"Miss. I need help. Please, Miss." Scorpius was too worried about Albus to pay attention to whom he was asking for help from.

Aunt Dolores, Merlin's beard I was looking at my mother's sister. " Miss? I'm Professor Umbridge, the headmistress of your school, I'm no "Miss." Lilliana come out of there at once, what in the Dark Lord's name are you thinking to be out in that lake with all of your clothes on?"

Scorpius had not caught on to our predicament yet. "You're the headmistress? But I…"

Aunt Dolores took my arm and pulled me from the lake. "I am the headmistress, and however important your family may be it doesn't give you an excuse to dillydally, to mess about."

She used her wand to dry me off. "There you are poppet, all better now." The sweet look she was giving me horrified me. What sins could I have possibly committed to get in to THIS witch's good books?

Scorpius still thought we should save Albus. "There's a boy in this lake. You need to get help. I'm looking for my friend, Miss. Professor."

I shook my head at him in warning.

He ignored me and continued. "Headmistress. One of Hogwarts' students, Miss. I'm looking for Albus Potter."

Aunt Dolores looked at him as though he had gone 'round the bend. "Potter? Albus Potter? There's no such student. In fact, there hasn't been a Potter at Hogwarts for years and that boy didn't turn out so well. Not so much rest in peace, Harry Potter, more rest in perpetual despair. Total troublemaker. Not like my darling girl at all." She rested an arm around my shoulders and squeezed.

I swallowed hard. Whatever was happening I had to make her think I was on her side. "Thank you, Aunty."

She positively beamed at me. "Aunty! You haven't called me that since you were little and I rescued you from that filthy blood traitor who gave birth to you!"

Blood traitor? My mother? Not squib… blood traitor… my mother WAS a witch…

Scorpius looked ready to cry. "Harry Potter's dead?"

Suddenly from above I felt a breath of the wind. Black robes arose around us. Black robes that became black shapes. That became dementors. Flying dementors all around the school. These black deadly shapes, these black deadly forces. They are everything to be feared. And they suck the spirit from the very lake itself.

The wind continued. This is hell. And then, from near the Quidditch pitch, whispering around everyone.

Words said with an unmistakable voice. "Haaarry Pottttter." The voice of Voldemort.

Aunt Dolores scoffed at Scorpius. "Have you swallowed something funny in there? Become a Mudblood without any of us noticing? Harry Potter died over twenty years ago as part of that failed coup on the school he was one of those Dumbledore terrorists we bravely overthrew at the Battle of Hogwarts. Now come along I don't know what game you're playing but you're upsetting the dementors and entirely ruining Voldemort Day."

Upsetting the DEMENTORS? Could we talk about how they were upsetting ME?

"Come along, Poppet." Aunt Dolores pulled me along. "We must get you ready for your Auspice pinning today."

"Auspice pinning?" I knew better than to ask, I knew I needed to just go along with everything until I could figure it out but it just slipped out.

"Oh now, I know you wanted to join the Augurey's side at once after school, darling." Aunt Dolores cooed. "But it just would not do. You must give every appearance of working your way up. Now don't let's argue about this again, dearest."

As we approached the castle the Parseltongue whispers grew louder and louder. Grow monstrously loud. And giant banners with snake symbols upon them flew over the castle.

Scorpius looked as ill as I felt. "Voldemort Day?"

Aunt Dolores ignored him. "And what in the Dark Lord's name are you doing swimming with Scorpius Malfoy. Best friends or no, I doubt very much Mr. Fredericks would appreciate you sneaking about with another boy."

"Yann?" I asked confused. "What has he to…?"

"I assume as your intended he will be the one pinning your Auspice Badge on." She continued.

My intended to do… what? I wisely did not ask. "Yes Aunt."

We went back to the castle where Scorpius was instructed to get cleaned up and prepare for the ceremonies.

"Voldemort Day" turned out to be, in reality, Voldemort Week. From April 25th to May 2nd we were expected to celebrate the Death Eater's brave triumph over those terrible Dumbledore traitors.

I was kept busy over the next several days and did not have a chance to speak to Scorpius again. I did not much like myself in this brave new world where "the future is ours to make" according to this Augurey who I am supposedly excited to serve.

"I", or the me that was in this horrifying nightmare world, had set up damnatio ad bestias "condemnation to beasts" where mudbloods were to be hauled from the mudblood camps and torn apart by animals, or administered the Dementor's Kiss. Apparently this had all been my idea.

"Oh, poppet, I can't tell you how pleased the Dark Lord and his Augurey are with your innovative ideas!" Aunt Dolores gushed while going over the school books. It was my duty to help her as a sort of assistant. "Just brilliant to use those filthy creatures as servants once the Kiss has been administered. So much easier to care for than a house elf, and much more plentiful after we exterminated those vile traitors."

All house elves had been put to death following the Battle of Hogwarts for having taken part. Their heads were mounted on walls with their list of "crimes" which included everything from attacking witches and wizards to merely doing their duty by preparing and serving meals. Or, in this "brave new world", providing succor to the enemy.

And it had been my idea to replace them with soulless mudbloods.

Scorpius, much to my surprise, entered the office. I had not seen him in some time. He was dressed in darker, blacker robes. He had a pensive look on his face, remaining coiled and alert. Scorpius barely looked at me.

Aunt Dolores smiled up at him, much the way a cat would while playing with a mouse. "Scorpius . Thank you so much for coming to see me."

Scorpius inclined his head. "Headmistress."

Aunt Dolores bade him sit. "Scorpius , I've thought for a long time that you have Head Boy potential, as you know. Pure-blooded, a natural leader, wonderfully athletic…"

Scorpius looked surprised. "Athletic?"

Aunt Dolores tittered. "No need to be modest, Scorpius . I've seen you on the Quidditch pitch, there's rarely a Snitch you don't catch. Why almost as good as my Lilliana. You are a highly valued student. Valued by the faculty. Valued especially by me. I've positively glowed about you in dispatches to the Augurey. Our work together flushing out the more dilettante students has made this school a safer, purer place Scorpius has it not?

There is the sound of a scream from off. Scorpius turns towards it. But he dismissed the sound. He must and he will control himself. Please Scorpius I thought. Please don't make waves, not yet.

Aunt Dolores continued. "But in the three days since I found you in that lake on Voldemort Day, you've become… odder and odder. In particular, this sudden obsession with Harry Potter…"

Scorpius started to interrupt. "I don't…"

Aunt Dolores started drilling him. "Questioning everyone you can about the Battle of Hogwarts. How Potter died. Why Potter died. And this ludicrous fascination with Cedric Diggory. Scorpius , we've checked you for hexes and curses, there were none we can see, so I'm asking if there's anything I can do to restore you to what you were…"

I didn't think I just reacted. "It was ME Aunty. All my fault I…"

Scorpius' eyes flicked over me impassively.

"YOUR fault, poppet? Whatever do you mean?" Aunt Dolores turned her eyes on me.

"I… asked Scorpius to… see, I thought if he could prove himself by outing more of Potter's associates, since some are still missing, then maybe Un.. I mean Lord Malfoy and the Dark Lord might…" Oh hell, what was I even saying?!

Aunt Dolores took something from my babbling. "Ahhhh!" She gasped happily. "Young love."

"I… ummm…" I glanced at Scorpius my ears bright red.

"Oh poppet, you should have said so." Aunt Dolores grasped my hand. "I will send you to Lord Malfoy as soon as possible. You may plead your case. In the mean time I expect you to act dutifully towards Mr. Fredericks."

Ah yes, my "intended" I had not seen him once.

"And I assume we may trust you to play your part and no more of this foolishness?" Aunt Dolores turned to Scorpius with mock severity. "Fully restored?"

Scorpius agreed at once. "No. No. Consider me restored. Temporary aberration. That's all."

Aunt Dolores beamed. "So we can continue our work together?"

Scorpius nodded. "We can."

She puts her hand to her heart, and touches her wrists together. "For Voldemort and Valor."

Scorpius tried to copy but he clearly did not have as much experience as I did. "For, um… yes."

I grabbed Scorpius and looked down at my aunt. "We have… a lot to discuss, may I be excused Aunty?"

"Of course, poppet." The social climbing witch practically glowed. "Discretion if you please."

Once we left her office, Scorpius looked at me. "Are you still… my Lilliana, I mean from…"

I ignored how his saying "my Lilliana" made my tummy flip over. In that moment I knew just how Aunt Aly felt. "Scorpius we messed up BIG time, we HAVE to fix this! You DO still have the time turner, yes?"

Scorpius collapsed against the wall. "Oh thank Merlin, I was beginning to think that this you wasn't the real you… I mean…"

We were interrupted by a group of people who turned the corner.

Karl Jenkins was in the lead. "Hey, Scorpion King. Lilliana."

Scorpius got high-fived, it's looked painful, but he took it.

Yann Fredericks was there. Purely objectively he was an attractive boy. "We're still on, right, tomorrow night?" He asked Scorpius, slipping an arm around my waist. "Hello, little love, miss me?" I allowed his kiss on my cheek without flinching.

Karl Jenkins pumped his fist in the air. "Because we are ready to spill some proper Mudblood guts."

Polly Chapman was with them. "Scorpius ."

Scorpius turned towards her, clearly surprised to hear her say his name. "Polly Chapman?"

Polly flipped her hair. "Shall we cut to it? I know everyone is waiting to know who you're going to ask because, you know, you need to ask someone and I've been asked by three people already and I know I'm not alone in refusing them all. In case, you know, you were to ask me."

Scorpius looked perplexed. "Right."

Polly looked sickeningly sweetly at him. "Which would be great. If you were interested. Which rumor is you are. And I just want to make clear, at this moment, that I am also interested. And that isn't a rumor. That's a f-a-c-t fact."

Scorpius was absolutely clueless. "That's… um… great but what are we talking about?"

Great? What the hell did he mean by "That's great?"

Polly flipped her hair again. "The Blood Ball, of course. Who you the Scorpion King are taking to the Blood Ball."

Scorpius finally clued in. "You… Polly Chapman… want me to take you to a… ball?"

There is the sound of screaming behind us. "What is that screaming?" Scorpius asked.

Polly smirked. "Mudbloods, of course. In the dungeons. Your idea, wasn't it? What's going on with you? Oh Potter, I've got blood on my shoes again." She bent and carefully cleaned the blood off her shoes. I wanted to be sick. "Like the Augurey insists the future is ours to make so here I am, making a future with you. For Voldemort and Valor."

Scorpius touched his heart and wrists. "For Voldemort it is."

Yann laughed and kissed me again. "SO glad that we don't have to do any of that. I got the swatches your Aunt sent and our soulless will get right on top of making certain we match perfectly."

Polly walked on, Scorpius looked agonized after her. What is this world and what is he within it? What had the two of us become?