You guys are amazing and these reviews make me so happy! I'm glad you guys enjoy how I write Scorily and some of my other characters like Hugo. He is also a favorite of mine. This chapter was a bit hard to write because I wanted to incorporate all of their family members, so hope you forgive me for going from character to character. I also wanted to have you guys see the difference between Scorpius' family and hers, let me know what you guys think. Happy reading and have a great Thanksgiving!
If Hogsmeade station had been a little busy than Platform 9 ¾ was pandemonium. Entire families awaited their children, waving and cheering as the doors to the express opened and allowed the students off. First years ranting on excitedly about all they had seen and done in the majestic castle with many muggle parents looking on in confusion, but just as thrilled at hearing the stories as all of the wizarding parents were.
"Who do you think did that to McLaggen?" Calliope asked with laughter as Scorpius helped her down.
"No idea," he replied. "Bloody idiot has a lot of people ready to hex him; could have been anyone."
"He must have really pissed someone off then, no?" Corrina looked at Scorpius with knowing eyes.
"Must've."
"What's with the staring contest? Do you guys know something I don't?"
Scorpius arched a brow. "Yes, cousin, do you know something?"
"No," she says. "I know the same as everyone else does."
His eyes turn to slits, trying and for once failing to read someone else's thoughts. Corrina was giving nothing away and especially not with Calliope near.
So, she's on my side if she knows.
"Scorpy!"
Before he could fully turn towards the voice, Cassiopeia barreled into him in a blur of white hair and a violet dress.
"I've missed you!" she hugs him once in his arms.
Scorpius hugs her just as tightly to him, kissing her hair and enjoying the moment of being with his little sister. He'd missed her just as much – if not more than she had him. Cassie was his solace, brightening his world with only her innocent smile and asking for nothing but his love in return.
"I've missed you too," he replies, smoothing down the fur shrug she was wearing.
"Cassiopeia Nuriyah Malfoy, how many times do I have to ask you not to run off?" he hears the comforting sound of his mother's voice.
He sets Cassie back on her feet and ignoring all propriety, engulfs his mother's slim figure in a tight embrace, clinging onto her as if he were still a small boy and breathing in the familiar scent of cherries and honeysuckle.
Astoria startles at first, but slowly returns the hug. Her arms wrapping around his broader build and placing a tender kiss below his ear. "Welcome home, snitchette."
He holds onto her for a bit longer, not caring for how he may look to others, only knowing how much he had missed his mother. Over her shoulder he sees his Aunt Daphne greeting Calliope and Corrina, Damen at her side as he often was.
"Not that I mind the hug, but what's wrong?" Astoria asks, pulling away and fixing the lapels of his pressed suit.
"I just missed you."
Her emerald eyes soften, although she isn't easily fooled and he knows she sees through him. His mother was intuitive as she was wise and now that he was back home, he'd have to be careful in how he acted around her.
"You've been at Hogwarts for seven years and I have yet to learn how to be without you," she confesses in a whispered tone before looking down at her youngest child. "What have I told you?"
Cassiopeia pretends not to listen, fixing the ribbon holding her fur shrug together and ignoring their mother's irritated gaze.
"Remind you of anyone?" Daphne asks as she and her daughters walk up to them, Damen busy flirting with a passing girl. "Hello, nephew."
"Aunt Daphne," he places a kiss at her cheek.
"If you're referring to me then I'll have to object. Never did I run off in public when my mother specifically asked for me not to," Astoria glares at her sister.
"Oh, please. Every time you saw Ander you'd race towards him, faster than Cassie mind you. I could barely keep up with you and mother was never happy."
Scorpius hides his grin from his mother as she huffs, resembling Cassiopeia when she didn't get her way.
"Mummy was a brat?" Cassie asked excitedly.
"The biggest," Daphne grins.
"Are we done with this conversation?" Astoria rolls her eyes. "I don't want to leave Draco and daddy alone for too long."
"Don't like hearing your truths little sister?"
"Must you always be so irritating, Daphne?"
"It is one of my defining characteristics – Salazar Slytherin! What is that?"
Scorpius follows his aunt's gaze to Aedan McLaggen who tries hiding his horrifying appearance and failing miserably, even frightening his own parents at the sight of him. The potion he'd slipped into the brute's cheap firewhisky had worked just as he had expected it too and it wouldn't easily be undone; his mother had taught him well. McLaggen had insulted his witch, had tried to kiss his witch, and the offence warranted equal retaliation.
"Did the magizoo lose a beast again?" Damen asks with mild interest as he joins them, laying an arm across Scorpius' shoulders.
"More like a boar finally got what he deserved," Calliope says. "That's Aedan McLaggen."
"Cormac McLaggen's son?" Daphne turns to her daughter in question.
"That's the one."
"Following in his father's footsteps I see. Cormac wasn't exceptionally bright, always getting hexed, but he was handsome. Don't you think sister?"
Astoria looks to the hysterical family, eyeing the elder wizard dressed in a crisp suit and with the same arrogant expression that he had during his youth. "I would never have gone near him. The constant reminders of his family's achievements would have driven me into the brink of insanity."
"You do realize who you're married to, don't you?" Daphne teases her sister. "Does 'wait until my father hears about this' ring a bell?"
"I never said I married him for his whit."
Scorpius watches his mother and aunt laugh in union before catching a glimpse of Lily with her own family. The golden trio was nowhere in sight, no doubt dealing with the Death Eater mess that had yet to be solved even after weeks of death upon death. Lily's laugh reached his ears as her eldest brother, James spun her around until their mother ordered for him to let her down. It was different observing the family now that Lily was his; the Potter siblings were close that much he saw, but Lily seemed out of place when the whole family surrounded her. She now seemed more tense and reserved, as if afraid she'd out herself as different from them had she blinked the wrong way. This wasn't the Lily he was used to.
"Shall we go?" his mother's voice pulling him away from the family.
"Wait, I have to count my children make sure I don't forget one and all," Daphne replies as she counts off her children. "One, two, three, yeah, they're all here."
Astoria shakes her head at her sister's antics before taking Cassie's hand in hers and walking off towards the wall standing between the muggle and wizardry world. "Don't want to relive the time you lost Rina?"
"I did not lose her, Calliope gave her away."
"At least she handed her off to a pureblood family."
"P has always looked out for everyone's best interest," Daphne throws a grin at her girls.
"See I told you I loved you," Calliope tells Corrina. "If I didn't I would've just given you off to some poor, tacky family."
"Gee, thanks."
"So what have you been up to little cousin?" Damen asks with his arm still thrown lazily onto Scorpius' shoulders. "Do anything fun? Do anyone fun?"
He thinks back to Lily and all he had experienced at her side, from their first conversations to taking her virginity, and to discovering his love for her.
"You have no idea," he responds with a secret smile.
"Oh, that sounds promising. You'll have to tell me when it's just the two of us and our mothers aren't in hearing range. Merlin knows I need a good story and time away from our loving, warm-hearted family."
A breathy chuckle escapes past Scorpius' lips. "Don't like having our family all to yourself now that you're out of school?"
"I rather be stuck in one of Flitwick's useless lectures over having to pull Anton and Bastian apart every time they argue, having my mother set me up with women I do not fancy, and who can forget grandfather telling me that I am quite the disappointment?"
"It can't be that bad…"
"Just you wait and see," Damen warns. "I hope you're good at silencing charms or at least have earmuffs with you."
Malfoy Manor was exactly as Damen had painted – arguments echoing on the walls and forced stillness like a layer of dust at every corner. He watched his mother take a deep breath, his aunt forcing a smile on her face, and even his cousins and sister were the epitome of perfection. His Grandfather Hyperion would expect no less from those that carried his blood.
"Next time we're doing this at Zabini Manor," Astoria whispered through her smile.
"I rather not have all my tea sets destroyed if someone decides to throw magic around and blood doesn't exactly go well with my new carpet."
"Ah, families all here!" Anton says while clapping his hands together rather loudly at seeing them enter the sitting room. "Now I can start taking bets. Who do we all think will be the first to take aim with their wand? My bet is on Grandmother Cressida, woman still has a lot of flame left in her."
"Do you ever get tired of hearing yourself talk?" Bastian Greengrass drawls from besides his new bride. His blue eyes fixed on Anton and reminding Scorpius of an arctic tundra – cold and dry.
"Here we go again," Damen groans.
"I don't actually. From what people say I'm quite alluring when I speak unlike your nasty shrill of a voice. There's a reason people prefer me over you and that includes are cousins, isn't that right children?"
Corrina and Calliope look the other way while Damen whistles, finding a vase suddenly very interesting. Scorpius feels two different sets of eyes on him – blue and green – but he can always count on Cassie to be break the ice…or cause it to grow thicker.
"Scorpius and I like Anton more," she says while swaying from side to side.
"Cassiopeia," Astoria reprimands.
"What? You always say it's polite to respond back when one of the men in our family is speaking to us."
"Of all my lessons to you," his mother closes her eyes in exasperation.
"Did I say something wrong?" Cassiopeia pulls at the sleeve of his suit to ask. "It's not like it's a big secret."
Scorpius brushes a stray curl from her forehead while Anton roared with laughter, Bastian returning to the glass of firewhisky in his hand and trying to hide the sting caused by his cousin's words.
"Am I in trouble?"
"I'd start running if I were you Cass," Damen suggests. "One more word to Bas and you'll get the whipping of your life."
"I would never hit her," Bastian defends himself.
"You say you wouldn't do a lot of things and yet you do them," Anton counters as he leans his head back against the chair, eyes closed and hands laced together on his stomach.
"Enough!" Astoria intervenes just as Bastian was about to respond back. "Where is everyone else?"
"Draco was showing Blaise a new artifact," Iryna speaks for the first time. "The others went out to the gardens I assume."
"And they decided to leave you three alone?" Daphne widens her eyes for show.
"I was sitting here first until the happy couple decided to interrupt my peace, Aunt Daphne."
"I see my sons are behaving," Vera notes as she steps into sitting room. "No blood on either of them or broken furniture."
"We were getting to that part," Damen mumbles from his place at the bar.
Anton opens an eye at the sound of his mother's voice. "I always behave mummy. It's your firstborn that's always attacking me."
Vera ignores Anton, placing a kiss on Scorpius' cheek and following suit with Calliope and Corrina. To anyone that didn't know his aunt, she appeared detached and always played the hand of ignorance, but Scorpius had seen how she loved her children. He saw the pain in her eyes each time they fought as if they weren't brothers. As if she hadn't given birth to them both.
"For once in your life stop acting like a child, Anton. You are twenty-three and yet here I am still having to remind you of that. As for you Bastian you know your age and are now married, so I don't want to even hear a word from you. Do I need to put you both in a corner and send you away without dinner?"
"But my tummy will go hungry."
Everyone turns to Anton, Iryna visibly rolling her eyes and Vera holding her breath as to not snap in the middle of the room. Bastian wisely chose to keep silent instead of adding to the growing tension.
"What did you do now?" Ander asked Anton at seeing all eyes on his youngest son, Hyperion and Cressida following behind him.
"Why do you always assume I did something?"
"Lucky guess."
"Grandfather," Scorpius greets the Greengrass patriarch after being motioned to do so by Hyperion.
"Scorpius," he replied, his eyes assessing him before lifting his hand again to Calliope and Corrina.
The Zabini sisters walk over gracefully without as much as a hair out of place. For once Calliope wasn't her outspoken self either, nor did she act of line. Anton was the only one that ever dared to defy their grandfather.
"How are you my loves?" Cressida smiles dotingly. Though she was a sarcastic and vicious woman more often than not, her grandchildren had always been a weakness.
"Missing home," Corrina answers honestly.
"I was always homesick myself when I was at Hogwarts. Term would never go by fast enough for me, wouldn't you agree Hyperion?"
"Yes, your constant whining throughout term always made me want to go home myself."
"I did not whine."
"Hmm. Must have been another blonde at my arm then."
"Must have been. The tarts always seemed to follow you around, my love, and if I remember correctly you were the one chasing after me."
Hyperion arches a dark brow. "I don't chase after anyone."
"You making sure that I didn't marry into another family over yours speaks a very different story," Cressida sang while pouring herself a bit of wine.
Hyperion ignores her and looks back to his grandchildren. "I expect you've all behaved in accordance to our name while away."
Calliope tries keeping her face void of emotion, knowing her grandfather could smell a lie miles away. The last thing she needed was to rat herself out in front of the whole family and endure whatever lecture her mother would throw at her later.
Scorpius himself grew tense under his grandfather's emerald eyes – so knowing and frightening, kind when he wished to be and just as cruel when he had reason. He was glad his grandfather held no ability for legilimency for if he did there would be no chance of Scorpius keeping Lily his secret.
It's Anton that answers their grandfather, rising from his chair and walking over to where they stood, throwing an arm around Scorpius. "I'm sure they were utterly boring little Greengrass prodigies, especially Scorpius over here. Isn't that right, Scorp? You haven't been doing anything naughty have you? Not doing anything we aren't supposed to…"
Scorpius was used to Anton teasing him, making fun of how he tried to live up to their family's standards, but this wasn't just his cousin being his usual self. Anton's fingers tapped at his shoulder in a steady rhythm that matched the way his words rolled from his tongue. Too perfect. Too false. Too suggestive.
"Darling!" Daphne exclaims, feeling relief at the sight of Blaise as he and Draco make a timely entrance, saving them all from her father's interrogation.
Calliope and Corrina walk into their father's arms with each placing a kiss on either side of his handsome face. His hazel eyes showing genuine love for his daughters as he held them both and spoke to them quietly.
"Were you hiding?" Astoria laces her arms behind Draco's head.
He places a quick kiss at her lips and looks over her shoulder towards Scorpius. "Something like that."
Astoria laughs softly, letting him go and holding out her hand to Scorpius, motioning him over to greet Draco.
"We need to talk," Anton whispers before letting him go and lifting a passing Cassiopeia into his arms. "Where are you off to little lady?"
"Scorpius," his mother calls out again. "Come."
Tearing his eyes from Anton – who was pointedly ignoring him as he focused all of his attention on Cassiopeia – Scorpius walked to his parents, an uncomfortable churning at the pit of his stomach.
"Father," he nods politely.
"It's good to have you home son." Draco places his hand on Scorpius' shoulder, adding a bit of pressure with his fingers and although it wasn't some over the top demonstration of love it might as well have been. That gesture alone said what words couldn't and what Draco had been taught not to do. This was Draco's way of saying he'd missed his son and Scorpius felt just as loved as when his mother doted on him.
Astoria smiles at father and son, so alike and yet so different at the same time. From the moment Scorpius had been placed in her arms he had been her mini-Draco, but anyone with eyes could see their likeness ended where it began. She'd know Draco as a boy, had seen him become a Death Eater, and she'd brought him back to life when he cared for nothing but his parents after the war. Scorpius was nothing like the man she knew her husband to be.
"Mistress," a squeaky voice called to her.
"Yes, Blossom," she looks to the timid elf.
"Dinner is served mistress."
"Thank you. You are dismissed," she says before asking for the room's attention. "Shall we head to the dining room?"
"Oh, great, dinner. If someone didn't throw their wand around here then they'll just get to throw a knife at the table," Damen mumbles. "No one take aim at me or my beautiful face."
"Choose who you sit next to wisely," Corrina tells him.
"Cassie it is!" he tries stealing his youngest cousin from Anton.
"Get your own shield," Anton pulls Cassiopeia out from reach causing her to laugh. "I already called dibs on this one."
"I'll just sit on the other side of her."
"Nah uh," Cassiopeia wags a finger at Damen. "Scorpy always sits on my right."
Scorpius watches amused as Damen makes his face crumble in hurt.
"I thought I was your favorite cousin."
"Sometimes. Depends when you ask."
"Excuse me?" Anton glares down at her. "I believe you said there was no other but me."
"She said that to me too!"
"Oops," Cassiopeia giggles. "Did I say that? Sure it wasn't P or Rina?"
"Don't drag us into this," Calliope says, following after her sister and parents.
"Look boys I honestly, truthfully, from the bottom of heart don't remember saying that. If I did you can't blame me because I'm only eight. I say a lot of things," she bats her long eyelashes.
"I've never felt so betrayed and used. Is this how all the girls I sleep with feel?" Damen sniffles.
"I'm sure unsatisfied fits in there somewhere as well."
"Sod off! I'll have you know that I'm amazing in bed."
"So you finally learned how to hold it in until you get to the bathroom, that's good, only took you eighteen years," Anton replies, heading out of the sitting room with a laughing Cassiopeia and Scorpius.
"That only happened once and I was six!" Damen protests.
"Sure you were."
"It was cold!"
"I'm not saying it wasn't."
"Those types of things happen to everyone."
"I'm sure they do."
"Anton!"
Scorpius grins at Damen's whining. "How old were you?"
"None of your business!"
"So you admit that you weren't a boy?" Anton persists.
"Fuck you!"
"Damen said a naughty word," Cassiopeia giggles.
"He did, didn't he? Damen control yourself! It's bad enough you still wet yourself."
"I do not wet myself!"
"What a tasteful conversation," Hyperion drawls as he snaps a napkin onto his lap, sitting at head of the table while Draco sat at the opposite end, glaring at his father-in-law for taking his rightful place.
"Sorry, grandfather. I forget we all have a list of topics to talk about while together like any normal family. Can I borrow someone's list? I must've forgotten mine at the pub…or in the trash."
"Sit down Anton and please drown yourself in alcohol; anything that will get you to stop your insistent prattle."
Setting Cassiopeia on a chair, Anton turns to his parents and waves a hand over at Bastian with a mocking smile. "Do you see that? He just attacked me for no reason!"
"Why don't we enjoy our dinner?" Astoria reasons. "I spent hours preparing the perfect menu and the elves did such a wonderful job."
"I didn't attack you," Bastian says over his aunt's voice. "Had I wanted to, you wouldn't still be standing."
"I win," Blaise whispers into Daphne's ear.
"What will you have me do?" she asks.
His hand discreetly caresses the inside of her thigh. "I'll come up with something…"
"Let's not get arrogant, brother. You've always been rather useless when it comes to dueling, whining and tattling is more your thing. Oh, look at that, I can describe you and Iryna at the same time."
"Bastian," Iryna grips her husband's hand in hers, "let it go."
"Can we all let it go?" Astoria rubs at her temples to soothe the dull pain of an oncoming headache.
"Anton please sit down," Vera pleads as she pours a potion into her wine.
Cressida raises her brows at the mixture. "I see your still drugging yourself. You'd think that after you killed my grandson you'd stop with that disgusting vice."
The room grows still to a chilling point. All eyes turn to Cressida after her cruel mention of the painful memory that still haunted the Greengrass family even after so many years. It was a forbidden subject, but it was always there in the shadows.
"Mother," Ander warns.
"Did I say something wrong?"
"I did not kill my son," Vera forces the words out, her knuckles whitening as she digs her nails into her palm.
"Oh, I'm sorry. You let him die," Cressida corrects herself with a fake smile. "How old would Emilian be now had you not allowed him to suffocate in his sleep? Had you not been under the effects of that potion of yours? He was the Greengrass heir."
"It was an accident –"
"That could have been avoided had you not been so careless. He was only three months old, Vera, he was your responsibility."
"Cressida, leave our daughter-in-law alone, won't you?"
"I'm only reminding her of what her love for potions has cost us."
"Cost us," Vera scoffs, ignoring her husband's shake of his head to drop the matter. "I'm the only one that's ever paid. You've never so much as given me a second to breathe –"
"Please spare us the pity party, dear."
"That's enough," Anton steps in when neither his father nor Bastian did. "You have no right to speak to my mother like that."
Cressida looks at him in amusement. "No right. Sweetheart the only reason you and Bastian made it past the infancy was because of me. Had I allowed your mother to care for either of you I'm sure your fate would have been the same as your elder brother."
"Draco do something," Astoria turned to her husband.
"What do you want me to do? It's your family, love."
"Our family."
"Mmm. Right, how could I have forgotten?"
"My mother raised Bastian and me. What happened was an accident that could have happened to anyone, but why bother telling you this? The Greengrass family has never made a mistake has it? We're all so bloody perfect that no one would dare say or think otherwise. Although, we all know the truth."
"And I chose to marry into this," Blaise murmurs against his glass of brandy.
"I wouldn't be pointing fingers, grandmother. You are not perfect. I am not perfect. No one in this family is perfect. If we can't all stop being hypocrites for one second, then I suggest we eat in silence and continue on pretending we are even close to being a family."
"How dare you speak to me like that?"
"The same way you dared speak to my mother. I respect you all no matter what you may think, but even I have my limits. My mother is my mother."
The sound of a pin dropping could have been heard through the room after Anton's word. His voice just as cold and calm as when he had warned Albus to stay away from his family. Scorpius knew if it had been his mother under attack then he would have done the same as his cousin, defend her and stand at her side through it all.
"As for the two of you," Anton looks to Bastian and Ander, "only cowards hide behind silence.''
"Careful. I'm still your father," Ander says.
"And she's your wife."
Bastian pulls his hand from Iryna's grip, his eyes flashing to Anton. "Do you speak from experience brother?"
"Is it time to go home yet?" Calliope asks Corrina.
"We can pretend to feel ill…"
Anton laughs without humor at Bastian's mocking tone while the rest of the family turns to the Greengrass heir in question.
"Anton?" Vera's hand moves to her son's arm.
"You say we shouldn't point fingers, but isn't that what you're doing? Bravery has never being your strongest trait Anton or shall I remind you?"
Astoria sits up straighter, remembering the same moment Scorpius was from his own seat. The moment where something had torn the Greengrass brothers apart. The only time that Anton had shed a tear.
"You don't need to remind me of anything, brother. I've paid my dues and will continue to do so without your worthless guidance."
"Astoria, when will Lucius and Narcissa be joining us?" Iryna interrupts before the argument escalated further.
It takes a moment for Astoria to acknowledge the younger witch; she like everyone else lost in the conversation between the brothers, but slowly she gathers herself and looks away from her nephews.
"They'll be here later next week –"
"Delightful," Hyperion speaks slowly, not masking his dislike for Draco's family. "We so rarely see them that I had forgotten they existed. A change after all the years having to deal with them showing up at every corner. The mighty do take such nasty falls."
Draco's fork clatters onto his untouched plate. The arguments were far from over, they had simply changed course and were now at the other end of the table.
"I'll ask you not to speak of my parents when you are a guest in my home."
"We're family, Draco, I'm not a mere guest. This is my daughter's home after all."
"This is my home as is everything in it. That plate in front of you, mine. The chair you're sitting in, mine. Your daughter, mine. Scorpius and Cassiopeia, mine. Every fork. Every napkin. Everything. All mine."
"Draco," Astoria murmurs in plea.
"I do love how you view my daughter as a belonging," Hyperion cuts into a piece of vegetable with elegant precision.
"Did you not sell her to my family as one?"
"Well, seeing as we're working our way down those that unwisely chose to marry into the Greengrass family, I suppose I'll go next before someone takes a jab at me," Blaise says when Daphne kicks at him to intervene. "If you haven't all heard my mother is planning on taking another husband which will add to my growing fortune and ensure I never have to take a man's job, as I am a worthless piece of shite that depends on the men my mother does not kill."
"Seriously?" Daphne turns to her husband with pursed lips.
"You wanted me to cut in before Astoria popped a vein."
"My husband the hero."
"Welcome home, cousin," Damen pats Scorpius' shoulder as another argument ensues.
Scorpius looks around the table before taking a sip of wine; welcome home, indeed.
The dinner continued just as it had commenced. Scorpius only spoke when he was spoken to, his mind too occupied by what Anton wanted to say to him and though he tried his best to act as if nothing were wrong his eyes gave him away, searching out Anton for any sign. When his mother called for everyone to enjoy tea back in the sitting room and all his worry had bubbled up inside of him, Anton finally acknowledged him.
"I believe I scheduled a conversation with you."
Scorpius grows tense, looking away from Cassie who was enjoying Bastian's attentions – his elder cousin no longer appearing so sever as he played with the little witch.
"Can we talk tomorrow? The journey was long…" Scorpius cowards out.
"I'd like to speak to you now."
"Tomorrow –"
"Aunt Tori," Anton calls out in a change of tactics, knowing well how Scorpius would respond.
"Fine," Scorpius stands just as his mother turns to them.
"Is something the matter?" she asks.
Anton studies Scorpius for a second before throwing a grin at his aunt. "Oh, I was just going to ask you if you'd let me borrow your sweet baby boy for an hour or so? Don't worry I'll bring him back before his bedtime. I know he can't sleep without his warm milk and a story."
Cassiopeia giggles from her place on Bastian's lap.
"I rather he not be out so late with all that's happening," Astoria ignores Anton's taunts.
"He'll be safe with me. Don't plan on running into any Death Eaters and besides the Aurors are everywhere."
"Astoria," Draco looks pointedly at his wife. "What did we talk about?"
She drops her eyes in resignation.
"You are dismissed Scorpius," his father tells him.
"With your permission slip signed, let's go!"
"Great," Scorpius mutters as he's practically pushed out the door.
"Do you mind where we go?"
Scorpius shakes his head not at all excited for what was to come. "Lead the way."
In an instant Malfoy Manor disappears, Anton's hand on his arm holding him steady while everything spins uncontrollably around them; until moments later their feet touch the ground after a soft crackle.
"Muggle London?" Scorpius looks at the buzzing city in question.
"Sometimes I come here to think. It's noisy, but there's no one here breathing down your neck every second."
"You venture out here often?"
"From time to time. Come on, I know where we can talk."
Drowning out the unfamiliar world, Scorpius follows after Anton as he leads them towards a stone bench overlooking the Thames River. It was quiet in this new area, the moon the only source of light and muggles now at a distance, and had it not been for why they were there in the first place Scorpius would've thought it a soothing place.
"Talk," Anton orders him.
"I don't know what you want me to talk about."
"How about we start with you kissing Lily Potter."
Scorpius' head snaps to his left.
"I saw you with her the night I was there. At first I thought you were seeing her just to get back at her brother, but then I saw the way you looked at her. The way you consoled her – held her didn't look like someone that was fucking her to get revenge. No, it looked to me like a man in love."
Scorpius is ashen, lips parted but no words come. His limbs move as if he were only just learning how to use them and his eyes are wide, looking right at Anton, but not really.
"Do you love her?"
"No," he chokes out.
"Spare me the lies, Scorpius. It'll cost you less if you just tell me the truth and we avoid the shite."
"I don't love her."
Anton narrows his eyes before standing up in one fluid motion. "Alright. If you won't tell me the truth then I don't suppose you'll mind if I Crucio her into doing it, would you? I'd use Imperio but it's more fun when there's a little struggle."
"Don't you dare touch her," Scorpius rises with his wand aimed at his cousin.
"Put your wand away," Anton rolls his eyes. "Hurting children isn't my forte. I don't plan on attacking someone that's defenseless. Sit."
Scorpius lowers his wand if only slightly. His stance, however was still on the defense and his blood running cold after the horrifying image of his sweet Lily being tortured under the unforgivable curse.
"Sit, Scorpius. I won't hurt her."
Choosing to trust Anton for the time being, Scorpius moves back onto the bench and stared out into the darkness of the river.
"Do you love her?"
"Yes."
Anton inhales soundly. "What are you doing Scorpius?"
"I didn't mean for this to happen. I told her… I told myself that it wouldn't change anything. It was supposed to be easy, but now I'm in love with her and I feel like I can't breathe because I'm being torn a million different directions! Why did she make me fall in love with her? Why is this so hard?"
"Love isn't practical, little cousin. It isn't meant to be easy. It doesn't appear on command. It doesn't let you fall for whomever you'd like."
"I tried pretending that it wasn't more than just a stupid act of rebellion," he scoffs. "You can't even imagine what I'd be willing to do for her."
"You pointed your wand at me. I think I can imagine. How long has it been going on?"
"Since the start of this year's term."
"No one knows aside from me?"
"Her cousin, Hugo knows. Corrina might know as well, but I'm not sure yet."
Anton runs his hands through his hair and down his face, trying to amass all that Scorpius was telling him. "What do you mean you aren't sure about Rina knowing?"
"She's become a fan of divination, so maybe she saw something…I don't know. She doesn't look ready to tell the whole family."
"And this Hugo, is he in favor of all this?"
"So far. He and Lily are very close."
"How did this even start? I don't remember you sharing tea and biscuits with their lot. Hell, I wouldn't even go anywhere near them."
"She's nothing like them. Lily listens and she's patient, temperamental, yes, but if you spoke to her you'd see she's more attuned to our way of life than theirs. Lily understands me and I understand her. Maybe that's why I couldn't stay away. She makes me feel –"
"Free?" Anton offers in understanding.
Scorpius studies his cousin's face, finding pain and remorse in his expression, finding empathy where he hadn't expected.
"It's ridiculous how many times we've seen wars being fought and in the end nothing truly changes. We pretend that we've adapted, but we never do. A pure-blood is meant to live for their family name and if they don't then they're traitors to society's ways. The rules we're meant to abide by take away everything from us and we have to accept it all, because as long as we're at the top then nothing will hurt us. The top of what? I still don't know. Their side is just the same you know? They pretend just like all of us. They say that they'll forgive and learn to accept our family's choices, but they judge us. They judge you. It's why it's easier to live our separate lives."
"Have you ever been in love?" Scorpius asks quietly.
"A long time ago."
"What happened?"
"I was reminded of my place."
Scorpius pities his cousin at that moment as everything shatters around Anton. His cousin wasn't so carefree and honest as many thought him to be, as Scorpius thought him to be. The man sitting next to him was someone that had known love and had it taken from him. Anton lived behind a fake smile like everyone else.
"Do I know her?"
"No."
"That night I heard you and Bastian fighting…was it about her?"
Anton closes his eyes, trying and failing to push the memories away. Trying to pretend she never existed.
"I'm sorry," Scorpius murmurs, not needing Anton to answer him. He already knew the truth or at least parts of it. Bastian had forced his brother to choose between their family and the woman he loved, and Anton had ultimately chosen them.
"I don't want to see myself in you Scorpius."
"I love her."
"And do you love us?"
"Of course."
Anton smiles at him sadly. "And that will be the cause of your problems. When the time comes would you give up everything for her and would she do the same? Her family looks at you like you're Voldemort himself and ours? Perhaps my side of the family could be controlled, but you know how grandfather is when it comes to scandal. As for Uncle Draco, he won't accept it. This war will never be over."
"I can't allow her to give it all for me no matter how much I tell myself I wouldn't care. I can't be the cause of her pain even if Merlin knows they will never deserve her."
"Love always bites us in the arse. There never seems to be a clear way of doing anything and it all boils down to a choice that has the possibility of consuming everything. We're fucked whichever path we choose, aren't we?"
Scorpius gives a single laugh, his breath evaporating into the wintery night. They were fucked either way and sadly Anton had already gone down this road.
"Are you going to tell them?"
Anton looks back at him in contemplation. "It's not my secret to tell."
"Thank you."
"I can't do much, but I'm on your side, cousin. I will always be on your side."
"If the weight of the world comes crashing down?"
"I'd help you carry it. Now, let's go back. Aunt Tori is probably ripping out her hair by now and I won't be made responsible for her going bald."
"Anton," Scorpius calls out as the older wizard gets ready to apparate back.
"Hmm?"
"Thank you. It means a lot having someone on my side too and I know it won't change anything, but I would have been on your side had I been older."
"I know you would have."
His words are lost into the air as the world spins around once more and London turns to Malfoy Manor. The centuries old manor no longer echoing the arguments of before, nor covered in a blanket of cold that made outside feel warm. This was the home Scorpius knew – loving and warm, safe.
"You're back," he hears his mother breathe out in relief.
"Did I not promise I'd return him just in time for his bedtime?" Anton teases; the sadness of before masked behind that false smile.
"So you did," she rolls her eyes lightheartedly. "Your room is prepared for you, my love. I made sure it was perfect myself."
Scorpius moves to his mother's side and places a kiss against her blonde hair. "Thank you, mother."
Astoria touches his own cheek softly before turning to Anton. "Everyone else returned home."
"That would explain why there's no sounds of torture."
She pulls away from Scorpius, walking up to her nephew and fixing his tie. "I didn't raise you, but I did help a little. We love you. Your father loves you. We're not perfect and it might seem that no one cares, but we do. His death hurt us all. I saw Ander break and I saw him come back to life when Bastian and you were born."
Anton softens at his aunt's words, taking her hands in his and holding them tightly. "You're the voice in my head. Not my father. Not my mum. It's you. Sometimes I really wish you'd just shut up," he laughs, "but you'll always be a second mother to me. I listen to you more than anyone else. Scorp and Cassie are lucky to have you."
Moving back from her after a kiss to her forehead, Anton disapparates. Astoria's hands fall back to her sides and she walks to Scorpius, wrapping an arm around her child and leading him towards the stairs where Draco waits for them.
"I wanted to talk to you, but you must be tired," she says.
"I am."
"Then we'll talk tomorrow. We can take a walk in the gardens and you can see the frost flowers I've added, they're quite beautiful if I say so myself."
"Safe and sound," Draco offers his arm to Astoria as she and Scorpius near him. "I told you there was nothing to worry about."
"So there wasn't. Good night, my love."
"Mother," he accepts her kiss before she rounds the corridor to her bedroom.
"Goodnight, son."
"Have a good night, father."
As his parents disappear behind a grand door, Scorpius enters his own room and leans against the closed door tiredly. The world was starting to crumble, he could feel it. He wondered if Lily felt it too or if she was the stronger of the two. He needed her with him, only she could calm him. Taking the pocket watch out from the inside of his coat, he moves it around in his hand as he wonders how Lily was fairing.
In another manor just as grand as the one belonging to the Malfoy family, Anton walks slowly through the silent corridors of his home. Scorpius' secret and his own running through his mind, plaguing every thought. He didn't want his cousin to relive his mistakes, but he had no say in this. He would not force Scorpius to choose as Bastian had forced him to do. Anton would not be the cause of any more pain.
Walking past the family study, he noticed the door ajar and just as he moved to close it he noticed movement from inside. Bastian was in front of that blasted mirror, the one that mocked a person by showing them what they desired most of all and would never have. Anton hated that mirror and it seemed Bastian did as well as he drove his fist through it, shattering the glass only to have it rebuild itself.
"You need to stop," he hears Iryna whisper. "Looking at this will never do you any good."
"Go upstairs. I'll come up later."
"Bastian –"
"Leave."
Iryna sighs. "He's gone Bastian, nothing will change that."
"They're both dead. He died before I could have ever met him and yet I feel as if it's my fault he isn't alive, and Anton…I killed him a long time ago."
"We both did."
Anton quickly hides himself in the dark as Iryna walks out of the study and to the staircase, her appearance tired and pained. He looks back into the room and again Bastian stands in front of the mirror, but Anton will never know what his brother sees.
In front of Bastian was the elder brother he never had. The child that died before it had the chance to live. The true heir to the Greengrass family. Emilian Greengrass looked back at him, but like always he wasn't real. His brother never grew into the man he could've been.
And Bastian would never be the brother Emilian and Anton deserved.
Leaving Bastian alone, Anton continued past the study and to his bedroom, needing the peace he could find at the bottom of a glass. His father is at the top of the staircase, waiting for him surprisingly enough just like Astoria had waited for Scorpius' return.
"Father."
"Goodnight, Anton."
The words appeared as simple as a wave of the hand, but they were so much more. No one ever saw how Ander would study his sons after their return to make sure they were safe even if they hadn't been out for long. Only few were able to see that he loved his sons just as he loved his wife. This simple spoken sentence meant everything.
"Goodnight," Anton walks around Ander, leaving his father standing there alone and looking down at all the Greengrass family had.
Their manor showed the money and class they had, but it was just as haunted as the people living in it. The walls bled with the secrets of a family that only knew how to pretend and cry in silence. In this manor everyone had something to pay and there was no escape from the pain that coated every inch.
"It was my fault," Cressida murmurs, combing her hair and watching her husband through the elegantly crafted mirror of her vanity.
"What is?"
"I blame Vera, but I had a hand in it too. Had I been more helpful or kind to her after she lost her parents, she wouldn't have felt so alone. I blame her because I can't blame myself enough."
"We all pay our dues, Cressa. They'll haunt us until we have nothing left."
The Burrow was a mass of movement and sound. From the moment Lily had walked through the small door and into the warmth of her grandparents' home she'd been hugged, kissed, and on the brink of being driven to deafness. Her Uncle Percy and Charlie had even made it to the family gathering, ensuring that every corner of the house was filled up.
"Daddy isn't here yet?" Lily asks her mum.
"He should be here soon," Ginny assured. "It's been busy."
"Is he okay?"
"He's fine. Nothing to worry about, sweetie."
"There's my little cousin!" Dominique pulls Lily in for a tight embrace. "Look at you! You look different."
Lily bites at her lip, thinking of just how much she had changed. "Really?"
"Definitely. When did you grow up so fast?"
"Must have been when you abandoned us for life in France," Bill calls from where he was helping Fleur set the table.
"I didn't abandon you!"
"Don't get your papa started, mon amour. You'll fight a losing battle."
"Well, I didn't abandon anyone. I just needed a bit of space."
"Space from what? You had all the space you needed with your family."
Dominique arched a perfectly groomed eyebrow. "Of course I did. No one in this family is ever nosy."
"See! No reason for you to have left."
The strawberry blonde bit the inside of her cheek as she and Lily shared a look. "Anyway, I'm excited that you're going to help me with the boutique, Lily. Sales have been great with the holidays and all, but I barely have enough time do everything myself."
"Molly and I offered to help," Lucy says, carrying out a cookie filled tray from the kitchen.
"I didn't want to take you two away from the party planning world," Dominique shutters inwardly at the prospect of having to deal with the sisters. She could see it now, them taking over the boutique and doing whatever they wanted to it.
"There's always time for family," Molly pressed. "Imagine all we could do together! Three heads are better than one, Dom. We could merge our businesses together! I'll handle the decorating, Lucy can do manage sales and product placement, and you can do whatever it is you do."
"We'd have to start with adding a bit more frill and sparkle!" Lucy adds excitedly.
"Excuse me?" Dominique backs up in disgust.
"I also think the floors could be changed. The diamond pattern is so two seasons ago!"
Lily pulls her lips back over her teeth in amusement as she watches Dominique grow redder by the second.
"Alright! Before my sister-in-law commits murder let me greet my adopted sister," Teddy interrupts at just the right time.
"Teddy!" Lily moves onto her toes to hug the older wizard.
"How have you been, flower? I'm shocked Albus didn't write to me or James about all the wizards he's had to fend off! No boyfriend yet?"
"No. No boyfriend yet."
"Like she'd talk boys with one of her brothers," Victoire laughs at her husband, moving him aside and hugging Lily. "I've missed you, little cousin."
"Me too. How was Egypt? Any special news."
Victoire and Teddy smile at one another secretly. "Maybe…"
Lily smiles widely. "Maybe, maybe?"
"It's a definite maybe," Teddy whispers with a laugh.
"Don't tell anyone," Victoire orders, making sure no one had heard.
"My lips are sealed."
"What are you three whispering about?" Roxanne shouts. "Come play exploding snap! James already owes everyone money."
"When doesn't James owe someone money?" Teddy grins.
"Sod off you wanker!"
"Language, James Sirius Potter!"
James looks to the kitchen. "How in the name of Godric Gryffindor does she always here everything? Sorry, granny!"
"That woman knows everything," George affirms. "I've always said she's got this place wired with extendable ears. That or we really should learn to speak in quieter tones, but I'm thinking it's all about the extendable ears."
"Mum does not have the Burrow wired," Ginny laughs. "Now stop playing with the children and come help with dinner."
"Oi! I've had a long day at work and I need to relax a bit. Not my fault if James and Albus are one card away from selling me your cottage."
"George!" Angelina shouts from the kitchen.
"Coming darling!"
"Keeping you on a short leash is she?" Charlie teases after George.
"Happy wife, happy life."
"Or in my case: single and living it up."
"Here, here!" James raises his glass of cider in agreement.
"Don't give my sons any ideas, Charlie. I don't want them living at home until they're ancient and still living it up."
"Can I just say that I find myself hurt that you plan on eventually kicking Albus and me out of our own home, mother."
Lily giggles at her brother's dramatic pout.
"Also note that she never mentioned Lily," Albus murmurs, throwing a galleon into the pile of money.
"It's not my fault if I'm the favorite," Lily replies.
"There was a time where I was the favorite," James laments, "but then they brought you two into the game and it all went downhill."
"Technically speaking I was your dad's first kid," Teddy says, earning two pillows to the head.
"We're home!" Ron calls.
"Dad!" Rose peers from the kitchen before racing towards the wizard.
"Rosie! How's the Head Girl badge treating you?"
"We want to hear everything, love, and where's Hugo?" Hermione kisses her daughter.
"Where do you think? Cleaning out gran's kitchen."
"Of course he is. Just like his father."
While Hermione and Ron greet everyone, Lily spots Harry entering the Burrow and as Rose had done, she too races into her father's arms.
"Daddy," she breathes in his warmth.
"How are you my little flower? Missed us?" he holds her tight.
She nods against his chest. "A lot."
Lily closes her eyes as she's held by the first man she's ever loved. No matter how old she may be, she would always need him. As he holds her, she thinks off all that's happened since she last saw him. She wished more than anything to tell him all that she's lived with Scorpius, for him to listen and understand, but there were no words to explain any of this.
"Is something wrong?"
"I'm just happy to be home."
"Stop hogging him!" Albus says.
Harry laughs, moving away from Lily and pulling Albus in for a hug as well. "I hope you've been staying out of trouble, Al."
Lily looks away as Albus lies to their father, telling him how he'd passed another tough exam after cramming in days of studying and how there had been no problems while at school. It amazed her how easily Albus could lie without so much as batting an eyelash. Although she wasn't one to talk. Was she not lying also?
"Is everything alright Harry?" Ginny asks at seeing the worry in his eyes.
Ron and Hermione's own expressions falter and so does the glee of the room.
"Just work," he replies. "But now isn't the time to talk about it. Let's enjoy us all being together, yeah?"
Lily touches her father's arm in worry. She'd never seen him like this – lost and powerless. Her childhood stories had revolved around epic battles and adventures, but the man in front of her showed that he was human and not an immortal hero.
"Daddy?"
"Everything is fine, flower."
"Ah, everyone is finally here!" Arthur says cheerfully. "Well, come on dinner will get cold! Molly has been slaying away, making sure it was the best meal we've ever had."
"I made the desserts," Victoire pouts.
"And Victoire made the desserts," Arthur laughs. "Now can we all head to the table before Hugo eats everything?"
As everyone heads to the old wooden table at the center of the new dining area Arthur had added after their family had grown, Lily continued looking at her father as the worry had yet to leave his eyes, eyes that were so identical to her own.
"Are you coming daddy?" she holds out her hand.
"Yeah, let's go."
Like taken from one of Hugo's dreams the table was covered in an array of appetizing food and desserts of all shapes and sizes. The amount of food waiting to be eaten could have fed an entire battalion and maybe more after that.
"Granny," Hugo wipes away a false tear, "you do love me! Where do I even start?"
Molly laughs at her grandson. "I've made everyone's favorites. Glazed ham for Rosie and James, mushroom soup for Teddy, honey quail for Dominique and Victoire –"
"What about lobster bisque for me?"
All eyes turn to the voice and find standing there the one person missing from the table, Louis.
"Louis!" Fleur and Molly shriek in delight.
"Surprise!" the handsome blond smiles at his family's shock.
"Quelle surprise," Fleur clings onto her son after having him away for months. "We thought you'd be gone for the holidays."
"I'm on assignment at the magizoo and wanted to surprise you all."
"We're surprised," Bill greets his only son.
"Sit down little Louie there's food for everyone," Molly practically bounces off the walls at having everyone at the table.
"Good, because I'm starving," he says, moving to hug Victoire and Dominique. "Sisters. You both look très belle."
"Do you not get to eat the magical beasts after you hunt them down?" Fred jokes.
"Funny, but no. I've been living on some kind of soup which I hope is soup and maple bread."
"That isn't a meal," Molly says horrified. "Let me fix you a plate. Poor boy, eating soup and bread. Not even when we didn't have enough gold did I feed my children that."
"How was Africa?" Albus asks. "See anything wicked?"
"Loads of stuff. You guys won't believe how beautiful the beasts are, so intelligent and kind –"
"Merlin, Albus! You just had to ask! Now he's going to tell us how we're the real beasts and those creatures are defenseless and sweet," James recites the last part with a horrible French accent or what he thought sounded French.
"Well, I want to hear all about it," Lily tells Louis. "Did you get to see any erumpants?"
"I actually helped deliver one. A bit gory their birth with all sorts of fluids –"
"Gross!" Molly and Lucy gag.
"Let's make it dinner friendly, mate," Bill laughs as his nieces push away their bowls of soup.
"Please," Percy grimaces at the image.
"Sorry. I've grown used to the wild."
"And its smells," Dominique wrinkles her nose. "When's the last time you bathed."
"Oh, that's just the garlic necklace one of the natives gave me. I brought one for all of you as well. Meant to ward off any bad luck."
"And people," Victoire jokes, looking a bit green.
"Are you alright, dear?" Molly asks her eldest grandchild.
Victoire glances at Teddy and then back at everyone, sitting up a bit straighter. "Should we tell them?"
"Tell us what?" Harry looks to his godson.
"Seeing as we're in the spirit of surprises, Vic and I have one. Although you'll have to be patient as it won't be here until after seven months or so."
The room bursts with excitement at the news and no show of love is spared for the newlyweds, as they are hugged and offered felicitations.
"To our family," Arthur offers a toast. "May we always be together and may no one ever come between us."
Lily feels her grandfather's words drive straight through her. Her warm cider tasteless in her mouth as she drinks from her goblet and her conscience taunting her with images of Scorpius, showing Lily just how she had allowed her enemy to become her one love.
"Are you okay, Lily?" Dominique whispers.
"Yes."
"Sure?"
She blinks her tears away quickly. "I'm fine. Excited."
"If you say so."
"We'll have to set up the baby's room immediately! I'll have to start knitting and Victoire you'll have to get help for the bakery, because long hours on your feet isn't healthy," Molly says, counting off all the things she had to do.
"Do we know what you're having?" Audrey asks.
"We want it to be a surprise," Teddy answers.
"Patience isn't a virtue of yours," Harry grins.
Victoire laughs, kissing her husband's cheek. "He'll have to learn. No peeking whatsoever."
"Have fun with that one, Teddy. Victoire on her own is bossy, but now she's pregnant. Imagine her with all those hormones," Fred shudders.
"Don't go poking at a pregnant woman," Hugo says around a fourth helping of roast, "even I know that."
"I'd listen to him," Victoire glares.
"Don't you love having everyone here?" Molly murmurs to Arthur, smiling dotingly at her family.
"They're all grown up. Great-grandparents, huh?"
"Feeling old?"
"You keep me young, my love."
"Awe!" Rose draws everyone's attention to them as Arthur kisses Molly sweetly. "Now that's true love."
Lily smiles softly, imaging herself growing old and still being so in love. Would she ever get to that stage in life she wondered? Scorpius had all but confessed his love for her and he knew she loved him too, but did it matter? Would they ever share a life together?
"Speaking of love," Molly arches a brow, "we've already married Victoire off, whose next?"
"Married me off? Thanks, gran."
"I'm willing to get married, but I'll need a boyfriend first," Lucy pouts.
Molly nods. "Ditto."
"Don't look at me. I've sworn off men," Dominique mutters.
"Sworn off men? Don't be silly dear, you're only twenty-one for Merlin's sake! What ever happened to that boy you were seeing at Hogwarts? He seemed nice."
"That's right! I forgot about Stefan," Victoire turns to her sister in question.
Dominique stiffened at the name, her skin suddenly feeling dirty and her chest contracting painfully. "He graduated before I did. Two years older, remember?"
"He was polite," Fleur says. "His mother still works at Gringotts, maybe I can ask about him –"
"No!" Dominique exclaims, startling everyone.
"Dom?" Bill calls to his daughter with questioning eyes.
"No," she says more quietly. "We were never that close and he might be with someone…"
"Wasn't he the one – ow, Molly!"
"We won't know if he's single if we don't ask," Molly lectures Dominique.
"Please just leave it alone, grandmother."
"I've decided to take up art as a career," Lily announces and effectively draws all attention away from Dominique.
"That's great sweetie!" Ginny says. "I told you that art was you're calling. What made you decide?"
Scorpius Malfoy.
"Uncle Neville wanted us to look into jobs."
And like that the conversation switches to talk of careers and no one notices the grateful smile Dominique gives to Lily, nor the way her hands ball into fist, nails drawing blood from her perfect skin.
When dinner finally ends and Hugo is dragged away from the table, everyone heads back to the sitting room, sitting wherever they could and either playing games or laughing together. Lily sits at her mum's feet, enjoying Ginny's hands braiding and unbraiding her hair.
"I didn't see you with Alice or Lysander when you got off the train," Ginny notes.
"I got off before they did."
"You barely acknowledge Lysander when we said hello to your godmother and Rolf. Did something happen?"
Lily shakes her head, looking up at the ceiling and then at her mother. "Nothing happened, mum."
"Boy troubles?"
"Definitely not."
"And Alice? You're always with her."
"She's been a little boy crazy lately and I rather not be in the mix of all that."
"There's nothing wrong with having a bit of fun, so long as it's safe. Do you want me to speak with Neville and Hannah?"
"I rather you let me solve my own problems on my own mum."
"Sorry. I guess I still see you as my little girl, but then again you'll always be my little girl."
"Who are we gossiping about?" Harry cuts in.
"None of your business," Ginny pushes him away.
"I get it, we're talking boys."
"Daddy!"
"Honestly, Harry."
"What? I'm fine with talking about blokes and certain blokes chasing after my little daughter – no! Never mind none of what I just said makes me feel fine. Please continue quietly and I only want to be informed if some moron tries to overstep."
"Why don't you go make sure Albus and James don't end up actually losing our home to one of their cousins, and leave our daughter to me?"
"Deal. Although, I don't really think we have to keep a close eye on this one. You're turning into a wonderful young lady, Lily."
"She is perfect, isn't she?" Ginny looks at Lily proudly.
"Excuse me," Lily gets up from the floor, hating the way her parents looked at her as if she was the best thing in this bloody world.
"Where are you going?"
"The bathroom," she replies, practically fleeing from the room and her family.
Once inside the bathroom, Lily splashes water onto her face, feeling as if she were suffocating. She couldn't take it. This overbearing feeling to fit in and talk every second about how she felt was too much. Lily loved her family, she did, but it was getting harder to keep pretending to be someone she wasn't. They all wanted her to be like them and she could never be that. Her parents had told her she was perfect, but she wasn't! Why couldn't they see that? All of this pretending was tearing her apart and she didn't know how much she could take.
Looking at herself in the mirror, she sees a girl that acted far too much for someone so young. In her eyes there was an emptiness that only one person could ever fill and nothing would change that. She thinks of Scorpius and wonders how he was doing? Did he miss her already as she did him? Was he thinking of her? Lily touches her neck, pulling her scarf away and seeing the marked skin she had hidden from her family. Was it odd for her to love how perfectly imperfect the mark looked on her? Love how it stood out against her otherwise clear complexion. The mark soiled her. It showed the real Lily.
A sudden knock forces her away from the memory of Scorpius' mouth biting at her neck and quickly she dawns her scarf once more. "Coming," she calls out to the person on the other side of the door.
"It's me," Dominique says.
"Just a second," Lily fixes her appearance before letting her cousin in.
"Hiding?" the older witch teased.
"I just needed a moment."
"I know how you feel. I'd forgotten how they could be while I was away."
"They mean well."
Dominique leaned against the sink. "I suppose, but I can't say I wouldn't mind just some quiet. I can barely hear myself think…"
"Do you wish you were back in France?"
"A little. Though if I went back I'd be wishing to be back home with all of you."
"No win scenario then."
"Something always pulls us back even if we want to escape."
"Is that why you left? To escape?"
Dominique shrugs. "Something along those lines.
"Did it help being away?"
"I thought it did, but memories find you no matter where you run off to."
Lily tilts her head to the side at her cousin's bitter tone.
"Thank you for saving me from gran's matchmaking by the way. She can be a little too persistent and I wasn't in the mood for it tonight."
"You would've done the same for me I hope."
"You know I would."
"Dom?"
"Hmm?"
"Why did you act like that when she mentioned his name? Wasn't he your first?"
Dominique bites at her lip as a shaky laugh escapes her. "It's not worth mentioning Lily. He isn't worth mentioning."
"Lily!" her mum calls from downstairs. "We're leaving!"
"Go," Dominique opens the door. "I need you well rested for your first day as my assistant."
"Dominique –"
"I'm okay Lils. Don't worry about me."
Lily nods in understanding. She was no one to invade someone else's privacy when she too craved for her own. Dominique's life wasn't for her or anyone to mettle in, and if their family would show that respect then Lily would.
"See you tomorrow Dom."
After saying goodnight to everyone, Lily takes her father's hand as they all apparate back to Godric's Hollow; their cottage a welcoming sight after being away for so long. The smell of freshly baked bread and chocolate wafting through her nose the moment they walk in. It was silly as she hadn't been gone for as long as Dominique had, but she missed home too. Every room told a story and she craved it all.
"Home, sweet home."
Lily smiles at James in agreement. "I missed Hogwarts when I'm away and I miss home when I'm at Hogwarts," she murmurs to herself, recalling Dominique's words.
"What do you kids have planned for tomorrow?" Harry asks his children.
"I sadly have to go be an adult," James yawns. "There's a meeting first thing in the bloody morning. Does no one respect sleep anymore?"
"Welcome to the real world," Ginny says without an ounce of pity for her son.
"I'll be in Diagon Alley helping with the joke shop. Maybe hang out with my mates during lunch," Albus tells them.
"Make sure you stay in Diagon Alley at all times," Harry orders.
"Where else would we go?"
"I just don't want you wandering the streets."
"I'm seventeen dad. I can handle a Death Eater," Albus rolls his eyes.
James snorts. "Little brother you'd wet yourself if you came across a single Death Eater."
"That's not true!"
"Yes it is."
"No it isn't."
"Yes it is."
"No it isn't! Dad!"
"See! You always go crying to dad."
As James and Albus wrestle onto the floor and her parents try separating them, Lily walks into her bedroom. She sees Pomme sleeping deeply in her cage and her trunk unpacked by Creature no doubt – the elf still helpful after all these years. And for the first time ever she doesn't feel welcomed in her own room. There are no color changing Dahlias at her bedside, nor did the ceiling shine with stars. She would have to sleep alone tonight and wake up without his kisses on her skin.
It hasn't even been a day and I already miss him.
Changing out of her clothes and into a modest nightgown, she sits at her window seat, staring out into the stars until she finds his constellation. She moves her hand to the glass and traces the stars for whom Scorpius was named after, pretending she were tracing the lines of his handsome face. The stars soothe her to sleep an hour later with Scorpius watching over her, the constellation never dwindling against the black sky.