Family Of Sorts (A Wattpad Featured Drarry FanFiction)

Chapter Eight

   Draco was so shocked he took a moment to react. "What – wait!" he yelled, but Harry's knees had a good six or seven years on his, and he had slid down the ladder and sprinted out into the evening air before Draco had even swung his leg over. He cursed, loudly, as he dropped the last few rungs and ran out the same way. Harry had already vanished, so Draco followed his instinct and raced back to the house, darting through the conservatory and into the kitchen.  

"Draco!" said his mother from where she was sat at the counter, lowering her cup of tea in surprise. "Is Harry alright, he just ran past looking distressed?" 

He shook his head. "I'm not sure," he replied honestly. "But I'm going to find out." 

He took the stairs two at a time, heading straight for Harry's room. The door was shut, and Draco paused outside it, wishing he could see through the wood. "Harry?" he said softly, tapping with a single finger. "Are you in there?"

Silence. Well, almost silence. Draco was pretty certain he could hear shuffling from the other side. He sighed. "Harry, please let me in," he said. 

Mercifully, the handle turned, and the door opened a crack. Harry's green eyes peered from behind his wire-rimmed glasses, lower lip clamped between his teeth.

"Can I come in?" Draco repeated.

Harry gave him a weary look, before stepping back and opening the door so Draco could step through. He shut it again once he was inside.

He hadn't ever visited Harry's room since he'd moved in, wanting to respect his privacy. What struck him immediately were how many photos there were; in frames, tacked to the wall, pinned to the cork board. There were numerous ones depicting a red headed man with a mixed-race, curly haired woman, one of which looked like their wedding. In fact there were quite a lot of different red heads. Then there was a boy, possibly about the same age as Scorpius, mostly being held by a woman with artificially pink hair, a rumpled looking man, Harry himself and what were probably grandparents. Various shots captured groups of friends on the beach, on walks, in hot tubs, hanging from trees. "Is this your family?" he asked, momentarily forgetting why he was in this room in the first place.

Harry hugged himself and sniffed. "Sort of," he said ruefully. "An orphan's attempt at least."

Draco's heart plummeted. Orphan? How on Earth had he missed that?

"I'm sorry," he said, but Harry shook his head.

"I don't remember much," he said, brushing the sympathy off. "Of my parents I mean. I made my own family, it worked out okay." Draco pulled his gaze from the little auburn haired child, back to Harry, seeing the distress there.

"Harry-" he tried.

"I'm sorry," Harry cut him off. "That was unprofessional, it should never have happened. It won't happen again," he assured, before paling significantly. "Or...I mean, if you'd prefer...I can have my bags packed in an hour or so-"

"Harry what are you talking about?" Draco asked, exasperated.

"My resignation," he said thickly. "If you don't want me to stay."

Draco felt his shoulders sag, and he moved around the bed to stand in front of Harry. "Why on Earth wouldn't I want you to stay?" he said, cupping Harry's face in his hand. It felt so easy, so natural, or rather it would have if Harry didn't look so miserable.

"I was completely out of order," he said, refusing to look at Draco's face. Which was a shame, because it meant he missed the lop-sided smile that crept onto it.

"You were just quicker off the mark than me," he teased. "That's all."

That got Harry's attention, his head still hung but his eyes lifted to take a peek at Draco. "Huh?"

Draco laughed. "I was about two seconds away from kissing you," he said bluntly.

Harry chewed that over. "But, I work for you?"

Of all the things he could have said, Draco wasn't really expecting that, but he guessed it was the most obvious problem. "Harry, do you really see yourself as an employee round here?" he asked gently.

"But I am," he said without pause. "You pay me a salary, I provide a service."

Draco shook his head. "Okay, but it's not a service. Scorpius loves you. You said this house is different compared to your others and it is. You bring us so much joy and happiness, you never clock off, you give us everything. Is it so hard to believe that we – I – would see that as something else, something way more than a job. Harry you belong here, I can't actually believe it's taken me so long to do something to show that, but I guess I was afraid to disrupt the equilibrium."

"I don't want to change things," Harry said hurriedly. "I don't want to risk anything, Scorpius' happiness is too important, I said that, my first day, he deserves better than that."

Draco felt his heart contract at the worry lining his face, the concern he had for his son above all else. "So," he murmured, coming a little bit closer, hand still caressing his face. "You don't want me to kiss you again?"

Harry stilled, and Draco leant in, touching their lips gently, not wanting to scare him off.

Gradually, Harry relaxed into the embrace, unfolding his arms and tentatively taking hold of Draco's hips. The kiss grew in intensity, rekindling the heat from the stable, and Draco let his hands roam, feeling Harry's perfect body through his clothes.

He eased off before he could get too carried away, relieved to see Harry smiling shyly back at him. "We can take it slow," he said. "Baby steps. This is a bit scary for me too."

But Harry still looked unsure. "I just feel..." he said, searching for the words. "I feel it's crossing a line, you're my boss really."

Draco wasn't going to be deterred that easily though. "What if I wasn't," he suggested carefully, sweeping some of Harry's wayward hair back.

Harry frowned. "How do you mean?"

What did he mean? "What if..." he said, collecting his thoughts. "Things carried on as they are. Except, perhaps you sleep in this room less and less often. And the money that went into your bank account wasn't a salary, but an allowance. What if we took it in turns a little better to share Scorpius between us, and you could take time for yourself as and when you needed."

"So," said Harry, considering. "You mean I wouldn't technically be your au pair anymore?" Draco shook his head. "Then what would I be?"

Draco smiled, hope swelling in his chest like a balloon. Wasn't it obvious? "Family," he told him simply.

The End

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