"Why can't I come?" The blond boy whined, pouting heavily.
Severus and Lucius hummed softly, both of them were rather amused by his whining. They both leaned down and gave the teen a sweet kiss on the forehead and cheek. The fully-fledged Wizards watched as his pout slowly formed into a disappointed frown. The two older men smiled at that and gave their Switch a kiss on the lips.
"I still don't understand." He muttered, but a small smile twitched at the end of his lips.
Lucius chuckled and shook his head.
"Yes, you do. You purposely don't want to understand." He hummed, watching as a blush rose onto the teen's slightly chubby cheeks. Within another year or so, his son would hit a growth spurt and lose his boyish appearance, so the older Malfoy was wanting to enjoy the sight just a little more.
"Fine," the teen hissed, "but why can't Severus stay with me?"
Said Potion's Master scoffed with a fond roll of the eyes. The blond man shook his head at his little mate again. He knew his son knew, but he would indulge a little.
"Because I need another person to sell my story as a father and a rich businessman. If what Severus says is true-"
"I don't lie."
"Then we need to look and act like Muggles. Neither of us have any proper experience doing either." The blond finished as if he wasn't interrupted.
The two older men waited as a multitude of expressions formed on the other's face before finally admitting defeat.
"He's our mate, try and bury the broomstick?" Lucius offered a kind smile to both of his stubborn mates.
The black-haired man scoffed again, a mild look of annoyance crossing his face. However, he did allow a small nod to show. Despite that the older blond was speaking to them as if they were equals, he knew that the suggestion was more of demand. Draco also knew this, so he too nodded.
Once that was done, the three separated with the adults heading over to the apparition point. There wasn't much they could do other than hide their muggle clothes under simple robes that would be easy to transfigure or shrink. They had to meet with the Dursleys, the Muggle people that were taking care of the boy.
It wasn't hard nor long to get into a conversation with the patriarch of the family. It was boring though, the two expressing their desires, keeping themselves very simple and civil. Thankfully, when Petunia entered the room and conversation, she hadn't recognized a handsome looking Severus, nor did he allow her to with the name Tobias Prince.
"Ah, I do apologize." The blond suddenly stood up, interrupting some pitch the walrus of a man was about to give. "It seems time has flown by." He gave what he hoped to be a soft look of disappointment.
Swiftly, the two muggles also stood up, an air of desperation clinging to the way they moved. It seemed that they were about to take a bait. What greedy little people.
"Yes, it is getting a bit late, we'll miss our flight back to Scotland." Severus hummed with a calm look.
"Your business is going there?" Mr. Dursley asked, his eyes a little wide.
"Started there, actually, but my son goes to a private business school there. We were only visiting and talking to see if there were any good investments to make or alliances to forge." The blond Pureblood gave a sweet smile, using everything that he had learned from being part of the Ministry to help him.
The Dursleys nodded, greed clear in their eyes as their little brains did what they could to think of a way to get such a big payday.
"Does your boy have Christmas Vacation? We have the best roasted turkey in town." The man hummed, leaning forward some.
The leaner men looked to each other, pretending to contemplate the offer. If they seemed too eager it would raise a red flag, and this talk would've been useless if they just deny it. Talking to the Dursleys without Harry present showed them that these Muggles were not only idiots, but that they didn't care about Harry if the none-existent pictures were any clue. However, they needed to see Harry's home life with the boy in it. How they reacted with him in it. So, with a smile, Lucius offered a hand to the large man.
"Christmas it is."
The fat man gripped the hand tightly, laughing hard enough to turn his face red. What a disgusting man the powerful wizards thought.
While the two adult mates were away for the day, Draco had gone out to find Potter. It wasn't long before he found said teen in the library. It was a bit of a surprise to see the younger teen hiding away in the back of the library, nose buried in a book. He honestly thought the Mudblood would be the main one of the trio to do that. Seen her do that many times too, not much on the other two. The blond shook his head a little and walked over there.
"Finally trying to put something in that brain of yours, Potter?" As much as Malfoy Jr. tried to keep his hostile voice, it came out softer and kinder.
The green-eyed boy looked up from his book as he heard his school rival's voice. He shifted some, his eyes moving off to the side. He didn't look like the confident Gryffindor that that the Slytherin Ice Prince was used to. If anything, the younger teen looked meek and almost scared despite how gentle the Prince's approach was this time!
"Did 'Mione send you?" He bit his lips, finally focusing back on the silver student. There was an odd gleam of hope in his eyes.
Draco wanted to raise an eyebrow at the look and question it a little, but quickly brushed it aside to instead focus on this opportunity. It didn't matter that the Muggleborn didn't send him, he still needed to get close to Potter without a hostile environment.
"Yeah, why?" He snapped in a somewhat hostile manner. He couldn't seem to be too nice, that would put the other onto him.
Harry looked down, biting his lip again. He was thankful that Hermione hadn't told the other, but he also really didn't want to say it himself. Gaining what courage he did have; he showed the prat the book he was trying to understand. The clear shocked look on his face wasn't exactly taken well as he flinched back.
"You're trying to learn potions?" Harry sighed softly and nodded. Draco blinked at the honesty, but it did clear up why the other thought Hermione would send him. "Come on. It's better to learn Potions in the lab."
He didn't let the other teen time to disagree or back out. The blond grabbed his arm and began to pull him down to the dungeons. Even though, he had grabbed the other's wrist by the sleeve, he practically feel the buzzing tingle of Potter's skin. The pureblood took a quiet breath to compose himself as he hurried them down to the potion's rooms. As much as the scent was messing with his mind, he needed to have a private session with Harry. He couldn't afford anyone to see them.
Harry kept silent at the tugging, stumbling a bit in an attempt to keep up. He was curious on why Draco had actually agreed with teaching him. He thought that the other would've laughed at her for such a request. If the blond had agreed, he was expecting a little more mocking and teasing. However, the silence felt nice, it was welcoming almost.
The two were soon in the room, a potion in front of them. Draco was slowly explaining the things that the ingredients did, even a few random facts about them outside of just potions. He tried his hand at explaining why they cut, chopped, or crushed the ingredients. Of course, Harry still didn't understand most of what was being said.
"I still don't understand." He groaned, a scowl forming on his lips. "Why would the difference of chopping and dicing affect the potion?"
Draco sighed, running a hand through his head. He wasn't sure how to explain it to Harry, there wasn't any way for him to put it into Quidditch terms that the other would've understood. He didn't know what the other liked that would help in terms of potion making which really showed how much he needed to learn about his mate.
"Why do you dice your onions for your soup but chop them for you steak?"
At Hermione's voice, the pair flinched and snapped to her. She was looking at the pair with an odd look of fondness. Draco even noted how her usually hostile look for him softened into gratefulness. This made him question a few things, why was she grateful to him of all people? Why was she so desperate to have him help Harry?
"Well, if you dice the onions, their flavor will be soaked into rest of the soup, they'll also become softer and meddle with the rest of the pot. Chopping them would allow them to hold their shape and absorb as much flavor as they're giving out."
Hermione nodded to him, turning to leave after that. Draco blinked some before a quiet smile formed. She had just told him how to truly help his mate.
"You cook?" He asked.
The Golden Boy blushed darkly as he gave a slow nod.
"I... I love cooking, but..." He paused for a moment, an unsure look on his face.
"But?" Draco carefully prompted, gently grabbing the other's hand.
Harry blinked some before taking a deep breath. He felt calm in the blond's presence, his touch making his body relax as well. That didn't mean he wanted to openly admit what he was about to admit.
"At my guardian's house, cooking is one of my chores..." Shame burned up his neck, stopping him from going on. "I-It puts a damper on the like of it." He murmured, focusing back on the potion in front of them.
The Pureblood frowned a little. There was something more to that, there had to have been! He wasn't sure what it was, and that annoyed him greatly. However, he kept his cool and instead went back to focusing on the potion they were making. At least, he now knew how to help him. Just a little bit. Though, his older mates would be hearing about this.