Draco Malfoy was just turning around a corner when he caught sight of tousled black hair coming up the stairs right in front of him.

At first, he thought it was James, and he was ready to scold the boy for not being in class in the very first period of a Wednesday.

Then he found out that the tousled black hair outlined a face marked with a lightning bolt, tanned skin, round-rimmed glasses and almond-shaped eyes coloured fucking green.

"Potter," Draco gasped, clutching his hands to his chest as if this motion would slow down the fast beating of his heart.

Potter eyed him curiously, his brow raising slightly.

"Hello to you too, Malfoy," he said.

Draco nodded in acknowledgment, letting his hands fall down. He masked his bewildered expression, raised his chin and walked away nonchalantly.

'I must look like a bloody schoolboy with a crush, stupid me in love with even stupider Potter', he thought bitterly before entering the Seventh Year's classroom.

"Today we will start breeding the Polyjuice Potion," he said to his students, "it allows a human drinker to temporarily assume the form of another person. It is a very hard –" somehow a lewd image of Potter appeared in his mind and he had a coughing fit. His students stared at him curiously and started whispering their speculations to each other.

After some minutes, he cleared his throat loudly, making the Seventh' years silent.

"It is a very difficult potion to brew," he finally said, "its brewing time is one month and it has two parts," he waved his wand and the instructions for the first and second parts appeared in the chalkboard, "the basic instructions are in the chalkboard, but I recommend you look into your books for further information". He sighed when he caught several looks of anxiety aimed towards him, "I hope you push yourselves, because this project consists in thirty per cent of your marks," he sat on his chair, looked at his frightened students with a wry smile, and then added, "oh, it's in pairs."

xXxXx

Harry was happy with being able to be in Hogwarts. When he talked to Ron and Hermione about this, they both agreed that it was a great opportunity. Albus and Lily were thrilled with the idea, mostly because it would give them the chance to spend some time within Hogwarts before starting school. James seemed a bit put out on the first letters, but then he said it would be nice to have classes with his father, and when he said that, Harry sent a letter to McGonagall with his acceptance.

He had arranged everything in the last two weeks and now he, Albus, Lily and James would move to Hogsmeade by the end of the week.

After having discussed everything there was to discuss with McGonagall, Harry went on search for Hagrid. Not finding the half-giant in his hub, he decided to venture in the Forbidden Forest. Walking down a path he recalled from his fifth year, he found out some Thestrals and someone feeding them.

From far away, the person looked a lot like a miniature version of Draco Malfoy. However, as Harry approached the boy, he realized the differences, such as the way the hair was styled and the blue-rimmed glasses that adorned the pointy face, but what bemused Harry the most was the look of sheer peacefulness in the boy's face while dealing with Thestrals; Draco Malfoy was not an animal person.

Scorpius Malfoy probably felt Harry approaching, because he turned around and stared at the man.

"Hello," Harry said with a warm smile, holding out his hand for the boy, "I'm Harry Potter"

Scorpius smiled – not smirked, nor sneered – and shook Harry's hand.

"I know," he said, "I am Scorpius Malfoy"

Harry turned his attention to the baby Thestral in front of him, only now realising that Scorpius could also see them. He looked at the boy with concern.

"My mom died when I was seven," Scorpius answered the unasked question after he noticed the look on Harry's face. He gave an apple to the Thestral in front of him, smiling fondly when the animal nuzzled his cheek.

"I am sorry," Harry said.

Scorpius shrugged. "I would ask who you saw," he turned to face Harry, "but there was the whole war thing, so I suppose it doesn't matter."

"Cedric Diggory," Harry said, stroking the skeleton head of a baby Thestral, "It happened before the war,"

"Oh, I think I know this name…" Scorpius frowned slightly, and then his eyes brightened. "Oh, yeah! The Triwizard Tournament, Mad Barty Crouch Jr. and the ferret incident, Potter Stinks badges, the Slutherin contest and the Yucky Ball," he said excitedly, "dad told me all about it."

"He did?" Harry asked with surprise. "I didn't tell my kids about the ferret incident"

"James knows," Scorpius announced.

"Ron probably told him this," Harry said, and then added after receiving a curious look from the boy, "Ronald Weasley, my best friend and James' godfather."

"Oh, I know him too," Scorpius said, "I have his Frog Card"

"Why does your father called the ball 'The Yucky Ball'?" Harry asked after a few seconds of silence.

"He said it was Yucky because he had to kiss aunt Pansy," Scorpius shrugged, "she says it was a bad kiss because he is a shirt-lifter," the blond boy looked thoughtful, "but mother never said such things, so I think aunt Pansy is just embarrassed with her kissing skills"

"Oh," Harry looked taken aback, "Do you know what shirt-lifter means?"

"Yes," Scorpius answered, now feeding and caressing another Thestral, "I admit that I didn't understand when aunt Pansy first said that, but then dad explained to me that it was an expression used to label men who liked to be with other men"

Merlin, Draco Malfoy is gay!

Harry was gaping now, and Scorpius looked at him with a frown. Harry closed his mouth and swallowed.

"Um," he hesitated a bit before asking, "and what was the Slutherin contest?"

"Oh," Scorpius bit his lip, "sorry, I can't tell, and I don't know much about it"

Harry bit his tongue to not do something childish as put on an Auror act to get the information out of the kid. He then looked up at the sky and smiled.

"Today the weather is surprisingly nice," he said and looked at Scorpius, "do you know how to fly?"

Scorpius nodded eagerly and Harry's smile broadened.

"Then let's go for a quick match, what do you say?"

"I'd love it!"

xXxXx

Draco was surprised when he saw a blond-haired person waiting patiently beside his door in the dungeons. He snorted and entered his chambers, the person following him in immediately.

"Smith," he greeted with an unfriendly expression.

Zacharias Smith approached him and tried to kiss him in the mouth, an act that made Draco promptly turn his face and push the other man away.

"Draco," Smith still smiled happily even after being rejected. "I've missed you!"

"Oh, really?" he asked cynically. "If I remember correctly, you were aware of the meaning of the term 'One-night stand'"

The Hufflepuff rolled his eyes and smirked.

"We could have more," he cupped Draco's groin and squeezed lightly. "No strings attached," he added when Draco swatted his hand away, "just some harmless casual sex."

"No, Smith," the Slytherin said and turned around to organise the table. He looked at his clock on the wall and wondered if Scorpius would be late for lunch.

When he turned back, Smith gave him a grin.

"One day you'll want my body again," he seemed so confident that Draco had to bite his lip to prevent himself from saying 'I never wanted it in the first place, I just happened to be on the wrong place, at the wrong time and with a bottle of Firewhiskey'. Smith took a different meaning to this action and his grin widened, "Just you wait," he said before leaving the room.

"Bloody Hufflepuff," Draco muttered and cast a spell to call for a house-elf.

"Master Draco," the elf greeted with a bow, "what can Bitsy do for Master?"

Before he could ask for the elf to call Scorpius, the boy entered the chambers accompanied by a tall dark-haired man.

"Hey dad," Scorpius smiled.

"Um," the older blonde stammered, "Potter?"

"We were flying and I invited him to have lunch with us," Scorpius provided, "hope it's okay"

"It's freezing out there!" Draco said, narrowing his eyes. "Why were you flying in this weather?" he asked with concern, Scorpius shrugged and grimaced when his father used a warming spell on him.

"It's not that cold out there, dad," Scorpius said while Draco still scrutinised him, "and Mr. Potter used a spell that made the quidditch pitch feel warmer,"

"Oh," Draco glanced at Potter, remembering that he was there, before turning to Scorpius again and ruffling his hair kindly. "You're okay, then."

"So," Scorpius fidgeted. "Is it okay if Mr. Potter lunches with us?"

"It's fine," Draco said and turned to the house-elf, "could you bring us the food, please?"

"Sure, Master Draco," the elf turned to Scorpius and Potter, "Master Potter, Master Scorpius," he bowed once again and disappeared with a pop.

Draco conjured another chair and put another place on the table.

"I can lunch in the kitchens if you'd like," Potter said, suddenly too close, and Draco gasped.

"Nonsense!" Draco said, not looking directly at Potter, and sat down. "My son invited you here, and I reiterate this invitation,"

"Okay," Potter sat apprehensively by his side.

Scorpius looked at both men with curiosity, but said nothing and sat down across from his father.

The food appeared on the table, and they started to eat.

"So," Scorpius said after taking a mouthful of his pumpkin juice, "how did aunt Millie and uncle Dudley met?" he asked Potter.

Draco eyed the man interestedly. Yes, he saw the Durleys in a monthly basis, but he and Millicent were not the best of friends. He guessed Pansy probably knew how the two met, but never told him because they would end up talking about Potter.

"Dudley never told you?" He asked Draco, who shook his head. "Oh, well," Potter sighed, apparently organising his thoughts, "Millicent and I were partnered for a job, and we ended up at Muggle London because the bad guys were trying to foil us."

"What was the job?" Scorpius asked.

"Some dark wizards were stealing babies from Muggle Hospitals," Potter said with anger, "it was a horrible case"

Draco clenched his fists, also feeling angry. Scorpius just stared at the Man Who Lived with wide eyes.

"Anyway," Potter said, trying to ease the mood, "I bumped into Dudley, we talked for a bit, and Millicent got really angry and scolded both of us." He laughed, "I caught sight of one of the wizards we were after, and we ambushed them in an alley," he sighed, "but Dudley tagged along and got hurt."

"I still don't see how they ended up falling in love," Scorpius frowned.

"We arrested some of the bad guys and took Dudley to St. Mungos," Potter continued, "since he got wounded by a curse that was actually meant for Millicent, she promised to not leave his side until he woke up," he grimaced, "he woke up after a week. We had to take him to his parents' place, so as soon as Dudley entered the house, Millicent and I had to leave – they hate magic, my uncles –, but Dudley managed to ask her out. She accepted."

"What did your uncles said to that?" Draco asked.

"My aunt sort of accepted it. My uncle Vernon was livid, mostly at me for introducing his son to 'that dreadful freak', as he likes to call her."

"That's awful," Scorpius said, outraged.

"Prejudice is awful, indeed." Draco said, looking thoughtful.

Potter could only nod in agreement.

"So, how did Susan Bones married Blaise Zabini?" Potter asked to lighten the mood and Draco turned to look at him.

"That's a rather funny story," he said before starting to tell the tale of how his trial helped to unite a Hufflepuff and a Slytherin.

After more light conversation, lunchtime was over and Draco had classes to teach. He kissed Scorpius' forehead and shook Potter's hand, lingering more than necessary and earning a raised brow from the other man.