The Inquisitor's Son

Part Fifty-Two: Unknown Location I

Pansy got the letter from Scorpius. She had hoped that he wouldn't write her back in the first place. His life depended on it. With each letter, he was one step closer to her.

She almost cried. She wondered just how much he looked like his father now. He already looked so much like him. She didn't see him much as a child. Maybe once or twice in passing and the rest in the page seven photos that the rags managed to get. Draco was very protective of his son. Pansy wondered what it would have been like to care as much about another person.

To love someone's life over their own.

Pansy Parkinson had spent many years caring only for herself. When she broke it off with Draco, she had lied and said that it was her father's idea. It was hers. She couldn't stand the thought of being associated with someone of less than perfect social standing. Not that he believed her anyway. He knew her well enough to know better. He wasn't that broken hearted, but the look of betrayal written across his face was something that had haunted Pansy for years. There was now a worst look that haunted her.

She need only let her mind wander for an instant and she could hear the screams. It all echoed in her mind. All those bloody images branded into her memory. She stared at her right hand. She could feel the warm skin of Astoria Greengrass' eyelids as she slid them closed.

"Everything is going as plan, my petal," said a silken voice. He placed his hands on her shoulders. "It will be over soon. You'll be free after that."

Pansy didn't say the words that sat on her tongue. "I'll be dead after that."

She heard another voice. It was the last words that Draco Malfoy told her just a week before he died, "For once in your life do something good. Do something brave. Bloody Hell, Pansy, just do something."

Scorpius returned home to Manderlay as soon as the last assignment was turned in. He would have signed up to stay on, if only to avoid having to show up on Christmas Day at St. Mungo's. He had another riddle to deal with.

Scorpius didn't really care for the school material that it had. It was the missing pages. Someone tore them out. He doubted they were after brewing tips. "I've got a bad feeling about this thing," said Albus after watching his friend inspect it for days.

"It's just a book," said Scorpius.

Albus said, "My mum always said to never trust something if you can't see where it keeps its brain."

"My mum said to never judge a book by its cover."

"This isn't a game, Score. Either you show this book to someone who's in a position to help you or I will go straight to my dad and tell him."

Scorpius had never heard Albus say that. "Fine," he said tersely. "Come with me to Professor Longbottom's office."

"All right," agreed Albus. He gave the book a look, but he didn't really want to touch it. "I've got a bad feeling about it."

"Why? One of your namesakes bought and used it," said Scorpius.

Albus shook his head. "I'll stick to what my mum told me."

They went to the Herbology professor's office. He was grading papers and looked a little startled to see them. "I don't have any extra assignments for you, Scorpius. You have a lot on your plate this holiday."

"Professor, there's something I have to ask you about," said Scorpius as he held up the book.

Professor Longbottom just looked at it. "What is that? Where did you get that?" he asked.

Scorpius told him and Albus gave the part at the end. Professor Longbottom paled as he stood up. "Give it to me, Scorpius. Now."

"What's wrong? What was on those pages?"

The professor flipped through the book. "This has to go to Harry."

"My dad?"

"His dad?"

"Yes," nodded Professor Longbottom. "I'll take it to him."

"But, why?" asked Scorpius.

"Did your dad ever tell you about his sixth year at Hogwarts?" asked the professor.

"Only that the headmaster was murdered that year, Professor," answered Scorpius.

"That is true, but did you know that your dad was ordered to by Voldemort?"

Scorpius sat down. "No, he didn't. He wouldn't kill anyone. Mr. Potter said that my dad wasn't a killer."

"I wish I had more details to give you, but Harry knows. He put your dad in the infirmary that year," Professor Longbottom told him. "I think that Harry was right though. Your dad wasn't a killer. He didn't have it in him."

"My dad didn't tell me," said Scorpius softly.

"You can't blame him, Score," pointed out Albus, "but it explains why Dad came down so hard on James. He's never said anything about putting Mr. Malfoy in the hospital wing."

The professor gave his godson a slight smile. "You're right. It wasn't your dad's best moment. He was not proud of it."

"Dad hardly ever talked about knowing Mr. Potter in school. I found out when I was about six or seven. My dad said that they weren't friends," said Scorpius.

"The rivalry wasn't unlike the one between you and James," said Professor Longbottom.

Scorpius shrugged, saying, "I doubt they fought over the same thing."

Professor Longbottom looked at Scorpius as Albus sort of looked away. "I see," he said. "I suspected as much."

"Suspect what?"

The professor smiled as Albus glared at Scorpius for asking. "So, I take it you will head for home today? I'll escort you back to your house."

"I was going home on a train just like everyone else."

"I think it would be better," said Professor Longbottom. His tone was calm, but there was an edge to it that Scorpius didn't feel like challenging.

Albus said, "Don't worry about it, mate."

"All this special treatment doesn't really make me feel special," sighed Scorpius.

"There are too many variables at King's Cross with the holiday and all," explained the professor.

Scorpius' lips formed a straight line. It was a feat given how full his lips were. Albus could tell how frustrating it was for him. "What time do I have to go?"

"As soon as possible," replied Professor Longbottom.

"I'll be ready in an hour," said Scorpius.

Scorpius returned to Manderlay to the warm, familiar smell of gingerbread. He could hear his grandmother and aunt along with Molly Weasley in the kitchen. He didn't bring his whole trunk home just the books he needed for his assignments and his violin. "I'm home," he announced.

Narcissa came to him, saying, "Oh, you're home, love." She gave him a kiss and he returned one. "You are getting so tall."

Scorpius smiled. "Hullo, Aunt Andi. ."

"Hello," chorused the ladies.

Smelling the gingerbread was overwhelming. He gave his grandmother a hopeful glance. Narcissa smiled, "All right, you can have some. You've always had a weakness for it. Your dad was utterly mystified by it."

Scorpius wasn't put off by that he put his things down on the sofa and made a beeline for the kitchen. He'd even put up with tea with the ladies for some fresh biscuits. "I remember you were almost four years old when you bit the heads off all the gingerbread men I had made for the children at 's"

Scorpius grinned as he recalled, "You thought it was Dad until he pointed out the teeth marks."

"You were also snatching one of the biscuits. Your dad thought it was wise to leave," laughed Narcissa laughed.

The ladies laughed. "How did you get home so early?" asked Andromeda.

Scorpius chewed and swallowed before replying, "Professor Longbottom thought it best. I would have liked to take the train like everyone else."

"Did something happen?" asked Narcissa, sensing something amiss.

Scorpius answered,"Maybe, I'm not sure, but something is going on. Professor Longbottom just sprung on me that I wasn't going home on the train. He said he had to talk to ."

Molly Weasley perked up a bit at the mention of her son-in-law. "I'm sure that whatever it is Harry will take care of it."

Scorpius gave a shrug. He was more curious than worried. It was just like the adults to plan around him than include him. He was going to ask Harry about the investigation. He ha relied upon the reports that Teddy and his grandmother gave him. It wasn't good enough anymore. He had questions that needed answers.

"Harry, Neville's here to see you," Teddy informed him.

Harry looked up from his paperwork. He was doing paperwork for the department, which he had to sign off on. His eyes betrayed slight surprise. "Send him in, Teddy," he said.

A moment later, Neville walked in. They exchange standard pleasantries as Neville took a seat. He told Harry about Scorpius' trip to the Room of Requirement and his meeting with the boys.

As soon as Neville brought out the Potions book, Harry had paled. "I can't believe it," he whispered.

"I wasn't sure which pages were missing," said Neville. "It was Albus who had insisted that Scorpius bring it to me. He looked half-afraid of it."

"He has better instincts than I do." He reluctantly took the book into his hands and turned to the part where the pages had been ripped out. "This is bad, Neville. The pages with that curse I used that landed Draco Malfoy in the infirmary are missing."

"I suspected as much," said Neville grimly. "Did you tell him about how close you got to killing his dad? Malfoy was killed using that same spell."

"But how?"

"Harry, just because you thought no one was paying attention before doesn't mean that no one was. I was hovering along the edges and even I knew about the book."

"You're thinking that the killer was in Hogwarts with us. Studying this curse, perfecting it so that he or she could kill more effectively with it. When I did it, there was almost no rhyme or reason to how the slashes hit Malfoy."

"Scorpius described it as being stabbed from the inside out," said Neville. "Malfoy knew what was coming. He had to save his son and wife. But Astoria was hit right after he was. She was prepared to hold back the killer. Malfoy used the last ounce of magic he had to create that shielding spell that keeps Scorpius safe."

Harry nodded, "It's best to keep it a secret. But you are right. I need to explain to Scorpius why finding this is very important. It has to be examined for evidence." He tapped the cover of the book. "I never thought that I'd see it again."

"The Room of Requirement is one of the most important rooms in the castle. I mean I haven't heard of any other student stumbling upon it in recent time," Neville said.

"I've been thinking about that prophecy."

"Trelawney doesn't even remember what she said. Scorpius isn't even a student of hers, but she sought him out in that state."

"Which means that Scorpius is much more important tha even he's willing to admit. But why?" asked Harry.

Neville ruefully observed, "You sound like your son, James, Harry. He keeps asking."

Harry sighed, then smiled a bit, "So, Scorpius is going through with the event at 's? The press got wind of it. They have been waitin for nearly two years to get something out of him."

"Are they? By the way, Narcissa is arranging a sort of party for Scorpius' birthday. Apparently the ladies have gotten together for pulling together. It's going to be at Greengrass Glen."

Harry frowned a bit, recalling how last year Scorpius blew up at the mere mention of his own birthday. "Is it a good idea?"

Neville told Harry exactly what he had told Scorpius. "I don't think his parents will mind. It will be later at night."

Harry knew exactly which ladies Neville was referring to when he mentioned them. "I have security details to see to for St. Mungo's, but Scorpius will be over before Christmas anyway. No doubt the ladies will send him over."

Sure enough, on the third day into the winter holiday, Scorpius was sent to the Potters with a tin of biscuits and fudge. Harry decided it was time to tell Scorpius and Albus about the importance of their find.

Because Ginny was involved, Harry asked her to help him explain. She was even more surprised than Harry over the discovery of the book. She wouldn't touch just like Albus. It remained in Auror Headquarters for safekeeping. Ginny wasn't going to let it into her house.

"Why are you here, Malfoy? Don't you have your own house?" asked James irritably when he saw Scorpius arrive around lunchtime.

Scorpius replied, "My grandmother sent me and your dad invited me."

"She doesn't want you there either," said James.

"James, don't you have studying to do?" asked his mother sharply.

James smirked as he replied, "I'm just having a laugh, Mum."

Ginny told him, "Be nice, James."

Scorpius watched this brief exchange before offering up the tin. "My grandmother made some fudge, Turkish Delight, and biscuits."

"Now why didn't you say so?" asked James as he relived the tin from Scorpius and left for the kitchen. He grandly added, "You may stay."

Scorpius shrugged as Albus came down from his room. "You're early," he said. "My dad's not here yet. He's still at the office."

Lily came down after her brother. She blushed a bit, not expecting him to be there. Scorpius didn't look her in the eye.

The conversation was pleasant. They discussed the winter holiday plans. It got hard to tiptoe around the subject of Christmas. James returned with tea and the sweets that Scorpius had brought. That was a bit odd, but James was probably still in trouble for the duel.

"Al said you conjured your Patronus in class," said Ginny.

Scorpius only had the tea and the gingerbread biscuits. "Profressor Larkin made me," he said. "It took over a year to get it right." He didn't want to talk about how he had been able to conjure his Patronus.

"It was huge. It took up the classroom," said Albus.

"I know I was the first one to see," said James. He didn't bother to say that Scorpius probably saved his neck.

"I want to see it," declared Lily.

Ginny laughed at the look on Scorpius' face. "Lily, it's winter break. You know that you and all the children can't do magic outside of school," her mother told her. Scorpius breathed a sigh of relief.

Harry came home and slipped in through the kitchen. He hadn't brought the book with him. He announced his arrival and after a brief exchange of greetings. He took a deep breath. Scorpius thought that he looked tired. "This is about the book you found," he started.

James and Lily glanced at each other, wondering why they hadn't been asked to leave. They were now curious. Harry started, "Ad you know, Scorpius, I knew your dad in school and we didn't exactly get along. On our sixth year, I took Advanced Potions Making, even though I didn't have the O.W.L.s for it. Your dad also took the course."

"No surprise there. Lucius always expected my dad to. My dad's marks were a lot better than mine are now," drawled Scorpius. It was his own fault. He probably could have applied himself more.

"What do you know about your dad's sixth year?" asked Harry.

Scorpius shifted uncomfortably as he replied, "He wouldn't talk about it. He said it was one of the worst years of his life. My mum told me to stop asking."

Harry could tell that Draco had gone out of his way to shield his son from all the bad in the world unlike his own father. This put Harry in an awkward position. He didn't know where he stood with Scorpius. He said, "It was the year that your dad became a Death Eater."

Scorpius' jaw tightened. He merely nodded. "Wait, he was sixteen, Dad. An underage wizard is useless," pointed out Albus quickly.

"Riddle needed someone inside of Hogwarts. A student would be able to get into the school much more easily than an adult," said Ginny. "Draco Malfoy was given a mission: to kill Albus Dumbledore."

Even James' jaw dropped a Scorpius said, "Dad said the Death Eaters had moved into Malfoy Manor that year. Grandmother said with Lucius in jail there was no one to protect them. They all would have been killed."

Harry could still remember Draco's words the night that Professor Dumbledore was killed. "That year I wasn't prepared to take Potions so Ron and I had to get books for the class. Ron got the nice clean copy and I ended up with the copy you found in the Room of Requirement. At the time I had no idea who the Half-Blood Prince was. Professor Snape and I didn't get along. Anyway that book helped me brew some fantasy potions."

"The book had more than that," put in Ginny, if only to stop her husband from going off in a tangent again.

Harry nodded, "It had spells in. There was a nasty one. I ended up getting in a duel with Draco Malfoy. I won't go into the exact details, but I almost killed him."

"Dad, are you serious?" asked James.

"It's not something I'm proud of," said Harry. "Afterwards, my best mates and your mum staged an intervention and took the book from me."

Ginny supplied, "I hid the book in the Room of Requirement. I thought we'd never see it again."

"What was the spell?" asked Scorpius in a calm, controlled voice. "What did you do, ?"

"The cut your father and he was bleeding on the floor. It was like invisible blades slashed him," answered Harry.

"I see. It was almost like the spell that killed him," whispered Scorpius. His hand was on his side. "So the pages that are missing in that book had the incantation."

James and Lily were at a lost. They were as stunned as Albus to hear about their dad's school boy folly. It was difficult to imagine their dad being violent despite his work and the other things they had heard.

"Dad didn't say anything. Of course, he wouldn't," said Scorpius. "Someone else obviously found the book and took just those pages. Why not the whole thing?"

"Hard to say," admitted Harry.

James said, "I don't understand what this is all about. Malfoy, what happened to you?"

"Your dad used a curse that someone saw and used to kill more than a dozen people, including my family. Half the victims were members of my family," replied Scorpius. His voice was strained like his throat was closing up.

"Professor Snape knew the counter curse, but I doubt that the person who took those pages cared," said Harry. He could see how Scorpius was digging his hand into his side. He frowned as he asked, "Are you all right, Scorpius?"

"No," croaked Scorpius before his eyed rolled and he passed out.

Albus was sitting closest to him. He was stunned before he could react Scorpius half slid of the the sofa. "Dad!"

Harry and Ginny were on their feet as soon as Scorpius' eyes rolled to the back of his head. Albus moved out of the way. "Harry, something's very wrong," said Ginny in a shaky voice. She had moved Scorpius' hand away from his side. It was red with blood.


Author's Note: This chapter was written a while back, but wasn't ready until the internet went down at home. Twice. First the service itself, then the power cord. Work and life got busy again. I have some handwritten parts of later events that starts to pull the threads of this very long story together, but I don't know how long it will be. I have hit pass 600 reviews. Thank you very much everyone.

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.