CHAPTER ELEVEN

I really had no idea what I was doing.

Odd, because such a thing never particularly bothered me much. I had dealt with not knowing where my convoluted mess of a life was taking me for years—battling Voldemort had made me an expert of accepting confusion.

But this was not like Voldemort. This was some phantom demon I could not see, could not hear, could not touch. I did not even know if the demon was real, or simply my overactive imagination. And worse, I did not know if this demon held my niece or not.

I had thought that Ron would've been more worried about his daughter's supposed criminal acts, but he uncharacteristically remained calm in the face of it all. Hermione, however, very characteristically fretted endlessly over it.

I suspected Ron was only calm simply because he didn't believe his daughter's stories at all. He truly believed she had tried to hurt Malfoy's son, which made him inwardly happy. Needless to say, I harangued him on his poor parenting skills only slightly less than Hermione did.

But I was sick of these ancient family feuds. I still am, but then especially, hearing what Rose could have done to Scorpius Malfoy made my heart sick. It spat in the face of what I had fought for—what her parents had fought for—to provide a world she could live in. It cursed the change we were trying to make, the acceptance and unity we had been trying to bring to the wizarding world for years. The fact that Rose targeted Scorpius for his father's crimes blatantly stated that those ancient prejudices had not been washed away, but simply masked.

So I forced them to be together. I cast a spell which made them physically incapable of being more than 5 feet away from each other during their classes. Sure it was cruel. Sure it was an invasion of their privacy. But in all honesty I couldn't really care less. I would force them to get along. I did not want to see our children bicker and fight over problems they were not even alive to see.

But like I said, I still had no idea what I was doing. I was assigned to Hogwarts to protect Malfoy's son, but I didn't have the faintest idea from whom or from what. Unfortunately the only suspect we had at the moment was Rose, and the evidence did not rule too well in her favor. I had reasoned that my spelling Rose and Scorpius together would make it easier for me to keep track of any suspicious activity, but I had an odd feeling that such a thing would only endanger them both. I had no idea why I felt that way.

I sighed, feeling rather defeated as I walked glumly down the hall. I missed this place. So dearly did I wish to be a student in Hogwarts again, filled with childlike wonder with the grand newness of it. Even the dark times, the ugly times, the war times—even those I remembered with painful longing. Those were the times where everything seemed to make sense. Maybe not initially, but in the grand scheme of things I knew ultimately where my life would take me. I knew who my friends were. I knew who my enemies were. And I still had a driving, fiery passion for purpose.

But where was that purpose now?

The dark, empty halls echoed back the click, click of my shoes against the stone floor. I stopped, staring reminiscently up into the towering ceiling above, haunted by the ghosts of fleeting memories. Fond memories. Sad memories. Good memories. Bad memories.

I ached to be a child again.

I ached for the friends I had lost. I ached for happiness this place had once brought me, the purpose it drove in me.

I longed to taste the past again.

"So, where'd you go?"

I whipped around in such a rush I nearly tripped on my robes. I blinked in confusion as I stared back at Malfoy's wife.

"I'm…I'm sorry," I stammered, trying to remember her name, "what?"

Her pale pink lips stretched into a small smile.

"Your mind was off somewhere else. Where'd you go?"

"Oh," I said dumbly, still confused and rather annoyed at her intrusion, "I guess I went back in time for a while."

"Ah," she nodded knowingly, "that's a place we all wish to visit. I sometimes catch myself longing for it as well." She gave me a sidelong glance from her cool-blue eyes. "And what is it you long for, Mr. Potter?"

I suddenly wanted her gone.

"Is there a reason you're here, Mrs. Malfoy?" I sighed, having little patience for her meandering small talk.

"Why, not at all, just strolling through the halls like you."

I didn't believe her.

An awkward silence ensued as we both debated if anything else should be said. Finally, I decided against it.

"Well, it was nice chatting with you… ah…"

"Astoria."

"Astoria…but I must be going now."

She caught my arm as I began to walk away, an urgency in her well-manicured grip.

"You cannot fight this forever, you know."

I frowned at her. "What?"

"You will have to make a move sometime, Potter. Like it or not, your niece is in the middle of something she shouldn't be. If you will refuse to protect my son, then I will do anything in my power to protect him. And that means getting you out of the way first. Are we clear on this?"

I stared at her, feeling confused and angry at the same time.

"Who the hell do you think you are? And how would you know what my niece is up to, Astoria?"

A tiny, quizzical smile graced her lips.

"Oh, I have a hunch I guess."

I wrenched my arm from her grip. "You know what? Maybe I should just go away and leave your son to the vultures, huh? I'm sure that would just be easier for everyone."

Astoria glared icy daggers at me.

"I didn't even have to accept this project," I continued, "I did it because I felt like it was the right thing to do. To… I don't know, make up for my past rivalry with your husband? You come at me like I'm not trying to do my job, but I'm doing all I can! Why are you acting like this?"

"Because your niece is trying to kill my son!"

"No, no she di—"

"I SAW HER!"

My heart stopped cold.

"Wha—what?"

"My son stormed off when you and Draco were talking, so I followed him. I was still far away, but could see that he bumped into your niece. She said something cruel to him, like 'what are you doing without your friends?', and they got into an argument. Rose stormed off, but then turned back and said something like 'you'll get what's coming for you soon,' and then he suddenly started choking! Your niece had to have done something! There was literally no one else around!"

At first I was shocked, trying desperately to unscramble my jarred emotions, but then something struck me. Something very odd.

"So you're telling me that you just stood there and watched while your son was choking to death?"

She seemed taken aback by my question. "Wha—what? No! Of course not! I—I don't know, I guess I didn't know what to do. I just… ran off to get help. But by the time I found someone, the whole incident was over."

I stared at her. "What kind of mother are you?"

She blinked. "Excuse me?"

"You would run away while your son was dying? You wouldn't at least go to him? Try and figure out what was happening?"

"Look!" she exclaimed, "Do you think I'm stupid? I knew there was nothing I could do! I've never seen any hex like that before!"

"How on earth would you have figured it was a hex by that time? Wouldn't you instinctively go to him? It could've been anything!"

Astoria shook her blonde head in frustration. "No—I don't know, I—I don't… no! The way your niece looked, I figured it had to be a hex! So I ran!"

"You wouldn't go—"

"No! No, I guess I wouldn't. I guess I'm a terrible mother. I guess I have a heart of stone. I don't know what happened or why I did it. I just did."

I said nothing. I couldn't. The silence allowed me to hear my jumbled thoughts—my rattled emotions. It couldn't be Rosie… could it? I started at my feet, numb.

"Well," Astoria finally whispered timidly, "I guess that's it then."

I didn't look up as she walked off, listening until the click of her stilettos evaporated into nothingness.

I felt sick.

I felt angry.

I felt so immensely betrayed.

Why Rosie? Why?

Why, why, why?

But… Astoria's story…

Suddenly, it all clicked for me.

No one else was around, she had said. No one else but her.

I looked up, a newfound determination etched into my face. I finally had a new suspect:

Astoria Malfoy.