"Harry Potter, don't you tell me how to be a mother to my own child!" Ginny snapped, leaning over the kitchen sink and taking deep breaths to calm herself. Harry sat behind her at the dining table, flipping idly through today's Daily Prophet. He had asked for the day off of work to organise Ginny's trip to Hogwarts but so far it hadn't gone exactly to plan.
"Oh, Ginny, you must!" he pleaded, casting his eye over an article about disputes with giants in Russia.
"Must I?" Ginny rounded on Harry, slamming her fist on the table, rattling the little candles that adorned the centrepiece.
"I don't think I'm asking too much." Harry muttered in a very small, very unsure voice. Ginny ran a hand through her flaming mane of hair and sank into a chair opposite Harry.
"That's just it. You don't think." Ginny took a deep breath – ignoring Harry's indignant look – and continued, "You never think about anything. You never ask, you just expect. You just expect that I'll always be there to pick up the pieces and do what you want. Day in, day out. I work hard at home to make sure everything is good for us. I cook, I clean, I fix what's broken and I buy what can be replaced."
"Gin, I-" Harry started to interrupt, but Ginny raised a hand to silence him.
"In amongst all of this, I have my own job to attend to. Where do you expect I find the time to write in between looking after you and the children? James will leave Hogwarts in another year and Albus after that. They'll want help with finding jobs and a place to live and Merlin knows they won't ask you! And then we still have Lily and the new one on the way." Ginny said coolly. She tried her best to avoid Harry's heartbroken stare, looking right through him.
"Honestly, Harry," she went on, "Do you think this is how I imagined my life? Do I think I want to be my…mother?" Ginny looked crestfallen to mention her mother with so much disdain but she felt beyond frustrated and couldn't contain it any longer.
They sat opposite each other for several long minutes in complete silence. The only sound that permeated their stalemate was the scratching from an enchanted scrubbing brush behind them taking the layer of crusted food off of the plates.
"Gin, I didn't know." Harry admitted, reaching out to hold his wife's hand. She still remained mighty angry and managed to stay stone-faced, even as Harry ran his thumb over her palm comfortingly.
"I didn't realise you were so unhappy." Harry mumbled, trying to avoid the biting sting of tears in his eyes.
"It's not that I'm unhappy!" Ginny protested, "I could just do with some help. Every now and then." She admitted.
"Okay, help. I can do that. No problem. I'll wash the clothes, I'll make the dinner, I'll even give you a foot rub every night." Harry added, raising his eyebrows and shooting Ginny a half-smirk that made her giggle against her restraint.
"You're utterly ridiculous, do you know that?" she scolded with a laugh and Harry shrugged in response. She clasped both of his hands and looked deep into his green eyes, trying to find peace that she often sought out in them.
"What do I need to do?" Ginny asked, resigned. Harry beamed at once and squeezed her hands even tighter.
"Excellent! Well, I need you to go to Hogwarts and talk with Albus." Harry explained, letting go of Ginny's hands and folding up his newspaper.
"And McGonagall lifted the Apparition ban? That's convenient." Ginny mused sarcastically.
"I thought the exact same thing but it does just seem to be a coincidence. Something about security issues after that lunatic Gideon went on leave."
"And this is to do with Scorpius?" Ginny asked. Harry eyed her suspiciously.
"What do you know, Gin? About Albus?"
"I imagine far more than you do. I'm his mother." She added with a wink. Harry chuckled to himself, it was true, the children were always more honest and open with Ginny than they were with him. James had confessed to her in secret when he destroyed Harry's rather expensive dragon hide gloves a few years back, and she in turn had waited a good few months before she relayed the confession to Harry himself.
"Then, yes, this is about Scorpius Malfoy. It's quite odd, isn't it? A Potter and a Malfoy. Don't you think?" Harry asked her, feeling rather nervous at once.
"Is there something you'd like to tell me, dear?" Ginny asked, grinning devilishly.
"No, no. I just thought it was…odd." Harry muttered, "You should probably go as soon as possible, talk to him tonight."
Ginny nodded in agreement and got to her feet, slipping them into her walking boots by the kitchen door. She scanned the kitchen for a moment before muttering to herself, "Bloody cloak…never find it….always missing."
She took her wand from the waistband of her jeans and called out "Accio travelling cloak." After a few moments, the cloak came whizzing down from upstairs and landed on Ginny's outstretched arm.
"Must've been in Lily's room." She concluded.
"Must've been." Harry agreed and he gave his wife a quick peck on the cheek as she wrapped her travelling cloak tightly around herself and affixed it around the neck. Within a moment, Ginny had disapparated out of the kitchen and Harry was left standing alone. He flicked his wand towards the scrubbing brush that was starting to take the paint off of the plates and stowed his wand away, continuing the washing up by hand.
It had been two days since Scorpius had confronted Albus in the Slytherin fifth year dormitory and they had ended up holding each other, with Albus sobbing into Scorpius' shoulder. It had seemed as though nothing were different between the two of them on the surface. They went to class together as usual. They ate meals together as usual. They did their homework in the library together as usual. But beneath the surface, the two kept finding themselves indulging in little moments of intimacy before snapping back to the world around them and trying to avoid the many pairs of eyes that always landed upon them.
At dinner, Scorpius had noticed that in Albus' haste to enjoy dessert he had gotten a smear of custard on his chin like a small child and hadn't noticed. Scorpius reached across – without invitation - and wiped it up, licking it off his finger. They had locked gazes for a moment, before Albus' eyes bulged and he looked down at his plate once more. Willa Snort – having noticed this out the corner of her eye – had given a great, name-appropriate, nose rattling snort of laughter but few others had seen what happened.
The following day they had been researching moonstones in the library to write a particularly long essay for Potions and as Scorpius leant over the thick, dusty tome on magical rocks his white-blonde hair fell in front of his eyes. He reached up to brush it away and his hand made a connection with Albus' who had clearly had to same idea of brushing Scorpius' hair out of his eyes. They both dropped their hands back down to the table at once but after realising that there was no one around, save for old Madam Pince, the librarian, their hands connected again and Scorpius spent their entire study session distracted by Albus' index finger running over his thumb.
There had been one far less conspicuous, secretive incident in the dormitory. Scorpius and Albus had returned from Herbology with Professor Longbottom – a particularly funny class in which some root-chomping soil had threatened to eat the Professor's hand – and the two took off their robes and changed into some more leisurely clothing. Someone had cast a heating charm in the common room to try and counteract the biting January cold, but it had gone awry and turned the entire Slytherin dungeon into a positively tropical affair. Finlay had been working on reversing the charm but it was a slow process and while he was working, the charm had spread into the dormitories. Both Albus and Scorpius put on t-shirts and decided to remain in their boxers to keep cool, so as not to have to venture up into the castle to escape the heat. Albus pulled out a copy of the Quibbler from under his pillow and motioned for Scorpius to sit down on his bed next to him to read through some of the ludicrous articles. They sat cross-legged next to each other, their knees knocking together as they leant over the pages of the Quibbler.
"Look at this…a cackling…tree stump…in the Ministry!" Albus guffawed, taking deep breaths of air in between each raucous break of laughter. He was positively rolling around on the bed and Scorpius couldn't help but find his laughter contagious, chuckling to himself too. In effort to try and restrain Albus' uncontrolled giggling, Scorpius reached over and placed a hand on Albus' exposed thigh to settle him.
At once, he noticed strange, inquisitive looks from the other boys in the dormitory, trying to keep cool on their own beds. A huffy sigh emerged from the far corner and feeling rather brave, Scorpius leaned in closer to Albus in protest, wrapping his arm lightly around his friend's waist, who was still howling with laughter.
"Potter!" Came Finlay's voice from their doorway. Albus stopped laughing at once and they both disentangled from one another and stood up to face their Head Boy. Great beads of sweat rolled down his forehead and he looked more stressed than normal. Finlay looked them both up and down for a moment, as they shuffled slightly further apart, and shook his head.
"Potter, you're wanted outside. You have a visitor." Finlay informed them, prodding his wand at the hot air circling around the dormitory, in an effort to cool it.
Albus' heart sunk deep into his stomach, who could possibly want to see him at this time? Had he done something wrong? Was it a teacher or another student? Before he could wonder any more, Scorpius spoke up on his behalf.
"Who is it?" he asked and before leaving, Finlay turned back to reply.
"His mother."
Albus dropped back onto his bed, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open, as a chorus of jeers went up all around him. Scorpius scolded the other boys until they quietened down and he put a hand on his friend's shoulder to reassure him.
"It'll be alright, mate, you don't even know why she's here." Scorpius whispered. Albus didn't flinch and spoke without moving his lips.
"My mum." He mumbled, his eyes stuck wide open in horror.
"Potter!" Finlay yelled from out in the common room, "Don't keep her waiting!"
Albus jumped to life and slipped some jeans on, leaving Scorpius in the dormitory as the other fifth years started jeering him again. He rushed into the common room and past Finlay before stopping in his tracks. With her back to Albus, Ginny Potter was perched on the edge of an emerald, leather chair, wringing her hands nervously.
"Mum." Albus squeaked and she turned around to face him. The warm smile on her face calmed his nerves at once. He had seen his mother angry often enough to know that she wasn't here to tell him off. Ginny's eyes darted around slightly, she was clearly very uncomfortable.
"Hi sweetheart," Ginny replied, pulling Albus into a tight hug, "Do you mind if we go for a walk?"
Albus looked at her, a questioning look on his face.
"It's just, I don't feel too welcome in here." Ginny said, looking quickly around at the students gawking at her. Even Finlay was surveying the Potters with a suspicious look. Everyone was well aware who Ginny Potter was and what house she had been in at Hogwarts. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have even been able to get this far into the Slytherin common room but these were definitely not normal circumstances.
Albus led his mother out the stone passageway and up the flight of stairs into the main castle, relishing as the cool air returned around them and they were free from the lava pit that had once been the dungeons. They ascended into the Entrance Hall and Ginny led them past it and down one of the longer stone hallways of Hogwarts that housed several staff offices. As they passed Professor Rivers' office, Ginny spoke.
"Albus, I think you should know, your father sent me to talk to you."
"Why?" was all Albus could reply with, confused at why his dad hadn't come himself.
"We know…that you and Scorpius-"
"There's nothing to know, we're just good friends." Albus snapped back, far too defensively.
"I know, sweetheart, we're just concerned that you two haven't been acting like normal lately." Ginny replied and instantly regretted her choice of words as Albus let out a little noise of panic.
"I mean, you've been fighting more and less friendly than usual." She added hastily. Albus bit his lip to try and calm himself a little. He had spent the entire Christmas holiday distancing himself from his family to avoid having to talk about all this. He had wondered why his dad had been extra eager to know what had happened at Hogwarts that term. Albus supposed they had been talking about him in private. Behind his back. He supposed they had been having covert meetings to talk about their problem son. For a moment panic overwhelmed him. Could they have talked to Mr. Malfoy too? Is that why he had been eyeing Albus suspiciously on the Platform?
"I know how much he means to you, Albus." Ginny continued, "Perhaps more than you're willing to tell us. And that's okay. I just want you to be happy. You know that, don't you, Albus?" Ginny asked, stopping to face her son. As she gazed down at her boy on the cusp of adulthood, tears welled up in his eyes and he threw his arms around his mother. Ginny stroked his hair and held him tight, it pained her so much to see her son in turmoil like this.
"Mum." Albus sobbed into her shoulder as several portraits peered down at the two from their frame. Some darted into each other's frames to whisper excitedly; clearly revelling in the drama unfolding before them.
"I know, Albus, I know." Ginny cooed, kissing the top of his head as she did when he was a small boy.
"Mum, I don't know what to do. I don't know." Albus mumbled, not lifting his head up.
"I'll tell you what to do. Be honest. Be brave. Like I know you can be." Ginny said, as Albus detached from her and looked up into her eyes, "There is nothing braver than being true to yourself, Albus. I have a feeling your heart has been telling you one thing and your head another?" Ginny asked and Albus nodded.
"How do I know which one is right?" he asked, rubbing his hands over his eyes to dry them.
"You don't. But if one of them is telling you to take a chance, it's probably the right one. Albus, if I hadn't taken a chance on your father all those years back…if I hadn't listened to my heart, I wouldn't have had you. Or your brother or your sister or this new baby." She added, patting her stomach.
"But what about…what will people say?" Albus groaned, thinking of the whispers that would spread around the Great Hall.
"Who gives a damn what people will say!" Ginny announced confidently, patting Albus on the shoulder, "The only thing that's important is what you think and how you feel. Everyone else can either accept it or go kiss a troll's club." She grinned and Albus smiled back.
"MUM!" Lily shrieked from the other end of the corridor, running at them with her arms outstretched. She barged past Albus, who was frantically dabbing at his eyes to hide the last remnants of tears. Ginny wrapped her arms around Lily.
"Mumwhyareyouherewhatishappening?" Lily asked, without taking a breath. Ginny smiled at her daughter.
"What are you doing here is the question? Not in trouble, I hope?" Ginny raised an eyebrow in suspicion.
"Not at all," Came Professor Longbottom's voice from behind Albus, "Lily was just telling me about an idea for pickling dragon eggs in a future class. She's been chewing my ear off all the way up from the Greenhouse, making me promise to think it over." Professor Longbottom chuckled and gave Ginny a hug, as Lily looked questioningly at her brother who was trying to avoid her gaze.
"Sounds like an interesting idea, but I'm sure you'd rather be off in the common room telling one of your friends about it." Ginny suggested and Lily tilted her head in half-agreement.
"I should be off," Ginny continued, "But not before Professor Longbottom here shows me his hidden supply of firewhisky in the greenhouses that he thinks no one knows about."
His mouth fell open in shock, but Ginny simply replied, "James.", and he nodded in understanding. James had a penchant for finding things that were hidden that their owners hoped wouldn't be found. Ginny hugged Lily and Albus once more, wished them goodnight, told them to write soon and that she would send them some scarves by owl and started off to the Greenhouses with Professor Longbottom.
From down the corridor they could hear the Professor ask, "But I thought you were pregnant?"
And Ginny reply with, "Just a pumpkin juice for me then, I suppose."
Lily stood for a moment, surveying Albus, as he shifted uncomfortably on the spot.
"Everything okay?" she asked. Albus gave a half-nod. "Have you been crying?" she inquired but didn't get an answer as Albus sped off away to the humid retreat of the dungeons.