Scorpius skipped along, holding his mother's hand as they made their way along the cobblestone pathway of Diagon Alley early early in the morning. "Careful, Scorpius." she advised to her bouncy son. She was secretly thrilled to see him so happy and free—he finally was beginning to look like a little boy that wasn't plagued with debilitating illness. Her now eight year old son had taken a strong interest in reading. They were going to the bookstore in Diagon Alley on this day to get him some new reading materials for the days that weren't so good—the ones that left him bedridden and sleepy, the ones that forced him to sit in a chair and not doing anything too strenuous. Scorpius flashed her an excited smile. "Almost there!" he told her gleefully. His speech had gotten much, much better over the years with his new hearing device. He was talking more, learning more words, and constantly keeping abreast on everyone's conversations. The reading definitely helped with that.
However, while things had improved overall for Scorpius healthwise, he still lived under the nervous protectiveness of his father. Draco did not want his son going out in public often—there was too much risk. A risk of coming in contact with diseases and germs, a risk of having someone showing him merciless cruelty simply because of his heritage… Astoria knew these fears of his, but needed to reach a compromise with her husband. To her, it was important that Scorpius see the world and not stay hidden away behind the manor walls forever. After much discussion, Draco and Astoria came to the conclusion that Scorpius was allowed to go to the bookstore at Diagon Alley once every two months, and it had to be early enough in the morning that there wouldn't be a lot of people around. So here they were at this ungodly hour, making their way down the quiet street to the bookstore. Scorpius didn't even care—he just loved going to get new things to read! He'd gotten very bored of his father's old alchemy books that were crammed into the shelves of the library long ago. He liked stories of princesses and dragons and forbidden journeys.
As soon as they reached the old peeling wooden door of the book shop, Scorpius clapped his hands gleefully. "Mama, mama!" he cried out, pointing at the door. Astoria smiled. She pushed on the door for him to help him conserve his strength. He bolted inside. The owner of the store was an elderly woman that was very fond of Astoria, since she too had been a Hufflepuff in her younger years. Mrs. Auslen was her name. She smiled when she saw the small boy enter her establishment. "Scorpius, your manners!" Astoria warned sternly when he didn't greet her. Scorpius stopped in his tracks, his pale face blushing. "Sorry. Good morning." he hurriedly said. Mrs. Auslen laughed. "Good morning, Scorpius. How do you have so much energy already and the sun hasn't even come up yet all the way?" Scorpius clapped his hands. "Books!" was his simple answer. He sped off to his favorite shelf. Astoria stepped to the counter to also greet Mrs. Auslen, smiling herself at her son's joy. "How's he doing, dear?" Mrs. Auslen asked.
"Well for now. The conversational books you suggested last time have helped his speech, we believe."
"I'm glad; it's lovely to hear his voice forming words and sentences. But your husband…still doesn't want him out and about with the other children? He still wants Scorpius to only come here early in the morning?"
"I think he's just more afraid of the social aspect of letting Scorpius out into the world. It won't be easy for him. He's still very frail, and we don't want to push him too hard and cause him any harm."
Mrs. Auslen looked towards the little blonde boy who'd seated himself on a floor pillow and was flipping through some pages of a book on his lap. "You spend so much time caring for him," she remarked. Astoria smiled. "It's beautiful, it really is." Mrs. Auslen continued. "But how are you, Astoria? How are you doing with everything?" Astoria rubbed the aching joints in her wrists. "I'm fine as long as Scorpius is fine." she assured, turning her gaze away.
"Is the curse still as bad as it was after your pregnancy?"
"…Not as bad, but things have just been a little difficult lately."
"My dear…"
"Draco also thinks it's better that Scorpius and I do our book shopping together this early so that I can stay home and rest for the day instead of taking the risk of getting overworked."
"He cares about you. He only wants what's going to keep you safe."
"I'm lucky to have a life such as this. I know I'm not going to make it to old age. But I've known it since I was a girl. I'm at peace with it. I've gotten everything I could've asked for out of life—a husband, love, a sweet child, a home, an education…. I'm really happy with how everything came to be."
"…Does Scorpius know?"
"No. Not yet. We'll tell him when he's older, when he can understand. We want him to grow up a happy child without anxiety or dread."
Mrs. Auslen looked over at the child on the floor, fingers tracing the letters on a book cover gingerly. Without another thought, he flipped it open and began reading away. Astoria smiled. Despite everything he went through on a daily basis, despite the fact that he'd seen (though not quite understood) his father drowning in the depths of depression, despite not knowing what tragedy lie ahead of him, Scorpius remained the most hopeful and innocent child she'd ever seen. She often marveled at his optimism. His positivity. Sometimes when she sat back and looked at him, she wondered if he would follow his father's footsteps and be sorted into Slytherin, or if he would branch off and become a Ravenclaw or even a Hufflepuff. "M-Mama…" came a small voice that pulled her out of her thoughts. Scorpius was looking up at her with his inquisitive shiny eyes. She immediately went to him on the floor, trying to hide the sound of her sore joints popping as she took a seat. He pointed at a word on one of his pages eagerly. "Mama?" he asked again. Astoria also pointed at the word with him. "Do you not know that word?" she said to him. "Do you need some help?" The boy nodded. "Tell me you need help, Scorpius."
"Help!"
"And remember your manners."
"Help please, mama."
"Excellent job. Now let's look at this word. This is an s. What sound does an s make?"
"Ssss…"
"Good. Now look at these next few letters. E-N. What does that sound like?"
"ennn…"
"That's right. Now we've got S-I-B. What's that?"
"Sssssib."
"And look, the last few letters have an L and an E. Can we put all of those sounds together?"
"Ssssennn…ssssib…llllle."
"Sensible!"
"Sensible!"
Astoria clapped her hands and offered Scorpius lots of praise for sounding out the word. The boy proudly hugged the book close to him, along with the other three that he had in his arms. "I like these!" he cried out. "Alllll of them!" Astoria helped him steady himself as he stood up, reminding him to take deep breaths to prevent a coughing fit. Proudly, Scorpius carried his books to the counter where Mrs. Auslen stood. He struggled, they were heavy, but he was relieved to get them onto the counter. "Please!" he recited. Mrs. Auslen smiled at him. "Let's see what you've picked out today, Mr. Malfoy. Ohhh… 'The Littlest Dragon of Austria'. That's a lovely pick. 'A Crown for the Pauper'. Very good. 'Harry Saves the World'. Doesn't that sound courageous? And oh look at this one, 'Bubbling Bobbling Babbling Potions'! Excellent choices today, Mr. Malfoy." she remarked. Scorpius gleefully clapped his hands, so proud of his book selection from the children's section. Astoria took some money out of her purse and set it on the counter like always, helping him gather his new reading material. "Let's go home," she said. Scorpius waved happily at the woman behind the counter. As they got outside, the sun was just beginning to peek over the hills beyond the buildings of Diagon Alley. "Ooooh!" he rejoiced, pointing at the rising ball of light. Astoria let him stand and take in the beauty of the world for a moment. She marveled at how sensitive her son was. Scorpius hugged his burlap bag of books close to him, swinging side to side. "Mama?" he asked sweetly. She looked down at him, offering a gentle stroke of the hair. "Thank you," he finished. He leaned in close to her and buried his face into her stomach in an attempt of a hug. Astoria closed her eyes. "Anything and everything for you, darling." she whispered.
As soon as they went home, Scorpius set his bag down in the library and picked out his dragon book to read first. "Outside! Outside!" he told his father as he hurried past him to the door so that he could go read in the garden. Draco and Astoria exchanged a smile. "I'll go make sure he doesn't get into anything he isn't supposed to." she knowingly reported, following her son in the direction of the garden. Draco thanked her and shook his head. He was so grateful that things were looking up for his boy—Scorpius was beginning to act his age and have hobbies, even if the main one was reading. Draco didn't mind—it meant he'd be smart. He went over to the slumped bag to see what other books his son was interested in, chuckling when he saw the selections of children's books. But quickly, his smile faded when he noticed one of the stories. Harry Saves the World. Draco felt his heart rate quicken. Was this really about… Oh no. He tore the book open and searched every page of word and illustration. There were introductions to history's major characters in a youthful portrayal—the bright, sensible witch who was booksmart, the brave redheaded best friend, the hero with the lightning scar, and…
The trouble-making nemesis of the boy who saved the world.
Draco's heart clenched. Blood pumping hard, he stood up and traced Astoria's footprints out to the garden entrance. She was sitting beautifully on an outdoor swinging chair, with Scorpius lying across her lap. His nose was buried in his dragon book. Astoria looked up when she heard Draco step over. When she saw his paled, firm expression, she realized he wasn't happy about something. He held up the book. "Why was Scorpius allowed to pick this book?" he asked, his breath getting ragged.
