Thanks so much to: laceyowens50, Colin Creevey, John P, Art, Lacey, LostWriter2016, Far from home, ChakraKitty, IcyChains7, Hey and IMissThisStory for reviewing!

Author's Note: so long time, no see for anyone still interested. I really didn't mean for it to be so long since my last update but as I said in the last Extra I did Gray is not abandoned, if I were to abandon it I would give a final chapter explaining what would've happened to give closure which I guess some people might prefer to waiting but I do still intend to finish it. I don't know how frequent updates will be but I hope it will be easier now I'm done with this chapter because it was not a fun one to write, it was grueling so I hope it's more fun to read and I'm sorry it's short, I decided to split this chapter because I really wanted to get something out. The lockdown also helps because I realized ironically I'm the only person on the planet who enjoys being home so I'm actually good, that being said I do truly hope anyone reading this is safe and healthy and that things get better soon. Take care everyone and if nothing else, hopefully this eases your boredom for a bit

Questions:

Is it the war messing him (Scorpius) up? Is it Calderon messing him up or something? Or is Scorpius just gonna get worst at talking to people as he grows older?
It's mostly Calderon messing him up, though he was never great at this kind of thing anyway and he has a lot on his mind

Is there a reason he's (Varanian) trying to make a Portkey?
Yes, he's trying to recreate the type of portkey he made for Scorpius before that would take him from where he is to the base and back again. He thinks it would be useful for Gray members to have that right now, especially since because they're different to normal portkeys they can bypass the normal protections against them (much like Leila's Ancient Egyptian one could) so if the base(s) are attacked again there's a better chance of people getting out alive

How would Tommy feel about what Scorpius has done to him?
Completely against it

Would Tommy want to be revived at this point, if given the option? Would Tommy even want to be in a world that doesn't have Sal living in it?
No, he could never imagine a future for himself if his heritage was ever revealed (which it was) and he wouldn't want to live on without Sal

When will we hear more of Lysel and sol?
Yes

Will poor Sly find his daddy?
Way too spoilery to say, sorry

With the war going on, how will the ministry punish the Aurors for their cruelty? It wouldn't help numbers to remove them from active duty and too much punishment cus turn them to the shadows no?
Well they'd basically be under house arrest until a proper trial could be carried out, they don't actually have a prison right now to send them to, some might be let off in change for testifying against worse offenders. The numbers aren't that much of a loss, many died anyway and the Aurors assigned to New Azkaban prison tended to be the worst ones either lacking in skill (remember the Ministry lowered the bar for entry because of the war) or having an attitude problem. Keeping them imprisoned is less of a risk to them joining the Shadows than allowing them to continue active duty where they could leave at any time, it'd be hard to trust them to be on active duty

"So now what happens?" Scorpius asked of Hermione as they wandered into the Embry's kitchen after they finished Lawson's account of what happened with the Aurors, Michael was in there cleaning potion vials.

"Now I have to deal with it, you've done your part," Hermione sighed as she suppressed a yawn, flipping through the parchment that had been chronicling what Lawson said.

"Now those Aurors better be arrested," Hogan growled irritably, kicking childishly at the kitchen island which they collectively ignored, "Torturing people into near-insanity is wrong."

"We know."

"Is his account sufficient? Like they're not going to discount what he said because of his weird speech impediment?" Scorpius wondered somewhere between curious and worried, Hermione spared him a glance before he added to Hogan, "You couldn't fix that, right?"

"No," Hogan shook his head, "It's caused by brain damage that occurred long before this attack, far too late to do anything about it."

"Brain damage?"

"It's more common than you think with abuse victims, the abusers have enough knowledge to heal surface injuries and keep the victim alive but not enough to heal or even recognize the underlying damage. Not unless it's life-threatening obviously."

"His account will be fine," Hermione interjected as she bundled up her parchment, "We don't ignore statements because of speech impediments or accents or what have you."

"Good," Scorpius confirmed, he was feeling admittedly more sympathetic after hearing Lawson's story and more confident about letting him in as a Gray member. He did seem to have some skill and hopefully some training might help a bit too, he didn't seem likely to switch sides so fighting for them was probably more useful then rotting insane in a cell.

"I trust Hogan can take you back? I want to get moving on this while it's still light."

"Yeah, that's fine," Scorpius answered and gestured for her to go on, "Thank you for all your help."

"Take it easy," Hogan told her, sounding rather more like he was giving a command rather than wishing her well but either way she gave them a nod of acknowledgement as she left, "Did you want to go back now or what?"

"I kinda wanted to talk to Anton first, he seemed kind of down."

"Of course he's down! You wouldn't let me amputate his crippled leg so now he's stuck with a crippled leg, I know it'd piss me off."

"All the more reason to talk to him," Scorpius insisted and noticed Michael slink out with his head hung, Hogan rolled his eyes.

"Then talk to him! Just let me know when you want to go home."

Scorpius spend some time with his friends, mostly trying to cheer Antonius up which seemed to be to little success. He wasn't even sure how bad this thing with his leg was as Hogan was adamant about him still needing rest, he at least thought he took his mind off things for a little while with a game of wizard's chess that ended in a draw when Antonius' dog ran off with his king. They were mostly amused by this even Calderon thought it hilarious, his always strangely high-pitched laugh echoed eerily inside his mind. Scorpius decided it was best to go, Antonius seemed to be getting sleepy anyway.

"You really should learn to apparate," Hogan told him as he apparated them back to his home with an unusually deafening crack that continued to reverberate inside his eardrums, Scorpius wasn't sure he liked being apparated by Hogan very much.

"I know, I'm trying," Scorpius insisted as they headed towards the house, gritting his teeth at his failure being brought up, "It's just really hard for some reason, the three D's-"

"Well that method of teaching is garbage anyway," Hogan gave a derisive snort and made a flicking motion with his hands, "It's more like 'Think and Blink.'"

"Thanks," Scorpius muttered as they went inside, deciding he was sure didn't like being apparated by Hogan very much.

The Healer grunted in acknowledgement and started trudging upstairs - probably to check on Oathan -while Scorpius went into the front room where Lamb was entertaining the Leebin kids with some kind of makeshift sock puppet show. Scorpius had no idea what it was supposed to be about but the kids were doubled over laughing, he left them to it and went into the kitchen where Myriam was working on preparing dinner. He figured he should probably let her know he was planning on talking to his parents tomorrow if she was still on board, she might like some help with dinner too.

Scorpius didn't sleep well that night, Hogan's counting seemed to go on even longer than usual and when he did manage to get to sleep he ended up in a strange nightmare where he was running through Hogwarts from numbers that were trying to eat him and Antonius who was struggling to keep up. In the end he was pretty glad to wake up, he wasn't exactly sure how the dream ended nor did he particularly want to know. He got up, showered and to distract himself went outside to practice apparating.

He ended up practicing all morning, even skipping breakfast, with nothing to show for it, not even a splinch. He was increasingly tempted to ask Hogan to elaborate on his 'think and blink' method, at this point it was probably preferable to apparate badly rather than to not apparate at all. The worst part was that he wasn't even sure what he was doing wrong, by all accounts he was sure it should be working. But it wasn't.

"Are you done or did you want more time to do that?" Myriam came out and asked closer to lunchtime, "I don't mind, I just need to know whether I should get started on lunch or not."

"No, it's fine," Scorpius sighed heavily, despite the importance of apparition he also knew he was procrastinating, "We should go, my parents will die of old age if we try waiting for me to get this."

"Okay, I'll just let Flan know we're taking off."

"I don't expect we'll be gone long," Scorpius said which she didn't disagree with as she went inside, returning a few minutes later and walking with him to get far enough away to apparate, "I don't suppose you had much trouble with apparition?"

"I found it kind of tricky at first actually," Myriam admitted and gave him a sympathetic look as they came to a halt, "I still managed it before the course was finished though so I suppose not as tricky as you."

"I suppose not," Scorpius muttered and silently took the hand she offered, apparating them both – much more smoothly than Hogan – to outside his family mansion.

"How'd it go at the shelter anyway?" Myriam asked, sounding rather she wanted to change the subject though she also had investment in getting his family to safety due to her friendship with his mother, which he was hoping would help.

"Alright, a reasonable person would probably be convinced," Scorpius answered as they started to walk through the grounds strewn with his grandfather's albino peacock collection, "My family being reasonable is the thing I'm not so sure about."

"Ast- Your mother's pretty reasonable, though she'd probably prefer just to join Gray since she'd get to spend more time with you."

"Well it is my father and grandmother I'm more worried about convincing, I'd be lying if I said I was hopeful."

"Least you tried," Myriam pointed out as they reached the front door, Scorpius heaved another sigh before knocking loudly. He heard a slight pop and a second later the door was opened by the family house-elf.

"Master Scorpius, welcome home!" squeaked Yip excitedly, opening the door and gesturing for them to enter.

"It's good to see you, Yip," Scorpius assured him as he entered, he gestured to Myriam as she followed him inside, "And I'm sure you remember Myriam."

"Of course," Yip confirmed and gave her a slight bow before closing the door behind them, "I shall tell your family of your arrival."

I wish I was a house-elf, Calderon's voice provided unhelpfully in his mind and Scorpius sighed as Yip disapparated with another pop, considering his easy ability to apparate Scorpius supposed he could relate to the envy right now.

They continued on to the parlor where he was set upon by his mother before he even stepped foot through the door thanks to Yip forewarning of their arrival, he hugged her tightly back. This was quickly followed by hugs from his father, grandmother and briefly his excitable brother who had to be taken away because his lunch was ready. Scorpius was kind of glad for this, they were probably better off not having him around for this discussion.

"Well I certainly hope you've rethought your position and have come back here to stay," his grandmother was the one to speak first after they took seats on the firm, navy striped couches scattered around.

"I was going to say much the same thing to you," Scorpius pointed out with a sigh.

"Scorpius, if the Shadow Master was really as determined to attack us as you say then where is she?" his father asked calmly and pointedly, picking up a cup of tea he'd evidently been drinking before their arrival, "It's been a whole month since the attacks started and I'm not sure she's even stepped foot in this county, instead she's been after Hogwarts, where she's faced resistance in the past, London, where the Ministry opposing her were based, and New Azkaban prison, where she specifically spelled out a message saying she'll go after people who go after her. Seems much more like she's focused on people opposing her not people tangentially related to her, we're safer staying out of it."

"You realize she's also targeted scores of towns and cities full of nothing but innocent people?"

"Yes, but we're in a countryside manor not a large, populated area. How many of these has she gone after, Scorpius?"

"Okay, fine," Scorpius sighed as he held up his hands, he had expected this though which was the whole point in looking into the shelters, "If you think it's too unsafe to be with Gray then how about you come stay at one of the Ministry shelters?"

"Absolutely not!" his grandmother burst out immediately.

"Scorpius, you know we're not exactly… fond of the Ministry," his father said with difficulty, seemingly struggling to think of the right word for a bit, "How about instead you just come home? We're also prepared to extend an invitation to you, Myriam, and your family to stay with us until this over."

"That's… very generous of you," Myriam offered, looking at shocked by the suggestion as Scorpius felt while his mother gave them an encouraging smile, "But we can't, we're with Gray for the long haul."

"Even if it means your family would die?"

"Even if it means my family will die," Myriam confirmed which left his father looking truly baffled, "Though we wouldn't be safe here anyway."

He looks so much like Uncle Lucius… if Uncle Lucius' hair was shorter and had been receding

"The safest place for you would be the Ministry shelters," Scorpius reiterated as he tried to ignore Calderon, he earned him a derisive snort from his grandmother.

"If we did go to one of these shelters, would you come with us?" his mother asked pleadingly.

"No, I have to stay with Gray."

"But he could visit," Myriam added quickly.

"Yes, we already have people visiting family there so it's no problem. And look, I've been there, they are a lot nicer then you'd expect," Scorpius told her and went on to explain what he'd learned of them, what Hermione had told him and what he'd seen during his visit, "So it's not like you'd really have to interact with the Ministry anyway."

"We would have to interact with muggles though," his grandmother muttered under her breath which he rolled his eyes at.

"Just lock yourselves in your rooms then and have Yip handle anything that requires social interaction then! But at least you'd be safe there, where it's hidden and protected-"

"We put up protection charms like you suggested," his father pointed out.

"Charms that are meaningless since she already knows where you are, it's only a matter of time before she comes for you."

"A time that may never come."

"But why take the risk!" Scorpius protested in exasperation and rubbed at his temple, "Mother, please tell me you at least see the logic here."

"I do," his mother confirmed helpfully before continuing, "But if we have to leave this place at all then I'd rather we stick together, I'd rather we stay with you."

"Absolutely not, it is far too dangerous to be with Gray," his father put his foot down immediately, "We've talked about this, Astoria."

"Clearly not enough."

"What reason do we even have to believe the Shadow Master knows where we are?" his grandmother wondered aloud.

"Because…" Scorpius started to say but bit back his tongue to stop himself blurting out 'because she murdered Lyra!' since he didn't think upsetting them would help, he knew it was especially hard on his mother and she was the only one on his side right now. Plus then the conversation would be all about his dead sister instead of about them leaving, "Because not only was Grandfather was working with them but we have plenty of other intelligence that shows she does know, I can't get into the specifics you'll just have to take my word for it. Sooner or later, she's coming for you and you don't want to be here when she does."

"Maybe we should go, Draco, it's better to be safe then dead," his mother said.

"But we don't know that it's safer," his father insisted and his grandmother inclined her head in agreement, "However we do know that she's targeted Ministry places before."

"Father, what exactly do you expect is going to happen?" Scorpius asked tiredly, "You think Gray will fall, you think the Ministry will fall, do you the Shadows are going to destroy everything but this house and let you live here in peace when it's over?"

"They might be attacked, not necessarily fall. I'm sure Potter or your Varanian or someone will stop the Shadow Master before the destruction gets too bad."

"I'm sure the people in all those countries she's conquered felt the same."

"But this is different," his grandmother insisted.

"You're right, it is different because she has a vendetta against you and will come for you," Scorpius told her and sighed again, wishing Sal hadn't erased her memories because then she might be more inclined to recognize the seriousness of the threat, "I'm trying to save your lives, why won't you believe me?"

"We believe you."

"But not enough to listen to what I'm saying."

"It's just hard to accept we're safer with people fighting the Shadows then staying neutral," his father said, "Assuming this direct threat to us is even there."

"The threat is there," Myriam assured them, "You may not feel matters but the Shadow Master does and what she thinks is what matters right now."

"You really think we're in danger?" his mother asked of Myriam who nodded seriously, "Draco-"

"Astoria, no," his father cut her off before she could speak, "We've been safe her so far."

"Mother, just grab Sol and come back with us," Scorpius told her seriously, ignoring the way his father and grandmother started in shock and instead just took her hands as he locked eyes with her, he was reminded bizarrely of Lamb as she gazed at him with the same kind of uncertain brown eyes, "You know it's the best course of action, Sol will be as safe as he can be right now and he'll be happy with other kids - including Lysel - and no matter what happens we'll be together. When Father and Grandmother are ready to see reason, they can go to a Ministry shelter and contact us."

"You can't seriously be considering this."

"Astoria, please," Myriam pleaded to which his mother sighed, looking extremely as she slowly spared a glance for everyone in the room before biting her lip.

"I'll think about it," she said finally and Scorpius tried to pull away in frustration but she didn't let him, instead squeezing his hand as she met his eye again, "I mean it, Scorpius. I'll see if we can't get a tour of these Ministry shelters too, maybe in person it won't seem so bad."

"Don't let Sol die because of their stubbornness," Scorpius whispered so quietly he wasn't sure she actually heard for a second but she nodded, slowly but surely she nodded.

"Seeing them won't change anything," his grandmother brushed it off dismissively as Scorpius and his mother let their hands go, instead standing to leave, "They just don't seem like safe place to be."

"Well for all your sakes, I hope I'm wrong about the danger you're in."

You're not, Calderon's voice whispered coldly inside his ear.

"Okay, if the instructions are correct this should be the place," Molly announced as they apparated to the location Cyrus had given to him, looking a little nauseous as she whipped out her wand, "I'm not sure exactly what we're looking for so spread out and keep your eyes peeled, he just said someone from Gray should detect us somehow and show up."

"Are we sure this is the right place?" Flan wondered curiously, cyan eyes swiveling sharply as he took in their surroundings.

Oathan did the same and cautiously started to wander further from his family to explore downhill, there didn't seem to be anything particularly noteworthy about the area besides that. It was uninhabited, no signs of nomads, Shadows or leftover civilization. There was just grassland and a dense amount of trees though it didn't seem like enough to be a forest, he did notice there seemed to be quite a lot of birds scattered across said trees though. In fact, if he didn't know any better he'd swear the birds were watching them.

"I'm sure!" Hess called back brightly and Oathan realized the four year old had bounded after him, in stark contrast his twin whinged and clung tightly to Flan's hand.

"Hess, how many times do we have to tell you not to wander off?! Stay near Oathan!" Flan yelled after him, "Oathan-"

"Yeah, I know," Oathan assured him and grabbed Hess before the boy could rush past him, he grinned up at him innocently, "No running off, stay where I can see you."

"I just wanted to go with you," Hess insisted as Oathan let him go, this time thankfully staying within arm's reach. For now anyway, he had started humming to himself and walking at a faster pace than Oathan had been. Oathan sighed, why couldn't Pyxis want to go with him?

"Hess, what did I just say?"

"What? You can still see me."

"It's dangerous."

"Nah."

"Nah? Hess, this is serious," Oathan insisted and pulled the boy to him again, eying the trees warily. He couldn't even see the others from where they were now, "If you want to go with me then go with me, okay?"

"Okay," Hess agreed and smirked as Oathan let him go, switching to just skipping along beside him before giggling.

"What's so funny?"

"You'll see," Hess assured him happily before switching to a sing-song voice, "Oathan has a girlfriend."

"What? No I don't," Oathan wondered in confusion.

"You do."

"I don't even know any girls besides Mom."

"You do, I saw it."

"You're mad, Hess," Oathan decided, giving up arguing with the four year old who merely laughed.

"Yes, quite," Hess surprisingly agreed and tapped the side of his head, looking up at him with Molly's sky blue eyes, "But that's why I'm right."

"But you're not right?"

Hess nodded his head in front of them and Oathan looked back ahead, seeing nothing but clearing. He made to glance back at the boy before hearing a pop, he turned back quickly recognizing it as apparation and his hand went to his wand defensively before he saw who it was.

"C- Cassia?" Oathan stammered out in surprise, at least he thought it was her but she had aged – naturally, it'd been almost fifteen years since the Last Battle – so he wasn't totally sure.

Her hair still had the color and consistency of straw but she'd grown, both getting taller and more… curvaceous? And had she always been that beautiful? He recalled her being strong but her presence was downright commanding now and she was just standing in ripped-up jeans with her arms folded, the shadows beneath her dark chestnut eyes only made their focus seem sharper and her gaze was unyieldingly firm.

"Oathan Loren," Cassia mused thoughtfully, cocking her head to one side curiously but it gave nothing else away for what she was thinking.

"We erm… just wondered if um… we could rejoin err… Gray," Oathan managed to get out, suddenly finding words seemed a thousand miles away.

"Oh, did you now?" Cassia countered, raising an eyebrow.

Oathan opened his mouth to confirm it but was taken off-guard as before he could blink she had a wand in her hand with a spell shooting his way, his words instead became a strangled cry of surprise as he raised his arms to create a magical shield to protect them. He glanced down to where Hess had been to apparate him to safety but saw the boy had gone, he turned quickly and spotted him hiding behind a tree. Hess grinned and waved then jerked his head back towards Cassia.

It was a good thing he did because she'd already fired another spell towards him, Oathan threw himself out of the way for this one and withdrew his wand as he was getting back to his feet. This turned out to be a wise move as she'd already shot another spell at him! He held up his hand and conjured another shield while with his wand cast a non-verbal Disarming Charm, she sidestepped it like it was nothing and jabbed her wand at the ground.

It wasn't a spell he was very familiar with and had only had a split second to wonder what it did before the question was answered by the ground lurching beneath his feet, taken off-guard he was thrown off the brittle grass. He tried to salvage it by turning landing into a roll – albeit a painful one – but Cassia put her foot down on his wand as he came to a halt, tapping her own wand against his skull while he was still trying to raise his other hand to defend himself.

"Dead," Cassia told him simply, retracting her wand as he lay there breathing heavily, seemingly ending her attack as suddenly as she'd started it.

"What?" Oathan wondered, his mind trying to catch up to the events that were happening. She stepped back, the corners of her lips curling into a smile – had she ever smiled like that before? - as she offered him a hand up.

"You have a lot of training to do back in Gray," Cassia explained as he took her surprisingly delicate hand, allowing her to help him to his feet where he found he was actually much taller than her up close.

"Cassia?" Molly's voice queried and Oathan jumped away from Cassia, taking the opportunity to wipe his sweaty hands on his jeans hopefully discretely and pocket his wand as the others approached. He also caught a glimpse of Hess darting over quickly before his parents could notice his absence, snickering in amusement.