The Inquisitor's Son

Part Twenty-Six: Still at The Leaky Cauldron

Albus had never seen Scorpius so angry. He could practically see the steam come out of his ears. His nostrils flared. "Unbelievable! They just shut me out of it!" exclaimed Scorpius furiously. "It's not fair!"

"Score, calm down," urged Teddy helplessly. "I'm not sure they had a good reason for it." Teddy knew that they were probably discussing the other murders. He wasn't about to tell Scorpius that he was the only survivor of a serial murderer's attacks.

"You know something, don't you, Teddy?" snapped Scorpius. "You're an Auror. You probably know why they're meeting."

"I don't know why they're meeting," replied Teddy truthfully. He swallowed as his hair flickered a bit from russet to blond. "I'm going to get a Butterbeer. I'll get you one, too."

Fred placed his hand on Scorpius' shoulder. "Don't get mad, Scorpius," he said quietly as a grin spread across his face. He reached into his pocket and pulled out something. "Get Extendable Ears," he said the last part even lower. "Nicked it from Dad's workshop. They're new and improved. Prototypes."

"We're going to get caught," voiced Albus.

"I don't care," muttered Scorpius. "Let's use them."

The three boys crept down the hall to the office in the backroom. Fred set one of the ears along the crack at the bottom of the door. He handed the other one to Scorpius. "What are you three doing?" demanded a voice shrilly from behind them.

Rose was standing there with her hands on her hips. "Shh!" hissed the boys at her.

"Go away, Rose," whispered Fred. "We're trying to listen."

"No, my dad and your dad, Albus, are doing some Auror business. It's probably classified, and you shouldn't be spying on them."

Albus straightened up and grabbed Rose by the arm, pulling her down the hall. "That's it! I'm telling Mum and Aunt Ginny!" she exclaimed, breaking free from Albus' grip and running.

"Great," drawled Scorpius. "Leave it to your cousin to rat us out."

Fred opened his mouth to say something, but the door suddenly opened. His uncle stuck his head out. "We heard you four," said Ron, looking mildly amused.

"Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, you will not disobey me again," warned Narcissa. Even though couldn't see her, he could tell she was furious.

Ron looked at the Extendable Ears, having worked with George, he knew prototypes when he saw them. "Frederick, you'd better put those back," he suggested. He saw his wife and his sister, approaching the hall. "Go now." He closed the door.

Scorpius resisted the urge to kick the door. Fred shrugged and picked up the ears and they trudged back down the hall. Albus was standing just behind his mother, looking angrily at Rose. She pointedly ignored it. "Thanks a lot, Weasley," said Scorpius sarcastically. "They were having a meeting about me, so it was my business. You didn't have to go running to your mummy and auntie about it."

"Let's all relax," said Ginny. "Take a deep breath and calm down."

Teddy had returned with the Butterbeer, having heard everything. He handed it to Scorpius, saying, "If I give this to you, you're not going to chuck it at my head, are you?"

Accepting the Butterbeer, Scorpius grumbled, "No. Thanks."

Teddy's grandmother had come up to them. "Have you eaten anything since you got here, Scorpius?" asked Andromeda.

"No," sighed Scorpius, taking a sip. "Aunt Andi."

Andromeda shook her head. "Honestly, you barely eat enough to keep a flobberworm alive." She looked him over. "Come. Let's get you something to eat. Don't make me tell you twice. Believe me, you don't want me and your grandmother both irritated with you."

Scorpius, having retained some common sense, reluctantly nodded. He wasn't about to have both of them mad at him and went along with her to the table with food. His aunt proceeded to fill his plate before he could stop her. He busied himself with eating some food while he waited.

Professor Longbottom soon returned and Scorpius couldn't read him. Was he in trouble for attempting to listen to a conversation that he felt he was privy to? For all the smiles and words of encouragement that Professor Longbottom provided, he was unreadable a great of the time to Scorpius. He didn't care if Harry or Ron was annoyed with him, but he didn't want Professor Longbottom to be. "You have to join us now, Scorpius. Just for a quick chat," he told Scorpius, who could only nod.

Scorpius went into the office and Professor Longbottom shut the door behind him. He used his wand to put a sound barrier. Scorpius saw his grandmother sitting in a chair in front of his desk next to Ron and Harry at the desk. They looked awfully serious.

"Scorpius, Professor Longbottom has told me about the extra tutoring sessions he'd been having with you and about your parents and their meeting with him in this very room," said Narcissa.

Scorpius hadn't know that it was this room, this office, when his father had asked the professor to make the Unbreakable Vow in. His grandmother continued, "And he told me about your grandfather's visit on the first day of school. You should have told me right away." She didn't sound angry. She sounded hurt, and it cut through Scorpius, who looked down at his trainers.

Scorpius murmured, "I'm sorry, Grandmother."

"More importantly, why didn't you say that your scar was troubling you? If you wanted to spare me the worry, it doesn't. I worry more about the things that I don't know about, the things that you don't tell me about. You are just like your father, keeping so many secrets." The distress in her voice was palpable.

Ron poured Narcissa cup of tea, offering it to her. "Thank you, Ron," she said to him, before turning her attention back on her grandson. "Scorpius, the Aurors have reason to believe that your life is in peril."

"Why?"

"I don't want you to be scared," answered Narcissa. "But Harry and Ron have been conducting the investigations. They have come to the conclusion that the person who murdered your parents also murdered your aunt and her family, but you already knew that." Scorpius managed a tight nod as his hand found his side. "Ron's investigation has uncovered that this killer has murdered at least six others."

Scorpius' mouth dropped as his hand pressed harder against his side. He felt his knees go weak. "Each one of the attacks was just as brutal," put in Harry solemnly. "You are the only survivor."

"I think I need to sit down," whispered Scorpius. Professor Longbottom guided him to a sofa. "Six people. Six more people. That's a dozen people, including my family."

"We are doing everything we can to ensure your safety," said Harry.

"Is someone really after me?" demanded Scorpius with understandable alarm.

The adults fell silent. Ron provided the answer, "We are not sure, but we'd rather not risk it."

That was hardly comforting for Scorpius as he covered his face with his hands. "There is one more thing," broached Harry gingerly. "Because of the situation, you need to learn how to do Occlumency. You have expressed that you don't want your grandmother to teach you." Scorpius nodded without moving his hands. "I will teach you over the summer."

Dropping his hands, Scorpius looked at Harry. He didn't look particularly thrilled at the prospect. Harry discerned it, wondering if he had had that same expression when he found out that Snape would be the one training him. Harry wondered how Scorpius truly felt about him. Harry didn't expect to be in the same position as Snape was before. It was a bit different this time around. He didn't hate Scorpius for looking like his father.

"Albus will be happy to have you over during the summer. He's already been asking if he can have you over," Harry informed Scorpius.

Narcissa added, "He's also invited to come to Manderlay as well."

Neither boy ever had a friend come over before. Scorpius smiled a little. "We are continuing to keep investigating," said Ron.

"Security measures have been put in place to ensure your safety. Professor Longbottom has seen to that," said Harry.

Narcissa was now aware of the added protection that her son had given her grandson. It provided some comfort. A knock at the door surprised them. It was Ginny's voice, "Harry, it's time for cake. Your daughter would like to come and join us."

"Scorpius, you can play the piano for the song," said Narcissa, getting to her feet and smoothing her skirt.

"Sure," nodded Scorpius.

They all left the room and rejoined the party. He went up to the piano. He started to play and Ginny said, "One. Two. Three." They broke out song, singing Happy Birthday and Lily blushed a bit.

The rest of the afternoon went by in a blur. Scorpius enjoyed a slice of strawberry cake before leaving to go back to the castle to finish up his homework. He left before the gifts were opened.

Lily unwrapped her presents as her mother wrote down who gave them to do thank you cards later. There were a lot of presents from well wishers who had been unable to attend. Lily came across a small box wrapped in silver paper. "Name?" asked her mother.

"No name," said Lily as she read the label on the tag.

"Scorpius Malfoy," piped up Roxanne as she grinned. "He dropped it off."

Lily, who had torn into the other gifts, stared at the present before carefully unwrapping it. She opened a box that looked like a box for a bracelet or necklace. Inside was a pair of hairclips. The metal was rose gold and the beads were tiger's eye, complimenting Lily's color perfectly. "Those are beautiful," said Ginny.

Out of all the presents, even a brand new broomstick of her own from her parents, the hairclips were Lily's favorite.

***

Victoire Weasley contentedly sighed as she settled onto Teddy's sofa. They had just returned from Lily's birthday party. It was a great party and she was glad to see that Scorpius was there. She saw the way that Lily's eyes lit up at his presence. Teddy dropped next to Victoire.

"That went well," she murmured, snuggling closer to him.

Teddy agreed, "More fun than I expected." He wrapped his arms around his girlfriend.

"She was really glad to see Scorpius," said Victoire absentmindedly.

"It was pretty fun to see him acting like a regular kid," said Teddy. "He's always so serious and closed off."

"Did you see her smile?" asked Victoire.

"Yeah, I did, but he didn't look too excited," replied Teddy. "He was trying to get away from her."

"No, he wasn't," said Victoire, sitting up. "Wait a sec, who are you talking about?"

"Your cousin," answered Teddy. "Our cousins."

Victoire and Teddy glanced at each other. After a second, she asked, "So, you know then?"

He bobbed his head up and down, "Yes, I know that your cousin has taken a fancy to Scorpius. I'm not completely oblivious. It's my job to notice things."

"And you are okay with it? It doesn't bother you? She's like your baby sister. She didn't want you know."

Teddy wore a very confused look on his face. It was his turn to ask, "Who are you talking about?"

"Lily."

Teddy goggled at Victoire. He shook his head very slowly. "I thought you were talking about Sabine," he exclaimed.

"Sabine?" scoffed Victoire, looking deeply offended. "I love her, but I don't like her. I wouldn't wish her on a dragon."

It finally sunk into Teddy as he asked, "You mean Lily fancies Scorpius?"

Victoire nodded, "You didn't noticed how happy she was when she saw Scorpius was there? She blushed all the time when he's around. She can barely string a sentence together when she's around him. He's like you completely oblivious."

"But she's twelve," said Teddy. "He's two years and some months older than her."

"Teddy, you're two years and some months older than me," Victoire reminded him.

"Nah-uh," rejected Teddy, shaking his head. "That's not right. Not right at all. They're like MY siblings." Shooting up to his feet, he shook his arms and legs as if he had bugs crawling all over him.

Victoire grabbed Teddy's hand. "You're right though. He's not ready for anyone liking him," she pointed out. "And she's a bit young."

"Oh the bra thing," muttered Teddy as he sat back down. "That's why Lily got so upset."

"Just don't tell anyone," pleaded Victoire, "especially Uncle Harry and Uncle Ron."

Teddy turned to her in horror. "Of course, I won't. Are you mad? I'm not going to be the one to tell Harry Potter that his little girl's fallen for someone. Anyone." He also added after a second, "And I don't want anything to happen to Scorpius."

"Good," said Victoire satisfied.

"Lily who?" asked Teddy as he changed his hair from blond to black. "Who are you?"

Victoire raised an eyebrow at him. "What are you going on about?"

"Nothing. I'm just practicing what I'm going to say when Harry finds out."

Victoire could only shake her head. "You could help out you know."

"Help what out?"

"Lily and Scorpius."

"Oh no! No way am I aiding and abetting this. It's bad enough that I know."

"You said so yourself that it's nice to see Scorpius acting like a normal kid."

"He's not normal. You don't have to know what happened to his family to see that. He's got a lot on his mind. He doesn't have time to worry about this."

"Who are you protecting? Lily or Scorpius?"

"Both," answered Teddy.

"But they would be tres cute together," insisted Victoire.

"Why do girls think it's their mission to pair everyone off?" asked Teddy.

"I just want people to be as happy as we are," replied Victoire.

"Let's just wait and see, Vic," begged Teddy. "Score's too distracted to notice anything."

Victoire sighed, but relented. "You're right. Lily's got to grow up some first. I just don't want it to take ages like it did with her parents, Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione, and us." She made reference to their seemingly lengthy, pre-courtship. "I think they'd be good for each other."

"Leave them be," urged Teddy with a firm tone. "I don't want to think about it. It's too weird."

"Oh come off," laughed Victoire before hitting Teddy with a throw pillow.

***

Scorpius was never grateful to be almost alone in the Slytherin dorms. It was hard to concentrate as he ruminated over the information he had gotten. He always thought on the back of his mind that he was in some kind of danger. He could feel his scar through his shirt. It wasn't hurting him at the moment. He was always living in anticipation of another attack.

The Aurors were doing their job as best as they could. They had too much information to go through, thousands of tips and hundreds of people to question. Scorpius wanted to know who else had been murdered. Did they know his parents?

Scorpius had to find a way to get his mind off it. The quiet of the dorm was getting to him and he simply couldn't concentrate on his homework. He picked up his violin and started to play. It brought him some solace.

Author's Note: The mystery is starting to unfold a bit more. This is from Scorpius' perspective as possible, but in order for readers to get an idea of what the heck is going on the scenes without him fills us all in. Draco is very much a mystery and yes, the title isn't completely useless.

This is one of the first chapters that was written after the reserves dried up. I am trying to get it transcribe as fast as I can. I have a notepad that I've been handwriting with at work. The updates will be slower from this point onward.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Him and all of the original characters belong to J.K. Rowling. Please use this story with my permission.