"Hey uh- Father?" says James Lucius the next day as he sits at the table in Draco's kitchen, pushing pieces of cereal around in his bowl. "Are you really okay with us going with Dad and Aunt Val on a camping trip? You don't have to say yes, you know?" Draco sighs because this is not short of the fifteen times the boy has asked the same question.
"Yes, JL, I'm positive," He responded nodding calmly. "You guys deserve a last bit of freedom before you're completely cut off from the outside world." Teddy was sitting on the couch playing a muggle video game and stopped to agree with the blonde man.
"Yeah, Jamesie, you'll be glad we went out and did something. Remember I was so nervous my first year that I spent the last few weeks hiding out in my room? When I got to school I was so mad that I didn't let Dad take us to Romania. Camping will be fun."
"It's JL," whined James, shoving a spoonful of sugary cereal into his mouth. "I just- You know how Dad gets when he's reminded about whatever...And he said that's the last time he's been camping."
"You think it'll be better if I'm there?" Draco asks sitting next to his son.
"Well yeah, he misses you," the boy responds, mumbling the last part.
"Oddly enough," says the man ruffling his son's hair. "I doubt that's the case."
"He really does miss you," says Teddy pausing the game and looking over at the older blonde nonchalantly, before pressing play again and continuing to smack shadows around with a giant key. "And none of us really get why you left in the first place. I mean, I thought- we all thought things were going well, then you just left again. I'm not judging you or anything. It's just Aunt Val got hurt and you left and-" He shrugs. "I don't know, it'd be cool if you came with us."
"I'll see what I can do, but I doubt they'll want me there. I chose to leave even if it was hard, because...wel- It doesn't matter now. I did what was best for everyone."
"No," said James angrily, pushing his bowl off of the table. Teddy turned off the game and watched the scene unfolding before him with wide eyes. "You did what was best for you! Just like you always do! You don't care about me or about Dad or Teddy or Gam or- or anybody!" The boy stood and shoved his chair back under the table before storming over to the fireplace and grabbing a handful of floo powder. "C'mon, Teddy." He didn't look back as he threw the floo powder into the fireplace and yelled his home address. It wasn't long before the blue haired boy followed after apologizing and giving Draco a quick hug. He thought best not to let the older man know that he had seen him crying.
The older man sighed and placed his head in both hands then noticed his face was wet with tears. He wiped his eyes then removed his wand and cleaned the mess off of the floor. He'd been in the boys' lives for a few years now, but he still wasn't as good or well-versed in wandless cleaning charms as Harry had become. He still washed the rest of the dishes by hand just to have something to do. A lot of what he did these days were meaningless tasks to keep him from falling apart. He had told himself that he wasn't going to ruin the boys' view of Harry or Val, for that matter. James and Teddy needed their constant presence more than they needed him.
When his wand started vibrating on the counter he was more than tempted to snap it in half.
--:--
"I told you he wouldn't answer," said James with an attitude as he sat on his Dad's lumpy couch with his arms crossed. Harry was standing in front of him wearing nothing but a towel around his waist and was angrily staring down at him.
"Why did you leave your father's house in the first place?" he asked, placing his wand on the mantle and rubbing at his temple with the other hand. "You're supposed to call first. You know better, James Lucius."
"Why does it matter?"
"What if I wasn't home?" The messy-haired man says upset.
"Teddy would have been here with me," the younger boy responds with a shrug, not looking his dad in the eye.
"What if something were to happen and no one knew where you were?"
"Well you see where I am, don't you," James says still angry, but less so. "He doesn't even care about us, Dad. Not really. If he cared, he wouldn't have left in the first place. Not before I was born and not when things were finally working out."
"That's not true!" yelled Teddy at his younger brother, and it seemed like the outburst surprised him just as much as it surprised his dad. "Sure he shouldn't have left, but you can't say he doesn't love you. If he didn't love you, do you think he would be working a muggle job all the damn time?"
"Teddy! Language!" Harry said still surprised.
"No! He doesn't get to be a brat today!" Teddy was standing in front of James and his hair was glowing red. "You have both of your parents, okay? It may not be an ideal situation, but I've never even met mine. You have so many people that love you. I mean, everyone in this house loves you. Gam loves you. And you know Papa Draco loves you too. He's working so hard to stay in your life even though it hurts him and it's like you don't even care."
"What do you mean it hurts him? He seems perfectly fine to me." James still had his arms crossed.
"You're an idiot. He still loves, Dad, you doofus! And in case you don't own a mirror, you look just like him, but he still laughs and talks and hangs out with us because he wants to. Because he loves us. Because he wants to be in your life and all you ever do is talk about what he does wrong. 'Aunt Val doesn't make breakfast that' way."
"I didn't say that."
"'Aunt Val doesn't sing that song when she makes pancakes.'"
"I don't sound like that."
"'Aunt Val plays games with us.'"
"Well she does."
"He's trying, James! He's here and he's alive and he is trying! And I'm tired of you always yelling at him. I'm done covering for you." Teddy turned to their dad and started talking and didn't finish until he had told every bad thing James Lucius had done at Draco's house. "-so that's why we're home early. We were trying to convince him to come camping with us and when he didn't say yes immediately, James yelled at him and came home. You know," he said turning back to his little brother. "For someone who loves to yell at him about leaving all the time you do the same thing when you get mad."
"We're going camping right now. We all need some space and luckily for us camping means we'll have tons of it," said Harry simply picking his wand back up and waving it a few times before calling for Val when he heard her yelp. "I'm going to get dressed, and we're leaving as soon as I get back downstairs."
It took less than 20 minutes for them to pack the car and leave for a muggle campsite.
It took more than 20 minutes for Draco to show up at Harry's door for the first time in three years and knock. When no one answered he sighed and returned to his house. It was clear no one in this house needed him and they definitely didn't want to see him.
-&-
hey futher muckers
final chapter
whaddya think?
hate it? love it? lemme know
i love writing teddy not here for his brother's shit
photo creds are mine yet again 🤙🏽
cliff hanger means it was a banger
lol. nah. it means there will be a
~drumroll please~
SEQUEL
who guessed it?
catch up with these guys in
"Favoring the Brave"
hope y'all enjoyed.
love y'all
-- angel janeé xoxo 💋
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Favoring The Bold {Drarry}
Fanfiction{A Family of Favors book 1} Harry always felt like families were just a fickle idea, so when Malfoy wanted to become a famous musician Harry was fine with raising their son alone. A son that 8 years later Draco still didn't know existed. What happen...
