Sorry about the wait - I just really wanted to put a lot into this one. I hope you like it! Let me know what you think...there is more to come! thanks for the suggestions and the reviews! :)

Scorpius and Albus made a plan—they were going to firecall the small Malfoy cottage late at night so as not to get caught or disturbed. They concocted this scheme through breakfast, leaning their heads close together and speaking lowly through bites of toast. But hawk-ear Rose was listening too. "Are you trying to get kicked out before having to take your OWLs? Is that what all this is, Albus? You think you're really going to do so bad that you feel the need to leave school in place of getting low marks?" she asked. Albus rolled his eyes. "Would you get off the test thing, Rose?! Goodness, you'd think OWLs were precious air the way you cling to them so much. Give it a rest." he snapped. Scorpius looked down at his piece of half-nibbled toast, not wanting to get involved in this argument. Rose was silent for a bit. "But you didn't deny you want to get kicked out." she muttered pointedly. Just as Albus slammed his hands onto the table in exasperation, Hugo laughed beside her. "Headmistress McGonagal taught Uncle Harry—and I'm sure that once he was through here, her expulsion bar was raised a lot higher!" he joked. Albus gave his cousin an approving high-five, settling back to give Rose a sassy look. She poised herself and went back to eating quietly while rereading her History of Hogwarts book for the fifth time.

Scorpius kept his eye on the Slytherin table, waiting for Chrissy's subtle signal that she was done eating and ready to meet him outside the Great Hall. He carefully (yet discretely, of course) observed as she chatted with one of the other Slytherin girls, gently set her fork onto her plate, and gather her now long hair onto one side. That was his cue. "Excuse me," he mumbled as he stood up from the table, leaving the arguing Potter/Weasley clan to determine who was actually the best at Charms. Scorpius slipped out of the Great Hall, waiting by the entrance pillars, until he heard quick steps pattering towards him. He turned around. Chrissy jumped up and allowed herself to be caught in a big spiraling hug by her thin love. After pulling apart, she sighed. "That system is so much easier than making that trek through all the different House tables." Chrissy told him. Laughing, Scorpius agreed. It had been awkward before—walking all the way over to the Slytherin table (and being the only one standing up) to meet up with Chrissy only to find out that she wasn't done eating or had already left for class. But their plan was flawless now. Scorpius playfully bowed. "Madam Creevey, may I have the honor of taking you on a study-date today by the Great Lake?" he asked. Chrissy giggled, extending her hand towards him to play along. "Of course you may," she replied. The two joined hands and began to make their way out of the castle and onto the sunbathed grounds of the school yard.

They studied hard, but took intermittent breaks of affection to segment into a new subject or course. Sometimes Scorpius would read aloud from a textbook to Chrissy while she lay on the grass; other times she would give him a Charm and ask him to perform it on a small stick they found. They kept it up all day—from breakfast to about four in the afternoon. Scorpius laid back under the big oak tree with her. "You're so smart," he sighed happily, staring at her with his big eyes. She blushed. "You're smarter than me. Honestly, I think you're going to get better OWLs than that Rose Weasley this time." she replied. Scorpius only laughed—nobody could get better score than Rose Weasley. It was in her blood. The two embraced as they lay there, and eventually Chrissy put her hands on his chest. This was new to Scorpius, so he just sort of stayed there enjoying the feeling. "Are you comfortable with this?" she whispered a little nervously. He nodded, realizing his throat had run dry. "Y-Yeah," he answered. "I'm fine," As time went on though, he came to the conclusion that he was not only fine with it, but he sort of liked it. It made him feel closer to her; that was a good thing. The pair closed their eyes to enjoy the warmth of the spring sun on their skin.

Scorpius found himself sitting in a small room, his grandmother and the dark-haired woman in the corners. A man was circling him, the same noseless man as before, saying something about joining a group. "…only those with the highest regards. …Your left arm please, young Draco?" he hissed. Scorpius saw his grandmother suppress a wail, the woman (Bella, was it?) wrapping strong arms around her shoulder to prevent her from running towards her grandson…her son. "Ah," the noseless man said coolly. "Mummy trying to save you? Mummy wants to save her precious little baby from a lifetime of indebted servitude to Master that is using you as punishment for your useless father's slip-ups? Don't listen to her, Draco. She didn't even take the Mark." Bella giggled murderously from the distance upon hearing this statement. "No, no." the man went on. "She told her Lord that she would support his escapades, that she believed in his cause of blood-purity, that she was against the protection of the Order of Phoenix…but have you ever seen her left forearm? She didn't take the Mark. I guess there are…several Malfoys that need punishment…and who better to do it through than the baby?" He pressed his wand against Draco's throat. "Be strong," he heard Narcissa whisper. But Bella silenced her immediately.

Every last inch of strength was taken from him as soon as the tip of the man's wand began tracing a pattern onto his left forearm.

It burned. No, it seared. Scorpius felt himself screaming in the worst pain he'd ever imagined, his heart, soul piercing his own eardrums as they cried out for mercy—that they didn't want to be owned by another. And then suddenly the vision shifted yet again to show another meeting with the noseless man. He felt himself swallow blood, felt tears trickle down his cheeks, sniffled as the red stickiness poured out of his own nose. Did he still have all of his teeth? This time, he couldn't hear much of the man's sneering. He only caught the end. "I am assigning you a task—one that you must complete. If you fail, or if you decide to run away and be a hero like Potter…I will kill your entire family. Mummy will be whipped with Fiendfyre until her flesh peels away, Daddy will be locked in a lasting Cruciatus Curse until he goes insane and begs to be killed…and you…you'll watch all of it before I murder you." Scorpius felt himself shudder as more silent tears poured out. "Do I make myself clear about this? The longer the delay, the more torture until they die. Understand?" the man hissed. Scorpius nodded brokenly.

"Now then…your task. Draco Malfoy, unless you want your entire family brutally murdered before your eyes, you will kill Albus Dumbledore by the end of your sixth year of Hogwarts."

Scorpius's eyes snapped open and he shot up, accidentally shoving Chrissy off of his chest. She gasped as her head hit the grass. "Scorpius!" she cried out upon seeing his panicked state. She wrapped her arms around him and stroked his hair. "Darling, what's wrong? Tell me what's wrong! Did you eat today? Did you eat enough? Are you in a coma? Scorpius, Scorpius please talk to me! Say something, you're scaring me!" she wailed, tears spilling freely. Scorpius finally managed to gasp out a small "I'm fine," before turning to look her in the eye. "I-I…just had a nightmare, I suppose….I guess I drifted off a bit…" But she wasn't buying it. "Scorpius, this was far worse than a nightmare. I can see it in your eyes. You're so disturbed….Oh, I bet it was all this studying! You're stressing yourself out! You are the best Gryffindor out there, the smartest, please don't worry anymore about these OWLs! Oh, Scorpius. You need a break. A long break. Come back to the castle with me and I'll bring you to your commonroom. Let's go find James." she urged, pulling delicately on his arm. She always worried about him extensively. But Scorpius was too transfixed to argue or assure her he was even alright. So he allowed himself to be led back to the castle, walking a bit slower than he thought he was. This was getting bad. He needed to talk to his father.

Somehow, Chrissy managed to find both James and Albus (which was usually pretty impossible, considering one was a prefect and the other was a ladies'-man) and left her boyfriend in their care with a gentle kiss, a thank-you, and a wellness wish. James tried to carry Scorpius—he didn't want him to feel sick or faint or anything. But Scorpius quietly refused, telling them he could walk, but he needed some time alone. The pair brought him to his fourposter. They forced him to lie down, then left him to collect his thoughts and rest as much as possible.

Almost immediately after they left, Scorpius summoned a quill and roll of parchment. He left tearstains all over the paper as he wrote out a simple message home:

Dear Mother and Father,

Please. I need you…

Later that night, Scorpius was awoken by a gentle tapping on his shoulder from a boy in bed beside him. "Scorpius, wake up! It's after midnight—all the prefects have gone to sleep. It's time!" Albus whispered. The small boy sat up. He realized that he'd missed dinner completely in exchange for passing out in his clothes on his bed. Sleepily he took Albus's hand and let himself be guided out to the commonroom.

He yawned when he saw Albus rummage around in a small sack on the floor in front of the fireplace. "Managed to sneak some in from home," he explained quickly. Scorpius watched his friend sweep the Floo powder into the fireplace, muttering "Malfoy Manor," Suddenly, he snapped to attention. "No, Albus! My parents don't live there—we live in a cottage!" he whispered desperately. Albus's face reddened, but both boys were astonished to see Astoria Malfoy appear in the fire before them. "Scorpius?" she asked softly. "Is that you? Apparently she'd been sleeping as well. "Mother?" Scorpius replied in awe.

"Darling, is something wrong? Why are you firecalling in the middle of the night?"

"W-Why are you at the Manor?"

"Oh sweetheart, we wanted to surprise you after you returned from school—we traded places with Grandmother and Grandfather. We live in the Manor now and they wanted a peaceful little retirement home, which is now the cottage. But you still haven't answered my question."

"I-I…I've been writing to you…and nobody's responded to me…." he sniffled, tears threatening to spill.

"Please don't think we've been avoiding you! It's been busy trying to move in and settle things. We're sorry if we haven't been responding so quickly. We figured you'd understand once you learned about the surprise."

"…Mother, I need to speak to Father."

"…Scorpius you can't. He's been…having a low time recently….He mainly just stays in the library or in a study for the whole day. I can't figure out why. Things are difficult for him right now."

"They're difficult for me too, and you said I'd always come first for you two!"

Scorpius felt guilty playing the only-child card, but the desperation in needing to talk to his father was mounting. Astoria was silent for a little while, then she nodded. "I'll send for a house-elf to fetch him." she whispered. Within mere minutes, Draco's face became visible in the fire. "S-Scorpius?" he asked. His voice sounded brittle. "Father…"

"Is everything alright?"

"…Ye—er, no, Father. I need to talk to you. Alone."

Draco looked behind him and nodded to Astoria, silently asking if she would leave the room. Once she complied, he took a breath. "I'd like to speak with you alone too. Completely alone." Scorpius realized that Albus was still sitting beside him. The boy blushed madly, giving the fire a wave. "Sorry, Mr. Malfoy. I'm on my way out. Gotta go…er…study for my OWLs." he formulated quickly. He bolted out of the commonroom. Draco chuckled slightly—it sounded very hollow. "Gryffindors are horrible liars." he murmured. Scorpius cocked his head. "How do you know?" he asked.

"Scorpius, never has a Potter ever studied for an exam. Ever."

"Oh…right…."

"What was it you wanted to discuss?"

"I…It's these nightmares I've been having."

"I can make you some Dreamless Sleep draught. Perhaps taking it once in a while will settle your mind."

"…Thank you Father, but my Divination professor tells me I get these things called 'Hereditary Recollection Sequences'. They're dreams that are memories—but they're not my own."

"…Go on."

"They're yours. Your memories, your fears, your past. I see things we haven't talked about, and it worries me. It scares me. I can't sleep anymore because I've been getting them frequently. Father…I'm experiencing exactly what you did when you were my age or a little older."

Draco Malfoy was silent; frozen as if Charmed. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Scorpius couldn't think of anything else to tell his father—the rest had to come from him. "I-I…" Draco began softly. Scorpius squeezed his own fingers together. "Just tell me everything, Father. Please." he begged.

"…What…who…what would you like to know about?"

"…I guess…firstly, who was the woman with dark curly hair? She was mean to you, mean to Grandmother, mean to this girl I saw that supposedly had her sword—"

"Her name was Bellatrix Lestrange and she was my aunt!" Why did he sound angry?

"Y-Your…aunt?"

"Grandmother's sister. She was crazy. Out of her mind. Got sent to Azkaban and broke out—never had enough room in that brain for sanity. What else?" he snapped. Scorpius felt a little stung.

"T-There was a man sitting at the big table with us…er with you, I mean. He had dark greasy hair and dark eyes—he watched me, er…you, all the time. Why—"

"Severus Snape. He was the one that was the double-agent. I already told you about that."

"Right…er, sorry, Father. And…the room that we went in to look at a big box?"

"The Room of Requirement. It's invisible unless you really need it, and then it transforms into whatever it is you desire. The box was the Vanishing Cabinet—the thing the Death…the followers of the Dark Lord entered through."

"I saw that…we were crying…you were crying and asking why you had to do this…you stood there and said you didn't want to and that you were—"

"Yes, Scorpius, I know what I did! This may be all new to you but it's not for me!"

Scorpius was stung harder this time. Draco wouldn't look at him. He had his head in his hands. "F-Father…" Scorpius whispered, tears threatening to fall. "I just…I just want your help…." Draco sighed. "I know. I can't give it to you. I don't understand why you're seeing these things, but I don't want to talk about the personal stuff. I'm sorry. I can't."

"I have more questions…"

"Please, Scorpius. Be mindful of their nature."

"Y-Yes, Father…er…the man with no nose?"

"The Dark Lord. Voldemort. He was the leader."

"He threatened you more than what you told me."

"I didn't want to scare you as a child."

"And Grandmother never took the Dark Mark?"

"…No. She was the only one with a head in our house. She quietly refused."

"You were all punished a lot by him."

"Yes."

"Why did you cry when you held that older man at your wandpoint?"

"…Because I didn't want to do it. You know that. I didn't want to kill him."

"Was that all?"

"Yes, Scorpius. It's very late—you should be in bed. I don't want you to be tired tomorrow."

"Father, please….I'm trying to reach out to you…"

"I don't need to be reached about this. It's in the past. There are some things that you saw that don't need to be discussed. Now that you've seen them, you know they existed, but they don't anymore. So why keep wanting to know more? It's done. It's over. That's final."

"…What did I do wrong?"

Draco sighed. "You didn't do anything wrong, Scorpius. As soon as I read your first letter, I knew what you wanted to hear about. I'm not ready to go there. So I hoped you'd forget about it, but you kept pushing."

"I only pushed because I kept having them!"

"I know. But Scorpius…I'm sorry. I can't say anything about that stuff. It's…too personal. Too deep. I'm sorry."

Scorpius felt his tears falling now. Why couldn't his father just be open with him? He nodded. "Fine," he whispered. Draco sighed on the other end. "Good luck with your OWLs. Do well. We'll write back to all of your letters, so keep in touch." Draco said, still not looking up. "Right," Scorpius replied. He wanted to keep it short. Just like his father did to him. "I'm sorry, son." he offered one more time. Scorpius let out a breath. "…It's fine." he answered after a long moment of silence. Draco turned away and ended the firecall, leaving Scorpius sitting in front of the flickering logs feeling alone, scared, and helpless.

It took a long time for him to pull himself together and head back up to bed. He hoped maybe Albus fell asleep over a book again. But no, the Potter boy was sitting up in Scorpius's bed, waiting for him. "So? What'd he say?" he eagerly whispered as he cast some silencing spells around the fourposter so they could talk. "Hey—maybe all this is caused by your father moving back to the place where all that stuff happened. Maybe it's like a trigger! What'd he have to say about it?" Albus spilled out now that none of the other sleeping boys would be awakened by their talk. Scorpius was wordless as he laid down with his back to his friend, tears slipping down his cheeks constantly. "Scorpius?" Albus asked, leaning closer. "Are you alright? Scorpius?" The small blonde boy heaved a big sob of air. He squeezed his eyes closed and allowed to be pulled into a big hug from behind. "I never understood it before, but the other kids were right all that time," he whispered brokenly. "My father is a coward."