Chapter Text
“Your brother’s obsessed with Scorpius, James,” Ron noted once they had calmed down. James sighed fondly.
“He really is. They’re more like brothers than anything, always holding each other’s hands, sleeping in the same bed, ever since Scorpius fed him candy during Albus’ first train ride. Sometimes I even wonder if Albus is closer to Scorpius or to me.” James said, his eyes distant as he reminisced. Ginny snorted this time.
“Brothers, yeah, sure. Albus added hearts above Scorpius, James.”
“Wait! What?!”
James backtracked to Albus’ pictures with Scorpius and indeed many had hearts. The picture of them at the beach, the picture of them at a mall, and the picture at some sort of event where they were dressed very formally had many hearts. Albus was even visibly blushing in the picture, Scorpius’ arm around his neck.
Harry had to admit, Scorpius looked more than proper in his Slytherin green suit, looking way, way more handsome than bloody Malfoy.
“Shovel talk?” Harry offered. James grinned.
“Shovel talk. Later.”
“There’s a voicemail from Mum that Albus hasn’t opened. Has he downloaded it, though? There’s no signal here.” James asked no one in particular.
A woman’s voice spoke, and it was far too familiar for Harry to be left guessing.
“Al, tell James to pick up his phone, or else I’ll ban him from video games for a month! Good job on your Charms, though, sweetie. I got the report from your professor. Unlike your big brother. He got twenty points taken off for bringing a Puffskein into the dorm room, getting fur everywhere, Al. Merlin!”
James reddened in embarrassment and tried so hard to shut the phone down, but he failed. They laughed jovially at the boy’s expense, cheeriness descending upon the Gryffindors.
They had breakfast together, and his dad asked permission for Harry, his brothers, and Scorpius to get supplies and clothing in Hogsmeade. Dumbledore gave them permission, instructing them to be ‘discreet’, he winked. Harry's friends couldn't come along though, so it was only Harry, his new family, Draco, and Scorpius.
They walked together through the village. It was surprisingly empty that day, perhaps because it was right after breakfast. They were all chatting lightly as they entered a clothing store first.
"So, Junior, you still need to compete in the tournament." His dad announced. Harry hummed. "I'm debating whether or not to tell you what the challenges are and whether telling you will help or make your chances worse." He pondered further.
"Is it... dangerous?" His dad snorted loudly.
“Of course. Nothing in the life of Harry Potter is ever without danger.” Harry sighed tiredly while his brothers chuckled.
“Just tell him and the method you used later, scarface.” Draco said, picking up some shirts and holding them up to Scorpius, the boy making some contemplative noises before his father interpreted the sound as disapproval.
The moment Draco turned around to look at trousers, Scorpius snuck the shirt into the shopping basket, deciding that he liked it after all.
His dad wasn’t as picky as Draco, and he just kept piling all sorts of clothing into the magically expanding basket. It was extremely financially irresponsible… Well, Harry knew they were well off, but they weren’t that well off. At least compared to Draco, that was.
Harry heard the man making some humming noises as he picked up some towels and underwear. The boys were looking at something on Albus' phone, which he also showed Harry. It was… Tommy, doing the number two.
“Brother, eugh...” James said with a scrunched nose.
“Shut up, he’s cute! Just look at his lil’ face!” Albus huffed.
“Al. He’s pooping.” Harry deadpanned, getting a high five from James for agreeing with him.
“What’s Tommy doing?” Scorpius asked as he leaned over Albus. “Aww, adorable.” He further gushed. Scorpius rested his chin on his younger brother’s shoulder as they watched the videos, reaching over him to tap at the phone a few times. Harry could see Albus trying rather pathetically to conceal his blush. Harry rolled his eyes.
They moved on to Scrivenshaft’s, where they bought quills, inkwells, and parchments—all kinds of stationery, honestly. James and Albus were bemoaning not being able to use a pen, and that was when the store manager showed them his private collection of Muggle pens, about which he never stopped talking—the history, craftsmanship, and everything about said pens.
They cost a fortune.
“Scam! We’ve got a scammer here, everyone!” James announced loudly in the store, causing the manager to flush and the two patrons in the store to look.
“Booo! Lameee!” Albus supported his brother. Harry simply observed, watching as the cavalry arrived.
“What’s going on here?” His dad asked, his hands already on his hips.
“He’s trying to scam us! What do you mean, a hundred and ten galleons for a ballpoint?!” James said.
Dad stepped up to take a look at the boxes and the engravings on the pens. He then whirled on his feet, already bearing down on the boys.
“Boys, these are luxury pens, Montblancs. Apologise to the man.Now!” His dad admonished. The two brothers cringed, that was, until James started rubbing his chin.
“Hmm…” James pondered. He turned to the manager. “Sir, would you rather accept a halfhearted apology that you know I don’t mean, or rather a purchase of your exuberantly priced pens?”
Merlin and Godric Gryffindor, this bloke was annoying! Dad was already fuming, but the manager had a contemplative expression on his face.
“The… purchase…?” he asked, confused.
“Great! We’ll take two!” James continued. Dad was exasperated, as seen by how he was pinching the bridge of his nose, Draco and Scorpius looking amused in the background.
“At least… at least get the fountain pen. They didn't allow ballpoints in the 90s.” Dad said tiredly.
“This seems really financially irresponsible,” Harry muttered. He felt Scorpius reach out and hold his shoulder. And that was when he noticed it. Damn it! A third-year student was taller than him.
“Don’t worry. They got it.”
“It’s the principle, Scorpius. Not if they can afford it or not.” Harry muttered, getting his brother’s ‘friend’ to chuckle.
“Happy early birthday, Al!” James said as he shoved one of the beautifully packaged bundles into Albus’ hands.
“What?! I don’t want a sh*tty pen as a replacement for my birthday present!”
“It’s a Rouge et Noir!” The manager whined.
“Al, it’s 180 galleons, and it has a snake on it. For my snakey boy.” James said annoyingly, patting Albus’ head. Albus sighed.
“Right. Thanks, James.”
“You’re welcome! Now that you’ve received my gift… I guess I don’t need to commission that Breaker shotgun then.” James teased. Albus gasped dramatically.
“No! Take it back! I want the shotgun, James! Here’s your galleons. Keep the change!” Albus said as he rummaged in his pocket and threw a money pouch at James.
“I was just kidding! Take your galleons. Don’t need em.”
Harry watched the proceeding in sheer bafflement. How… how rich and spoiled were they to just carry around hundreds of galleons like that?
Harry was nursing his cup of tea in Madam Puddifoot’s after a very successful shopping trip, and he honestly hated the place. It was very tacky, all pink and bright colours and stuff.
James, on the other hand, loved the place, talking about how he had his first date here with a Hufflepuff girl, their relationship lasting a whopping three weeks.
The cause of their breakup? James being a popular quidditch player.
Yeah… no. Harry would have dumped a girl if she hated quidditch too… if he could find a girlfriend, that was.
“You dated Gloria? I thought she was just a friend.” Albus said, munching on some biscuits.
“Yeah, it never really felt like we were dating, and that was back in 2nd year anyway. Didn’t know what dating really means.”
“So… uh, can we… can we start talking about the tasks please?” Harry started. His dad took a large sip of his coffee before he answered.
“Well, the first one was facing dragons,” he said lightly. Harry’s eyes goggled, and his dad hummed some more. “I learned the Summoning Charm and used it to summon our Firebolt. I took the egg with the Firebolt, which was the main objective, and I, surprisingly, only got minor cuts.”
“Dad…” James sighed.
“It’s like those ‘how our parents went to school’ videos, but Dad’s is real and literal. It makes for an exciting scene, though.” Albus supplied tiredly. The man only laughed, as if it should be something normal that he had faced.
“Wh—are they insane?!” Harry cried out in complaint. The adults chuckled.
“Well, of course, they are. The good thing is that we’re here. You were relentlessly bullied by everybody, and Ron even left you behind the first time around.” his dad said. He pointed to Draco with his thumb then, the man eating his slice of cake innocently. “This arse is the instigator, as is expected, of course.”
“Meh.” Harry waved Draco off, making Scorpius grin especially. “But… Ron?” Harry asked, confused.
“Yeah, I thought you cheated and put your name in, and my, I guess our idiotic egos were too big. I snapped back at him. Hard.” his dad said further.
“Huh. Ron did look a bit pissy.” Harry contemplated, remembering how Ron’s face became sour once Harry was called.
All of a sudden, a high-pitched trill was heard, distracting Harry’s thoughts. A phoenix Patronus had flown in. It flew around the establishment for a bit—luckily, no one was there—and it perched at the edge of the table, facing all of them. The beak of the bird opened, and it spoke with Dumbledore’s voice.
“Harry. Future Hermione and future Theodore have found a way to communicate with us. Please, borrow a Floo to get back as soon as you can. Call out my office.” Their eyes widened at the announcement. They hurriedly finished everything, and his dad paid up, not forgetting to wave a confundus and obliviate combo on the staff.
They bolted, borrowing the Three Broomstick’s floo to get back to Hogwarts as soon as possible.
