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Written for Hogwarts Assignment 6 - Floristry - Task #4 - White Rose: (Remembrance / Innocence) Write about a trip down memory lane.

Word Count - 1406

Beta'd By Amber and Elizabeth

Down Memory Lane (I Miss You)

Draco lowered himself carefully onto the ground, his back and legs cracking painfully. He was far too old to be sitting on the floor, but Percy deserved his regard and the graveyard was a mix of Muggles and Wizarding folk. It wouldn't do to be seen conjuring a seat.

He carefully laid out the flowers he'd brought with him, arranging them perfectly against the well maintained stone. Percy had always been a fan of order, after all.

"I miss you," Draco murmured softly. "The house is too quiet without your tuneless humming, Perce."

…

"Merlin, will you hush?" Draco demanded, glaring at Percy across the room. Usually, Percy's humming didn't bother him so much, but he already had a headache and entirely too much paperwork, and his temper was definitely fraying.

Percy's lips tilted up sheepishly. "Sorry. You know I don't realise I'm doing it most of the time."

Draco sighed. "I know, I know. I'm sorry I snapped. I just—"

"Need to take a break," Percy interrupted. "Come sit with me for a while, I'll see if I can do something about your headache."

"I didn't say I had a headache!"

Percy's eyebrows arched. "Are you telling me you don't?"

Draco pouted. "No. How did you know?"

With a soft chuckle, Percy held his hand out for Draco to join him. "I know every expression that passes over your face. Right now, you're wearing the 'I have a headache and I hate everything' face."

Snorting, Draco tossed his quill down on top of his parchment and stood from his desk. Percy had magic fingers and could often dissipate Draco's headache with a simple massage.

…

"George popped by today," Draco continued, smiling slightly. "He's horrified that he's turning grey finally—I tried to tell him that he turned the rest of us years ago, but I'm not sure he appreciated the joke.

"Little Fred—he's not so little now is he? Merlin, I feel every second of my age whenever I see him with his own kids—came with him and told me that George Jr is the cause of the grey hair. Apparently, Junior likes books and studying. George is mortified!"

Draco chuckled softly.

"Fred misses you though. He spent an hour in your shed when they visited, looking through some of your old files. He misses your stories, I think."

…

Finding Percy passed out on the couch wasn't unusual. Finding him passed out on the couch with a baby on his chest… that was different.

Before Draco could wonder too much about what was going on, Percy stirred and opened his eyes, smiling sleepily up at him.

"Hey, you," Draco murmured, reaching out to thread a hand through Percy's short, red hair. "Who's the mini?"

"This is little Fred. George and Angelina were desperate for a few hours of sleep, so I said we could take him overnight. You don't mind, do you?"

Draco shook his head. "Of course not. He's cute, isn't he?"

Percy nodded. "I think all babies are pretty cute though, no?"

"I dunno, Perce. I kind of expected any offspring of George to be born with devil horns already fully formed."

Fighting his laughter so as not to wake the baby, Percy rolled his eyes and then glanced down at Fred. "Have you ever thought of it?"

"What?"

"Having kids?"

Draco blinked. "I guess so? In a 'one day' kind of way. Do you want kids?"

Percy glanced between Fred and Draco and then smiled. "You know, I think I do. Maybe not yet though. This little terror has got a right set of lungs on him."

"He seems pretty quiet now," Draco replied doubtfully.

"Uh huh. I put him to sleep by telling him stories about my work. I guess you're right, even babies think my job is boring."

Draco snorted. "When I'm right, I'm right."

…

"I'll see them again next week of course. Midsummer is coming, and you know that they'd never let me get away with missing it, despite my complaints. It's strange, being at the family gatherings without you, Perce.

"I can't help but look for you in the crowd, and it hurts every time I can't find you. Even when I know you're not going to be there."

Draco shifted on the ground. He was already aching, and he wished he'd had the forethought to bring along one of his potions to ease the pain.

"I know you're waiting for me, but… I guess I just feel your absence more when I'm in a crowd. It's weird, isn't it, how that works?"

…

"You follow him with your eyes, even across the room. You know he's not going to disappear, right?"

Draco turned his attention to Harry and raised his eyebrow. "I only come to these things under sufferance and for him. Of course I keep an eye on him. If he's not having a good time, what's the point?"

"You might have fooled me with that a few years ago," Harry scoffed. "But you don't know. We're as much your family as we are his."

"Oh Merlin, don't say that," Draco groaned theatrically. "You'll give me a complex."

"Uh huh. We uh. Ginny and I, we want you to be Al's godfather, by the way."

Harry shifted awkwardly. Their relationship had taken a long time to become what it was, but they were firm friends. That didn't stop Harry being uncomfortable when feelings were involved. Draco knew the feeling.

"Me? Why on earth would you do that?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "You think we haven't seen you with the other kids? You're a natural, Draco. Besides, I'm pretty sure my son is going to be a Slytherin… I'd like him to have someone to go to, if he needs help."

"He's not even two months old. How do you know he's going to be a Slytherin?"

"Call it a father's intuition. Well, what do you say? Think you can tie yourself to the family even more?"

Draco glanced at Percy and saw the redhead looking right back, a beaming smile on his face. Ginny stood next to him, Al in her arms, smiling softly.

Draco shrugged. "Why not. I'm already irreparably tied to the lot of you anyway, aren't I?"

Harry grinned. "Damn straight."

…

"I dread to imagine what would have happened if you hadn't decided I was worth a chance, Perce. Certainly my life wouldn't have been half as bright without you. I'm getting tired though. I miss you, I miss feeling your arms around me, and I miss your humming, and your stories, and your magic fingers."

Draco brushed his hands over his husband's name. "I can't help but hope that I'll get to join you soon."

"Dad?"

Draco turned to see Scorpius walking towards him, his blond hair glinting in the sun. His son was the spitting image of what Draco had been at that age.

"Hey, Scorp."

"Uncle Harry said I'd probably find you here."

"Is something wrong?" Draco asked, frowning.

Scorpius shook his head. "Not wrong," he replied, grinning. "I just… I wanted you to be the first to know that Isabelle is pregnant."

Draco's eyes widened for a moment, before his face split into a wide smile. "You hear that, Perce? We're going to be grandparents."

He looked back at Scorpius. "Help me up so I can hug you," he demanded, still smiling. "We should go and celebrate, of course. I'll take you and Isabelle for lunch."

"I'd like that, Dad."

Scorpius carefully helped Draco to his feet, and the two of them paused to look back at Percy's gravestone.

"I love you, Perce," Draco murmured, patting the top of the stone.

Scorpius wrapped his arm around Draco's shoulders and led him through the graveyard, talking softly about Isabelle and the Healer's advice. Draco listened attentively, but a part of him was left behind, the same way it always was when he left Percy behind.

He often visited his husband for a trip down memory lane, but perhaps, for now, he could look to the future.

He missed Percy, and he was still eager to join his husband for their next grand adventure, but he had something to keep going for.

Their son—their greatest pride—was having a child of his own, and really, Draco supposed, that child deserved at least one grandparent to tell stories.

Even if Draco wasn't quite as good at it as Percy had always been.