Scor just smiled and picked me up. Spinning me in a circle, he laughed. Taking my face in his hands he said, "I love you, Rose!"
My heart beat wildly as once again he pulled me close. Smiling wider than I ever had in my life I whispered, "I love you, too."
CHAPTER 35: MRS. MALFOY'S SECRET
Since there was still a week of Christmas Break left, I decided to ask McGonagall if I could go home for the rest of the week and come back with the others on the Hogwarts Express. She allowed me to go because of the "stressful events" I had been through.
"Meet me in my office at seven a.m. sharp. I take it you've used Floo Powder before?"
"Yes, ma'am. Thank you very much!"
"Very well. Don't forget, Miss Weasley. Seven a.m.!"
I arrived at her office at six forty-five. Scorpius arrived shortly after I did.
"What are you doing here?"
I smiled at him. "Going home for the rest of break. I've got some things to take care of…"
Scorpius opened his mouth to question me further but McGonagall interrupted him. "You've arrived on time, good. Now we just have to wait until exactly seven. That's when you'll be able to use the Floo Network. Miss Weasley, you'll go first." She glanced at the clock on the wall. "Six fifty-nine. Go ahead and grab your powder, Miss Weasley." She looked at her watch again. "You have thirty seconds until the Network will open. Mr. Malfoy, you will need to directly follow Miss Weasley seeing as the Network will close promptly at seven oh one. Ten seconds, Miss Weasley."
I grabbed a fistful of powder and stepped into the fireplace. After a few more seconds McGonagall gave me the all clear to go. I waited until she had her back to me. Then I threw the Floo powder into the flames whispering, "Malfoy Manor!"
"Mr. Malfoy? I came here to talk to you."
His eyes narrowed at me. I imagined what he must have thought of me just then. A hated "blood-traitor" standing in his fireplace, covered in soot, wearing (I just realized) his daughter's old clothes.
Throwing my shoulders back I decided I didn't care what he thought about the way I looked. There were more important matter to deal with.
Continuing to stare at me with narrowed eyes, Mr. Malfoy spoke.
"What do you want?"
"To know why you hate me so much all of a sudden. Why do you try so hard to keep me away from Scorpius but not Adelaide? Yes, my father's side may be what you call blood-traitors. Yes, my mother is Muggle born. So what? I bet my mother can do magic that is ten times greater than any you've ever done and you're a Pureblood!
"I guess what I'm trying to say, Mr. Malfoy, is that although we may have different views about Muggles and the world we're both still magical people, we both bleed red."
Mr. Malfoy looked disgusted. "We may both bleed red, little Weasley, but I will not have my son marrying some filthy Mudblood spawn.
"Now, if you would leave-"
"Mr. Malfoy, I'm in love with your son and I think he's in love with me too and if you think-"
"Rose?"
Whipping my head around, I saw Scorpius standing on the rug, just in front of the fireplace.
"Scor? How… how much of that did you-"
"All of it."
I gulped.
"Father, can I talk to you in the-"
"No, Scorpius! We can handle this right-"
"Now!"
The silence was heavy and filled with tension. This was the first time Scorpius ever stood up to his father.
"Kitchen. Now."
Too stunned to say a word, Mr. Malfoy followed his son out of the room. Once they had disappeared I sat down in the chair Mr. Malfoy had just vacated. While I waited, I listened to the clock tick. A few times it chimed, signaling another quarter of an hour gone by. After the clock chimed three times, the front door opened.
At first all I could see was a swirling mess of snow but after a moment I could make out the tall, skinny figure of a woman - Mrs. Malfoy.
She didn't see me at first. She was too bust trying to shut out the raging snowstorm and casting spells on the floating bags in front of her. When at last the door was finally shut and the last bag had floated away, she noticed me.
"May I help you?" She said coldly.
"I… I just came to talk to your husband." My previous anger had burned out. I felt like a first year staying after class to ask an extremely mean teacher a question.
"What exactly did you want to talk to him about?"
"Why you hate me so much."
That's when she did something I'd never seen her do before. She smiled. Walking over to sit on the couch, she said, "Please, have a seat." It was then that I realized I was standing. "Can you keep a secret?"
I nodded, completely confused. She smiled at me again.
"I like you, Rose. I don't care what your blood status is or if you're a 'blood-traitor' or not. But I've had to pretend to hate you because of it, otherwise Draco would've become suspicious…
"I'm not really a Pureblood. My mother was adopted. She grew up learning magic. My grandmother never told anyone of the adoption, not even my grandfather.
"She had been pregnant but after a few months, lost the baby. Too embarrassed and grief-stricken to tell anyone, she pretended to still be pregnant. When the time came, she brought home a tiny little Muggle baby who - luckily - had magic inside her.
"So, you see, Rose, I'm only a Half-blood. Draco thinks I'm Pureblood. I never told him the truth because I thought he wouldn't want me anymore if he knew."
I was lost for words. I couldn't believe she had confided in me like that. Apparently, Mr. Malfoy couldn't believe it either.
"You're kidding, Astoria. Aren't you?" His face was filled with disgust and hurt while hers was filled with sadness.
Standing, Mrs. Malfoy walked over to her husband. "It's true, Draco. Every word. I'm a Half-blood."
Mr. Malfoy looked as though he was going to be sick.
"Do you still love me?" She whispered.
It took him a few moments but finally he answered her. "Yes."
They hugged and I couldn't help but to smile. Scorpius, who had been standing on the other side of the room, came to stand next to me. Gently, he slipped his fingers between mine. His face looked determined.
Once Scor's parents had pulled away from each other, Mrs. Malfoy looked at Scorpius and I.
"Look, Draco. Look at them. What do you see? A blood-traitor and a Pureblood or two sixteen year olds in love? If you truly care for your son you'll let him live his own life.
"When Scorpius and Adelaide were born you promised them you would never treat them the way your father treated you. It's time to live up to that promise."
Mr. Malfoy stared at me, glaring. I stared straight back. After a minute, his eyes softened just slightly.
"Very well. You're welcome at this house, Weasley. But don't expect special treatment!"
"Thank you sir! Thank you very much!"
Scorpius and I looked at each other and laughed in relief.
One family down, one to go…