A/N: Hello! I'm on day 10 of Quarantine and I'm going quite crazy. I hope that you all are safe and well. Here's another old chapter that has been heavily revised. It's follow up will be posted shortly and then MAYBE I'll get over my serious writers block for my many WIPs. Anyways, stay healthy, social distance, and enjoy!
Rose had this thing about emotions. Quite plainly, she was terrible with them. When she was upset, she yelled, like any other reasonable person. Scorpius told her that her inability to properly decipher and communicate her feelings caused her to become frustrated with herself, thus resulting in the aforementioned yelling. And she had come to realize that he was right, which is why he balanced her out so perfectly. He was good with the 'emotions', and she was good at other things. Like cooking and chess and anything else really.
That's why when Rose unlocked the door to their flat, she had hardly expected to walk into her bedroom to see her husband with his head in his hands, his shoulders shaking silently.
She was shocked; frozen on the spot. She'd seen him cry before; of course, she had. They'd been together for a decade and had been friends for even longer. They were married for Merlin's sake! But she hated seeing people cry, Scorpius specifically. It defied all the rules of the world. Scorpius was happy and witty and sometimes so bold that she forgot that he used to be a small, shy, self-sacrificing 11-year-old. He was strong too, so unbelievably so. He had to be, growing up in the way he had. So whenever something got to him enough to make him cry, it had to be frighteningly serious
He looked up suddenly, having heard her slowly walking towards him. He quickly scrubbed a hand over his face and sat up a little straighter, smiling, or attempting to as it looked more like a wince.
"Hey," she said gently, sitting next to him and taking his hand in hers.
"Hello," he said, wincing as his voice cracked. "How was your day?" His eyes were red-rimmed and puffy and he looked utterly defeated. It broke her heart.
"Scorpius, what happened?" She asked as she brought her free hand up to his cheek.
At her touch, his eyes closed tightly and he took in a deep breath. "Nothing, I'm okay."
"You know that you can tell me" she said gently.
"What would you like for dinner? We can order in if you want," he supplied, carrying on as though he hadn't heard her.
"Scorpius," Rose said bracingly.
"Rose," he said with a sigh. "Really, I'm alright. I promise," he said as he smiled and leaned in to kiss her. She pulled back and frowned slightly.
She might be shit with emotions, but she knew her husband. She knew when he needed space and she knew when he needed to be pushed. "I'm sorry, but we're not doing anything until we talk about what's going on with you."
A heavy silence hung between them before he finally answered.
"It's my dad," he said quietly.
Her heart plummeted and she was relieved that he was looking forward and had missed the look of horror that crossed her face.
"Someone broke into the house. My mum found him when she got home from work," he said no longer trying to disguise the tears running down his cheeks.
"Is he-" Rose couldn't even finish her sentence. Dread filled her and she gripped Scorpius's hand harder. He shook his head and a sense of relief washed over her.
"Not yet at least. Mum doesn't know much. She's waiting at Mungo's to hear more," he said quietly.
"Well, then we need to go to goimmediately. She can't be there all by herself," Rose said standing up abruptly; already mentally drafting the letter she would send her mum before they left. If anyone could get her answers, it would be her mother. She turned around to see that Scorpius still hadn't moved.
"Scorpius?" She asked cautiously.
"I'm not going," he responded shortly
She sighed, kneeling down in front of him so that they were eye level. "Scor, you mum needs us."
When he didn't respond she tried again. "We need to go, Scorpius. This isn't negotiable. You deserve to know what's going on just like your mother deserves your support."
He ignored her, but she let the silence surround them. He would talk when he was ready, she knew that. But she couldn't help but sense a certain urgency to the situation. There was a very real possibility that Draco was dead. The thought alone caused bile to rise in her throat. She was torn. She sighed and cursed Merlin for making her so horrible at this kind of thing. Suddenly though, he interrupted the silence and she was so thankful that she almost kissed him.
"Someone broke into my childhood home and tried to kill my father for what he did thirty years ago," Scorpius said suddenly.
"Which is why we need to go and see if he's alright." She didn't know why he wasn't moving from his spot but she knew that he needed to before it was too late.
"Did you not hear me?" He cried frantically. "Someone broke into my home and tried to murder my father. And I know that he did horrible things, Rose. But he was probably just cooking for mother, or reading! Completely unsuspecting, minding his own bloody business and then," he trailed off.
"Your dad changed and that's what matters," she said softly.
"I know that. You know that. But that doesn't mean the entire wizarding world does. My dad killed people, Rose. He forced someone to take their last breath and now he very well could have taken his," he cried in anguish. Tears were making messy pathways down his cheeks and she could feel her own eyes starting to sting.
"You're right, your dad has made a lot of mistakes. But he was a child, Scorpius. And he's more than made up for the things he was manipulated into doing. You accepted all of this a long time ago and you can't let something like this make you doubt yourself. It's not fair to you and it's not fair to your dad," she said fiercely.
He had finally stopped crying and he closed his eyes tightly. "You're right," he said with a deep breath. "Mum's probably a mess. I'm a terrible son."
"You are not a terrible son," Rose said firmly.
"I am! She sent me the letter two hours ago and I've been sitting here crying like a giant prat," he groaned.
"Everyone copes differently. If you needed time to process, then that's alright."
"Who would have thought it would be you giving me emotional advice," he said with a grin.
She rolled her eyes and stood up. "Now if you get up we can floo to Mungos. I'll write my parents and Uncle Harry to see if we can't get any more information of what bastard did this and how exactly we can get them thrown in Azkaban."
She extended her hand to Scorpius with her best attempt at an assuring smile. He accepted and pulled her close.
"Have I ever told you that I love you" he murmured in her ear. A shiver ran down her spine and she grinned. Even though it had been years she'd never tire of hearing him say the words.
"Maybe a few times. Now let's go or you really will be acting like a giant prat," she said trying to pull away from him.
He rolled his eyes and kissed her briefly. They walked hand in hand to the fireplace. Scorpius didn't know what the next few hours or even days would look like. But he did know that he wouldn't be able to do it without her by his side.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed! Please, please, please leave a review and I'll love you forever:) XOXO
