A/N: Written for the Are You Crazy Enough to Do It challenge on HPFC using the book title prompt "untamed". Also written for the leopard enclosure for the Build a Zoo challenge on HPFC using the setting St. Mungo's. And written for the Favourite Character Boot Camp for Scorpius using the prompt "inconclusive". Word: 638

Warning for discussions of death. Astoria is extremely close to death in this, though she doesn't die in the story itself.

Repress

Scorpius stared at the sheets on his mother's hospital bed, amazed they were still a bright white despite how long she'd been wrapped in them. He couldn't recall any of the Healers or their assistants changing them, but then, his father had been requiring him to go home each night. He had no idea what happened in the hours he was gone.

Those sheets would be wrapped around his mother until she took her last breath.

Scorpius' eyes travelled up the bed to look at his mother's form. As he took in her sleeping face, he couldn't help but gasp quietly. No matter how many times he looked at her, he was surprised by how ill she looked. Her skin had a greyish tint to it which alerted those looking that she was unwell, and she'd lost so much weight that Scorpius was scared she might break in half before she died of the curse itself.

Fear gripped his heart, but that was commonplace after the months and years spent in and out of the hospital. He fidgeted with his hands as he tried to occupy his mind.

Over the years, there had been a wide variety of treatments, but the tests to determine whether they were working always came back inconclusive. Eventually, her condition would worsen enough that there was no doubt they had failed.

The last tests the Healers had run revealed that his mother only had a few days to live. Scorpius' mind had been in a storm since they'd been told the news. He had no idea what to do. He hadn't written to Albus because writing it down made it feel real. Since he couldn't talk to either of his parents about it, he was left to himself.

He was tempted to scream at all times, but he couldn't do so. Across from him, his father sat, staring at his mother with an emotionless face. Scorpius knew he must be feeling something—he hadn't left her side after all—but you couldn't tell it from looking at him. Scorpius wished you could. Knowing his father was feeling what he was would have been a relief. Scorpius had no idea what to do with his emotions. All he knew was that what he wanted to do—scream, run, possibly throw something—was unacceptable. Malfoys didn't let their emotions become unstable like an untamed Hippogriff. So, he sat quietly, using what little energy he had to keep his emotions contained.

It had been hours since his mother had last woke, yet they sat at her side like she might speak to them again before she passed. Deep in his heart, Scorpius felt like she was already gone. The last time she'd been awake, her pain had been so great that she'd been incoherent. It had been hard to recognize the woman before him as his mother despite their shared features.

Scorpius, too, felt like he was experiencing more pain than he ever had before, though his was purely emotional. It left him feeling guilty because he knew nothing he was experiencing could compare to his mother.

He choked back tears, the sound prompting his father to look at him. Scorpius kept his eyes averted to Astoria's bedsheets, waiting for his father to look away. Suddenly, a conquered handkerchief appeared on the bed before him.

Scorpius murmured a thank you before picking it up to dab at his eyes, not looking at his father.

He gripped the handkerchief in his hand as if that would take away some of the rage inside him. He'd been holding his mother's hand earlier, but he'd had such a strong urge to squeeze that he'd let go, scared of harming her further. That didn't matter to the handkerchief. He squeezed and twisted it between his hands, taking out the emotions that he couldn't speak.