**Disclaimer: All characters, settings, and other copyrighted material belongs to J.K. Rowling and affiliates. Nothing belongs to me, with the sole exception of the story I've created using this copyrighted material.

It was after curfew, so he was in a hurry, and it was difficult for Rose to keep up with Scorpius' long-legged strides. It was even more difficult for her to keep herself hidden and unheard, since her book-bag would bounce against her leg whenever she tried to speed up. Every time that happened, Scorpius would look around, and she would have to duck behind a statue or wall. He took a back staircase to get to the Gryffindor portrait, and it was all she could do not to fall on her face to keep up with him.

Finally, they arrived at the corridor where the portrait was located. Rose hid in a doorway so that she wouldn't be seen, but that was close enough for her to hear the password. Scorpius looked around once again and leaned in toward the portrait.

"Telegram," he said in a voice just barely audible enough for Rose to hear.

The portrait swung open, Scorpius stepped inside, and it swung closed again. Rose waited for what felt like forever before she thought it was safe enough for her to go in after Scorpius. She quickly said the password to the portrait, and it opened once again. She stepped through the opening into the Gryffindor commons room. It hadn't changed much in the months since she'd last been there, or really in the past several years that she'd been at Hogwarts. Red and gold tapestries everywhere, portraits of Gryffindor heroes like mum and dad and Uncle Harry. But it wasn't quite as warm as her own house common room, not quite as familiar.

She stepped quietly across the commons room and towards the boys' tower, but a sudden pop from the fireplace startled her, causing her to crouch down behind the nearest sofa. She cradled her bag so that it didn't make any noise as she made her body as invisible as possible. Now that she was already in the Gryffindor dormitory she didn't know why she felt the need to hide. But a fire in the fireplace meant that someone must be up to start it. She scooted towards the end of the couch, peeking over the edge so that she could see if anyone was near the fire.

A small fire lit the pale features of Scorpius Malfoy, who kneeled by it. Rose ducked back behind the couch, debating whether to say something. He had been so nice on the train, she thought it might not do any harm to tell him why she was there. She sat up, head fully visible above the couch, and opened her mouth to speak. Another voice interrupted her.

"Are you sure you're alone, nobody's around?" the voice asked. It was female. She sounded very familiar, as if Rose had spoken with her before.

She noticed that the voice was coming from the fireplace. Rose ducked her head back behind the sofa before Scorpius could see her, as he looked around to be sure that nobody was listening.

"Floo!" Rose thought. "I forgot that even existed!"

"I'm sure," Scorpius' voice dispersed her thoughts. "But you might want to speak a bit more quietly, any louder and you might wake someone up."

"All right," the voice said. Rose could tell that the voice was female, and maybe a bit older. She also sounded very tired. Rose thought that maybe it could be Scorpius' mum. Rose couldn't quite tell.

"So, how's father holding up?" Scorpius asked, keeping his face close to the fire.

"He hasn't gotten any worse. But then again, he hasn't gotten much better, either."

Rose decided it was Scorpius' mum. Scorpius sighed. He paused for a long moment, and in the flickering light of the fire, she noticed that he had closed his eyes. It was like he was deciding what to say, to somehow make things better.

"He's still in the muggle hospital, right?" he finally asked, opening his eyes. "Word hasn't got out to the rest of the family?"

"No," she said. "How could we ever tell them?"

He shrugged. "Of course we wouldn't tell them. I was just wondering if somehow word had gotten out—"

"No," she reassured him. "I've made sure that won't happen."

"So, how long does he have to stay there?" Scorpius asked.

Her voice began to quiver. "Just—he just has to stay for as long as they're sure that he won't—that this won't happen again."

"How is that possible, with muggle doctors?" Scorpius asked, raising his voice slightly. "What do they do with his wand? And how can they prevent him from brewing some poisonous potion?"

Rose raised her eyebrows. Was Draco Malfoy going to kill someone?

"Scorpius, quietly," his mum said. "They can't do any of that—but there's this bizarre muggle science called 'psychology' that they're trying to use on him. They've even given him a diagnosis."

His eyes widened. "A diagnosis? Isn't that meant for a physical ailment, like what they give you at St. Mungo's or the hospital wing?"

She nodded. "That's what I thought they were for, too, before all of this started happening. I think they called it—what? PTSD? BPD? Or maybe both? Or some different combination?"

Rose could not believe what she was hearing. Psychology? Diagnosis? And a pair of bizarre initialisms she'd never heard of? What had Scorpius' dad done to go to a muggle hospital instead of St. Mungo's? Scorpius' voice broke through her thoughts.

"I just can't believe he'd try to hurt himself like this," he said. "I'll try to travel to the muggle hospital during our next visit to Hogsmeade."

Rose was more confused than she'd ever been. Hurt himself? Draco Malfoy hurt himself? This was all sounding much too familiar. But before she could think about it further, she heard Scorpius saying good-bye to his mother, dousing the fire, and—oh shit, he was heading towards the couch she was hidden behind. She curled herself into the smallest shape she could make. She heard him grab his book-bag off the couch and walk slowly towards the boys' tower. His slumped shoulders were outlined in the moonlight. Rose swallowed, heart still beating from her close encounter. Having forgotten about finding Hugo, she grabbed her things and walked out of the Gryffindor common room, two initialisms branded into her mind.