"Do you think we should take Cepheus to a muggle healer," asked Draco quietly when they finally agree to let Scorpius spend the weekend with Teddy. It's not an unfounded conversation, taking him to a doctor, but it was one that only came up when Lucius was able to burrow his way into Draco's head.

"Is this about what your dad said during brunch on Sunday?" Harry said, his grip tight on his pen as he paused in the middle of writing to decline an invitation to another Ministry function. Draco looked nervously over his shoulder at the papers.

"You can't just keep declining them every time they invite you to a banquet."

"Don't change the subject. Is this about your dad?"

"No! I just-" Draco won't look at him. "What if I did something wrong or something I shouldn't have when I carried him. Magic can't detect everything. If he is physically healthy and capable of doing something, then that's as far as magic goes. It can't do anything to explain what happens if he won't."

"There is nothing wrong with Cepheus," said Harry sternly, turning around to look at Draco. "He just experiences the world differently and there is nothing wrong with that."

"I'm not-" Draco looked taken aback."I would never insinuate that there was. I just want to know what's going on so I can help him. I want to know what we can do to make things easier. When we all learned to sign, that was a huge step, but it didn't solve everything. He never wants to play with the twins or anyone really. He just sits and watches. Or he fusses over that bloody chess set. Or he's insisting that someone holds him. I just want to know why."

"And you think a muggle doctor can help with that?"

"I don't know, but it's the only option we haven't tried."

It takes a little more than 2 weeks for Harry, Draco and Hermione to find a squib doctor who knows enough about male pregnancy and magical children and their maladies to give Cepheus and the twins a general check-up. It takes another week for him to have an opening. They dropped James and Albus at the Granger-Weasley house before heading to the appointment.

Draco thought back to watching Astoria grab Scorpius and go to meetings like these. Meetings he had thought were beneath him for so long. Even after he brushed off his father's prejudice about blood purity he was still too tense to properly visit muggle areas, especially to admit weakness. When Astoria died, it all fell on him. Scheduling appointments and finding doctors who would work with mind healers and mediwizards that would asist therapists. At the end of the day he ended up finding one place and just doing it all himself.

Now he was back at phase one again, listening as the nurse asked them a few questions before the doctor came in. After the initial check up, he returns to refer them to the in-hiding wizard psychiatrist. The walk up the two flights of stairs to his office gave Draco time to try out a few deep breathing exercises. They didn't work.

Harry reached his hand up to knock on the door, but it's thrown open before he can.

"Mr. and Mr. Malfoy-Potter, welcome! I'm Dr. Kitano." The wizard in front of them looks old and senile, but both his hands and his eyes are steady as they reach for Cepheus. "Excuse me, young man, can I  hold your hand for a moment?"

The young boy shakes his head though and signs quickly, Harry starting to interpret for older wizard.

"Can't talk with no hands."

"I assure you, it'll only be a moment," the wizard said, squatting so that he and Cepheus were practically at eye level. The young boy narrowed his eyes the way he had seen his father do so many times, without making eye contact, yet shook his head no again. The man nodded and instead asked him to follow him over to a corner of his office filled with toys. Cepheus doesn't join him until the doctor tells him what's in the corner.

Harry and Draco watch as their son circles the room in search of something. When he doesn't find it, he flops onto the floor and begins angrily signing and grunting in tandem.

"You don't like my toys?" Kitano asked, seemingly making mental notes.

"No," signs Cepheus harshly and Harry hasn't seen him this angry in ages.

"So what kind of toys do you like? Maybe I can find something for you."

"I like coloring and chess," Cepheus signs, still harshly and not looking at Dr. Kitano or anything else really.

The doctor smiles then pulls out a pen and paper. He hands it to the boy who only pushes it away. He tries again only to get the same result. Before giving up completely, he conjures up a wooden checkerboard that sends Cepheus into an excited bounce, but then Kitano summons small round wooden checker pieces while trying to explain the similarities and Cepheus is growling again signing a stream of No.No.No.No.No.

"Merlin," said Draco somewhat surprised and embarrassed because he had never seen the boy react that way, going forward and lifting Cepheus up from where he is laying on the floor kicking his feet. "I am so sorry, doctor."

"Nothing to be sorry for," Kitano assured him. "This is perfectly normal for him, I'm guessing." He looked at the boy in Draco's arms, calmer now that he's being held and nodded. "You're paperwork said he has twin brothers as well, does he play with them often?"

"Uh...well, he likes to be near them, but he rather play on his own," Harry answered, only because Draco was still rubbing a soothing hand down Cepheus' back.

"Again, no need to be nervous, Mr. Malfoy-Potter, that's perfectly normal."

"I beg your pardon," Draco snapped, "but we have other children and that is not perfectly normal."

"Maybe not, but it is for Cepheus. Have you either of you ever heard of Autism?"

Harry nods confused before realization hits him, but Draco is still shaking his head no. As Dr. Kitano explained the situation to Draco, Harry is looking at the little blond boy in his husband's arms and tries to force down the extreme need to protect that encompasses him. He thinks of Hermione who probably already suspected, but had enough faith in him and Draco to be able to deal with this and teach their kids how to deal with this and he smiles.

"So," said Draco, taking the diagnosis in stride, "is that why he doesn't talk? He doesn't understand that he has to when he can just point or sign for it? Will he still be able to learn spells?"

"For the most part yes, to all of those questions. He is able to talk and can learn, though it will take much more probing than with a neurotypical child. Though I can provide you with a few pamphlets on the most effective ways to go about it. It seems that otherwise, you've both been doing a great job trying to adjust to his needs even without knowing exactly what they are."

Draco bites his tongue, because he doesn't need to be bloody thanked for taking proper care of his children, but then he catches a glance os Harry's face and knows that not all guardians are like that. He thinks of his own father, doing what he thought was right even when the going got tough and everything was falling apart around them and he was hurting more than helping.

"Thank you," he murmured instead before asking for book recommendations to learn more about how to help Cepheus. Thanking the doctor again, he grabbed Harry's hand and they made their way silently to the elevator, their son's arms wrapped around his neck, tucking himself as close to his father as possible. He sits up once to sign a question, but he isn't looking at either of his parents when he does it.

"I sick?"

"No," Harry answered calmly. "You're perfectly healthy, you just go through life a little differently and we're going to help you figure it out, okay?"

"Okay," the boy agreed. Draco realized with a start that he hadn't known much about anything when he was younger and he didn't want to know at the time. He had thought things were only one way and he thought about how many witches or wizards went through life with problems like this that they would nevee look into because they weren't open-minded about muggle diagnosis. The way he used to be.

He couldn't fix everyone else's view, but he would adjust his own every day if he had to. If that's what it would take to make things just a bit easier for his children.

-&-

what's up futher muckers

something about this feels off
but also i typed half took a nap and typed the rest, soooo maybe im just tripping

shout out to Guinevere_the_dragon who guessed correctly
yes, cepheus is autistic (or falls on the spectrum at the very least)

i haven't been diagnosed with autism but my therapist says i "exhibit autistic behaviors which stem from [my] anxiety and could place [me] somewhere on the spectrum" soooo there's that

xxxoop (7/14/19)

as always, hope you lot enjoyed this chappie
lemme know what you think of it, yeah?
love y'all

-- angel janeé xoxo 💋