Too Young

Harry raced down the corridor, he was late and there was a good chance that Livvie was throwing a tantrum. He had been late a few weeks ago and she had convinced Dobby that he was gone like Mama.

Dobby had called Winky who had nearly torn the castle apart searching for Harry, or his body. Harry had come home to find his daughter sobbing on the shoulders of an inconsolable house elf.

So he now found himself sliding in front of the portrait as he tried to slow from full-speed to a full-stop. He huffed out the password and tore into the living room only to see it empty and hear total silence. He called for Dobby and was met by a giggling elf. Dobby’s uniform was dotted with wet spots and there was soap foam behind his left ear.

“Dobby where is Livvie?” Harry asked the jovial elf.

“Miss Olivia be in the tub with Master Draco.” He answered with a smile.

Harry stared at the elf a minute, puzzled and then quietly walked to the bathroom where he found a sight more amusing than an elf covered in soap bubbles.

Draco Malfoy was in the tub with a two year old again, this time covered in pink bubbles. Olivia was jumping around splashing water and bubbles all about the bathroom in her excitement. Harry couldn’t contain the laugh that flooded to the surface. His tiny guffaw drew Draco’s attention away from the small child splashing beside him to Harry’s reddened face.

“I seem to remember seeing you in this position as well Potter and I remember hearing there are photos? I would rein in your amusement were I you.” He squawked at his friend.

“Well in that case, mind if I join you?” He teased the blond, not actually expecting to hear Draco tell him “The water’s fine, come on in.”

That was how Harry came to spend his evening bathing with Draco Malfoy, sex god, in the least sexy way possible.

Harry had been in the warm water with Olivia on his lap for about five minutes when the flash went off. He didn’t know what to do and Livvie got dunked in his shock. There stood Dobby with a magical camera and a huge smile on his face.

“Master Harry Potter said to take pictures of Miss Potter so Dobby is doing that. Dobby got good picture, Master Harry is happy with Dobby?” The tiny house elf squeaked.

Harry calmed and cradled a slightly stunned toddler in his arms and told Dobby that it was fine, and to be sure that the only copy of that photo ended up in the family album.

Sitting as he was, with his daughter on his lap Harry looked over to see Draco smile softly at the two of them. His green eyes connected with the blonds silver ones and he smiled softly as well. It was a touching moment there in the tub and neither took note of chiseled chests or firm biceps. They saw companionship and friendship and perhaps a little bit more, most of all though, they felt the connection that the three of them shared. They were a family in all ways, not just by blood relation.

Harry found himself amazed that he had grown so close to the Slytherin in such a short time. There was a time when he would have chosen him as the most likely to be a minion of the Dark Lord, the last thing from a friend to the Boy-Who-Lived. It was almost like they were two different people and he supposed in a way that they were. There was Draco, the person, and Malfoy the persona. If there was one thing he could recognize in Draco it was his survival skills that so greatly matched his own.

He had learned at the Dursley’s to keep your head down and go along to get along. Most likely Draco had learned young that the best way to be safe in a Death Eater family is to spout Death Eater propaganda, and so he did at every available opportunity. It made for a lonely existence, but at least he was alive to become his own person now that he was nearing adulthood.

***

Harry found the photo on his desk the next morning ready to be put into the family photo album that he kept in the top drawer. He was amazed to see the people in the photo playing and splashing and having a good time. What he failed to take note of though were the sly looks that were being cast between the two boys in the picture. Perhaps he was simply not ready to notice.

Draco, however, who was looking over his shoulder, did notice the affectionate glances between the two young men in the photo. He saw the way that Olivia looked adoringly at each of them. To him the picture was so beautiful it could make him cry, that is, if he wasn’t a Malfoy.

“Harry, can I have a copy of that? I’d like to frame it for my quarters.” He asked the boy seated at the desk.

“Sure Coco, just copy it and bring it back when you’re done.” He answered, touched by the fact that Draco wanted the photo of the three of them.

Draco hummed as he removed the photo and cast the replication charm on it. He pulled out his wand and whispered “effingos” on it and placed the copy into his shirt pocket. Then he carefully placed the other copy onto the album page and sealed it in.

“Thanks Harry. This is just such a great picture.” He would continue to watch photo later to see if the boys in the tub would continue their coy behavior.

Harry smiled at him as he went to fetch the pillow and blanket he kept on hand for Coco to use on the sofa. They weren’t in his cupboard as they usually were and he could find them nowhere else in the apartment.

“Coco, the bedding is missing.” He told his friend.

“Oh well, I’ll just sleep in my own bed then.” He sighed.

“You could share with me if you want?” Harry offered. “I mean friends do share right?” He stammered. He was of two minds, one part of him wanting nothing more than to sleep in the same bed as the beautiful blond before him, another part scared to death that Draco might say ‘yes’.

“Yes Harry, friends do share.” He smirked and used his wand to call his pajamas to him. He was aware that this could end up an embarrassing mistake for both of them, but for just one night in the Gryffindor’s arms he would take the risk.

Harry found himself conflicted. He wanted so badly to have an actual relationship, maybe even with Draco, but he had to think of his daughter first. If things went badly between the two of them, she would grieve his loss. Olivia had suffered enough as far as he was concerned and that was why he had not pursued the blond.

It was obvious to Harry that the blond would reciprocate his feelings, at least at first. What would he do however when people started to notice there was more than friendship involved? It had been risky to ask the blond to his bed, but he just couldn’t resist the thought of a night spent next to him.

The two boys slept well and woke to find a warm body snuggled between them. At some point in the night, Livvie had made her way into her father’s room and upon finding her two favorite men sharing a bed had crawled in between. She was snuggled down under the blankets, on her back. She had one hand on her fathers arm, and the other laying carelessly against Draco’s back.

A tear crept into the corner of his eye as he watched the two blond heads sleep. It reminded him greatly of mornings that he would wake to find himself with both Livvie and Sarah beside him. They may have been married in name only but they wanted to provide as much of a normal life for their daughter as they could. It was a strange case of déjà-vu. It was strange now to be in bed with another Malfoy, one of the right gender, who loved his daughter so much.

Quietly Livvie stirred and woke to her fathers gaze. She saw that he was a bit sad and crawled into his arms to hug him. They lay there, the two of them, father and daughter cuddled together mourning the mother that was missing. Draco woke to find the two sleeping, Livvie on her fathers chest. They were holding each other and tear tracks could be seen on each face.

He did not know what had brought about this tableau; it was bittersweet in its beauty. He ran his hand through the tiny child’s soft blond hair and then gently touched her father’s cheek, the sadness reaching him as well. He rolled closer to the pair and lay with his face against Harry’s shoulder until the other two woke up.

***

Harry never told Draco the reason for the tears this morning. Draco would surely rather not know that his presence in the bed this morning had been a bit disturbing. Harry had felt like a traitor to his wife, even if the marriage was one of convenience. Livvie had been upset too, although she hadn’t been able to say why, Harry had the feeling that for just one moment she had thought her Mama had come back.

It was a quiet morning. Draco had felt awkward as he had known he would, but he also had the feeling that he was being left out of something fairly important. He was shocked when Livvie threw a tantrum that morning about her hair. Harry had finally convinced her to let him do it each day and this morning she refused, quite loudly. When Draco had attempted to interfere she had broken down in tears and hid beneath her bed. Harry had looked broken hearted and raced after her.

That’s how they came to be here camped out beside the little girl’s bed on a beautiful Saturday morning. “Sweetie, please come out, I’ll let you wear your hair down today if you want.” Harry tried to coax the child.

Livvie was having none of it. If her Mama couldn’t do her hair she wasn’t coming out. Maybe if she waited long enough Mama would come to scold her? She waited and waited.

They had been sitting beside the bed, taking turns begging the child when there was a knock on the outer door to Harry’s quarters. Draco rose and walked into the other room to answer the door. There he was faced with his two least favorite Gryffindors.

“Weasley, Granger, come in,” he said, aggravating Ron by just being there.

“Malfoy, what are you doing here already? Don’t you ever leave Harry alone?” He asked nastily.

“Weasley, right this moment we have something much more important going on than your petty childish rivalry,” Draco said as he turned and marched back into Livvie’s room.

Harry looked like he was ready to either pull his hair out or cry, and he wasn’t sure which. Ron and Hermione had followed Draco into the bedroom and found it odd to see Harry sitting beside the child’s bed in such a state.

“No luck?” Draco asked.

“No Coco, she won’t come out.” Harry said.

“What’s going on?” Hermione asked. As her voice was heard, tiny green eyes could be seen peeking out from under the bed. Two of the boys made a grab for her and missed as she retreated back under the bed.

“What’s going on? Why don’t you just move the bed?” Ron asked as if everyone else in the room had just lost their mind.

“I want to find out why she is hiding Ron,” Harry said. He was still pretty new at this and he wondered about his friend’s approach. “If she doesn’t come out in the next half hour we will move the bed OKAY?” He asked everyone in the room. They all nodded their agreement.

“Let me try Harry, maybe she needs a woman this morning.” Harry thought Hermione didn’t know how close to the truth she was. She was the wrong woman though.

Harry cleared away from the bed and let Hermione take his place. She started softly cooing to the child and asking her sweetly to come out. Livvie just yelled back.

“You’re not my Mama!!” She screamed.

Harry finally decided that crying was the best option and tears started to silently slide down his cheeks. His heart was breaking for the little girl who only wanted her mother.

“Sweetheart, Mama’s in heaven, you know that. She can’t come back. I’m so sorry. If you come out, Daddy will let you look at the picture album, would that be okay? And Hermione can do your hair, she’s better than me or Coco,” Harry coaxed, tears still falling. Livvie sensed the sadness in her father’s voice and slowly crawled out from the dark place. She hated to see Daddy cry.

As soon as she was out Harry swept her up in his arms and held her close to his chest. He kept whispering to her about how sorry he was and how much he wished that Mama could be there with them.

Draco also came over and hugged the little girl. She let go of her Daddy and turned to hug the blond. She loved Coco; she just wished that her Mama had come back to her.

***

Later in the day, moods had improved. Dobby had been upset to hear about the morning they had when he got back from his day off. He had been the one to hide the bedding hoping that his two masters would become closer. He had not wanted to upset anyone and he was silently punishing himself for doing just that.

He had made Livvie her favorite cookies with chocolate milk to make up for it. Ron and Draco had been shocked by the chocolate milk, they had no idea you could do that. Harry had taught Dobby how to do it.

They were all sitting around the table eating cookies and drinking the milk while Livvie silently munched and cuddled with her father. Draco was still wondering what had caused the problem this morning and he was thinking that he would have to have a conversation with Harry about it later.

Harry was looking around the room at his friends, holding his cookie eating daughter on his lap. He was amazed that he had been lucky enough to have such wonderful friends in his life. There was just one friend missing and that hole would remain unfilled. He had hopes and dreams for the future that had been changed by one day.

***

Monday morning Livvie was still a bit clingy to her father. It had taken him an extra ten minutes to get out the door that morning. He was running full-speed for Potions having sent Draco on ahead when he realized things were going to be difficult. He only hopped that he got there before Snape blew a gasket.

Harry managed to squeeze in the door just in front of Snape and slide into a seat beside Draco. He was surprised to see parchment, ink and quill already set out for him to take notes on today’s potion. He would have turned to thank the boy had the Potions Master not given him a dirty look at that moment.

Potions class was grueling. They were working on a potion that had to be done by the phases of the moon. Snape had told them that they would be responsible for getting to the lab to add ingredients should the proper phase not fall on a class day. One wrong step and a whole month’s worth of grades would be lost. Fortunately for him, Draco was his partner. Not only was he good at potions but he was favored by Snape. Hopefully that would off balance the hatred the Professor felt for him.

The free period following Potions found the four in the library. Harry brought up a topic he had wanted to talk to Draco about, hoping that it wouldn’t upset his other friends.

“Coco, what do you think we should do about Yule this year? Last year Sarah celebrated both Yule and Christmas with her, and I would be surprised if she remembered it. I would like to do both as well.” Harry told his friends. Ron looked to Hermione who was lost in the conversation. As analytical as she was, it had never entered her mind to study religions when she was learning about Wizards.

Ron, having grown up in a house that didn’t observe all of the traditions only had a vague idea of what a true Yule celebration was. He knew about the log, they always had one lit, but not about the idea’s behind the feasts and rituals.

“There isn’t any reason that we can’t celebrate both Harry. Many of the traditions coincide. I don’t know much about Christmas traditions except what I have seen here at Hogwarts. I’ve never actually celebrated one, but I can help with the Yule Celebration,” he told the Gryffindor.

“Harry,” Hermione started, “I still can’t believe that we didn’t know you were Pagan, all of these years you’ve celebrated on your own. Why didn’t you ever share this with us?”

“I guess it was something private for me; something that only I knew. So many people know so much about my life, it’s all in the paper, and I just wanted to keep this one thing for myself,” he answered. “Now with Olivia here I’m more open with it because I am starting our traditions together. I want her to be proud of where she comes from and what she believes.”

“She could never be anything but proud of where she comes from Harry.” Draco told him with an affectionate squeeze of his shoulders. He could not hold in his pride in being a part of something so good.

***

Yule continued to creep up on them and Hermione had offered to play with Livvie while Draco and Harry went down to the village to buy presents and obtain supplies for their own private feast. There were candles and incense, Yule logs and gifts. Harry had seen a set of figurines that he felt he needed to purchase. One was a young lady with flowing brown hair and dainty features, the next was a buxom blond with wide hips and a babe at her breast, the third a bent old woman with wisdom in her eyes. They would do well for the three feast nights they planned during the Yule.

Harry had made arrangements with Hagrid for both a tree and a log. He had delivered it the day before the Solstice was to begin and the three of them decorated it together. They placed red bows and white candles around the tree and strung red berries to hang around them. Draco had cut out white snow flakes out of paper to place here and there on the tree. All in all it was a beautiful sight. The Yule log was beside the fire ready to be lit the next evening at sunset, and Olivia could barely contain herself. She was excited about having a real tree in her house, and the dinners they were going to have.

Harry had invited his friends to celebrate with him, and true to her nature Hermione had done research so that she wouldn’t offend anyone during the feast. Ron had never been part of a traditional celebration and was glad to have the experience. Lupin, Snape, Dumbledore and Neville Longbottom had also accepted invitations to be there for the lighting of the log and the feast to follow.

***

That first night was warm and comfortable. As all the guests gathered they stood about the fireplace watching as Harry carefully placed the log. The fire would be started by Harry, as the youngest capable of casting the spell. Once the fire was lit they sat and talked quietly for a few minutes before being seated at the dinner table.

The table was set beautifully with the young maiden surrounded by beautiful red candles at its center. Harry asked Draco to say a brief blessing and they began their meal.

After dinner they again spent time talking with Hermione asking many questions about what the holy day meant.

Ron had enjoyed celebrating the way that his family had done before current generations. He had felt a part of something in a way that he had not before. He thought perhaps his family’s adoption of muggle ways wasn’t the only way to do things.

Professor Dumbledore looked over all assembled with pride. So many of his children all in a room together, happily celebrating the beginning of Yule. They were in all stages of life here in this room; all his children in a way. The young people not yet jaded by the outside world. The older men, believing that they know all life has to offer, mentoring the next generation, and finally himself, the elderly patriarch of this odd crew. Everything in life had to start at the beginning and flow through life to the end.

He looked to the child dozing on the blond Slytherin’s lap. The cycle was continuing in her. He still could not picture James Potter as a grandfather, and he supposed he would never be able to. He did know however that despite the circumstances of her arrival, James and Lily would have been proud of their son and his child.

***

At the end of the evening, Harry had invited all of those attending to enjoy the remaining two feasts with them. He had enjoyed this night and sharing this part of his life with all of his friends. It had been the first Yule he had celebrated with Ron and Hermione. Prior to tonight he had not felt comfortable sharing his beliefs with them. Now, he hoped that they had developed an appreciation for the Old Ways.

Livvie was asleep in Draco’s lap as he added more small logs to the fireplace. When Draco turned to smile at him, his heart dropped into his stomach. Livvie, noticing the tightening of her father’s arms, stirred in her sleep.

Harry scooped her up and carried her into the bedroom. He had practiced a charm on one of her baby dolls earlier and felt confident to try it on his daughter. With a swish and a flick he had her undressed, a swish flick and circle and he had her in her favorite pair of pajamas and under the covers.

He turned to leave the room to find Draco staring at him from the door. “Useful spell that.” He commented before he walked back to the living room to continue getting things neatened up.

“Coco, you don’t have to do that. Dobby will have a fit and you know it.” Harry told the blond.

“Harry, just because Dobby will do it doesn’t mean I have to leave a mess for him. It’s been good having him with me again. I missed him when he was gone from the manor, and not just when I was wishing someone would sneak me food or a numbing potion.

“I know what you mean. There were times in my cupboard when I would have wished for a friend to talk to, even a house elf. I was so lonely there in the dark for so many years.” Draco had heard rumors, of course, but this was the first time he had heard anything about the abuse from Harry.

“They kept you locked up?” He asked the Gryffindor.

“Yes, in a cupboard. It had a tiny cot, with a shelf right above my pillow. It wasn’t so bad when the spiders had just been cleaned out.” He shrugged nonchalantly.

“My father preferred the Dungeon. Not the bad dungeon that he reserved for muggles you understand, but the upper one that was mainly for punishing family members. Nothing as cruel as what he would do to muggles. Mostly he would lock me up after a really good beating with that cane of his and leave me there for a day or two without food. A house elf would check on me every few hours, offer me water and leave me be. No healing was provided. I think had I remained unconscious or they felt I was in danger they would have reported it. I think they would have.” He shared.

“Food was always a big thing for me. I was never really allowed to eat with the family or what the family ate. They had steak and eggs for breakfast and I had a stale muffin from the day before with a glass of water before I was handed a list of chores that would take three days and told I wouldn’t eat until they were done. I think during the summers I was there, before Livvie was born, I ate about two to three times a week. They were always careful to make sure I had enough cool water, even if it was from the hose. I think that was because one time I did pass out from heat exhaustion in the front yard and a neighbor called the ambulance.

Boy, did I get it for that. I spent two weeks in my cupboard for that one. At least Vernon didn’t hit me that time.” He felt compassion for the beautiful boy at his side and he wanted Draco to know that there was someone out there that had suffered what he had.

“The longer I know you Harry, the more we have in common. It’s almost scary to me how we never noticed this before. We could have had each others support in this all along. Instead we made it worse. I can’t believe what a fool I was. I thought that by antagonizing you I could impress my father. I was wrong; nothing I have done, or ever will do will impress my father. The man has no heart.” Draco spat.

Harry leaned over and took the other boy into his arms. He held Draco and rubbed his back in a soothing manner. He only wished he had the courage to do more.

***

The celebration of Yule continued. Some had asked if they were also celebrating Christmas, thinking that they might like to get a gift for the tiny blonde. Harry had told everyone that they were indeed and that Christmas would be followed a few days later by the final Yule feast.

Harry had talked to the men in his life and had begged, pleaded and cajoled them all, trying to get someone to be Father Christmas. Dumbledore was a shoe in, except that he didn’t need a costume and he was sure to look just like himself. Snape was out because he just couldn’t do the smile right. That left Remus and Ron; Draco said not even for Olivia would he don that hideous costume, but that he would gladly play along with the rouse.

“Okay, it will have to be one of you two unless you can think of someone else?” He asked looking around the room to see if anyone did indeed have a better idea.

Professor Dumbledore stood and cleared his throat. “I believe that my brother Alberforth may be willing to be a party to your scheme. He looks much like I do, but were I to be in the room when St. Nick made the appearance, it would not seem too suspicious.