Scorpius said with satisfaction; "what happened to the boy?"

"He grew up and got married and lived happily ever after," Draco replied, brushing a soft kiss to his son's forehead as he used his wand to dim the lights in the room with a whispered; "nox…"

"I like that story better than any from my Tales of the beetle bard book, daddy," Scorpius yawned appreciatively as he burrowed further under the cosy quilt.

"You do?" Draco asked him with amusement as he made to leave the room; "why's that?"

Scorpius closed his eyes; "because true stories always sound better than wizarding fairytales," he told his father sleepily, as he drifted off into a deep, peaceful slumber.

A/N: Sorry, I've had a plot bunny spiralling away with that one ever since I pre-ordered Tales of the Beetle Bard on Amazon. I know it was short, but thanks for reading nonetheless :)