Chapter 8

Scorpius found Rose sobbing on a bench in the gardens. Sitting next to her he was not quite sure what to say. He had to put up with a lot of crap over the years. Everything from people having thought he was the love child of his mother an Voldemort to being just plain the son of a death eater. It had got better with his step mom being Hermione Granger, but better was not the same as being perfect.

He still never understood how rose could be so close to his grandfather. She knew exactly who he was. She was under no delusions about him. They had read everything about both of their families. He was with her when they had read all about the trials. They had even speculated about how maybe Lucius had somehow beat the obliviate he was a pretty powerful wizard after all. The only thing she ever said was Lucius let her be herself.

So why had this upset her so much? "Rose?" he asked softly "are you going to be OK?"

"They want to kill Grandfather Scorpius. It isn't going to be OK."

Oh.

"Rosie…" it was his father.

"How could you Draco…"

"Scorp.. could you leave us alone for a bit?" his dad asked.

"Sure Dad." Scorpius squeezed Rose's shoulder and left.

"Rosie… I know you don't understand what it was like back then…"

"You are wrong… do you think I haven't been told?" she whispered.

"Rose… your grandfather and I…"

"Draco… I know… I know why you wear long sleeved shirts… I know what a death eater is. I know, OK. I know the stuff Grandfather did. I read the trial transcripts." She said plainly.

"How?!" he shouted angrily. "Who would give kids that kind of trash to read.

Rose was not upset, she knew he was not angry with her. She shrugged. "It wasn't hard to get. I wanted to know. Dad wasn't very good at locking his cabinets up. When he was out, Scorpius and I got in and read them."

Draco went pale. He never wanted Scorpius to read any of that either. He had no idea Ron kept those transcripts in the house. He buried his face in his hands. "Rose I…"

"Draco, you and Grandfather were already judged, I am not judging you again. You were absolved. You weren't much older than me." She laid her head on his shoulder. "I can't imagine making those decisions at your age. But I would do anything to keep Mom and Dad and Hugo safe. So I get it, OK? And so does Scorpius. Except Scorpius… He'd have killed Dumbledore, you know? He'd have done it. We talked about it. To save you? Oh yeah. Less scruples. Plus we have each other. That makes it easier. I think we are more afraid of that than what we learned."

Draco shuddered at the thought.

"But Grandfather, he doesn't have anyone except me who believes in him right now. Grandmother loves him, but that isn't the same, because she just does what he wants. Can…can I talk to him first. Please? I.. I love him, sure, but I won't just do what he wants just because of that, and I think he needs to hear that." Rose looked at him with such pleading eyes he found it hard to deny her.

"Rosie, there is something else you need to know. Your Mom and the baby, my aunt, she… hurt your mom, cursed her. This… thing your grandfather knows… it could help her and Scorpius. But he might not tell us if he gets his memory back. We may have to… force him to tell us. It… won't be easy. He hates people like your Mom and you when he remembers to. And he would hate the baby." He hated to be so honest but she needed to know.

"He never had the choice to make before. Now he can make a choice. Maybe he will still make the wrong choice. But maybe not. Maybe I can help." He hated the innocence in her eyes. He hated that he knew it would be crushed. That he would be the cause of it being crushed.

"We have to ask your Mom." He said carefully.

"But not my Dad…" she said wisely.

"Not unless she insists. We won't bring it up." he smiled.

"Says the Slytherin." she smiled back.

"Says the Slytherin." He held out his hand.

By the following week Lucius had been told of the plan to restore his memory and why. All he had done was raise an eyebrow at first. Finally he said "You know it is unlikely I will agree to assist you without… prompting …"

"I do not intend to torture you in to giving up the information I need Lucius" Hermione said.

He laughed "Healer Doctor Granger torture someone? Of course not." His tone said he believed she may well be capable of it "I do suggest you keep a bottle of veritaserum on hand however. It may prove useful. In any event what you are proposing is highly illegal and puts my freedom very much in jeopardy."

"It is possible to strip you of the memories once again…" she said.

"Possible, but not assured..." he raised an eyebrow.

"Clever. No, not assured. It may not work." Draco added.

"If it were me, I would take permanent measures at that point to assure I was no threat." He was clearly testing them.

"So would I, however, my stepdaughter may disapprove of that." Draco frowned.

Lucius closed his eyes at the mention of Rose.

"May or does? How did Rose come across the knowledge of what you intend to do?" he was clearly not happy that Rose was involved.

"Rose inadvertently overheard us taking." Hermione said quietly. "She was distressed."

"Of course she was." Lucius said angrily. "Where is she?"

"In the garden" Draco said "She wishes… to discuss the matter with you." He supposed he should not have been surprised at the connection between the two that Lucius would have known that Rose was waiting for him somewhere.

Lucius stood up and walked off.

Rose was comforted when she heard the sound of her grandfather's walking stick behind her. She knew that other's were terrified of that tapping sound but ever since she was a little girl that decisive tap had always meant safety. That no one would be able to harm her. The owner of that stick would move heaven and earth to see her safe.

Would that change soon?

She felt his arm link through hers and rested her head on his arm and felt his hand brush through her hair. The smell of the lilacs soothed her.

"Ahh my Rose. Your parents are planning changes for us." His cultured tones soothed her as much as the garden did.

Nodding she turned towards him.

"I… I told them I am not afraid… But I am… a little." She confessed.

"What are you afraid of, my love?" he asked gently.

"Remember when I came and told you about how everyone kept expecting me to be the best and to be brave because that was how my parents were?" she said.

He nodded as they began stolling trough the gardens.

"Of course, and do you remember what I told you?" he asked.

"You said I would always have a choice in how to behave. That I did not have to choose to act like my parents or anyone else." She smiled at him. "That I could just be me."

"Exactly." He smiled at her.

"You were the first one who ever said that to me." She smiled back.

"Do you remember what you said back to me?" he asked.

"That you also did not have to act the way YOUR parents did. That you could just be you. That you could choose to love who you loved and hate who you hate and it did not have to be based on anything other than that they were arseholes?" she entwined her fingers with his.

He laughed "And what else did you confessed?"

She frowned thinking back to that day "That Scorpius and I never believed that you had been obliviated at all. That we thought you were too powerful a wizard to let a bunch of old fools play with your mind like that? That you would rather be imprisoned or sentenced to death than under someone else's control?"

"Ahhh… you should have been my blood granddaughter, you really do understand me so well, my Rosebud. Take this to your mother. Tell her you and Scorpius found it in the attic while playing. It is the original curse. Our little secret." He smiled down at her winking.

Rose smiled at him in full understanding finally.