Chapter 49

"Hello Scorpius," Astoria said with a teary smile as she gazed upon her little boy who had become a man. Scorpius opened and closed his mouth in shock, but Albus noticed that he didn`t let go of Rose`s hand. Albus quickly sent a questioning look her way, and Rose responded with an I`ll-explain-later look. Astoria slowly made her way towards her son; once within reach, she raised her shaking hands to his face. Rose tried to step away and give Scorpius and his mother some space, but Scorpius wouldn't let go of her hand. Finally, with one more comforting squeeze of her hand, Scorpius released her just in time to catch his mother as she threw her arms around his neck in a fierce hug. Rose moved to stand next to Albus so that Scorpius could still see her. His eyes found hers quickly over his mother's shoulder and she shared a smile with him, telling him without words everything was going to be okay.

"What are you doing here?" Scorpius asked, his voice still somewhat stiff as though he was still trying to protect himself. However, just underneath they could all hear the undertone of concern.

"I came to find you," Astoria sniffed. She pulled back and he carefully lowered her back down on the ground. "You're much taller than I remember," Astoria added with a proud smile as she looked up at her son.

"You're much shorter than I remember," Scorpius replied, the corners of his mouth lifting up slightly as he exacted a small laugh from his mother. Rose then noticed the three women who entered the room; Ginny, Hermione and Alison had followed them.

"Astoria, it's good to see you again," Hermione said politely. The three mothers shared a smile, indicating to Rose that they knew each other better than they were letting on.

"Might I suggest you take this into the living room and I will make sure you won't be disturbed," Ginny said, nodding to her son to lead the way.

"Mrs Malfoy, the living room is this way," Albus directed.

"Thank you," Astoria said as she followed Albus' directions. Rose watched Scorpius hesitate, but he soon followed them as well. They shared a smile as he walked past. Once the blonde was out of sight, Rose turned back to find the smirking faces of her Aunt, mother and best friend.

"What?" Rose said innocently.

"Oh nothing," Ginny said, and all three of them walked back to the kitchen, still smirking.


Once they had found their destination, Albus gave Scorpius a pat on the back and whispered "good luck," as he walked past his friend and out of the room, leaving mother and son alone. Scorpius looked over at his mother. She had aged since he last saw her but was still incredibly beautiful. However, her beauty aside, she looked anxious and scared. He could tell that she was dreading this conversation and probably his reaction. However, he also got the feeling that something else had happened. As he stood there, he couldn't seem to find the words. He found that he didn't know what to say.

"I am sorry, Scorpius," suddenly his mother exclaimed, breaking the silence. She took a breath before she continued. "I know you might think otherwise, but I love you so much, and…and…" tears quickly spilled from her eyes. Scorpius reacted mostly on instinct and wrapped his arms around his crying mother. She didn't waste any time accepting his embrace and wrapping her arms around his middle. "I never wanted you to leave, but your father…" she mumbled through her tears into his chest. Slowly, Scorpius guided her over to a small couch. They sat down side by side as he kept an arm wrapped around her and waited for her sobbing to cease. Silently, he summoned a tissue and passed it to her. Gratefully, she took it and dabbed her eyes. After a while he finally decided to speak.

"What happened?" he asked. She went still for a moment before she looked up at him. However, she quickly looked away again before replying.

"I left the Manor." Scorpius was shocked yet again. He knew what his mother was skirting around saying, but he never ever thought that it would or could happen.

"What did he do?"

"Why do you always assume he did something?"

"Because he usually does," Scorpius replied. She just shook her head, but didn't answer.

"When?" he asked.

"Tuesday night," she replied, her voice quivering.

"Why has it taken this long for you to come to me then? Where have you been staying for the last few days?" Scorpius was appalled and a little upset that she hadn't come to him straight away.

"I rented a room at a small Muggle Inn," she replied. "I didn't want to face your Aunt." Scorpius understood why. He knew his Aunt Daphne would have just rubbed it in, finally being able to say she was right about his father and mother's relationship.

"Okay, I get that but why didn't you look for me straight away?"

"I was afraid," she muttered, "I still am."

"You don't need to be. I would never hurt you."

"I knew that, but would you forgive me?" she replied, looking up at her son properly for the first time since they had sat down, searching for an answer.

After a moment, Scorpius replied confidently, "there is nothing to forgive."


Rose had re-joined the women in the kitchen, but her mind was still clearly somewhere else. Now, she stood nursing a glass of wine in her own little world while her mother and aunt cleaned up and they waited for the lamb to be cooked. It didn't take Alison long to bring her back from her thoughts.

"So, you and Scorp looked cosy just before," she said in a slightly teasing tone.

"Stop fishing."

"What? It was just an observation," Alison replied, faking innocence.

"Yes, well you can stop observing then."

"C'mon Rose," Alison said more seriously. "Can you really blame me?"

"I guess not," Rose sighed.

"So, what's going on between you two?"

"Nothing," replied Rose. Alison gave her a look saying 'I don't believe you'.

"Okay," Rose sighed. "It could turn into something, but I am not sure yet."

Alison was silent for a little while before she asked, "do you want it to?"

"Maybe…I don't know," Rose replied with a frustrated sigh.


"Scorpius, what happened all those years ago-"

"It doesn't matter," Scorpius interrupted.

"No, it does," Astoria insisted. "Please, I need to say this."

"Okay," Scorpius nodded.

"You have to understand…I…your father…he needed me," Astoria stuttered.

"I know," Scorpius said simply as he covered his mother's hand. "Mother, I never blamed you for staying with him. I never thought less of you for staying with the man you love," he spoke with such composure and sincerity. "I also know, that against all odds, you still love him," Scorpius added. Astoria sniffed trying to hold back more tears as she looked down at her shaking hands. "And you know what, Mother," Scorpius said calling he attention back to him. "I know for a fact that he will always need you," he finished, once her gaze had found his once more. He used his thumb to wipe away the tears that had slid down her cheeks from his words. He pulled her back to his chest and held her again as she cried. After a while, when she started to calm down, he spoke again. "What changed?"

"I put my needs before his," Astoria whispered, almost as though it was a sin, just loud enough for him to hear. "And I needed you."


After Astoria had collected herself, Scorpius took her around to meet everyone and they insisted that Astoria stay for dinner. Once they had finished dinner, everyone all sat around the on the patio talking and sharing stories. While Albus was in the middle of sharing a story about him and Scorpius at Hogwarts, Rose noticed Scorpius slip away. When he didn't come back from the kitchen, she decided to follow him and make sure he was okay. "I'll be right back," Rose muttered to Alison as she stood up and slipped away unnoticed by most. She found him in the kitchen in a position that could only describe as distressed. He leant over the bench, his head hang dejectedly, and Rose swore she could see his shoulders shake as he fought off a cloud of emotions. His knuckles were white from how hard he gripped the bench, and he took deep breathes, in an effort to gather himself.

"Scorpius?" the sound of her voice startled him. She saw him jolt almost as though receiving an electric shock, but he didn't acknowledge her otherwise. She stepped closer to him, having the desperate desire to comfort him. As she stood beside him, she reached out and placed a hand on his back. Glad to see that he didn't shy away from the contact, she began to rub circles comfortingly on his back while she watched his face. "Talk to me," she whispered. Twisting his head to the side, Scorpius looked up at Rose. He could see the concern in her eyes, and it scared him. So many thoughts were running around in his head, jumbling and messing up his feelings. He didn't know what to do. He found himself afraid to let her in, again.

"I can't," he muttered, as he quickly pushed off the bench and backed away from her. He saw the hurt flash in her eyes again, and he felt like he wanted to throw up. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, diverting his gaze away from her, instead looking at the ground. "I'm sorry," he repeated as he quickly left the room.

Rose stood there for a moment, before quickly pushing her hurt feelings aside. He was obviously having some kind of delayed reaction to his mother's arrival and he needed comfort, but obviously not from her. If she was honest with herself she knew why. Yes, they had been getting closer since he returned, but there wasn't much trust between them in the past and they hadn't really had time to build it yet. She quickly swiped away a stray tear that had found its way onto her cheek and walked back outside. It seemed that Albus had just finished his story; Rose made her way over to him.

"Al, could I talk to you for a minute? It's important," Rose whispered into his ear. When Albus looked back at Rose, he could indeed see it was important, her expression said it all.

"Yeah, of course," he replied in a low voice as he stood up and followed Rose. With one look over her shoulder at her mother, Rose knew that Hermione would cover for them. Once they made it into the kitchen, Rose turned to Albus.

"Rose, what's wrong?" he asked quickly, resting his hands on Rose's shoulders.

"It's Scorpius. He needs to talk about it and he won't talk to me," Rose said urgently, her voice thick and full of concern and fear, suddenly finding herself struggling to hold back emotions.

"Okay, okay," her cousin soothed as he pulled her in for a hug. However, Rose quickly pushed him away.

"Don't worry about me you numbskull," Rose quickly exclaimed. "I think he is having some sort of delayed reaction to it all, you need to go talk to him." Albus didn't move, unsure of what to do because she looked like she needed to talk to. "Why are you still standing here? Go!" she pressed.

"Ah, right," he quickly stepped around her, but still felt worried. Just before he left the kitchen, he paused.

"Go!" he heard her say again. Albus finally did what he was told and went in search of his best friend.


Albus found Scorpius upstairs in his old childhood room, sitting on his bed. He casually walked into the room, and reaching the small desk in the corner he pulled out the chair that accompanied it and sat down across from his best friend. Albus didn't say anything; instead he let his eyes wonder around his old room. His quidditch posters still littered the walls along with his Slytherin banners. There were a few photos of his dorm mates from Hogwarts, another of him with James, Fred, Louis and Hugo, a couple of him, James and Lily and even some with Rose, Scorpius and Alison. It looked like nothing had changed, but that wasn't true. Things had changed; he'd like to think mostly for the better. Albus directed his gaze back to Scorpius. He looked shaken but not broken. Albus could see that he was deciding about something in his head, there was a small glint of determination in his eye.

"Is it just me or does this room feel smaller?" Albus said casually. Scorpius just gave a light chuckle and smiled in response. "Come on, mate, what's going on in that head of yours," Albus pressed. "You seemed fine before, like you talked everything out and it was all okay."

"I don't know," Scorpius sighed. "I'm happy and everything feels good but at the same time it's not, it's all jumbled."

"So you're glad your mum's here or you're not?" Albus asked, confused.

"I am glad," Scorpius replied.

"But you're not sure you have really forgiven her yet?"

"I never blamed her for staying with him, but I did have to learn to forgive her for not trying to keep in contact with me," Scorpius tried to explain.

"And have you?"

"Yes," Scorpius answered. When Albus looked sceptical, he continued, "Albus, I really have. I did have help and I did forgive her."

"Like professional help?"

"Sort of…"

"What do you mean, sort of?"

"I told you about Sherrie-"

"What does your ex-girlfriend have to do with it?" Albus interrupted.

"Sherrie was studying to be a psychologist," Scorpius replied.

"One of those Muggle mind healers?"

"Yes, and she helped me," Scorpius admitted. "I guess that's what brought us closer. She was my friend who was helping me slowly, and then after one drunken night and one of her…interventions I guess you could call it, we became more than friends." Albus was still as he tried to take it all in, biting down the hurt from his best friend keeping something from him. As if reading his thoughts, Scorpius explained. "Al, I didn't tell you exactly how everything went down between her and me because I was a little ashamed and because I didn't want you to worry about me."

"It's all good, I think I understand and I am glad that she helped you," Albus replied with a smile. "So, after that night you just became a couple?"

"Yeah," Scorpius said with a sigh. "It just sort of happened. I mean we were already travelling together anyway, so we just sort of fell into it."

"You told me you loved her once," Albus pushed. He knew they were slightly off topic but he now felt like he had to talk about this.

"I do," Scorpius replied. "But I love her like I love you or Dom." Albus nodded.

"So if you have forgiven your mother then what's wrong?"

"My father," Scorpius replied simply. Albus nodded, thinking he understood, but his expression telling Scorpius to continue. "I think everyone, including you, thought that what happened the day I left was worse than what really happened. I heard a rumour once that I had nearly killed my father, or that it was because he was planning to take over the world and I didn't what to help or something," Scorpius chuckled at its absurdity. "It wasn't anything overly dramatic, it was rather simple. I wanted to continue Muggle studies and he thought there were other subjects worth more of my time," Scorpius explained. "The past was brought back up, things were said, and then my fist collided with his face. I packed and then I left." Albus knew he was downplaying it at least a little bit but didn't interrupt. "Thing is, even though we rarely got on under the best of circumstances, I still care for my father and I always felt better about leaving my parents because I knew that they had each other…but now they don't."

"So that is what the little bit of determination I saw in your eyes earlier is about," Albus said. "You want to go see your father?"

"Yeah," Scorpius replied, but not sounding terribly convincing. "I am proud of my mother, but I would not be surprised if my father has already drowned himself in mead and whiskey," he explained further.

"What if he has?"

"Mum's heart is going to be shattered," Scorpius muttered wretchedly.

"And if he hasn't?"

"Then he is going to learn to fight for us," Scorpius said with a concrete resolve. "Draco Malfoy is going to earn his family back, if it is the last thing he ever does."


I hope you all enjoy this chapter :) You get to find out a bit more about Scorpius and his parents and his relationship with Sherrie. Please leave me a review and let me know your thoughts :) I will try my best to update soon :)