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Self-fulfilling Prophecy	By : Sasunarufan13 Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 6342 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter nor make any profit of it. J.K. Rowling owns it

Chapter List
- 11
- 12
- 13
Author's note: Only one more chapter to go after this one, guys. In the next one, I'll give you more information regarding the epilogue and two side stories :)
Warnings: more drama; fighting; some time skips; I think those are the most important warnings
I hope you'll like this one!
Chapter 12: Hanging on a Thread
Emerald green eyes gazed at them calmly. "Molly," Dad greeted calmly. "Can't say I ever expected you to try to connect to Malfoy Manor."
"I must admit I didn't expect you to be the one to agree to the connection," Grandmother replied and blinked surprised. "Considering the head of the household is usually the one who allows the connection."
Dad let out something that was short of a real sigh. "I was keyed into the wards a while ago," he told her. "I felt someone trying to connect and because he's still arguing with his ex-wife, he told me I had to deal with the Floo."
She frowned. "Are you sure he won't mind the connection between our homes?" she asked warily.
"It's not like you have any malicious intentions," Dad said dryly. "I'm pretty sure he won't mind. I assume there's a reason why you suddenly tried to connect?"
"Ah yes, Albus received a letter from his friend. The poor boy is rather upset because of his parents' argument and Albus wanted to talk to him to calm him down," she explained, gesturing at Albus, who took a step closer.
"Scorpius says he can hear his parents fighting and he sounded really upset in his letter, dad," he explained and bit his lower lip, fidgeting with a loose thread of his shirt.
"Damn it," Dad sighed and looked aggravated. "I told them to quiet down before Scorpius would hear them!" Determination flashed up in his eyes. "Wait a moment, Al. I'm going to discuss something with Draco. I'll be back in a bit, so don't close down the Floo."
Before either one of them could open their mouth, dad disappeared from the fire.
"What kind of discussion is dad talking about?" James questioned, cocking his head to the left.
"Not sure, James," Grandmother admitted, but she threw a speculative look at the fire, making Albus wonder whether she did have some sort of clue as to what dad's discussion with Uncle Draco would be about. When she caught him looking, she smiled at him reassuringly. "But I'm sure it'll be fine."
All three turned their heads when grandfather appeared in the doorway. "Did you manage to get through?" he inquired curiously; his eyes flicking over to the green flames.
"Yes, Arthur," Grandmother replied and she threw him an odd look when she continued, "Harry agreed to the connection."
Grandfather blinked, looking taken aback. "Malfoy keyed him into the wards then?"
"Apparently."
Albus furrowed his eyebrows. "What's so weird about dad being keyed into the wards?"
"Well, that's - "
"All right, I have a suggestion," Dad announced, appearing in the Floo again.
"What kind of suggestion, dear?" Grandmother asked, turning back to the fireplace.
"Would it be okay with you two if Scorpius stays with you today?" Dad asked. "Just until I'm back to pick up James and Albus. It'll give Miss Greengrass the chance to calm down as well."
Grandmother hesitated. "Well …"
"Please, grandma?" Albus asked pleadingly. "We'll be good, I promise!"
"Yeah, we won't fight," James added.
Grandmother chuckled amused. "That would be a first." She sobered up and bit her lip, tapping her wand against her thigh. "I don't know … Is Malfoy really okay with this? Does he trust us with his son?"
"He trusts me," Dad replied simply; the flames casting odd shadows across his face. He didn't add anything else as if that answer was a good reason on its own.
"Please, grandma?" Albus repeated, a bit desperate. Having Scorpius come over would be even better than talking to him through the Floo. Distracting him from his parents' argument would be a lot easier if they could talk personally.
"What do you think, Arthur?" Grandmother sighed, looking back at her husband.
The older man shrugged. "I have no problem with looking after Scorpius. I don't have to be at the office today."
Grandmother pursed her lips and looked thoughtfully before she inclined her head and smiled faintly. "Send him through, Harry. We'll look after him."
"Great," Dad smiled. "I promise you he'll behave."
"We raised seven children, dear. I doubt he'll be worse than George and Fred were," Grandmother chuckled and stood up, brushing off some soot of her skirt.
Dad laughed. "True. Okay, I'll send him through now." He threw James and Albus a warning look. "You two behave as well, okay?"
"We always behave ourselves, dad," James complained with a pout.
Dad snorted and shook his head before he disappeared out of the fireplace again. Not even a minute later, the fire spat out Scorpius, who was clenching a backpack in his hands as he looked around nervously; his pale cheeks splotched red.
Grandmother stood up, giving Scorpius a reassuring smile. "Hello, dear. I'm Molly Weasley, James' and Albus' grandmother. You can call me grandmother too if you'd like."
"Good morning," Scorpius greeted shyly; his eyes flicked up for a moment before they returned to their study of the couch.
"What do you have in your backpack?" James inquired curiously.
"My homework and a book," Scorpius replied; his grip on his backpack slightly relaxing now that he was talking to someone familiar.
"We can work on our homework later," Albus said, stepping forwards. "We have cards here – we can play Exploding Snap. Do you want to play?"
A tentative smile grew on the blond boy's face. "Yeah, I want to play Exploding Snap."
He still didn't look completely all right, but it was a start. Albus and James would just have to make sure that they could distract their friend completely.
They were heavily involved in a game of chess – Scorpius playing against James – when the sound of the front door opening and shutting close reached Albus' ears. Footsteps approached and entered the kitchen.
"I thought I could find you here, mum," Uncle George chuckled.
"George! It's so good to see you!" Grandmother greeted enthusiastically. "It's been a while!"
"Nearly a week and a half," Uncle George admitted and there was the creaking sound of a chair when he sat down. "Shop's been keeping me busy. I'm thinking of hiring someone to help me out."
"You should," Grandmother advised him and a mug was set down on the counter. "You look a bit tired, George. You really need to rest more."
"I know, I know," he muttered sheepishly and sighed. "But there's no rest for the wicked, right?"
"I really don't understand why you all just can't rest on time," Grandmother sighed, sounding disapprovingly.
"Where's dad?" Uncle George asked, deflecting the comment.
"Upstairs, reading a letter he got from one of his colleagues."
"So he decided to stay - "
"Are you sure that move is allowed?" James demanded, narrowing his eyes at the chessboard.
"Of course it is. Father taught me that one," Scorpius replied, grinning.
"Who else is here besides my nephews?" Uncle George asked surprised.
"Their friend, Scorpius."
"Scorpius, Scorpius, Scorpius," Uncle George mumbled, clearly trying to remember where he had heard that name before. "Wait, Malfoy's kid?!"
Albus winced and tensed up, shooting a quick glance at his brother. James flicked his eyes at him before he casually ordered his bishop to take one of Scorpius' pawns. The blond boy seemed to ignore everything that wasn't the game at the moment, which Albus supposed was a good thing. He wasn't sure how Scorpius would react to Uncle George's unbelieving tone.
"Yes," Grandmother replied calmly. "Harry brought him here a few hours ago while he's working on a case with Scorpius' father."
"Huh." Uncle George was silent for a while, until he suddenly snorted harshly. "Ginny doesn't know about this, does she?"
"No, she doesn't. She had already left for training when Harry brought Scorpius here."
The older man hummed, sounding vaguely amused. "Well, he better hopes he's here before she is then. Otherwise it won't be a pretty sight."
"Ginny has been talking to you about it?" Grandmother sounded careful, a bit weary as well.
"She has shown up once or twice in my flat to rant, yes," Uncle George answered dryly. "She seems to have a bit of … trouble, accepting Harry's partner. Not that I can really blame her, considering what happened, but all the same, it's becoming ridiculous."
"I'm sure they'll work it out," Grandmother said confidently.
Uncle George hummed, but he didn't sound really convinced.
Albus wasn't sure what to think about the conversation he had just heard. He realised it hadn't been nice of him to eavesdrop on the conversation between his uncle and grandmother, but it had been kind of difficult to ignore the talking going on right behind him as he sat on the couch, waiting for his turn to play chess.
Did his mum go to Uncle George every time she had disappeared after an argument with dad? Or did she go to other people as well? If so, how many people knew that she fought with dad about Uncle Draco?
He couldn't lay a finger on why it bothered him so much to hear that mum went to complain to other people about dad, but the heavy feeling in his belly refused to go away.
"Do you want to play now, Albus?" Scorpius broke through his thoughts, looking at him expectantly; his eyes glimmering with mischievousness. "James wants to stop, because he's losing," he crowed.
"I'm not losing," James said snippily, rising from his seat on the ground. "I'm just not interested anymore."
"Uhuh," Scorpius uttered sceptically, but he was still smiling widely.
A large contrast to how he had been a few hours back when he had just arrived.
"So, are you going to play now?" James prodded him as he plopped down on the couch, swinging his legs idly back and forth.
The younger boy forced himself to smile and took James' place in front of the chessboard. Maybe a game of chess would keep his mind off his uncle's conversation with grandmother.
It was worth a try at least.
Dad Floo'd into the Burrow ten past three, looking slightly tense. Uncle George had left right after lunch, having entertained the boys – even Scorpius – with some of the new pranks he had been developing and adjusting the past two months. Scorpius had been shy around him, but Uncle George seemingly hadn't cared, enthusiastically explaining the modifications he had done to a particular type of candy (grandmother had refused to let them try it out).
"Dad!" Albus greeted the older man with a smile, hastening towards him for a hug.
"Hey there, Al, James, Scorpius," Dad chuckled, squeezing Albus' neck affectionately before brushing a hand over James' hair and accepting Scorpius' hug. "Did you behave?"
"They were like angels," Grandfather laughed, stepping inside the room. "They spent the last two hours doing homework, actually."
Dad looked surprised, before he smiled proudly. "That's good that you already spent some time doing homework."
Both James and Albus couldn't resist preening at the praise. Their parents had always urged them to finish their homework as soon as possible so that they would have the rest of the time to play, but playing was always more fun than doing homework.
Dark green eyes shifted to Scorpius, who straightened up a bit underneath the gaze.
"Let's get you back home, okay, Scorpius? Your dad's waiting for you."
Scorpius stiffened visibly, worrying his lower lip between his teeth. "Mother?" he asked apprehensively.
Dad sighed, raking a hand through his hair. "She went back to her house. She said she'll be picking you up at the usual time."
"So I'm staying with father this weekend?" Scorpius inquired hopefully, relaxing again now that he didn't have to leave with his mother immediately.
"Yes, you're staying with your dad for the rest of the weekend," Dad reassured him and offered his hand. "Do you have everything with you? Your dad is becoming a bit impatient." The corners of his mouth twitched as a hint of amusement danced in his eyes.
"Yes, I have everything," Scorpius replied and then dropped his backpack in order to hug Albus. "I'll see you next time, okay, Albus?"
"Definitely," Albus smiled, returning the hug.
Scorpius turned to James with a mischievous grin. "Are we going to finish that game of chess next time?"
"If I don't get bored with it," James retorted and stuck out his tongue.
Scorpius laughed and picked up his bag again, practically skipping towards dad. "Okay, I'm ready," he chirped and waved at grandmother and grandfather. "Thanks for letting me stay here!"
"It wasn't a problem, dear," Grandmother reassured him with a sweet smile.
"All right, let's go before your dad has a fit," Dad muttered dryly, but before he could take some Floo powder, the flames in the hearth flared up green, spitting out –
"Mum!" Albus said surprised and stiffened. Mum wasn't supposed to be here yet – didn't she have training until four? It wasn't even three thirty yet!
"Training ended early for me, so I thought I would come pick you – oh," Mum cut herself off abruptly when her eyes fell on Scorpius, who froze underneath her stare.
Meekly he waved at her, stepping closer to dad. "Hello, Mrs. Potter," he said nervously.
Mum blinked and ignoring Scorpius, asked dad, "What is he do - "
"I'll be right back," Dad interrupted her brusquely, guiding Scorpius to the fireplace. "Scorpius has to go home."
Without giving mum a chance to say something – and judging by the pinched look on her face, she had wanted to say something – dad took a pinch of Floo powder, threw it into the flames and said firmly, "Malfoy Manor!"
The flames had barely turned red again before mum whirled around, scowling at grandmother. "You let him stay here?" she hissed, putting her hands on her hips. "You even connected the Floo with them?!"
James and Albus shared a look; dread started to fill Albus' stomach and he feebly hoped that there wouldn't be yet another argument between their parents. Why couldn't mum just accept Uncle Draco and Scorpius already? It had been months – would she ever give in?
Grandmother clucked her tongue; a hint of disapproval ringing through her voice as she replied, "His parents were arguing and he was upset, Ginny. There was no harm done in him coming over for a few hours. The boys behaved themselves perfectly."
"It's not our problem if his parents argue," Mum retorted snippily, narrowing her eyes slightly. "Whose idea was it to have him come over?"
"Harry suggested it and we agreed," Grandfather answered calmly.
"Of course he did." A bitter chuckle escaped her and she beckoned James and Albus to follow her. "Come on, James, Al; we're going home."
"But dad isn't here yet," James pointed out bemused, cocking his head to the right.
"Your father knows where we are," Mum said flatly and practically herded them to the fireplace.
Albus caught the odd look being shared between his grandparents before the green flames took them away to their own home.
James and Albus were quietly working on a jigsaw puzzle in Albus' room when they heard the Floo downstairs activating. They paused at the exact same moment and stared at each other before they both turned to look at the open door. Albus wondered whether it would be a smart idea to go downstairs now. While mum hadn't been angry at them, had even acted like she normally did, Albus just knew that she wasn't about to forget that Scorpius had been at their grandparents' home. How angry she exactly was, Albus didn't know, but he was fairly sure that an argument between his parents was just waiting to happen.
"Took you long enough to drop him off," Mum said stiffly.
The clarity of her voice indicated that she had to be standing right at the stairs, so sneaking out of the room was out of the question now. Albus figured that mum didn't know he had left the door of his bedroom open.
Dad sighed. "I had to talk with Draco a bit more before I could leave." He sounded weary, very tired.
"One does wonder what you could possibly still have left to say to each other after spending hours there today," Mum retorted coldly.
"Are we really going to do this now, Ginny? Again?" Dad said tersely and footsteps approached the kitchen.
Mum's reply was drowned out by the slamming shut of the kitchen door and Albus flinched, his gaze falling back towards the unfinished puzzle. He suddenly didn't feel like playing anymore.
Judging by the look on James' face, he shared that particular sentiment.
The argument about Scorpius' presence brought change with it – and not the good kind. It seemed that seeing the blond boy at her parents' house had triggered something in their mum. Ever since that faithful Saturday afternoon she was more snappish towards dad, quicker to argue with him if he returned even a minute later from work.
Dad himself started to spend longer days at work, both because of new cases and to help Uncle Draco clear his name. Whenever either James or Albus inquired how the case against Uncle Draco was going, dad would smile reassuringly and tell them that it was going all right.
Dad's longer hours caused yet another bout of friction between their parents; they tried to keep their arguments behind closed doors, but inevitably there were times when either James or Albus walked past and picked up enough to realise that there was yet another fight going on. Not that the few things they did manage to hear when they walked past made any sense.
After yet another evening when dad hadn't come home for dinner, Albus woke up in the middle of the night to hear them arguing in their bedroom. He lay there stiffly in his bed, a thin sheet covering his legs, as shreds of the argument drifted into his room.
"… the hell were you?!"
"At work! Where else would I be?"
"Why don't you tell … You're barely … getting sick and tired of constantly …"
"… even listening to yourself?!"
Albus turned on his side, staring blankly at the wall. It took a long time before he fell asleep again.
On the fifth of June, after yet another week of arguments – though their parents had managed to make up on the twenty-third of May when they celebrated James' birthday; a small reprieve – dad didn't come home at all. Mum went to bed after midnight; Albus knew this because he hadn't gone to sleep yet either, waiting to hear the tell-tale sound of the Floo indicating his dad was home.
The sound never came and eventually sleep caught him.
The next morning he was startled out of his sleep by the banging of the kitchen door.
"Where the hell have you been?!" Mum snapped angrily.
Dad groaned, sounding tired. "Don't shout. Draco and I celebrated his birthday yesterday and we – I fell asleep at his place before I realised it. Sorry."
"You fell asleep?" Mum hissed. "Were you drunk?"
"Maybe a bit," Dad admitted and sighed loudly, sounding aggravated when he continued, "What's the problem? It's not like Ron and I were never once drunk when we celebrated each other's birthday. I've slept over at their place as well and you weren't angry then!"
"You didn't let me know that – "
"Neither did I when I accidentally slept over at Ron's!" Dad interrupted her loudly. "Damn it, Ginny, it was an accident! I didn't mean to fall asleep. I'm sorry, okay."
"And Malfoy didn't think to wake you up?" Mum said snippily.
Dad laughed incredulously. "He drank even more than I did. He was probably asleep quicker than I was."
"Where did you sleep?"
"I told you, I fell asleep at the manor."
"Where, Harry?"
"In a bedroom in the manor," Dad replied impatiently. "For Merlin's sake, what does it matter?"
"Whose bedroom?" Mum's voice was frosty.
Silence reigned loudly until dad suddenly chuckled; an ugly, cold sound that made Albus shiver as he lay there wide eyed.
"Really, Ginny? That's a new low."
"A new low, huh? Then why aren't you answering me?"
"I'm not going to answer a ridiculous question like that. Now lower your voice, before the boys hear you."
Too late for that – at least in Albus' case.
The rest of the argument took place behind the closed door of the kitchen.
The arguments only grew worse to the point where James and Albus desperately looked forwards to the weekends, because that meant that they were either staying at their grandparents' or Aunt Hermione's and Uncle Ron's house and they had a few blessedly argument free hours. During those hours they didn't have to listen to the fierce and sometimes loud fights taking place between mum and dad. They didn't have to hear mum yell at dad or dad shouting back if he was pushed too far by mum.
Sometimes Albus wrote about the fights to Scorpius and while his friend tried to reassure him, tell him that things would be fine eventually, Albus had the nagging feeling that instead of things becoming better, it would only become worse and worse until …
Yes, until what? The eight year old didn't know and that scared him.
Before, their parents at least made up after each fight; now there were just periods of silence before another argument would start.
Albus didn't like to think about it or even admit it, but sometimes he thought it would be better if his parents decided to –
No, that was a bad thing to think about. Staring at the reassuring words of his best friend Albus tried to make himself believe that everything would get better.
They had to, right?
But, on the eleventh of July, everything collapsed for the last time.
AN2: One big mess coming up in the next chapter.
Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me!
Next chapter: A message from Draco causes Ginny to give Harry an ultimatum. The result? One she didn't see coming at all.
See you in the next chapter!
Cuddles
Melissa
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- 13
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Self-fulfilling Prophecy