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Chapter Nine: Labs

9 August 2025

Rosie,

I apologize in advance, but this letter will be long. I've spoken with some colleagues specializing in family curses, and I've also corresponded with Draco regarding what he found when he dug around for information before his marriage. The information that I've gathered has thus far been generally underwhelming.

There have been several blood tests done on the Malfoys to determine the kind of magic used in the conception of the curse. It has been deduced that the curse was originally placed on one Malfoy ancestor and his wife many generations ago (as I'm sure you've already been told), not on the family as a whole. Unfortunately, this means that the original version of the curse was very highly concentrated and wound its way into the original couples' DNA. The fact that it is still present to this point is evidence of that.

There is a mild amount of good news, however. The fact that the original spell came from two Malfoy ancestors (the original and his spouse) means that after a certain amount of time, the spell should fade from Malfoy DNA completely. My contact in the family curses department, Svetlana Andrade, would like to make an appointment to test Scorpius' blood and see how much of the curse's potency is still present in him.

I want to stress that whatever tests are performed, I do not want you to get your hopes up for a fix. DNA-infused curses are very unpredictable and hard to get rid of. There's a chance that, if the curse is still present in Scorpius' blood, he may be unable to get rid of it.

I'm very sorry that I can't send you better tidings, kiddo. Let me know if there's anything more that I can do.

Uncle Bill

9 August 2025

Scorpius,

Will you meet me for dinner tonight at six? I want to talk to you about the wedding.

R. Weasley

I bit my lip as I reread the letter for the fourth time. I couldn't decide whether or not I should send it. On the one hand, I really did want to talk to him; on the other, what I wanted to talk to him about had very little to do with the wedding and much more to do with other things.

After quite a while of deliberating, I finally decided that I had to send the letter. Quickly, without giving myself the time to change my mind, I addressed the envelope and gave it to my owl to deliver. No more than fifteen minutes went by before I had my answer back.

9 August 2025

Rose,

Send me details of where to meet you and then of course I will.

Scorpius

I nodded to myself before sending off directions. I'd asked for him to meet me at a popular muggle restaurant in London and included detailed directions to it. I wanted to make sure that, no matter what, we wouldn't be interrupted.

As soon as my reply was sent, I checked my wall clock and realized my error. When I'd first written the letter requesting him to meet me at six, it was only three o' clock, and now it was quarter to four. I cursed my stupidity before going to my closet.

The establishment that I'd chosen was on the nicer scale, while not being fancy enough to warrant suspicion. I chose a cream-colored lace halter-top dress that fitted tightly to my hips and then fell loosely down to my mid thigh, and then I paired it with a pair of brown ankle boots. I waved my wand and enchanted the curls in my hair so that it hung straight all the way down to my hips. When I was done with that, I painstakingly did my makeup. It only occurred to me as I painted them blood red that I was treating this as though I was getting ready for a date.

Part of me didn't know if I hated the idea.

Nonetheless, I was completely done getting ready by half past five, and I kissed Mum on the cheek and explained where I was going before I apparated.

I wound up in an alleyway across the street from the restaurant, La Bonne Nuit, and quickly made my way over. I had just reached the front of the building when I saw Scorpius walking over from an alley to the left of the building.

My breath caught for a moment as I watched him walk toward me. He'd styled his hair so that it lay slightly tousled, like he'd just got done running his fingers through it, but still neat, and he wore the same outfit as he had the night that I'd gone to dinner with his family. He looked fit.

His face settled in a smile as he approached me. "Hello," he said in greeting.

I half-smiled back. "Hi," I said. I gestured toward the building. "Shall we?"

Scorpius nodded and walked into the restaurant just a half-step behind me. The place was near-deserted, and I was happy that we'd managed to beat the dinner rush. We were seated immediately at a table next to the window. Our waiter quickly took our drink order and then our meal order while we sat in silence, each waiting for the other to talk. Finally, after the waiter left after dropping off our food, Scorpius seemed to tire of the silence.

"So what is it that you wanted to talk about?" he asked.

I took a deep breath. "I've been talking to my Uncle Bill about this family curse you have," I said. "He wants us to set up an appointment with a blood curse specialist. He thinks there's a small chance that it might have worked its way out of your blood, or that there might be a small enough amount of it that we can do something about it."

He blinked. "He said that?"

I bit my lip. "Well," I said, "He said not to get our hopes up. But yes, he said there's a very small chance. And there's more." Scorpius raised an eyebrow but said nothing, so I took a deep breath before continuing. "I want to give us a try."

Scorpius' eyes widened and his jaw dropped for a moment, and he seemed at a loss for words. Time moved slowly as we sat in silence for almost two full minutes before he seemed able to put together a sentence again. "W-What do you mean exactly?" he asked slowly.

"We're getting married," I said. "Neither of us can cheat, and let's face it, you've made it no secret that in your own way you still c-care for me." I tripped on that word, thinking that it didn't quite work. "I just thought maybe, if you want, I'd like to give this a try."

Scorpius frowned in confusion. "But what about the spell?" he asked. "And what about before?"

I took a deep, calming breath. "The spell isn't going away for the moment either way. And I don't know. I still haven't completely forgiven you, and I won't forget what happened. And if you do it again-"

"I won't," he said seriously.

"-If you do it again I won't be trying anymore. But It wouldn't be the worst thing to try, I think."

Scorpius nodded. "Alright," he said. "So what would you like from me?"

I took a drink and considered my answer. "I don't know really," I said. "We only have a couple of weeks before the wedding. This isn't exactly a normal situation."

"Right."

We sat in silence again for a couple of moments.

"I want to take it slow," I said uncertainly. "We didn't really, before, and that was apparently a bad idea." I looked down at my plate. "And I need you to promise me that you won't get jealous like that again." I looked back up at him to gauge his reaction.

He chewed his inner cheek for a moment, thinking. "I promise," he said finally, after what seemed like a long time.

I breathed a sigh of relief. "So," I said quietly, "When are you free for that blood test?"

That was how, the following Wednesday, I found myself in the middle of a much-too-sterile office, Scorpius by my side, with a witch that neither of us had ever met before that day staring at us with a severe expression on her face.

The Healer in front of us had pin-straight grey hair pulled into a tight, no-nonsense bun on her head. She looked a little like old pictures Mum had shown me of Minerva McGonagall. She wore deep blue robes and had her hands clasped together in front of her as she glanced between Scorpius and I, obviously thinking of the proper words to begin.

"This case is one of the most complicated I've ever encountered," she began. "But, Scorpius, your blood test showed that less than 5% of your DNA is still infected by the curse."

Scorpius nodded, expressionless. "What does that mean in terms of its effectiveness?"

Healer Andrade took a deep breath. "As I said, this is one of the most complicated cases I've ever encountered." She leaned forward slightly. "The fact is that I simply can't predict how a spell like this will affect you in such a small amount."

"So what you're saying," I said slowly, "Is that there's a possibility that it won't affect him at all?"

The older woman pursed her lips and nodded. "There's also a possibility that it will, though."

I nodded, looking down at my hands, which were clasped in my lap, with a frown. Scorpius continued talking with the Healer for what could have just as easily been five seconds as five hours while I was lost in my thoughts. When he grabbed my hand eventually and began to lead me to the lobby of the Healer's office, I moved on autopilot with him until we got to the apparition point. I hardly noticed the distinctive pull on my navel until we were standing in the foyer of Malfoy Manor.

"Rose?"

His voice shook me out of my reverie, and I looked up at him. He had a conflicted, thoughtful look on his face, as though he wasn't quite sure what to say to me. It was fair; I wasn't sure what to say to him either.

"What are you thinking?"

I considered his question. There were a million thoughts running through my head right now. I was worried; the thought that he could control me, even a little bit, even if he wouldn't actually use such a power, was frightening. I was also angry; I wasn't sure how such a curse had even been placed; the Imperius curse was already illegal, and this was, if anything, worse.

I sighed. "I don't know."

Scorpius bit the inside of his cheek and sat down on the couch. I followed suit a moment later. We both sat there a while, neither one knowing what to say and neither one truly wanting to try for words in that moment.