Sorry it took so long to get this one up - I just really wanted it to go somewhere; to make it special. I think you're going to like it. But let me know what you think, as always. And if you'd like to see this go in a different direction, just say the word. Like I said, I like to follow what the readers want.

Scorpius, to Kie's surprise, was rather quiet about his aunt and uncle's deaths; she expected that he'd be set back in his progress, that he wouldn't have the desire to move forward anymore. But Scorpius's strength surprised her. Of course he was sad, and of course he tried to hide that from everyone, but in the meantime he kept to himself about it. He barely spoke. His friends just let him be that way, because they knew that pushing him to express his emotions or something like that would only lead to him exploding and possibly breaking down. Kie offered him love whenever she could. Rose brought homework back for him whenever he couldn't get up and face a day of class.

But Albus was feeling a little differently.

He was genuinely sad that Scorpius was having to face another phase of depression again, but he knew that his friend was so much stronger this time. The only problem was that Scorpius wasn't letting anyone in to help him. He'd become transfixed by the idea that he had to do everything alone—he had to solve all problems himself. And what was worse was that he hadn't spoken to Albus since he got upset by the fact that his friend hadn't warned him of the news in advance. The guilt and sadness deepened every time the dark-haired boy peeked through Scorpius's bedcurtains and saw him curled up on his side, a tear-soaked pillow beneath his head. Several days went by in which Scorpius went without saying a word—they'd never gone more than a few hours without talking. It hurt to see him so destroyed. But the little boy still ate, even if Rose just brought him a plate and slipped it under the dormitory door. He was trying to hold it together.

Scorpius finally was able to pull himself out of bed to go have a shower alone—although of course he didn't tell anyone his plan. Albus saw him slip out of the fourposter, pull a robe around his bony frame, and soundlessly leave the boys' living quarters. It took a moment of deliberation, but Albus decided to follow him and make amends somehow. Maybe Scorpius would feel a little better after getting nice and clean and would be willing to look at the situation with a clearer head. Albus was only trying to protect him…

On his pursuit of the tiny boy quietly moving towards the washroom, Albus felt a hand lay on his shoulder. He whipped around—praying it wasn't anyone that would ask him what he was doing or try to find out what was going on. Thankfully, it was Kie. She took a deep breath. "How is he?" she whispered. Albus sighed in response. "He's still not talking to me. Not talking to anyone. He only made it to one class today, and then he just laid in bed and fell asleep. I don't know what to do….so I'm going to let him shower and then grab him on the way out to talk to him and explain what I was trying to do." Albus answered.

"He'll let you in,"

"He's not letting anyone in. Has he talked to you recently?"

"A little after my Herbology class today. But he doesn't say much—just mainly talked about me and how I was doing. He wouldn't answer a lot of my questions. I was hoping that maybe I'd catch him heading to the showers and go make him feel better in there."

"How exactly are you going to do that?"

"…I'm a girl, Albus. I'm sure you can figure out the rest."

"…Er…do you think he'll want to? You know, being so depressed and all? Maybe he'll have no passion or desire."

"My goal is to make him feel wanted in every possible way—emotionally, mentally….er….physically…you know what I mean. I even brought Prickers along in my pocket because Scorpius likes to pet him whenever he's a little upset."

"Boy, you're bringing out all the bells and whistles, aren't you?"

"Oh come on, Albus."

Kie playfully nudged him, trying to smile despite the pain she felt for her boyfriend. "I'll wait out here," he told her. "And when you two are….er…finished, I guess…I'll meet him in the commonroom. I've got to talk to him though. Tell him that for me." Kie nodded. She glanced around to make sure no one was looking, then slipped past Albus towards the washroom. He watched her go, turning back to head up to Gryffindor Tower. He prayed his friend would agree to meet him. He prayed to have a chance to explain himself….

Kie stopped abruptly in her path when she saw Chrysanthemum Creevey heading on a path which seemingly would get her to Gryffindor Tower. The girl saw her too. They stared at each other for a moment, waiting for, daring the other to speak first. Chrysanthemum drew a breath. "Do you think you could pass a message along to Scorpius for me?" she boldly asked. The younger girl didn't say a word. "Tell him that I heard about the family accident. Express my sympathy for him. I know this is a very hard time for him, especially with his…well, you know."

"I'm not about to give him false sympathy from someone." Kie bit.

"What do you mean, 'false sympathy'?"

"He needed you. He was at his weakest, lowest point and you just left him there because you were thinking of only yourself. All he craved was love. For someone to tell him that they noticed his efforts in getting better. But you focused on your desire for…I don't know, pleasure? Anyway, it was selfish of you to think that breaking up with him would solve the problems; it may have been a quick fix for you, but it almost literally destroyed him."

"…He has you now. Why would he still be hanging on to the thought of me?"

"He's not hanging on to any part of you. All I'm saying is that he doesn't need a thing from you—not your sympathy, not your words, not even your acknowledgement. You were wrong, Creevey, and he's not the only one that knows it."

"…You're jealous of me because I had him first."

"I thought Slytherins were supposed to be smart. Apparently you're not following any of this."

"You take that back. And you know what? Don't tell him I even said anything. Neither of you are worth my time. Between him not being able to pick himself up, and you being such a know-it-all, you're perfect for each other. Why should I even bother?"

"Oh, go snog your boyfriend in public, Creevey. Everyone knows how disgusting you are. They don't have to know about Scorpius's eating disorder or depression to understand that you left him for a reason that he couldn't even control. And that's enough to turn them against you."

"I know he's not the only one hiding his little insecurities. Am I right? Or did you not hear me?"

"Leave me out of this. I'm standing up for Scorpius, as I would do whether he was an acquaintance or my husband."

"I see my reasoning is falling on deaf ears…or just one, I suppose. I'm happy with a man that can remain strong and constant; you just run along now and make sure he's not trying to drown himself in the bathtub, or hang himself from the shower—"

"You haven't even a shred of a heart in there to empathize with anyone! About anything!" Kie shouted. She was incredibly seething. "You portrayed the 'perfect girlfriend' for a while—but then you got impatient! You left him, only thinking about yourself and your needs! You didn't even think about what that would do for him!"

"I waited three years for him to grow up and leave his past behind him! He could never do that! Never!" Chrysanthemum raised her voice as well.

"It doesn't work that way! If you have a disorder or a debilitation, you never escape from it! You never leave it behind you! It ruins you until you can't take it anymore and your ear screams with pain or your stomach lurches itself to throw up anything you've consumed 'in the past'! …You have no depth to this topic! Maybe if you stayed with him you would've, but it's too late! He's mine now! And I hate to be a little pre-teen when I say this, but you can't have him because you don't deserve him!"

A long pause ensued, in which both girls stared at each other while breathing heavily. Kie's left ear hurt tremendously after hearing Chrysanthemum's loud voice and hearing her own carry across the space at such a volume. Chrysanthemum held her tongue for almost a minute. "Well then you must be strongest couple put together in the entire world, with everything you two have got wrong with you." she whispered, swiftly turning to walk in the opposite direction. Kie stared after her, mind whirring at the fact that Chrysanthemum was so heartless towards any person, boyfriend or not, that she couldn't understand. "You know, he's a lot stronger than you even can fathom." she called after the Slytherin girl. Chrysanthemum paused her steps, but she didn't look back. "He really tried to show you that he was doing better, that he was trying. And you pushed him away. …You didn't just ignore his pleas for recognition, you downright insulted his abilities. He can heal. He's human. He needs time." Kie explained. Chrysanthemum was still for a long time. In a barely audible whisper, she replied, "He needed the time that I just don't have." She continued walking without another word. Kie's blood boiled—nobody was ever that replaceable. Yet the girl felt she was justified in not being patient with Scorpius. She saw nothing wrong with it. As the pain in her ear intensified, Kie ran the rest of the way towards the washroom, trying to hide her teary eyes behind the rushing wind as she flew down the hallway.

Every time the commonroom door swung open, Albus hopefully glanced up to see if it was Scorpius. But it took quite a long time for just about every other Gryffindor to come marching through—still no sign of a tiny blonde boy. Finally, just after everyone began getting dressed for dinner, the door opened just a crack and a slim body slipped through it silently. The face of this boy didn't look happy, or better, or even satisfied. It just read guilt and anguish—something Albus could relate to. He stood up from his place on the couch. Thankfully, they were the only two in the area for a while everyone was getting changed. "Scorpius…" Albus whispered, his lips, throat, and tongue suddenly uncomfortably dry. "Can I…talk to you?"

"P-Please…" the small boy replied.

"I-I…I just wanted to tell you again that I'm sorry. Not just about your loss, but about not telling you when I found out. You've got to understand that I was only trying to keep you happy for as long as possible—and I want to do everything in my power to make sure you're ok. When I read that letter…my heart was absolutely breaking for you. …It was a stupid move to try and play a brave face. I know it only hurt you in the end."

"Albus…I'm not mad at you. It's ok….you don't have to apologize."

"Things are different between us. We used to be so close; the past couple of days I've barely seen you at all."

"I'm trying to cope with this myself. I don't want to always be relying on others for my happiness and for support. I've got to learn how to make myself pleased…how to make myself feel my worth."

"You've even been talking to Kie less…."

"I know. And she knows that. But today we had a nice talk and I explained why. She understands that I've got to do this myself. She gets it."

"It's not that I don't get it, Scorpius, it's that I want you to see that you're not alone. That you never will be. Because you've got an army of friends behind you that would never mind picking you up when you're low. That's what we're here for."

"I really truly appreciate that. But what I mean is that I need to look inside myself to see what good I have, instead of just automatically assuming everything's my fault, or that I could've s-sa…saved them. I've got to trick my brain. And that's all me. Your love and support honestly helps, but I've been avoiding everyone to just get a grip on myself."

"I'm so sorry for not telling you…."

"Don't be. I understand it."

"…I just really love you."

The boys embraced, holding on for a long time. "I love you too. And Rose, James, Hugo, and Lily. And Kie of course too. You're all so special to me." Scorpius whispered. They held on for a long time, both just so glad to be talking again; to be close again. Albus dried his eyes on his sleeve after pulling away. "Are you coming to dinner tonight? Michael's been missing you." he asked. Scorpius shrugged, looking uneasy. "I don't know if I'm ready to yet. It's just jumping back into socialization and answering questions from everyone that scares me a little. Maybe tomorrow evening I'll feel better." he answered. "Plus, I think if I had to see Kie across the Hall now, I'd be blushing like mad!" Both boys laughed at this, hugging once more. "I'll smuggle you a plate," Albus promised. Rose met them outside in the commonroom to head down to dinner. She was gentle around Scorpius, tenderly stroking his arm or patting his shoulder if she spoke directly to him or anything. She just hated seeing him so upset. Scorpius waved goodbye to head back up to his bed and write in his journal—just as Miss Hannah had instructed him to do. They went down to dinner, and Scorpius sat in his fourposter feeling a bit lighter than he had that previous afternoon; he was beginning to believe his affirmations.

And nobody was around to blame or make him feel bad, like they were to each other at home with Mrs. Greengrass and his mother Astoria.

Since Astoria and Draco were named the godparents of little Constantine, they got to keep her at home with them. Draco had thought it would work well, considering it would give Astoria something to do all day, but he quickly found out that it was hurting her. The baby resembled Daphne so much. So sometimes Mrs. Greengrass would come over to help with the babysitting—and things would get bad fast. She played guilt games with Astoria to make someone suffer the same sadness she was feeling; she even went as far as to threaten to have Constantine put with Bazel. She never meant to hurt her daughter that much—it was mainly just a way of trying to express her grief; making others feel the same of worse, so that way she wouldn't feel like the only one that was taking it so hard. Scorpius hated the funeral. He hated the wake. He hated the relatives coming over to express their condolences. Because trouble would stir up, and it made him hurt for those affected.