"How come you're not on the quidditch team?" I asked. "Queen to E5," I added shooting him my best I-have-your-knight-cornered-from-all-angles smile.
Scorpius took his sweet time answering my question. He considered his next move from all perspectives. The fire crackled and sparked in the fireplace. Scorpius' room even had a freaking fancy fireplace that came out from the wall. What's next a stable full of unicorns (please, Merlin!)?
We were sitting on the carpet in front of the fire with a wizard's chess board between us. The weather was staying true to the creepy aura of the manor. It was pouring outside, every five minutes or so thunder would groan from the dark clouds. It was lunch time but it felt like night time.
"There's a whole list of reasons. Knight to E8."
"Should not have done that," I clicked my tongue. He stuck out his in response. "Does this list go beyond Potter?"
"Potter has a small part in it all. He's the definition of evil." Scorpius faked shock. "Evil is all around us. Did you know that, Rosie?"
"Queen to E8." And boom the Queen takes it home. Scorpius' knight was beheaded by my queen's oversized crown.
"I let you have that one," Scorpius said, the liar.
"Just like last night." I grinned.
"Yeah," Scorpius said. "Pawn G6."
"You're a really good flyer though," I said. "Keeper, right?"
"That I am." He smirked.
"Pawn to F7."
"Being a 'good' flyer isn't enough when it comes to Slytherin."
"I forgot to say you are an excellent flyer."
"I know, I know. I was leading up to how to get on the Slytherin team. You need 1. money, 2. be the size of a mountain troll, 3. in the 'gang' and 4. from a good name."
"You have two of those things. And for the record Potter's not the size of a mountain troll. He can barely fill out his own clothes."
Scorpius smirked at this, "Pawn to G8. I'm not a money person and Malfoy isn't a good name. If this were the 1900s it would be a completely different story. I'm trying out again next year. A wand to the neck wouldn't stop me."
"You sneaky doxie." I frowned down at the chessboard. A ring of black chess pieces had surrounded my white.
"Several hundred games later," he stretched.
There was a loud pound somewhere in the manor. I flinched at the sound. Noise doesn't travel well in the manor so this had to be a hundred mandrakes screaming at once loud.
Scorpius jumped up, wand out. I gasped and rose slowly, my own wand sliding out from my pocket and into my hand. 'Old manor,' I tried to reason with myself. 'Thunder and lightning. What do you expect?'
He looked at me, pressing a finger to his lips. Clearly, he was expecting something else.
I frowned at him. Several seconds later there was a loud snap. Dinky the house elf stood before us. His own wrinkled face was contorted with worry.
"Raids, Master Scorpius," Dinky choked out. "Raids, raids!" He flew around the room snapping his fingers, the bed was made, the fire went out. We were in darkness. I reached for Scorpius but he was already gone. He grabbed my bag and handed it to me, cursing.
"Now?" I dared speak. "Without any warning?"
"We need to disappear right now." Scorpius declared grabbing his own school bag and stuffing it with the clothes from his open trunk.
Dinky handed me my cloak, giving me the explanation I wanted. "Miss Rose, the Aurors don't give any warnings. The politest they get is banging on the door." The was another round of banging. The house elf jumped at the sound. My heart sped up. "The Aurors tear all Dinky's hard work cleaning to bits. They look for dark magic or anything that could link the Malfoys- any of them even our dear Master Scorpius- to what's happening in the shadows-"
"We don't have time to get into what's happening in the shadows," Scorpius called. He was now rooting through his bookshelf. "Where's my Transfiguration book?"
"Seriously, Scorpius? You're worse than me!" I crossed my arms.
"Your very private letters are in it." Scorpius bent down to the bottom shelf. "A drawer would be a bit obvious."
Dinky piped up, "To the left, Master Scorpius."
Pound, pound, pound.
Dinky turned to me again, "The ministry likes answers, Miss Rose. Whether they're true or not. It's control they crave, Miss Rose, the dark years are still on their minds."
"Dinky, please get Pumpkin I'm not leaving him here." My voice was suddenly shrill. I pulled on my shoes. There was a snap, the house elf returned with my cat in his arms. Pumpkin looked less than happy. I held him tight to my chest.
Scorpius ran a hand through his hair, messing it up, "I thought… they did one last week, at least a month-"
"Master Scorpius should be telling Dinky to secure the dungeon, check the enchantments- but first, stupid Dinky! Getting Master Scorpius and Miss Rose to safety is paramount! Where will Master Scorpius and Miss Rose be going?" The house elf held out his hand.
"Off the manor?" I asked.
"Yes," Scorpius replied. Andrew had returned from his letter journey and was asleep in his cage. Scorpius grabbed the cage, a death grip on his wand, white sparks were crackling like firecrackers from the tip.
The banging became more anxious. This time a loud booming voice, probably thanks to an amplifying charm, cried out,
"By order of the Ministry...!"
"Dinky knows where it is safe! Hold on!" Without another word, Dinky caught onto me and Scorpius. And the wonderful sensation of apparition took hold. Snap and we were standing in the rain, somewhere else. Pumpkin hissed and Andrew the owl rattled in his cage.
"This is Godric's Hollow," Dinky said quickly. My stomach was still churning from the apparition. "Dinky is sorry. It was the easiest place since it's still in the west country. There's a fireplace in the pub." He pointed to the warmly lit building. "Try to get into London and with the muggles preferably. Don't be seen. Dinky will lock up and mind the Raiders. Master Scorpius is not to worry."
"Grandmother-"
"Dinky will mind Mistress Narcissa too. Send Andrew in a couple of hours from Godric's Hollow and Dinky will come get you. Be careful." The house elf warned. "Goodbye." There was a snap and the house elf was gone.
I finally exhaled, "Has this escape happened before?"
"Sometimes Mother and I stay with my aunt, other times, the three of us stay for questioning."
"But the aunt option isn't really an option right now with me tagging along." I pulled up my hood laughing weakly.
"Neither is questioning." He shook his head, his face still full of worry. "I'm sorry, Rosie-"
I kissed his cheek. "Come on, let's make the most of it. I've always wanted to see the sights in Godric's Hollow."
I wrapped my cloak around Pumpkin and hurried out into the rain expecting him to follow, "Come on," I called again. "This could be fun."
He threw up his hood and hurried after me.
"How did they get past the barrier?" We standing on the other side of town now, admiring the wreckage that happened forty odd years ago thanks to Voldemort.
"The ministry always finds a way." He said rubbing Pumpkin's head. We were taking turns carrying him and protecting him from the rain with our cloaks. "You should know about this. Hermione Weasley is the head of it. Brain, eyes, ears, everything."
"I don't know anything about it and it's driving me mad. Why the bag of clothes?"
"Makes it look like I'm with my parents at the pureblood shindig. Without my father, in the room, the Aurors know they can ask me anything, for however long."
"That's ridiculous," I frowned, "What about your Grandmother?"
"She should be safe. The Aurors know she's not right in the head. They're not going to bother with her. Dinky will keep it together. He usually does." Scorpius looked back to the old Potter house.
"So this is where it all started." I sighed. "Voldemort getting beaten by a baby and love. Aw."
"No, Rosie, it all started with a dirty thought," he laughed. "Love potion and the making of Voldemort."
I nudged him, "Mine's more philosophical."
"Mine's more accurate."
A person who wasn't me or Scorpius cleared his throat. I turned and squinted at the setting fog.
"You kids lost?"
An old man called from up the street. Lack of cloak and muggle flashlight (thanks Grandad for terminology) screamed Muggle. He was a bit fuzzy coming through the fog. To him, we were probably just staring at someone's house.
"Wouldn't you love to apparate?" Scorpius muttered. Pumpkin hissed, this time not from the damp but at the small terrier trotting beside the man. "Just what we needed."
"Don't be rude." I scowled then called back politely, "No, sir, just waiting."
"You look awful suspicious around these parts. Halloween was ages ago." He frowned. He was right in front of us now. He stared Scorpius' Pumpkin bulge that looked like a pregnancy bump. Scorpius had fully hidden Pumpkin from the terrier using his cloak. I fought back a laugh. Then his eyes went to Andrew the owl cleaning his feathers in his cage set down against the wall.
"Interesting toy you got there." The man raised his eyebrows.
"What?" Scorpius asked bewildered.
The man cleared his throat, "I'd best be moving along if I were you. People get very suspicious around here."
"I'm confused," Scorpius got there before I did. Lacking my plastic tone and smile. "Are we the suspicious ones or are your neighbours?"
His terrier started yapping. Pumpkin growled but it could have been one of our stomachs if you were half deaf.
"Us," I answered.
"Excuse me?" The man shook his head. "There is a policeman on duty, not even a street away. I don't want any trouble from any kids. If you're planning to throw eggs-" He pointed to Scorpius' Pumpkin bump. Clearly, he didn't understand how pregnancy worked. He fazed off into tutting.
"Right we'll go then, Merlin," Scorpius said cutting off my whole argument on how that is a bloody dangerous stereotype even for a small village like Godric's Hollow.
"Don't swear at me, boy."
"I did not." He glowered.
"Then take your slang somewhere else."
Scorpius was already off, with Andrew and Pumpkin. I tried to think of something redeeming to say to the man. Scorpius called to me up ahead.
The man said sarcastically, "What a nice friend you have."
"That's my boyfriend," I retorted. "And he is very nice. When he wants to be."
My 'nice' boyfriend called, "Rose?! You'll catch a mundane disease!"
"Have a nice day." I hurried after Scorpius. "Merlin, Scorpius, how many muggles have you spoken to in your life?"
"That's the first one." He shrugged.
"What?"
"And probably the last one. He seemed thick."
"And what was the orange thing with the light he was holding?"
Scorpius' face blanked, "Ummm… a Lumos stick?"
"Yeah, put that beside your muggles are thick theory." I linked my arm through one of his arms holding up Pumpkin.
"I will," he said stubbornly. "Pumpkin didn't like him anyway." He opened his cloak to reveal Pumpkin's fluffy head. His eyes were closed and his breathing had turned to deep snorts.
"He really likes you," I admired, stroking Pumpkin's ear.
Scorpius smiled, "He comes into my dorm most days." We were by the church now, it's stain glass windows glowing with the light inside. "I always keep the curtains around my bed closed so sometimes when I come back he's asleep or cleaning himself there. He's smart enough to let no one see him."
"Aw!" I cooed.
There were three people standing at the other end of the graveyard. Gathered around a wide headstone. Their sharp tones travelled through the rain and fog easily.
"Dad, can we leave now?"
Scorpius snorted. Albus-Death-Eater-Potter. Scorpius sacrificed one of his Pumpkin holding arms and wrapped it around me. He kept me moving towards the pub. I pulled at my hood, keeping close to Scorpius, our shadows blended into one.
"Al," Uncle Harry said in disbelief but James cut him off.
"Go home, Albus," James snapped. "You can't even show proper respect to the dead. The bloody dead."
Uncle Harry hissed putting a hand on James' chest, "Stop. Not over your Grandparent's grave."
Potter kept going, "We should be celebrating those you survived the Dark Lord's reign."
"You didn't," James swung for Albus. He dodged him by an inch.
"Voldemort, Albus Severus Potter, Voldemort." Uncle Harry said through gritted teeth. I could practically feel the heat of his fury. "Call him what you were brought up to call him. He was not a lord."
"And I suppose you were the lord," Potter snapped back. "You stabbed what he couldn't protect. Horcruxes. Any fool could've done that."
That was it. James shoved Potter. Potter fell against the headstone behind him. He let out a loud hiss.
"You're too fair on him, dad," James turned on Uncle Harry now. "Just because he looks like you."
"What is this about, Albus?" Harry ignored James. He held out a hand to help Potter up. Potter stood up without it.
"I'm gone. I've put up with this long enough." Potter walked away with a dramatic swirl of his cloak. By now Scorpius and I had frozen outside the graveyard.
"And I'm supposed to be the childish prick," Scorpius muttered. Then he cursed.
"For merlin's sake, he's coming this way!"
We hurried across the road into a small alley between a post office and a clothes shop. But even from our cosy position in the shadows, it was clear Albus was glaring daggers in our direction.
"He can smell fear."
"What?"
"Just kiss me like there's no one watching." He pressed up against me balancing Pumpkin between us. He kissed me hard. His hands crawled under my cloak and gripped my sides. Even though my jumper separated skin from skin I moaned into his mouth.
Pumpkin accidentally scratched me as he jumped down but that was just an excuse to pull Scorpius closer. My hands were on his back and his were slowly going under my jumper. His warm hands on my cold skin. I broke apart for air. Scorpius' hands returned to my covered waist.
I looked off to the side. I couldn't tell how long we had been at it but the graveyard was empty and glaring-Potter was nowhere in sight. Scorpius tucked back one of my curls that had sprung free of my hood. All of his focus was on me.
