A Sketch of Character

DIAGON ALLEY

"No, Jamie, no coffee."

"Go on, Mum, I'm fourteen!"

"It's not your age, it's that coffee makes you like a mad Kneazle."

"Shut up, Lily!" James Potter swatted at his sister with his teaspoon.

"Shut up, Lily," Lily Potter mimicked, dodging it and throwing a biscuit at him.

"Stop it, you two." Ginny Potter gave them a stern look, which did so much good that James threw the biscuit back and Lily caught it in her mouth.

"When's Dad off work?" Albus Potter asked, watching his siblings with his chin in his hand.

"As soon as he can be, Al," Ginny told her son, stroking his unruly black hair. "Try to be patient."

"Yeah, darling," James mimicked. "Soon he will be home and you can grovel and follow him about properly."

"Getting along with Dad isn't illegal just because you can't do it, Jamie," Lily snapped, leaning her shoulder into Albus's.

"James, Lily, enough." Ginny looked sternly at them, which they acknowledged by starting the biscuit throwing again. "You've only been on holiday an hour and already you're bickering. Dad doesn't need that - he's had a long day."

The eldest and youngest Potter children went silent and dropped their projectiles. James scowled out the window at the windy street. Lily stuck out her lip and kicked the table leg a bit.

Albus sighed, glancing toward the door of the café. When it stayed shut for a full minute, he turned his sharp green eyes back to Ginny.

"You're bigger," he observed, tilting his head on one side. He nudged his sister. "Isn't she bigger, Lils?"

Lily glanced at Ginny. "Yeah, I guess."

"Well, the baby's bigger, isn't it?" James pointed out, his scowl unwrinkling. "Mum, is it a boy?"

"We don't know," she told him. "We're waiting to find out."

"Why?" Albus pushed his spectacles up his nose. "How are you going to name it?"

"We were hoping you'd all help this time," Ginny told him.

"Let's call it Hagrid," James sniggered.

"That's horrid!" Lily cried. "Imagine if it was a girl!"

James hooted.

"How about Billius?" Albus suggested. "Then I wouldn't be the only one in the family with a weird name. Er, except Uncle Bill."

"You don't have a weird name, Al," Ginny said firmly.

"Albus Severus?" Al cracked the crooked half smile that made him look so much like his father. "Admit it, Mum, it's a bit much."

Ginny sipped her own gingerbread latte and shrugged. "It meant a lot to your dad to name one of you after Dumbledore and Snape."

"You never talk much about the war," James said, suddenly looking straight into Ginny's eyes. Ginny wondered, not for the first time, if this penetrating gaze was taught or inherited. Could one inherit Legilimency? "Why?"

"Ask anyone who's seen war, Jamie," she said, pulling her eyes away and staring down at her drink. "If they aren't driven mad, they don't want to relive it every time someone asks about it."

"Wouldn't it help to talk about it?" Albus asked. He turned his head on one side. "Only when I was being bullied last term it helped to talk about it."

"Tattle about it, you mean," James muttered, but Ginny quelled him with a look he knew better than to cross.

She stroked Albus's hair again with her free hand. "It might. We - Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron and Neville and so on - we all talked about it for a bit, until we were ready to put it behind us. It didn't take long, believe me." Ginny sighed, the old ache in her chest pinching. They had all been so young. Little she wanted her own children to have any part in it.

"Do we really get to name the baby, Mum?" Lily asked, her voice small as she made a childlike attempt to change the subject.

"I said you did," Ginny said, returning herself to her children with an effort. "Any ideas?" She gave James a stern look. He threw another biscuit at Lily and it landed in her hot chocolate.

"How about Isabel?" Lily said, fishing out the biscuit and flicking it into James's lap.

"Ugh, that's so soppy," James said, tossing it back, missing, and leaving it to dissolve on the floor. "It should be something exciting and interesting."

"What's exciting and interesting, then?" Albus wanted to know, avoiding the biscuit war by leaning into Ginny.

"Oh, you know - Saber or - or - "

"Scorpius?" Lily said, giggling.

James looked disgusted. "Please spare us."

"No more Latin," Albus agreed.

"Well, I think it's nice," Lily said haughtily, her little nose in the air. Ginny liked to think that expression was acquired from too much time spent with Hermione. She hated to think she ever made that face.

"Maybe something really boring, like Bob," Albus tried.

"Bob?" James snorted. "Bob Potter?"

Albus grinned. "Okay, not Bob."

"Well, keep talking about it," Ginny said, glancing at the clock on the wall. It was time to go meet Harry. "We need to get going."

"Going where?" Lily wanted to now.

"I expect your father is somewhere in Diagon Alley and I suspect he's been distracted," Ginny said.

"Mum, can I just stop at Flourish and Blots first?" Albus said, with another shove at the escaping spectacles. Ginny made a mental note to get him new ones for Christmas.

"Lily, will you go with Al?" Ginny asked, pushing herself to her feet and downing the last of her latte.

"Can I have a Galleon and get a box of self-inking quills for Aunty Hermione?" Lily said. She had a little drop of chocolate down her chin.

Ginny fished it out. "Go on, then, and don't be long. We've dinner to get home to. Jamie, you and I will head for Quality Quidditch and see if Dad was held up by the new Nimbus."

"Can't I go off by myself?" James moaned. Lily stuck her tongue out at him and he aimed a kick at Albus in retaliation.

"Last time we let you go off without a grownup, you dragged Albus into Knockturn Alley," Ginny reminded him, steering him toward the door.

"It was his idea!" James protested.

Ginny snorted. "Right, because it's always Albus's idea."

"It wasn't, Mum, I swear!" Albus insisted, his eyes wide. Probably trying to remember the incident. For all the trouble James dragged him into, Albus seldom remembered later.

"Jamie, if you can't be a positive role model, you'll go everywhere with me or Dad until your forty," Ginny told him.

"It's not fair!" James howled as Ginny dragged him off.

"You're telling me," Ginny muttered. She glanced down at her swollen tummy and wondered what had possessed them to think another Potter was a good idea.

Pray Merlin it's not twins, she thought as she followed the stomping James into the street.

Harry Potter was just wondering what had possessed him to volunteer to do most of the shopping for Christmas that year. He wasn't very good at it and Ginny had to spend hours making very careful lists of things. Normally, he and Ron weathered the challenge together, but Ron and Hermione were on a second honeymoon and wouldn't be back until just before Christmas.

My best mate abandons me when I need him most, Harry thought darkly, eye the list in his hand. The whole process might have been easier if he were carrying everything he bought around with him. Then he would be able to remember where he had been already and who he'd shopped for. Unfortunately, owing to especially hectic December work schedules for both Ginny and Harry, last minute shopping was being done and shipped straight from the shops to Grandma Weasley's for her to wrap and add to the copious piles hidden in Grandpa Weasley's shed. As a result, Harry was having to rely on Ginny's checklists to keep track of everything.

"And no one I know can read her handwriting," he mumbled, looking around Quality Quidditch Supplies. His normally favorite store in Diagon Alley stretched out before him in a jumble of rights and wrongs. An unhelpful look at his watch told him Ginny and the kids were on their way.

The shop door opened behind him, giving Harry a bit of a turn. He relaxed when he saw that it wasn't Ginny or the kids, but tensed when he saw who it was.

"Mum, I'm telling you, I need that broom!" came a voice that shouldn't have been familiar given that Harry had never met the speaker.

"You need the broom, you need the gold cauldron," came a woman's voice as Harry turned hastily away to examine the nearest display. It turned out to be a collection of mouth guards.

"This is why you go school shopping with me, not your dad," the woman went on. She had a thick voice, a bit like honey dripping down a spoon.

"What, Dad knows I need this stuff," the boy's voice went on. In contrast, it was razor sharp, except when it jumped a half octave. "He actually went to Hogwarts."

"Where he didn't need a new broom every year and he certainly didn't need a gold cauldron," the woman said, her voice neither rising nor submitting. "Score, I wasn't born yesterday."

"You're not a wizard."

"But I am a smart woman. You butt heads with me, I'm going to win. So, what'll it be?"

Harry had been sliding down his aisle, trying to find something useful to stare at while he tried not to eavesdrop. He finally found a display of gloves and began examining them, testing for flexibility and durability. He thought he had at least two pairs on his list, so he applied himself to remembering who they were for and not eavesdropping anymore. When he didn't hear either voice for a few moments, he began to relax.

"Are you Harry Potter?"

Harry Potter, Auror of almost twenty years, nearly jumped out of his skin. As it was, he upset the display of gloves.

He sighed, rubbing his scar. "Yeah, that's me."

The boy - young man, really, he looked about James's age - standing at the opposite end of the aisle looked like a distorted image from Harry's past.

"Oh, well." The young man narrowed grey eyes at him. "I thought you'd be taller."

Typical. "Sorry to disappoint you," Harry said, fighting the growl creeping into his voice.

"Oh, that's all right."

"Score, what are you doing?" The woman with the honey voice came around the corner, looking her hands on her hips.

"Mum, this is Harry Potter," Score said, waving in Harry's direction.

"I am sorry," the woman said with a half-smile. "I'm afraid Score's acquired most of his manners from his father." She paused, her lip twitching. "Although I expect you noticed that yourself."

Harry cleared his throat. "I did notice a resemblance, I'll admit."

"Wait, wait." Score held up a pale hand as though he were fully in control of the conversation. "You actually knew my dad?"

"If you dad is - "

"Draco Malfoy? Absolutely." The boy stuck his pointy chin out.

"Scorpius, that's enough." The woman shook her dark head. "I'm Elizabeth Malfoy - Lizzy," she introduced herself, offering a hand. "This is my son, Scorpius."

"Dad didn't say he actually knew you," Scorpius cut in. "He just said you went to school together." Scorpius grinned. The grin looked nothing like Malfoy's sneer, but was full and crinkled his eyes. Harry was unsettled by how comfortable he felt with that smile.

"We - ah, we were in different Houses," he explained carefully.

"Yeah, I know," Scorpius said. "But the rumor is you were almost in Slytherin."

Harry frowned. "How'd that rumor start?"

Scorpius shrugged. "Lily told me her brother Al said you'd said that," he said. "Anyway," he added, looking Harry up and down, "it's made you quite popular."

"Has it?" Harry said faintly. Popular in Slytherin ...

"Yeah, it's 'cause of Lily," Scorpius explained, while Harry tried to reconcile himself to the idea of a Potter and Malfoy being on a first-name basis. "Anyway, I had a question I wanted to ask you."

"Score, really," Elizabeth began.

"No, it's okay." Harry took a deep breath. Whatever it was, he would just as soon get it over with. "What's your question?"

"Well, Dad obviously doesn't like you," Scorpius began. "I mean, he won't say much about it but he's not very impressed."

Harry bit his tongue against the retort that he didn't find Malfoy that impressive either. "Okay. So?"

"So I don't get it," Scorpius went on, widening his eyes in a 'pay attention' kind of way. "He really doesn't like you, I assume you don't like him, and I know it's all to do with the war and so on but no one will tell me anything. I mean, he doesn't like lots of people, but the way he doesn't like you is special. It's more than any of the others."

"So ... what's your question?" Harry asked, peripherally aware that Ginny and the kids would be there soon.

"I don't know!" Scorpius threw up his hands. "I just don't get it. From what I can tell, there's a kind of feud. And it's not just you two," he added in evident frustration. "It's my granddad and Lily's granddad and their dads and so on. I did some reading," he explained.

"And ... you don't have a problem with any of my kids?" Harry asked, mildly surprised. It suddenly occurred to him that he hadn't heard any of his kids mention Scorpius before, even Lily who shared his house.

Scorpius shrugged. "Lily's cool. We hang out. And Albus is all right. We have double Potions together, only he's in Ravenclaw so I don't know him too well. James is kind of annoying, but mostly I don't care." Scorpius turned to look accusingly at his mother. "And James has a new broom this year."

"Does he get a new one every year?" Elizabeth asked Harry.

"I - no, of course not," Harry said, taken aback by her directness. She and Scorpius continued to stare at him, so he shrugged and said, "In the great Potter tradition, James bashed his first broom into the Whomping Willow during third year. We made him play on a school broom for the rest of the year as punishment and then Ginny insisted we get him a new one for his birthday."

Scorpius scowled, turning the corners of his lips down and wrinkling his pointy nose. In this, he looked exactly like his father, down to the tick in left temple. "Everyone but me has new brooms this year," he complained.

Harry couldn't believe it when his own lips turned up at the corners. "Rosie doesn't. Nor, that I know of, do any of my other nieces and nephews."

"See, Score?" Elizabeth said, smoothing his almost white hair off his forehead. "It's not just that I'm a heartless mother."

"So back to my question," Scorpius said, ducking away from her hand and keeping his eyes on Harry. "What's the deal with you and my dad?"

"I feel like that's something you should take up with your dad," Harry hedged. Apart from the fact that Harry had his own version of events, which he doubted very much that Scorpius or his mother wanted to hear, he was having a hard time coming to terms with Malfoy as a father.

"Yeah, only my dad won't tell me," Scorpius retorted, his shoulders drooping.

"Maybe there's a good reason," Harry pointed out.

"Like my dad's a loser or something and doesn't want me to know?"

Harry shifted uncomfortably. "What makes you say that?"

"My dad doesn't like to talk about things that make him look like a loser," Scorpius said. "But I like to know them. I want to be just like my dad, but Mum always says that everyone is made up of strengths and weaknesses and you have to balance them. If I'm going to do that, I need to know what my dad's were, so I can avoid his weaknesses and learn from his strengths."

Harry glanced at Elizabeth. She looked at him with pride in her eyes and stroked his hair. This time, he didn't move away.

"Well," Harry said, wondering if this was the sort of talk he should expect from James, "I mean, have you tried putting that to your dad?"

"Yeah," Scorpius said. He pulled a pocket watch out of his robes and glanced at it. "Mum, we're late." He turned back to Harry. "Mum, can Mr. Potter come to supper with us?"

Harry was just registering that Malfoy's son had invited him to supper when the shop door banged open again.

"Dad!" James cleared his throat. "I mean, hey, Dad, what's up?"

Elizabeth pulled Scorpius aside and James shambled up to Harry.

Harry, who had always felt that he made up for a neglected childhood by raising his own kids right, pulled his eldest into a hug, despite muffled protests and flailing arms. "How are you, Jamie?"

"All right," James said, pulling quickly back.

"Where're Al and Lils?" Harry asked his wife as Ginny took James' place and kissed his cheek.

"They'll catch up shortly," Ginny said. She glanced at Elizabeth and Scorpius.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Harry gestured to the Malfoys. "Gin, James, this is Elizabeth and this is Scorpius. Elizabeth, Scorpius, my wife, Ginny and my oldest son, James."

"I can tell you're Lily's mum," Scorpius said by way of a hello.

"Really? Why's that?" Ginny asked. Harry just caught the tightness in her shoulders, as though she were bracing herself.

"You're pretty like she is," Scorpius said, his cheeks a bit pink.

Ginny's eyebrows shot up, but she smiled. "Thanks."

"My sister's not pretty," James spoke up. Then he cleared his throat. "All right, Malfoy?"

"Yeah," Scorpius said, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "You?"

"Cool."

"Cool."

The shop door opened again before Harry had time to marvel at this civil exchange.

"Daddy!" Lily came pelting down the aisle and launched herself into his arms.

"Dad!" Albus was wrapped around his middle somewhere, but Harry managed to hug them both.

"Hi, Score." Lily beamed at Scorpius, who offered his wide, crinkly smile in return.

"Hi, Lils."

"How do you know my dad, Score?" Lily asked, turning her back to Harry and leaning back against him.

"We just met," Scorpius said, turning his attention back to Harry. "Well, Mr. Potter?"

"Well what, Dad?" Albus asked, blinking owlishly at Harry from behind his specs.

"Maybe you know," Scorpius said, addressing Albus. "You're in Ravenclaw and know stuff. What's up with our dads? Why do they hate each other?"

"Scorpius, we're leaving," Elizabeth said. She glanced at Harry. "Mr. Potter needs to be with his family, not answer tactless questions."

"You hate Score's dad?" Lily said, before Elizabeth could pull her son away.

Suddenly, everyone was looking at Harry. He felt a bit hot round the collar.

"You're the one who Bat Bogied him," he said helplessly to his wife. Ginny rolled her eyes with a look that said, 'Talk about tact.'

"You, Mum? Wicked!" James grinned.

"It was not; I had a bad temper and it's never okay to curse someone, Jamie," Ginny said sternly.

"Not even if it's Lord Voldemort?" Lily said seriously.

"Lily, Dad already dealt with him," Albus said, leaning into Harry's side.

"I'm just saying ..." Lily said.

"So it's true that you hated my dad and he hated you and my granddad hated your dad and so on," Scorpius pressed.

"Look, I don't hate your dad," Harry said a bit desperately.

"But you did," James said.

"No!"

"Okay, enough." Ginny looked around at all of them. "If we can't let this go, we're at least moving this conversation out of Quality Quidditch Supplies."

"I invited Mr. Potter to have supper with us," Scorpius said. "My mother and I would be happy if you all joined us."

Elizabeth rubbed her temples, though Harry saw Ginny catch her eye and wink. To his surprise, they shared a smile.

"Can we, Daddy?" Lily begged, widening her brown eyes at him and tugging on his robe pocket.

"We just had coffee," James pointed out.

"You didn't," Albus said quietly, grinning when James glared at him. Harry couldn't remember when he'd realized that Albus was standing up to his brother. Or rather, walking all over him, always one step ahead.

"Well," Ginny said, glancing at Harry. He shrugged - it wasn't like he was in charge. Ginny turned back to Elizabeth. "If it wouldn't be an imposition."

"Not at all," Elizabeth said, honey voice warm. "On the contrary, Scorpius just won't let things lie."

"I'm curious," Scorpius interrupted, sticking out his chin and his elbows. They were knobbly, like James's knees.

"Yes, dear," his mother said, ruffling his pale hair. This time, he leapt away.

"Oh, goodie," Lily said, clasping her mother's hand as they all left the shop and skipping along between her and Scorpius. "Mrs. Malfoy, my mum's going to have a baby."

"Lily," Ginny said, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"Well, you are," Lily said brightly. "And we get to name it," she added to Scorpius.

"Mum, why can't you have more babies?" Scorpius demanded. "Lily has three siblings. I don't have any."

"Ask your father," Elizabeth said, and Harry couldn't help smiling.

"Dad?"

Harry bent over a bit to listen to Albus. "What is it, Al?"

"Did you really hate Mr. Malfoy?" Albus whispered in his ear.

Harry paused. It was easier to tell Malfoy's wife and son he hadn't hated Draco than to push the same thing on his son.

"We didn't get on," he tried.

"Did you hate him?" Albus's eyes were so wide that Harry found himself thinking hard before he answered.

"I think I thought I did," he said at last, just loud enough for Albus to hear. "But when I learned what real hate was - well, I tried to avoid it, if I could."

"Oh." Albus went silent and Harry wondered, not for the first time, where his youngest son would categorize this new information. Albus seemed to log things away and bring them out again when he needed them. If anyone could sort out his real relationship with Malfoy, it was Al.

Their party, loud thanks to Lily, James, and Scorpius, cleared a path down busy Diagon Alley and soon, they were at the interior entrance of the Leaky Cauldron.

"Harry," Ginny murmured. She had dropped back, leaving Lily chattering to Elizabeth and Scorpius. "Did you get any of the shopping done?"

"I think so," he whispered doubtfully, offering the checklist.

"Hmm." Ginny scrutinized the parchment. "Better than I expected. I think one of us will have to come back to the Alley in a few days." She smiled. "I'll do it, since I've put you through enough already."

"Mum, I'm hungry!" James said loudly.

Ten minutes later, they were all seated around a number of tables that had been pushed together in the center of the pub.

"Aren't we meant to meet Teddy soon?" he asked Ginny over the noise of the others ordering.

"You'd better Floo him and let him know to meet us here," Ginny said comfortably, shoveling soup and bread into her mouth. When she noticed Harry staring, she rolled her eyes. "Hey, I'm eating for two."

"Or possibly three," he said. "Ow!"

"Go Floo your godson," she ordered.

"Who's your godson?" Scorpius asked around a mouthful of green salad.

"His godson is Teddy Lupin," Lily said proudly before Harry could answer. Teddy sort of belonged to his family. "He practically lived with us till he went off to university."

"Teddy Lupin? I know him - he's my cousin," Scorpius said breezily. "He visited me a lot when I was a baby."

"Why?" James spoke up.

"Because we're related," Scorpius said, rolling his eyes. "His mum and my grandmum are sisters. They sort of - well, they weren't speaking during the war but when I was born, they made up. Teddy's practically like my brother. There are pictures of us."

"He's like our brother, too," Albus said happily. "Does that make us, like, kind of brothers, too?"

"I don't think so," James and Scorpius both said with wrinkled noses.

Harry chose that moment to slip away.

He'd had no idea his godson had spent time with the Malfoys, although he supposed that in retrospect it shouldn't have surprised him. Andromeda Tonks, who had actually raised Teddy, had talked to Harry about getting back in touch with her estranged sister. At the time, Harry simply hadn't connected Andromeda and Narcissa. He supposed it was just as well, as the idea of his godson spending time anywhere near Narcissa or her husband made him feel sick to his stomach. If he knew Andromeda, she wouldn't have let him within a league of Lucius, but Harry would never, ever trust Narcissa.

Teddy was at his grandmother's when Harry flooed and was delighted at the idea of supper with his adopted family. He promised to Apparate over as soon as he was finished wrapping presents for Andromeda.

"Gran doesn't say, but I think Christmas is hard for her," he explained to Harry as he knotted a ribbon. "I mean, I think she misses my mum and granddad a lot."

A shadow flickered across his eyes, which turned dull grey. Like his mother's had, his hair turned mousy brown and began to droop.

"Have you thought of when you'd like to go to Godric's Hollow this year?" Harry asked. It was their tradition and it was important that Teddy have a connection to his parents.

"Christmas Eve?" Teddy's hair began to turn blue again at the thought of visiting Remus and Tonks.

"That sounds nice," Harry agreed, thinking of his own parents' grave, and his godfather's, that stood nearby.

"See you soon, Uncle Harry," Teddy said, tearing ribbon off his newly wrapped parcel with his teeth.

So Harry returned to the pub and found an addition to their party. He wasn't exactly surprised, but he had no idea how to cope with the strange emotions that flooded him at the sight of Malfoy kneeling in front of Ginny with a hand against her stomach and his eyes on his watch.

"Four and a half months," he was saying.

Ginny stared down at him. "Yeah," she said. "How could you tell?"

"You're showing, the baby has a notable pulse, and it kicks," he said easily.

"Dad's the best Healer at St. Mungo's," Scorpius said loudly.

"Is he?" Ginny glanced down at Malfoy, who was sitting back on his heels.

"If you Bat Bogied me now, Wea - Potter, I'd have no trouble fixing myself up," Malfoy said.

"Will no one let me live that down?" Ginny demanded, throwing her hands up. Malfoy actually cracked a smile.

"Dad, what did Teddy say?"

Harry was pleased to see that Malfoy jumped as well. Slowly, he stood up, turning to face Harry with an unreadable expression.

"He's ... coming to join us shortly," Harry said, moving slowly forward. "He's just finishing something for Andromeda."

"He's like my brother," Scorpius said again.

"We know," James said irritably.

"But, Dad, Al says that kind of means we're like Score's brothers and sister," Lily said cheerfully around a mouthful of bread.

"The thing you all seem to have in common," Elizabeth said from the other side of the table as Malfoy sat down beside her, "is that you all proficient chatterboxes."

"So, Dad, Mr. Potter says you already know him," Scorpius said, narrowing his eyes as Malfoy put an arm around Elizabeth. "And Mr. Potter says he doesn't hate you. And I think you've got some explaining to do."

"Oh, do I?" Malfoy said, turning his head to regard his son with a razor smile.

"You never told me you know him - or that his wife cursed you." Scorpius met his father's gaze without flinching.

"I wouldn't brag if a girl took me out," James said.

"It would take you an hour just to count all the times Rosie's flattened you," Albus pointed out.

Scorpius laughed. "Rose Weasley? She's smaller than Lily!"

"She's tricky," James muttered. "Sneaks up. Slide tackles. Bites."

The others roared with laughter while James sulked into is empty bowl.

"Bites? Sounds like Granger," Malfoy murmured. He glanced at Harry.

"Yes, she's inherited her teeth from Hermione," Ginny said. She raised her eyebrows at Malfoy. "We can only hope someone casts an engorgement charm on them so Madam Pomphrey can shrink them."

Malfoy's eyes widened. "That was Pansy," he said after a moment's silence. Harry saw his shoulders relax.

Harry moved to sit beside Ginny, lowering himself into a chair and reaching for his mead.

"What about it, Dad?" James said, evidently deciding to forego sulking in favor of interrogation. "You didn't tell us you knew Scorpius's dad."

"I think you're avoiding talking about it," Lily said impatiently.

"Dad's like that, too," Scorpius told them. "I say Potter and he says, 'Oh, aren't we having marvelous weather this March?'"

"Don't be ridiculous, Scorpius," Malfoy said, sipping a glass of red wine Elizabeth handed him. His eyes flicked to Harry again.

"It's okay, Score," Lily assured him, patting his arm. Harry noticed his cheeks go pink again. "Dad won't talk about the war at all."

"Except Dumbledore," Albus said. "And Professor Snape." He grinned at Scorpius. "I have a weird name, but it's okay, because I'm named after them."

"I like your name," Scorpius said stoutly. "It's better than mine." He threw a dirty look at his mother.

"Don't look at me," she said. "I wanted Edward."

"Ugh, even worse," Scorpius said.

"We get to name our new baby, like we told you," Lily said to him. She pointed at her brother. "And Albus wanted to name him Bob."

"Bob Potter?" Malfoy said, his lip twitching.

"Hey, I said it was a bad idea," Albus protested.

"You'd be amazed how many names don't go with Potter," Harry murmured, wincing as he remembered how long it had taken to come up with Lily's name. They had run through a long list of original names prior to choosing to name her after Harry's mother. That was the reason they were leaving the naming of the new baby up to the kids. Maybe between them they'd have a stroke of brilliance.

"Edward Potter's not a bad name," Elizabeth suggested.

"Nah, there's already a James," Lily said, elbowing her other brother. "One prim name is enough for any family."

"My name's not prim," James said as Scorpius sniggered. "It's - manly. Attracts the ladies."

"Right - the ladies," Malfoy said, his eyes flicking to Harry with unmistakable amusement.

"Obviously, he comes by his charm naturally," Ginny said, also grinning in Harry's direction.

"James isn't charming, Mum," Lily said wickedly. "Susie Marks says he's a Classic Git."

Albus and Scorpius snorted with laughter.

"Well, his father wasn't that," Ginny backpedaled, patting Harry's cheek. "Just a bit - hopeless."

"I'm not a classic git, though, Mum," James said over the sniggering. "It's not my fault the ladies can't handle my charm."

"You come on a bit strong," Albus offered.

"Oh, how would you know, you're a boy," James said, rolling his eyes at his brother.

"I notice things," Albus said.

"That you definitely come by naturally," Malfoy murmured and this time he met Harry's look.

"Don't you mean nosy?" he suggested cautiously.

"I would say downright neurotic, but without testing I couldn't properly diagnose it," Malfoy said.

"I did grow up in a cupboard," Harry countered. Was this how one bantered with a childhood nemesis?

"If we were still sixteen, I would say I can tell," Malfoy said.

"By prefacing everything, you're getting to say everything you like anyway," Elizabeth said, nudging him and nodding toward the four children, who were all watching with wrapped attention.

"That's very clever of you, Mr. Malfoy," Albus said. "But not very nice at all."

"He's right, Draco." The voice came from behind Harry and Ginny.

"Teddy!"

Four chairs screeched as all four children leapt up and made for the blue-haired young man.

Teddy grinned down at them all and managed to fit all four into a bear hug. "All right?" he asked.

James and Scorpius said, "Cool."

Albus said, "How's uni?"

Lily said, "Pick me up. What did you get me for Christmas?"

Teddy laughed, picked her up, and said, "I didn't get you anything. Or you, Jamie. I only got Al presents this year."

"What about me?" Scorpius demanded, positioning himself directly in front of Teddy as Lily and James protested loudly.

"New racing broom," Teddy said, scooping up Lily and winking at James.

"See, Mum? See? Everyone wants me to have a new broom but you," Scorpius said, shaking his finger at her.

"Thanks so much, darling," Elizabeth said to Teddy as he rounded the table and kissed her cheek.

"Sorry, Lizzy," he said. "Didn't realize I'd stepped into the middle of another Malfoy family debate."

"Score, did Mum tell you no?" Malfoy asked his son, who this time avoided his eyes.

"She said it wasn't promising," he hedged.

"If she said no, there's no debate." Malfoy waited until his son looked up at him.

"Oh, fine," Score muttered. He brightened up as he said, "I wonder what Grandmother got me."

"Persistent little fellow," Teddy said, grinning as his cousin scowled at being called little.

"Can't imagine where he gets it," Harry murmured to Ginny. Malfoy glanced at him, but Harry blinked innocently and Malfoy's lip twitched again. Harry thought he could get used to this.

Christmas Eve was dark and cold when Harry and his godson Apparated to Godric's Hollow. The streets were covered in a thin layer of compacted snow and drifts of it wove along the walks and stone walls that lined the village. Harry pulled the Invisibility Cloak off and saw Teddy's hair return from clear to pale blue. Unlike his mother, Teddy's unique strain of Metamorph was chameleon - often without realizing it, he changed to blend into his surroundings. Harry thought about his godson's abilities and how he could have been the greatest Auror of his generation, maybe even an Unspeakable.

Instead, he was in culinary school and Harry could sleep at night, knowing he was at home making soufflés instead of out risking his life fighting the forces of evil.

Or, apparently, visiting the Malfoys.

"Ted," Harry said as they trudged up the lighted street. "Why didn't you tell us you were visiting your mum's family?"

Teddy bit his lip, his hair going white. "I didn't think you or Aunt Ginny would like it." His eyes narrowed, turning grey. "And it's not wrong to want to know them."

"I didn't say it was," Harry said. He waited until he could be sure he was being honest before he said, "I wouldn't have kept you from your family. I don't trust Lucius, but Narcissa is your great-aunt. There's no reason you shouldn't know her. Or her grandson." He felt an ache in his chest. "I hope you trust me to be fair to you. You don't have the family you deserve and I would never try to take away the family you do have, if they're important to you."

Teddy shrugged, his hair fading to grey and finally, light blue. "Thanks. I - I like Aunt Cissy."

Harry thought about the woman he had first met in Madam Malkin's during the summer before his sixth year. He thought about the tilt of her head, the slanted gaze, the way she had gripped Draco and pulled him from the shop when Harry and his friends entered it. He remembered how she had held Draco to her chest in the Great Hall after Harry had defeated Voldemort; how she had rocked him and, unlike her son or husband, never looked around the room at the hostile stares of the other students.

"I'm glad," Harry said quietly. He grinned at a sudden connection. "She's the one who used to send you all those sweets at school."

Teddy grinned as well, kicking up clouds of powdery snow with his boots. "Yeah. Gran told her to stop because I'd eat them all at once and wind up in the hospital wing for two days."

"Should Aunt Ginny and I have sent you more sweets?" Harry asked. After all, he knew next to nothing about being a godfather and was still making it up as he went along.

"Nah. I did make myself sick on them." Teddy squeezed his arm before stuffing his hands back into his pockets.

They made their way through the town square, past the Potters' memorial statue, and climbed the hill to the cemetery. The church beside it was alight, echoing with carols. As Harry and his godson turned back to admire the stained glass reflecting against the snow, a sleigh with tinkling bells slid passed on the cobblestone street. Two adults and a pile of small children were laughing as two ponies pulled the sleigh down the street. One of the children poked her small head over the back of the sleigh as it curved away from the church. Her eyes were round as she watched them and just before the sleigh curved out of sight, she waved.

"Still famous," Teddy chuckled, echoing Ron's oft-used expression.

"Or she's wondering what two grown men are doing standing up to their knees in a snow drift," Harry retorted. "Shall we see the cottage first?"

"No, let's go to the graveyard," Teddy said, leading the way through the little wicket gate.

They climbed the hill into the deserted graveyard, weaving their way through the tomb and headstones, which cast jagged shadows across the snow. The clear moonlight, unchecked by clouds, blanketed the ground like a second daylight. They passed the Dumbledores and Harry produced a small bunch of wild flowers from the end of his wand. He placed them between the headstones of Albus and Ariana before following Teddy further into the graveyard.

Teddy stopped so suddenly Harry almost walked into him.

"What is it?" Harry asked, moving forward to look.

"Score?" Teddy said blankly.

Harry's jaw dropped. A single figure stood before James and Lily's headstones. He faced them, not startled by their approach.

"Hello, Teddy. Mr. Potter." Harry could see Scorpius Malfoy's white face in the moonlight. He was wearing Muggle clothes: thick tracksuit bottoms, a large jumper with a too-large coat over, and tall dragon hide boots. Despite all this, he was shivering slightly and his jaw looked tense from the effort of keeping his teeth from chattering.

"Score, what are you doing here?" Teddy demanded, pulling off his heavy cloak and hurrying to wrap it around his cousin.

"I had to know," Scorpius said, accepting the cloak and turning back to the headstones. "None of you would say anything and I - I had to know."

"Had to know what?" Harry asked, moving to stand beside them. As his eyes found the familiar markers, he felt a tingle in his palms, a clawing ache in his throat.

"What the big secret is," Scorpius said. "Why my dad hated you. Why you hated him. What's so different about you that you couldn't just get on." He looked at Harry, that unwavering stare he had used to stand up to his father back at the Leaky Cauldron.

Harry looked away, back to his parents' names. Teddy, he saw, was gazing at the headstones to the right, on which his own parents' names were gracefully inscribed.

"And, Mr. Potter?" Harry glanced back at Malfoy's son, so like him and yet so utterly different. So new.

"What?"

"I think I get it," Scorpius said, pulling Teddy's cloak tightly around him. He scooted back, moving away from the line of graves. Looking around, he found a square tombstone and hoisted himself onto in. "Go on with whatever you were going to do. I'll just watch." He bit his lip. "That is - can I just watch?"

Harry looked at his godson. Teddy nodded.

"Sure," Harry said at last. "But, Scorpius." He paused, cleared his throat. "This is a - special thing for Teddy and I."

"I understand," Scorpius said. "You won't even know I'm here." He went so suddenly still that he looked like part of the tombstone.

Harry turned back to the tombstones. "Want to start, Ted?"

Teddy took a deep breath. "Okay." He knelt before his parents' gravestones, propping his chin on his hand. "Hi, Mum. Hi, Dad. I'm back again." He paused. "It's been a busy year. I'm in my last year of university and I think I've found a place as head chef at an Italian restaurant in West London. Uncle Harry took me to find a flat near there last week. I think you'd like it, Dad. It's a pet-friendly place."

Harry chuckled and Teddy grinned up at him.

"I'm going to fill it up with cats, I think," Teddy went on. "Uncle likes dogs, but I can't be bothered." He paused again. "So, Mum. No girls this year. Victoire left for the Grand Tour this summer, so it's just been a fling or two. I have been spending lots of time in Grandma Weasley's kitchen. I practice for my final exams there each term." He rocked back on his heels. "I think that's it. Except that. Well. I love you both. See you next year."

He stood up, dashing at his cheek as he shook out his legs.

Harry took a deep breath, moving to stand beside Teddy in front of Remus and Tonk's graves. "Hi, Professor Lupin. Tonks. Same as usual, we're all very proud of Teddy. He has been working hard at school, but he's also taken very good care of Andromeda. I know I say this every year, but thank you again for naming me his godfather. He's done nothing but be a joy to me and my family."

He moved to the grave to the left of his parents'. He said nothing as he stared at Sirius Black's name on the dark stone, but he thought about all the funniest things that had happened to him that year. Sirius would like that, and anyway, he and Sirius had never needed words for the important stuff.

At last, Harry turned his eyes on his own parents' headstones. "Mum, Dad." He choked out a laugh, clapping hand on Teddy's shoulder. "Can you believe how fast my godson's grown up?" He dropped his arm and stepped forward. "I wish you could see your grandchildren. James is fourteen this year and just like you, Dad. He's spunky, smart. He's on the Gryffindor Quidditch team again this year. And, Mum, I wish so much you could meet Lily. She loves Slytherin and has lots of friends. She top in Potions and I think Professor Slughorn likes her as much as he liked you. And Albus, he's in third year..." Harry paused. "He's like the best of all of us, you guys and his mum and I. He sees everything, he's compassionate." Harry grinned. "He's top in his class, but what do you expect when he spent so much time with Hermione growing up." He knelt, pressing a hand to each of their names. "I miss you both. The Weasleys are a wonderful family to belong to, but - well. You know." He stood up, backing away and saying through a dry throat, "I love you both. We'll be back next year."

He glanced at his godson and saw the tear tracks on his pale cheeks. Teddy's hair had turned bubblegum pink, easy to see even in the darkness. Harry felt his own eyes burn and didn't fight the moisture collecting in them. Teddy leaned his shoulder into Harry's and they stood in silence for a long minute.

"All right?" Teddy asked at last, his voice hoarse. He wiped his cheeks with his scarf.

"All right," Harry agreed. He turned.

Scorpius unfroze and hopped down from the tombstone. "Do you do that every year?" he asked, shrugging off Teddy's cloak and handing it back.

"Since I was a year old," Teddy told him, pushing the cloak back. "Keep that on until we can get you home."

As they started out of the graveyard, Harry said, "So, you said coming here helped you understand something."

"It all kind of makes sense now," Scorpius said. He looked a bit excited. "I want to tell you my theory."

Harry and Teddy glanced at each other. "Go on, then, mate," Teddy encouraged. "What's your theory?"

"Well," Scorpius said slowly, "the way I see it, you guys don't have parents."

"Very astute," Teddy said shortly.

"What I mean to say is," Scorpius hurried on. Whatever inhibitions he didn't have about giving most people a hard time, he clearly didn't like to with Teddy. "People don't really get how hard that is. I mean, everyone thinks the great Harry Potter and his dashing godson have it all. And I expect that everyone thought so back when you both went to Hogwarts."

Harry nodded slowly. "I guess most of them did." He remembered the hubbub in the Leaky Cauldron when Hagrid had brought him to Diagon Alley to buy his supplies for first year. He remembered the whispers around the school the first month he was there.

And he remembered a little blond boy with a pointy chin holding out a hand to him on the train.

"I just bet my dad saw you like everyone else did, Mr. Potter," Scorpius said. "Who wouldn't want that kind of popularity dumped on them without earning it? And then you defeated You-Know-Who in front of everyone and people called you a hero." He led the way through the graveyard gate and, to Harry's surprise, led them down the road away from the center of town. "Anyone would think you had everything," Scorpius went on. "You married into an old Pureblood family, your wife became a youngest Chaser to play for the Holyhead Harpies, you became head of the Aurors. All your kids are powerful witches and wizards and got accepted to Hogwarts."

Harry was still reeling from the list when Scorpius stopped before a little gate. Harry blinked, realizing where the boy had led them.

"But most people don't see this." Scorpius gestured to the wreckage of the Potter home. The ruins were covered in snow, but the site had been magically preserved and stood out under the glistening moonlight. He glanced down, dusting off snow, and saw the familiar messages of faith and encouragement that had been etched into the gate and stone wall surrounding the property.

"Most people don't see what?" Harry asked faintly.

"They don't see that losing your whole family isn't worth being a hero," Scorpius said. "My parents aren't heroes, but I've got them. My dad's parents definitely weren't heroes. Well, maybe Grandmother. Dad says he wouldn't be alive without her." He shrugged. "I've got them all. And I would rather have that and have to make my way as a normal person than lose everything and have people worship me." He glanced at Teddy. "No offense."

"No, you're absolutely right," Teddy said softly.

"What's this got to do with your dad and I?" Harry asked, though he had a pretty good idea.

"You and my dad didn't get on because your were jealous of each other," Scorpius said. "He couldn't stand that you apparently had everything he wanted." Scorpius looked sharply at him. "And you couldn't stand that he took everything he actually had for granted."

And the fact that he was a bully and treated people horribly, Harry wanted to say, but didn't, as he realized it wasn't just that. He also thought about how quickly resentment had turned to pity and resignation as he had watched Malfoy suffer under Voldemort's hand, all because people who were supposed to protect and care for him had made terrible mistakes. He had resented Malfoy's security in his family and way of life - everything Harry had ever wanted.

"And now, you don't hate him, do you?" Scorpius said into the silence.

"What?" Harry blinked, startled out of reverie.

"My dad. You don't hate him," Scorpius clarified.

Harry took a deep breath, testing the idea. "No, Scorpius. I don't hate him. I'm not sure I ever did."

"Touching, Potter."

All three of them jumped and spun around. Draco Malfoy stood several paces behind them, his arms folded against the cold.

"Dad, I can explain," Scorpius said quickly. "I was abducted."

Harry rolled his eyes, partly to hide his embarrassment.

"Of course," Draco said, his eyes on Harry. "Potter snuck in through your window, did he?"

"He's an Auror, Dad," Scorpius said, nodding. "He's got special powers! He can," he added in what he probably thought was a compelling tone, "bend people to his will."

"Can he?" Draco's lip was twitching.

"He's right," Harry said. "I lured him here to this dangerous village with the power of my scar and I'm holding him for ransom. After all," he added innocently, "you can't blame the boy. He's clearly not smart enough to find his way out here on his own."

Malfoy's lip was definitely curving upward.

"Hey!" Scorpius protested. "I was smart enough to figure out the reason you both hate each other and to figure out that you'd be here tonight. I didn't even have to follow you."

Malfoy shook his head. "I can't believe you fell for that, Score."

Score clapped a hand over his mouth.

"And how is Santa going to come and leave you presents if you're not tucked up in bed when he arrives?" Malfoy went on.

"Dad!" Scorpius rolled his eyes. "How daft do you think I am? There is no Santa."

"That's not what I hear," Harry put in. "The Unspeakables I work with have had their eye on a bloke they've code-named Saint Nick. Seems he have some labor dispute with some elves. But you mustn't breathe a word - it's top secret."

Scorpius looked around at them, apparently undecided whether to scoff or not.

"You're all mad," he said at last.

"Your mum's mad," Draco told him with a look he probably meant to be stern. "She went mental when she went in to say goodnight and she found your bed stuffed with pillows." He put his hands on his hips. "You're a disgrace, boy. I've taught you better than that."

Scorpius sulked. "I had my mind on other things."

"Like how you were going to get to Godric's Hollow?"

"That," Scorpius said. He brightened. "And I've got your feud with Mr. Potter all sorted."

Draco glanced at Harry with something like surprise. "Have you?"

"It's a good theory," Harry said as they all turned away from the house and headed back toward the village. "Lots of good guesswork. But I'm curious," he added, "how you account for the history of the feud."

Scorpius, who was being guided by a firm hand on his shoulder, grinned. "I'm glad you ask," he said, "because I think it all started with my great-grandfather Abraxas dying of Dragon Pox ..."

Merry Christmas, all!