Parts (49-52)

III

Chapter 13

Stuck

Part 1: Limbo

Scorpius couldn't figure out what was up with Michael recently, since the last Hogsmeade trip he'd seemed preoccupied but whenever Scorpius asked why he claimed it was nothing. He also continued to insist that he didn't remember what he'd wanted to tell him about the Shadows, which was weird. He felt bad for snapping at him but Michael wouldn't hold important information from him out of spite, which would mean it was unimportant but then why did he seem on edge? The others didn't seem to notice so maybe he was looking too much into it but then they didn't know everything Scorpius knew, he supposed there was nothing he could do about it for the time being.

Despite it being the last week before Easter, the teachers weren't as lenient as they were with Christmas, either because it was a less important holiday or because it was much closer to exams but Scorpius was still writing multiple rolls of parchment for essays that final week. It was the final Taster session that weekend too and Scorpius was glad to see that Maurice and Orous seemed to be talking again, pleasantly surprised to have all four join them in the Library for a study session.

"And Gregory is so romantic," Rose was bragging to Vern and Orous, much to all of their chagrin as she'd done nothing but praise her new older Hufflepuff boyfriend all week... Maybe that was what was bugging Michael? Michael said nothing but his dazzling hazel eyes seemed to dim whenever Rose brought it up, his prosthetic eye now matching his regular eye color near-perfectly. Michael may have been lucky not to be there, "He owled me a rose this morning, a rose for a Rose. Isn't that sweet? And he's so hot."

"Good for you," Vern offered unsurely while Albus rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"And for Easter he-"

"So what electives did you pick for next year?" Albus interrupted, if only to shut Rose up about Gregory for once. Rose threw him a dark look.

"I went with Arithmancy, Study of Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures," Vern answered, "I like more written subjects and Corin's dad does Care of Magical Creatures."

"I choose all of them except Muggle Studies because that's useless," Maurice stated bluntly and Rose opened her mouth to angrily defend the subject but Maurice caught on, "Learning about muggles is not going to help with a magical war, I'm a wizard and learning about how muggles survive without magic has no relevance to my life nor am I particularly interested in it. Its not prejudice, its just not interesting to me."

"No surprises there," Albus commented dryly.

"I just went with Divination and Care of Magical Creatures," Orous spoke up, "Was tough between Diviantion and Runes but I only wanted to choose two."

"You know Gregory did Runes and Arithmancy because he's so smart like that," Rose added dreamily and Scorpius resisted the urge to sigh, with any luck Rose would've gotten over mentioning Gregory every five seconds by the time they got back from the Easter break.

Michael was staying for Easter break so Scorpius didn't have to worry about him with Bob although he would have to for the summer holidays, for then though he just said goodbye to Michael and Maurice - he still wasn't sure what was happening with Maurice but for Easter he was staying - before leaving with the others. It was the first time that Calderon wasn't around to make sure all the carriages got to the platform, he was still suffering from his illness and Scorpius was really starting to worry. Calderon didn't get worse but he also didn't get better, it had been four months. He got a compartment with Albus, Abby, Corin, Vern and Orous since Rose was going with her boyfriend and Molly had the prefect's compartment. Albus spent most of the train journey lamenting how he wished he could see Crystal but otherwise it was alright.

Albus and Vern spotted Mrs Potter almost immediately when they'd arrived, bidding them goodbye as they headed over to her. Corin and Abby started saying goodbye - Corin had to go onto another platform to get a train back to France so he didn't need to look for family - as they playfully argued who would miss who more in between quick kisses, Orous had spotted his dad before they were done and ran over to be hugged by the bald man. Scorpius deliberately wasn't trying to find his parents, wanting to say goodbye to Molly first. Despite that, he finally noticed them waving and eventually had to stop pretending he hadn't seen them. He'd just started to move when he felt a hand grab his wrist, pulling him back he saw it was Molly and grinned.

"Didn't think you were going to leave without saying goodbye?" Molly wondered, also smiling.

"I was wondering what was taking you so long," Scorpius countered as they leaned in for a farewell kiss, he encircled his arms around her as she did the same and felt so happy again that he had her. They drew apart to draw breath, "I'll miss you."

"I'll see you in a week," Molly promised as she hugged him, the scent of cherries in her hair had never seemed more beautiful.

"Have a good Easter."

"You too."

They broke apart and he waved as he walked over to his parents, seeing Corin and Abby's debate end when her younger brother calmly and pointedly took her hand and pulled her away in the direction of their awaiting mother. Nick had chosen to stay again but the tension between Abby and him since she started dating Corin had caused the younger two to leave as well. His parents no longer looked happy, instead gazing at him with an expression of concern. Nothing strange had happened in Hogwarts so it took him a second to realize what was bothering them, it was the first thing his father said even.

"Why were you kissing Molly Weasley?"

"She's my girlfriend," Scorpius answered and felt himself grin stupidly, he rather liked saying that.

"I thought we agreed you were too young to date," his father continued worriedly as they headed back out through the barrier.

"No, you decided that."

"Scorpius, you're not ready for this," his mother pointed out anxiously and Scorpius noticed a hooded man standing opposite the barrier, staring - or at least he thought it was staring from the direction he was facing - at the barrier. He was no muggle. Was it Varanian? He'd have to visit him soon.

"Yes I am," Scorpius insisted as they continued past him, falling back into his parents conversation.

"You think you're ready but you're just not," his father told him stubbornly and Scorpius felt a flash of anger that they still thought of him as just a weak pathetic child.

"I've never been more ready for anything in my life. I like her and she likes me and we're happy, I'm happy. I'm actually happy. Accept or don't accept it, I don't care."

"Hey Michael," Crystal said gently when she came to pick him up from the hospital, he'd just finished getting changed and the nurse was leading her over, "The doctor said I can take you home now."

"And all without magical healing powers," the nurse commented and Crystal sighed in exasperation, "Or whatever it was you were ranting about crazily and drukenly."

"Where's Annie? I thought she'd be with you," Crystal wondered, apparently deciding to just ignore the nurse's comment, "Is she too busy or something?"

"No she's on leave."

"What? Why?" Crystal asked in confusion and the nurse scowled.

"You don't know?"

"Know what?"

"That she was attacked?" the nurse prompted and Michael felt a stab of fear for his aunt's life while Crystal looked as horrified as he felt, "She came home from work apparently and stumbled across her place being robbed, they attacked her, messed her up pretty bad. I assumed you knew since you're like related somehow then again, if I was related to her then I wouldn't want nothing to do with her either. Can't stand her."

"Is she okay?"

"Stupid bitch was well enough to check herself out against medical advice, she's still banged up though and can't work for a bit. Good riddance. I was hoping the cops would haul away her ass but they ruled in her favor apparently, self-defense."

"What?" Crystal scowled and the nurse looked very serious.

"She killed the guys who attacked her. Killed them dead."

Crystal seemed concerned by this as they left, Michael was worried about Annie. It was scary to be attacked. They went straight to her apartment, it didn't look outwardly different but it seemed to take longer before she answered the door. Annie herself definitely looked different, her face was blotchy from bruising and her right eye was swollen shut, her lip split and her right hand was bandaged. She waved them in and limped back inside, heading for the couch that she collapsed onto and put her feet up. Inside the apartment was different too, the place was normally neat and ordered but it was a wreck, draws hanging out and cabinet doors off their hinges... there was a massive crimson stain just outside her bedroom door.

"Long time, no see," Annie offered lazily in greeting, "What's up?"

"What's up? Why didn't you tell me you were attacked?" Crystal question as she eyed the apartment anxiously while Annie shrugged and reached for a bottle of beer on the broken table by the couch.

"Who told you that?"

"The nurse. I don't think she likes you."

"I know," Annie admitted thoughtfully, "I think I have trouble getting along with people I can't sleep with, no reason to like me if they're not getting some."

"So why didn't you say anything about being attacked?" Crystal asked to bring the conversation back on track.

"Why would you care?"

"Did you tell Jack?"

"Why would Jack care?"

"Did you tell anyone?"

"What is with you about me telling someone?" Annie wondered with a shake of her head and Crystal looked upset.

"Because its the kind of thing you tell people for support and stuff," Crystal insisted.

"Its not a big deal. Wounds will heal, I can buy more crap to replace the stuff they broke, I got most of the stuff they tried to steal back since they died suddenly."

"You shouldn't joke about killing people."

"I don't think the Police really care about the deaths of rapey thieves, it was self defense."

"You're a really difficult person to be nice to," Crystal sighed and Annie grinned.

"I know it. Its my goal in life to piss as many people off as possible so when I die they'll dance on my grave, that way when I come back as a zombie I can be lazy and just reach up to grab people's ankles to drag back down into the depths of the Earth," Annie quipped sarcastically and despite himself Michael smiled slightly that her sense of humor was still intact, "I'm fine."

"Fine. Can you... Can you just watch Michael for a bit then? I'll be back."

"Sure," Annie agreed and Crystal hugged Michael goodbye before leaving.

The instant Crystal was gone, Annie let her guard down again as she sighed heavily and her expression lost its amusement. Michael went over and just hugged her, she held him close for a long time. He didn't mind, he hadn't seen her in a couple of months and he'd missed her. The only time he ever felt safe from Bob was when he was with her, the only time he felt comforted. He hated that she'd been hurt, bruises hurt as he knew but he was just glad she was okay.

"Do you want to clean this place up?" Michael asked quietly when she pulled away, if he didn't know any better he'd say she'd been crying.

"Nah, I'll get to it," Annie promised, "When it doesn't hurt to move. Do you want to have a Pokemon marathon?"

"Sure," Michael agreed and went to put on the DVDs she had for him to watch while he was there.

That was how they spent pretty much the rest of the day aside from when Annie ordered them some pizza to eat, Michael was glad as his ribs hurt if he moved so he was good with just relaxing on the couch. He hadn't watched Pokemon - or anything - in ages too. He had no idea when Crystal was coming back but he was glad that it appeared to be a long time as the sun went down, he dreaded going back to Bob. He was still tired from baby Ivy as well, at some point his head started to nod.

When he opened his eyes again, the episode was long over and it was fully dark outside. Annie was also asleep, although she seemed to be having a bad dream from the look on her face and uncomfortable moving. Michael got up to get himself a drink as he was thirsty, after he thought he'd just put blankets over them and they could sleep until Crystal returned as he was tired.

He got his drink of water and came back over to sit on the couch to drink it, Annie was struggling more violently in her sleep and he was tempted to wake her up when it happened. She'd rolled onto her side with her right hand hanging off the couch, he watched as orange lights shaped into a knife that materialized into her palm that she gripped tightly.

"Annie, wake up!" Michael exclaimed in shock and she jolted awake so suddenly she dropped the knife, it nicked the carpet.

"What's happening?!" Annie demanded in panic.

"That knife just appeared," Michael protested and gestured to the knife that she retrieved, visibly relaxing as she did so.

"Nah, that happens. Past few days I must keep sleepwalking to grab a knife because I wake up with it in my hand."

"I saw it, there was orange light and then it was there."

"Your eyes were playing tricks on you then," Annie protested firmly and both watched as orange lights traced the shape of the knife, it vanished in an instant, "There's no such thing as magic. We're both just tired and stressed and seeing things."

"Yeah," Michael agreed although he still thought it was a little worrying, Annie stared at her bandaged hand for a long time as he finished his drink and she got the blankets for them to curl up and sleep under. There was a still a nick in the carpet from the non-existant knife.

"I hope you never have to know what it feels like to kill," Annie whispered so quietly that Michael thought she hadn't meant for him to hear it.

Michael had been a wreck since the last Hogsmeade trip, he could throw himself into his schoolwork but everything else only worries nipping at his thoughts. The Shadow professor and Greyback. He'd tried to find a way around the curse but trying to write it down had the same result, he couldn't hope that Scorpius would pick up on his dislike for the Shadow and figure out why was because every time he laid eyes on him he forgot, trying to vocalize any negative comments about the guy made him forget. He couldn't even keep an eye on the Shadow to try stop him poisoning Calderon because then he forgot, even if Michael was under the invisibility cloak then he forgot. He couldn't warn Calderon, he could warn anyone, just trying to bring up Calderon's food or drink also made him forget. He hated it.

And then there was Greyback. He'd gone and made enemies with a werewolf. He was terrified. He could barely eat, he couldn't sleep for nightmares about Greyback, killing or torturing his family or friends, killing or torturing himself, turning his family or friends into werewolves so they tore each other apart or even just one of them killing the others, or the worst that he was turned into a werewolf and he killed everyone he cared about. And he couldn't tell a soul. He couldn't warn anyone, his family weren't even magical and they wouldn't be able to defend themselves. He'd thought of showing Scorpius Greyback's wand but trying to say so made him forget, if he went to go pick up the wand with the intention of showing it then he forgot and if he was already holding it then he simply forgot and hid it. He couldn't tell his absolute worst fear was planning some kind of attack and that it was out for his blood, everyone he cared about was at risk and he couldn't say. It was torture. A part of him actually wished the Shadow had just erased his memory.

He'd actually been seriously considering Jack's offer of spending Easter with him but had decided against it, he thought his family and friends might be safer if he stayed in Hogwarts if Greyback was serious about wanting him to watch them suffer then he'd need to get to Michael first. Not that he actually felt safe in Hogwarts, not when the Shadow had managed to drag him to his private sanctuary and torture him. He couldn't even hope Scorpius would figure out the Shadow professor because he seemed to have completely lost interest since he'd started dating Molly. Michael thought he might have one shot though, there was one other person who had had the same curse used on them who he might possibly be able to sort of talk to about it.

Nick Longbottom. Who had conveniently decided to stay for Easter, Michael watched Nick's dot on the map until he was alone before heading off to find him. Nick was alone in an unused classroom, Michael trekked down and kept his eye on the map to make sure Nick remained alone. Thankfully he did and no one else seemed to be near, Michael wiped the map and put it back into the magical wallet before entering the classroom. Nick was sitting alone at a table with a long length of fabric, he was crying.

"Are you alright?" Michael asked with genuine concern and Nick hastily wiped his eyes.

"I wasn't crying," Nick insisted immediately as Michael walked over to him, not that his blotchy red eyes and tearstreaked face were a give away.

"I didn't say you were, I asked if you alright," Michael offered and Nick glanced at him.

"No. No, I'm not. Do you know why I'm here?"

"No."

"I have to unpick this entire thing thread by thread for Grant's detention, just because its tedious and awkward and I keep freakin' pricking myself with the needle by mistake!" Nick snapped and showed him his fingers, riddled with tiny holes that Michael promptly whipped out his wand and healed them, "Oh, thanks."

"So that's what's bothering you?"

"Not really. Do you know he refers to me as 'Slytherin' because he doesn't think I deserve the name I was born with? Do you know he ridicules, mocks and insults me every chance he gets? Do you know how humiliated and worthless he makes me feel? I hate him. He makes me feel worse than I ever thought a person was capable of making me feel. And its not even just him. I was stripped of my Prefect status by my own father, I can't play Quidditch anymore and I miss it so much, everyone thinks I'm just a lying loser, the girl I like is dating someone else and won't even talk to me now, I can't go to Hogsmeade, my family's ditched me for Easter, I can't lookout for my little sister and my father hates me. Everything is bad and nothing is going right for me and I am just sick of everything going so wrong."

"Life's a bitch," Michael told him as Nick wiped his eyes again.

"Yeah. You could say that again," Nick muttered bitterly and almost seemed to do a double take, "Did you want something? I'm sure you didn't come here to listen to my depressive rant."

"I know you're telling the truth about the riot," Michael decided to jump right in with the truth because he was too tired to even bother wasting time easing into it, Nick looked immediately intrigued, "The thing that a certain professor did to you is what the same professor did to me if you know what I'm talking about."

"I do, I think if we're vague enough then we'll be alright but I'm not sure how useful this is. I haven't been able to find a way around a certain spell."

"Not alone but I was thinking if we could find out a certain spell and how to reverse it then we could do so to each other."

"I already found the certain spell in question," Nick admitted and it was Michael jolted in surprise, "Did you really think I wouldn't try the Library? The certain spell I found is pretty complex and difficult, a bit out of my league and yours too."

"We have to try," Michael pleaded, "There's certain things I can't do or talk about but they are really, really important and I don't know if I know the whole story about your thing but it could be important too. I can't say why or how because I'd forget but its important."

"It is?" Nick wondered and scratched his head as he sighed, "I suppose we could try but I wouldn't get my hopes up."

"Hope is all we have."

Part 2: Here Without You

Agnes Eleanor Wilson was walking home from school, the last day of school until after the Easter break. She was glad because it meant she didn't have to do homework and she hated having to do homework, her dad had said she didn't have to do it if she didn't want to but Crystal said she had to. It was confusing when her parents said the complete opposite, she could probably tell her dad and he'd override Crystal's insistence on homework but she didn't want him to hurt Crystal. Especially since Crystal was sick. And getting sicker.

Agnes had started helping out with chores and taking care of the little - or at least littler - ones because of it, her dad said she shouldn't but he wouldn't and she wanted to help out Crystal which bothered her dad. She loved her dad but she really wished he was as nice to Crystal and Michael as he was to them. She missed Michael a lot, wished he was there. Michael always knew what to do, she could always talk to him about anything when he was there. She was counting down the days until he returned, she was even going to ask her dad very nicely if she could meet him at the platform. Closer to the date at least.

It was a sunny day in April at present, the rays of light only making the blooming flowers even prettier and their colors more vivid. Usually she just tried to get to and from school quickly because Ivy and Flynn had a habit of getting distracted and wandering off, it was a nightmare to round them back up and get them home safely so she hurried. However, Flynn's pre-school had slightly different days to their school and he'd finished yesterday instead and Ivy couldn't be bothered for one final day so their dad had proudly let her have the day off. He'd encouraged Agnes to do the same but she liked the last day, you did fun things instead of work. So alone she was walking home, taking her time to enjoy the flowers in people's yards.

It was then she heard the strangest pop and looked behind to see what it could've been, the street was empty or so she'd thought. There was a man standing behind her, it was an alley shortcut with no doors so she wasn't sure where he could've come from as she was sure he hadn't been behind her before. He was a strange looking man, old but still fierce with a mane of grisled gray hair that reminded her oddly of animal fur, he was wearing a tattered black cloak that wasn't unlike her brother's wizard clothes. The most noticable thing about his appearance though, was his face. Across one of his eyes was a nasty scar that was a lot like Michael's, only the man's went from his hairline right down to his chin and it looked fresher too. The eye it went through was gone, there was just a gruesome, gaping hole where the eye should be. The man smiled, revealing pointed teeth. He smelled of dirt and sweat.

"Hello there," the man greeted her, "Are you Agnes Eleanor Wilson?"

"I might be," Agnes answered unsurely, in truth the man frightened her more than a little and as she took a step back, "Why? Who are you?"

"Half-sister to a Michael Harold Sanford? Incredibly short? Thirteen years old apparently? Hazel eyes? Scar across one of them? Badly scarred hand from burns? Has a locket and weird flat pieces of metal for necklaces? A Gryffindor? A wizard?" the man questioned eagerly as he limped a step closer with each question, Agnes nodded fearfully and wondered whether she could outrun him, "Relax, kid, I know your brother. I'm... I'm a wizard too. Technically anyway. Its not my usual identity."

"Really?" Agnes wondered and relaxed immediately, if he knew Michael then he must be okay. The man nodded.

"Yes, see," the man took out a wand at this to prove it, "My new wand."

"I thought wizards liked their first wand that chooses them?"

"They do," the man growled and his expression darkened for just a moment before his smile returned, "My name is Fenrir. Would you like to get some ice cream while we talk?"

"Okay," Agnes agreed, feeling bad for misjudging Fenrir for his appearance when clearly he was a nice guy.

It was a lovely day for ice cream. She followed Fenrir back out of the alleyway, there was an ice cream stand nearby. The man gave her the desired cone but instead of paying, Fenrir flicked his wand at the guy and they were allowed it for free. That must come in really useful for wizards, if they could get things for free then it'd make life easier to afford. Agnes was so hoping she'd be magical like Michael, her dad thought magic was bad but she thought it was so cool. Fenrir took her to a nearby bench where they sat and she started on her ice cream, such a rare treat.

"Thank you very much, Fenrir, we can't usually afford ice cream," Agnes told the wizard gratefully, "Didn't you want any?"

"No, there's different things I like to sink my teeth into," Fenrir explained with another smile, "So your family doesn't have a lot of money then?"

"No. My dad can't work because of his back and Crystal - my mum - has to work less because she's sick, her heart is bad, but there's six of us so its hard to afford things. Are you a teacher at Michael's school?"

"No, but I have a friend who is. I was meeting him and that's how I met your brother. He's in Gryffindor, correct?"

"Yes. What does your friend teach?"

"I forget. Gryffindor is the house for those who are brave, do you think you brother is brave?"

"Oh yes, Michael is the bravest," Agnes agreed immediately in between licks of her ice cream, thinking of all the times he stood up to her dad and protected Crystal even when it would mean he got hit a lot instead, and all those times he'd stood up to bullies for her, "He's really great. What house is your professor friend in?"

"He never went to Hogwarts. Is there anything Michael is scared of though? Even brave people can have fears," Greyback asked her hungrily, "What does Michael fear?"

"Nothing much... wait, werewolves."

"Werewolves?"

"He's terrified of werewolves, has been since he was like five," Agnes explained and the smile that played on Fenrir's face was disturbingly sadistic, "He said the only bad thing about being a wizard was learning they were real."

"Well isn't that a perfect little coincidence? He's in for a treat."

"Why?" Agnes asked curiously in confusion as Fenrir looked at her with his demented smile, almost as if he'd forgotten she was there.

"Because, he made enemies with the wrong werewolf. He won't be safe in Hogwarts forever," Fenrir told her as he stood, "Thank you for talking to me, Agnes, it was nice meeting you but I have to go now."

"Really?" Agnes wondered sadly, it was kind of nice talking to someone.

"Yes but I promise I'll see you again soon," Fenrir promised with a smile, there was another pop. Agnes blinked and he was gone.

Jack didn't regret leaving Oxford, he got in contact with some of his prison buddies and they put him up at first. They offered him work, nothing legal but then so what? He'd tried getting honest work and they didn't want to hear it from a convicted criminal, it was like once a criminal always a criminal, if that's what they wanted then that's what Jack would be. It wasn't anything too bad anyway, cons, petty thefts, delivering things he wasn't supposed to ask what it was but he had a feeling it wasn't pizza. He didn't get caught and he only did it for cash, that or gambling, to pay for the cost of living and for booze to drown his hurt.

His life soon settled into a new routine, he rarely got up until the afternoon unless a job required it. He bounced around from place to place on his motorcycle, drinking and partying at bars or nightclubs, he started sleeping around, odd jobs and gambling for money. It was all a hazy drunken blurr of fun and hangovers. He went back to his old mentality of just enjoying life because trying was pointless, he should have just stuck with that. It wasn't like it actually mattered what he did, Crystal didn't care, she'd never cared. The only woman he'd ever loved, the mother of his son and she'd never cared. If no one cared then why should Jack?

Annie still called him at first, he'd only snap insults at her or ignore it or hang up so she'd get the impression he didn't want to talk to her. Eventually she stopped trying, only calling once a year to leave a message to wish him a happy birthday and one time to tell him Michael had broken his arm in a car accident. Cars sucked. He was glad, he didn't want to talk to her. Michael was his only regret, the only thing that he felt truly terrible about leaving. But he didn't want to go back and face Crystal. He worked up the courage to try calling but that was with limited success, depending on who answered. He'd hang up if it was Crystal because it hurt too much to even hear her voice, he met Bob via the phone but Crystal's future husband was kind of a dick. He'd just tell Jack to not call, to stay away and that Michael didn't want to - nor was allowed to - talk to him then hang up. Occasionally he'd get lucky and Michael would answer but their conversations didn't tend to be long, Jack thought it was good though, it was more than his own father had bothered after his other died.

He got pegged with a few fines from speeding or being drunk and disruptive - not at the same time, he never drove drunk - and community service at one point, longest he'd stayed in one place since leaving Oxford and the longest relationship he'd had as he dated the woman running the animal shelter he was doing the community service at, she was the one who encouraged him to try calling his son. It wasn't actually a bad place, he liked helping rehabilitate the poor animals and discovered he was actually pretty good with animals too. He inevitably left though, the woman offered him a salary to stay on permanently but he refused it. He'd given up on trying already.

He was on his way up to Manchester when he got the phone call, he'd won big against this guy gambling and he still owed Jack his winnings. It was the hospital to say Annie had been injured pretty badly, his instincts were to run and carry on his journey. Not because he didn't care, because it scared him she was hurt and he didn't want to see her like that. He forced himself to go there though, it wasn't like Annie had anyone else or they wouldn't have called him. Her lifestyle was similar to his, only difference was she stayed in one place and doubled as a workaholic as well as an alcoholic. He wasn't even joking about that, it scared him that she might drink herself to death like their dad. He wondered what their parents would think if they were still alive, just outright hate the people their children had become or just quietly ashamed. Or both.

He couldn't stand being there though, it broke him to see her lying in that hospital bed. He hated hospitals, it reminded him of after the car crash that had taken his mother's life. And his little boy was sitting by her side, how many months had been since he'd seen Micheal? Years? He couldn't face either of them so he left. He went to that guy and lashed out too much, taking out his upset on him. He got eighteen months because he cut a deal as the guy was into some shady things too. He didn't really care. Jail was nothing new and in a way it was good, gave him an excuse to not have to bother with anything in his life. He just wanted to withdraw and forget the world, forget how he'd turned his back on his son and his sister. Jack hated who he'd become. When he got out, he vowed to try do things different and get his life back on track.

The first thing he did was go and get a tattoo on his arm, a phoenix, it was literally his middle name. Phoenixes were mythological birds that could die and be reborn, he could recall from his mother's stories. He hoped it represented a new start. He didn't tell Annie though, he didn't want to incase he failed and then she'd be all disappointed in him. Which was stupid because she needed to quit drinking even more than he did, he'd have to tell her eventually but after he had some success under his belt first. He stayed at a halfway house and got himself into AA to help him stop drinking, he thought it was going well. He hadn't drank a drop since he'd been out of jail, he hadn't done anything illegal. If he could keep it up for six months then he'd tell Annie - he'd need a place to stay when his time in the halfway house ran out anyway - and ask Crystal to see Michael.

Jack had been freaked out since he'd last talked to 'One' or the Specter that possessed him to speak to him, he wasn't sure what it wanted but he hoped it would stay gone. He supposed at least it distracted him from being hurt about Michael not wanting to spend Easter with him. He believed it about being a Specter but everything else was a lie, he was in control during the experiments not being possessed so clearly that was wrong. Besides, Alzay wasn't a Shadow, they'd been dating for four months now and he hadn't seen her do anything evil and murderous. She could be a bit distant sometimes but she was basically nice. He was at her place now, waiting for her to finish showering so they could go for another magic-getting session.

Nice enough to sacrifice her sons to the Shadows? the voice appeared in his mind again and Jack leaped in panic.

"Go away. Leave me alone. I don't want to talk to you," Jack told it immediately.

Its true though, she abandoned them too. She's only with you so you'll stay, your son's a person of interest to the Shadows so as his father you're more valuable then the common muggle

"I said go away."

Do you know she killed her mother? As soon as she came of age at seventeen, before she'd finished Hogwarts. She tracked her mother down and killed her, her mother's muggle-born husband too

"Really? Do you just get a kick out of telling a bunch of lies to break up me and my girlfriend?" Jack demanded irritably.

I couldn't care less, I'm just trying to make you see that you're surrounded by Shadows and you don't even notice it

"Ready to go?" Alzay questioned and Jack spun to see she was now out of the shower, dressed and approaching him. Not seeming to notice the glowing black eyes.

That only happens when I'm directly controlling you, there's no visible indicators I'm sharing your body space otherwise

"Yes," Jack agreed, too scared of the Specter to mention it.

She took his hands and kissed him tenderly, there was a crack and Jack felt as if his body was being squeezed through a tube that was infinitely smaller than his body. It stopped a moment later when they were in one of the testing places, Jack was glad he no longer had the urge to vomit after apparation. He didn't like it but it no longer made him sick so that was a win in his book. This was the larger testing room, there were closed cabinets and white walls that reminded him of a hospital or a lab. There was still a chair by a desk where Alzay - or occasionally someone else - took notes, there was a dentist-like chair for him in the middle of the room although thankfully without all the creepy dentist instruments.

"Would you like to take a seat?" Alzay offered and Jack smiled as he kissed her a final time before going over to the seat to lie down.

"I know the drill," Jack confirmed before she could say anything and closed his eyes in readiness.

All she actually does here is wait for me to possess you or rather prove I'm possessing you by opening your eyes and showing they're black in their entirety. Once proven, they're at the stage where she puts the magic into you that's already been ripped from a witch or wizard's soul. She couldn't do it before or you'd die because muggle bodies can't handle magic, it kills them and that's not the desired outcome here. Pure muggles without any magical ancestors wouldn't even survive this much. She just mutters random things to pretend she's doing magic on you

"Alright, all done. You can sit up and open your eyes now," Alzay told him and Jack obeyed, clearly one was being dishonest again as he wasn't possessed. He thought maybe if he ignored it then it would go away, he couldn't respond to it anyway or Alzay would know.

You are possessed. I'm just willingly following your desired movements so you don't realize that you're possessed

"Start with Lumos," Alzay continued as she handed him a wand and stepped back.

This is the part where I try tap into the magic without it burning up your poor muggle body inside. Depending on the level of difficulty and power in the spell, this is possible for weaker spells

"Lumos," Jack said and light glowed from the end of his wand, Alzay studied him carefully for a moment and started using some spells to check his health and stuff.

There's one definite way to prove this, you know?

"Very good," Alzay smiled one of her cold smiles and started scribbling down things, glancing up at him occasionally.

If I'm lying then this will prove it, if I'm honest then this will prove it. Simply disobey her next instruction, if you're right and I have nothing to do with their good work then you'll simply disobey

"Try Expelliarmus next," Alzay told him as he lowered the wand.

If I'm right and I'm the one doing this then you'll simply have no control and I'll do it, she won't behave as if anything is different because its not

He didn't move, he willed his mouth to stay closed and his arm to stay where it was. His arm started to move though, he tried to make it go back by his side but he had as little control as he'd had when One had walked him to the mirror to prove his possession. He felt panic but he didn't feel the expression changing on his face as his arm was raised fully, he was still willing it to go back by his side but instead it jerked at Alzay.

"Expelliarmus!" Jack's voice cried against his will and a jet of light shot towards Alzay, she seemed too shocked to try stop it and the spell violently threw her back against the wall where she slumped unconsciously to the ground. Jack tried to run to her but his body still didn't move, "You see, Jack? It's all me."

"Fine! You're right," Jack snapped, surprised that his own lips obeyed him but his body still didn't. Apparently One just wished two way communication as his horrifying realization at working for the Shadows hit him like a truck, "I believe you now."

"About time too."

"What do you want anyway? Why are you even telling me this?"

"Because I want to be free!" One screamed through Jack's mouth, "I was the very first to... be born shall we say, the first to be severed from the Dementor and bound to a human instead. Over thirty years ago now. We pick up things from the ones we're bound to, with Dementors you have more the mentality of a Dementor and with a human you start to develop more of a personality, thoughts outside of the desire for sustenance. I'm the most developed, I'm the one who does this because I have the most control, the most independent free will, the most skills. But I want to be free.

"I don't want to have to obey a Master, I don't want to be bound for all eternity and rely on them. I want to be free, I don't want to be a Shadow. To do that though, I'd need a body. I've tried before. I can possess and control bodies but I'm still bound and there's still the host soul, I can destroy the host soul but then can't latch onto the body in the way a soul can to make it mine. Latching onto a body is the only way I could resist the Master's call and sever the connection, I'd be bound to the body instead and since the body is a shell I'd be control. So I thought, since I'm not a soul but I need the ability to latch onto a body like a soul does that I could merge with one.

"I tried and I think I could do it, however the soul naturally rejects this merging. White, black, even gray resist it. It kills the unborn, infants and those who are extremely weak rather than allow it but the majority can resist the merging. You can't fight off possession but you can not be merged with my being. So what I need is a willing soul, a willing soul who will embrace me instead of resisting me to merge my soul with theirs. Its the only way. That's where you come in."

"And you think I'd agree to that? You're mad," Jack spat defensively.

"Why not, Jack? With me merged with you soul then you could survive with magic, I can take a few of these magics and merge them into your soul and my... being. Your body won't burn up because of me, you'd have the magic you crave."

"But I'd be like dead."

"No, you would need to still exist. We'd share your body."

"Its not worth it."

"You need me. These Shadows are planning on you kill eventually."

"I'll find a way out of it without you or die. I'm not merging my soul with an evil Specter."

"Evil's such a harsh word, I can't help what I am. And if you won't do it for me then what your son?"

"What about him?"

"He's at risk and you're powerless to protect him, with me, you wouldn't be. You said it yourself, his eye, his chest, his arm, he's always getting hurt and you can't protect him from the magic you don't have. I said earlier, your son is a person of interest. His Patronus abilities are highly advance, he must be very pure of heart. He's friends with some important people and enemies with some too."

"Enemies?" Jack repeated worriedly.

"He followed a Shadow professor to a meeting with the savage and notorious werewolf, Fenrir Greyback. Greyback noticed him and attacked him, naturally," One explained and Jack felt a stab of terror for Michael, why hadn't he heard about this? And werewolves. Michael was terrified of werewolves, the worst possible thing to attack him, it must have ben horrible, "Michael survived, relax, he lashed out with a vicious curse. The same curse that cost him his own eye, he used it on Greyback. Greyback was forced to retreat for treatment due to the nature of the spell but ever since, he's after Michael. Waited for him on the platform - luckily Michael stayed for Easter - and researching him for the best ways to hurt him, Greyback wants him to suffer before he dies. Your boy isn't safe."

"Why should I believe you?"

"I haven't lied to you. I need your willing cooperation so I have been completely honest with you about everything. Greyback's new scar and lack of an eye is proof enough, Michael got his good eye too because his eyesight's starting to fail unless he's in werewolf form. We'd be invincible together, Jack, we could stop Greyback and protect Michael. I'm willing to help you if you help me, we need to work together. You want your son to be safe don't you?"

"Of course but I don't... I don't want this," Jack whispered fearfully.

"Think about it at least. Maybe you'll change your mind in time to save your son from Greyback and the army of werewolves," One offered as he flicked the wand at Alzay as she started to stir and Jack's body started to obey him again as he went over to her.

Her memory's been wiped now, just act as if she fainted suddenly. You'll have to play along so the Shadows don't know you're onto them. Or you will die faster than our son

Michael started spending a lot of time with Annie again since she was off work to recover, she cleaned up her apartment gradually but Michael still couldn't help but notice she was on edge. She seemed to be drinking more as well, or maybe it was just from spending time away from her. It was summer, so came the annual paramedic test to help her study for. Michael knew even more than he had the last time, both of them attempted to remember the answers and Michael surprised himself by how much he knew.

"I'm proud of you, Michael," Annie told him one of the days when he'd got every answer right with a smile that seemed so rare.

No one had ever said that they were proud of him before and to come from her just made it seem even better, he was so used to feeling stupid from struggling with Dyslexia and worthless from Bob. It was nice to feel a sliver of self-confidence for once. It wasn't all good news though, Crystal found out she was pregnant before Annie was fully healed so again decided to wait until after the baby was born to tell Annie and get help to leave Bob. Michael wondered if it was possible Bob knew and got her pregnant on purpose just to make sure she'd stay, even though he couldn't have known and didn't know still.

Annie passed her paramedic exam again perfectly and they went for another 'random thing to celebrate' which turned out to be go-karting, Michael was just about old enough and they raced around. It was awesome. He was surprised when she did another 'random thing to celebrate' for his ninth birthday, this time it was climbing an indoor rock wall which was great fun. Michael was frequently warned to not look down but he did, he thought it was cool being up high, why did people not like heights?

Michael didn't know it at the time but that would be the last 'random thing to celebrate' that he'd have with Annie because in the fall, something would happen to change everything. He hadn't given too much thought to Annie's drinking, he'd wished she wouldn't but he hadn't realized what could really happen. He was just going to bed, quite late because he'd had a tough time getting Ivy down for the night, he'd just finished changing into his pajamas when Crystal came down into his basement room. He was surprised, he had expected her to just to go bed when she came in but she didn't.

She sat beside him on the bed with an anxious expression, took a deep breath and explained it to him. Annie had been driving home from a bar, drunk, and had hit someone. Her paramedic knowledge and skill was the only thing that had saved the guy's life before the ambulance could get there. Not that it mattered. She'd been driving drunk and hit someone, she was going to jail. She was going to jail for awhile. Five years it turned out, Michael would be fourteen when she was released although that hadn't been decided at that time. Michael just nodded calmly, said something about understanding.

He didn't remember the words either of them had said, Crystal hugged him and kissed him goodnight, seemingly pleased he was taking it so well. It didn't feel real at first, not Annie, not the only person he looked up to, the person who gave him slivers of good in his painful life, how could she have gone and done something so stupid and irresponsible? And she was going to jail. No contact. She'd be gone. Lost to him. It was only after Crystal left that he curled into a ball, hugged Liggy and cried. And cried. And cried. And cried. He'd never cried so much and so hard in his life, he cried so much it hurt, his eyes were raw from tears but he still didn't stop, his chest hurt from being wracked by sobs. He only stopped when he ran out of tears, exhaustion pulling him into slumber. He wished he'd never have to wake up.

Part 3: Easter

Jack had been doing well on his plans to stay sober and stay out of trouble, until he found out his sister had been arrested anyway. And was going to jail. For a car accident, didn't Annie know their mother had died in a car accident? And was pleading guilty instead of trying to get away with it or get a lesser sentence. He was furious with her, here he was trying to turn his life around and she went and threw hers away. He stormed into the visiting room in a rage, Annie was sitting at the lone gray table in the dimly lit room.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" Jack demanded angrily and she looked up at him tiredly as he slumped down into the seat and banged his fist against the table, she didn't jump, "How could you hit someone?!"

"Well I was drunk, wasn't I?" Annie sighed and rubbed her head, "I'm always drunk."

"Why would you drink and drive?!"

"Gotta get home, don't I? Especially since I stopped sleeping around. Have you really never driven drunk?"

"And risk damaging my precious motorcycle?!" Jack yelled before nervously realizing the cops could be listening, "And the obvious against the law and dangerous and all that stuff."

"Why are you so angry anyway?"

"Mum died in a car accident and you go and cause one!"

"It's not like the guy died," Annie protested with a shrug, "But I see your point. I don't really care what you think, as my next of kin you're just in charge of my things. That's the only reason I wanted to see you. Let Michael take his things he leaves there and my medical books, he'd like them. Sell the rest, dump it, burn it, I don't care, its just junk. Just make sure Michael can get his stuff first."

"What is wrong with you?!" Jack snapped, irritated by her calm attitude, "Doesn't it bother you what happened?! That you're going to jail because you did something stupid and wrong and it nearly cost someone their life and you're not even trying to get away with it?!"

"Would you make up your mind? I'm not trying to get away with it because I did something wrong and I deserve to punished. Of course it bothers me."

"You still shouldn't give up just because you're an idiot! And I should hope it bothers you! You nearly became a freakin' killer!" Jack shot at her and to his surprise, she laughed slightly, "What's so funny?"

"Just how you know absolutely nothing about my life," Annie shook her head and sighed, "But that's okay, I accepted that a long time ago. The real crime is how you nothing about you son's life."

"That's not true," Jack insisted, "I know plenty about Mikey."

"You don't know anything. What learning disorder does he have?"

"Trick question, he doesn't have any," Jack told her confidently and she made a negative buzzer sound.

"Wrong! The correct answer is Dyslexia. Dysgraphia and Dyscalculia for bonus points."

"You're making that up," Jack scoffed irritably.

"Ask Crystal," Annie offered, "And fine then. What is his worst fear? What's his favorite cereal? His favorite song? Favorite TV program? Five things he likes? Five things he hates? Can you even name one?"

"He erm... erm..." Jack trailed off glumly as he realized he didn't actually know the answer to any of those questions, "Well you don't know the answers either. You think he'd like your medical books, eight year olds are not interested in first aid."

"I know all of the answers because I actually pay attention to him, including knowing he's nine."

"I knew that, I was testing you," Jack lied irritably, Annie's expression was dubious but she apparently decided to let it slide.

"Spend time with him, Jack, while I'm gone at least. You have a great kid and he deserves a dad, keep an eye on him, please."

Scorpius was still mad his parents for their disapproval of him dating, not Molly specifically at least, and his grandmother was no different. He wasn't a child and he didn't like them acting as if he was, fair enough he may not be a fully fledged adult yet but he wasn't a child either. He thought it was fair to say he'd been through more than most thirteen year olds anyway, he didn't see what their problem was. They ruined his good mood anyway and he was glad when he was finally able to slip away to go see Varanian.

It was dark by then, he knew the way well enough to make it by the moonlight though. It was a clear cold night and from the outside, Varanian's hideout didn't look any different but Scorpius was in for a surprise when he stepped inside. It was no longer a dilapidated wreck, the walls were a warm welcoming orange with candlelight and the wooden floorboards shone they were so clean and polished. As was the wooden trimmings and the doors leading off the hallway, they looked almost new and the golden handles gleamed. Scorpius could do nothing than gape at the change for a moment as Roman came in from one of the side rooms, he was once against looking neat and immaculate as he had before becoming a fugitive.

"You better not be trekking dirt into here," Roman complained in greeting as he eyed him suspiciously, still looking irritated.

"What happened to this place?" Scorpius wondered in surprise, to which Roman snorted in frustration and folded his arms.

"I cleaned it. There was no way I could possibly live in such a disgusting wreck, especially when Varanian hogs the nice basement for himself. Its not like there's anything else I can do here while I wait for the day he foolishly gets himself killed and the Shadows tear my soul apart."

"You're cheerful today," Scorpius quipped sarcastically.

"Everyday is Christmas when you're a fugitive and an insanely evil organization wants to tear your soul apart," Roman countered and Scorpius started to take a step forward, "And I just polished that floor so you better not be trekking mud in here!"

"I'm not!" Scorpius protested truthfully and attempted to show an unimpressed Roman his clean footwear.

"Very well, I'll take you to Varanian."

"I know where..."

Scorpus trailed off from the offended expression on Roman's face, rolling his eyes in defeat and allowing Roman to take him to Varanian. He led him to the trapdoor Scorpius knew well and down into Varanian's basement, which looked the same except maybe the information on Varanian's board. There was too much on it for Scorpius to properly keep track of to know if it was different but he assumed so since Varanian had inevitably learned more or things had changed in the four months since he'd seen it last. Varanian himself was staring at the boards thoughtfully.

"Hey Varanian," Scorpius greeted him and the metamorphmagi turned, sporting his usual short scruffy, tawny hair and piercing silver eyes today, "Easter break. What's new?"

"Do you know who attacked Greyback?" Varanian asked curiously as they finished descending the steps, Scorpius scowled in confusion.

"Err... you?"

"No. On your last Hogsmeade trip, Greyback must have been there for some reason because the word on the street is that a student blinded him in one eye when he tried to attack them. He's out for their blood."

"Which one? I haven't heard anything about it."

"If I knew I wouldn't have asked you," Varanian pointed out as he gestured for Scorpius to sit, which he did as did Varanian while Roman hovered by the stairs, "I wouldn't even have believed it if I didn't know for a fact Greyback had lost his eye because the Shadows are naturally concerned for having a potentially blind Werewolf leader, he suffers from cataracts in his human form, Greyback wouldn't have told such a humiliating story of a student attack unless it was true. Strange though, you'd think the student would have mentioned something like this but as far as I can tell, no one has."

"I haven't heard about it either," Scorpius admitted, feeling suddenly bad that he'd had such a great day with Molly while some poor student had been attacked by Greyback. Maybe he hadn't been imaging seeing someone limp after all, "Maybe they wandered a bit away from Hogsmeade and were afraid to get in trouble? Or were afraid of trips getting cancelled if they said something? Or just afraid in general?"

"All plausible possibilities, although someone with the guts to stand up against Greyback doesn't strike me as the cowardly type. But no students have been reported missing or killed so nothing happened to that rules out that, people are weird."

Scorpius recalled Michael's odd behavior that day, it couldn't have been Michael though, obviously. He wasn't allowed in Hogsmeade, he definitely would've said and he didn't think Michael would blind someone. No. But Michael still could know the person who it was, they might have mentioned it then recanted so Michael didn't want to tell Scorpius because he no longer thought it was true, that made sense. He said as much to Varanian who agreed he should ask Michael about it, he also filled him in on testing Rivers and what had happened with Lorcan.

Jack fell off the wagon and started drinking, he felt it was the only way to cope with Annie's incarceration... and from working up the courage to talk to Crystal again. He thought he felt himself die a little more inside every time she looked at him with eyes he'd foolishly believed had ever loved him, she did give him visitation rights to see Michael though. He carried out Annie's wishes, let Michael have this things and her medical books - turns out Jack had the weirdest child on the planet who actually found that icky stuff interesting - and sold the rest of her things. He was kind of surprised by the lack of anything meaningful she owned, even Jack had some things, did she just not care about anything? He even sold her apartment, rented one for himself since he had to stay in Oxford and move out of the Halfway House.

He did mean to visit Annie in jail but the thought of seeing her behind bars was too much, she didn't deserve to see him anyway. Despite her flaws, he'd always thought she was better than him in a way. If not even he would do something as stupid as driving drunk then he assumed she wouldn't, he wouldn't even if he was upset and she'd had nothing to upset her in her life. He supposed sometimes people just did stupid things, even people he thought was better than the kind of insensitive assholes who drove drunkenly without thinking about the safety of anyone else. Sometimes he felt bad but it was her fault. He tried to visit her on Christmas instead of spending it with Michael since he'd forgot to get him any presents. After a long drive, it turned out she was isolation though. No visitors allowed.

He also to contend with Michael. Annie had been right, he really did know nothing about Michael which just made him feel worse and drink more. He did try juggle being a dad with his pre-prison lifestyle only without the moving, sometimes he just missed times because he was still sleeping off a hangover or in the middle of a poker game where he was up a good few hundred. It wasn't like Michael seemed to enjoy spending time with him anyway, even when Jack tried to connect. He took Michael to a football game because boys were into sports but his son seemed completely bored, Michael wasn't interested in any sports, indifferent to motorcycles. He couldn't even relate to his son with the books he still enjoyed reading because Michael struggled with reading, turns out Michael did have that thing that Jack forgot the name of.

He actually found it easier to get along with Michael's half-sisters, he could do babies and Agnes was pretty normal for a toddler. He was good with kids. Any kids but his own son apparently. He also met Bob, fat ugly lump, the psycho who'd tried to kill Crystal had been looking than him. Crystal had terrible taste in guys. And Bob was an asshole too, his greeting to Jack had been to eye Crystal and point out that he was 'hitting that' and ask if Jack was jealous. Michael seemed to like Bob even less than he liked Jack so that was a plus, although Michael still didn't like him. When Jack tried to hug him, he flinched. That hurt. He was at least making an effort, that should count for something? His own father hadn't even tried that hard.

It didn't last though. Just over a year after he'd been released for jail, he was arrested again. Jack didn't really remember why, some guy at a bar was eying him funny and they got into an argument about... Jack really didn't know or care, he was glad for an excuse to vent his frustration about failing to get close to Michael and losing Annie when he threw the first punch. It was an easy fight and one sided after awhile, until he was arrested. He knew he should care more than he did but it was his third time in jail, nothing new, same old excuse to stop trying or rather failing. Two years this time, he'd be twenty-eight when he got out. Oh well.

"And that's it? You've only managed to test one more wand?" Varanian complained with a frown, "Scorpius, if this attack on Hogwarts is to happen then identifying the Shadow professor could be key to stopping it."

"I'm sorry," Scorpius apologized, he supposed he had maybe been neglecting his Shadow hunt lately, "I've just been busy with classes and... dating Molly."

"Well good for you but at least try, I-"

"How is it good?!" Roman demanded irritably, "You shouldn't be dating, relationships are terrible and bad and nothing good comes from them!"

"You're as bad as Maurice," Scorpius complained with a roll of his eyes.

"I'm serious, all women dating you want to do is use you and hurt you. Torturing you is fun for them."

"I don't think so, Molly is really great."

"You say that now, just wait until she starts using the Cruciatus Curse on you because you won't think she's great then!"

"I... I'm pretty sure she won't... won't do that," Scorpius said slowly as he and Varanian both gave Roman strange looks, "And you realize Molly is your niece right?"

"It doesn't even matter," Varanian interjected, "Scorpius, you still need to try and find time for this, go for Dunbrook or Florian because I found something off for both of them. And Roman, you... you just have some serious issues."

"What did you find out?"

"The reason it was so hard to find out anything about Eben Dunbrooke is because he changed his name, he was born Ebenezer Selwyn and whose uncle is our Selwyn, currently a Shadow and former Death Eater. Both his parents were Death Eaters, his father was killed in the last war and his mother was convicted for crimes although she later died in Azkaban, long before the breakout. He bounced around foster homes and ultimately changed his name to Dunbrooke in his adulthood to conceal his identity, whether this is just not wanting his family's dark reputation hanging around him or deliberately hiding the connection to keep suspicions off him... I don't know but its worth looking at him.

"And Pyrrhus Florian was difficult to find information about in general, he's much younger than I thought so I was looking in the wrong years and he never went to Hogwarts so that avenue was useless. Its actually less suspicious since he's younger as less years is naturally less information generally, he's never been married or had children and his previous career was a self-employed tutor so the Ministry had nothing to do with that, his address must be a muggle one which isn't odd considering he has a muggle parent. Or that could also be suspicious, keeping off the radar and maybe using aging potion to make himself seem more experienced to get the job if he's not natural unlucky to age fast.

"Its hardly concrete proof but if we eliminate those we know for certain its narrowed down to nine, taking away the four we highly doubt leaves five: Dunbrooke, Koray, Florian, Oring and Kresmir. I couldn't find anything really suspicious about the other three though and those two can't cast a Patronus."

"I still think its my brother," Roman prompted, "He's a horrible person."

"Well until the wand idea doesn't work out or something comes up, he's off the table."

"Of course its not going to work, you're going to fail. And the Shadows are going to destroy you both for even trying because you're overlooking something majorly important."

"What?" Scorpius wondered in surprise.

"Greyback has the werewolf army which is a part of the Shadow Master's amassing army. And what do you have? No one that's who!" Roman snapped, "A fugitive and a thirteen year old don't stand a chance against all of that."

"Michael's helping too."

"Fine! A fugitive, a thirteen year old and a boy who looks like he's ten are still nothing against all of these people you're against! We don't even know who the freakin' Shadow Master is! All the talent and luck in the world is not going to help you, you have nothing and they have everything."

"You're quick to criticize but slow to offer solutions to help," Varanian pointed out in a growl, "And amount of followers isn't everything."

"No, but it counts. You can't be everywhere at once and you're only help is trapped in a dreadful school most of the year like a sitting duck. You know what? You want a useful solution? You need help," Roman insisted stepping forwards for the first time, "Harry Potter didn't defeat Voldemort alone, he had his friends to help him and an army to fight in the battle of Hogwarts, he had Dumbledore's Army and the Order of the Phoenix that gave him information and fought and died."

"What's your point?" Scorpius asked.

"My point is, you need a freakin' army. You need to be getting people on your side to help you, you can't win alone."

"Well that's easy, not like most of the Wizarding World thinks Varanian - and you - are Shadows."

"Its not their fight anyway," Varanian added.

"Well do what you want, the both of you. But I'm telling you," Roman insisted but seemed to calm down a bit as he started up the steps, pausing a few steps up to expand on his point, "I've studied ancient artifacts, their places in history and the people involved with them. If this was a history book then you'd be the rebellion crushed before it even had a chance, in this situation, you need people and without them... you will fail. Which is actually unfortunate because you two are sadly the best chance of stopping them right now, I don't want you to fail but in the present moment. You won't win and all this effort, this knowledge, it will all go to waste. You'll die a horrible death, so will the muggle and Scorpius... will either do that too or whatever the Shadow Master's plans are for you. I'll die without your protection and the Shadow Master takes over the Earth, I guess the bright side is we won't be around to see it."

Michael was devastated with Annie gone, acting like he was fine was hard but he was becoming a good liar, a good actor. He poured over her medical books and first aid guides, wishing that she was still there... Five years was a long time, he blamed himself. Jack was also back again. When he could be bothered anyway, Michael soon learned not to get his hopes up. It wasn't a break like it was with Annie, Bob was angry that Jack was a part of his life - but he didn't contest Crystal on it because of her pregnancy - and even angrier when Jack cancelled at the last minute. He'd blame Michael and beat him for it. It wasn't like they had anything in common, he thought Jack only tried to care out of obligation and not because he cared. Michael was just a disappointment to Jack, he could see it in his father's eyes. Jack seemed to struggled to think of what to do with him.

Michael also found himself uncomfortable around Jack because Jack was a man, like Bob, like Robin, like the people who'd hurt him and he'd been in jail for hurting people too. Annie and Crystal were women but he felt a bit afraid that Jack would hurt him, especially when he drank like Bob did and got mad that Michael didn't like sports. Why did people have to drink? He tried to tell himself he was being stupid but he still couldn't relax, he flinched against his will when Jack got close for fear of being hit despite himself. He thought that just made Jack hate him more. He was scared of Jack figuring out about the abuse but at the same time, a part of him wished Jack would notice and care. Protect him from the pain. Jack never did and went to jail again in the summer for assault again. Michael wished he felt more surprised but he wasn't.

His first brother was born that April, a few weeks after Ivy turned one. They named him Flynn William Wilson, Bob having discovered Wilson meant 'William's son' and thought it would be cool to have a William so their sons would actually be William's son. He'd graciously allowed Crystal to pick the middle name but had liked Flynn so much he switched the order, Crystal still suffered from Postpartum depression and went back on medication. It was chaotic with two babies and a three-year-old, as well as expensive so Crystal took on another job to pay for it, a cleaner this time. Bob couldn't with his back and continued to waste their money on his booze, still refused to do things like diaper changes and Michael found himself heavily involved again.

He supposed it was a good thing because it was the most depressing summer he'd had in a while, aside from Jack going to jail again. Without Annie there was no paramedic test to study for. No 'random event to celebrate' to look forward to. Instead he spent every second with trapped in his nightmare of a home, Bob didn't go easy on him when there was no Annie, Jack or teachers to be careful for. He was also exhausted from taking care of the little ones on top of that. Bob didn't allow them to celebrate their joint birthday but he still remembered the day, he turned ten and Crystal twenty-six.

"When are we leaving Bob?" Michael worked up the courage to ask on their birthday. The last slivers of childhood innocence he had had dreamed that a professor would come to take him away to the world of Pokemon to be a trainer with friends away from Bob's fists, anything to get away from it at that point, anything to save him. Crystal's eyes glinted with hopelessness.

"We're not," Crystal whispered and despite expecting it, Michael felt it like a blow to the heart, "Annie's in jail and so's Jack and... and I can't do it by myself. I'm not strong enough, I'd be nothing without Bob. I was homeless before I met him, we'd be back on the streets and we couldn't afford anything and there'd be all five of us. The little ones would end up in foster care because we couldn't take care of them, wind up screwed up and in jail like Jack and Annie, you and I... well we'd probably die. It's not... it's not so bad, Bob's a good dad to the little ones and they deserve a dad."

"What about us?"

"Its a sacrifice I'm willing to take for the little ones so they can have a good life, I have to protect them. It's not that bad really. And you... When Jack gets out of jail I'll give him custody if you want, you'll be away then."

"No," Michael said immediately and firmly as he noticed her tearing up, he wasn't going to abandon his family like Jack had, "I'm not abandoning you. For the little ones, right?"

"For the little ones," Crystal nodded fearfully and Michael managed a convincing smile, she had no idea how bad it was for him when she was at work. It was probably for the best. If she was willing then he should be too, he was supposed to be strong after all. He'd be strong.

"For the little ones it is. You're right, its not that bad. I'll be fine," Michael promised as he hugged her.

There was no way out now.

Scorpius spent most of his time with Varanian that Easter, he wasn't interested in spending time with his parents until they apologized and accepted him dating Molly. He did miss Molly. But Varanian kept him focused on the Shadows, especially the werewolf threat of attack.

"Now, werewolves are resistant to most magic spells in general," Varanian explained to him, Roman hovered by the steps still, "Protego can work against them though, which is why I reckon Ashain was so hellbent on teaching it after the werewolf attack. However it is still a shield and it will shatter after impact, as you know doing a lot of them isn't easy or perfect. Its a stall tactic, you need an offensive spell not just a defensive one. Werewolves may be resist to purely magic spells but they aren't immune to pain. So I'm going to teach you an explosive spell, the most offensive spell at your skill level that will do the most damage."

"You know, if you got a non-Shadow werewolf leader on your side then you could just have him call off the werewolves if he took over from Greyback then you wouldn't need to fight them," Roman pointed out.

"Yeah because they're common. And that's just a stupid idea. Go back upstairs," Varanian complained and Roman threw him a filthy look as he stalked away, "So the incantation is Expulso, the want movement goes like this."

It was more difficult than most spells they did but Scorpius had a flair for spellwork, he was blasting Varanian's targets away by the time the week was up. He was almost disappointed to be going back to Hogwarts, it felt... kind of good to have that power. He packed up the night before and brought his own trunk down to sit with his family at breakfast, already changed into his Hogwarts robes as well.

"Ready to go," Scorpius announced brightly.

"Eat something first," his grandmother insisted and Scorpius obeyed, "Its almost as if you're not here, we've seen so little of you this summer."

"Well I'm a teenager not a little kid."

"We know, Scorpius," his mother interjected, "I'm sorry we offended you about your dating Molly, she's a nice girl and we have nothing against her. You're growing up and we need to accept that."

"Oh... Thank you," Scorpius offered and his mother raised an eyebrow.

"Anything you want to say?" his father prompted with a gesture, Scorpius frowned.

"Like what?"

"You would know we were sorry if you hadn't spent the week sulking in your room," his mother pointed out and Scorpius felt a twinge of color, he supposed it was a fair point. Although he wasn't sulking in his room, he was learning something valuable. He just couldn't say that.

"I'm sorry," Scorpius apologized, "I don't... I don't mean to."

"Alright, good," his father nodded as he clapped his hands together, "We're all on good terms again."

"I still think he's too young to be dating," his grandmother started to say but his father gave her a look.

"Mother," his father said warningly as Scorpius rolled his eyes, his grandmother sat up straighter.

"But if you want to get your heart broken then we'll still be here for you."

"Best we're going to get, Draco," his mother said and his father nodded his head in agreement, suddenly she was trying not to smile, "Do you want to tell them or should I?"

"Tell us what?" Scorpius wondered in confusion.

"Together," his father told his mother and the pair stood, Scorpius exchanged a bemused look with his grandmother who seemed as clueless as he was as his parents stood, holding hands and smiling, "There's going to be a new Malfoy in the family."

"I'm pregnant," his mother added as if to clarify the statement.

Part 4: Returns

Michael was in for a rough year, it was the last year of primary school so they put more pressure on schoolwork which made him panic for his Dyslexia. He was alright with reading if he really concentrated but his writing was more of a challenge, it was frustrating to know the answers but not being able to articulate it correctly through written words or numbers in math. He couldn't wait to be rid of that school though, maybe he could make friends in high school because his reputation as a freak wouldn't precede him. Or maybe it would, bullies older than him had graduated. There were still plenty is in his own year to make all non-lesson time horrible though. It was hard to focus with everything going on at home though, he had literally no time for homework with two babies and a toddler to care for, virtually all the housework on top of that. Even when Crystal wasn't at one of her three jobs, he still did it so she could have a rest.

Bob was worse than ever as well, with money so tight he was taking Michael's meals and denying him anything even when Michael had cooked it himself, once burning him because he was taking too long. He hospitalized Michael at Christmas after a particularly brutal beating that left him with five broken ribs and his arm broken in three places, they blamed it on another car crash. That put him even more behind when he returned to school with one arm down. Michael smiled on cue but inside he was more miserable than he'd ever been, he missed Annie, he even missed Jack. And that was what his life was going to be like. Every day for the rest of his life. For the sake of the little ones. Or so he thought until June 6th, Ruth had taken the girls for a girl's day out somewhere fun as they were now two and four while baby Flynn was only one. Crystal was miraculously off work so it was just the four of them home when there was a knock at the door, a musical knock. He went to get it but Crystal got there first, she'd been bringing Flynn downstairs after his nap anyway.

"Can I help you?" Crystal asked as she opened the door, the only visitors they tended to get was Ruth or one of Bob's female friends.

"Are you the mother of Michael Harold Sanford?" a man's voice questioned.

"Yes, I'm Crystal. What's... What's this about?" Crystal started to sound concerned as Michael reached her in the doorway, seeing the man she was talking to as he smiled. He was handsome and tall, early thirties maybe with neat black hair and dark eyes to match which contrasted with his very pale skin. He was wearing the whitest shirt that Michael had seen with a black vest, black jeans and an emerald suede jacket as well as plain old sneakers, which seemed a bit odd.

"It's nothing bad, I assure you. My name is Marius Calderon, I'm here on behalf of Hogwarts school. It's a very exclusive, very special school and we're interested in taking on your son. You must be Michael?"

"Yes," Michael admitted while Crystal scowled.

"I've never heard of it. Is it do with his Dyslexia?"

"Erm... I don't know what that is," Calderon offered as his face went blank in puzzlement, he scratched his head, "But I don't think so. Can I come in? I can explain in more detail, there's a few letters I have as well."

"Err... Sure," Crystal agreed and they stepped aside to allow Calderon entry, she closed the door behind him with her free hand and Michael realized the man was holding a letter but he was sure he hadn't seen him draw it, "Would you like something to drink? Tea or coffee maybe?"

"Who are you?" Bob demanded as he came out from the bathroom, eying Calderon distrustfully.

"He's Marius Calderon, he works for a school that's interested in Michael, Hogwarts. This is my husband, Bob, Michael's stepfather."

"That all sounds made up."

"Aren't all names and words made up really?" Calderon wondered aloud which only deepened Bob's scowl but he turned dismissively on Bob back to Michael, offering the letter to him and he noticed an old-fashioned red wax seal on the back as he turned it over. He felt almost bad to open it to take out the two pieces of paper, "For you."

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Philip JK Varanian

Dear Mr Sanford,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1 September.

Yours sincerely,

Neville Longbottom
Deputy Headmaster

"I... I don't think I read that right," Michael admitted as Crystal and Bob leaned over his shoulder to read it too, Calderon merely grinned.

"I think you did."

"Is this some kind of joke?" Bob demanded, "A school of witchcraft and wizardry? Are you insane?"

"Quite possibly," Calderon told them as he laughed, a shrill maniacal laugh that was oddly several pitches higher than his usual voice, "But that has nothing to do with the school, magic exists and Hogwarts exists to teach those fortunate enough to be born with it how to control it, to use it. You're a wizard, Michael."

"I'm sorry, sir, but I'm not. There's no such thing as magic," Michael pointed out, not thinking he'd ever agree with Bob on anything.

"You've never done anything bizarre and strange that you don't have an explanation for?"

"Yes, yes he has!" Crystal burst out eagerly, the only one who seemed to believe Calderon although Michael was forced to admit it would explain those weird things but then weird things happened to Annie too, "He healed my arm when he was younger, magically, there was light from his hands and... and it healed."

"An unusual but very valid example."

"There's no such thing as magic, a few freak instances doesn't equate to magic," Bob insisted.

"On the contrary, it does. Uncontrolled bursts of magic happen to all magical children at some point during their childhood, I'm a wizard and magic does exist. There's a whole world you don't know about, hidden right before you eyes."

"Prove it!"

"I was so hoping you'd say that."

Calderon smirked as he raised his hands, lights burst from his palms and all the furniture in the room rose and hovered around. Bob's face had even less color in it than Calderon's as he watched his living room floating, raising his hand over or under anything that moved close enough to check for wires or something to explain it. Baby Flynn gurgled with delight, Crystal and Michael could only look around in amazement before it all slotted back into place neatly and perfectly.

Calderon continued gesturing with his hands and the lights formed into three dimensional images around them, a magnificent castle beside a big lake, a forest, a strange-looking tree. It changed to show inside the castle, children in robes walking around with school books, a great hall with four tables, a classroom with a woman demonstrating turning a teapot into a tortoise with the wave of a stick in her hand. Calderon lowered his hands and the images disintegrated into wisps, Crystal was gazing at him in awe while Michael glanced to see Bob's reaction in time to watch him pass out.

"Oops, that happens sometimes," Calderon said, looking apologetic as he glanced at Bob, "Magic can be a bit of shock to muggles, admittedly. Want me to revive him?"

"No," Crystal and Michael answered in perfect unison, Calderon tilted his head to one side curiously as he instead flicked his hand and hovered Bob onto the couch. Michael was convinced, magic was real. That or he was lying on the cold concrete floor from a bad beating, hallucinating everything.

"He'll come to it in his own time," Crystal commented awkwardly and disinterestedly, completely captivated by Calderon, "Was that Hogwarts school you just showed us? And what's a muggle?"

"Yes and muggles are non-magic people," Calderon offered and Crystal nodded in understanding, Michael had his own nagging question as Calderon grinned again, "Pretty cool, isn't it?"

"Can muggles be magical like and not even know it?" Michael asked as he thought of Annie again, Calderon looked thoughtful.

"Its possible but very unusual, all countries with magical schools - which is all of them - have some kind of enchantment that detects magical births and records it automatically like it did with you. If you were born outside of the boundaries of the enchantments then it wouldn't pick you up but its very rare, or if you were muggle-born when you should've started Hogwarts in 1997. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious," Michael shrugged, "So what else can you tell us about magic?"

"Well I could tell you or I could take you to the magical part of London to show you?"

Scorpius was shocked. And he was still shocked after he was back on the platform. He could barely get out his congratulations and smile but the more he thought about it, the more he thought it was a terrible idea. Didn't they remember what had happened to Lyra? His baby sister who had died the day she was born... she'd be almost four if she'd survived. What if the baby died? It had been devestating to lose Lyra. He didn't want to go through that again with his new baby sister, surely his parents didn't either. And with the wizarding world at war, the baby would be even more at risk. They should definitely not have been trying to have a baby.

"Hey Scor," Molly greeted him and he jolted in surprise.

"Hey, sorry I didn't notice you come over," Scorpius admitted as he hugged her, the scent of cherries drowning his worries for a moment as they pulled apart.

"You also didn't notice the first three times I said your name apparently," Molly added and Scorpius felt himself blush, "Something on your mind?"

"Always," Scorpius sighed as he took her hand as they started walking aimlessly around for something to do, noting she was wearing the charm bracelet with the new charms he'd gotten her, "How was your break?"

"Erm... interesting. I met my dad's girlfriend."

"Your dad has a girlfriend?"

"I know, weird right? How was your break?"

"Erm... also interesting. My parents are having a baby."

"Your parents are having a baby?"

"I know, weird right?" Scorpius said and Molly laughed.

"I guess sometimes we forget our parents have lives when we're not in Hogwarts, they don't just sit around waiting for us," Molly explained and Scorpius laughed too.

"Fair point. So what's your dad's girlfriend like?"

"Nice enough I suppose, whatever makes him happy. Lucy hates her though, then again she pretty much hates everything these days."

"Really? I thought she'd be cheered up with the pro-squib legislation," Scorpius wondered and Molly sighed sadly.

"I wish. I still think she resents not having magic, she's a very angry person and pretty much hates me right now. Maybe you'll get along better with your baby sibling."

"It's just going to die like Lyra," Scorpius pointed out bitterly.

"You don't know that."

"Yes I do. War is a bad time for children, nothing but pain and death so my sister's just going to die or suffer first and then die. Look at Professor Ashain's kids, Cassia's five years old and she's already nearly been torn apart by werewolves."

"Well she was just unlucky enough to get caught up in the war, doesn't mean your brother will."

"Whatever," Scorpius shrugged, still not really believing his new baby sister would live but not wanting to argue about it, "Looking forward to going back to Hogwarts?"

"No," Molly scoffed, "Well some things yes, there's certain people I missed and I'm glad for Quidditch, when I wasn't studying I was devising our new strategy. But there is still studying, only a month and a bit before I take my OWLs which is scary. My whole family is expecting me to do well because my dad did, my mum will roll in her grave if I fail and my dad is still pressuring me to do well and I'm scared of letting everyone down. And even before that, Neville will be having the one on one career advice sessions, starting this week even."

"What's so bad about that? Professor Longbottom is nice."

"I don't know what to say to him," Molly explained in exasperation, "And since Neville is a friend of the family, he's probably going to tell them what I say. My parents wanted me to get a high ranking position in the Ministry and if I say anything other than that then my dad will be all mad at me, especially since Lucy is a squib so I'm 'carrying the magical future of this family' whatever that means so he really wants me to succeed. But I hate the idea of working in a office for the rest of my life, I like the outdoors. A professional Quidditch player is hardly a viable career choice though so I can't even tell Neville that and I don't know what else I want. I'm ranting again aren't I?"

"Hey," Dom offered in greeting as she started walking on Molly's other side, effectively ending their conversation, "What's up?"

"What did you say for career advice?" Scorpius asked her curiously.

"That I had no idea and still don't. Still worrying about that, Molly?"

"Yep," Molly nodded.

"Well don't. Neville's not gonna rat you out to your father," Dom told her before smiling, "You know Aurelius' Head of House actually walked out on him during his career advice session? He wasn't sure what he wanted so he started debating the pros and cons for every career he could think of out loud, finally Slughorn said he just had to go and walked off without another word."

"Fun story."

"I know," Dom said quietly as he smile became sad and slid off, she seemed to shake herself of it as she cleared her throat, "Anyway, I came here as a messenger. Vic and Teddy are getting married."

"Really? That's sweet."

"Yeah. They wanted to announce it to the whole family but since they're planning the wedding the Christmas break time next year, there's no guarantee everyone will be together before then. So spread the word."

"Congratulations to your sister and Teddy," Scorpius offered politely, "Send them my best."

"Tell them yourself at the time. You're invited."

"What? Why? I don't even know them," Scorpius pointed out in confusion.

"Well technically you're family to Teddy since your grandmother's were sisters. Plus you're dating Molly. The more the merrier, Vic says. Look for an invitation at some point between now and Christmas."

"Very specific," Molly stated and Dom inclined her agreement as the whistle blew for them to get onto the train, "And we better hurry. I'll see you later, Scor."

Molly gave him a peck on the cheek and rushed off, Scorpius also bolted to quickly hug his parents bye before rushing onto the train himself and nearly colliding with Albus. Their lateness on the train cost them dearly as they hunted for a compartment, they wound up sharing with Vern, Orous, August and Lorcan - Hugo and Lily had stayed for Easter with Hugo still afraid of being disowned - since Abby, Corin and Rose had a compartment with her boyfriend and friends with no room for them. It was an uneventful trip, August read, Lorcan fingered the handle of his wand and remained one edge, Albus slept lazily so it was just him and the two Hufflepuffs talking quietly to not wake Albus or disturb August's reading. Lorcan occasionally contributed.

"I'm surprised you're coming back," Vern said to the younger blond after awhile, "No offense, just after what happened. It can't be easy. Is anyone giving you a hard time?"

"I hear them mocking me behind my back but they're too scared of me freaking out to say it to my face," Lorcan shrugged it off, "I didn't mean to do that. And I'm not crazy, that moth was a Shadow. Its a distinctive looking moth. One of the professors is the Shadow who reported to them last Christmas."

"All the more reason to stay home safe."

"I'm not going to just go and leave everyone else in isn't even safe. And I hate being there, my dad just gets annoyed I'm not over my abduction yet and I can tell my mum is dying to hug me even if she doesn't say anything so its like I'm just letting them down."

"Have you tried talking to them?" Orous offered, "My dad has always been great like that."

"Like they could relate to what happened to me, they're too... innocent and I don't want to upset them."

"Yeah," Scorpius agreed, his parents would be the last people he'd want to talk to about what happened to him, "You're lucky to have such a great stepdad though, Orous."

"He's my real dad," Orous protested, "Just because Roman is my biological father, Cade is still my dad."

"Right. So I noticed Maurice and you are talking again?"

"Yeah. He apologized, he still doesn't know what he wants to do in regards to where he'll live but at least we're friends again. Dad says he sounds like mum with his moods and one track mind... I guess that might not be such a good thing."

Scorpius' mood was dampened when they reached Hogwarts and climbed into the carriages, it was pouring rain and he spotted Calderon helping load things up when he got in. At first he felt a pang of hope that Calderon was finally feeling better but the assistant looked worse than ever, the rings around his eyes were black and his face looked unhealthily gaunt. He coughed so violently he was practically bent over double and his legs shook when he was done, Scorpius would have gone to him if the carriage hadn't started moving. Leaving poor Calderon coughing again in the rain. How long was his illness supposed to last?

It wrecked his mood for the welcome back feast, Michael seemed withdrawn and Maurice stopped listening completely when Rose started talking about how amazing her boyfriend was. Again. Michael excused himself when Maurice and Corin did for not having dessert, Scorpius did the same to take the opportunity to talk to Michael. He filled him in on what Varanian had found out before asking him about Greyback.

"Was what you wanted to tell me at the last Hogsmeade trip about Greyback? Apparently some kid at Hogwarts blinded him in one eye when they stumbled across him but no one's come forward. If someone recanted, they're almost certainly lying or covering for someone else so its okay to say," Scorpius told him, Michael opened and closed his mouth a few times before sighing heavily in exasperation.

"I don't remember," Michael admitted with a yawn, "I'm tired though, listening to Rose talk about her perfect boyfriend is... just awful."

"Okay. And do you think there's something wrong with Calderon? He seems ill and to just get worse, I'm getting really worried about him."

"Maybe... Nevermind, its gone," Michael sighed as he clambered into bed, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Scorpius grumbled irritably at Michael's lack of reaction. What was up with him?