He gripped the cold brass handle harder, staring with a fiercely furrowed brow into the pair of dark green eyes.

Despite the twenty years since they had last seen each other, Harry Potter looked nearly the same to Draco. His hair was a little lighter and his eyes were crinkled at the corners, but that superior, self-righteous stare still sent Draco’s head spinning and his stomach plummeting.

“Evening, Malfoy,” Potter returned with a curt nod. “Ginny.” He directed his comment past Draco, and Draco turned to see his wife standing in her three-inch heels, dumbstruck.

“Harry – I – what are you doing here?” she stammered, moving forward and sliding a hand over Draco’s shoulder. Her emerald wedding ring glinted conspicuously against his sweater. Her possessive touch felt like dead weight against him, and he fought the urge to shrug her off.

“Molly suggested I drop the boys off myself,” he answered wryly. Draco thought he saw the slightest flicker of triumph cross Potter’s features. “She didn’t want them getting lost in the Floo Network.”

“No, of course not,” Ginny responded smoothly. “Thanks for bringing them over. Come on in, boys, I’ll just levitate your bags upstairs.”

She motioned for her sons to move forward, and they both looked up at their father cautiously. When Potter nodded, they both moved forward grudgingly. Draco kept his eyes on Potter, not trusting himself to refrain from channeling his anger towards Ginny’s sons.

Ginny’s smile faltered a bit, but she ushered them into the foyer. Lily and Scorpius stood silently in the arch into the living room.

“Lily-” Ginny blurted, looking up as she attempted to levitate the bags and point the boys up the stairs. “Lily, why don’t you show the boys to their room?”

But Lily was staring blankly at the man on the doorstep, who was returning the stare with a tortured look. His face contorted, and he seemed to be struggling between repulsion and affection. Draco clutched at the side of his trousers with a balled fist, ready to chuck the bastard right out of his house if he did anything to hurt the little girl.

“Lily…?” Ginny trailed off, following her daughter’s gaze. “Oh!” There was a heavy, awkward silence as Ginny stared feebly at her daughter. “Scorpius, dear, could you…?”

The other boy nodded, subtly taking Lily’s hand and starting up the stairs. The Potter boys shot one last look at their father before exchanging a disgruntled look of their own and following Scorpius up the stairs.

Draco turned back to the man still standing on his doorstep and tried to muster an aloof little smile. With the children upstairs, there was nothing stopping him from being as rude and arrogant as he liked. And he deserved it! How dare he – how dare he – show up at Draco’s house unannounced like some family friend who happened to be in the neighborhood?

“Well, thanks for dropping them off, and we’ll be seeing you-”

“Ginny, could I have a word?” Potter cut in, looking past him, looking through him, at his wife. Draco squelched a growl at the base of his throat, ready to slam the door in the other man’s face.

No, he could not have a word. What could he possible have to say to Ginny? What could he possibly–

“Oh – I – err,” Ginny fumbled nervously. She brushed a fallen wisp of red hair back behind her ear and took a deep breath. “Sure.” She smiled with regained confidence and stepped outside, shutting the door behind her.

The slam of the door echoed off the walls and ceiling, and then the weight of the silence crashed down on Draco. He took a shaky breath and began to climb the staircase slowly, hoping to find the children behaving decently.

“…you both get your own rooms?” He recognized the belligerent tone as that of the redheaded boy.

“James…it’s fine,” his brother pleaded breathily.

“It is not fine! I have to share a bedroom with you for a whole month? Meanwhile Lily and Serpent-boy over here each get their own rooms. I don’t think so.”

Draco felt his stomach heave. The boy’s tone was exactly the same as his father’s had been. Oh, wasn’t it enough that he had to relive the memories of his twisted father while living in England? Now he had to revisit the most humiliating incidents of his Hogwarts years, too?

“Shut it, Potter. The room is yours, and your mum worked really hard on it. So why don’t you just sit your arse down on your Gryffindor bed and think about being grateful?” Draco heard Scorpius say sneeringly, and while part of him thought he should scold the boy for his harsh words, he couldn’t hide that he was genuinely pleased. His son was a good deal more mature than he had ever been.

“Please, Malfoy,” James scoffed. “Why aren’t you spending the summer with your whore of a mother? New boyfriend already?”

Draco stepped into the doorway, his face a mask of indifference, and said, “Scorpius, Lily, could you help me with dinner, please?” Scorpius turned from glaring at James, his hands balled into fists and his eyes flashing dangerously. Lily gave him a little shove toward their father.

“Sure thing, Dad,” Scorpius ground out.

“Make yourselves comfortable, boys,” Draco said genially. “Dinner will be in about half an hour.”

James and Albus nodded, staring rebelliously at the floor.

Draco turned and strode down the hallway, dragging Scorpius by his arm while Lily floated along unhappily beside them.

“Dad, did you hear the little bastards?” Scorpius fumed, struggling against his father’s hold.

“Scorpius,” Draco hissed, wrenching his arm up sharply. “You have to control yourself!” The last thing he needed was for Ginny to think that his son was playing a hand in her crumbling relationships with her sons.

Scorpius twisted away from his father, scowling. “You heard them, Dad! Lily, didn’t they-”

“Scorpius,” Lily whimpered. “Please?”

The boy faltered at that, stopping to stare at his sister. Her eyes were a shade of blue so reminiscent of the Weasley twins’ that it caused Draco’s chest to ache. Scorpius’ eyes softened and his mouth turned up into a small smile.

“All right,” he said to Lily. He turned back to Draco, his jaw jutting out again. “I’ll behave.”

Draco clapped a hand on his shoulder, nodding appreciatively. “Good. Now go help Ginny with dinner.”

Within fifteen minutes, the table was groaning under the weight of the food Ginny had spent several hours preparing, and Draco was seated at the head of the table, waiting for the Potter children to enter the dining room.

Ginny shifted from foot to foot in the doorway, leaning back to look up the stairs every few seconds. Her anxiety seemed to be filling up the room, so much so that Draco had to loosen his collar. Scorpius cleared his throat and made a funny face at Lily, who cracked a smile for the first time since her brothers had arrived.

The two boys finally clomped into the dining room several minutes late, looking sullen and mutinous. They both took their seats opposite Lily and Scorpius, and stared down silently at their empty plates.

“Let’s eat,” Ginny said quietly.

While Scorpius and Draco called out what they wanted to eat to have it appear magically on their plates, Lily peeked up over the top of the table at her brothers, folding and unfolding her napkin in her lap.

“Mum made your favorite roast, Al,” she said timidly. The conversation and clinking of silverware stopped. Silence buzzed. Draco couldn’t help but be so proud of Lily, whose courageous spirit was more than he could fathom.

Albus gave his sister the briefest of smiles. “Yeah.” He paused. “Roast.” Ginny smiled as the roast appeared on his plate. James rolled his eyes.

“So, James, how was Quidditch season this year? I hear Gryffindor won the House Cup again,” Draco offered, raising his eyebrows. He could feel Ginny’s eyes on him, but whether it was an appreciative or reproachful look, he couldn’t tell.

James’ mouth twitched, but he looked up with a twisted little smile. “It was a good season. We beat out everyone.”

Albus smiled widely. “James is a brilliant Chaser.”

Draco tried to give the boys his best genuine smile. “So I’ve heard.”

Scorpius snorted into his plate, but ducked his head when Draco shot a glare at him.

“How about you, Scorpius?” James shot back, looking up furiously. “You trying out for Slytherin next year?”

Scorpius stabbed his potato viciously with his fork. “Yeah,” he spat.

“I’m sure you’ll make it,” James returned airily. “Slytherin’s been lacking talent for the past decade.”

Scorpius nodded tersely, staring down at his plate.

“Scorpius is a wicked flyer,” Lily blurted, looking at James with hard eyes.

He gave a short bark of a laugh. “You’ve seen him?”

“We raced,” Lily said proudly.

James opened his mouth to retort, but his mother held up a hand. “Enough Quidditch talk, boys. You know Grandma’s rule about Quidditch at the dinner table.”

“We’re not at Grandma’s, Mother,” James said with the barest hint of a snarl.

Draco looked up to see that Ginny had paled, and she was twisting her fork through her otherwise untouched noodles.

“Well, it’s my rule too.”

“Sorry, I’ve lost my appetite,” James growled. “Excuse me.” He pushed his chair out and stomped from the room, making each footstep up the stairs echo loudly.

Lily looked helplessly at her mother, who appeared just as lost. Draco stared across the table at her until she was forced to meet his gaze. Her dulling brown eyes were wide and heavy with sadness, and it broke his heart to look into them.

“Mummy?” Albus’ timid voice broke the silence. “Good roast.”

Ginny let out a tittering, relieved laugh, and her face split into an easy smile. “Thank you, darling.”

“You told him what?”

Draco cringed at the sound of his shout, which echoed up the stairs and into his darkened bedroom.

“I told him the boy was dead, Lucius. For Draco.”

Draco jumped to his feet at the slap of flesh against flesh, running down the hall to the top of the staircase.

“We were this close, Narcissa!” he bellowed, his white hair wild and his face a deepening purple. “Another two hours and the castle would have been ours!”

She moaned from the floor. “But our son would have been dead!” she ground out, glaring at him from narrowed eyes.

Lucius’ boot collided with her side and she let out a scream that made Draco’s hair stand on end. He had to help her. He had to save her. Lucius was pulling out his wand…

“Draco!”

Her call brought him rushing back, pulling him farther and farther from the scene until he had to open his eyes, widened and glazed over.

“Are you all right? You were moaning in your sleep,” she whispered, brushing sweaty hair back from his face.

He could hardly see her features in the darkness of the night, but he sat up and stared at her anyway. “Nothing,” he muttered shakily. “It was nothing.” The dream burst across his vision once more, his father’s cold gray eyes and maniacal smile blinding him. Draco shivered.

He could feel her eyes drilling into him with a fierce glare, but before she could say anything he asked, “What did Potter want outside?”

She was silent for a moment, crawling back to her side of the bed, but saying, “He just wanted to let me know that I can call him if the boys give us trouble.” She sighed.

Draco was silent. He knew she would never take Potter up on that offer.

“Anything else?” he murmured casually.

She shifted irritably beside him and blew out a lingering sigh. “He told me he’s seeing someone else.”

Draco’s mind flashed bright for a moment, so that all he could see was light hanging over his head. His eyebrows came together, and he turned on his side to look at his wife.

“And?” He let the word slip out, his tone perfectly neutral, and waited as she stared at the ceiling.

“And nothing. He just wanted to let me know.” She turned her head to give him a weak smile before refocusing on the ceiling. He returned the feeble gesture, even though she couldn’t see it, because it expressed exactly how he felt.

He cleared his throat nervously. “Are you sure you’re okay? You hardly ate anything for dinner,” he added, trying to rationalize his worry.

“My stomach felt unsettled,” she remarked. “I suppose I’m just a little nervous about the boys.”

He inched closer to her, pressing a feather-light kiss against her shoulder. She smiled, leaned back into him, and fell asleep.

In the week leading up to Lily’s birthday, Draco did his best to forget about his nightmares and focus on his family. He blocked out his mother’s scream and his father’s eyes the best he could, but unfortunately, it wasn’t much more comfortable to think about the four children under his roof.

He had the crawling feeling that something was going on between the boys. Early one morning he found Scorpius at the back door, dressed in what he had worn the day before.

“I just went for a walk, Dad. Honestly,” he had claimed when Draco tried to question him on it.

The next morning, James spit up his breakfast, gagging and retching horribly. He paused, looking around at the five other individuals staring at him.

“Sorry. Went down the wrong pipe,” he muttered, jutting his chin out belligerently. Draco tapped his fingers uneasily as he saw his son and the eldest Potter exchange glares.

“I’ll help you wash the dishes, Mum,” James offered after breakfast. Draco watched as Ginny’s face lit up beautifully, her smile nearly splitting her face in half.

“That would be wonderful, James,” she replied.

Scorpius snorted loudly, and Ginny and James both turned to glare at him.

“Scorpius, let’s go for a walk,” Draco said loudly before any insults or hexes could be thrown.

“What has been going on between you and James?” Draco asked once he and his son were far enough from the house.

Scorpius kicked at a patch of grass angrily as he and Draco walked further down the path. “Nothing, all right? It’s no different than when we were at school.”

“But that’s the thing, Scorpius!” Draco replied exasperatedly. “You’re not at school! You’re at home. And James Potter, whether you like him or not, is Ginny’s son and Lily’s brother.”

Scorpius sulked silently for another few strides before Draco sighed and said, “You had fights with Lily when you visited over the Easter hols.”

“I didn’t know her then,” Scorpius mumbled. Draco glared at him. “Look, Dad, I do know James Potter. He’s an arrogant little arsehole who throws a fit when he doesn’t get his own way!”

Draco laughed then, such a loud and ridiculous laugh that Scorpius stopped to stare at him.

“What?”

“You just described yourself, Scorpius.”

The boy scowled at that.

“You promised Ginny that you would behave.”

“I also promised Lily I wouldn’t let her git of a brother ruin her birthday.”

“He won’t,” Draco groaned. “As long as you don’t take his bait.”

“I’ll try.”

“Scorpius…” Draco growled warningly.

“I’ll try! That’s really the best I can promise you.”

Draco laughed and ruffled the boy’s hair. “All right, son.”

The following days were slightly quieter, with no more obvious disagreements between the two eldest children, but Draco still had the feeling that things were brewing right underneath his nose.

He tried to tell himself that the only reason behind his worry was how much Scorpius and James reminded him of Potter and himself when they were younger, and he really would not have expected to get along with Potter in such close quarters.

Ginny was delighted with the boys. They had warmed to her so much that the three of them had spent an afternoon out by the lake together. Draco couldn’t bring himself to voice his concerns to her, not only because he had no real evidence of any quarrels, but because his wife was in such a state of bliss. But keeping his mounting concerns to himself made Draco’s mind agitated, and the anxiety only seemed to build within him.

The afternoon before Lily’s birthday, the present Draco had bought her arrived by owl order. Excited more than a grown wizard should be, he raced upstairs with the package tucked under his arm to hide it in his closet.

He had tucked the long parcel behind his dress robes when a loud, disgusting noise broke through the still silence of his bedroom. Straightening up and listening as another retch came from his own bathroom, Draco tiptoed to the door.

He was finally going to catch one of the boys in their pranks. He knew something had been going on, he just knew it! Scorpius’ semi-promise hadn’t exactly been reassuring, and he was determined to make sure nothing got in the way of Ginny’s happiness. Absolutely nothing.

Fists clenched and heart pounding, he barged into the bathroom.

“I told you-”

He stopped short at the sight of his wife clinging shakily to the porcelain basin, her sweaty hair plastered to her face.

“Ginny!” he cried, suddenly beside her on the floor.

She laughed unsteadily, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “It’s nothing, I’m just not feeling well. I’ve been nervous about the boys all week.” She was hysterical, babbling as if he wasn’t even there, and he could hear the fear laced in her voice. It was the same as what was eating away at his heart.

“But, Gin-”

“My stomach was upset last week, too, remember? When I was getting the room ready?”

She stared at him, her eyes wide and worried, and he stared back.

“Ginny, could it be-?”

A shrill, earsplitting scream broke into his thought, and Draco was on his feet and running blindly down the hall before he could blink.

“Scorpius!” Lily was screaming; he could hear it from the Potters’ room.

He burst into the room, aware that Ginny was right behind him, and first saw his daughter bent over his son, sobbing.

Her red hair flowed right over his red blood, spilled all over the floor. Scorpius’ fingers lay still only inches from his wand, where it had fallen to the floor.

Draco looked up, his vision red, his whole mind on fire, ready to rip someone limb from limb, to see James Potter with a look of total horror on his face, a wand gripped loosely in his hand.

“Scorpius!” Lily bawled, laying her head down on his chest.

“Lily, move!” Ginny screeched, suddenly beside the boy on the floor. Draco could only stare dumbly at the Potter children.

“I didn’t – it wasn’t-” James was stuttering. His own wand clattered to the floor.

Ginny looked up, her eyes wide and dark and filled with terror. “We need to get him to St. Mungo’s.”

Author notes: Thanks for all the amazing reviews! Leave another one! :)