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"Harry! You can't..."
"Hermione, just stop."
"But this isn't healthy. Even the ..."
"Hermione! I mean it. I don't want to talk about this. I know that you want to help, but you're not. You're making things worse. Just leave it."
Looking as if she had just been slapped, Hermione stepped back and frowned, "I'm sorry Harry. I just don't want to see you like this. You deserve to be happy and you know that Luna would have wanted that."
"NO! You do not get to say things like that. I know that we've all lost people we love, but you lost Ron just a year after you got together. Luna and I were married for five years after having been together for another four. How exactly does this seem like the same thing?" Grabbing his coat from the rack by the door, Harry moved away from his well-meaning friend, "I'm leaving. I need some air and you need to go home. I love you, but if you try to decide the way and length of my grief than I need distance for a while because that's not the way friendship works with me. Everyone has a different way of grieving so please let me do that on my own, not with you and Neville trying to convince me that one year is all I get and I need to move on immediately. I would never have done that to you."
"But Harry!" Hermione was in tears but looked resigned to having to leave it at this for now. "I'm sorry, but I just wanted to know that you were doing alright."
Sighing, Harry walked back to Hermione and gave her a quick hug. "I know you didn't mean to make things worse, but you have got to understand one thing. I'm an adult, damn it. You have had a bad habit since we were in Hogwarts of not listening to me and disregarding things I say when you think you're right about something. Try to listen to what I'm saying and trust my judgement. I'm not sitting around moping because I lost my wife. You've never asked what I was doing, but let me explain. I have been studying and working towards finally getting my NEWTS and my Charms, Transfiguration and Defense Masteries. I've studied Ancient Runes and Arithmancy so that I could take my OWL and NEWT exams. I've considered looking into Warding once I've completed those courses. Now, I was serious when I said I needed fresh air. Please go home and do me the courtesy of thinking about what I've told you and let me have a few days to do the same. I don't want to lose my best friend, but if things continue as they have been, that is a serious possibility."
Hugging Harry for all she was worth, Hermione nodded, "I promise. I'm really sorry that I made you feel worse. I love you and I won't push you on this anymore. I can't lose you!"
Harry gave her a half-hearted smile and they both walked out. Hermione apparated away to her home while Harry headed to Diagon Alley. He wandered around to several shops before stopping at Fortescue's for a sundae. He took his heaping dish to a small table on the patio outside the shop and sat down in the brisk December air to have a nice long think. He knew that Hermione and Neville were pushing him when they really shouldn't, but he was starting to think that he might have been dwelling on Luna's death more than was healthy. He was lost in thought and chocolate, so he didn't notice the small blonde head peeking around the corner. He did notice the tiny hand tapping on his leg when the boy came over to him.
Smiling kindly down at the sweet face looking up at him, "Hello?"
The boy shyly returned the smile and asked, "Why do you look so sad this close to Yule, sir? It's a happy time. You shouldn't look so sad."
Chuckling, Harry thought about how to answer before he heard a familiar voice, "Scorpius? Where are you, you little monster?"
The little boy, apparently Scorpius Malfoy, looked up at Harry with a shocked and almost guilty expression. Harry laughed before calling out, "I think I've found your missing monster, Draco."
A scattered and slightly worried looking Draco Malfoy was suddenly beside the boy who was apparently his missing son. Leaning down, he picked up the child and hugged him tightly to his chest. "What have I told you about wandering away when we're not at home or your Grandmother's house? It could have been a dangerous person you walked up to bother and not this silly man." Draco gave Harry a smirk and a little wink over Scorpius' shoulder.
The boy looked guilty and tightened his arms around his father's neck. "I'm sorry Papa. We were just across the Alley and I saw this man who looked sad and I just had to try and cheer him up. No one should be sad at Yule!"
Draco gave his son an understanding and proud look. "You are quite right about that, but I believe that Mr. Potter has a reason to be sad. I know you were being kind, but not everyone loves Yule the way that you do, son."
Harry smiled sadly while watching the conversation unfold. He knew that he shouldn't be showing so much emotion in public. He wasn't as big of a media draw as he'd been in his youth, but seeing as it was the anniversary of Luna's death, that may not be the case at the moment. "Scorpius, I appreciate the thought and I don't mind that you came over to me. Something bad happened this time last year and I'm just thinking about it in remembrance. I'll be alright soon. I promise."
Scorpius wiggled his way into being put down and ran over to softly pat Harry's arm, "I'm sorry, I only wanted you to smile."
Harry looked at Draco and gave him a smile before leaning down to Scorpius and asking quietly, "Would you let me buy you an ice cream for being so thoughtful?"
The look of surprised glee on his son's face made Draco chuckle, "You can have one scoop on a cone or in a bowl, but nothing else. We have dinner with Grandmother in an hour and she will have a fit if you're full of sweets."
Scorpius gave both men brilliant smiles before nodding quickly and grabbing Harry's hand to lead him inside to the counter. He looked at the flavors that were available and told Harry what he wanted quietly so that he could place the order. "I'd like a peppermint hot chocolate and a small cone with peppermint mocha snowflakes. I think young Mr. Malfoy wanted that flavor since it just started snowing outside."
They got their order quickly and Harry took everything out to his table where Draco was waiting for them and apparently finishing off the last of Harry's sundae. He gave Harry a smirk and a quick shrug before being handed the chocolate and after being seated, Scorpius was handed his ice cream cone. "Thanks Potter. I wasn't expecting anything, but the drink is most appreciated. Only you would want to sit outside during snowfall to eat ice cream."
"I'd gotten used to doing odd things and find that I miss them. It seemed a good way to remember her."
His gaze sobered quickly and he laid a comforting hand on Harry's arm, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. Are you doing alright? I know things are always harder on anniversaries."
Scorpius was quietly licking away at his ice cream cone watching the falling snow, but he was listening to what his father and the sad man, Harry Potter from what his father said, were talking about. Something seemed to be lurking just out of his reach in his memories about what was going on, but he couldn't quite grasp it.
"Thanks Draco. I'm doing okay for the moment. I've been keeping very busy but just seeing the date on the calendar brought this itching sadness. It didn't help that Hermione and Neville have decided that since it's been a year, the 'traditional time of mourning', that I should start moving on and dating again. Dating! They don't understand what it's like to lose someone after being together for so long. Ron and Hannah were killed in that last big attack during the Victory celebration in November. Remember the one? Six months after the final battle when the last few Dea..." He stopped speaking when he remembered what else happened there. Draco's father had been killed. Quietly, "I'm sorry. I'd forgotten."
Draco looked seriously at the pained embarrassment on Harry's face and said,"You have nothing to be sorry for. At that point, he had made his own decisions to continue to be on the losing side of things and honestly, I think he knew what would probably happen. He had realized that he's spent most of his adult life following ideals and people that were bound to lose and he was ashamed and didn't see any other way out with his dignity so he went out with a blast so that he would be remembered. Mother wasn't sad, she was furious. I think that she had some idea that was what he was planning and tried to stop him. Speaking of her, we should really be leaving. I need to get this brat home and cleaned up then head over to the Manor for dinner."
Smiling at father and son, Harry nodded, "I understand. Family must come first. I've got similar plans for tomorrow with Teddy and Andromeda. Tell your Mother I said hello and wish her a blessed Yule for me."
Tilting his head to the side, Draco gave a thoughtful glance to Scorpius before asking, "Would you like to join us? I know Mother wouldn't mind. She's always been fond of you."
Harry looked shocked at the invitation, "Really?" Seeing Draco's nodd and Scorpius' enthusiastic encouragement, he smiled and accepted, "I'd love to. I just need to pop home to change and freshen up a little. Should I meet you at the Manor or would you like to come to Grimmauld and head over from there?"
"We will meet you at yours after we're presentable for the Lady Narcissa," he said while winking at his giggling son. "I love giving her pleasant surprises after all of the nasty ones Father gave her over the years."
"Sounds good. I'm looking forward to catching up with her. She did save my life, after all."
They parted ways briefly and as Harry was heading back to his home, he realized that this would be the first outing with someone other than family or close friends since Luna's death. Maybe Hermione had been right and he needed to get out more often. Who would have guessed what could have come from simply eating ice cream in snowfall could do for his spirits.