Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

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
- 7
- 8
- 9
Author's note/IMPORTANT MESSAGE: I'm not sure whether I'll be able to update this story again in two weeks. I have yet to finish the next chapter and university is draining away my energy. My exams are also coming up, so that takes away more of my time. I'll still try to finish the next chapter on time, but if you don't see an update in two weeks, you know why. Sorry, guys, but I've been too tired to write a lot lately (it's a miracle I actually get some projects done)

Thanks to the following reviewers: AnonymousTigress; LovelyRaven (Not sure how many chapters to be honest, but normally less than twenty. I'm actually thinking of writing one particular scene in Draco's pov and there will also be a separate oneshot in Scorpius' pov); karisma

Warnings: nothing special; sneaky James

I hope you'll like it!

Chapter 8: Ephemeral Peace Part 1

When the Floo spit them out in their living room, they heard a chair scraping back in the kitchen, but nobody came out to greet them and Albus' body felt suddenly heavy as if a weight was pressing down on him. The ticking of the clock drew his attention and he winced when he noticed that it was almost seven thirty. They had stayed at Malfoy Manor longer than he thought; it was almost time for him to go to sleep. That tiny bit of knowledge managed to drive out the question what Uncle Draco had been talking about at the end of their visit out of his mind completely. Surely his mum would even be madder now that it was this late already?

A warm hand pressed against his back made him look up, peering through his eyelashes.

"Come on; let's go to the kitchen," Dad said soothingly and steered him to the kitchen.

Upon opening the door, however, they abruptly halted when instead of mum, they saw Aunt Hermione talking to James, who was idly swinging his legs back and forth; his hands cradling a mug. They both turned their heads at hearing the door open.

"Hermione, what are you doing here?" Dad asked perplexed; his hand disappearing from Albus' back as it fell down to his side. "Where's Ginny?"

"Talking to Molly," Aunt Hermione replied with a soft sigh and leant back in her chair. "She Floo called me when James refused to go with her."

Dad's gaze shifted from Aunt Hermione to James and he furrowed his eyebrows.

James merely shrugged and studied the content of his mug intently. "I don't like being with her when she's angry," he admitted stiffly.

"James," Dad sighed and rubbed his forehead, looking tired.

"She was saying mean things about Uncle Draco, dad. I don't like that!" James spat and glared; his brown eyes flaring up with anger as they looked at the older man.

"She didn't look happy," Aunt Hermione remarked and threw dad a weird look. "She didn't want to tell me what had happened, though, and James hadn't heard everything."

"I'll talk with Ginny about this," Dad muttered and strode over to the kitchen counter, slipping his wand out of his pocket. "This is getting too ridiculous. James, did you eat already?"

"No, but Aunt Hermione let me have some cookies and chocolate milk," James replied and held up his mug in the air.

"I'm going to be honest: I'm too tired to start cooking now," Dad sighed and turned around to look at the two boys – the youngest was still hovering in the doorway – wearily. "Would you two mind if I just made some sandwiches for you? You can eat them in the living room while I talk with Hermione."

The two boys mutely shook their heads. Albus wasn't that hungry to be honest and while the chocolate dessert of the Malfoy house elf certainly played a part in that, the main reason was that he just wasn't in the mood to eat when he knew that mum had left the house angrily – again. Would she even come back tonight? How long would she stay angry now? Maybe he should just …

"You got your dragon fixed," James remarked suddenly and pointed at the statue still being clutched against Albus' chest.

Green eyes shot to him in surprise and Albus nodded belatedly after a short pause. "Yes, Uncle Draco fixed it," he murmured and looked down at the dragon. Its heavy gaze was turned towards the window and the light in the room was reflected into its eyes.

"Albus, go put your dragon away. I'll have your sandwich ready in a minute," Dad told him and busied himself with preparing their dinner.

Albus nodded and turned around, leaving the kitchen again so that he could go up to his room. He might as well change into his pyjamas already when he was there. After a few seconds he became aware of a second set of footsteps following him up the stairs and he turned his head, seeing his brother closely behind him.

The two brothers were completely silent until they were in Albus' bedroom. Only after the youngest had carefully put his dragon statue back into his closet and had turned around again, did James open his mouth.

"What happened? I heard a lot of screaming and mum was really angry, but she didn't tell me why." He crossed his arms and a deep frown settled onto his forehead; the corners of his mouth turned down. He clearly wasn't happy with being left out of the loop.

Nibbling on his lower lip, Albus slowly changed into his pyjamas and he haltingly answered, "Mum found my dragon and she said she was going to send it back, because I can't keep something from Uncle Draco." Worrying his right sleeve between his fingers, he continued, "I wanted to stop her, but the dragon fell and dad took me to Uncle Draco and he fixed it again."

"Hm." James stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, before he returned his gaze back to Albus, who looked at him bemused. "What did Uncle Draco say?"

Albus cocked his head. "He said he wasn't angry, but then he started saying something about mum."

"What?"

"I don't know. Dad stopped him and then he called a house elf to take me to the kitchen. He and Uncle Draco talked for a long time, but I don't know what they said." Frustration rang through his voice. What had the adults been talking about? Why hadn't Albus been allowed to remain in the room?

James opened his mouth, but before he could say something, dad called downstairs. "Your sandwiches are finished!"

A conflicted look crossed James' face before he shook his face and pursed his lips. "Let's go eat," he muttered and disappeared downstairs.

Albus scratched his head, threw another look at the wardrobe which contained the newly restored Romanian Longhorn and then hurried downstairs as well.

"Don't spill too many crumbs on the carpet, okay?" Dad muttered with a faint smile and handed them their plates with their sandwiches with ham and cheese.

"We won't," James promised and started shuffling out of the kitchen.

"After you're done eating, you need to brush your teeth and go to bed. You still have lessons tomorrow," Dad continued with a stern voice.

James groaned dismayed and Albus grimaced slightly. With all that had happened tonight, he had forgotten that it was still only Thursday and he had another day of lessons before the weekend started.

The door closed behind them and Albus was already in the living room before he realised that his brother hadn't followed him. Bemused he walked back and found the older boy sitting on the floor, his ear pressed against the door with a concentrated frown on his face as he slowly ate his sandwich.

"James?" Albus whispered befuddled; his own hand clutching his plate.

James made an impatient gesture with his hand, waving his brother closer. "I want to know what dad and Aunt Hermione are saying, so hush!" he hissed, scowling at the younger boy for good measure, and returned his ear to the door.

Albus wanted to argue that eavesdropping was really bad and if they were caught, dad wouldn't be happy at all, but something in him made him sink down next to his brother. Guilt squirming around in his stomach, he leant forwards and pressed his ear against the door, concentrating on the conversation going on behind it. It wasn't easy to hear what they were saying; the door blocked sounds quite well and he had to concentrate really hard to catch some of the conversation even when his dad and his aunt raised their voices.

"… going to do about this, Harry?"

"I don't … like I'm doing something wrong, Hermione!"

"No, you're not, but Ginny …"

James and Albus gasped when a loud 'smack' on the table reverberated through the kitchen, as if someone had smacked their hand on the table, loud enough for them to hear it without any trouble. They stared at each other with mouths wide open before they pressed their ears back to the door.

"… needs to bloody accept the fact that I'm …"

"I know, Harry, but your arguments aren't … not good for the boys."

"What do you want me to …"

"I don't know, Harry, but it's not healthy to …"

"If she would just … Draco isn't … We're not children anymore, damn it!"

They seemed to calm down, because their voices became soft, making it impossible to continue their eavesdropping.

Sharing a look, both boys scurried to the living room before they could get caught by their dad.

"What do you think they said about Uncle Draco?" Albus asked subdued, poking listlessly at his half eaten sandwich.

James pursed his lips and huffed, playing with the crust of his own sandwich. "Don't know, but dad didn't sound happy."

"Do you think Aunt Hermione agrees with mum?" The youngest boy bit his lip and swung his legs weakly back and forth. Aunt Hermione had said that mum only needed some time and she had seemed to agree with dad that Uncle Draco wasn't a bad guy, but she also hadn't said anything about Uncle Draco to mum so far.

"Maybe," James muttered and shrugged. "She doesn't say anything about it."

They both jumped up when the door to the kitchen opened and Aunt Hermione entered the living room first. She smiled weakly at them, though she looked quite frazzled. Her cheeks were stained red and she absentmindedly pulled on her ponytail as she made her way across the room to them.

"Hey guys, I have to go home now," she said and kissed their foreheads. "Your cousins are waiting to hear their bed time story."

"Bye, Aunt Hermione," Albus murmured, weakly smiling.

James grunted a bit, but waved; his gaze remained fixated on his crusts.

She cast them one last smile, before the dark green flames swallowed her up.

Dad appeared in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe with his hands; a look of exhaustion was plastered across his face.

"It's time to go to sleep, boys," he said softly and indicated at the clock.

After the tiring day he had had, Albus was more than ready to go to sleep. His head was starting to feel fuzzy and his limbs heavy and he wanted nothing more than to crawl into his bed, close his eyes and just forget about the entire awful day.

"What about mum?" James questioned and cocked his head; his hand hovering above his plate. His brown eyes glowed when the flames in the fireplace – turned back into a merrily gold and red orange colour – caught them.

His younger brother stared at him bemused; he couldn't figure out what the tone in his older brother's voice meant. He didn't sound angry per se, or sad, but just … strange. Albus didn't think he had ever heard that particular tone before.

Dad heaved a loud sigh and raked a hand through his hair, messing it up even more than it already was. "I'm not sure when she'll be home, James," he admitted wearily. "I'll make sure to send her upstairs so you can kiss her goodnight when she comes home, okay?"

James shrugged, a complicated look on his face. "Okay," he mumbled and slipped off the couch. Carrying the plate with him, he stopped briefly to hug dad. "Good night, dad."

"Good night, James."

Albus hurried after his brother, his own plate clutched into his hand, only stopping briefly to embrace dad as well – if his embrace took longer than James' had, the older man didn't remark on it.

"Night, daddy," he whispered against dad's side.

"Sweet dreams, Al," Dad murmured and squeezed his shoulder, offering him a soft smile.

His last thought before he fell asleep was that he really needed to finish his letter to Scorpius tomorrow. Then darkness took over and sleep swept him away.

If mum came into his room that night, he would never know as he never once woke up.

Before Albus went to his classes the next day, mum took him aside briefly and told him she was sorry that his statue had been broken. Her face was drawn tight and she looked tired; her eyes slightly rimmed red.

"I was just worried, okay, sweetie?" she murmured and embraced him before pressing a kiss on his forehead. "You understand that, right?" Her warm, brown eyes looked at him questioningly.

He didn't understand why, actually. Uncle Draco putting a spell on the statue didn't make any sense to him at all, but he didn't want to start another fight, so he nodded meekly and gave her a weak smile.

It must have been the right way to answer, because she beamed at him and then gently ushered him to the fireplace, where his brother was already impatiently waiting.

No, he didn't understand why mum was so worried about a simple statue – but as long as she didn't try to throw it away anymore, he figured it was best not to think too much about it.

On Sunday dad's owl brought back a letter from Scorpius. Albus' surprise at having received a letter so quickly – he had only sent it Friday afternoon and Scorpius tended to take at least three days to answer, depending on which parent he was staying with – soon turned into realisation as the content of Scorpius' letter told him why his friend had been so eager to reply back.

Next weekend, the annual Starlight fair would take place in Knightsbridge. The Starlight fair was a combination of a market offering various rare goods – ranging from potion ingredients to Wizarding candy from all over the world and from expensive clothing made from rare material out of faraway countries to precious gemstones pulled out of the deep depths of the oceans – and attractions aimed at both adults and children. It was set up to celebrate the existence of magic – for children it was just another fantastic way to spend their weekend. James and Albus had attended the fair two years ago with their parents – on their rare weekend off together – and Albus had been in awe of all the sorts of magic that he had seen being practiced that day. He had a lot of fond and happy memories of that day.

Scorpius would be going to the fair on Saturday with his father and he asked if he would see Albus and James there as well.

"Albus, have you seen the Quaffel of the Quidditch Cup playset?" James demanded and leant his upper body inside Albus' bedroom.

Albus startled and whipped his head around. "Eh? No, maybe it's still downstairs?" he suggested, remembering they had last played with it in the living room five days ago.

"Hm, maybe, but - " James cut himself off when he caught sight of the letter in Albus' hand. "Scorpius sent you a reply already?" He sounded surprised.

Albus nodded, waving the letter in the air. "Scorpius asks if we're going to the Starlight fair next Saturday."

His older brother's face lightened up at the mention of the fair. "That's right! I had almost forgotten that the fair is next week. Maybe we can get dad to take us again."

Both boys knew all too well by now that their mum wouldn't want to go to the fair if she knew they would encounter Uncle Draco and Scorpius there.

Albus swallowed and stared at the letter before laying it down on his desk. Wouldn't mum think it was strange if they only asked dad to go to the fair?

"Let's go ask them," James said impatiently and beckoned the younger boy to follow him.

Albus jumped off his chair and followed his brother; a small frown etched onto his forehead. "Them? But mum won't be happy if she sees Uncle Draco," he whispered in protest, wringing his sleeves between his fingers.

After that disastrous Thursday things had been weird in their home. Their parents weren't really fighting – at least Albus hadn't heard them arguing like before – but they weren't exactly happy or relaxed either and it put the boy on edge. He really didn't like it when his parents fought, but he also disliked this weird atmosphere clinging to their home now.

"It'll be fine, you'll see," James said dismissively and practically burst into the kitchen where their parents were preparing lunch; Albus entering meekly behind him.

Dad looked up surprised from the potatoes he had been peeling and mum raised her eyebrows, taking a step back from the cooking pots.

"James, something you need, sweetie?" Mum asked, a trace of amusement worming its way through her voice.

"Next weekend it's the Starlight fair, can we go, please?" James asked without preamble, looking at mum pleadingly. "Albus and I really want to go on Saturday, because that's the best day!"

Their parents shared an odd look and Albus tensed up slightly. He didn't understand what that look meant, but he knew enough to recognise that it wasn't a good look.

"I'm sorry, sweetie," Mum sighed and dried her hands on a dishtowel. "But we can't. I have training until seven on Saturday and your dad has an assignment for work. We're both going to be home late."

"But," James protested, turning pleading eyes towards dad.

Dad smiled wryly. "Sorry, Jamie, but Saturday is impossible for us. We can take you two on Sunday, though, if you really want to go."

"But they don't have a lot of games for us on Sunday," Albus pointed out quietly. It was true; Sunday seemed to be mostly reserved for events aimed at adults. They barely had had any fun that day.

"I know, Albus," Mum murmured and looked at him with softened eyes. "But your dad and I both have to work next Saturday, sorry."

"Fine," James groused out and then his hand slipped around Albus' wrist tugging him with him, ignoring mum's slightly exasperated voice telling them to come back.

Disappointment whirling inside of him, Albus trudged back upstairs, allowing his brother to haul him with him.

"I'll write to Scorpius that we can't meet him at the fair," he muttered and slipped behind his desk again. He really had wanted to see his friend again and it stung that he wouldn't be able to do that. Who knew when they would be able to see each other again?

"You do that." James scowled and marched back into his own room, shutting the door louder than was necessary.

Albus bit his lip and started writing, trying to ignore the disappointment lurking in his belly.

It wasn't as if he wouldn't have other chances to see Scorpius again, but still …

"Mum's going to say no," Albus whispered worriedly as they made their way downstairs that Tuesday afternoon.

Glittering brown eyes glanced at him and his brother grinned. "No, she won't. Just let me ask, okay?"

Albus nodded slowly, but bit his lip as he uncertainly followed James to the living room where mum was busy studying the new training schedules she had received from her Captain. Scorpius had sent him a letter back this morning – sounding already more cheerful as he was back at his father's place – and in response to Albus' letter that they wouldn't see each other on Saturday, the blond boy had stated that Uncle Draco would be willing to take them with him to the fair. His father didn't mind, Scorpius had reassured his friend in the letter, because he had agreed almost immediately after Scorpius had told him about Albus' letter.

Albus had been quite ecstatic until he had suddenly realised that going with Uncle Draco and Scorpius to the fair would require them to ask their parents for permission – and mum would definitely say no once she heard who they would be going with.

James however appeared quite confident that they would get permission and Albus decided to trust his brother this time.

"Mum, can we ask something?" James asked when they entered the room and mum came into view.

Her hair was pulled up in a messy ponytail and she was bent over various parchments, studying them intently.

"Hm?" she murmured distractedly, jotting something down quickly with a frown marring her forehead. "What, James?"

"You know the fair this Saturday?"

Mum made a sound in acknowledgement before sighing and pulling another parchment towards her.

"One of my friends is going there and his dad says he can take us with them, so can we go?" James asked, his voice tinted with innocence. Albus stared at him wide eyed, not understanding where James was planning to take this. "Then you and dad can go to work."

"Your friend's dad?" Mum repeated absentmindedly. "Have I met him before?"

"Yes and he doesn't mind. He said he get us back home in time for dinner," James replied, putting his hands behind his back. "So can we go? Please, mum?"

This time she looked up and while she still looked distracted, she also rolled her eyes fondly and smiled, shaking her head. "Fine, if your friend's dad doesn't mind, you can go. But you have to ask your dad first!" She looked at them with a raised eyebrow.

"We'll ask dad tonight, we promise, right, Albus?" James stared at him meaningfully.

"Y-yes, we'll ask dad tonight," Albus said, still reeling from the fact that mum had just given them permission to go.

"Okay then," Mum laughed and turned back to the papers. "You can play for a bit longer, okay? I have to start preparing dinner soon."

"Okay," James chirped and grinned. "Thanks, mum!"

"Thank you, mum," Albus muttered dazed before following his brother back upstairs.

When they reached the top of the staircase, James turned towards him with a smug look. "Told you mum would say yes!"

"How did you do that?" Albus demanded to know. James had made it look so easy and the younger boy was in awe. He had expected her to say no for sure.

James shrugged. "If mum's busy with something, she doesn't ask a lot of questions," he replied and grinned mischievously. "Now all we've got to do is ask dad and then we can go to the fair!"

Albus smiled excitedly back. At least dad wouldn't be against Uncle Draco taking them to the fair.

As expected dad agreed to take James and Albus to Malfoy Manor before he left to his office. He did seem surprised that mum had given permission for them to go with Uncle Draco, but as far as Albus could tell – by the lack of arguments that week – dad never spoke to mum about it.

While Albus felt guilty about keeping a secret from mum – because James hadn't been entirely honest – his excitement about going to the fair with his friend easily drowned the small sting of guilt.

He couldn't wait for Saturday to arrive!

AN2: Please let me know what you thought about it in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.

Next up: The boys attend the fair with Draco and Scorpius and run into someone they hadn't expected to see at all.

See you all in the next chapter!

Cuddles

Melissa
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Self-fulfilling Prophecy