A Gift Fic presented to nottheonlyfangirl for all of her hard work for Ravenclaw in Round 10 of the Houses Competition!
I present: Scorpius Malfoy Isn't Real
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"Scorp's coming over for dinner tonight!" Albus shouts fleetingly to his parents as he bursts through the front door. He misses the concerned stares of Ginny and Harry Potter. Instead, he runs up the stairs, calling after him. "About seven, he said!"
The Potter's turn to each other. Harry shrugs and moves to grab a recipe book from the slightly precarious shelf to his left. Ginny, however, is determined.
"Harry, this has to stop," she hisses to her husband, snatching the Jamie Oliver's Cook for Eight in Eight Minutes And Other Magical Recipes from him. "Tonight. James and Lily know not to ask about Scorpius, and it's the same with Hermione and Ron. But the rest of the family? They won't be as accommodating." She waves her wand deftly to open the book to a correct page.
"Ooh yum, Pineapple Casserole," Harry grins. He catches his wife's eye and moves away from their kitchen island. In a quick movement, pots, pans, and a dish sets up in front of them.
"Do you think it's something that we affected?"
Harry frowns. "That he's obsessed with another boy? No."
"You know I'm not talking about." Ginny sighs heavily. "When people come over, they're going to ask all sorts of questions about Al's only friend, Scorpius Malfoy. And he's not even real."
"Al doesn't know that," Harry replies. "It's not so simple, Ginny."
"I know it's not bloody simple!" She slams her palm against the worktop. "Merlin, I know that. It's not simple. Our son isn't simple. He wants someone - he wants a friend so badly that he invented Scorpius Malfoy. And Astoria's death, I have no idea where he got that from. She's never been healthier. The Malfoys don't have any children."
In a sudden, swooping sensation, the pain of her perceived failure anchors her to the spot. The weight in her chest suffocating. Pressing on her heart.
"Where did we go wrong as parents?"
"Lots of children have imaginary friends," Harry starts.
"Not to this extent, Harry. Albus has invented a whole life around his own loneliness. That's not normal. And it has to stop. Scorpius - real or otherwise - cannot be a thing anymore."
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Thank you for reading!
