A/N: Written for the 2011 Mew & Mor's Weird Pairing Competition at the HPFC forum. Thanks to Rachel (this carnival ride called life) for betareading this!

Tears apart

Pairing: Rolf Scamander & Scorpius Malfoy

Oneshot.

Scorpius knocked rapidly at the door to the Scamander house. As he waited for someone to open the door, he smoothed out his shirt which had wrinkled a bit when he had Apparated.

After a minute no one had opened the door, so Scorpius knocked once more. Maybe there wasn't anyone home? He had come to see Lorcan, one of his closest friends and also a colleague of his at the Ministry of Magic. The two of them worked at the Auror department, but both of them were too young to be out in the field. Scorpius had one year left as a trainee, while Lorcan had two, so when they weren't practicing there was a lot of paperwork dumped on them.

And this was why Scorpius had arrived at the Scamander's doorstep in the late evening. He had stayed at the office longer than Lorcan; to finish a report he was working on. But, when he had rummaged through the files spread on the floor in search for a document to confirm some facts, he had found another report which had lain forgotten among the mess. Scorpius' curiosity had been lit and he had quickly abandoned what he was supposed to be doing.

After flipping through it, he had mentally groaned. It was one of Lorcan's pieces of work and it should be in the very next morning. He hadn't been very surprised though, since he knew his younger friend was very much of a procrastinator and the one guiltiest for the chaos in the small office they were sharing.

So, that was the reason to why Scorpius stood by the Scamander family's door, waiting patiently for someone to open it. He had been certain Lorcan would be home. It was a Tuesday night and he hadn't mentioned going somewhere to him earlier that day.

But why didn't the bloody door open then? Scorpius stepped down from the little stair and surveyed the building. There were lights lit in almost the entire house, so there wasat least someone home.

Scorpius was just about to start wondering if they were avoiding him on purpose when slow, heavy footsteps were heard from the inside.

The door swung open and revealed Lorcan's father Rolf. Rolf looked at Scorpius perplexed, as if he didn't recognize him. This was very odd, because Scorpius had spoken to the man several times when he was at Lorcan's place, most recently only a few weeks ago.

"Hi, Mr. Scamander," Scorpius said and smiled politely. Rolf jolted a bit when he heard Scorpius' voice and Scorpius thought he resembled a beaten puppy, scared of sudden noises and movements.

"Scorpius," he said at last, as if he finally remembered his name. But he still didn't move from the doorway.

Scorpius smiled again, bewildered by the brown-haired man's actions. "Yes, can I come in, sir?"

"Oh, sure," Rolf answered absently and turned away from the door, walking into the kitchen. Scorpius followed him, with the inkling something really was wrong here.

Rolf though, now seemed to have collected himself and regained control over himself and his behavior.

"Coffee?" he asked, as he cleared the kitchen table with hasty movements. "Oh, do sit down," he continued, his eyes all the time darting around the room, refusing to stay long at one place, and not once meeting Scorpius' worried glance.

"Well, yes, I can have one cup, thank you," Scorpius answered and took a seat. Normally he would have gone straight to the point and asked for Lorcan, but this seemed to be somewhat an emergency.

"Is everything all right, sir?" he asked when Rolf put a steaming mug in front of him with hands shaking slightly.

Rolf looked at him, with something new in his dark brown eyes, something Scorpius had never before seen there.

The older man didn't say anything, simply watched Scorpius – but as if he didn't really see him. It was as if he had a veil over his eyes, with pictures on the inside of the veil so only he could see them. The pictures were bound to be rather awful, if you considered the wounded expression in Rolf's face and the way he narrowed his eyes as though he wanted them to stop, and disappear because they hurt him too much.

Scorpius didn't know what to do. He didn't want to see Rolf in so much pain, especially since he had no idea what – or who – had caused it to him.

Rolf swallowed a gulp of coffee and put the cup down on the table without letting go of it. He clutched it so hard his fingers were white. Scorpius thought he looked much older than the last time they had met. Rolf was in his mid-forties, but usually looked much younger with his thick brown hair, quite unwrinkled face and warm eyes. But now his eyes were cold, more as though they were dead, and Scorpius was certain the last time Rolf hadn't had those grey hairs by his temples.

Suddenly Rolf was pulled out of his petrification. "I'm fine, of course." But he said it with so much trouble, stumbling at "fine", so Scorpius of course didn't believe him.

He felt a sudden wave of anger. Who had done this to the man? Rolf certainly wasn't fine; Scorpius had never seen him in a condition like this. He looked so vulnerable and so alone. Often, ever since Scorpius had been a kid, Rolf had been there for him, comforting him if he was homesick on his slumber parties with Lorcan and Lysander, listening to him when he was sad and ashamed of his dad's actions in the war, simply caring for him like an extra father.

But right now, the roles were reversed, or at least to the extent he and Rolf were equals. He had never before really felt like a grown-up in the company of any of his friends' parents even though he was twenty-one, but now he actually did.

And Scorpius just had to find out who it was, he wanted to make the guilty person aware of what he had done to Rolf, and he wanted revenge.

He wasn't completely sure why he was feeling like this, why he was so protective over his mate's father, but the way Rolf's eyes had widened as though he was scared made him want to throw his arms around him and never let go. After he had taught the culprit not to mess with those who Scorpius Malfoy cared about, that is.

He reached over to Rolf and pried his fingers loose from the cup – a quite difficult task since Rolf didn't even notice his struggle. And damn, the man had strong fingers.

"Mr. Scamander, what has happened?" he then asked, trying to sound uncompromising enough to make the man answer truthfully.

Rolf's shoulders hunched and suddenly it was as if something burst inside him, as if he let go of everything he had been trying to keep inside of him.

"Luna has left."

Scorpius had time to think "What the hell?" before Rolf continued in a hurried voice, as though he was happy to have someone to tell.

"We argued, we've in fact been doing that a lot lately," he said and chuckled bitterly. "So Lys and Lorc went out; they always do when we two start fighting."

Scorpius frowned to himself. How come Lorcan never had mentioned this to him? They were friends; they should be able to talk about things like this, so they could be helped by each other. Well, Lorcan now had some serious questioning awaiting him, that's it.

"And then," Rolf continued with a blank face and unseeing eyes. "Then." He hesitated, chewing at his lower lip. "Then we said some rather nasty things to each other and then she walked out. Just like that, only saying 'I'm leaving.' And so she did."

Rolf changed his position so he looked straight into Scorpius' eyes, so intently it almost freaked Scorpius out.

"But what's really wrong is that I meant every single word I said to her," he continued. "I still do, I don't regret a damn thing I told her. I could have said it again, a thousand times. I would have, if she was here!" Rolf looked so helpless and desperate Scorpius once again didn't know what to do or what to say, so he grabbed the trembling hand across the table and squeezed it tightly.

"I would have… I want to say it again…" Rolf continued quietly, gripping harder of Scorpius hand, not pulling free or letting it go. Not that Scorpius wanted him to, or would have released it himself if he had got the chance.

After a minute in silence, Rolf did pull his hand back rather abruptly, while shaking his head and looking confused.

"Sorry, sorry. Forget what I said, you shouldn't have been forced to listen to this." He rose from his chair and walked up to the window, glancing outside into the darkness. "I'm sorry," he repeated and leaned his forehead against the glass. "I'm so sorry."

Scorpius rose from his own chair and was about to walk over to Rolf and assure him he didn't have to apologize to him, when Rolf lifted his hands to the glass pane and began pondering it with his fists.

Tears were rolling down his cheeks and Scorpius assumed that Rolf finally had broken down. He didn't stop his vigorously hammering; fortunately he didn't hit hard enough to cause any damage to either himself or the window.

When he stopped and let his hands slide down the surface with his fingers spread, Scorpius walked up to him. Rolf was still sobbing as he lifted his hands again and pulled them through his hair. Scorpius guessed Rolf had had to get it all out, to get rid of all the fury that had been building up inside of him, but that it now was nothing left.

Scorpius took Rolf by his shoulders and turned him around so they faced each other. Rolf was still crying, but now soundlessly, and when their gazes met Scorpius didn't understand how he could have thought Rolf looked old. It was a young boy in front of him, a lost and scared boy with a broken - no, crushed - heart.

"Hush…," Scorpius whispered and cupped the man's cheeks, feeling how the stubble on them rasped his hands.

He wanted to help Rolf, make everything better for him since every tear that slowly dripped down felt as if it belonged to Scorpius too. He couldn't really tell why, but it did. He just knew that somehow he had begun to care so much for the older man, that he wasn't able to bear the thought of him being in pain.

Rolf put his hands around Scorpius' wrists, holding them so hard it almost hurt, but some part of Scorpius wanted Rolf to hold him even harder.

"I'm here," he whispered and tried to show it actually was all right by the look in his eyes. Rolf leaned closer and for the first time Scorpius realized that the two of them were of almost the exact same length.

The tears in Rolf's brown eyes made them glitter and sparkle like amber and now it was Scorpius who leaned closer. He could now count the teardrops that hanged from Rolf's eyelashes.

Their foreheads met and their nose tips touched softly. Scorpius tilted his head to his left, so did Rolf and then their lips met. And it felt as though everything exploded. Scorpius closed his eyes while their hands grasped for each other, fingers intertwining and letting go. Everything happened so fast, but still it wasn't rushed at all, it was just happening and there was nothing able to stop them because they didn't want to stop it. Their chests were pressed against each other and they wanted to be closer, closer, closer.

When they break free both were panting slightly. Scorpius smiled a bit, to himself at first but then to Rolf too when he saw the other man's wolfish grin. It hadn't been his intention to kiss Rolf, he had planned only to comfort him, but the way Rolf now looked at him – expectantly, relaxed, with not even a hint of the tears that were there before, and smirking slightly – made Scorpius conclude that he might just have found the most perfect way to comfort the man and mend his shattered heart.

Besides, since Rolf didn't seem to have something against it, Scorpius hadn't either. Not when he had enjoyed that kiss so much, he thought smugly. And with that he bent over to get another, with an anticipatory smile on his lips.