Daphne watched silently as her nephew paced the length of her flat, the only sound that of his bare feet on the hardwood floor. He'd been at it for almost an hour, she knew, for she'd received his emergency owl as she was returning from work. It contained only four words: she's lost to me.
Sighing quietly, Daphne bypassed him and made her way to her room, discarding her soiled uniform and pulling on some comfortable, casual robes. Sauntering slowly back into the living room, she settled into an armchair before speaking.
"What happened?"
Scorpius' steps faltered as his red-rimmed eyes settled on her. Standing in the middle of her apartment, he stood stock-still before crumpling abruptly to sit on the floor. Drawing his knees up beneath him, he rested his head on his knees. When he spoke, it was muffled.
"Rose."
"Her name isn't an explanation."
"I know!" His wail brought his head up to look at her, his misery clear. "She'd shown interest in them before, but I thought it was just curiosity. I told you before that she could never just let things be. She always had to know the 'how', but more importantly the 'why'."
"That was why you liked her at first, wasn't it?"
"That was a part of it. But never like this!" He began to tremble, and Daphne moved quickly to sit beside him on the floor, draping an arm around him. Steadied, he continued. "In our third year, the Coalition was formed. Back then, it was just a student group – maybe a little more officious than others, but just another group of kids, voicing their opinions."
Daphne nodded along. She had already heard about this (who hadn't?), but knew that it was important for Scorpius to start at the beginning.
"She'd gone to a couple of meetings - they hadn't started calling them 'gatherings' yet, but had quickly dismissed them as 'unrealistic drivel'." Scorpius sighed. "I didn't even realize that she hadn't ever stopped going. When we finally got together it was just… so natural. Sometimes she'd seem to be exhilarated for no reason after coming back from a Charms club meeting, or from running, but I thought nothing of it. Why would I? We weren't like you, and mum and dad – we grew up in peace, not war. What would I ever have suspected her of?"
He laughed, the bitterness seeping into him, little by little. "You know, I tried to talk to Dad about this."
"I take it that went badly?"
"Not badly, really. He just… acted like he had always known it would happen. That'd he'd always known she would 'turn astray'." Scorpius shrugged his Aunt's arm away, and lay back onto the floor, staring at the ceiling. She joined him, taking his hand.
"He tried after the war, you know," Daphne said. "We all did. It's hard to undo years of prejudice. When you grow up thinking that you're better, that they're barely human, you don't question it. Even when you see proof that they're people, just like you, you don't believe it. Not at first."
"You did it."
"Yes, I did."
"Mum did it."
"Yes, she did." Daphne's lips turned up in a wry smile. "But then, your father always was a stubborn bastard."
Scorpius felt an incredulous laugh leave him. "Does that make it alright? I've seen the way his lip used to curl when he would have to interact with the 'impure'. They genuinely disgust him. How can that even be?"
"I know it seems improbable to you, but he tries. I know that he tries. If not for his own sake, then for you and Astoria."
"It's just - it would be so easy to blame him, you know? When he and mum had Rose over for dinner, he acted the proper gentleman. Even then though, he avoided touching her, as if she carried some sort of disease. She noticed, of course. She used to notice everything."
"She must have known he would be that way," Daphne said, having heard about that particular evening from her sister. (She was really a lovely girl, Daph. An intelligent beauty, but you know how Draco is. He only has to get used to her.)
"She did expect it. But being treated that way by the man who was to become her father-in-law… I think it undid something in her. She's always been so passionate, and curious, and the Coalition gave her an outlet for both of those traits."
Scorpius pressed his hands to his eyes, bringing Daphne's joined hand with his. She could feel the steady flow of tears begin, but did nothing to stem them. He needed to get this out, even if it felt terrible now.
"She's so different now, Aunt Daph." He took a great, shuddering breath. "She left this morning. The Aurors came shortly after that, looking for her. She was the one who set the bomb in the Ministry Council last week – they found witnesses."
He took another deep breath, lowering his hands to look at her. "She came back in the afternoon when the Aurors had gone. She was so wild, untamed looking. She told me she was sick of seeing her mother fading away in the face of pureblood oppression. She was sick of wizards talking down to her and of being unable to find a position because of her blood status. She was sick of me."
(What was the point of the war, Scorpius? What was the point! Some is the same, most is worse – nothing has changed at all! The Coalition is giving me a chance to fight for the rights of Muggleborns and Beings. If we fight, they can't ignore us. But I guess you just can't understand that, can you?)
Daphne sighed. "Does she understand that she's killing innocents just as they did once?"
"She s-said –," here, his voice failed him for a moment. "She said that they deserved it. She said that she couldn't stop being a half-blood, and they could never stop being purebloods. Her eyes – they were so bright, Aunt Daph. She was trying to make me understand, agree with her. But how could I?"
Daphne had a sudden vision of Bellatrix, madness brightening her eyes as she laughed in battle. She tightened her grip on Scorpius' hand.
"You still love Rose, don't you?"
"Of course."
"You realize that she doesn't care who she hurts to get what she wants. She's probably already lost sight of what it is she's fighting for."
"I know," Scorpius whispered, closing his eyes once more. "I just needed to tell someone. I needed someone to understand. I thought that you'd understand better than most."
"I do," she replied, "and that's why I'm telling you that loving someone who abandons their conscience in search of something more, it will hurt you. It will rip out your heart and put it back in pieces. And your heart will stay that way, until you have the force of will to let them go. If you ever do."
"Did you ever let him go?"
"No."
The silence hung between them for a moment then, and Scorpius felt perversely comforted by that.
"Thanks, Aunt Daph."
Written for Round 1 of the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition.
Chaser#2 for the Wigtown Wanderers: family role - aunt/uncle
Prompts used: (5) Quote: "Courage without conscience is a wild beast.", (9) Word: Stubborn, (12) Song: Shadows in a Mirror [chris isaak]