#chochanng

Draco woke to the sound of his son’s voice.

“Dad,” Scorpius said as he poked his father’s shoulder.

“Dad,” he repeated.

“Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad,” he emphasized each word with another poke.

Draco opened his eyes and slowly sat up onto his elbows.

“Son, I know that you’re excited, but did you have to wake me up at,” he glanced at the clock on the wall before continuing, “six in the bloody morning?”

Scorpius nodded earnestly and held up a large makeup bag.

“I was just thinking, it would be more fun if we really got into the spirit of it, and Luna said that we could borrow her makeup for today.”

“Of course she did. Remind me again why I agreed to this.”

“You didn’t. You asked to go with me.” The smile on Scorp’s face was so reminiscent of his own snide smirk from his teenage years that he did a double take.

“And she hasn’t taught you any glamour charms in the past two weeks that would suffice?” Draco flopped onto his back again as Scorpius shook his head.

Two weeks ago, the pair had been in Diagon Alley for lunch. While they were eating, Scorp had explained that his friend Albus had been telling him all about these muggle pride parades that celebrated being queer. It was quite the foreign concept to Draco, considering the fact that the Wizarding World still didn’t allow same sex marriages, and he had been taught from a young age that his goals in life were to gain power, make money, and continue the Malfoy line. He had spent his whole life hiding his own bisexuality.

“Dad, I’m still working out what I am, but I know that it’s not straight. I don’t have a label that fits me yet, and I don’t know if I ever will, but I want to go to pride. There’s one in London in two weeks, and Al’s dad said that he would take me.”

Draco thought for a moment about how to reply before steeling his nerves.

“Would you mind if I went with you?” Scorpius looked stunned before smiling widely.

“To show support? You don’t have to Dad, I know that you support me. And I know that crowds unnerve you.”

Okay Draco, now or never.

“Not just for support, Scorp. You and I both know that the Wizarding World, and pureblood culture isn’t exactly accepting. I’ve spent my whole life hiding part of me so I would fit into Wizarding society, but I’m done.”

“Dad, are you?” He trailed off.

“Not quite. I loved your mother very much, and I didn’t have to hide any of that. She was the 2nd best thing to happen to me, after you. But I am bi. So, if it wouldn’t embarrass you too much, I’d like to go with you to Pride.”

Now, however, it seemed like one of the worst decisions he’d ever made. Waking up this early on a Saturday should be illegal. Still, he pulled himself out of bed and dressed for the day, opting for a simple white vest and black shorts. Scorpius met him in the breakfast nook by handing him a plate of toast and eggs, as the table was currently cluttered with the contents of Luna Lovegood’s makeup bag. Glittering eyeshadows, metallic lipsticks, and things Draco hadn’t even heard of littered the stained wood table. His son meticulously applied makeup with an ease that made it obvious that this wasn’t his first time.

“I practiced on Albus a couple of times, and his mother taught me a few things too,” Scorpius said while painting a bisexual flag on his father’s cheek.

“Can you apply makeup on yourself as well? If you need help, I don’t mind. Your mother made me put her makeup on her after she gave birth to you before she would let my parents into the room.”

Scorpius laughed before his expression turned bittersweet.

“She wanted to show grandfather how well his son had done. She was so much better than what he thought of her.”

“Hey, no sadness today, okay? She wouldn’t want that. Today is the day to celebrate, and be queer, and be unapologetically true to yourself.”

“No hiding, either.”

“No hiding,” his father agreed. He hesitated for a moment, blinking at his son’s command while mascara was applied onto the pale blond lashes, before continuing, “I hid for almost 25 years. I figured it out in 4th year. I was attracted to every single one of the champions, even Potter. It scared the living shit out of me. It was probably the one thing that year that my father didn’t hear about.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing. I was a very pretentious 14 year old.”

“Oh, okay. How did you deal with that?”

“I wrote notes in the margins of books nobody ever checked out. My way of telling someone without actually telling someone. Of course, Granger checked out a few of them and pieced together that puzzle. She even figured out which one I was going to write in next, and left me a note of her own. Told me the label, told me that there were others, like herself. It didn’t exactly help much, considering my thoughts of her at the time, but it did help a little.”

“So, you mean to say that Hermione has known this for 25 years, and never told anyone, or used it as an advantage? How Gryffindor.”

Now it was Draco’s turn to laugh. They finished up in silence, Albus adorning his own cheek with a standard rainbow flag and painting the rest of his face in flamboyant, yet not tacky, colors. Scorpius took his father’s arm, and they apparated to the nearest Ministry-designated point. London was far too crowded to risk a normally deserted side-street.  A group of LGBT+ wizards were meeting close to the start of the parade route, and had managed to guarantee a position in the march line-up.

Draco recognized most of the adult faces as former schoolmates. Some were unsurprising, like Finnegan and Thomas, who had been wrapped around each other’s fingers since day one. Others were ones that made Draco stop and think, such as his own friend Theodore Nott, his shirt a large rainbow. Potter was there with his youngest son and his daughter, all three with either their hair or cheeks painted as different flags. Granger was wearing a bisexual flag as a cloak.

The biggest surprise came when the crowd parted a little bit to reveal his mother and Aunt Andromeda, sporting their own flag-cloaks. His mother was brandishing the purple, grey, black, and white of the Asexual flag, all colors that highlighted her fair skin and hair. His Aunt was wearing the bright blue, yellow, and pink of the Pansexual flag, and he thought that the ghastly brightness matched her cheery personality.

“Draco, Scorpius,” Narcissa gasped once she noticed them.

“Mother,” Draco said at the same time as his son’s murmured, “Grandma.”

The crowd of Wizards noticed the tension and parted a bit more, though whether to encourage the family to gather closer, or to leave a bit more room between themselves and the situation, nobody could really tell. Hexes didn’t fly, though. Instead, Narcissa came forward and wrapped her arms around her son and grandson.

“You both look wonderful,” she murmured into Draco’s hair. She pulled back a bit and added, “You both look happy.” The boys nodded in unison, making her chuckle at the glaring similarities in the two.

“So, ace huh? Let me guess, “carry on the Malfoy and the Black lines, Cissy.”

“Not entirely. I always wanted a child, I just didn’t necessarily want to climb the step at the beginning of that journey.” Her eyes gleamed and her smile nearly reached her ears.

The trio finally broke apart as the rest of the group began to move to their place in the line-up. Scorpius joined Albus near the front, Narcissa returned to her sister, and Draco walked up beside Hermione.

“I never did thank you, by the way, for what you did in 4th year. I didn’t deserve your kindness, especially not at that point of our lives.”

“Everyone deserves to find an identity.” He didn’t have a response to that, so he kept quiet. The float behind them started playing music and the parade started moving. The wizards marched and danced their way through the parade with heads held high. The world where they came from had many problems, and some of the group would no doubt go on to fix those problems, but now was not the time. Not the time for worries, or anger, or envy.