Crowds had never been something Harry liked. Too many people, too many stares and too many comments. It just got worse when he had James. If people wanted to stare at him then fine, but they did not have to stare at his son.
“Please? I’ll clean my room.”
Harry eyed Imaginary Playground—an insanely packed store—with trepidation before he looked down into wide green eyes.
“Your room is already clean.”
“I’ll clean your room then.”
Harry couldn’t stop the smile that spread as James clapped his hands together and moved his feet rapidly in an odd dance.
“You are such a brat.”
“Is that a yes?”
“Why do you want to go in there? You have toys at home that you don’t even play with.”
James crossed his arms and harrumphed. “I don’t want any new toys.”
Suspicion rose at how earnest James seemed. A child turning down toys? His child turning down toys—unlikely.
“Then what do you want?”
“I want you to ask the owner about the dragons out front,” James pointed to enlarged wooden carvings that roared when people were rude and preened when called cute.
“We’re not buying one.” He looked inside the shop windows and eyed the crowd again. It wasn’t until he caught sight of a familiar mop of blond hair that he couldn’t use the crowd as an excuse. He didn’t want to go in because of the owner.
“Dad.” It was said with such a heavy sigh that Harry snorted. “I don’t want one.”
He was still suspicious but there was nothing he wouldn’t do for James, and unfortunately, that included talking to Malfoy.
Draco was tired, it was his third day in a row working a 14-hour shift and he had a semi-permanent headache that refused to leave. Thank Merlin his assistant manager was coming back from vacation tomorrow.
A glance at the gaudy clock Pansy had gifted him last year said he only had an hour left. One hour, he could do it.
“Please don’t eat the building blocks,” Draco said without looking away from the clock. “They are rather sensitive and tend to cry.”
“Sowwy.”
Draco peered over the counter until he could see the child who still had his lips resting on the blocks that were now floating. Typically, his building blocks were picky with who could play with them but the pair in the boys’ hands let him slobber all over them and still remained.
“Tell you what, you tell your parents that I said you could have that at a discounted price, okay?”
The child’s eyes widened, and he smiled a toothy grin that made Draco want to give him the blocks for free. He watched the child run off to his Mum and not for the first time he was grateful for what he did.
“Excuse me?”
Draco straightened up, a little bummed that his brief moment of peace was over.
“Oh,” he said as he realized who was in front of him. It wasn’t often Potter came in; most of the time it was his kid that did.
Potter smiled but it was a bit of a grimace and his hand was on the back of his neck. James, however, was waving and smiling so widely that his eyes crinkled.
“I know you are busy, but my son had a question and he’s persistent.”
“Dad.” The whine was cute, but the way Potter smiled at James was even cuter.
Draco leaned on the counter as he looked down. “What were you wanting to know James?”
James pointed at his chest as he whispered, “You know my name?”
“I sure do,” Draco said with a chuckle. “You come in here enough. How are the miniature dragons you bought last week doing? Did your stepdad like the one you picked out?”
A small gasp left James as he scooted closer to the counter and placed his hands on top.
“You remember what I said?”
Draco leaned over the counter till his face was closer. “I remember all of my favourite customers.”
James looked down as his foot rubbed into the floor and he let out a soft laugh. There was a redness to his cheeks, and it melted Draco’s heart.
“Thank you,” Potter said, and the quiet tone drew Draco’s attention. He wasn’t sure what to do with the gentle way Potter regarded him or the small smile on his face.
An ‘oomf’ left Potter as James nudged him hard in the side.
“Right, James wants to know if your dragons out front are safe.”
“What?” Draco’s brows furrowed before he looked out the window to make sure his displays were still there.
“He wants to know how you decide which dragons get to be inside and which ones get to be outside since it’s winter and whether they are safe.”
Draco was positive his entire being had melted. When James nodded, lip worried between his teeth and a sad expression on his face, he wanted to coo.
“I don’t know if you know this,” Draco began quietly as James perked up. “But I made each one of those dragons. It took quite a long time and during the process, I knew that I could never sell them. They mean a lot to me and I wanted them to represent my shop, so I placed a few outside and a few inside.”
“They are pretty.”
“Thank you,” Draco said with a grin as he ruffled James’ already messy hair. “The dragons take turns rotating. I promise you that they are safe and are equally outside.”
James pursed his lips as his forehead wrinkled. “But what if they get cold?”
“I’ll take care of them.”
James nodded so fast that his hair fell forward, and Draco reached out to move his hair out of his eyes.
“Thank you,” James mumbled, eyes on the counter.
“Yes,” Potter said softly as he picked up one of James’ hands. “Thank you for indulging us despite being so busy.”
So polite. Was that Potter’s doing? Were all Potters polite?
Draco reached underneath the counter and pulled out a block of wood before he held out his hand.
“Me?” James asked, eyes wide.
“You.” Draco placed the block on James' hand and pulsed his magic into a small zap.
James gasped when Draco’s hand was removed, and the wood began to expand and twist.
“It’s a dragon!” James cried as his mouth fell open. The dragon was small, but it was a deep blue with grey stripes along the talons.
“Last week when you came in, you got your stepdad, Mum and cousins dragons but you never got yourself one. Why is that?”
“I didn’t have enough allowance.”
“I thought so.” Draco murmured. “So that’s why I made this one for you.”
James hugged the dragon to his chest and let out a giggle when the dragon licked his chin and let out a soft roar. “Oh, thank you! Thank you, Mister Malfoy!”
“You didn’t have to do that,” Potter said. “I would have gotten him one if he wanted.”
“I know,” and he did, Potter was soft like that. “I wanted to. I told you he was my favourite,” he winked and when Potter flushed, Draco grinned.
Cute.
“What do I have to do to be your favourite?” Potter asked, brows arched and a teasing smile on his face.
“Come see me more often.”
“That’s a ploy to get me to spend money.”
“Good things don’t come cheap.”
Potter laughed, the sound so free and it was something Draco wanted to bottle and examine. It was something he wanted to make come to life. His mind never stopped wanting to create things and his magic was itching to carve something.
“Alright, I’ll stop by again.”
Before Draco could say that he looked forward to it, Potter rubbed the back of his neck again.
“And maybe it could be after hours? When it’s just the two of us.”
“Are you asking Mister Malfoy on a date?” James said loudly, far too loud to not have been heard.
Potter covered his face with his hands.
“Yeah, Potter, are you asking me out?”
“I’m trying to.”
Draco was horribly endeared by Potter. James had melted his heart and if Potter wasn’t careful, he’d steal his heart too.
But as Potter peeked through his fingers, face red and eyes soft, Draco realized that was okay.
Potter could have his heart.
“Yes, I’d love to.”
It wasn’t until several soft gazes and shy smiles later that Potter and James turned to leave the store.
“You still have to clean my room,” Draco could hear Potter say.
“I was just kidding!” Potter cried as the dragon started to chase him and James’ laughter rang out before the door closed and the murmurs of the store was all he could hear.
As Draco looked around his shop, he could see boxes that needed to be picked up, areas that needed to be disinfected, messes that would take hours and still far too many customers to get out on time, but that was okay.
This was his life and he loved it.
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This was inspired by a tumblr post that I will link in the comments. I would like to thank @random-realist for the quick beta, thank you so much!
