Completely un-beta'd, so any spelling and/or grammar mistakes are mine and mine alone... Well, actually, no. I blame autocorrect, since I wrote this on my phone.. But whatever, you lovely people know what I mean.

Never Let Her Go

by Jasper Rose Cambria

One day after Draco's divorce from Astoria, he sat a sixth year Scorpius down for a little chat. He started out by saying,

"Son, don't make the same mistakes I did." Scorpius simply replies by arching an elegant blond eyebrow. Draco saw his son's reaction and chuckled quietly.
"Scorp, what I'm trying to say is, I see the way you look at her. Don't do anything to push her away, because trust me… You'll regret it."

He finished by drawing in a long, slow, deep breath, as memories of his school days came rushing back to him. By this point, Scorpius was confused. It was time to start asking his father some questions, he decided.

"Dad, if you're talking about Mum, I know you weren't ever in love with her. It was arranged. Grandfather only wanted you to produce a pureblood heir, and here I am."
Draco was surprised by how much his son knew, as he had tried his best to shield him from the harsh realities of the pureblood society that he was raised in. Scorpius smirked, though it didn't carry the coldness that his father's once did.

"I'm not stupid, Dad. But what are you trying to say? You see the way I look at who?"
Draco sighed, got out of his chair and kneeled in front of his son, brushing some of his shaggy blond hair from his eyes, making a mental note to remind him to trim it.
"Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, I'm not a complete dunderhead, either, just so you know. I know you don't share my father's views on pureblood supremacy, no matter how hard you try. Son, you don't need to act around me. I see the way you look at Granger and Weasley's daughter… Rose, right?"

Scorpius gaped at his father, a very un-Malfoy like thing to do. He was slightly alarmed that his father had caught on; he thought he'd been doing a right fine job of keeping it quiet, so he decided to try to quickly cover his tracks, momentarily forgetting his father's words.

"She means nothing, Father, I swear it! She's a Gryffindor, for Merlin's sake! But I—"
He suddenly quit speaking, mentally slapping himself for reacting the way he did. He took a deep breath before continuing. "Dad, I'm falling for her, and I'm falling fast… She's so smart and absolutely gorgeous, but our families… You know they've never gotten along! I don't know —"

Draco stopped his son's nervous rambling with a simple raise of his hand, a small smile on his face, shown only by the slight upturn of his lips. "I know, Scorp… But this is your chance to change that… Go after her; make her see that she's everything to you. Don't let get slip through your fingers, son, because I promise you that you'll regret it for the rest of your life." At this point, Draco's eyes were beginning to burn and he could feel the tears start to form, but quickly wiped them away so his son wouldn't see.

"You really loved her, didn't you?" Draco nodded slightly, not daring to meet his son's gaze. "I did, Scorpius, I still do, and I lost her. Don't let history repeat itself, alright? I don't care if she's pureblood, half-blood, muggle-born.. Hell, you could even be in love with a muggle, Scorpius. Don't make the same mistake I did.. Just promise me."
Scorpius nodded, seeing his father's defeated posture and hurt look in his eyes.

"I promise, Dad. I'll never let her go. I'm going to marry her someday, I just know it. I won't take her for granted anymore. Promise" Scorpius got up from his seat and knelt next to his father, wrapping his arms around him tightly in a rare display of affection, and Draco finally let those blasted tears fall, and the floodgates were opened, finally grieving properly for letting Hermione Granger slip through his fingers all those years ago…

Like it?

I finally grew a pair and decided to write a little ficlet of my own.. Feedback would be absolutely amazing!

Much love,

JRC