A/N: I don't own Harry Potter
TRIGGER WARNING! This story contains mentions of alcoholism, miscarriage, sexual abuse of a minor. You have been warned!
"I don't like you," seven year old Scorpius stated to the girl sitting on the floor across from him. They were both at Malfoy manor. The girl looked up from her book. She was also seven.
"I don't like you either."
"You're only here cause your mummy and my daddy are..."
"Playing chess?" she finished.
"No, wait, what?"
"That's what mummy and daddy did in their room when I wasn't allowed in," she replied. Scorpius stared at her like she was an idiot.
"No, they're not playing chess, Rose, Merlin you're stupid."
"Am not!" Rose screamed.
"They're kissing," Scorpius stated. Rose sniffled glaring him.
"I don't like you," she stated. "You're mean."
"I am not mean. You're just a baby."
"I'm older than you!"
"No you're not."
"Am so, I was born in April. You were born...when where you born?"
"November."
"See, then I'm older," Rose stated putting her small hands on her hips. Scorpius shook his head.
"Rose, Scorpius!" The kids looked at each other and stood up.
"Yes?"
"Rose, time to go," Hermione announced. Rose glared at Scorpius one last time before following her mum out of the manor.
Scorpius looked at his father.
"Well? Did you two have fun?" Draco asked.
"What do you think? She's an idiot. I hate her and I hate 'Mione! She'll never be my mum," Scorpius yelled before running to his room and slamming the door.
"Scorpius!" Draco yelled after him sighing. He knew dating again wouldn't be easy, but this...was not quite what he expected.
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"Rose, what did you and Scorpius talk about?"
"He called me stupid, so I called him mean. He said he was older than me. I don't like him."
"You'd better start liking him, or at least give him a chance, Rose. I like his father very much."
"Why?"
"Because, I do, Rose. He's very different than your father, can you please just give Mr. Malfoy and Scorpius a chance?"
"I'm not stupid."
"No, you're not, Rose. Scorpius is having a difficult time too, just remember that." Rose nodded slowly before retreating to her room. Hermione sighed. Could she honestly pursue this relationship if Rose disliked the Malfoys so much?
Rose flopped down on her bed. Maybe she shouldn't have called Scorpius mean? She missed her daddy, did that mean Scorp missed his mummy? She walked over to her desk and pulled out a sheet of parchment.
Deer Scorpius,
I'm sorry for calling you mean toda. Mummy sed you are sad because you miss your mummy like I miss my daddy. I wood like to tri and be frends. Rite me bak if you want. I will see you next time our parents get togethr.
From Rose
Rose folded the letter and wrote Scorpius' name on the front of it. She walked downstairs.
"Mummy?" Hermione turned.
"Yes Rose?"
"Can I use Tawny?" Hermione had finally gotten an owl since it made communication easier. She found she was actually fond of the bird.
"Who are you sending a letter to? Grandma and Grampa Weasley?" She encouraged Rose to keep in contact with Ron's family, even with the divorce.
"No, Scorpius. I wrote him a letter saying I was sorry." Hermione smiled at her daughter.
"Of course, here let me help you tie it on."
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Draco blinked as Hermione's owl glided through the open window. Instead of going to him it landed in front of Scorpius and stuck out its leg.
"For me? Why would she be writing me?"
"I don't know. It's got your name on it, go ahead and open it." Draco recognized the handwriting. Who else would write a letter in crayon?
"What's it say son?"
"It's from Rose, she's sorry for calling me mean. And she wants to try and be friends." Draco nodded.
"Would you like to write her back?"
"Yes, her spelling is horrible." Draco laughed wondering how exactly Hermione's daughter wasn't as brilliant as her mother.
Dear Rose,
I am sorry for calling you stupid. I didn't mean it. I do miss my mummy. She was so pretty and smelled nice. And she loved me. I don't like your mummy! I don't want to be your friend, I want you to go away.
Scorpius Malfoy
Draco watched Scorpius write the letter, but he grabbed it before the boy had a chance to attach it.
"This is not acceptable, Scorpius. Rose is trying to be your friend. You will be nice to her and Hermione this Saturday."
"Do I have to be here?"
"Yes."
"I hate you too," Scorpius stated running back to his room leaving his dinner untouched. Draco wondered if he should break it off with Hermione, at least his son would be happy.
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Rose followed Hermione as they approached the manor.
"I think Scorpius hates me."
"He doesn't hate you, Rose. He's hurting. Give him a chance." Rose rolled her eyes.
"Hermione, Rose," Draco stated opening the door for them.
"Draco, thank you for having us."
"You're always welcome here." Draco stated giving Hermione a kiss on the lips. Rose rolled her eyes again.
"Scorpius is in his room." She nodded wandering off that direction. The door was closed.
"Scorp? Hi, we're here. Wanna do something? Mummy and your daddy are...you know, whatever it is they're doing." Slowly the door swung open.
"Fine, come in, but you'll never be my sister.
"I don't wanna be, I almost had a brother."
"Almost?"
"Yeah, and then mummy and daddy got in a fight cause daddy was drinking something he shouldn't, an mummy fell down the stairs, and then my brother went away." Scorpius stared at her in disbelief.
"Mummy was really sad about it. I don't wanna brother, not after that," Rose said sadly. Scorpius slowly gave her a hug.
"Does your mummy know you know about that?" Rose shook her head.
"I was supposed to be sleep, I had a bad dream, where spiders were trying to eat me. And I heard her fall...it was horrible," she whispered. "Wanna play a game?"
"Um, I have gobstones, and chess, and...books."
"I like books," Rose stated walking over to the bookcase.
"Rose, I'm sorry." She turned to look at him.
"For?"
"Being mean and calling you stupid." Rose smiled.
"I"m sorry too, Scorpius, I miss my daddy, just like you miss your mummy."
"I do miss her."
"My mummy isn't trying to replace her, just like she says your daddy would never replace mine," Rose tried to explain.
"Oh. I...I thought."
"Maybe we should get to be friends like mummy and your daddy?"
"Okay. How do we do that?"
"I don't know, what if mummy marries your daddy?"
"I don't know."
"Scorpius, what does your daddy like to do?" Rose asked.
"He likes to fly, he's going teach me when I'm older!"
"Does he play the same game my daddy does?"
"Which game?" Scorpius asked.
"I dunno the name of it. But I undressed and he used his man wand on me," Rose explained. Scorpius' eyes widened.
"No, my daddy doesn't play those kind of games Rose. That's not right."
"Oh."
"Does your mummy know about this game?"
"No, it's mine and daddy's secret. He'll be mad if I tell," she whispered tears forming in her brown eyes. "You won't tell."
"I promise.
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"Daddy." Draco looked over at his son.
"What's wrong?"
"Um, someone told me about someone doing something that might be wrong, but if they tell, they'll be in big trouble. What should I do?"
"Can you tell me what the person is doing that you think is wrong?" Scorpius looked at the floor.
"Is someone being hurt?"
"Yes."
"Hurt in the way we talked about when someone touches you and you don't like it?"
"Yes." Draco froze. He had hoped that wasn't what Scorpius had been talking about.
"Are you being hurt?" Please, say no, he thought. Scorpius shook his head. Praise Merlin, Draco nearly sighed in relief. That meant he personally didn't have to kill someone.
"Can you tell me who is being hurt?"
"No, I promised."
"What if I guess? That way you wouldn't have told me?" Draco suggested. Scorpius nodded slowly.
"Okay."
"Boy or girl."
"Girl."
"Do I know her?"
"Yes." Fuck, no, it couldn't be...he had to ask.
"Is it Rose?"
"Yes."
"Does Hermione know?"
"No."
"Who is hurting Rose?"
"I can't tell." Draco had a pretty good idea. He looked at his son, the boy was near tears.
"Scorpius, you did the right thing. Does Rose still see her father?"
"I don't know," Scorpius admitted.
"Let's go, I need to talk to Hermione now, make sure Rose doesn't have any more contact with her father."
"She'll know I told."
"That is the least of our problems right now, Scorp. If he hurts her again...with me knowing about it..."
"She's going to hate me," Scorpius stated as Draco and him apparated to Hermione's flat.
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Hermione blinked as someone nearly pounded on her door. She'd just tucked Rose into bed. With a sigh she walked to the door and peeked out.
"Draco? Scorpius? What are you doing here, at this time of night?"
"Hermione, sit down. We need to talk, now. It's about Rose." Hermione sank into the chair in a daze.
"What about her?"
"Scorpius told me something this evening, something he didn't want to tell me, something he promised Rose he wouldn't. Does your ex-husband have any visiting time with Rose?"
"Yes." Draco tried to not to swear as Scorpius was sitting on the floor by Hermione's chair.
"Draco, what is this about? Why would...wait...are you implying Ron..hurt Rose? He's never laid a hand on her."
"Not like that, Hermione. Scorpius, can you tell Hermione what you told me?" The boy looked at his father wide eyed.
"I promised."
"Scorp? Mr. Malfoy?" Rose stood in the doorway, wiping sleep from her eyes.
"Rose, come here," Hermione ordered. Rose walked over and climbed into her mum's lap.
"What's wrong? Did Scorp's house burn down?"
"No, no, Rose, has your daddy been doing anything you'd like to tell me about?"
"Like what? He bought me ice cream and a bunch of Uncle George's stuff."
"Do you and your daddy have any secrets?" Rose nodded slowly. Draco felt his heart plummet in his chest. He'd known his son was telling the truth, but part of him...was it bad to hope his own son had been lying?
"Can you tell me?" Hermione asked.
"But then it wouldn't be a secret," Rose stated tilting her little head up.
"That is true, Rose, but sometimes, some secrets can be bad, like if someone is being hurt," Draco stated. Rose looked at him and then at Scorpius.
"You told."
"I did not. Daddy guessed...which is not the same as me telling."
"You're just a big blabbermouth!" Rose shouted jumping from Hermione's lap and running back to her room. They heard the door slam behind her. Draco and Hermione looked at each other.
"Silencing charms on the doors," they both stated.
"Now, since Rose has already decided you told, please?"
"Rose said her daddy and her played a game where she was naked and he used his...she called it his 'man wand'," Scorpius admitted. Hermione's face paled.
"I am going to murder him! And then bring him back and murder him again." She stood and started storming towards the door. Draco grabbed her arm.
"Going to Azkaban for murdering him will not help Rose. First things first, we have to follow the semi-proper legal channels, Hermione. You need to get full custody of Rose, no visitation." She nodded.
"You wouldn't happen to have a lawyer on call, would you?" she asked. Draco smirked.
"Actually. I do, we can get a temporary restraining order against him for Rose. That will give us time to make sure he can never come near her again."
"I...I can't believe I didn't know...how come she didn't tell me? Doesn't she realize...?"
"No, she didn't know it was wrong."
"I talked to her, Draco. The same talk you had with Scorpius."
"He made it seem like it was something else, a game, it seems. I would like you and Rose to move in with me for now, just in case..."
"Ron knows where we live," Hermione blinked back tears. She had tried so hard to be a good mother to Rose.
"Would you like me to talk to Rose?" Draco offered. Hermione nodded.
"I'll start packing. Merlin, how did this happen, how could I have..."
"You can't blame yourself, Hermione."
Draco knocked on Rose's door. She opened it a crack.
"What do you want, Mr. Malfoy?"
"Rose, please, call me Draco." She glared at him.
"Fine, what do you want, Draco?"
"I would like it if you stopped being mad a Scorpius. He didn't want to tell me, and he didn't tell me anything, I guessed."
"He promised."
"Yes, and he kept that promise Rose, but what your daddy is doing is wrong. Do you understand that?"
"It hurts. I can't tell mummy..." Rose started crying. Draco blinked and slowly wrapped his arms around the child.
"Rose, you and Hermione are going to come stay with me and Scorpius for awhile until we get all of this straightened out. Can Scorpius and I help you pack?" Rose stepped aside and let the Malfoys into her room. Draco eyed the bed for a moment wondering if that's where Ron...no, he couldn't think about that. He couldn't think about what that man had done to his...almost step-daughter.
"These are all my stuffies, and those are my books, and that's Mr. Otter. Mummy got him for me. She likes otters, her tronus is an otter," Rose babbled as Draco started shrinking her things. Her and Scorpius put them in a dufflebag.
"Is there anything else you need Rose? I've got your clothes, books, stuffies."
"My journal," she whispered pulling a ratty looking book out from under her mattress. Draco shook his head as he put it with the other items.
"Let's go see if you mum is ready," he offered. Scorpius took one last look around the room before he started to follow his father and Rose. Something caught his eye. Rose's otter. He quickly grabbed it before leaving.