Albus knew that both of Scorpius' parents had always gone out of their way to be friendly and welcoming to himself, especially Draco who must had been so used to hiding and controlling his feelings and emotions all his life that he could not even bring himself to talk to his own son following his wife's death. Despite what Scorpius had said back on the Hogwarts Express on the first day he had met him about how Harry (as well as his aunt and uncle) had not gotten along with Draco, his father had never said anything bad about Draco's past in front of Albus that to this day, he only had the vaguest idea that Draco had been a bully in the past, even though he had learned much about the Second Wizarding War in recent months, including Draco's involvement. Ron had almost badmouthed Draco a few times but had always been told off by Ginny or Hermione that Albus had not been able to hear anything substantial about the older Malfoy from the people he knew personally except Scorpius.
Maybe he should have tried to learn more about what Mr Malfoy had done or maybe he should not be as trusting and be more cautious but for some reason, he had always liked Draco and could never reconcile the image of this Mr Malfoy he knew with the mean bully and evil Death Eater he had long heard random students and wizards badmouthing about. He had talked with Draco on his own once in the past and could still distinctly remember that as a twelfth-year-old, he had felt sorry for this man his own father age who obviously had felt guilty that his son had been suffering in school but loved his son enough to talk to the son of his former rival.
Albus had not known what to think about his dad befriending Mr Malfoy following Godric's Hollow. If he had to be honest with himself, he had felt slightly suspicious about his dad's intention when he had first learned about it but he had to admit that whatever Harry Potter had been, he had always been annoyingly good and noble that it would be inconceivable for his dad to mean the Malfoys any harm. Even when his dad had separated him from Scorpius, he knew he could not have done anything to harm Scorpius. Scorpius might have been hurt by his dad's action, but even Albus knew that it had been done purely out of the desire to protect himself instead of a conscious intention to hurt his friend.
For what was worth, Scorpius, who had always worried about Draco being too lonely, had been absolutely ecstatic that Mr Malfoy had made a friend who just happened to be Harry Potter so this could not be bad he supposed, especially when his dad had since actively encouraged him to spend even more time with Scorpius.
While Albus did like Draco, he would not say that he preferred eating with both the Malfoys to having a meal with just his best friend. Mr Malfoy had never told them off for goofing around during mealtimes and he did not seem to mind Scorpius talking with Albus or playing with the Pygmy Puffs the whole meal but Draco rarely smiled and he appeared so serious most of the time that eating with him felt a bit like having a professor at his table that he would feel nervous and could not feel easy even when he knew he had not done anything wrong.
Of course he would not say anything in front of Scorpius because his friend had absolutely adored and admired his father and Draco had always been so accommodating to him whenever he visited that he could not possibly deny the widower the little time he could spend with his son while he was visiting. Being away in Hogwarts for most of the year, he could understand the need for Scorpius to spend as much time as he could with his isolated father even though the relationship Albus shared with his own father could not be more different. He had been so happy for Scorpius that his relationship with Draco had improved because it was something Scorpius had always wanted and he believed it had contributed a lot in keeping his friend so normal and happy following the disaster.
As always, Scorpius talked mostly with Albus during lunch in which his friend had been fussing with his pets a lot again. The father and son would ask each other a question or two occasionally.
At one point, Scorpius happily stated, "Albus has agreed to visit mum with me after lunch, dad."
Albus had some ideas about what Draco had been through during the war after his "crash course" on the Second Wizarding War following the incidents but for the few years he had known Mr Malfoy, his friend's father had struck him as always poised and would be unfazed at all times except when they had emerged from the lake after using the Time Turner, when Draco had reunited with Scorpius at Godric's Hollow and during their subsequent fight with Delphi, so Albus was a bit surprised to see Draco's eyes widened slightly before turning towards him.
"That's very kind of you, Albus. This means so much to Scorpius and I know Astoria would love seeing you."
Albus could feel his cheeks warming again, why did the Malfoys have to make such a big deal out of something anyone would do for a friend?
He shrugged, "It's no big deal, Mr Malfoy. Mrs Malfoy had been very kind to me and it's what Scorpius wants."
Draco nodded to himself, "You're a good friend to Scorpius, Albus."
Albus could at least understand why Scorpius would say that and he had not felt too bad hearing Scorpius said it earlier but how could Draco possibly say that knowing that he had gotten Scorpius tortured and almost killed? Albus was feeling so small that he wished he could just disappear.
"I-It's really nothing." He finally forced himself to say something after an awkward ten seconds. He saw the Malfoys exchanging a look before moving on to something he could not get himself to listen to while focusing on chewing and silencing the gloomy thoughts in his mind.
Albus had visited the garden at the Malfoy Manor numerous times when he had visited but never for long. Their garden was huge and carefully decorated but of course few parts were as well-tended as Astoria's greenhouse. He had no idea what to expect on his way to visit her grave as he had heard that the whole area had been transformed since he had last been there during the funeral but for some reason, he remembered the Muggle book about a dreamlike secret garden his sister had read a lot when she had been much younger.
With Hermione as an aunt, their family had been much more exposed to Muggle culture and literature than most wizarding families. Back then Lily had made Ginny (who would question many details of the story) and later Harry read the book to her before going to sleep. He had not read it himself but he remembered there was a boy who had lost his mother in that book and who for a long time, had a non-existent relationship with his father, just like Scorpius had. Fortunately, the boy, a sickly and spoiled kid who learned to walk for the first time as a much older kid, had started rebuilding his relationship with his dad by the end of the story, like his friend had following the Time Turner incidents. The memory of this book had buried so deep in his mind that one moment Albus was wondering where it was all coming from, the next moment he felt his jaw drop as he believed himself to be staring at the paradise of the garden described in the book himself.
They entered the garden through a marble walkway under a wide golden garden archway, which was covered by hundreds of climbing roses in white, pink and red, with tons of vines which seemed naturally yet simultaneously artistically draped all around to perfectly complement the roses.
Immediately upon exiting the walkway, Albus found himself facing a large pink marbled fountain with water going up at least five metres. There were four mermaid statues sitting at the edge the fountain, each taking up a quarter of the large circle while facing each other. The mermaids were constantly dancing without a care in the world. Their movements were synchronized perfectly and effortlessly graceful.
This garden was at least five times as large as the "garden" at his house, in which he had just played Quidditch with his family, with Astoria's grave standing at the end in front of a large oak tree. There was a beautiful white swan statue sitting on top of the white marble headstone, sandwiched between two flower beds of lavender. Standing about two metres in front of the grave was a comfy garden swing with deep green cushions.
On one side of the garden there were many beautiful displays of plants like some floating urns with spilling flowers floating out of it, a row of trees with gorgeous pink flowers all over it, some other trees with leaves of burning red like it was autumn. Albus could tell different plants were all magically regulated into specific conditions to always look their best despite not being inside a greenhouse. On the other side there was a huge gazebo with not only a large table with matching chairs inside, but also a large bookshelf with a gramophone inside and even a piano.
There must be at least thirty different flower beds of different shapes and sizes all around the garden, all carefully arranged and tended to, some with all different shades of the same colour, while others were carefully arranged to form some intricate shapes like a snowflake, another swan, a matching set of the Malfoy family crest with another crest that Albus could only guess to belong to the Greengrasses.
"Good afternoon, Aphrodite, Astraea, Athena and Clio! You ladies look amazing as always." Scorpius happily greeted the statues of the fountain, who all gave the young master a gentle nod and smile without breaking their dance.
Albus stared at his best friend with a raised eyebrow. Sensing his friend's disbelief, Scorpius' smile turned a bit tighter as he explained, "I was really into Greek mythology, I don't know if you have ever heard about it before but it's absolutely fascinating, Albus, even though some stories could be quite gruesome while others are pretty lovely and romantic… well, I was reading all about them around the time when dad decided to build this fountain so of course I'd name them after Greek goddesses."
"Of course, that makes perfect sense to me. I've never heard about that but they sound pretty interesting." What Albus really meant was he had no idea what Greek mythology was and had no real interest about it but as always, he was willing to humour his friend because Scorpius was obviously passionate about it as he felt about countless other things.
That was all the encouragement Scorpius needed to brightly elaborate, "Do you know that Greek gods and goddesses all had different powers and they controlled different aspects of life?"
Albus assumed the question was rhetorical but for five seconds, Scorpius attentively looked at him as if waiting for an answer, he was about to shake his head when Scorpius took a deep breath then continued, "The names I have given to the mermaids were Aphrodite, Astraea, Athena and Clio," Scorpius made sure to slow down to pronounce each syllable of each name very clearly, "could you guess, Albus, what powers these goddesses possessed or what they controlled?"
Albus had never been good at any kind of guessing games but unfortunately, Scorpius had the tendency to engage him in one of those all the time, so he just casually gave an educated guess based on his friend's defining traits, "Love… and intelligence, I guess."
Scorpius clapped happily but then his eyes narrowed a little the next moment when he asked, "Are you sure you didn't know anything about the names beforehand?"
"Of course, I can't even pronounce one of the names properly."
Scorpius searched his face a little more before apologising, "I'm sorry, Albus. It's just a bit rare for you to get it right on your first try."
"Well, you named them so I was just trying to guess the thing you would value most, love… while intelligence is just something you possessed." What started out as an explanation of his answer came out to be a personal compliment, Albus could see Scorpius' cheeks reddening as a result.
"That's really nice of you… Aphrodite was the goddess of love, I actually hesitated about using the name because the goddess could be a bit prone to jealousy but like you said, love is just something I value and would move me more than anything that I had to use it. Athena, on the other hand, was the coolest goddess there could ever be. She was the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, law and justice, mathematics…"
"Why did the Greek need a goddess for mathematics? Did they need a goddess for history as well?"
Scorpius looked down a little while his face looked even redder, which could only mean one thing to Albus. "Um… one of the other goddesses you named after was a goddess for history?"
His friend nodded without looking at him, "Technically, Clio was a muse of history… but yes, she was basically the goddess of history."
Albus patted Lavender, the Pygmy Puff sitting on Scorpius' shoulder, as he said, "I think the names are pretty nice… they all sound so… Scorpiusy."
His friend gave him a grin, "Do you remember the last name?"
"Astor… no, that's not right… As… what was it?"
"Astraea, she's a goddess of innocence and purity, but her name actually means star-maiden." Scorpius turned away to look at the mermaid as he explained but Albus could tell he was thinking about another person.
Albus reached out to hold his best friend's hand, who turned to look at him, he looked into Scorpius' eyes, which was thankfully not watering, and said softly, "Let's go."
Scorpius gave him a grateful smile before leading him toward Mrs Malfoy's grave. Albus took the time to look around the garden as he was walking on a pebble walkway with lavender on both sides, there were literally too many flowers everywhere that with every passing second, Albus discovered some new intricate details he could not see just a second ago. Naturally, the garden smelled overwhelmingly of lavender yet even Albus, who had never given much thought and care to different smells and knew very few types of flowers, could recognise the smells of several different kinds of plants at the same time, rose, jasmine, lily, citrus and even mint.
They had reached the wide garden swing, Scorpius placed a hand on the armrest, "I once sat here for ten hours straight."
Granted this could have happened during the summer right after her death but that still sounded way too long that he instinctively turned towards his friend to look for signs of grief.
Sensing his worry, Scorpius immediately turned towards him and laughed easily, "Don't worry, Albus, I was reading a book at the time and I must have eaten too much for lunch that I fell asleep accidentally."
"That was so unlike you, I've never seen you falling asleep reading."
"That was really the only time that has happened, at least the only time I remember. Anyway, come over here."
A/N: Over the past year, my life has turned completely upside down that I doubt things would ever go back to normal even without the virus. I feel terrible about my writing and I've just been forever stuck. Even though the fic is and has always been in the back of my mind, I honestly wondered if it'd be better for me to not update again because I've no idea when and if I'll able to publish more later. To whoever is still here, thank you for sticking around. Any word of encouragement would be greatly appreciated. Stay safe and healthy.