Severus stood in the archway of the owlery, watching his son and godson standing together. He didn’t want to disturb them in the hope that they would continue to get along. Severus could hear someone else coming up the stairs behind him. When they got closer, Severus held out his hand to stop them. Albus stood next to Severus and saw why Severus halted them.

Both boys were petting Hedwig. Draco heard someone on the steps and turned to see who was there. Seeing his godfather and Grandpa Albus standing there made the tears return. Harry saw that Draco was looking behind him. Hedwig started to softly nip at Draco’s fingers so that he could continue to rub her feathers. She had done that in the beginning, and it calmed Draco from crying and she wanted to do it again.

Since both boys knew that they were standing in the archway, they walked in. Albus stood next to Draco and Severus stood next to Harry.

“I’m sorry, Draco,” Albus said, softly.

Draco didn’t say anything. He just leaned against the man standing next to him, still petting Hedwig.

“Are you ready to come back to your room?” Severus asked.

Harry looked up at his dad then looked over at Draco. Draco looked at Harry. Draco gave a small nod.

“Yeah, dad,” Harry said.

Albus and Severus moved both boys towards the archway to take them back to the school. Hedwig sat on the perch until the wizards got to the archway and flew over to Draco and sat on his shoulder. Harry watched as Draco had a surprised look on his face. Harry smiled and turned and followed his dad down the stairs.

___000___000___000___

The days passed and the mood around the castle changed. It had been a week since Lucius’ passing. The memorial was set for the end of the week. Draco wasn’t talking. Everyone gave him his space. But something changed with Draco. He didn’t want to be alone. He and Harry spent most of their time together. Harry would talk to Draco. He wouldn’t answer back outside of nodding or shaking his head. It didn’t bother Harry that Draco wasn’t talking, even if he didn’t know his mother or James, or even that he never grew up knowing that they loved him, Harry deep down understood what Draco was feeling.

It was the day before the memorial and Harry thought about how much he loved flying and what it did for him, so he invited Draco to the Quidditch field.

“Why are we here?” Draco asked, softly.

Harry didn’t make a big deal that Draco talked. “Sometimes, feeling the air on your face can make you feel better.”

“Really?” Draco asked.

Harry nodded.

Draco walked over to the Slytherin cupboard and pulled out one of the school brooms. Draco had figured that Harry would fly his Nimbus 2000. When Draco turned to head back to the field he was surprised to see Harry standing behind him.

“What are you doing?” Draco asked.

“Getting a broom,” Harry said. “This isn’t a competition. This is just enjoying the air on our faces. No snitch. No score. Just flying.”

Harry sidestepped Draco to get a broom for himself. Draco watched Harry get a broom and leave. Draco couldn’t help the small smile on his face. He followed Harry to the field and saw that Harry was already in the air. Draco got on his broom, kicked his feet and was in the air. It wasn’t cold, it wasn’t hot. It was just right.

“Sometimes, just letting yourself go, can help you feel better,” Harry said, then flew to his own direction.

Draco watched Harry fly. Draco sighed from the lump that was growing in his throat. He was tired of crying, but he couldn’t help it. He missed his father. In public, Lucius Malfoy had a cold persona. He even saw people looking at him with pity thinking that his dad didn’t love him. But that couldn’t be further than the truth. When he wasn’t with his Uncle Severus or his Grandparents, he would have so much fun with his parents. They went on outings that were far from the Ministry’s prying eyes. They could be a loving family without his father’s cold exterior being present. His dad would shower him with love, and it wasn’t just material things that his father gave him.

Draco didn’t realize that he was crying until he felt the wind hit the tear stained streaks on his cheeks. While he flew, he remembered all the fun that he had with his father. He remembered feeling his father’s arms wrapped around him. The kiss on top of his head. Even in horrible pain, his father still held him. They may have thought that Draco didn’t hear, but he heard everything. He heard the matron talk about Lucius’ injuries.

Harry watched Draco fly. He could feel the sadness flowing from Draco. Even if he didn’t know a lot about his father, he did know that Draco loved him. He knew that flying would help most of his feelings to come to the forefront and it would help him deal with those feelings without feeling like he was being choked by them.

Harry lazily flew around. He saw his father walking on to the field. Harry lowered his broom so that he could go to his father.

Severus wondered where his boys were. He walked to the owlery first. When he didn’t see them, he walked over to the ledge and saw two small brooms flying around the Quidditch pitch. The paperwork to adopt Draco had finally came and he wanted to get everything started.

Harry landed and walked over to his dad.

“Hey, dad,” Harry said.

“Whose idea was this?” Severus asked.

“Draco was looking confined. Flying always helped me with my feelings. It helped me, so I thought this would help Draco.” Harry looked up and watch Draco fly in circles or figure 8s.

“Draco,” Severus called out.

Draco let the tears stream without worrying about them. They streamed down his face, dripping off his chin while some steamed down his neck, pooling and soaking the top of his shirt. So many things came across his mind. It got to the point that the only memories were happy ones. Hearing his godfather’s voice brought him out of his musings. He looked down and saw Harry standing next to Uncle Severus. Draco didn’t even notice that Harry stopped flying.

Lowering his broom, he went to them. His family.

Severus watched Draco descend towards them. He saw the tears on the child’s face. His heart broke for him, but he saw the smile on his face. Draco landed. As soon as his feet touched the ground, Draco dropped the broom and ran to his Uncle. Severus caught him, casting a feather weight charm, picking Draco up in his arms.

Harry smiled then went to pick up Draco’s discarded broom and took both to the Slytherin cupboard. When he walked back to the field, he saw that his dad heading to the castle. Harry smiled and followed him.

___000___0000____0000___000

Now that the paperwork was here, he wanted to talk with Draco. Holding the child now, he could feel his shoulders shake while he walked back to the castle.

“Draco,” Severus whispered, rubbing his hand on the boy’s back. “Do you feel up to talking?”

Draco nodded. Severus lowered Draco down to his feet and kneeled in front of him.

“The paperwork has arrived. You know that I can adopt you.”

“What about Harry?” Draco asked.

“What about Harry?” Severus asked.

“Is he going to want me to be apart of this family?” Draco asked thinking about how he acted when he first came to the castle.

“I’ve talked to Harry about this,” Severus said. “He’s excited about it. After all this, you two have gotten closer. Harry knows that. Harry is fine with it. The question is you.”

“I’ll have a baby brother?” Draco asked, quietly.

Severus smiled at that. He knew that Draco had always wished for a brother.

“I don’t know about a baby brother since he’s only a few months younger than you,” Severus chuckled.

“Well, I’m older, so he’ll be my baby brother,” Draco said, sticking out his chest.

“What do you say, Harry?” Severus asked, still looking at Draco. Severus heard Harry walk up behind them.

Draco instantly deflated and looked around Severus and saw Harry standing at the door.

“I think it’ll be cool,” Harry said, smiling.

Draco smiled and stepped away from his godfather. He walked over to Harry and held out his hand like he did the first time they met.

“I’m sorry for everything I did,” Draco said. “We’re going to be brothers. I’ve always wanted a brother. Can we be friends?”

Harry looked down at the extended hand then up at the boy’s face. He smiled.

“Brothers,” Harry said, reaching out to grasp Draco’s hand.

___0000____0000____0000____000

The signing of the adoption papers went great. Afterwards, Draco and Harry were thick as thieves. It didn’t matter that before Severus signed the papers that Draco would only allow Harry to be near him. Now, there was a lightness around the castle.

Now it was the day of the memorial service. It was a sadness around the castle, but it wasn’t as depressing as it was before. Harry and Draco stood in Minerva’s bathroom, fixing their ties. Both boys were in formal robes. Draco’s was midnight black. Harry’s was hunter forest green. Both boys had a silver serpent clasp that closed their robes. Draco’s hair was slicked back like it normally was. It didn’t take much to lay his hair down. People used to think that he put a lot of products in his hair to make it do this, actually he had silky baby soft hair that laid down on its own. Harry didn’t try to fix his hair. Even though some of his features changed to look more like his father because the glamour was leaving, he still had some of James still in him; mainly his hair.  

“Are you ready boys?” Minerva called out from the living room.

“Yes ma’am,” both boys chorused.

They looked at each other in the mirror and then walked out the bathroom. Minerva was waiting for them by the door.

“Are you ready?” Minerva asked as they walked towards her.

“Where’s Uncle Severus?” Draco asked.

“He’s waiting for us by the Entrance hall,” Minerva said, holding out her hand, so the boys could walk out of the room.

The three of them walked down the spiral stairs to the front of the gargoyle that blocked the Headmaster’s entrance. The walk to the Entrance was a quiet on. When they got to the bottom of the stairs, they saw Severus and Grandpa Albus waiting for them. Harry figured that Draco would need his dad more than he did, so he went to Grandpa Albus. Draco walked over to his Uncle Severus, who was now his adoptive father, wanted to show a strong front and hold his head up high showing the world that the Malfoys will always be strong.

Severus saw what his nephew was doing. As much as he loved his brother and was going to miss him, he wanted Draco to be a child while he was and grow up knowing that it was okay to show emotion when something as tragic as this happened. He leaned down and whispered in Draco’s ear. When he stood up, Draco looked up at him with tears in his eyes. Severus looked down at the child and winked at him. Looking over and seeing his son standing next to Albus, held out his arm.

“Come, Harry.”

The small extended family walked out the castle and headed to the apparition point. Severus took both Harry and Draco while Minerva and Albus followed.

___0000____0000___000___000

The walk back to the castle was quiet. Albus was carrying Harry and Severus was carrying Draco. Usually Minerva would say something to the fact that Severus and Albus were spoiling Harry and Draco, but the memorial service was hard for both of them. They all knew that Draco had been putting up a strong front for them for the past two days, but actually going through the memorial service was hard for Draco. He broke down at the grave site. Harry was fine until he saw his parents, well, James and his mom’s grave stones. To Harry, it was one thing to talk about his parents, but it was another to actually touch their graves. It made it too real for Harry.

Severus headed to the dungeons. Albus spoke bringing Severus out of his musing.

“Bring Draco to my rooms,” Albus said. “I want everyone together tonight.”

“Alright,” Severus said, turning walking up the stairs behind his adopted parents.

Once they got to Albus’ quarters, they once again, put Harry and Draco in the same bed. Albus waved his wand over them and transfigured their clothes to pajamas. Severus covered both boys and kissed them on their foreheads. Minerva and Albus walked out of the room. Severus put warding over the boys just in case they needed him during the night.

“Goodnight, my boys,” Severus whispered and he noxed the lights and closed the door to the room.

TBC