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hp_rarefestTitle: Lessons Learned
Author/Artist:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nightfalltwen
Prompt: # 30 bynightfalltwen
Pairing(s): Draco/Lavender
Word Count: 5270
Rating: PG
Warning(s)/Content: None
Disclaimer:Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Notes: Thank you for another great rarefest year! Shoutout to L for giving this a once-over.
Summary: Draco shows up at the infant school Lavender is running for magical children in order to enroll his son.
Livejournal Link
***
The knock on her door was precise with three rapid taps and two slow ones. Lavender finished putting away the paints and wiped her hands on the stained smock that covered her blouse. She pushed a chair in and flicked her wand at the paint brushes and jars of water, setting them floating off to the sink for cleaning. On the woven rug by the window, seven children busied themselves with cheese and fruit, little boxes of juice (blessed muggles and their inventions! - open cups led to far too much spillage in her first year) sitting on the floor.
"I'm coming. I'm coming," she called out when the knock repeated itself. "They're just having a sna— oh!"
Of all the people who could have been standing on the other side of her door, Lavender hadn't expected it to be Draco Malfoy. Granted, Parvati did make mention of a mysterious surprise in the cards for Pisces, but this wasn't exactly what she'd been hoping for. Sure, it fit the bill for mysterious. And a surprise. But it didn't have anything to do with being whisked away to an exotic location to have suntan potion rubbed all over her shoulders by a muscled man named Carlos, which was her fantasy. Lavender wasn't even sure if Draco Malfoy even knew what suntan potion was used for.
She stood a little straighter. "Can I help you?"
He looked her up and down, suddenly making her feel extremely self conscious about the paint-smeared smock she had on.
"This is a school," he said, not as a question.
Lavender folded her arms across her chest. "You're a bit older than my usual student, but yes."
His lips twitched and he turned slightly, making a small gesture. While Lavender did follow a lot of gossip (Blind Item! A certain tow-headed Falcons Chaser was seeing getting very cosy with the wife of a high-ranking Minister. Are there cuckhold wizards in the Ministry?), she tended to ignore anything that had to do with the Slytherin pureblooded elite. When she could. It was difficult now that Pansy Parkinson had taken over editorial duties at Witch Weekly. So her surprise at the little boy standing behind Draco was certainly genuine. She hadn't even realized that there had been a Malfoy wedding, nor that he'd had a child.
But far be it from her to intimidate a child. She crouched down and smiled gently at the little boy. "I'll wager that you're a fan of juice, fruit and cheese," she said. "If you go sit on the rug, you can have some."
The little boy hesitated, looking to Draco for assurance before slowly inching toward the rug. As soon as he was settled, a plate floated by and another juice box appeared. Lavender turned her attention back to Draco, reaching up to undo the buttons at her shoulder so she could remove the smock.
"This isn't a school for purebloods," Lavender said, muffled slightly as she tugged the garment up over her head. She sent it off with a wave to go hang itself on a hook, tugging her blouse straight.
"That's exactly why I'm here," Draco said, glancing cautiously over to the children. "Scorpius should grow up with friends. Friends who are..." He trailed off and made this tiny gesture towards his own chest.
"Less like a pureblooded Slytherin," Lavender finished.
"Something like that. My wife thinks that he's fine on his own, but I don't... I don't want him to grow up like I did."
A small part of Lavender just wanted to say no. She wanted to send him on his merry way, redemption be damned. All those times he'd sneered at her friends. That one time he hadn't said a word while Pansy Parkinson made fun of the sweets that Parvati's mum had sent for the holidays. The Inquisitorial Squad. Being a Death Eater. All her memories of him battled strongly with the rather contrite man standing in front of her, his gaze focused on the children behind her.
Lavender cast a glance over her shoulder and watched as Harry's little boy, Albus (what a name! That poor child!), approached Draco's son. She held her breath, debating over whether or not she should intervene, but exhaled slowly when the little boy held his hand out to Scorpius and the two boys clasped hands. Albus took a seat next to Draco's son and began dividing fruit and cheese between them as if they'd always been the best of friends.
She couldn't bring herself to refuse the little boy admission.
"They come to class from ten until two on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Eleven until three on Thursdays." She took out her wand and summoned a piece of parchment and an inkwell. "No classes on Tuesdays. I'll need you to fill this out with any information I might need to know. Age. Allergies. Magical incidents to watch out for."
She wasn't sure how, but somehow Draco managed to get himself seated on one of the tiny chairs at the low table in the corner. Lavender sent over a hot cup of tea, floating the cup above the reach of the children, before announcing that they could have free time for the next half an hour. The volume of childish squeals rose exponentially. Draco looked up from the form he was filling out and gave her a questioning look.
"It's purposeful chaos," she said, leaning against a bookshelf. "I want to see how they all play together."
"And giving them free reign does this?"
Lavender smiled. "It's not exactly free reign." She pointed toward an asian boy who was a little taller than the others directing a game of gobstones. "That's Cho Chang's boy. His dad's a Muggle and he'll be off to a regular Muggle school next year. He somehow keeps the chaos in check. The Weasley-Potter brood even listens to him."
"And you recommend that?" he asked, not looking up from the parchment. "That wizarding children go to a Muggle school once they're done here."
"It doesn't hurt," Lavender said with a shrug. "They'll get foundations that will only be an asset to them once they go to Hogwarts. But I leave that decision up to the parents. I'm good at the social or creative stuff like playing and games and art, but not so good with the maths."
She took the parchment when Draco was finished with it, scanned the tidy handwriting and then sent it off to her filing cabinet. When he didn't immediately get up from the tiny chair, Lavender hesitated. He seemed transfixed by the children, most of whom had gotten involved in cheering on the impromptu gobstone game, screeching with laughter when one of the stones squirted at Daisy Macmillan. Scorpius stood off to the side, watching the game but standing very still and very quietly.
"If you're concerned about leaving him, you can stay until he adjusts," she offered.
The tension seemed to go out of Draco's face and shoulders. He awkwardly stretched out his legs, bumping his knees against the low table. Lavender opened her mouth to suggest he might be more comfortable if he enlarged the chair, but ultimately decided that he was a grown man and didn't need teacherly suggestions from her. With a bob of her head, she turned her attention back to the children.
***
"You don't have to arrive after everyone else just to avoid talking to the other parents. They don't bite. I mean, aside from Ron, who might... but he's never the one to drop the kids off, so I think you're safe," she said after a few weeks of Draco turning up just as she was about to start the art project of the day.
"Some of us like to get an early start on the art of being fashionably late," he replied, a wry hint in his tone.
Lavender faltered slightly, taking the cloak from Scorpius and sending it off to his cubby. The little boy dashed over to the group, finding a smock to put on. She stared in disbelief at Draco who had taken up residence on that damn tiny chair he refused to use magic on in order to make it bigger.
"I'm sorry, were you just being sassy with me?"
"Perhaps," he said, folding his hands over one knee.
Lavender raised her chin and turned to the children, all crouched and smocked in front of large, orange pumpkins all ready to be carved. "Children? Is anyone allowed to be sassy with Miss Brown?"
A chorus of 'noooooooooooo' came from the small group.
"And what happens when someone is?"
"Garbage duty!" The words were accompanied by a number of giggles.
Lavender turned back to Draco. "It seems as if you have no choice."
Draco looked first to the giggling children and then to her before pushing himself to his feet. He made a show of removing his robe and then unbuttoning his shirt sleeves, rolling them up (and really she should not have noticed him baring his forearms like that. That was entirely inappropriate of her!), before he grabbed the garbage bin. She gave her head a shake and busied herself with magicking off the tops of the pumpkins before stepping back to let the carnage begin.
As the children dove in, Lavender smiled widely. She liked doing hands-on art projects like this with the children. It kept their thoughts busy and if there were little bursts of untamed magic that exploded a pumpkin or two, it didn't matter all that much. Granted, she wasn't that much of a fan of cleaning pumpkin innards off the ceiling (thank you very much, Charlotte Boot), but it was still worth it in the end. The kids learned to work together and no one felt like they were better than the other when they were elbow deep in mushy orange goo.
"I'm starting to wonder if you actually have a job," she said, catching Albus' attention and wagging her finger. The little boy put down the spoonful of goop he was holding over Rose's head. "You're always here."
"Most of my work can be done from home in the evenings," he replied, pointing his wand at some stray seeds and sending them into the bin.
"That doesn't give you a lot of family time," she said, handing one of the older children a marker to start drawing faces.
"No. It doesn't."
She watched the expression on his face change and decided not to pursue it. While she had little doubt that he loved his son, it was right there in the way he watched little Scorpius with such pride, she suspected that the relationship he had with his wife wasn't ideal. Draco rarely spoke of Astoria or his family in general. Their conversations over the last few weeks had kept to Scorpius' socializing and the friends he was making with the other children. She'd asked Draco what he thought about it and he'd only smiled and said something about how all it had taken was a handshake.
"Well," she said after a moment and held out another couple of markers. "I appreciate the assistance."
Draco eyed the writing tools. "I didn't think garbage duty included more than picking up the mess."
"I reserve the right to redefine any of my rules at any given time. And for now... that will involve giving a hand to the smaller children. The last time I did this, James drew on Albus' forehead."
"And yet you chose to carve pumpkins again?"
Lavender shrugged. "They have the most fun when they're getting messy."
***
Pointing her wand to the sky, Lavender conjured a few clouds and set them to snow across the back garden. The air was cold, but not cold enough for the white stuff to come tumbling down naturally. So she gave it a little nudge. The snowmen and snow forts from the day before received a new dusting of the white stuff and that which had been stamped down was made fresh again.
Glancing over her shoulder, she watched as the children dressed in their warm clothes. Her lips tightened a little, not seeing Scorpius among them. This was the sixth day that he'd not shown up and she was starting to grow a little concerned. Normally the winter brought a few sniffles here and there that caused some kids to miss a class or two, but never without the parent sending a note. She couldn't even imagine what she'd done wrong that would cause Draco to pull his son from class and not tell her. There was a tug at the hem of her coat.
"Is Scorpius ever gonna come back?" Albus asked, struggling to zip his jacket with mittened hands until Lavender crouched and reached to help him. "He's been gone for forever."
Lavender gave him a reassuring smile. "It's only been six class days. That's not nearly forever."
Albus puffed out his cheeks and swiped at his nose with the back of his mitten. "It's almost forever."
She ruffled his hair. "I'll talk to his dad this evening."
That didn't seem to give the little boy any solace. But he went out and played in the snow with the rest of the children. Lavender tugged on a woollen hat and followed, leaning down to scoop up some snow which she tossed playfully into the air. For now, she'd focus on the children who were in attendance. She'd save her attention for later for the one who was not.
It was dark when she arrived at the address that was written on Scorpius' information sheet. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting, but the modest looking house in Devon had not been it. Stepping up to the door, Lavender rang the bell and waited. She rubbed her arms and looked up, admiring the intricate carvings around the door frame. The scrolling marks were probably protective runes, though she couldn't translate them.
The door opened and she snatched back a hand that had reached out to touch the carvings.
"Can I help you?" a portly sort of fellow asked, holding the door ajar.
Lavender's brow furrowed and she took a small step back. Maybe she had read the information sheet incorrectly. "I was... I was looking for Draco Malfoy. Does he not live here?"
"Miss Brown!" A little blur pushed past the man at the door. Scorpius, who had long since shed his shy and quiet persona, flung his arms around her. "Did you come for grandfather's birthday?"
"I'm sure she did not," a soft spoke from the door. "Thurston, could you take Scorpius inside. Lottie has his supper ready to go upstairs." The man reached down and took the little boy's hand, leading him back inside.
Lavender didn't have any memories of Astoria Greengrass from school. Her sister, Daphne, had been one of Pansy's entourage. Lavender could definitely see the resemblance between the two and she hoped that was where the similarities ended. But judging from the expression on the other woman's face, she wasn't sure if that was the case. Astoria looked none too pleased that Lavender was standing on the doorstep.
"We're in the middle of a family affair," she said.
"Oh that's okay." Lavender offered a smile that wasn't returned. "I just came to check on things. Al has been asking after your son. We've missed him."
A perfectly sculpted eyebrow rose. "Missed him for what?"
"Classes..." Lavender said hesitantly, just as Draco came into view carrying a bottle of wine.
Astoria seemed to sense that her husband had appeared and turned, hands on her hips. "Classes?"
Draco looked first at his wife and then at Lavender, his shoulders falling. He set the wine bottle on a side table. "Astoria, I don't know if you remember Lavender Brown. She runs a little school out of her grandmother's home. Our son has been attending since mid-September."
It was only when she saw the irritation spread across Astoria's face that Lavender realised what had happened. Draco had enrolled his son without telling his wife. He'd come to class every day without telling his wife. She'd enjoyed his company and his conversation and seeing this whole other side of him and he hadn't even told his wife. It felt wrong. As if she was some little secret that had now been let out of the bag.
"I should go... I'm sorry," she said, backing up. "I was just worried about Scorpius."
"There's no need—" Draco started.
"No, you should go," Astoria snapped, she turned on Draco. "We have guests and I'd like to know why our son has been—"
Lavender didn't stop to hear the rest of what Astoria was saying, apparating back to her own house, the sitting room-turned-classroom to her right. She had so many questions. What was so shameful about Scorpius attending a little social setting with various children? Why did it need to be such a secret? And why had he spent all those days coming to class?
Stalking over to the desk in the corner, Lavender picked up Scorpius' information sheet, which she'd left sitting out. All of his contact information had been Draco's. The office. The floo instructions. There was no home contact.
Quite suddenly she found herself becoming very angry. Her school was a good school! She'd worked hard to create something that all manner of witch or wizard would want to have their child attend. She'd even grown past her battle injuries and defied all the stigma that tended to come with being scarred up by a werewolf like Fenrir Greyback. She wasn't something to be kept secret!
"This is not a bad place!" Lavender stamped her foot with a growl.
"It's not."
Lavender yelped in surprise and spun around, holding out her wand defensively before she remembered that she hadn't raised the wards after returning. She lowered her wand and waved her hand at Draco to put his own raised hands down.
"I'm sorry," he said.
"You didn't tell your wife about what you were doing!"
"I did not." Draco rubbed the back of his neck. "We'd been arguing about it for months and one day I was just watching him do a puzzle all by himself and I couldn't stand it anymore."
"So what did she think you were doing?"
"Riding lessons with Theodore. He was the only one who knew."
"You lied to me. And you lied to her."
"Don't you think I know that? I wanted him to have a better childhood than I did!" Draco sucked in a breath.
"And what was your excuse?" Lavender demanded. "You kept coming here. Every day! And what? Telling your wife that you were working as well as taking your work home? Why?"
Draco looked at her with an intensity that she hadn't seen before. It made the bottom drop out of her stomach and every little moment with him come into very sharp focus. The teasing conversations over the months, the smiles, the willingness to pitch in when she needed a parent helper. It hadn't been for the children, had it? It had been for her. He stepped close and put a hand to her cheek and there was this brief moment where she thought she might allow him to kiss her. Her frustration started to fizzle and the girly part of her leapt in excitement at the idea of being swept off her feet. His lips were almost touching hers when her anger roared back to life. No! She couldn't be that person. She couldn't be that 'other woman'. She shoved him away. Burying her fingers in her hair, she looked at him and shook her head.
"Stop!"
"Lavender..."
"It's better if you stop staying for class," she said, her jaw clenched. "You're married and I am not a tart. Sort this out with your wife. I don't care how. But Scorpius can't attend if I don't have her permission. You need to leave." Squeezing her eyes shut, she waited until she heard the familiar pop of apparition before she opened them again.
***
It wasn't until after the holidays that Scorpius returned to class. Albus was the first to jump up and shout a happy greeting, some of the other boys and girls following suit, each giving the little boy a hug or a handshake. Draco caught her eye and held out a co-signed permission form, but didn't say a word except to bid his son goodbye before leaving. Lavender, stunned, stood looking at the spot that had just been occupied before she put away the form and stuffed away her feelings, letting a bright smile fill her face.
"Alright! Who's ready for modelling clay!"
***
As the days turned into weeks and the weeks started to turn into one month and then two, Lavender felt like she'd made a mess of everything. They'd been so friendly before and now there was little to no interaction. He was only there to drop Scorpius off or pick him up and she barely got a hello out before he was gone again. Lavender felt this uncomfortable ache building in her chest every time he popped in and out. She found that despite how much she loved working with the children, she truly missed being able to interact and be cheeky with an adult.
"Dad!" Albus shouted, running across the room, plowing right through all of Lavender's dejected thoughts. "You're back! Did you get all the bad guys?!"
Harry dropped a bag on the floor and scooped up his son, flying him around the room before setting him down again. He gave Lavender a little salute and shooed his son back to the other kids to keep busy for a bit. He crossed the room to join her, having a look at all the dancing leprechauns that were plastered around the room, seemingly impressed.
"Surviving?" he asked.
"I survived your firstborn last year, everyone else is a walk in the park," she said with a smile.
Harry laughed and pointed at her. "You haven't met Lily-Luna yet. Think James, Albus and Ginny combined with a bit of both Fred and George."
Lavender leaned against her desk. "Have I mentioned I'm thinking about early retirement? I don't need my hair to fall out."
"I'm sure it wouldn't be as bad as all that. Think of all the practice you're getting with the others." Harry grinned. "So Ginny's doing a charity match with the Harpies and I've come to collect my Terror Number Two."
Folding her arms across her chest, Lavender jutted her chin out at the boys. Albus was waving his arms around, reenacting a story he was telling. "Maybe you should ask to take Scorpius with him. The pair are thick as thieves."
"Malfoy's boy?" Harry rubbed at his chin. "Yeah, Al doesn't stop talking about his best friend. But I think we'd have to get his mum's say-so as well."
"It's only a quidditch game, Harry, I can't imagine why you would... just ask Draco when he gets here."
Harry gave her a curious look as if he was suddenly confused by her. "Here I thought you kept up on all the news."
Lavender chuckled. "I'm not sixteen anymore, Harry. And I'm a little busy these days. McGonagall wants to have muggleborn children attend next year, so I'm jumping through hoops with the Ministry and the muggle government..." She tilted her head. "So what's the news?"
"Malfoy and his wife split. Apparently word is that the custody agreement involves both parents consenting to decisions about the boy." Harry snorted. "I don't even know how I ended up knowing about any of it; I try to ignore office gossip. But somehow everyone was talking and I couldn't escape the rumour mill. Unless I left the country. Which I did."
"Poor Scorpius," Lavender said quietly, looking toward the boys. "Draco didn't tell me. When did it happen?"
Harry shrugged and waved his hand to signal for Albus to join him. "Dunno. 'Round Christmas holidays, I think." Stooping down, he picked up his son and at him on his hip. "Anyway, time to go if we're going to get prime seats. See you Monday, yeah?"
She nodded. Once Harry and his son had vanished, she turned her attention back to the other children. Scorpius looked a little dejected that Albus had left, but soon found himself involved in a game of Niffler. Niffler. Doxy! to distract him. Lavender began tidying up the room while the children played, setting things to wash. She started taking down some of the old art and putting it into piles for the children to take home with them. Soon other parents were arriving and the group got smaller and smaller until it was just her and Draco's son.
She got out a box of wax crayons and a colouring sheet, setting it on the table. "I'll send a message to your dad," she said. "He's usually very punctual."
"No need," Draco appeared in the doorway. He looked a little frazzled. "My apologies. A meeting ran later than I had expected."
"It's fine. The last parent just left a few minutes ago." She crouched down at the table. "Could you keep colouring while I have a few words with your Dad?"
The little boy didn't even answer, just reached for the green crayon and got to work. Lavender pushed herself up and gestured for Draco to follow her into the next room. When she turned to face him, she noticed that he was doing everything he could to not look directly at her. Well, she wasn't going to have any of that. Lavender set her hands on her hips and waited for him to make eye contact, clearing her throat a bit while she waited.
"Did I break up your marriage?" she asked finally. "Because if I did anything... if my being friendly with you was the reason."
Draco took a step back in surprise. "What? No! No, Astoria and I were... we were in the process of discussing it before I even brought my son to you. Before anything changed with how I felt. About you."
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"What would I have said?" Draco looked at the floor.
"Maybe starting with the fact that you were on the outs with your wife and considering divorce. I mean, it happens. People don't stay together. Did you think I would have cared? I'm the last person to judge a failed relationship. Not when there's a long string of them that trail in my wake."
Draco puffed out his cheeks. "I had a hard time dealing with the failure of it all." He looked at her. "And an even harder time coming to terms with my growing fondness for you and I wasn't planning to act on it. Because who does that? Who fancies their son's teacher?" He put up a hand. "That was rhetorical. But then you came to my house, showing more concern for Scorpius than I've seen anyone else show... we'd decided to make the announcement that night. But then you left and I followed. Of course then you were angry and told me to go because I tried... And I did. I stayed away. Just like you wanted. Even if I didn't want to..."
His voice trailed off. Somewhere in the middle of his speech she'd taken a step closer and clasped his hand in hers. His fingers were cool and his palm a little bit clammy, but she found that she didn't quite care.
"If I changed my mind about that would you be less inclined to ramble on?" she said with a half smile. "It's rather unbecoming."
He hesitated for a moment and she watched as a clever glint came back into his expression. She half expected him to retort with something witty or cheeky or a quip of some sort. Instead he just allowed himself to genuinely smile and his fingers squeezed hers.
Lavender took a breath. "I've also started to realize just how much easier it was to run this place with a parent helper..."
"Would I be welcome if I wasn't able to commit the same amount of time as before? I do have an actual paying job that I should be doing."
She smiled. "I think we can work something out."
Draco tugged her a bit closer and dropped his head forward, resting his forehead against hers. He didn't kiss her, but she quickly realized that he didn't need to.
At least not yet.
***
September 1, 2017
"Grandfather said that all the Malfoys get placed in Slytherin," Scorpius said staring uneasily at the train.
"And do you think I will love you any less if the Sorting Hat sees a different path for you?" Draco rested a hand on his son's shoulder. "Or if you ask to be sorted elsewhere? Tell the hat what you want. Choose for yourself and then enjoy the term."
The whistle blew and cries of 'all aboard!' could be heard up and down the platform. Draco glanced down the train and saw the Potter-Weasley brood begin to climb onto the car. Everyone all waving and happy and achingly loud. Astoria darted forward and gave one last hug and a kiss that made Scorpius squirm in protest, his cheeks going red with embarrassment. Draco gestured to the open door and watched as the young boy hesitated before hopping onto the car. The train pulled out in a billow of steam and Draco turned to Astoria. Her pale eyes had filled with tears.
"He'll be fine." Draco checked his watch and then adjusted it to the clock that hung on the wall.
"I know he'll be fine." Astoria sniffed, her tone cool and began to dig in her handbag until she found a handkerchief to dab at the corner of her eyes. "Christmas then?"
Draco gave her a nod and watched as she turned on her heel and marched off, disappearing through the barrier. And that was that. He wouldn't see her again until the train pulled back into the station carrying their son home for the holidays. That was how things worked between them. They saw each other during the holidays and occasionally during social functions with mutual friends. Shrugging his shoulders, Draco held out his hand.
Lavender clasped his fingers and leaned into him, resting her chin against his upper arm. "I can't believe he's actually eleven and headed to Hogwarts. He's going to have an amazing time. You raised such a great kid."
Draco turned his head and kissed her temple. "I didn't do it alone."
"No. No you did not." She smiled. "But I was trying to be modest."
He let go of her hand and slid his arm around her waist. "Witch who runs the best magical infant school in the country? Modest? I just can't picture it."
"Oh! You!" Lavender swatted at him.
Draco chuckled. "Speaking of. How many are enrolled this year."
Lavender winced. "Thirty five... I have to hire a second teacher."
"Nothing you can't handle."
"I survived Harry's kids. I'll survive this."
"And you've got me," Draco pointed out, leading her through the barrier into the Muggle side of King's cross.
"I do. And I'm glad of it."
Author/Artist:
nightfalltwenPrompt: # 30 by
nightfalltwenPairing(s): Draco/Lavender
Word Count: 5270
Rating: PG
Warning(s)/Content: None
Disclaimer:Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Notes: Thank you for another great rarefest year! Shoutout to L for giving this a once-over.
Summary: Draco shows up at the infant school Lavender is running for magical children in order to enroll his son.
Livejournal Link
The knock on her door was precise with three rapid taps and two slow ones. Lavender finished putting away the paints and wiped her hands on the stained smock that covered her blouse. She pushed a chair in and flicked her wand at the paint brushes and jars of water, setting them floating off to the sink for cleaning. On the woven rug by the window, seven children busied themselves with cheese and fruit, little boxes of juice (blessed muggles and their inventions! - open cups led to far too much spillage in her first year) sitting on the floor.
"I'm coming. I'm coming," she called out when the knock repeated itself. "They're just having a sna— oh!"
Of all the people who could have been standing on the other side of her door, Lavender hadn't expected it to be Draco Malfoy. Granted, Parvati did make mention of a mysterious surprise in the cards for Pisces, but this wasn't exactly what she'd been hoping for. Sure, it fit the bill for mysterious. And a surprise. But it didn't have anything to do with being whisked away to an exotic location to have suntan potion rubbed all over her shoulders by a muscled man named Carlos, which was her fantasy. Lavender wasn't even sure if Draco Malfoy even knew what suntan potion was used for.
She stood a little straighter. "Can I help you?"
He looked her up and down, suddenly making her feel extremely self conscious about the paint-smeared smock she had on.
"This is a school," he said, not as a question.
Lavender folded her arms across her chest. "You're a bit older than my usual student, but yes."
His lips twitched and he turned slightly, making a small gesture. While Lavender did follow a lot of gossip (Blind Item! A certain tow-headed Falcons Chaser was seeing getting very cosy with the wife of a high-ranking Minister. Are there cuckhold wizards in the Ministry?), she tended to ignore anything that had to do with the Slytherin pureblooded elite. When she could. It was difficult now that Pansy Parkinson had taken over editorial duties at Witch Weekly. So her surprise at the little boy standing behind Draco was certainly genuine. She hadn't even realized that there had been a Malfoy wedding, nor that he'd had a child.
But far be it from her to intimidate a child. She crouched down and smiled gently at the little boy. "I'll wager that you're a fan of juice, fruit and cheese," she said. "If you go sit on the rug, you can have some."
The little boy hesitated, looking to Draco for assurance before slowly inching toward the rug. As soon as he was settled, a plate floated by and another juice box appeared. Lavender turned her attention back to Draco, reaching up to undo the buttons at her shoulder so she could remove the smock.
"This isn't a school for purebloods," Lavender said, muffled slightly as she tugged the garment up over her head. She sent it off with a wave to go hang itself on a hook, tugging her blouse straight.
"That's exactly why I'm here," Draco said, glancing cautiously over to the children. "Scorpius should grow up with friends. Friends who are..." He trailed off and made this tiny gesture towards his own chest.
"Less like a pureblooded Slytherin," Lavender finished.
"Something like that. My wife thinks that he's fine on his own, but I don't... I don't want him to grow up like I did."
A small part of Lavender just wanted to say no. She wanted to send him on his merry way, redemption be damned. All those times he'd sneered at her friends. That one time he hadn't said a word while Pansy Parkinson made fun of the sweets that Parvati's mum had sent for the holidays. The Inquisitorial Squad. Being a Death Eater. All her memories of him battled strongly with the rather contrite man standing in front of her, his gaze focused on the children behind her.
Lavender cast a glance over her shoulder and watched as Harry's little boy, Albus (what a name! That poor child!), approached Draco's son. She held her breath, debating over whether or not she should intervene, but exhaled slowly when the little boy held his hand out to Scorpius and the two boys clasped hands. Albus took a seat next to Draco's son and began dividing fruit and cheese between them as if they'd always been the best of friends.
She couldn't bring herself to refuse the little boy admission.
"They come to class from ten until two on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Eleven until three on Thursdays." She took out her wand and summoned a piece of parchment and an inkwell. "No classes on Tuesdays. I'll need you to fill this out with any information I might need to know. Age. Allergies. Magical incidents to watch out for."
She wasn't sure how, but somehow Draco managed to get himself seated on one of the tiny chairs at the low table in the corner. Lavender sent over a hot cup of tea, floating the cup above the reach of the children, before announcing that they could have free time for the next half an hour. The volume of childish squeals rose exponentially. Draco looked up from the form he was filling out and gave her a questioning look.
"It's purposeful chaos," she said, leaning against a bookshelf. "I want to see how they all play together."
"And giving them free reign does this?"
Lavender smiled. "It's not exactly free reign." She pointed toward an asian boy who was a little taller than the others directing a game of gobstones. "That's Cho Chang's boy. His dad's a Muggle and he'll be off to a regular Muggle school next year. He somehow keeps the chaos in check. The Weasley-Potter brood even listens to him."
"And you recommend that?" he asked, not looking up from the parchment. "That wizarding children go to a Muggle school once they're done here."
"It doesn't hurt," Lavender said with a shrug. "They'll get foundations that will only be an asset to them once they go to Hogwarts. But I leave that decision up to the parents. I'm good at the social or creative stuff like playing and games and art, but not so good with the maths."
She took the parchment when Draco was finished with it, scanned the tidy handwriting and then sent it off to her filing cabinet. When he didn't immediately get up from the tiny chair, Lavender hesitated. He seemed transfixed by the children, most of whom had gotten involved in cheering on the impromptu gobstone game, screeching with laughter when one of the stones squirted at Daisy Macmillan. Scorpius stood off to the side, watching the game but standing very still and very quietly.
"If you're concerned about leaving him, you can stay until he adjusts," she offered.
The tension seemed to go out of Draco's face and shoulders. He awkwardly stretched out his legs, bumping his knees against the low table. Lavender opened her mouth to suggest he might be more comfortable if he enlarged the chair, but ultimately decided that he was a grown man and didn't need teacherly suggestions from her. With a bob of her head, she turned her attention back to the children.
"You don't have to arrive after everyone else just to avoid talking to the other parents. They don't bite. I mean, aside from Ron, who might... but he's never the one to drop the kids off, so I think you're safe," she said after a few weeks of Draco turning up just as she was about to start the art project of the day.
"Some of us like to get an early start on the art of being fashionably late," he replied, a wry hint in his tone.
Lavender faltered slightly, taking the cloak from Scorpius and sending it off to his cubby. The little boy dashed over to the group, finding a smock to put on. She stared in disbelief at Draco who had taken up residence on that damn tiny chair he refused to use magic on in order to make it bigger.
"I'm sorry, were you just being sassy with me?"
"Perhaps," he said, folding his hands over one knee.
Lavender raised her chin and turned to the children, all crouched and smocked in front of large, orange pumpkins all ready to be carved. "Children? Is anyone allowed to be sassy with Miss Brown?"
A chorus of 'noooooooooooo' came from the small group.
"And what happens when someone is?"
"Garbage duty!" The words were accompanied by a number of giggles.
Lavender turned back to Draco. "It seems as if you have no choice."
Draco looked first to the giggling children and then to her before pushing himself to his feet. He made a show of removing his robe and then unbuttoning his shirt sleeves, rolling them up (and really she should not have noticed him baring his forearms like that. That was entirely inappropriate of her!), before he grabbed the garbage bin. She gave her head a shake and busied herself with magicking off the tops of the pumpkins before stepping back to let the carnage begin.
As the children dove in, Lavender smiled widely. She liked doing hands-on art projects like this with the children. It kept their thoughts busy and if there were little bursts of untamed magic that exploded a pumpkin or two, it didn't matter all that much. Granted, she wasn't that much of a fan of cleaning pumpkin innards off the ceiling (thank you very much, Charlotte Boot), but it was still worth it in the end. The kids learned to work together and no one felt like they were better than the other when they were elbow deep in mushy orange goo.
"I'm starting to wonder if you actually have a job," she said, catching Albus' attention and wagging her finger. The little boy put down the spoonful of goop he was holding over Rose's head. "You're always here."
"Most of my work can be done from home in the evenings," he replied, pointing his wand at some stray seeds and sending them into the bin.
"That doesn't give you a lot of family time," she said, handing one of the older children a marker to start drawing faces.
"No. It doesn't."
She watched the expression on his face change and decided not to pursue it. While she had little doubt that he loved his son, it was right there in the way he watched little Scorpius with such pride, she suspected that the relationship he had with his wife wasn't ideal. Draco rarely spoke of Astoria or his family in general. Their conversations over the last few weeks had kept to Scorpius' socializing and the friends he was making with the other children. She'd asked Draco what he thought about it and he'd only smiled and said something about how all it had taken was a handshake.
"Well," she said after a moment and held out another couple of markers. "I appreciate the assistance."
Draco eyed the writing tools. "I didn't think garbage duty included more than picking up the mess."
"I reserve the right to redefine any of my rules at any given time. And for now... that will involve giving a hand to the smaller children. The last time I did this, James drew on Albus' forehead."
"And yet you chose to carve pumpkins again?"
Lavender shrugged. "They have the most fun when they're getting messy."
Pointing her wand to the sky, Lavender conjured a few clouds and set them to snow across the back garden. The air was cold, but not cold enough for the white stuff to come tumbling down naturally. So she gave it a little nudge. The snowmen and snow forts from the day before received a new dusting of the white stuff and that which had been stamped down was made fresh again.
Glancing over her shoulder, she watched as the children dressed in their warm clothes. Her lips tightened a little, not seeing Scorpius among them. This was the sixth day that he'd not shown up and she was starting to grow a little concerned. Normally the winter brought a few sniffles here and there that caused some kids to miss a class or two, but never without the parent sending a note. She couldn't even imagine what she'd done wrong that would cause Draco to pull his son from class and not tell her. There was a tug at the hem of her coat.
"Is Scorpius ever gonna come back?" Albus asked, struggling to zip his jacket with mittened hands until Lavender crouched and reached to help him. "He's been gone for forever."
Lavender gave him a reassuring smile. "It's only been six class days. That's not nearly forever."
Albus puffed out his cheeks and swiped at his nose with the back of his mitten. "It's almost forever."
She ruffled his hair. "I'll talk to his dad this evening."
That didn't seem to give the little boy any solace. But he went out and played in the snow with the rest of the children. Lavender tugged on a woollen hat and followed, leaning down to scoop up some snow which she tossed playfully into the air. For now, she'd focus on the children who were in attendance. She'd save her attention for later for the one who was not.
It was dark when she arrived at the address that was written on Scorpius' information sheet. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting, but the modest looking house in Devon had not been it. Stepping up to the door, Lavender rang the bell and waited. She rubbed her arms and looked up, admiring the intricate carvings around the door frame. The scrolling marks were probably protective runes, though she couldn't translate them.
The door opened and she snatched back a hand that had reached out to touch the carvings.
"Can I help you?" a portly sort of fellow asked, holding the door ajar.
Lavender's brow furrowed and she took a small step back. Maybe she had read the information sheet incorrectly. "I was... I was looking for Draco Malfoy. Does he not live here?"
"Miss Brown!" A little blur pushed past the man at the door. Scorpius, who had long since shed his shy and quiet persona, flung his arms around her. "Did you come for grandfather's birthday?"
"I'm sure she did not," a soft spoke from the door. "Thurston, could you take Scorpius inside. Lottie has his supper ready to go upstairs." The man reached down and took the little boy's hand, leading him back inside.
Lavender didn't have any memories of Astoria Greengrass from school. Her sister, Daphne, had been one of Pansy's entourage. Lavender could definitely see the resemblance between the two and she hoped that was where the similarities ended. But judging from the expression on the other woman's face, she wasn't sure if that was the case. Astoria looked none too pleased that Lavender was standing on the doorstep.
"We're in the middle of a family affair," she said.
"Oh that's okay." Lavender offered a smile that wasn't returned. "I just came to check on things. Al has been asking after your son. We've missed him."
A perfectly sculpted eyebrow rose. "Missed him for what?"
"Classes..." Lavender said hesitantly, just as Draco came into view carrying a bottle of wine.
Astoria seemed to sense that her husband had appeared and turned, hands on her hips. "Classes?"
Draco looked first at his wife and then at Lavender, his shoulders falling. He set the wine bottle on a side table. "Astoria, I don't know if you remember Lavender Brown. She runs a little school out of her grandmother's home. Our son has been attending since mid-September."
It was only when she saw the irritation spread across Astoria's face that Lavender realised what had happened. Draco had enrolled his son without telling his wife. He'd come to class every day without telling his wife. She'd enjoyed his company and his conversation and seeing this whole other side of him and he hadn't even told his wife. It felt wrong. As if she was some little secret that had now been let out of the bag.
"I should go... I'm sorry," she said, backing up. "I was just worried about Scorpius."
"There's no need—" Draco started.
"No, you should go," Astoria snapped, she turned on Draco. "We have guests and I'd like to know why our son has been—"
Lavender didn't stop to hear the rest of what Astoria was saying, apparating back to her own house, the sitting room-turned-classroom to her right. She had so many questions. What was so shameful about Scorpius attending a little social setting with various children? Why did it need to be such a secret? And why had he spent all those days coming to class?
Stalking over to the desk in the corner, Lavender picked up Scorpius' information sheet, which she'd left sitting out. All of his contact information had been Draco's. The office. The floo instructions. There was no home contact.
Quite suddenly she found herself becoming very angry. Her school was a good school! She'd worked hard to create something that all manner of witch or wizard would want to have their child attend. She'd even grown past her battle injuries and defied all the stigma that tended to come with being scarred up by a werewolf like Fenrir Greyback. She wasn't something to be kept secret!
"This is not a bad place!" Lavender stamped her foot with a growl.
"It's not."
Lavender yelped in surprise and spun around, holding out her wand defensively before she remembered that she hadn't raised the wards after returning. She lowered her wand and waved her hand at Draco to put his own raised hands down.
"I'm sorry," he said.
"You didn't tell your wife about what you were doing!"
"I did not." Draco rubbed the back of his neck. "We'd been arguing about it for months and one day I was just watching him do a puzzle all by himself and I couldn't stand it anymore."
"So what did she think you were doing?"
"Riding lessons with Theodore. He was the only one who knew."
"You lied to me. And you lied to her."
"Don't you think I know that? I wanted him to have a better childhood than I did!" Draco sucked in a breath.
"And what was your excuse?" Lavender demanded. "You kept coming here. Every day! And what? Telling your wife that you were working as well as taking your work home? Why?"
Draco looked at her with an intensity that she hadn't seen before. It made the bottom drop out of her stomach and every little moment with him come into very sharp focus. The teasing conversations over the months, the smiles, the willingness to pitch in when she needed a parent helper. It hadn't been for the children, had it? It had been for her. He stepped close and put a hand to her cheek and there was this brief moment where she thought she might allow him to kiss her. Her frustration started to fizzle and the girly part of her leapt in excitement at the idea of being swept off her feet. His lips were almost touching hers when her anger roared back to life. No! She couldn't be that person. She couldn't be that 'other woman'. She shoved him away. Burying her fingers in her hair, she looked at him and shook her head.
"Stop!"
"Lavender..."
"It's better if you stop staying for class," she said, her jaw clenched. "You're married and I am not a tart. Sort this out with your wife. I don't care how. But Scorpius can't attend if I don't have her permission. You need to leave." Squeezing her eyes shut, she waited until she heard the familiar pop of apparition before she opened them again.
It wasn't until after the holidays that Scorpius returned to class. Albus was the first to jump up and shout a happy greeting, some of the other boys and girls following suit, each giving the little boy a hug or a handshake. Draco caught her eye and held out a co-signed permission form, but didn't say a word except to bid his son goodbye before leaving. Lavender, stunned, stood looking at the spot that had just been occupied before she put away the form and stuffed away her feelings, letting a bright smile fill her face.
"Alright! Who's ready for modelling clay!"
As the days turned into weeks and the weeks started to turn into one month and then two, Lavender felt like she'd made a mess of everything. They'd been so friendly before and now there was little to no interaction. He was only there to drop Scorpius off or pick him up and she barely got a hello out before he was gone again. Lavender felt this uncomfortable ache building in her chest every time he popped in and out. She found that despite how much she loved working with the children, she truly missed being able to interact and be cheeky with an adult.
"Dad!" Albus shouted, running across the room, plowing right through all of Lavender's dejected thoughts. "You're back! Did you get all the bad guys?!"
Harry dropped a bag on the floor and scooped up his son, flying him around the room before setting him down again. He gave Lavender a little salute and shooed his son back to the other kids to keep busy for a bit. He crossed the room to join her, having a look at all the dancing leprechauns that were plastered around the room, seemingly impressed.
"Surviving?" he asked.
"I survived your firstborn last year, everyone else is a walk in the park," she said with a smile.
Harry laughed and pointed at her. "You haven't met Lily-Luna yet. Think James, Albus and Ginny combined with a bit of both Fred and George."
Lavender leaned against her desk. "Have I mentioned I'm thinking about early retirement? I don't need my hair to fall out."
"I'm sure it wouldn't be as bad as all that. Think of all the practice you're getting with the others." Harry grinned. "So Ginny's doing a charity match with the Harpies and I've come to collect my Terror Number Two."
Folding her arms across her chest, Lavender jutted her chin out at the boys. Albus was waving his arms around, reenacting a story he was telling. "Maybe you should ask to take Scorpius with him. The pair are thick as thieves."
"Malfoy's boy?" Harry rubbed at his chin. "Yeah, Al doesn't stop talking about his best friend. But I think we'd have to get his mum's say-so as well."
"It's only a quidditch game, Harry, I can't imagine why you would... just ask Draco when he gets here."
Harry gave her a curious look as if he was suddenly confused by her. "Here I thought you kept up on all the news."
Lavender chuckled. "I'm not sixteen anymore, Harry. And I'm a little busy these days. McGonagall wants to have muggleborn children attend next year, so I'm jumping through hoops with the Ministry and the muggle government..." She tilted her head. "So what's the news?"
"Malfoy and his wife split. Apparently word is that the custody agreement involves both parents consenting to decisions about the boy." Harry snorted. "I don't even know how I ended up knowing about any of it; I try to ignore office gossip. But somehow everyone was talking and I couldn't escape the rumour mill. Unless I left the country. Which I did."
"Poor Scorpius," Lavender said quietly, looking toward the boys. "Draco didn't tell me. When did it happen?"
Harry shrugged and waved his hand to signal for Albus to join him. "Dunno. 'Round Christmas holidays, I think." Stooping down, he picked up his son and at him on his hip. "Anyway, time to go if we're going to get prime seats. See you Monday, yeah?"
She nodded. Once Harry and his son had vanished, she turned her attention back to the other children. Scorpius looked a little dejected that Albus had left, but soon found himself involved in a game of Niffler. Niffler. Doxy! to distract him. Lavender began tidying up the room while the children played, setting things to wash. She started taking down some of the old art and putting it into piles for the children to take home with them. Soon other parents were arriving and the group got smaller and smaller until it was just her and Draco's son.
She got out a box of wax crayons and a colouring sheet, setting it on the table. "I'll send a message to your dad," she said. "He's usually very punctual."
"No need," Draco appeared in the doorway. He looked a little frazzled. "My apologies. A meeting ran later than I had expected."
"It's fine. The last parent just left a few minutes ago." She crouched down at the table. "Could you keep colouring while I have a few words with your Dad?"
The little boy didn't even answer, just reached for the green crayon and got to work. Lavender pushed herself up and gestured for Draco to follow her into the next room. When she turned to face him, she noticed that he was doing everything he could to not look directly at her. Well, she wasn't going to have any of that. Lavender set her hands on her hips and waited for him to make eye contact, clearing her throat a bit while she waited.
"Did I break up your marriage?" she asked finally. "Because if I did anything... if my being friendly with you was the reason."
Draco took a step back in surprise. "What? No! No, Astoria and I were... we were in the process of discussing it before I even brought my son to you. Before anything changed with how I felt. About you."
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"What would I have said?" Draco looked at the floor.
"Maybe starting with the fact that you were on the outs with your wife and considering divorce. I mean, it happens. People don't stay together. Did you think I would have cared? I'm the last person to judge a failed relationship. Not when there's a long string of them that trail in my wake."
Draco puffed out his cheeks. "I had a hard time dealing with the failure of it all." He looked at her. "And an even harder time coming to terms with my growing fondness for you and I wasn't planning to act on it. Because who does that? Who fancies their son's teacher?" He put up a hand. "That was rhetorical. But then you came to my house, showing more concern for Scorpius than I've seen anyone else show... we'd decided to make the announcement that night. But then you left and I followed. Of course then you were angry and told me to go because I tried... And I did. I stayed away. Just like you wanted. Even if I didn't want to..."
His voice trailed off. Somewhere in the middle of his speech she'd taken a step closer and clasped his hand in hers. His fingers were cool and his palm a little bit clammy, but she found that she didn't quite care.
"If I changed my mind about that would you be less inclined to ramble on?" she said with a half smile. "It's rather unbecoming."
He hesitated for a moment and she watched as a clever glint came back into his expression. She half expected him to retort with something witty or cheeky or a quip of some sort. Instead he just allowed himself to genuinely smile and his fingers squeezed hers.
Lavender took a breath. "I've also started to realize just how much easier it was to run this place with a parent helper..."
"Would I be welcome if I wasn't able to commit the same amount of time as before? I do have an actual paying job that I should be doing."
She smiled. "I think we can work something out."
Draco tugged her a bit closer and dropped his head forward, resting his forehead against hers. He didn't kiss her, but she quickly realized that he didn't need to.
At least not yet.
September 1, 2017
"Grandfather said that all the Malfoys get placed in Slytherin," Scorpius said staring uneasily at the train.
"And do you think I will love you any less if the Sorting Hat sees a different path for you?" Draco rested a hand on his son's shoulder. "Or if you ask to be sorted elsewhere? Tell the hat what you want. Choose for yourself and then enjoy the term."
The whistle blew and cries of 'all aboard!' could be heard up and down the platform. Draco glanced down the train and saw the Potter-Weasley brood begin to climb onto the car. Everyone all waving and happy and achingly loud. Astoria darted forward and gave one last hug and a kiss that made Scorpius squirm in protest, his cheeks going red with embarrassment. Draco gestured to the open door and watched as the young boy hesitated before hopping onto the car. The train pulled out in a billow of steam and Draco turned to Astoria. Her pale eyes had filled with tears.
"He'll be fine." Draco checked his watch and then adjusted it to the clock that hung on the wall.
"I know he'll be fine." Astoria sniffed, her tone cool and began to dig in her handbag until she found a handkerchief to dab at the corner of her eyes. "Christmas then?"
Draco gave her a nod and watched as she turned on her heel and marched off, disappearing through the barrier. And that was that. He wouldn't see her again until the train pulled back into the station carrying their son home for the holidays. That was how things worked between them. They saw each other during the holidays and occasionally during social functions with mutual friends. Shrugging his shoulders, Draco held out his hand.
Lavender clasped his fingers and leaned into him, resting her chin against his upper arm. "I can't believe he's actually eleven and headed to Hogwarts. He's going to have an amazing time. You raised such a great kid."
Draco turned his head and kissed her temple. "I didn't do it alone."
"No. No you did not." She smiled. "But I was trying to be modest."
He let go of her hand and slid his arm around her waist. "Witch who runs the best magical infant school in the country? Modest? I just can't picture it."
"Oh! You!" Lavender swatted at him.
Draco chuckled. "Speaking of. How many are enrolled this year."
Lavender winced. "Thirty five... I have to hire a second teacher."
"Nothing you can't handle."
"I survived Harry's kids. I'll survive this."
"And you've got me," Draco pointed out, leading her through the barrier into the Muggle side of King's cross.
"I do. And I'm glad of it."
