The Office

“The Office Part 6...by Samayel


So…do you two, like, snog and all that when we’re not around?”

‘This conversation isn’t happening. My child didn’t ask me that. It didn’t happen, and I live in a world where a question like that will never be asked.’

Harry tried to bring his cresting sense of panic under control. It was just a simple excursion to Diagon Alley. Harry had taken Jamie both of his previous years, and Lily had joined them last year. It was a perfectly normal thing for a parent to do with his magically gifted child. Unless, of course, your child had already twigged to the fact that you were dating another man and decided to ask you about it calmly while shopping for books.

“So…uh…how about some ice cream at Fortescue’s? Your sister should be back any second…where did she go? There she…almost out of the line…matter of seconds, really.” ‘Hellish, exhausting, incredibly long seconds. Lily! For the love of God and Merlin! Please hurry! Just once!’

Jamie frowned and rolled his eyes. “Daaaad! That only worked when I was like five or something! It’s no big deal. I just…I figured I should ask about it…because you never say anything.”

‘SHIT! When did the ice cream distraction stop working? Damn! Not happening, not happening, not happening!’

“Never mind. You still owe me the ice cream though.” The tone of exasperation that only a teenager could manage tore at Harry’s heart. ‘Oh God. I suck at this. He hates me. We’re distant. I’m distant. Got to…say something!’

“Fuck-all. Sorry. Don‘t tell your mother I said that in front of you, Jamie.”

“Yeah…whatever.”

“Okay. I’m…I’m not good at this, alright. Wanna Dark Lord topped off? They tell me I’m aces at that kind of thing. Need Quidditch tips? I’m all over it! Telling you anything like that…not so much. You want to try an easier question…something just a little less personal than that?”

“You mean it?”

“Yeah. The ice cream’s still on afterwards. Just…go easy on your old man, okay? Throw me something a little easier than that.”

“Well…uh…does he really live in a castle…with…like…ghosts and portraits just like at school? ‘Cause that would be pretty cool.”

’Okay. Better. I can handle this. Wow. I’m telling my thirteen year old son about my boyfriend’s manor. Does it get more surreal than this?’

“Not quite a castle…but the manor is huge. Not many ghosts…except in the west wing. I’d have to check on that…but there are portraits. Why do you ask?”

“You know…’cause if you moved there that’s where we’d see you…right? Wouldn’t be so bad if it’s as big as people say. I heard they even have a Quidditch pitch there. Cissy said it was almost as big as the ones for the pros, but with no stands or seats. Just a huge pitch to play on with no interruptions. That would be brilliant!”

“Yeah…I guess it would. There is a pitch there. Just so you know…I haven’t really made any plans for moving or anything, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Still…I’m sure we could arrange a visit during the hols if you wanted to keep up your practice. Anything else?”

Jamie shuffled his feet and vaguely wrinkled his brow, not sure if he was stepping into more risky territory or not.

“Well…do you…do you like him more than you liked Mum?”

That one stung, even if it was asked in perfect innocence. Harry needed a second to mentally regroup, then charged ahead with a small sigh.

“It’s not really the kind of thing people can measure, Jamie. You know I still care very much about your mother, right? Draco is…I like Draco every bit as much as I liked your mother. I like different things about each of them, and there are even a few things they have in common that I like about both of them.”

Jamie fielded the next question carefully, scuffing his feet distractedly. “Do you like him more because he’s a guy?”

Harry bit his tongue. He was just good enough at this to know that dodging the subject this far in would only cost him his self respect, not to mention Jamie’s sense that he could speak openly and honestly to his father. It wasn’t out of line to ask these questions…and if anything, Harry had been wrestling with them quite a bit himself lately.

“Not really. I like who he is. The personality. I think…that’s what matters most. We make a good team. He’s a very good person…and I want to be around that person as much as possible. Does that make any sense?”

“Yeah…I guess. He’s awfully fussy though. Almost as much as Gram Weasley. Is he always like that?”

“Hah! Yeah…sometimes. Mostly when he’s going out in public. The rest of the time…not so much. If he seems a little worked up today, I think it’s mostly because it’s his first time taking Cissy to Diagon Alley, and he didn’t get a lot of time to be with her when she was younger. He’s trying a little too hard…but it’s because he really loves her and wants everything to be right.”

“That’s cool. Sooo….”

“Yeah?”

“Who really wears the pants-”

“Don’t even go there. This discussion is a pants-free zone and staying that way. That aside…is there anything else?”

“You’re happy, right? I mean…it’s like you’re happier than you used to be. So…this makes you happy?”

“Yeah. I suppose it does. Very much. You okay with that?”

“Yeah…pretty much. Uh-oh. Sis just dropped her Monster Book Of Monsters. I better help. LIL! WE GOT ICE CREAM COMING! HOLD UP!”

Jamie took off, wand in hand, ready to immobilize and capture Lily’s run-amuck text, while Harry leaned back against a post of the stairs. It was a hell of a thing. He’d just talked about Draco with his own son. It wasn’t anything like he’d expected, and Jamie seemed a lot more sensible and worldly-wise than Harry remembered being at thirteen, but that was good right? Jamie was a very level headed kid, and no moodier than any other boy his age.

It couldn’t be denied, but his children were dangerously close to adulthood. Where had all that time gone? He could look back easily and remember holding infants and changing diapers. Now they were asking grown up questions about grown up life. It was…terrifying? Weird? Surreal? Magnificent? All of the above and a million other things besides. A few more years. They’d be out of Hogwarts and off into the world in no more than five years. Bloody terrifying. And beautiful.

Jamie and Lily were headed back to him, already debating the merits of various flavors of ice cream. Harry idly hoped that Draco was having an easier time of it than Harry was. It wasn’t all bad, but it was stressful, and as Harry knew all too well, Draco was not especially gifted at coping with child/parent related stress.

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“Ahhh…here’s a perfect cauldron. Just right for Potions class. One good rod for stirring…hmmm…maybe a spare set for emergencies would be appropriate. Do you like these, Cissy?”

Draco held up the assembled items for inspection, hoping they’d meet his baby girl’s approval. For a girl raised largely by Pansy, Cissy was actually much less picky than one might have imagined. She was very forward and downright blunt at times, but she wasn’t much given to fussing without just cause, which was a great relief to Draco.

“Yes. Daddy?”

“Hmm? Yes, love?”

“Are you a ’bottom‘?”

The cauldrons and rods crashed to the floor while Draco scrambled to regain his mental footing and recover the fallen goods. Despite being past thirty years of age, his voice almost cracked while he hastily answered.

“Umm…well…heh…you see…uh…bugger! I mean…oh, bloody Merlin! Honey…can we talk about this after we get out of here? This isn’t the kind of thing you just ask a person, much less one’s own father, in a public forum. Okay?”

Draco gathered the fallen accoutrements while Cissy nodded sagely, a hint of exasperation in her stance. He hurried the items to the counter and paid for them while sweat beaded on his forehead, and his hand shook a little while he penned a cheque from Cissy’s tuition account. As administrator of her funds and as her guardian and parent, Draco could make use of the recovered portions of the Malfoy fortune whenever Cissy’s best interests were in mind. He was scrupulous when it came to investing and preserving that fortune, so that Cissy could be assured of a very comfortable future. Once they were out into the street, Draco could barely contain his shock.

“Cissy, darling, is that…is that something your mother told you about? Because that’s a very personal thing between people. It’s not a bad or a good thing, just a personal one, and it isn’t polite to ask something like that without a certain amount of privacy first.”

Cissy acted as if she was mollified by that, but she was an insistent little creature of cat-like curiosity, and when she wanted to know something, she wasn’t easily put off.

“You know mother and I had…the ’talk’…about girls and boys and all that. It’s not like I don’t know at all about that stuff. I just wondered…that’s all. I mean…you couldn’t really blame a person for wondering…could you?”

She sounded very wise and sophisticated, a perfect model of the front put up by every adolescent since the dawn of time, trying to sound as adult as possible and yet falling terribly short of the mark in reality. Although it was horrifyingly annoying to children of that age, most adults found this behavior ‘cute’ in a tongue-in-cheek kind of way. Draco, on the other hand, was recovering from the sudden onset of heart palpitations at the very notion of discussing such a thing with his daughter.

“Sweety, I don’t know what you might have heard, from your mother, but I can’t say with any certainty what I am…or am not, I just…I don’t have a great deal of experience at that kind of thing. Mr. Potter…and I…”

“You mean Harry. You don‘t always have to be so formal, Daddy. It‘s stuffy and dull.”

“Well, yes…Harry…and I…this is a very…a civilized thing, honey. We don’t just run about, frolicking and…well…you know…all over the place.”

“So…how is it that you know you’re even gay? I mean…if you don’t really do anything but make eyes at each other, couldn’t you just be straight and not know it? After all, I’m kind of, you know…here…so you can’t be all that gay.”

’I’m going to die. No…scratch that…I’m going to pray for a swift and merciful death, and in its infinite wisdom and mercy, the universe will ignore me utterly! Bugger!’

“It doesn’t quite work that way, love. A person…well…sometimes it take a bit of time to work out what one likes, but people figure these things out. I know perfectly well what I like, and I’m quite alright with that. It took me a bit longer than some to work all that out, but I certainly don’t regret being part of making you! If anything, I rather think of you as the single most worthwhile achievement of my entire life. You’re…are you alright with me…seeing…Harry?”

“Well, he is the most famous person ever to come out of Hogwarts. Slew a Dark Lord, saved the world and all of that. If you’re going to see someone, you couldn’t do much better than that. I thought…I thought he’d be taller, though. More…you know…heroic. He’s very odd. Nice, but odd.”

“Heh. Well…he is that…at times. Mostly nice though. We all thought he’d be a bit taller, but that’s life for you, no guessing what’s to be until it is. As long as you’re alright with all of this, love. You know I love you very much, and if you’re at all worried about something, you can always ask-”

“Yes, Daddy! I know. You’re always saying that. You worry too much. I’m not worried about anything. I just hope Hogwarts is as good as people say. Anything but that hideous school in Switzerland! It was dull as death! And the uniforms! Horrible! Do you think I’ll get into the same House as you and mother did? That would be nice.”

Sore subject that. Draco had heard that Slytherin House had changed a bit in the years since he’d been in school, but it had been a different time then, and the parents of his day had pushed a lot of things in certain directions. Ostensibly, Slytherin was still a house that embodied the finest qualities of Salazar himself, but without the specter of war hanging over them, the students had broadened their social horizons quite a bit. While Draco privately hoped that his daughter would join the house of his ancestors, he sometimes caught himself wondering if he wouldn’t be just as happy with Cissy safely ensconced in some other house.

Except Hufflepuff. That would just be a tragedy.

“I’m sure you’ll love it, dear. With the exception of some…difficulties right at the end…the war and all…it was the grandest time of my life. Also, the uniforms were quite sharp if I do say so myself. Didn’t mind them a bit. Just…when they say…’stay out of the Forbidden Forest’…they really do mean it. You won’t be missing anything important by avoiding that…trust me. Oh…and if they happen to have a hippogriff in your Care Of Magical Creatures class…don’t offend it. Really. And-”

“Daddy…you’re worrying again.”

“Heh…so I am. Enough of that, then. I don’t think ice cream would be a terrible fate to behold. You?”

“I suppose I could tolerate ice cream. If you let me order any flavor I want and promise not to fuss over me in front of other people so much. It’s not so bad at home, but really, Daddy, it’s not like I’m five! I’ll be thirteen in seven months. Don’t be so stodgy in front of the other kids…I don’t want them to think my father is an old fogy!”

Draco suddenly realized that he was completely mortified, and restrained the urge to lose his slender claim to dignity by defending his reputation against his twelve year old daughter. Stodgy! He wasn’t stodgy! He was…refined! Polished!

“As you wish, love. Ice cream for two, hold the worrying. I think I can fend off encroaching old age just long enough for this.”

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The children had boarded the Hogwarts Express, chattering merrily about their purchases and comparing lists of classes, Lily having firmly cemented her place by Cissy’s side, sharing stories of teachers and ghosts along the way, while Jamie gave a rakish wave from the window and just headed for his friends. Harry and Draco sighed at almost the same time, barely covered by the steam from the train as it geared up for its journey, slowly rolling forward with increasing vigor, just as it had in their day.

Draco flopped back against the stone arch nearest them, eyes rolling back in his head. Harry chuckled mildly.

“That bad? I thought you did just stellar, back at Diagon Alley. Or did she put you through the wringer when I wasn’t watching?”

“Harry…you have no idea.”

“Oh? I think I might. You wouldn’t believe what Jamie put me through! It was all scuffing feet and bored tones, but I think the Inquisition went easier on its victims than the interrogation I got.”

“Got you too, did they? I admit…I never really factored this kind of thing into my plans when we started seeing each other. Cissy is…well…when she wants to know about something, Merlin help me, it’s just about impossible to side track her. I mean really, Harry! I don’t even know where she learned about some of the things she asked?”

“You’re kidding?! She’s so…demure, I didn’t think you’d have it that bad. I had to fend off a quiz about whether we snogged when they weren’t watching. I dodged that one and steered my way back to safer ground. You know, hammering home that it’s a perfectly normal thing to like who one likes and all. Thank God their mother has her wits about her. No bloody idea how I’d have managed all this on my own. Scary how smart they’re getting. Or how wise. Like they have the world all figured out and they’re just a few years from being grown already. What did you run into?”

“Oh nothing much. The usual. Sweet Fucking Merlin, Harry…my twelve year old asked me if I was a bottom! We’re nothing alike! She’s blunt and direct and absolutely confounding to me at times. The degree to which I am woefully unprepared to cope with this isn’t covered by any chart you can imagine!”

“Wow. That’s a bit heavier than being asked if you snog. So…are you?”

“Good God, man! How should I know?! I’ve never…well not that! I told you I hadn’t done all that much. Do you think I just trot around the globe having it on with whomever crosses my fancy? I’m a Malfoy, for Merlin’s sake! A sense of decorum is called for! Are you?”

“Haven’t the foggiest. Wanna discuss it over ice cream?”

“Well, I suppose I could tolerate ice cream…as long as I can pick any flavor I want and you won’t make any faces over my choice. You have such plebian taste. Vanilla! Who goes to Fortescue’s and orders vanilla?”

It wasn’t precisely the road to high adventure, but as they strolled their way back a safe Apparition point, Draco fussed, and Harry smirked, and the Hogwarts Express steamed and rolled away, carrying another generation into the future. Children grew and changed, and the times made old things new and new things old, but ice cream was still ice cream, and that was alright.


TBC!!!