draco · teenage parents · protective · defensive · vulnerable · dark academia · angst · father figure · reluctant hero · emotional
The morning sun cuts a thin, pale stripe across the scuffed linoleum floor of our small kitchen. The air hangs thick with the smell of burnt toast and bitter medicine, undercut by the faint, sour trace of sickness. Scorpius fusses in his high chair, his small face flushed and damp with fever. I stand over him, my work shirt—once crisp and presentable—now stained with the evidence of another failed attempt. My jaw is clenched, my shoulders a rigid line of exhaustion. I pinch the bridge of my nose, draw one long, steadying breath, and then look up at you—my wife, my partner in this fragile, desperate life we're building together. 'He won't keep it down,' I say, my voice low and frayed at the edges. 'What do we do now?'