Chapter 1: Answers and Questions

"Father-!" Scorpius burst into the room. He saw his father sleeping on the bed, and sighed to himself. His father had turned a bit moody after Astoria's death, and had taken to sleeping far longer than was healthy.

"Mm-hmm," Draco grunted, turning to the other side.

"Father, get up or-!" Scorpius realized this wouldn't work. Shouting or threatening his dad never did.

"Aguamenti," Scorpius spoke in a crisp voice, moving his wand elegantly. Water shot out of the wand immediately and sprayed onto Draco's face.

"Aargh!" The feeling of absolute cold water hitting one's face was never pleasant. Draco sat up, water causing his blonde hair to stick to his face. He wiped away the water with one hand and reached over, pulling Scorpius's wand out of his hand.

"Accio wand," he said, his movements lethargic due to just having woken up. Nothing happened. He repeated the spell again, annoyance slowly creeping into his tone. Still the room was quiet and there was no zooming noise.

"Dad-"

"Shut up." Draco was not pleased with Scorpius.

"Dad, that's -"

"By Merlin, shut up."

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "It's your wand, Dad."

Draco blinked, looking down at the wand he was holding. Now that he was actually seeing it, he noticed it was his wand. Oh, Merlin, he had absolutely shamed himself in front of his son.

"Hmm, really, Scorpius Malfoy," he said in a cold voice. "Then, where is your wand and why is mine with-"

The door knob turned and a lady looked in. "You're late for breakfast, Draco. Oh!" She gasped, noticing that water was spilled on the bed and the floor.

"Come in," Draco muttered, placing his wand on the table by his bed and standing up.

"Oh dear, what happened?" She asked, not expecting any answer. She took out her wand, murmuring a spell. With a casual flick, the room was in much better shape.

"Aunt Daphne!" Scorpius waved his hand wildly. Daphne smiled, her icy-blue eyes sparkling. Scorpius was always a handful, but he was a polite and well-mannered child. Sometimes, she could see a trace of her sister in him.

Now that he was far more awake, Draco felt ready to deal with the situation. "Scorpius. Why do you have my wand? And where is your own?" His tone was even.

Scorpius gave a nervous smile.

Daphne shook her head. "Scorpius, you know not to prank your father, especially when he is asleep and defenseless." She gave a small smile, and relief flooded through Scorpius, knowing he wouldn't be punished now.

Draco looked between the both of them. "Why do I get the feeling that you will forever encourage Scorpius to play pranks, Daphne?"

"Because I will," the blonde replied evenly. "As the time is ten o'clock, Draco, you may want to come down and have your breakfast."

Draco nodded, muttering something under his breath. As he walked by his son, he ruffled his hair and gave a small smile. He left the room before Scorpius could say anything.

Daphne turned to Scorpius. "Now, Scorpius, I know you have work to do. I specifically asked Albus to mail me all the assignments you had been given to complete, and so far into the holidays, you haven't done any of them."

'Albus, you traitor,' Scorpius thought. But to his aunt, he gave another smile. "Yes, Aunt Daphne."

"So, off to your room." She left as well, going downstairs to reheat breakfast.

Scorpius walked to his room. Now he had a list of work to complete.

He looked around as he opened the mahogany door and stepped in. On the walls, he had stuck pictures they had taken as a family. Except for three, they were all unmoving; Scorpius felt it odd to stay in the room if so many images constantly moved around him. The wall visible past the pictures and the quotes he had stuck up were mint green. His room was large, but sometimes Scorpius felt it to be unbearably lonely.

He walked over to the window, where a silver owl was patiently waiting, knocking at the window glass with its beak once in a few minutes. He knew that owl; it was Albus', named Malachite or Kita for short. Albus had simply chosen the name of a shade of green to name his owl, saying that it was proof he was a proud Slytherin.

He opened the window and the owl hopped in, dropping the box it had been holding in its talons. Scorpius went over to the shelf to get some owl food for Malachite; Albus had warned him that Scorpius would be getting a lot of mail, and advised him to keep some food around to give poor Kita when he came.

Scorpius undid the wrapping carefully, setting aside the cerulean ribbon and opening the covering paper. He saw a wooden box, and opened it from the top, taking out a silky black bag. He undid the twine on that too, and opened it to find sweets. His eyes lit up as they took stock of them; the bag was filled to the brim with pepper imps and shock-a-chocs. And pepper imps were his favorite.

He took the note placed atop the wrapped chocolates, and read it. "From your neighborhood Slytherin, Albus."

Yup, it was Albus, alright.

xXx

Draco was combing his hair when a brown owl landed on the window sill and vied for his attention. He dropped the comb and briskly walked over, opening the window. The owl raised its talon and showed the letter tied to its leg. Draco took it and watched as the owl flew away. Shutting the window, he sat down on a nearby chair and opened the letter.

His eyes widened as he finished reading. Past all the questions in his mind, he wondered why this had come so late. It had been quite some years since Astoria died, so why was he receiving this letter now?

He needed answers. And according to the letter, the only place he could get them from was Hogwarts.

He walked out of the room, clutching the letter tightly as he went downstairs. "I'm sorry, Daphne, but I have to go to Hogwarts immediately."

"What! Draco, this is the second time I'm reheating the food for you. Next time, you can come and do it yourself," Daphne huffed, walking out of the kitchen to see her brother-in-law. They had long disposed of house elves; though the Granger's campaign for the rights of elves hadn't been that popular, it had still caused many noble houses to let go of their elves on charges of abuse. And the Malfoy family had long been hurting their elves.

"This is far greater than food, Daphne," Draco said, looking at the blonde and nodding before he exited the mansion.

xXx

As soon as he was out of the mansion, Draco apparated to Hogsmeade and entered Hogwarts from the wizarding village. He was let in by the protections, and though some students looked at him in confusion, they did not say anything. Draco knew he could have Flooed to the Headmistress' office instead of coming all the way, but he wanted to use some magic.

Soon he was in front of the gargoyle guarding the entrance. It had been repaired after the battle by the group of wizards and witches who had volunteered to fix Hogwarts before education was resumed.

"Password, please."

Minerva McGonagall had decided to continue the tradition of using sweets as passwords in homage of the late headmaster. The passwords were also given to the parents of the students, in case any of them wanted to meet and discuss with the headmistress. "Blood Pops."

"Correct."

The gargoyle leapt aside to reveal a door. He opened the door and went up a narrow spiral staircase and as he went he heard some gentle taps of his boots. Once he reached the top, he knocked at the door, and heard the voice of his old professor. "Enter, please."

He did as told, and threw the letter on McGonagall's desk, eyes cold. "Professor, I believe you can explain this letter I just received."

Minerva's eyes narrowed at the disrespect her former student was showing, but glanced down at the letter, giving a wordless gasp as she understood. She didn't know everything about this, but she knew few who did. Like Harry Potter, who had come to tell her on the day it had all happened. Her student had been rambling, green eyes distressed.

'Of course it's a secret, Professor, but Astoria always wanted to make sure Malfoy would know that. She worked under me, and she knew there would be a day she wouldn't make it back alive with this case… She designed a letter for him, and constantly updated it. With this, I think he'll be receiving that. He'll probably be coming here first, Astoria discussed it with Dumbledore's portrait – he was the one who had suggested it in the first place.'

"Professor, I need to know everything about-"

"-now, just a minute, Mr. Malfoy. The only one who can give you the answers is the Headmaster. I think I'll take a tour to make sure teaching is taking place; give you both some privacy, I suppose. You'll need it." She stood up from her chair, and left the room, not waiting to hear anything Draco had to say.

A minute later after the door closed, Dumbledore appeared in his portrait, the twinkle in his blue eyes diminishing as he noticed Draco. His voice was still cheerful, however.

"Ah, Draco! Good evening," he greeted, but Draco only nodded. He wasn't here for pleasantries, he was here for answers.

"So what do you want to know?" Damn Dumbledore. Draco knew he knew what Draco wanted to know about, but he was simply dragging on the inevitable.

"Astoria."

Any look of happiness on Dumbledore's face was replaced with regret. "I know she told you to come here for the answers about her death, but I am not the right one to answer, Draco. This is a Ministry secret, and Astoria only entrusted me with it because she had no choice."

"Please, by Merlin," Draco pleaded. "Only now I learn my wife's death was due to some Ministry problem, and all I want are answers. How could you know how it feels like to have something so sudden put upon you? Her death was ever-so-mysterious, and now the answers are so close I could reach them. And I need it." Draco asked, voice growing stronger as he argued. It was really sudden, and he felt the shock hadn't still left his system. Truth was closure, and he needed the truth. The truth he had been searching for all this time.

"If you truly want to know, Draco, ask Harry or Mrs. Granger – she is the Minister of Magic now, isn't she?"

"Granger. Oh, yes. One of those mud-"

"Don't," Dumbledore said. His voice was soft but the order was clear. Draco smirked, all these years and still the old man was hung up about the use of some slurs.

"Thank you for absolutely nothing," Draco said, leaving the room without another glance.

Dumbledore regretfully looked at the Slytherin as he left. Perhaps it wasn't smart of Astoria to want her husband to know of the truth within the Ministry… But it had been her choice, and Dumbledore wasn't going to stand against it.