𝐶ℎ𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑅𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑏𝑜𝑤𝑠

VIII

Harry pov

We walked down the stairs where an excited Albus stood holding Teddy's hand for security.
I found the boys' bags and some underwear they could swim in since I hadn't packed swimwear, Teddy found some of his boxers and along with his brothers he found a bathroom to go change, Teddy was like an extra parent at times even though I didn't ask him to be.
We walked outside where a huge pool was centered right outside the porch door, there was an outside shower to the left where you wash yourself before you jump in. The pool was circular with a hot tub in the closest end.

"So who's going for a dive?" Narcissa asked us, and since my kids can't swim properly yet, I raised my hand along with my boys and Scorpius. Lucius told us he'd rather get a cold drink and just sit in the autumn sun to which Narcissa agreed, that just left Draco back.

"Draco come on, Scorpius would want to swim with you." Narcissa said to her son who after some convincing finally agreed.
Since my boys were already changed Draco and I went into the house where he lend me some swimwear while taking some for Scorpius also.

We walked downstairs again where Draco quickly changed Scorpius before putting all the kids under the shower and then going under himself, I showered right after and before I knew it James and Albus had pushed me in while Scorpius and Teddy had pushed Draco in.

Draco and I resurfaced and both glared at the boys still standing on the ground, the boys were laughing their asses off until I grabbed Teddy's hand and pulled him down with me. The younger boys quickly ran away to hide behind Lucius and Narcissa who sat drinking drinks in some lounge chairs, Draco and I got out of the pool and chased the boys until we grabbed a boy each and threw them into the pool. James was the last to fall into the water and the only reason he even got in was that he surrendered and jumped in himself.

We swam and played in the water for hours until the boys got tired and laid down to sleep on a blanket Narcissa had laid out on the grass for them, Draco and I had turned it into a nice talk in the hot tub where we just drank some firewhiskey while talking about whatever was on our mind.

"Harry.." Draco started being clearly drunk by now.

"You- you make me feel better after Stori's death, I don't feel lonely when you're here." He continued as he downed his glass, he reached for the bottle but before he could grab it I took it.

"You don't need more whiskey Draco, you'll end up doing or saying something you'll regret." I told him much to his displeasure, he had drunk probably 3 times as much as me. Narcissa snapped her fingers a couple of times beside me making me look at her, she smiled a bit before saying; 

"Lucius and I will put the kids in their rooms and after that we'll go visit some of our friends, we'll be home in time for dinner so please take care of Draco for me.", I nodded and after that the older Malfoys went inside the house while levitating all four kids with their wands.
Draco scooted closer to me and ended up cuddling against me, i knew it was kind of wrong since he was still broken over Astoria and the fact that he was drunk but I kind of.. Liked it, i guess.

"Potter- I wanted to tell you back in 6th year when i found out but- you didn't like me so i didn't. You know- I'm Bisexual so we could be a thing you know." He said catching me off guard, one thing was that he was clearly drunk now and just spoke bullsh-t but another thing is- aren't drunk words just sober thoughts? Did I hope they were? He really confused me.

Minutes later Draco had fallen asleep right there in the hot tub, I got out and dried myself before I levitated him over on a lounge chair where i cast a drying charm on him which dried him instantly. I levitated him again this time taking him all the way to his bedroom, i put him down on the bed before pulling the covers over him. I was just about to step away from the bed when he grabbed my arm half asleep, he didn't let go and after a minute of silence he finally said; 

"Don't go, you make the monsters go away", I didn't know what to do so I just sat down on the floor letting him hold my hand, he held it tightly while the rest of his body relaxed. I sat in comfortable silence while Draco held my hand but it was interrupted by an owl outside the window. I slowly manage to wiggle my hand away from Draco's and went to open up the window, I took the two letters from the owl that quickly flew away right after, the letter was addressed to both Draco and I from the ministry. 

I opened mine which just contained dates and times for both the custody battle and the trial for what happened with Scorpius at my house. The custody battle would start tomorrow and go on for two days while the trial would first start on friday, but wasn't that Astoria's funeral? Remembering it was I wrote a letter to Shacklebolt requesting him to change the date, his reply came 20 minutes later saying it had been changed to Monday instead of Friday so now there was a couple of days between the funeral and the trial.

I sat down by Draco's bed again and he grabbed my hand as soon as he sensed it, we sat there for maybe half an hour before Narcissa entered the bedroom seeing me sit on the floor holding her son's hand. She smiled at me before saying; "I guess you keep the monsters away too?" sensing my confusion she continued with; "He's had nightmares since the war but Astoria kept them to a minimum, I suspect her death has let the monsters come back." Her words sounded so sincere and soft, she smiled one last time before closing the door again.

3rd person pov
A couple hours later...

Draco had woken up feeling much better than he did when he fell asleep, they were now eating dinner in the fancy dining room.
Harry was thankful for the Malfoy's presence now more than ever, Narcissa kept his boys in line giving him a peace of mind. 

Halfway through dinner Harry remembered the letter from the Ministry and handed Draco his letter, he looked confused at Harry before opening it. You could basically see the anger grow on his face, Lucius lifted an eyebrow at Draco which made Draco hand him the letter. Lucius got the same look on his face before giving the letter to Narcissa, she read it a couple of times before saying; "But Friday is Astoria's funeral, we can't be at the Ministry at the same time." She put the letter back in the envelope before putting it on the table. 

"I already informed the Ministry that friday would not be a good day to do the trial, he understood and moved it to Monday instead." Harry explained making the Malfoy's visibly relax. Dinner continued as before with little to no talking, only the sound of the cutlery hitting the plates could be heard. 

Soon after James decided he was done and wanted to leave, he tried climbing out his chair but didn't get far before Teddy pulled him back in his seat. "You're staying till everyone is done." Teddy whisper-shouted at his godbrother who angrily sat back down while crossing his arms, he started loudly and dramatically sighing just to provoke Teddy but he stopped that instantly when Harry raised his brow at him.

When everyone was done the older Malfoy's went to bed, so did Draco and Scorpius while Harry took all three boys upstairs with him. He said goodnight to Teddy and James outside while Albus went with him, half an hour later the whole house was silent except for the sound of snores coming from Teddy and Albus' rooms.

Word Count: 1390