Chapter 8: Exclusive
The next morning, Scorpius opened his eyes as the sun peaked through the curtains to his and Albus' room. As he stretched his long arms and legs, he let his eyes close back again nearly forgetting last night's incidents.
Werewolf. He'd thought. Well, not a werewolf per se, but a werewolf gene.
Keeping his eyes closed, Scorpius thought about Andrew's glowing ones. Though there were tons of things he figured he should have been worried about, the biggest by far was Andrew's social life. He imagined the young child in school and not making friends for being different. He thought of all the teasing he went through, throughout his youth and shuddered at the thought of Andrew suffering the same fate just because his eyes glowed, and sometimes he'd prefer his meat to be raw.
'There is still a stigma towards lycanthropes,' he remembered Hermione mentioning the night before. But what of those who simply carried traits? Would his son deal with such discrimination?
Putting the thoughts aside, Scorpius opened his eyes and sat at the edge of the bed. He slipped his feet into his house-shoes and placed a robe over his bare shoulders and exited the room to find his fiancé who was missing from the bed.
Scorpius was surprised to see none other than Laurel, sitting in his kitchen with a crayon in her hand as she drew next to an excited Andrew.
"Good morning cousin. Sorry for the surprise visit, I hope it's no bother that Albus let me in." Laurel's voice was low which wasn't like her. She seemed to be choosing her words carefully.
Scorpius put a genuine smile on his face and walked next to the duo leaning down to give her a hug and ruffling Andrew's hair. "It's no problem at all. I am rather surprised to see you standing. You all drank so much last night, I figured you'd still be asleep."
A small smile formed on Laurel's face then it instantly dropped, "Scorpius I am so sorry for everything." Laurel stood up from the table and pulled the blonde towards the side wall out of earshot of Andrew, "when Draco told me what happened last night and how mum reacted I was utterly shocked. I want you to know that I adore Andrew, you, and Al. I wouldn't do anything to lose you guys and I'm so happy you and your dad have been so kind and welcoming after everything."
"Oh Laurel," Scorpius pulled her into a tight hug, "You have nothing to be sorry about. You did nothing wrong and you have been helping dad with Andrew the last few weeks, which has meant so much to us." He released her so he could look into her eyes, "I am glad you came back, I have missed having my family around me."
A sense of calm washed over the girl's face, "Mum didn't come home last night. I am going to go and look for her today and talk to her." Laurel looked down at her hands and mumbled, "I don't even know what to say to her."
"Though I am not happy with your mum, I can understand that she was scared. Don't take it out on her so much, just make sure she is okay." Laurel nodded as they heard Albus place food on the table.
"Oh! Good morning honey, I didn't hear you get up." Albus collected the paper and crayons from Andrew and smiled up at Scorpius. "You are just in time for breakfast."
"I am actually going to head out. I just wanted to check on you boys and make sure you were okay."
"Are you sure, I made enough for everyone."
Taking a piece of toast into her hand she nodded, "Yup, I have a busy day today and I should get started on it immediately. I will see you both soon, and thanks for understanding." She kissed Andrew's head and walked out of the front door.
Albus looked over at Scorpius who just shrugged his shoulders and sat down to eat his breakfast.
"How did you sleep, love?" Though he did most of the cooking around the house, Albus hardly ever ate breakfast, unless, of course, Scorpius made his favorite blueberry pancakes. He instead always had a cup of coffee in his hands and would nibble on something small while Scorpius, and now Andrew, filled their plates.
"Well, I suppose. I was so tired I don't even remember falling asleep." Scorpius glanced over at Andrew and continued talking, "So I assume you reached out to Teddy and Bill. Are we good to head over there?"
Albus nodded, "we surely are. I didn't tell them much just that we needed help with something. I suspect dad may have already reached out to Uncle Bill as he seemed the least surprised to receive my owl."
The couple continued their conversation as they finished eating. Once everyone was full, the family got dressed and headed over to shell cottage.
—
"I have always loved it here. It is so calm and serene." Scorpius said as he held Albus' hand and they walked through the sand making their way to the door of the house. Andrew had taken one look at the beach and began running ahead of them.
"Maybe we should think about getting a beachfront home one day." Albus squeezed his hand tight. "I have always loved it here too, it's so quiet and away from my noisy family. Uncle Bill knew what he was doing." Albus chuckled.
The sound made Scorpius smile, "One step at a time. We still need to make it down the aisle before we think about moving." Albus shrugged as the reached the door.
"Can I knock, pwease!" Andrew bounced in front of the house making both men laugh.
"Sure even though I'm sure they could hear you a mile away," Albus said. Andrew made his little hand into a fist and knocked as hard as he could, which only produced a small sound. Albus reached over his head and made a more booming sound that the others inside could hear.
"Hello boys, it is good to see you." Albus' Aunt Fleur opened the door wide for them to step inside. "Come in everyone is waiting for you."
"Thank you, Fleur, I love what you have done with the colors in the walk-through. It is very airy for the summer."
"Oh Scorpius, thank you. It is nice to have someone notice, Bill has yet to say anything about it and it has been two whole days."
"I haven't said anything because you change everything up so frequently that I can hardly get adjusted," Bill said walking in, even with age he still wore his trademark ponytail. Albus always battled between which of the older Weasley men was the coolest and could never land on an answer between him and his Uncle Charlie.
Fleur playfully rolled her eyes and mumbled something in French, to which Scorpius giggled earning him a smile from the older woman. The two of them often ran off and talked about Paris and the latest fashions whenever there was a family gathering. Albus was sure that Fleur was Scorpius' favorite of all his aunts.
"Andrew come along with me, Victoire and Gabriel are in the back making sandcastles. They are waiting for you."
"Can I, pwease?" Andrew turned towards both Scorpius and Albus.
"Yes love, be careful and be good. We will be inside if you need us." Scorpius watched as the little boy slipped his hand into Fleur's as she chatted to him about the new toys Gabriel brought over for them to share.
"Hey, little brother. Bout time you both showed up," Teddy rounded the corner sporting fuchsia-colored hair, "Your owl wasn't very telling. I would have much preferred Scorp here to send me a letter. He can't hold water." Teddy lightly teased.
"Don't worry Ted, what the boys have to share will be worth the wait. From what I gathered it is serious but doable." Bill led the younger men into the family room to sit at the table. He disappeared into the kitchen to bring everyone a drink.
"Wait! You told Bill already?" Teddy looked shocked at Albus and a little hurt.
"No, Harry sent a letter to him last night amid all the chaos." Scorpius clarified.
"Oh well, if Harry is involved then I'd rather wait. He has a way of making you feel very involved in others' problems. Poor Bill probably got no sleep last night."
Bill returned with a round of drinks and crips, "Actually he kept it light. Well, light for you guys' father anyways. I think he wanted to make sure I was prepared for what was to come. Go ahead Al, fill your brother in on what's going."
With that, Albus went on to tell Teddy everything that had happened with Andrew. He even told him about the leads the Ministry had gotten before the incident last night, figuring Teddy didn't know about that. As he told them everything that had happened, both Bill and Teddy stayed quiet, but Teddy couldn't help but glance out of the window that showed his wife, mother-in-law, and both boys outside running and playing.
"…he seems fine this morning, but we are way out of our reach in helping him the next time the full moon cycles back." Albus finished.
"And we are hoping either of you two can help. We feel bad about leaving him yesterday. Dad did a great job at keeping everything together, but I just feel like it should have been us." Scorpius looked down, as he picked up his drink and took a small sip.
Bill sighed, "don't beat yourself up about anything. There was no way for you two to know what was going on."
Albus nodded looking over at his adoptive brother, who had turned his attention back to the table. His expression was still but his hair color turned a shady brown. Albus wasn't even sure the man noticed it had changed.
"Now that you two know that Andrew has… well has these challenges you will be prepared moving forward. For me my symptoms are mild. After the attack, everyone feared I would be a different person. It kept us all on edge for a while, but nothing happened. I do eat my meat rarer than Fleur likes, but I think that's a fair trade." Bill chuckled to lighten the mood. "Andrew though has a different background than I. So he will require a bit more attention. Teddy, you're quiet."
All eyes turned to Teddy, who stilled for a moment and then stood up. His back was facing the others and Scorpius thought he was about to yell or scream, noticing his eyes drift back to the women and children outside. Specifically his wife and child.
Had Teddy felt Albus and Scorpius put his family in danger by bringing Andrew into their lives?
Scorpius began to panic as Teddy turned briskly back to the table and bolted over to Albus.
To Scorpius' surprise, and maybe even Albus', Teddy lifted him out of his seat and gave him the biggest hug he could mutter. His frame was similar to Scorpius' so he could tell Albus was being crushed by the taller man.
"Al, I am so sorry. I feel like I should have seen something. I mean come on, my dad… my dad he… how could I have been so…" Though he still held on to the smaller man, Bill and Scorpius could tell he was crying.
This put Scorpius to ease. He was so worried that everyone would hate them or react in such as way as his Aunt, that he was afraid to come to the cottage, but now he was finally feeling a bit of relief.
"Alright Ted, let Al go. I'm sure Scorpius would rather have a breathing partner." Bill said smiling at the young men.
In a flash, Scorpius found himself also embraced by Teddy, "Oh Scorp! I'm sorry to you too. I am going to be there for you both so much now, you are going to be sick of me."
"We already are," Albus mumbled.
Releasing Teddy, Scorpius smiled at him, "Thanks Teddy, really. We are going to need all the help we can get."
—
Once everyone was hugged out, Bill suggested they head outside for lunch. He had prepared food for everyone and the partial family sat outside watching the boys continue to play in the sand. Even though Fleur had made them take a hot dog before allowing them to run back off.
"As I was saying, though my mom wasn't the one with the werewolf gene, Nana still took precautions when I was younger," Teddy spoke to the group while they all ate.
Once they had made it outside and filled the girls in, the adults sat around trying to piece together anything they could about how to help Andrew.
"Just like you mentioned with Andrew, I did have bursts of anger at times around the cycle. But as I got older it was rare I couldn't control my temper." Teddy pondered his youth for a moment and continued speaking.
"Hermione did a lot of work with a lot of wolf communities, but where it is very little about wolves passing on their genes through birth when the mother is infected, there is a lot less from when it's the dad who is infected."
Bill agreed, "yes and you have your mother's metamorphmagus' genes, which also could have played a role in that. You could simply morph around anything unusual in your body."
"Yes! Which is what everyone thought of a long time ago." Teddy looked over at Victoire, "I am rather lucky. I had people in my life who didn't fear or judge me. They instead wanted to help me and look after me. Hermione and Harry did so much work to make sure that I would have a normal life even if things had turned… well wolfish."
Albus noticed that Victoire placed her hand on her husband's leg, "And now you have all of us to help you."
Albus smiled at his cousin, "Thanks, Vic. It doesn't seem like he will have a full wolf- transformation. We can handle the symptoms. I think we are more afraid of him… well not fitting in and being shunned." Scorpius nodded in agreement. "What did you do when you were at school Teddy? James always talked about how popular you were, when he was a first year."
Victoire tried but couldn't hold back her laugh, "Popular? Teddy… please. He was a dork." This time everyone at the table chuckled as her husband gasped at her, "I'm sorry honey, but it is true. Don't get me wrong he had some charms-"
"Thank you! I remember you had no problem with my charms- !"
"Excuse me!" Bill interrupted
"Oh relax daddy." Victoire rolled her eyes to play off her blush, "what I mean is Teddy has a way with people. I wouldn't call it typical popular but he is kind and fun. There was never a person who didn't want to be his friend. It didn't hurt either that his dad and mum were war heroes."
"I wouldn't say everyone liked me, but it was important that I was true to myself and I was honest with everyone about who my parents were. Both of them." Teddy looked over at the two boys rolling in the sand laughing as they talked. "Andy is a good kid. He instantly lights up a room. Gabe talks about his cousin all day long. He finally has a friend from who he doesn't have to hide his magic. That is worth protecting."
"Besides, you boys have a long time ahead of you before you have to tell anyone who or where Andrew comes from. He won't be around a lot of magical children for another eight years or so. Until then you can keep it in the family. None of us will say anything." Bill looked around as he spoke, Albus knew he was also referring to everyone who wasn't there.
"Thanks, Uncle Bill. We know we can trust everyone. We are just so new to this. We want to do right by him."
"And you two will. In the short time you have had him, he has been nothing but happy. This little bump in the road will only make your bond stronger as parents." Fleur said, getting up and gathering all of the empty plates.
"Besides, you have us to help you with anything you need. Even if we wanted to abandon you two, Gabe wouldn't allow it. You know the two of them to remind me of James and Freddie, and though it's cute, I am starting to get worried." Everyone at the table shared a nervous laugh and Teddy's hair turned back into its bright pink color.
—
"Scorp?"
"Yes, sweetie?"
Andrew lifted his head from the tall man's shoulder. They had left shell cottage only an hour ago. It was almost impossible to get Gabriel and Andrew apart. They had almost convinced the adults to let them stay at Bills and Fleur's for the night and only lost the argument after Victoire reminded them all that they were going to be heading out to Spain to visit Louis who had been gone for work.
Seeing the disappointment in the boy's eyes, Scorpius had cracked and promised them a sleepover at his and Albus' place the next week once the family had returned from their trip. This made the boys happy, as well as Vic and Teddy who were happy to have the night off from the hyper three-year-old.
Currently, Andrew and Scorpius occupied his and Albus' bed as they both paged through their respective books.
Once they were back home, Albus quickly showered and headed to his parent's house. He mentioned needing to see his mother before she left to travel again. Ginny had been on the road covering quidditch matches and would only come home late a night to sleep and head back out early in the mornings. Albus wouldn't admit it to his siblings or even Scorpius, but he needed comfort that only his mother could give him. Even if it was only for a moment.
"Am I different?" Andrew brought Scorpius' wandering mind back to the child sitting next to him on the bed.
"What?"
"I heard you's and Al tell everyone that I is different from the other kids. So is I different?"
Scorpius put his book down on the table next to his side of the bed, "honey," he lifted Andrew onto his lap and continued, "you are different. But so are a lot of us in this family."
Andrew looked confused.
"Remember Gabe and Teddy can change their hair and faces. That's different than the rest of us. Al has black hair and Lily and James have red hair. That's different. Even, some would say I was different because of who I chose to love. But that doesn't make any of us less special. I think it makes us even more special really. So being different isn't always bad."
Andrew seemed to understand, "Okay, I jus don't wants you and Al to not want me anymore. I like living here with you Scorp. I don'ts wanna have to move again."
It took everything in Scorpius to keep his tears from pulling out of his eyes. Instead, he hugged the boy and kissed the top of his head fiercely, "I promise you, you will never have to worry about that. Albus and I will never let anything happen to you. We will fight to keep you with us. This is your home and we are your parents now. Nothing about who you are or will become will change that."
Scorpius could feel Andrew nod into his chest. After a few more moments he decided to let the small child go back to flipping through his book. Within ten minutes, Andrew had fallen asleep.
Scorpius set his book back down and carried the child into his bedroom. He looked around the room and decided he would begin to customize it. They had added small things here and there since getting Andrew, but out of fear of him leaving they had decided to leave it pretty simple. After tonight, he knew it was time to start making it feel like a permanent space for the boy.
He was sure his dad wouldn't mind helping him, maybe even Lily.
Scorpius pulled the door to an almost close so that he would be able to hear the boy if he woke up during the night and made his way into the hall.
"Hector, what are doing delivering papers this late at night…" Scorpius walked over to the window that he and Albus' shared owl sat perched on.
He took the stack of papers from the owl, handed him a treat, and walked back over to the bed.
With one glance at the headline on the paper in front of him, Scorpius gasped.
"Oh no!" He continued to read until he heard the bedroom door swing open and his fiancé's voice was heard.
"Scor, you will never guess what I walked in on at my parent's house. James and Jane were… what's wrong? Why are you crying?" Albus' look of amusement quickly faded away.
Scorpius stood up from his spot on the bed, and handed him the paper:
EXCLUSIVE! The troubled two are back at it again: raising a werewolf cub!
Albus Potter, son of war hero Harry Potter and retired star of the Harpies Ginevra Weasley, and Scorpius Malfoy, son of heir and widowed Draco Malfoy, have adopted a small child. The couple has been engaged for nearly one year and has yet to tie the knot. Though this may seem odd, but this reporter has just been informed why: the couple seems to be raising an abandoned werewolf child. Though the source cannot confirm where the child came from, they are under the impression that it is from a pack up north. Regardless, the small child has posed a threat to the family and the home of the source. How long has the couple, who are no strangers to riling up their parent's lives with their mischief, known about the child's heritage? Is the Minister for Magic covering up things to protect her own family? Or is Draco Malfoy using his abundance of resources to silence those near them to protect his only "son?" We all know it wouldn't be the first time that the man has kept a family secret under wraps regarding the parentage of Scorpi-….
Albus couldn't read another word. He crumbled up the article and turned to his fiancé, rage clearly in his eyes.
"Daphne."
Scorpius could only nod.
A/n:
Alright, that is this week's update! Please be sure to comment and let me know what you think. Until next week.
Jazz.
