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
- 35
- 36
- 37
AN: I present to you all, chapter 36. Thank you all for your patience, I hope the chapter is worth the wait. :D
Please do come and chat with me on facebook. If you would like to be friends with me there, then there is a link on my Profile page.
Enjoy.
Thank you to my brilliant beta, AchillesTheGeek.
Warnings and disclaimers apply as always

Previously:
He was glad of the distraction, in truth; his mind was abuzz with thoughts, as he compared the family Orion had with the family the new Malfoy child would be born into, the family that had raised Draco. He would be the first to admit he was not particularly fond of small children, but it seemed so wrong that two teenaged school children could provide a better family life for a growing child than a wealthy couple in their early forties.
But that was enough of such thoughts. It was always best to have a clear mind when dealing with potions, after all; even it was just bottling. Where were those pesky vials?
-#-
"Do you really think we shouldn't go look for her?" Molly asked anxiously as she drained her second cup of tea.
"Honestly, Molly; Draco will be back soon I'm sure," Sirius told her, seriously debating whether he should make sure that the next cups contained something stronger. "Us fussing over where she is or dragging her back here is hardly conductive to getting her to open up to us," he pointed out.
They were sitting in Harry and Draco's rooms, having found them empty after having bid goodbye to Harry and moved the last couple of things through the floo. Hey had been worried for a few minutes until Sirius had found the note that had been left for him.
'I'll be back soon,' it said in Draco's elegant scrawl. He wished it had said where exactly the young mother was planning on going, but at least he was fairly sure nothing had happened to her. She had at least left the rooms of her own accord and intended to return. He also knew she had Orion with her and that reassured him that Draco wouldn't go anywhere that wasn't safe.
"I have to admit I had my doubts when Harry and Draco moved in with you," Molly told him, "but you have proved yourself a excellent father."
"That is high praise indeed, coming from you," he said with a grin, raising his cup of tea in a toast
They both turned towards the door as it swung open, revealing Draco with her son in her arms. She stepped into the room before seeing them; even though Sirius lived with them, it still made her jump to find them both sat looking at her. She carefully closed the door to give herself time to recover; did she really want to do this?
"Can we talk?" she asked, stepping hesitantly towards where the two adults were sitting.
"Of course," Sirius told her, patting the space on the sofa next to him.
"Would you rather I leave or...?"Molly asked.
"No... Stay... Please," Draco said, taking a seat and handing Orion to Sirius when the older man reached out his arms for him.
Molly gave her a fond smile, “Of course, I will,” she promised, “but how about some tea?”
Draco nodded, “that would be good… thanks.”
Molly got to her feet to go and pour a cup. She didn’t like how downtrodden the blonde looked and thought that Draco definitely didn’t seem quite like the confident person they had seen her become more and more in recent months. Sirius was thinking similar things as he cuddled the infant in his arms against his chest, Orion's ear resting where he would be able to hear the calming sound of his grandfather's heartbeat.
“So why don’t you tell us what’s on your mind, dear?” Molly suggested, as she poured the tea, making herself a fresh cup while she was at it.
Draco honestly wasn’t quite sure where to start; she had had so many thoughts going around in her head since their argument the day before. At least part of her was worried that maybe it was already too late; she was afraid she may have already done irreparable damage to their relationship. Images of Harry’s tear-streaked face, as he begged her to stay, came to mind as she closed her eyes to think.
“Does Harry hate me?” she asked, her eyes still closed, dreading the answer.
“What?” Molly asked, surprised that Draco would ever think such a thing. “Of course not,” she assured her, placing the tea of the coffee table and taking a seat on the teen’s other side.
“Why would you think that?” Sirius asked her. It was heartbreaking to hear her thinking that way, the confidence it had taken her so long to recover evidently shaken by her and Harry’s argument.
“Wouldn’t you, after what I did?” Draco asked them, looking up.
“He is hurt and upset, but he doesn’t hate you,” Molly explained firmly, putting a hand on her arm.
“But I took his son,” Draco said sadly, “how can he forgive me for that?”
“Because he loves you,” Sirius told her, “have you not worked that out yet?”
“Sirius…” Molly said in a warning tone but was pleased to see a mildly amused smile twitch at the corner of Draco’s mouth. “The point here is that Harry needs to know why you left.”
“I would tell him if I knew,” the blonde said in annoyance; weren’t they supposed to be helping her figure that out? “I just know I was angry that… that he didn’t put us first. He said he wants to be normal, like he was ashamed of us,” she said, feeling her temper rising again.
“Oh, Draco, no!” Sirius said firmly, sitting forward carefully, so as not to jar Orion. “Harry has always been treated like the odd one out,” he tried to explain, “with his Aunt and Uncle he was the unwanted child with magic, and in the wizarding world he is the Boy-Who-Lived; his wanting to be normal, and just fit in, is nothing new and definitely not because he is ashamed of you or Orion.”
“And that is more important to him that his family?” Draco demanded. She knew it wasn’t really true, but now that she was starting to understand what Harry had been trying to say the day before, she felt even more guilty about her reaction.
“Nothing is more important to him than you and Orion,” Molly said, and her voice was almost angry.
She understood that Draco and Harry would argue and disagree and while she didn’t like that Draco had left Harry the evening before, she could accept that Draco probably had good reasons for it, even if they hadn’t worked out what they were yet. But she would not listen to suggestions that Draco and Orion didn’t mean everything to Harry.
“I thought you forgave him,” Sirius said with a frown.
“I did!” Draco said, frustrated more with herself than with anyone else.
“Then stop making excuses,” Molly said crossly.
“Molly…!” Sirius exclaimed, surprised that the Weasley matriarch had been so blunt about it.
“No, Draco needs to hear this,” she insisted. “I know that he hurt you and that he should have thought about what would be best for you and Orion before deciding what he wanted, but he knows that too. He has learned his lesson and now you are just using it as an excuse to punish him,” Molly told her.
Sirius was looking on with worry as Draco eyes were wide in shock; no-one had ever really spoken to her that way and certainly not with the intention of helping her. Lucius had shouted at her and told her off but it was always more to let out his frustrations than to teach; Narcissa on the other hand was always so concerned about how harsh Lucius was that she was hesitant to deny Draco anything.
“Why did you leave him?” Molly demanded firmly.
"I wanted him to know what he would be losing if he left us," she replied angrily before she had even managed to process the thought. She let out a gasp and clamped a hand over her mouth as she realized what she had just said.
Molly’s harsh expression broke into a softer one, “It’s okay,” she told her, “I thought that might be it,” she said with a knowing smile, “but I wanted you to work it out for yourself.”
Draco looked at her through teary eyes, somewhat stunned that Molly had almost tricked an answer out of her; if Draco was honest with herself she was quite impressed but equally she was horrified with the realization of why she had acted the way she had; why she had taken her son and run.
"That might just be the most Slytherin thing I have ever done," she said a bit faintly, wondering again why on earth Harry would ever forgive her. "I really wish I hadn't."
"Well, we all do things we regret, Draco,” Molly said softly.
“He will be here in a few hours," Sirius pointed out, “perhaps you should tell him that?”
“That I wanted to show him what he might be losing?” Draco asked, looking confused. Surely that wouldn’t be something that Harry would want to hear?
“I meant that you regretted not staying with him,” Sirius corrected, “but I think explaining why you did leave might be a good idea too.”
Molly was nodding her agreement. “Isn’t that what we are trying to achieve here? Work out why you reacted the way you did, so that you can talk to Harry about it and work on the underlying issues there?” she told her. “How is anything going to get better if you won’t talk to Harry about this?”
Draco bowed her head. Molly was right of course, but it was nothing short of terrifying to even consider admitting to Harry that they had issues, that they had things they needed to work on if their marriage was going to survive, let alone flourish.
“Molly’s right,” Sirius said, mirroring her own thoughts. “The two of you probably need to have a real talk about your worries, Draco. I don't believe that Harry will ever leave you but, without clearing this up, you are never going to believe that, are you?”
Draco nodded; she knew they were both right. As much as she didn't want to admit to Harry that it had been wrong for her to leave, nor face the chance that he couldn’t forgive her for it, she knew that her marriage and family were worth more to her than her pride and this was what they needed.
“As I said yesterday: if nothing else, it will prove to the pair of you how much you want to be together and that despite that you can survive being apart,” Sirius added.
“I can sort of see that... maybe... it helps though, this all helps,” Draco said, clearly still mulling things over, “I think so anyway.”
“Do you have to sound so surprised about that?” Sirius asked with a teasing wink.
“Thank you,” she told him with a small smile. “Both of you,” she added, turning to Molly
“You're welcome,” Molly told her, reaching out to squeeze her hand, “that's what family is for.”
“You really think of me as family?” Draco asked, thinking back to the resentful thoughts she had had that morning about Sirius and Molly having breakfast with Harry.
“Of course I do,” Molly told her with exasperation, “Harry has been part of my family since he was about twelve years old; as his wife, and Orion’s mother, you’re family too.”
Draco’s expression fell. She was right; she was just a tag along, accepted only because of her place in Harry’s life. She had known it was true, it was hardly like the Weasleys would have taken her into their family if she and Harry hadn’t ended up together, but it still hurt quite a lot to hear it said.
Molly had noticed that the words hadn’t had quite the intended effect but it took running what she had said over in her head several times to work out what was wrong. “You know that even though we found you because of Harry, that doesn’t mean that that is the only reason you are one of us, right?”
Draco looked completely baffled by that; honestly she didn’t have a clue what Molly meant.
With a sigh, Molly tried to explain, “I can’t deny that without Harry and you striking up a relationship, we probably would never have gotten the chance to know each other.” Draco nodded at this and Molly went on, “but now that we have, I love you for you; you are a wonderful young woman, Draco, a great mother and someone I am proud to have as a member of my family. And even if you and Harry didn’t work out, and I highly doubt it will ever come to that,” she added quickly at Draco’s look of alarm, “you would still be family to me.”
“Really!” Molly insisted.
“And you?” Draco asked, turning to Harry’s godfather, who was trailing his fingers through Orion’s hair.
“What about me?” Sirius asked.
“Am I family to you for my own sake, or….”
“Oh Merlin, Draco! Do you really have to ask that?” he questioned, sounding quite alarmed. How had he failed to make it clear how important Draco was to him? Had she had these doubts all along? “Before you and Harry got married I was looking into and getting the paperwork to make you a Black,” he told her, “I want you as my family, Draco. No, you ARE part of my family!”
“You would have done that?” Draco said in a breathy voice, taken aback by the gesture than she had never even known about. She had always been so grateful to Harry for giving her a name again, but Sirius would have done so too. “Thank you,” she said, pulling him into a hug, taking extra care not to crush the still sleeping Orion between them.
“We love you, Draco. Will you stop doubting that now?” Molly asked.
Draco chuckled at that as she released Sirius from her embrace. “I will do my best,” she promised.
“See that you do,” Sirius told her with mock sternness.
-#-
Harry’s friends had made several attempts, in the first hour or so of the train journey, to speak with him, but he had either almost ignored them completely, or given one word answers and so it had become clear to all of them that he was not in the mood to talk.
They let him be but that didn’t stop the worried looks sent his way that he caught out of the corner of his eye. He tried to not let them bother him, knowing that his friends were only trying to look out for him; but at that moment he couldn’t even think about anything other than Draco and their little boy waiting for him in Scotland.
At one point Pansy Parkinson had shown up and made a couple of less than amusing references to Draco’s absence. Harry wasn’t really in the mood to listen to Parkinson’s theories on how Draco had run off to spread her legs for a new man, nor how Draco had given up education so that she could spent the rest of her life ‘popping out mini-Potters’.
The others told her to shut up and go away, which of course she didn’t; Harry actually managed to ignore her for all of about thirty seconds before his already frayed temper snapped and he cast a silencing charm on her. It had put an amused smile on his face for a couple of minutes as he watched her continue her rant without being able to make a sound; her face turning red with a mixture of embarrassment and frustration. He gave her a patronizing little wave as she turned and left in a huff; probably to find someone to remove the spell and allow her to get on with her usual gossiping.
Harry felt a little more sociable after that, at least paying attention to what the other were saying, even if he couldn’t bring himself to join in; he even managed to eat some lunch when the trolley lady showed up. And then Ginny had shown up, with another girl in tow. The red-headed girl had seemed far too pleased to see Harry without his wife and so he had quickly turned back to watching the scenery passing by. He was furious with her at the moment but he still loved the rest of the Weasleys and for that reason alone he would just ignore her until she could get over herself.
“You don’t seem very happy,” the blonde newcomer said to him, as she squished herself into the seat between him and Hermione.
They both turned to look at her, confused by why the girl would have chosen to sit where there was almost no space. It meant that Hermione had to shuffle a bit so that the other girl wasn’t practically sitting in her lap. Hermione looked a little flustered and once she had moved she busied herself in a conversation with Blaise. Harry was secretly pleased to see that they were excluding Ginny and it was left to a somewhat grumpy Ron to listen to Ginny’s rambling.
“I’m not,” he said a moment later, still staring at the girl.
She had dirty blonde hair that fell to her waist in straggly curls, that was held back from her face on one side by the wand she had tucked behind her ear and he could see what looked to be radish earrings and a necklace of butterbeer corks. All in all he wasn’t quite sure what to make of her but she was smiling at him kindly and somehow there was something in her expression that bothered him a lot less than how the others had been treating him all day.
“I’m Harry,” he said, holding his hand out for her to shake.
“Oh, I know,” she said dreamily, “I’m Luna, but lots of people call me Loony.”
“Loony…?” Harry asked, he could see why but didn’t want to be quite that rude about it.
“Oh yes, apparently I am quite unusual,” she told him, “but I suppose you are too, aren’t you.”
“Yes… apparently,” he said with a grimace, “perhaps I will just call you Luna.” He didn’t know how the girl felt about her nickname but it struck him as not a particularly nice thing to call someone; even if it was in jest.
“I think I would like that,” she said, her smile never faltering.
Harry wasn’t exactly sure what else to say so was kind of glad when Luna pulled out a magazine and started reading and he was able to return to staring out of the window; though he had to admit that his mood was once again lifted a little.
-#-
Sirius had, more or less, taken over looking after Orion by the time it reached mid-afternoon, though Draco did manage to stop pacing long enough to feed her son when he had starting crying for her.
“Wearing a hole in the carpet won’t actually get the train here any faster,” Sirius teased.
Draco turned and glared at him; she was trying to relax but she was just so anxious about seeing Harry that she couldn’t. A bath, that’s what I need, she decided and headed for the bathroom.
“I didn’t mean that you should choose a different floor to wear a hole in,” Sirius called after her with a chuckle, which became a full laugh when Draco made a rude gesture over her shoulder. “You should show a little more respect for your elders,” he said through the door.
Draco, however, couldn’t hear him as she was already turning the taps onto full and was selecting a bath oil that would hopefully help her release some of the tension that was making her neck ache and giving her a headache.
She stripped off while waiting for the tub to fill and poured in a drizzle of the oil, releasing scents of bergamot and chamomile that were already helping her to relax a little in the comforting warmth of the steam that was building in the room. It wasn’t often she had time to do something like this and she found herself extra grateful for all the help and support that Sirius provided.
Once it was a little over half full she climbed into the almost hot water and lay back. Her eyes closed as she took calming breaths; but as the relaxing environment released the tension from her body, it also released the firm grip she had on her emotions and she suddenly realised she was crying.
She didn’t want to cry, she didn’t even really feel like crying but apparently she was going to. It felt like a purge and so perhaps this would help her resolve to be completely honest with her husband; which was what she knew their relationship needed.
-#-
Harry was mentally drained by the time the train pulled into the train station, not to mention how tired he was given that he had missed a full night’s sleep. And yet, he was alert and feeling decidedly impatient; this was the longest he had gone without laying eyes on his son since the day he was born, and he was yearning to wrap his wife in his arms and assure them both that they were going to be okay.
“Come on,” Ron called out, waving him over to where their friends were climbing into one of the horse-less carriages.
He climbed inside and was slightly surprised to find that once again Luna was in the seat between himself and Hermione. The blonde girl seemed to be explaining an article about rune theory, from her magazine, to Hermione, but given the expression on her face she was not convinced by whatever point Luna was trying to make.
“Nervous?” Blaise asked.
Harry turned and gave him a confused look.
“About figuring things out with Draco,” the Slytherin clarified.
“Oh, I guess,” Harry said, not really wanting to admit that he felt like his insides were squirming.
Blaise narrowed his eyes as though trying to figure Harry out, “Make this right,” he instructed.
“That’s the plan,” Harry said, peering out of the side of the carriage at the looming form of Hogwarts Castle.
-#-
“Draco, that tie literally could not get any straighter,” Sirius told her, as he bobbed around with a grizzly Orion. “It will be fine, and Harry is going to hug you so tightly when he sees you and Orion that you will just get all messed up again,” he pointed out.
“Okay…” she said, taking a steadying breath. It’s going to be fine, it’s going to be fine, it’s going to be fine, she chanted to herself in her head. “Let’s go,” she said, taking her son back.
The Hogwarts Express should have already arrived and by now the crowds of students would be making their way up to the castle. Draco never envied the first years, who would have to cross the massive Black Lake before they would be allowed to join the feast, but this year she was glad for the extra time that took, as it would allow her and Harry to speak quickly before the start of the sorting and welcoming feast.
-#-
Harry climbed up the front steps and through the large heavy doors of the castle, his eyes scanning around hopefully; he had assumed that Draco would be here, that she would want to see him as much as he did her, or at least she would understand that he needed to see Orion.
“Harry…” Hermione said, with a nudge to his side, and he followed where she was pointing.
He couldn’t hold back his grin as he saw Draco standing a short way away with Sirius, Orion in her arms. He had heard the expression ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’ but it was not something he had ever bought into until the moment he laid his eyes upon his wife.
“I’ll meet you in there,” he told his friend; waiting for her nod of understanding before he hurried off towards Draco.
-#-
Draco knew the moment Harry spotted her; it was written all over his face and in that instant all the doubts that she had faded into insignificance. She knew they still had a lot to work through, a lot to talk about, but they would survive this.
“Hey, love,” Harry said, standing awkwardly a foot or so in front of her; smiling when Orion clearly recognised him and reached out a little hand.
“I will leave you to it,” Sirius said, placing a kiss on Draco’s temple and patting Harry on the shoulder as he headed towards the Great Hall.
“Thanks ,” Harry and Draco said in sync, watching him leave.
It was a tense and far more awkward moment than it should have been when they turned back to face each other.
“Can I…?” Harry asked, holding out his arms for Orion.
Draco nodded, “right, yes… of course…” she rambled. Quickly she handed over the little boy, whose fists clenched around a handful of Harry’s robes, as though worried that his father might disappear again. Harry rocked the little boy in his arms, pale blue eyes peering up at him.
“I missed you, little man,” Harry said, “I missed your Mummy too,” he added looking up at Draco.
“I’m sorry, I am so, so sorry,” Draco said, stepping forward right into her husband’s personal space and looking up at him with pleading eyes. She was not used to apologising, it was just not how she had been raised but seeing Orion in his father’s arms made the words practically tumble from her lips; and she meant every one of them. “I shouldn’t have left, I wish I hadn’t,” she told him.
“I know,” Harry said with a sad smile, “I wish you hadn’t either.” He bit his lip in thought, they should probably get into the Great Hall before they were missed, but he wasn’t going to make the mistake of prioritising anything above his family again. “Let’s go talk.”
Draco looked nervous at that, but after a few seconds she nodded in agreement and turned and led them down a nearby corridor. She looked at her hand in surprise when Harry linked his fingers with hers, and she looked up to see him smiling.
“Stop worrying, so much,” Harry told her, coming to a stop. “I was mad at you, but it is going to okay, I promise,” he said, leaning down to place a chaste kiss on her lips. “I still love you; it is just that I need to understand.”
“I know,” Draco said sadly, as she leaned against his side, letting Orion grip at her finger.
“Draco, talk to me,” Harry pleaded. “Why did you do it, you forgave me for the mess with the train and everything right?”
Draco nodded.
“So why did you leave?”
“I swear I didn’t realise why at the time,” Draco tried to explain, unable to meet Harry’s eyes, “I figured it out today, talking with Molly and Sirius…”
“It’s okay, Love, you can tell me anything,” he reassured her.
“I wanted you to know what you would lose if you left us,” she almost whispered.
“If I… Wait, what?” Harry asked, trying to get Draco to turn and look at him, but she resisted, her eyes fixed to the floor. “Why on earth would you think I would leave you?” he asked.
“Because I am different now,” Draco said, her voice saddening rising and her eyes glaring angrily at him, “I am not like the person you married,” she tried to explain, growling her frustrations that she knew she wasn’t explaining it very well.
“I am sorry, but I really don’t understand what you mean,” Harry said with a puzzled expression on his face. “You are still the same person you have always been.”
“I… I am speaking my mind more, I am arguing back, I am like I was before the accident…” she ranted, kind of annoyed that her husband hadn’t spotted the changes in her; how had he not noticed.
“Oh that… Yeah, but love, I knew you were stubborn and argumentative before anything happened between us,” Harry told her with an affectionate chuckle.
“This isn’t funny!” Draco snarled.
“It is a bit,” Harry insisted, “Do you think that I want some meek little wife who will do what she is told?” he asked with a grin. “I mean where would be the fun in that?”
“Harry…!”
“Sorry, it’s just that you are amazing to me, I don’t want you to be anything other than who you are,” Harry tried to explain, “I love YOU; I always knew that that person who is so strong and everything was hidden in there and this might surprise you, but I LOVE that you are getting that confidence back.”
“Really?” Draco questioned skeptically.
“Really!” he insisted, “I want you to be able to tell me when something is bothering you, I want you to argue back and I never want you to hide what you are feeling from me. But I promise you I have no intention of leaving you or Orion; do you really get how important to me you are?”
“I think I might be starting to,” Draco said with a crooked smile.
“But you have to promise never to leave like that again,” he told her very seriously, “and don’t you dare ever try to keep my son from me. Legally we got to keep him because he is MY heir, I never want to pull that card and I want us to be a family, but if pushed…”
“It’s okay,” Draco said, pressing a finger to his lips to stop him, “I know, I never want to keep you two apart. I regret doing it even this once. That said, I am his mother so do not think that I will EVER let you take my son from me!” she added with an intense stare.
“Okay, so we are agreed, Orion is stuck with both of us?” Harry said with a grin.
“Poor baby,” Draco said running her finger over her son’s cheek, which made the little boy smile and let out a huffy giggle.
“Come on,” Harry said, “we are really late for the feast. I bet we have already missed the sorting.”
“Oh how terrible…” Draco said sarcastically, taking Harry’s hand as they headed back towards the Great Hall.
As they pushed open one of the doors and stepped inside it was obvious that Harry was right, they had missed the sorting, but apparently they were in time for speeches. There was an unknown, short, toad-like woman who was dressed in distractingly pink clothes standing up the front and she stopped mid-way through her sentence to focus her glare at the couple that had interrupted her.
“Oh, erm… sorry, we will just…” Harry said, pointing awkwardly towards the Gryffindor table, and guiding his wife in that direction with an arm around her waist.
They both found themselves wondering who the new woman was and hopeful that the look of dislike she was sending their way didn’t bode as badly as they feared it might.

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Review responses:
Delia Cerrano - Severus is kind of blind when it comes to Harry, determined not to like him. It will definitely be interesting watching Severus with Orion as he is likely to around him more than he has ever been around a young child before. Orion will grow up knowing him. You are right that despite Severus' determination not to approve of anything Harry does, his affection for Orion will definitely change his view on Harry.
Luminari_lilium - Glad you are enjoying it. :D
ChaosLady - Thank you
Gruffard - They are certainly both stubborn, but they both love each other and their son, they are determined to make it work, despite being aware of how difficult things could likely be.
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For The Sake Of A Name