On one level, Draco knew that Sirius had done the right thing, that Lucius had been going to kill him without hesitation. But the importance of family allegiance and blood loyalty had formed an essential part of Draco's upbringing.
Family came first, before any other consideration. One's family were one's life. These family bonds had always been particularly important to Draco's mother, and she had passed that sense onto him as well.
Of all family bonds, none was more sacred in the wizarding world than that between a father and his son. A father gave his son his name and position, and a son owed his father reverence and obedience.
As much as Draco envied and admired the affection that existed between Aries and Sirius, he knew instinctively that their mutual love was only a fortunate happenstance, and had nothing to do with the essence of the father-son bond.
A father and son might hate each other, but they still owed one another a certain respect – one could take Lucius and Abraxas for a ready example. They could hardly stand one another, but, at least up until the previous year, they had played the game the way they were supposed to.
In the end, despite everything that Lucius had done, Draco still felt that it was his duty to hate Sirius for killing him.
But he couldn't.
Sirius had come to occupy far too special a place in his heart, and Draco knew that his best friend's father cared for him as well. It was to save his life that Sirius had cast the Killing Curse in the first place, and Lucius had forfeited every right he had to filial obedience when he had used his son as a weapon for the Dark Lord.
Since Draco could not blame Sirius, he instead transferred that loathing to himself, and felt more and more crushed by guilt with each passing day.
Of course, being only a thirteen-year-old boy, Draco did not understand any of this. Had he known more exactly what he was feeling, he might have been able to talk it out with someone. As it was, he knew only that he was incredibly confused. His mind and heart were torn apart, and the poor boy felt exhausted, defeated and utterly miserable.
Aries saw Sirius through the crowd and ran to meet him. Draco followed slowly behind. Sirius was standing there alone, wearing his Muggle educational-outing ensemble. Now Draco understood better why Sirius had told them to be sure to change into Muggle clothes on the train. He groaned. He didn't much feel like an outing.
Sirius pulled Aries into a hug and then turned to greet Draco the same way. The blond boy responded stiffly, but did at least hug Sirius back. He felt strangely comforted by his uncle's embrace, and hated himself for it.
Sirius led the boys to the car park, asking questions along the way about the last few weeks of school. Aries answered cheerfully enough, so Draco felt no guilt about remained virtually silent, only replying with brief grunts when Sirius asked him a direct question.
They loaded their trunks into the boot of the car and Aries and Draco crawled inside. Aries eagerly grabbed the front seat, but frowned when Draco made no effort to fight for it.
'Are you feeling all right, Draco?' he asked, concern shining in his eyes.
'Just a bit tired,' Draco replied. 'I haven't been sleeping well.'
'I've noticed,' Aries said, furrowing his eyebrows. 'You look awful.'
Sirius abruptly changed the subject. 'I thought we'd get hamburgers today,' he said, successfully distracting Aries.
'Wicked!' the boy exclaimed. 'We haven't had hamburgers in forever.'
Sirius winked at Draco, and Draco smiled back gratefully.
They drove to a Muggle fast-food restaurant where they ordered hamburgers, chips and milkshakes. Sirius and Draco took the food to a table and sat down, but Aries had to run off to use the loo.
'Draco,' Sirius said, shortly after popping a chip in his mouth. 'There's something I need to discuss with you and Aries, but I wanted to mention it to you first.'
Draco frowned at Sirius's solemn expression. 'What is it?'
'You know I care about you and your mum very much, don't you?' Sirius asked, chewing his lower lip.
Draco thought Sirius looked uncharacteristically anxious. He nodded cautiously.
'Well, I'd like the four of us – your mum and I, and you and Aries – to be a family,' Sirius went on.
Draco's eyes widened. Surely Sirius couldn't have meant what he thought he did.
'Excuse me?' he said, his voice a good bit louder than he intended.
'We don't have to if you don't want to,' Sirius said hastily. 'But your mum and I thought it might be a good idea if we got married, and I...adopted you.' He looked down at his tray of food. 'I understand that you blame me for Lucius's death. I'm sorry you had to see that. But I don't regret it. He would have killed you, Draco, and I love you too much to let that happen.'
Draco took a sip of his vanilla milkshake and paused reflectively.
'So you'd be my new dad?' he asked eventually.
'Only if you want me to be,' Sirius whispered.
Draco blinked repeatedly. His eyes were moist. He looked up at Sirius, who was still staring at his burger. He smirked.
'Have you gone mad?' he asked.
.....
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