Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

For The Sake Of A Name	By : Bickymonster Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female Views: 52498 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any concepts or characters associated with it. I am not making any money from this this story.

Chapter List
- 30
- 31
- 32
AN: I present to you all, chapter 31. Writing still going moderately well, at least for this story. Chapter 32 is finished too and chapter 33 has be started, even if only a little bit.
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Enjoy.
Thank you to AchillesTheGeek for all their help and guidance.
Warnings and disclaimers apply as always

Previously:
Draco nodded; she took a deep breath to calm herself. "Be back in time for dinner," she told him, before turning and hurrying upstairs; she really needed to check on Orion and cuddle with Harry for a bit.
Remus managed a small smile as he stood in the hallway, glad he hadn't completely undone all the progress the two of them had made; that Draco at least seemed to have understood his reasoning and was going to forgive him, if she hadn't already.
Opening the front door and heading out on to the quiet London street, he was thankful it was nice weather for a walk and decided it would do him good to build up an appetite by taking a stroll anyway.
-#-
Draco mentioned nothing of the conversation she and Remus had had, regarding Orion's name, and Remus, wisely, followed her lead; there was no need for Harry or Sirius to also get upset about his misunderstanding. There must have been some residual tension between them though, because a few days later he overheard Harry quietly ask Draco what had happened between them; it had been a tense few seconds until Draco had assured him that it was nothing.
Remus felt like he was walking on eggshells, waiting for Draco to speak out against him and have him thrown out of the house he was coming to think of as home, away from the people he was starting to think of as family; but over a week later, things were much as they ever were and Remus started to relax. Draco still wasn't as comfortable handing Orion to him as she was with giving the baby to Harry or Sirius, but he thought that was understandable and found that it just made him cherish the occasional cuddles he was permitted.
They wanted to avoid exposing Orion to the public and as such Harry and Draco chose to stay home as much as possible; but fortunately their friends, understanding this, made sure to visit them. Blaise had shown up for lunch several times, mostly to avoid one of his mother's arguments about Harry and Draco. Sirius had offered him a room to stay in, but Blaise had suggested that their helping him effectively run away from home was not the way to go about getting her on side. Ron had come over once, with the twins, and they had all spent a lovely day in the garden; it turned out Fred was a natural with Orion and delighted in being taught how to care for the tiny boy.
Mid-August two very familiar looking letters arrived, one for Draco and the other for Harry; they presumably contained the usual information about the upcoming Hogwarts school year and their booklists, but far more crucially they contained their OWL results.
"I can't believe I actually managed to forget these were coming," Draco said, as she sat in the kitchen staring at the unopened letter.
"It is easier to read if you open it," Sirius said, helping himself to another helping of bacon.
Draco glared at him for a moment for that. "Maybe Harry should open his first," she suggested quietly.
"I am sure you did great, Love," Harry insisted, "but I will go first if it will make you feel better," he agreed, handing Orion to Remus and picking up his own letter.
He didn't hesitate as he pulled it open and set aside several pages, including the covering letter and booklist, until he found the page he was looking for. Harry stubbornly ignored the churning sensation in his stomach; he knew he had done well, Draco and Hermione had made sure of that with their obsessive study habits.
Harry read down the list his grin widening, he had passed everything except for Divination, and that was not something he was going to lose sleep over.
"Well..." Draco demanded impatiently.
"Two Outstandings, five Exceeds Expectations, one Acceptable," he told them proudly, sliding the sheet of parchment across the table so that Draco could read it herself:
Astronomy (E)
Care of Magical Creatures (E)
Charms (E)
Defence Against the Dark Arts (O)
Divination (P)
Herbology (O)
History of Magic (A)
Potions (E)
Transfiguration (E)
"What happened to Divination?" Draco asked in a horrified voice, as though the idea of failing an exam was beyond her comprehension.
Harry however just shrugged dismissively. "Your turn," he prompted, taking his page of grades back and handing it over to Sirius.
"I am sure you did great, Draco," Remus told her as he rocked a half asleep Orion in his arms, "you were always right at the top of my classes and I remember Professor Snape speaking most highly of you."
Draco gave him a grateful smile for his efforts. "I wasn't pregnant when I was studying back then, nor did I have a few week old baby when I sat any of those tests," she pointed out.
"You won't know unless you look," Sirius told her.
"You open it," Draco said suddenly, passing the letter to Harry.
He did so and, like with his own, sorted through the additional pages until he found the one they were looking for. He grinned and had to make a great effort not to laugh; she had really been worrying over nothing.
"Not a single grade under an Exceeds Expectations," he told her, practically radiating pride.
"Let me see," she said excitedly, snatching the parchment from his hand and scanning it:
Ancient Runes (O)
Arithmancy (O)
Astronomy (E)
Care of Magical Creatures (E)
Charms (O)
Defence Against the Dark Arts (E)
Herbology (O)
History of Magic (O)
Potions (O)
Transfiguration (O)
"Bit disappointed with Astronomy and Defence," she admitted.
Harry rolled his eyes, "You did incredibly; just like we all knew you would," he told her.
"This we need to celebrate," Sirius insisted, practically jumping up from his seat and vanishing out of the kitchen.
"Why do I suddenly have the feeling it is best not to ask?" Harry queried.
Remus scoffed, "because you have great instincts."
-#-
As it happened Sirius' idea of celebrating involved some very old and dusty bottles of wine that he hinted he might have stolen from his parents in his youth and hidden rather well. The man looked rather defeated when Draco pointed out she wouldn't drink while she was still breastfeeding and even more so when Remus pointed out that the two of them were still only sixteen, and under Sirius' care, and as such shouldn't be encouraged to indulge in such things.
Harry had placated his godfather somewhat with promises that their NEWT celebration would be an event to remember and Sirius had promised to preserve the wine collection until then.
Letters arrived during the day to tell them their friends' grades and it was little surprise to any of them that Hermione's arrived first; telling them about her straight Outstandings, with the exception of Defence Against the Dark Arts, where she got an Exceeds Expectations.
Draco had sulked, that Hermione had done better than her, for the ten minutes it took Harry to write a reply with their own grades; until Harry reminded her that Hermione hadn't been pregnant for most of the school year. Draco seemed appeased by that and insisted that she would just have to prove who was smarter when they sat their NEWTs.
Draco was undoubtedly pleased that she had done better than Blaise, who got Exceeds Expectations in everything apart from Acceptable in History of Magic and Outstandings in both Charms and Transfiguration; and she took great joy in writing the letter back with her grades; so much so that she almost forgot to include Harry's at all.
Though Ron had done worse than the rest of them, he still only failed Divination and History of Magic, getting a Poor in both; receiving an Acceptable in Astronomy and Exceeds Expectations in the rest. Draco had make a couple of jokes about him not having gotten a single Outstanding but Harry was just pleased that his best friend's letter seemed to imply that the redhead was delighted with those results; and that was enough in Harry's book and he, as they had for Hermione and Blaise, wrote a response with their own results.
Despite the rejection of Sirius’s initial celebration suggestion they settled for a nice family dinner and Draco even instructed Kreacher to use the fine dinner service, which Harry had silently thought pretentious but was happy to go along with because it seemed to make the petite blonde happy. Sirius however scowled at his plate when they sat down to eat and they could only assume he was associating it with his childhood.
"We are just going to have to make happy memories to replace the ones that put looks like that on your face," Harry told his godfather.
Sirius managed to smile at that and raised his glass for a toast.
"To making new memories," he said loudly.
"To new memories," the others chorused, as dishes of beautiful and aromatic food appeared on the table.
"And to great results, despite difficult circumstances," Remus added.
"Hear, hear!" Sirius agreed, downing half his drink.
Harry just managed to hold back a laugh as he caught sight of Draco rolling her eyes in his peripheral vision; she wasn't likely to get the formal dinners she had grown up with with Sirius as family, but she didn't look particularly upset by this.
-#-
When there was only a week left of the summer holidays, they knew that they could avoid it no longer and they had to make sure they were ready to return to the school; so it was decided that they would all brave heading out into public and visit Diagon Alley for the various supplies and books they needed.
Sirius had suggested that perhaps he could go alone, or even just take Harry, but Draco had shot that idea down quickly; she missed the shopping street that she had been visiting for more or less her whole life and while she was nervous about being so exposed with Orion, she was also aware that it would have to happen sooner or later. Remus however was obviously on edge about the whole thing and the day before the planned trip Sirius pulled him to one side after dinner and finally asked him what the problem was.
"I just don't think it is a good idea," Remus told him.
"Oh, it will be fine; no-one is going to try anything in such a public place," Sirius said dismissively.
"That's not what I meant," Remus explained, "I don't think it is a good idea for me to be seen with you; not with Orion's guardianship in question. Surely being seen to be letting a werewolf hang around is not going to do them any favours," he said sadly.
Sirius opened his mouth several times to argue back, but he knew that his old friend was right; they would have to face Diagon Alley and the public without him. It was a strange prospect when they had grown so used to him being around.
-#-
The morning of their planned trip was both nerve wracking and exciting, and they were keen to get to the shopping street before the crowds truly started to gather like they were bound to do, particularly so close to the start of term.
"No, strap him to you," Draco insisted, when Harry went to put Orion's carrier on her.
"Are you sure?" Harry asked, "I thought you would want him with you."
"I want him safe," Draco said firmly, pushing the carrier against Harry's chest, determination flashing in her eyes. "People are less likely to give you trouble than me; I need to know he is safe."
"Draco..." Harry said in a slow deep voice.
"Harry, I really don't need to hear your assurances right now; nor do I need you to tell me how you need your hands free to be able protect me," she said with a knowing smirk. "I need you to protect Orion."
Harry looked hesitant; Draco was right about him wanting to be able to easily protect her, which would be more difficult with their son strapped to his chest. She could protect herself though; he would still be able to cast spells if really needed; and Sirius would be there too.
He nodded. "Okay, if it will make you feel better, Love," he agreed.
"Thank you," she said, sounding truly grateful and going up on her toes to place a chaste kiss on his lips.
"You ready for this freshly cleaned up young man then?" Sirius asked as he came downstairs with Orion.
"Almost," Harry told his godfather, as Draco helped loop all the straps around him and double checked them to make sure they were correctly fitted.
"Ready," Draco said surely, stepping back so that Sirius could ease the little boy into the carrier.
"Very cute," Remus said from the nearby doorway, "I imagine you will have a following of swooning fan girls all day."
Harry turned and looked at him with a rather baffled expression.
"On second thought, maybe I SHOULD carry him," Draco mumbled and Harry noticed that she was scowling.
He chuckled. "Silly wife," he teased with a grin, chucking her under her chin, "don't you know that they don't stand a chance; I am all yours."
"Stupid prat of a husband," she said, batting away his hand, "I know that, but don't you know that I still hate other people ogling you?" she retorted, making Sirius snort with amusement.
"Come on, you two, let's get into town," Sirius suggested quickly, before they could get into it. "I would rather not have to deal with the afternoon crowds if we can avoid it." Nor you two having a marital spat in the hallway, he thought to himself.
They nodded in consent, and Draco handed Harry a small blanket to hold loosely over Orion, which would keep the soot from the Floo travel off his face and our of his lungs. Sirius stepped up to the fireplace first, as planned, so that he could make sure they weren't going to encounter any problems at the other end and threw in the powder, turning the flames green, and stepped in.
"Diagon Alley," he called out, vanishing.
"I'll go next," Draco told Harry, placing a hand on his arm when he went to step forward, "I will catch you at the other end," she said cheekily with a wink as she threw the floo powder and then quickly stepped into the flames. "Diagon Alley," she said clearly, following Sirius through the floo.
Harry shook his head as he laughed at her; it was nice seeing her so happy and he wasn't looking forward to the inevitable masks she would wear while in public, especially if people started to give them trouble.
"Stay safe," Remus said quietly from the other side of the room.
Harry turned to look over his shoulder at him with a smile. Harry was half surprised to notice that he genuinely wished that the Remus was able to come with them; that he wanted the world to know that this man was family to them now.
"We will," Harry promised, throwing the floo powder and following after his godfather and wife.
-#-
Sirius was waiting next to the fireplace in The Leaky Cauldron when Draco stepped through; a few people were glancing in their direction but no-one was making a scene, which was about as good as they could hope for.
It was only a few seconds before Harry and Orion appeared; Draco had been joking about catching him, but she and Sirius grabbed him by his arms when he looked rather unsteady the moment he stepped out of the fireplace.
"Thanks," Harry said with clear relief, once he was steady on his feet again.
"Well I prefer my son not getting squashed under his clumsy father," Draco told him in a hushed voice and with a roll of her eyes, as she removed the protective blanket from a still sleeping Orion.
"Me too, Love; me too," Harry agreed, carding his fingers through Orion's, now brown, hair affectionately.
In truth Harry was sure he would have been more than capable of catching himself well before any harm came to Orion, but that did nothing to dull his gratitude for the assistance.
"Gringott's?" Sirius suggested happily and the Potters followed his lead as he headed out of the pub into the courtyard; pointedly ignoring the increased number of heads that were turning their way since Harry had stepped through with a baby obviously strapped to his chest.
Sirius took the honour of tapping the bricks to open the archway and as the street revealed itself before them, they just watched with wide smiles on their faces as the busy morning shoppers milled about.
"And isn't that a sight for sore eyes," Draco said in barely more than a whisper.
"You can say that again," Harry agreed.
"Well we could stand here all day admiring the view, or shall we actually do some shopping?" Sirius asked; though if he was honest with himself, he was enjoying the sight of witches and wizards going about their day-to-day business, as much as they were. Their summer had been lovely, but they had been so disconnected from the rest of the wizarding world.
"Gringott's first you said, yes?" Harry prompted; one hand gently resting against the back of Orion's head and offering the other to Draco, who took it and linked their fingers together.
"Well unless you have some other plan for how we are going to pay for things," Sirius teased with a playful grin.
With that they headed forward into the crowds, wondering how long it would be until a journalist or a nosey member of the public would appear with their intrusive questions.
-#-
Gringott's was quiet and they got money easily; though Draco seemed pretty down about having to use money from the Potter vaults.
"You ARE a Potter," Sirius pointed out with a whisper in her ear, but that didn't seem to help much.
Harry decided he was going to nip that attitude in the bud though and took a firm grip on her arms to make sure she was looking him in the eyes; though their sleeping son between them made the whole thing somewhat less intense.
"Do I need to remind you of the bit of our wedding vows where I promised you everything that was mine?" he asked her.
Draco frowned; she remembered well enough but it still hurt that she had to rely on Harry for everything.
"Stop that!" he told her firmly; he could practically see the thoughts ticking over in her head. "The contents of the Potter vault are every bit yours, as much as they are mine." He waited, and watched her, trying to see if the message was hitting home.
"It just stings not being able to get things for myself," she told him.
"That is my point, Draco," Harry tried to explain, "you CAN! This money," he said, placing a bag of galleons in her hand, "and the rest of the contents of the vault ARE yours, you CAN use it to buy yourself things."
Draco looked down at the weight in her hand; she didn't doubt Harry was genuine, but it was taking some getting her head around. It all still felt like Harry's money; she needed to learn to think about it as Potter money; she was entitled to it, Orion was entitled to it. They were family; this was their family’s money.
She looked up slowly, a small smile on her lips; it widened with a twitch at the corner of her mouth at the deadly serious expression her husband was wearing. She really loved the twit; he was a hopeless, reckless sap but he was hers and, Merlin help her, she really loved him.
"You get it now?" he asked, and she could hear the tone of amusement lurking in his voice.
She rolled her eyes, and glanced down at the money bag again; it was a good question. Money had always been a weapon, or a tool, when she was growing up; the Malfoys were powerful because of their name and their money and Draco had been raised knowing she would be powerful because she would inherit both.
Harry though... Harry saw it differently, to him the money was no weapon; he didn't want anything for it, he just wanted to share his life with her, he wanted to share EVERYTHING with her and all he wanted in return was something she had already given him without even meaning to; he just wanted her to love him.
Maybe she did get it; she thought she did anyway and so she was smiling when she looked up at him. "I love you, you know," she told him, in hushed tones; glad they were still hidden in the depths of the bank.
The glare of the impatient goblin felt like it was slowly going to burn its way through the back of her head and the sensation was somewhat spoiling the moment; so resolving to show Harry how much she loved him later, she suggested that they move things along as they did still have things to purchase.
-#-
They made quick work of the apothecary, where Harry left the selection of the potion ingredients they would need to his wife; she was far more knowledgeable about such things after all. They didn't spend much longer in Scribbulus Writing Instruments; after all their years at Hogwarts it was not difficult to select the stationery that they would need for the upcoming year.
They had, of course, to visit Flourish and Blotts to purchase the required books for the classes they would be taking; Harry thought he recognised a couple of the other customers as Hogwarts students but the shop was thankfully on the quiet side.
"I'm going to see if I can find the book I need for Ancient Runes," Draco told Harry; squeezing his hand before heading in the direction of the back of the shop.
Sirius put a hand on Harry's arm, "I'll go keep an eye on her," he promised.
Harry nodded gratefully, "Maybe the two of you can find where they keep the copies of Advanced Potion Making, while you're at it," he suggested.
Sirius gave him a nod and followed Draco into the darker parts of the shop, where shelves of books towered all around them; likely held in place by magical spells of some kind, for surely gravity would have not permitted such precarious balance for long.
"Malfoys make pretty girls, it seems; I am sure you agree, Mr Potter."
Harry turned and took in the woman who had come to stand next to him. She appeared to be middle aged, in her forties if Harry was to guess, and had stiff blonde curls that sat strangely still on her head. Her spectacles sparkled tackily due to the embedded rhinestones and her makeup was thickly painted on; her face and hands rather masculine in comparison to her overly feminine voice and clothing. Harry's overall impression was that she looked rather fake and he was already not a fan.
"Can I help you with something?" he asked snappishly, instinctively hiding Orion from view behind his hand.
"I was just hoping we could have a chat, Mr Potter," she simpered, flickering her eyelashes in a way he was sure was supposed to be attractive, even if it failed spectacularly.
"And you are...?" he demanded, taking a couple of steps away from the woman who was far too much into his personal space already; he wouldn't have liked her so close even if he hadn't been holding Orion.
"Oh how rude of me," she said, letting out a high pitched giggle, "Rita Skeeter, it is a Pleasure to meet you."
Harry could hear the capitalisation of the word as she dragged it out, and it made him want to get as far away from her as he could. Rita Skeeter... Harry thought to himself, the name was familiar and not in a way that was going to endear the woman to him anymore than she was doing already.
Oh right... he remembered now, an ugly sneer forming on his face; this was the reporter who had written that sickening article about Draco, just after the accident. He wondered half-heartedly, for a moment, if he should thank the bitch; after all the article was the reason he had felt so bad for Draco, was the reason he had followed her out of the dining hall all that time ago. Perhaps they wouldn't be where they were now without the terrible things Skeeter had written in that paper; Harry, however, suspected they would have found their way eventually anyway and maybe they could have done it without the hurt that day had brought his now wife.
"Daily Prophet...?" he asked with a tone of disgust that made it clear exactly how he felt about that.
"Oh you say that like it's a bad thing," she said with another sickening giggle.
"It is," Draco said, having apparently returned with Sirius and a small pile of books.
"You're not welcome here," Sirius snarled, "leave us be."
"You forget yourself, Mr Black; surely you are aware that this is an open shop we are in," Rita pointed out, her fake smile showing off several gold teeth, "I have as much right to be here as you do; unless the lovely owner tells me otherwise."
"Fair enough, but that doesn't mean we have to talk to you, nor put up with your company," Draco said calmly, face expressionless and Harry was impressed by the strength she radiated despite her petite size; of course he knew better than most what a fireball his wife could be when riled up.
"I suppose that is true, Mrs Potter, but I simply hoped to ask you a couple of questions," Rita said.
"No," Draco said simply, heading for the till to pay for their books.
"Or maybe a glimpse or even a picture of your little one..." the reporter tried again.
"Definitely not!" Draco said, a flicker of anger breaking through.
Harry turned his back to Rita Skeeter and stepped between the reporter and his wife, making sure Orion was completely protected behind his body.
"We should leave," he whispered to Draco, who nodded.
"Go," Sirius told them, "I know what else to get."
The Potters looked unsure, they didn't want to leave him with the vulture of a woman; she could, after all, do as much harm to Sirius as she could to them. He was still an ex-prisoner from Azkaban and though his innocence had been proven there were those of the public who doubted it and it wouldn't take much to cause him problems.
"Go!" he insisted and the determination in his eyes was what persuaded them, "I will not be long," he promised.
And so it was that Harry and Draco made their way hurriedly back through the archway, back into the Leaky Cauldron and back to Grimmauld Place.

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Please do take a moment to review and give me your thoughts, it would mean the world to me. (As always I will happily respond to any and all review posted when I post the next chapter, like I have below)
Review responses:
Delia Cerrano - That is exactly it, they want to make it work but it is going to take a while. A lot of Ginny's anger and resentment is to do with Draco having been a Malfoy; which is the family behind what happened to her in her first year and is a family she has heard things about her whole life; add to that her Harry obsession and her belief that he would be hers... and yeah. A very jealous and irrational Ginny.
Luminari_Lilium - I am loving how different people's opinions of Draco's reaction have been. She did over react, I agree, but I think it also makes sense as to why she did. I do agree that she was out of order trying to kick him out of the house.
Gruffard - Like I said to Luminari, I am loving the debate this has started. There were definitely reasons for her reaction, she stills feel vulnerable and saw it as an attack on her; this isn't the end of the issue though. ;) They are getting to the end of the summer yes, and so they will be back off to school soon, just a few things to happen first.
ChaosLady - Thank you. I have really loved writing these last few chapters.
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For The Sake Of A Name