Chapter Text
"You know," Draco said conversationally, leaning against Harry and picking up Scorpius, who was attempting to crawl away. "No, stop that Scorpius, you’re far too small to go exploring the Quidditch stand…" He settled his infant son on his knee, bouncing him gently as he eyed the red sleepsuit covered in Snitches that his son was wearing. "I don’t think that red suits his colouring. Green would be much better. It’d match his eyes."
Harry ignored Draco’s comment, leaning in and adjusting the scarf around Draco’s throat, a red and yellow knitted thing that Delphi had given to Harry last Christmas, because one of her friends had taught her how to knit.
"I think I finally see what Riddle meant about caring for Delphi being a humiliation worse than death, Harry. I’m wearing a Gryffindor scarf. My firstborn is the first Malfoy in four centuries to not be in Slytherin."
"You love it," Harry murmured. Draco raised an eyebrow, and Harry snorted and leaned in for another quick kiss. "You love her."
That, at least, Draco couldn’t argue with. Here he was, waiting for the Gryffindor vs Slytherin match to start, and he was cheering on Gryffindor. He felt that anyone who doubted he loved his daughter should consider that as evidence.
"She’s so excited we could come," Harry told him. "I remember what it meant… when Bill and Molly came to see me compete in the Triwizard Tournament. I was so jealous of you having your father there when we played…"
"He wasn’t ever impressed by what he saw."
"I’ll be happy with however she flies today," Harry answered. Draco considered echoing the sentiment, but given Delphi was going to make her debut as Gryffindor’s new Beater, his main concern was her avoiding injury.
"I don’t know if I can watch this," Draco muttered, and his husband laughed and wrapped an arm around his waist.
"You can hide against me if you need to, Draco. But she’s been good on a broom since she was three, remember? And Uncle George got her practising hitting enchanted apples since she was five."
"I know," Draco whined. Spending time with the Weasleys was one of his favourite things to do, and he knew that Delphi enjoyed it. The Weasleys had opened their home to him when he’d finally got his grades and been able to leave Hogwarts without fear of Azkaban. He and Harry had spent several months shuttling between there, Grimmauld Place, and Hogwarts before they’d finally worked out what they needed. They had their own cottage, near enough to the Weasleys to visit, and Delphi and he often went there to play when he wasn’t working on charming trinkets for Wee Wixen Wares. He liked the fact his job used his skill at charms in a way that would bring joy to children, given he would never be able to get hired to work with them.
He knew that Delphi had been training to be a Beater practically her entire life. He was just concerned about her. As a Second-Year, she would be the youngest on the team. He remembered how excited he’d been – how his own Quidditch matches had been the highlight of his time at Hogwarts, until he’d had to abandon them to focus on missions he could never win. He was glad she’d never have to live the way he had done.
"She’s going to do us proud," Harry promised, squeezing him, and then turning to Scorpius. "Your daddy worries too much, doesn’t he?"
Scorpius burbled enthusiastically in response.
"Scorpius says yes."
"Scorpius is a traitor," Draco answered smoothly, tickling Scorpius and gazing at Harry. He still struggled sometimes, to believe how very lucky he had been.
"Hey, I think I see Teddy!" Harry lifted his hand, pointing, and Draco rested his head against Harry’s arm so he could look over at the Hufflepuff stands. It didn’t take him long to spot the first-year: Teddy had turned his hair a vibrant red, and Draco suspected his eyes would be golden to match. Draco supposed he was lucky that he hadn’t been expected to dye his hair in support. He adjusted his scarf again, and kissed his husband’s cheek.
"Wonder if he’ll make the team," Draco said thoughtfully.
"I hope not, I wouldn’t know who to cheer for," Harry muttered.
"Harry Malfoy, you will support our daughter," Draco hissed, but he smiled as he said it, and Harry nodded.
"Good thing these two don’t overlap, I really couldn’t watch that," Draco murmured, cuddling Scorpius for a moment. "Now, Scorpius, obviously it’s your choice but if you do want to be a Seeker for the Slytherins – "
"Stop that." Harry grinned at him. Scorpius grabbed for his rattle, and Harry handed it over. Scorpius squealed, shook the rattle, and then dropped it. "What were you saying about being a Seeker?" Harry asked with a laugh as he returned the rattle to Scorpius’s grip.
"So cruel to our son." Draco grinned at him, cuddling close for a minute before the teams walked out onto the Pitch. Delphi was instantly visible, the youngest player on there, with dark hair and a tight grip on her Beater’s bat. She looked very small beside her teammates, and Draco couldn’t stop himself from worrying a little. Harry smiled at him gently.
"She’s brilliant, you know?" Harry whispered. "Just like her dad."
The players mounted their brooms and took to the air as Hooch released the balls. Draco focused on his son, listening to the commentary – to Harry’s enthusiastic cheers. "And Yarcombe and Avery start to dive, already early in the game, and Flint hits the Bludger, sending it towards Yarcombe, but Malfoy swoops in to block it." There was the loud sound of iron on wood, and a cheer.
"She got it," Harry murmured. "They lost the Snitch, but she stopped the Bludger."
Draco nodded, daring for a moment to glance at the game. Delphi was grinning broadly, one hand holding her bat, the other gripping her Cleansweep Thirteen tightly. She looked ecstatic, her dark eyes alight with happiness at that moment, and even though Draco felt nervous he wanted to keep watching, to see her as happy as she was right then. It settled him, to know she was doing well.
Harry rubbed his side. "See. It’s not so bad," he murmured. "I mean, I ended up in the Hospital Wing a lot, but half the time that was because someone was trying to murder me entirely unrelated to the game – "
"Harry, you’re not helping," Draco replied, but he was smiling as he said it. He loved Harry intensely at moments like this, the way he could make him laugh and stop him from being frightened. It was seven years from when Harry had proposed to him in an entirely Harry way, another memory to strengthen his dolphin Patronus.
Harry had been filling in some paperwork so that Delphi could get a check-up at St Mungo’s, when he’d thrown it down and turned to Draco. "This is ridiculous," he had said firmly. "She’s your daughter. She should be Delphi Malfoy, not Delphi Potter."
"Legally, she’s your child," Draco had reminded him. "You and her have the same surname."
Harry had nodded, but he was frowning a little, and he flicked his fingers, wandlessly Summoning a fork. He’d drawn his wand, murmured a few spells, and then got down on one knee with his newly Transfigured ring. Draco hadn’t known whether to yell or burst out laughing, but he’d wrapped his arms around Harry, and kissed him, and been happy. It was a few months later that everything was finalised, and Harry and Delphi became Malfoys, to their mutual delight and the horror of the wizarding press.
The ring Draco wore now, of course, was much better than that Transfigured one. That hung on a chain about his neck, neatly concealed beneath his robes – a private symbol of Harry’s love and devotion for him and their family. Not that anyone could doubt how they loved each other.
Draco managed to hold back the urge to cheer when Slytherin scored a goal, Harry giving him a knowing look.
"And it’s ten-nil to Slytherin early in the game, and Avery is yet again circling the pitch looking for the Snitch, but Malfoy sends a Bludger headed her way, calling Flint away from the hoops to try and defend his Seeker…"
Draco watched the match, slowly relaxing and enjoying it. Delphi was happy here; she was doing well. He remembered the endless letters she’d written when she’d first gone to Hogwarts, which had now faded away to brief scribbled notes on scraps of parchment, mostly detailing adventures with her friends. Just over a year into her time at the school, Delphi seemed to be happier than he had ever been.
Scorpius started to fuss on his lap, and he turned his attention to the little boy. "It’s okay, Scorpius. I know, it’s a little windy, isn’t it?" Harry took the hint, casting warming and sheltering charms with his hawthorn wand. Draco smiled, and gave Scorpius’s rattle a gentle shake. Scorpius was far more interested in that than the match.
"Your sister’s doing so well," Draco told him, making himself comfortable against Harry’s side. Harry’s magic kept him warm. "We’ll need to buy new clothes for Scorpius soon, he’s going to be cold otherwise."
"I’ll see what I can get him." Harry grinned indulgently, and Draco kissed him. Draco knew Harry liked spoiling his family, and that suited Draco fine because he rather liked being spoiled. He carried on watching the match; the wind was picking up a little, although the sky was still clear of any clouds.
As he watched, Flint knocked a Bludger towards Delphi’s back, and he yelled out, the noise drowned out by the sound of the wind. There was a rapid hand signal towards Delphi from the other Beater on the team – a sixth-year boy who looked like he could eat Delphi for breakfast. But immediately Delphi spun around, and sent the Bludger back the way it had come, and Harry squeezed Draco’s hand.
The game carried on. Delphi did brilliantly. Gryffindor managed to score a first goal after the Slytherin’s fifth, and Delphi nearly took out the Slytherin Keeper. After that, the match seemed to change, Gryffindor scraping back points until the score was one hundred and twenty to one hundred and ten, in Gryffindor’s favour. That was when Yarcombe went into a steep dive, and Draco could see the tiny glint of gold that had captivated him below.
Delphi moved to shield him, but she didn’t even have time to get in place before Yarcombe’s fingers closed around the Snitch and the stadium erupted in cheers, Draco on his feet like the rest, bouncing Scorpius as he whooped and squealed in excitement. Two hundred and seventy to one hundred and ten, and Gryffindor were victorious. Harry laughed and cheered, and Draco did too, not caring that it was Slytherin who had lost when Delphi’s team had won.
They filed out from the stands, the air thick with conversation and excitement, the Gryffindor students being as unbearably smug as they were after every victory, and yet Draco couldn’t begrudge them that joy today – not when he felt just as excited. The team had landed, and Delphi was rushing with her broom and bat towards the changing rooms to store them, because her friends were coming to congratulate them and it was important to put the equipment away before the celebrations got going in earnest.
He saw his daughter running up from the changing rooms, still in those hideous Quidditch robes, her eyes shining, and wavy black hair tied back in a ponytail. "Dad! Harry! Did you see? Did you see?"
"We saw," Draco promised, letting Harry hug Scorpius so that he could embrace Delphi. He was certain in a couple of years she would be far too embarrassed to come over for a cuddle after a match, but she wasn’t there yet, and he wanted to make the most of the moments he had to love her and take care of her.
"We won!"
"You did," Draco agreed, elbowing Harry playfully when Harry laughed. "And I wore your scarf!"
"I know." She grinned, and grabbed her hand. "Come on, dads, I told everyone they could meet you." She paused, wiping her hands on her robes, and then holding them out for her brother. "How’s Scorpius? I miss him."
"I know, my little dolphin," Draco murmured, leaning in to hug her again as Harry passed the child over. She was by far the smallest on her team, and one of the youngest in the year, but it was still a wonder how she had grown. He remembered so clearly when she was so fragile, hidden in his arms as they’d trembled in silence. They were cheering now.
"Scorpius misses you too. But you’ll be back home for Yule soon enough, and you’ll have all kinds of adventures to tell us about."
"I found a secret passageway!" Delphi told them, with the innocent excitement of a child whose only concerns were Quidditch and exploring the castle with her friends. "But I’ll tell you later – are you staying for dinner? Will you eat with me? I know you’re allowed at the High Table, but I’d like it if you were with me."
"Of course we are going to eat with you," Harry agreed, and Delphi gave Scorpius back to Draco and grabbed Harry’s hand, and pulled them over to where a cluster of students were waiting. Draco saw them whisper. He knew Harry hated the fame at times, but he loved the fact that Delphi was known as Harry Malfoy’s daughter, rather than any other story that could be told about her birth. Her friends were all cheering and hugging her, and no one cared where she’d started out her life. He wished that somehow he could reassure his younger self it was going to be alright.
His daughter was a Gryffindor, his husband and son were beside him, and all was well.