Who: Draco and Astoria Where: Out and about When: Tuesday afternoon What: Catching up Rating: Low Status: Incomplete
He was letting it bother him too much, he knew. Draco didn't have a son yet, couldn't really care about the boy - especially with the way the boy in question was reacting to anything at all having to do with him. It occurred to him now that perhaps it wasn't simply his appearance that the luggage wanted him to ignore. After all, some could consider it vanity, the way his parents had raised him to care for his appearance. But more than that, they had taught him to focus on his appearance in a non-physical manner as well; more than simply looking good by being well dressed and well groomed, they had taught him that one had to present oneself with dignity, do things properly, own the right things, display those properly, converse with the right people, always be seen doing well for himself... And while he'd broken the rules on more than one occasion (far more than one occasion) while on the island, Draco still felt compelled to follow those rules. After all, finding his son crying on a stoop, he remembered, had offended him in a big way - not because Scorpius had been sad enough to cry on a stoop, but because of what people would think of him - of Draco, of their family - after seeing him in such a vulnerable position.
And maybe that wasn't it at all. Maybe the luggage and the island just hated his guts. It could be...
But it wasn't likely.
The issue now was to figure out how to stop thinking the way he did, the way he'd been raised to, the only way he knew how to think. Acting in a different manner than you're accustomed to is hard enough. Changing the way you think? Draco didn't have the first idea where to start.
But maybe Astoria would, he figured as he spotted her up ahead with groceries in her arms. Draco ran up to her and took one of the bags, only belatedly asking, "Care for a hand?"