Disclaimers: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers including, but not limited to, Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Author's Notes: Part eight of my series, "The Blossom and the Dragon". Beta-read by QueenBtchoftheUniverse.

Chapter One

"You are staring at her again."

Scorpius didn't turn to look at his wife, but he registered her words and nodded softly, without being able to tear his eyes from his godfather's wife. "I know," he murmured. He took a distracted sip from the glass in his hand and sighed.

"If you want to leave me for another woman, can you at least find someone who is younger than me and not older than your own mother?" Rose chuckled.

Scorpius rolled his eyes and finally looked at her. She seemed unable to restrain a grin, as if she thought she had said something extremely witty. "You know," he commented, smirking, "sometimes you think you are funny, but – and I'm sorry to be the one who has to break the news to you – you are actually not."

As a reply, Rose stuck out her tongue to him. "I'll have you know that I'm hilarious," she told him, tossing her curls behind her ears.

"That's your father, Rose," Scorpius corrected her, "and your brother. You are more like your mother."

His wife pretended to be outraged. "Hey! I'm like my mother when it's up to being intelligent, not when we talk about being funny," she quipped.

Scorpius couldn't help grinning at her. "Right," he replied softly, "and after all I didn't marry you for your humour." He lowered his head to kiss her, and she smiled against his lips.

"But I'm still funny."

"Like a Weasley Joke Box." He kissed her again. Her lips were soft and warm and she tasted of chocolate cake.

She looked up at him when he withdrew. "So," she murmured, glancing at Pansy Zabini, "what's bothering you?"

Scorpius bit his bottom lip. Glancing quickly at the woman as well, he shook his head softly. "Nothing," he whispered, trying without succeeding to sound calm.

"Scorpius," she called him sternly, "come on. You know you can talk to me."

Scorpius looked back at her with big, troubled eyes. "I don't want to talk here," he murmured, looking around at the people laughing and chatting, and at the children running about the garden. "I'll tell you tonight."

Rose shook her head, her curly hair whipping her face. "Nonsense," she replied forcefully, "let's go to the pond." She grabbed his hand and started to drag him towards the far end of the garden.

"I don't think we can leave our son's Christening party," he tried to protest. "Actually, where's our son?" he added, digging his heels in the ground as he noticed that he was not in Rose's arms as he should have been.

Rose almost tripped over for the sudden stop. "I left him with Albus," she reassured him, turning to face her husband, "after all he is his godfather, he better gets used to holding him for when he is baby-sitting."

Scorpius scolded her. "Are you out of your mind? How can you even suggest to leave my son with someone as irresponsible as Albus?"

Rose's eyebrow arched quizzically. "You chose him as godfather," she pointed out.

Scorpius looked gruffly at her. "Yes, but I never thought you wanted him to baby-sit." The very thought of the young, roughneck Potter alone in their flat with his son made him shiver.

She took a deep breath, but a small smile stretched her lips, as if she thought it adorable that he was so unnecessarily worried for their son. "Okay," she murmured gently, "we'll ask my parents to baby-sit."

He smiled a little. "Better," he conceded.

Rose giggled, before grabbing his hand again. "Let's go," she urged, dragging him forward.

The pond was deserted, enveloped in an almost eerie silence. Rose seemed glad it was January, too cold for her cousins to be swimming in there – even with the warming spell that had been cast upon the garden of the Burrow. She guided Scorpius towards what looked like a small, sandy beach and sat gracefully on a little boulder, her blue dress covering her legs as she drew them to her chest and looked as Scorpius sat across from her.

He smiled awkwardly at her. He really didn't know how to start that conversation. He had been obsessing over his godfather's wife ever since he had brought her to the Manor, but he had never told that to anybody, not even his wife. He just didn't know what to say. He picked up a rock and threw it in the pond, staring as it sunk and keeping his eyes stubbornly away from Rose.

"Scorpius," she called him, her voice almost impatient.

"What?" he asked, eyeing her warily.

She sighed. "Talk to me," she encouraged him.

Scorpius darkened slightly. "Listen," he murmured, "it's just a stupid thing, really…"

"Evidently," she pointed out, "it's not stupid if it bothers you this much." She smiled reassuringly and placed a warm hand on his cheek, caressing his skin with her thumb.

Scorpius shook his head, but placed a hand on Rose's to keep it in place. "It's just something that my grandmother said…"

Rose raised her eyebrows. "Since when have you let your grandmother's words bother you?" she asked gently. "You know that she is—"

"A horrible human being?"

"—not the sweetest witch to have ever walked this earth."

Scorpius snorted. "Yeah, right," he quipped. "But no, that's different. It's something she said about Blaise's wife…" He lowered his eyes. "The day I brought her to the Manor… the day my father…" His voice trailed away. The day my father died. He didn't want to say it though, it had been only a few months and the memory still hurt.

"I know," Rose hurried to say, her hand still caressing his cheek. "What did she say about her?"

Scorpius took a deep breath and looked into her eyes. "A lot of things," he started, his tone grave, "that she invented a healing potion and that she was awarded an Order of Merlin."

Rose smiled softly. "Yes, that's common knowledge, Scorpius. Even Albus knows it, it's on her Chocolate Frog Card."

He bit his bottom lip. "Also that she was my father's slut and that she bore his bastard." He lowered his eyes and added bitterly, "Bet that's not on the card…"

Rose's lips parted in surprise at the confession. Her eyes widened and her hand finally left her husband's cheek to fall in her lap. For a long moment, she just stared at him, too shocked to even be able to put two sentences together.

Scorpius found her reaction only fitting. He nodded softly. "Shocking, right?" he muttered.

Rose nodded back. "His slut…?"

He snorted. "Oh no," he said, "that's not the shocking part." He looked away from her, not wanting to stare into her eyes as he kept telling her about his father. Rose's family was what he considered perfect, and he knew only too well that his own was not. It pained him to have to confess to her about his father's behaviour. "He was a regular client of a whorehouse in Knockturn Alley." He darkened slightly, that was how Draco Malfoy had died, but nobody except Scorpius' mother, his grandmother and himself knew it. "He stayed at hotels all around the world and had a different girl in his room every night." He looked back at her. "Remember that summer when I went to Spain with him?"

"Yes," she replied softly, "I still remember the address of the hotel you were staying at because I sent you so many letters…"

Scorpius nodded. "I walked into his room one night and he was pushing a girl into the mattress," he muttered, "she was loud and he was brutal and when he finished he told her to get out of there."

Rose's hand went to her mouth. Horrified. "Did he see you?"

Scorpius shook his head. "No, but I will never forget it." He didn't let his wife say anything, for he didn't want to hear any soothing comment that wouldn't have soothed at him at all. "But as I said, that's not the shocking part." He looked at Rose, surprised that she hadn't remarked anything about the other revelation yet. "She said that she bore my father's bastard."

Rose looked at him and furrowed her brow. "Yes," she replied softly, "I know what you are thinking…" She looked past him, towards the Burrow and the crowd of guests which was mostly a mass of redheads. "But it doesn't look like she has any child at all…"

Scorpius swallowed. "But if she does," he pointed out forcefully, "that would be my half-brother."

She sighed. Rose knew that he had always wanted a big family. She knew that he was pining for this piece of information to be true. "Don't you think Blaise would have told you if she were the mother of your half-brother?"

He shook his head. "Blaise and I don't talk that much, Rose," he reminded her darkly.

"But…" Her voice trailed away as she tried to think about what to say to her husband. "Scorpius, don't you think that we would have known if she had a child? I mean, wouldn't we have met him at Hogwarts?"

Scorpius' mouth became a thin line on his face. "Well, I don't know about you, but I didn't know every single student back at school," he replied grimly, "and we don't even know how old he might be. Maybe he is in school now."

Rose looked sceptically at him, but when she talked her voice was gentle. "Well, you know what you have to do if you want to know, right?"

Scorpius' shoulders slumped slightly. He knew and he really didn't want to. "Send you to ask her if I have a half-brother?" he asked with a soft, hopeful smile.

Rose smiled back. "Oh, but apparently I'm not the only one with a sense of humour here," she quipped. "You have to talk to her."

He shook his head. "That's out of the question," he replied firmly.

"Why?"

He crossed his arms on his chest. "I've tried to talk to her a couple of times and every time I've just stuttered out a string of words until Blaise started to laugh at me."

Rose smiled. "What are you afraid of, Mister Auror?"

He looked at her, outraged. "Nothing!" he snapped. "She is just… she just makes me feel uncomfortable…"

Rose sighed. "Talk to Blaise, then," she suggested.

From the Burrow came some screams and laughter, and both Rose and Scorpius turned their head to look at the people in the distance. Probably they were wondering where the parents of the baby were. They should have gone back soon, before a searching party was sent out to look for them. That was the problem of having so many Aurors in the family, always trying to save the day, even when the day didn't want to be saved.

Scorpius stood up from the boulder and helped his wife to her feet. "I can't talk to Blaise alone, he is always with her…" he pointed out as they made their way back to the party.

When Rose looked at him she narrowed her eyes almost accusatorily. "Do you even read the Daily Prophet at all, Scorpius?" she asked sharply. "And luckily you were the one who wanted to renew the subscription."

"I read it," he let her know without fully understanding how that mattered at that very moment.

"Apart from the Quidditch page, I mean," she quipped. "There was an article the other day about a few important people who are going to speak to the students at Hogwarts next week."

Scorpius furrowed his brow, still unsure as to how this information would be useful to him at that moment. "I suppose your uncle is going…"

Rose nodded. "And Pansy Zabini is going too," she let him know, "and she will have to be at Hogwarts for the whole week."

Finally realisation kicked in, and Scorpius' eyes widened as a smile appeared on his face and he thought that his wife was amazing. "That means…"

"That Blaise will be at the Estate all by himself for a week," she replied encouragingly. "You should go and talk to him."

Scorpius stopped in his tracks and took a deep breath before smiling at Rose and murmuring, "I think I will." Then he leaned down and he kissed her. He felt happier, it was going to be alright. He would find out the truth.

oOoOo

The Estate was a massive villa in the middle of the Yorkshire countryside. It wasn't as big as the Manor, but it was definitely much brighter and more welcoming, especially now that Scorpius' former residence was basically in ruin. The garden was immense, filled with flowers and fruit trees and birds. The house was covered in grey bricks and had more chimneys and windows than one might have the patience to count.

Scorpius had been there only a few times when he was a child, always with his father alone, never with his mother. Blaise didn't like her, and that was one of the things that he had had in common with Draco. Scorpius remembered a Quidditch pitch behind the house, but somehow he couldn't spot the posts anymore. Probably, since Blaise was now in his fifties and he didn't have children, he had deemed it unnecessary to keep it.

Scorpius hadn't been there in a long time though. Of course, Blaise was still his godfather and still sent him money and some presents every year for his birthday and for Christmas, but he seldom saw him. Ever since Scorpius' eleventh birthday party, when his father punched him for Merlin knew what reason, their relationship deteriorated. He did come to Draco's funeral though, and Scorpius knew that he had cried before Disapparating with his soon-to-be wife in his arms.

The young man had written to Blaise at the beginning of that week, telling him that he wanted to go and visit him, that it had been far too long and that it had been nice of him to come to his son's Christening. Rose suggested those words.

Luckily, Blaise replied enthusiastically saying that he was happy to have him for tea, but that maybe he wanted to wait until his wife was back from Hogwarts. She baked the best cakes and served tea impeccably well.

It's okay, we'll have a man to man talk, Scorpius had replied. So now he was walking through the opening gates of the Zabini Estate and making his way up to the house.

He looked around himself as he walked. The garden would have made his mother-in-law have a fit, for fairies seemed to roam every angle of it, and Scorpius knew that it was illegal to keep those creatures on a private property. It didn't matter how beautiful they made the garden.

He stared as one flew over to a tulip and sat gracefully over it, her pixie-like face looking malignantly at him. When a swarm of other little creatures flew in his direction to join their companion, Scorpius thought better to hurry to the house because he knew how sharp their little teeth were.

"Don't be afraid," said a woman from behind him, "if they bite you, you just swat one of them with your hand and the others fly away in fear."

Scorpius swallowed, not too keen on killing a fairy. He turned to look at the woman. She was tall, beautiful despite her old age, and dressed in a delightful green dress with a garden hat on her head. "Good morning, Mrs Zabini," he greeted her politely, "I'm glad to see you're well."

She smiled gently and batted her eyelashes. "Thank you, Scorpius dear," she replied. "My son is waiting for you in the sunroom. He was so very excited when you said that you were coming."

Scorpius smiled back, glad that Blaise was looking forward to their meeting. "And the sunroom is…"

"Oh, just follow the house-elf that opens the door," she replied gently, before bending over to tend to some red roses.

Scorpius nodded and thanked her. He turned and kept walking towards the house.

"I hope you like pickles," she called after him.

He smiled, but didn't reply. The sun was nice and quite warm despite that they were still in the middle of winter, but as Scorpius walked past the orchard, he suspected that the whole place was enchanted, for cherries and pears shouldn't be growing at that time of year like they were doing there.

He knocked firmly on the door and before he could even withdraw his hand, it swung open, and a small house-elf with bulging blue eyes beamed at him. "Master Malfoy!" he squeaked. "Master Zabini awaits you!"

The creature let Scorpius in before closing the door at his back and walking quickly through the hall. Scorpius followed him into a long corridor and past a few open doors.

The Estate was different from what Scorpius remembered. It looked almost more cheerful than before – and when he was only a child Scorpius had thought it extremely cheerful compared to the Manor – with flowers in every corner and colourful pieces of furniture from all over the world. It also looked brighter than before and warmer than he could ever remember.

"Finally," Blaise greeted him as the house-elf led Scorpius into a big room with windows that went from the floor to the ceiling, "I was starting to think that you got lost in the garden." His godfather was standing near a window overlooking a colourful rose garden with a little pond in the middle. He walked towards Scorpius and placed his hands over his shoulders. "So good to see you, Scorpius," he said, smiling.

Scorpius grinned at him and nodded. "It's good to see you too, Blaise," he replied.

Blaise cocked his head. "Look at you," he beamed, patting his hands on his shoulders, "you grew up so much."

Scorpius frowned slightly. "You saw me last week at the Christening."

The tall man laughed. "Right," he agreed, letting him go and moving to sit on an armchair near the extinguished fireplace, "please sit wherever you like." He nodded towards a couch. "Not on Nightshade, though, or Pansy will bake you in one of her cakes."

Scorpius turned his head to look at the couch and saw an old black cat curled on it. The animal raised his weary head when Blaise said his name and yawned tiredly before going back to sleep, his white whiskers shaking as he did.

"Tea and sandwiches and scones and biscuits, Tally," Blaise ordered as Scorpius sat on an armchair opposite to him. "And don't bring my mother's Assam or some other inedible crap of hers, we want Earl Grey." He looked at Scorpius. "Don't we?"

Scorpius nodded, even though he really couldn't have cared less what kind of tea he was served.

The house-elf nodded contentedly and disappeared from the sunroom with a pop, leaving the two men alone for only a fraction of a second before she reappeared with a tray filled with a teapot and two cups, scones and biscuits and a plate of sandwiches balanced between her ears.

"Good," grinned Blaise appreciatively as he poured himself a cup of tea, "we have cheese and pickles, sardines, and cucumber sandwiches." He offered the plate with the biscuits to Scorpius as he grabbed one himself. "But you have to try these, Pansy baked them before she left, they are delicious."

Scorpius thanked him politely as he took a biscuit. He grabbed a bite while he slid his cup of tea closer to him. It was delicious, charmed to be warm inside and with big chunks of chocolate that melted in his mouth.

"Good, isn't it?" asked Blaise, smiling. "She made me a whole batch before she left." He chuckled. "I almost finished them."

Scorpius frowned. "I thought she left yesterday," he pointed out, surprised.

"She did," confirmed Blaise, taking another biscuit, "and I miss her. This is nervous eating."

The younger man smiled and sipped some tea. He had never heard his godfather talking like that before. And he had never seen him with anybody at all, he had always assumed that he was either not interested in women or unwilling to settle. Now he seemed simply happy, as if he had finally found that someone who completed him.

"Isn't your mother joining us?" asked Scorpius as Blaise got started on the third biscuit.

"She doesn't like this kind of tea," Blaise quipped, "she is more the Assam with a couple of Digestives type of person." He gestured to the coffee table. "This is too heavy for her at her age."

Scorpius nodded knowingly. After all, his grandmother wouldn't have eaten anything from that table as well. "She looks well."

Blaise snorted. "She is feeling better than me," he agreed gruffly, "she gets younger and younger every year. I was waiting for her to be pushing up daisies so that I could move into the master bedroom with Pansy, but I think that she will bury me sooner or later." He sighed. "Do you know what she said when I got married?"

Scorpius shook his head, a soft smile of anticipation stretching his lips.

"She said, Oh, I'm so happy you are here, Pansy dear, it was getting so boring in this house with that old mummy of Blaise!" He shook his head darkly. "As if I was the old mummy here!"

Scorpius chuckled in amusement. "Poor Godfather," he quipped. "So do they get along?"

"Who? Pansy and my mother?" he asked with his mouth full with the fifth biscuit.

Scorpius nodded, taking a sandwich and nibbling lightly at it.

"They adore each other," he replied, putting down his cup of tea, "which is not always a good thing, especially when they team up against me." He looked furtively around himself before lowering his voice and adding, "The other day, for example, we had lunch at four in the afternoon because they were too busy pruning the hydrangeas." He shook his head. "Bloody hell! I was starving!"

The younger wizard couldn't help laughing at his godfather, but Blaise laughed too, so he knew he wasn't doing something too disrespectful.

"And how's baby Draco?" asked Blaise, finally managing to pour himself another cup of tea after having been shaken by laughter.

Scorpius smiled more brightly now. "He is brilliant," he replied, thinking about his son, "and he is growing up so quickly. One day he is learning how to smile and the next he is sitting by himself already."

Blaise nodded, something close to melancholy in his eyes. "I'm sure he is," he commented quietly. "You should bring him here sometimes. We put up a nice gazebo in the backyard in the summer and we can all chill and have dinner outside."

"That sounds great," exclaimed Scorpius, happy that he seemed to want to rekindle their friendship. "I'll tell Rose."

"Good," replied Blaise, before putting the cup back down and leaning against the back of the armchair, "now, I think it would be nice if you told me the reason of your visit, wouldn't it, Scorpius?"

Scorpius' eyes widened. He had almost forgotten about the real reason behind his visit to his godfather. Almost, not quite, but he had hoped he would have more time to talk about anything else but that. He would have liked to nonchalantly introduce the matter as if he only just remembered his grandmother's words. "I just… wanted to see you, Blaise…" he murmured, but he was well aware of how unconvincing his tone was.

Blaise cocked his head. "Yes," he quipped, "and I'm the one who commands in this house." He raised his eyebrows meaningfully. "I haven't seen you in years and all of a sudden you come to visit." He smiled amusedly. "I hardly think you are looking for parenting tips from me, and I don't reckon that this is about your father either, is it?"

Scorpius took a deep breath and placed his cup on the table. He was nervous. Not nervous for having to ask his godfather if his wife was perhaps the mother of his half-brother, but nervous because of the answer he might have gotten from him. Did he have a half-brother? What was his name? Where was he? Could he have met him? Why had they never told him about him? Merlin! He had so many questions, he just hoped that his godfather didn't look indignantly at him and kick him out of his house for them.

"Scorpius?" Blaise called him gently.

Scorpius looked at him in the eyes, trying to muster all his courage. He wished Rose was there with him at that moment. "Yes," he murmured, "right… I've got something to ask you…"

Blaise scratched his nose. "Go on, then," he encouraged him gently, "but speak up because I think I'm becoming a bit deaf…"

Scorpius nodded softly, biting his bottom lip. "It's just something that my grandmother said about… about your wife…"

All of a sudden, at the mention of his grandmother, Blaise's dark eyes became two slits and when he spoke his voice iced over, "And what would that be, pray tell?"

Scorpius felt the urge to paraphrase his grandmother's words. "She said that she had my father's child," he finally let out, "and that they were in some kind of relationship…"

Blaise observed his godson for long, interminable seconds, but when he replied he sounded calm, "And what is it that you want to ask me?" His face too, seemed more relaxed than when he was waiting to know what Narcissa had said.

"Just…" Scorpius' words trailed away. He had tried that discourse in his head for a week and he had always sounded so firm and calm, unlike that very moment when his voice quivered as if he was a first year Hufflepuff lost in the Forbidden Forest. "Just if it's the truth…"

His godfather replied much faster than he had expected. "It is," he admitted softly.

Scorpius' jaw dropped. Even though he had hoped for that answer he was just too surprised to put together a few words to reply to Blaise. He had to pour himself some more tea and down the boiling hot beverage before managing to speak again. "So," he croaked throatily, "do I have a brother?"

Strangely, Blaise seemed surprised at his question and Scorpius couldn't imagine why. Wouldn't that be the next sensible thing to ask? "No," he replied simply, stressing the syllable by shaking his head.

Scorpius' shoulders slumped forward as delusion painted his face. "But you said that she gave birth to my father's—"

"I know what I said," replied Blaise firmly, "and it's not a lie. But you don't have a brother, Scorpius." He took a deep breath. "Pansy's child died the day she gave birth to him."

"Oh," was all Scorpius could reply. "What happened?"

He shook his head. "I don't think my wife would like me to tell you," he replied gently, "but you can come here next week and see if she will grace you with more information about the matter."

Scorpius felt sick at the very suggestion of asking those same things to Pansy Zabini. She was not unkind to him, she just looked at him with those dark eyes that seemed to contain secrets that he would have never imagined, not even in his wildest dreams, and they made him feel extremely uncomfortable. "No, it's okay," he muttered.

"Shall I ask her if she wants to talk to you?" demanded Blaise softly.

"No!" replied Scorpius forcefully. "It's okay, Blaise, really." He smiled softly. "I just would have liked to have a brother."

Blaise nodded. "Me too, you know," he replied brightly, "someone to play Quidditch with in the backyard or to tie upside down on a tree branch…"

Scorpius raised his eyebrows. That was not exactly what he was thinking, but that was okay… "I think I should go now," he murmured, brushing off crumbles from his trousers. "Rose is cooking lasagne tonight."

"Delicious," commented Blaise with a grin. "So, you'll tell her about the invitation for next summer, won't you?"

He nodded, even though at that moment the very thought of accepting the invitation and seeing Pansy Zabini made his legs turn like jelly. He stood up and Blaise with him. "Thank you, Blaise," he smiled, as his godfather hugged him and patted his back.

"No problem," he replied gently, "can you tell my mother that I'm not going to wait for her for dinner if she is not in the house at six?"

Scorpius nodded and grinned, he followed the house-elf, which had just appeared in the sunroom, back to the entrance. As he walked towards the door, though, he felt like something was missing, as if his questions had been answered – quite curtly indeed though – but despite that, he had new questions arising in his head. What happened to the baby? What happened to his brother? Had Pansy Zabini had a stillbirth? Strangely enough, Scorpius didn't think so, he thought that Blaise wouldn't have had any problems telling him if she had. Scorpius sighed in the knowledge that he wouldn't manage to stay away from that woman. That even if he didn't want to talk to her at all, he would be back in that house to ask her more things.