After Sienna's revelation the gang had began exploring the edges of the forbidden forest in hopes of find Morana. After Albus reminded everybody about the man that had attacked him for his 'mistress' it became clear to the group that they were servants of Morana. Rose devised a careful schedule that allowed for Albus and Thalia to spend as much time as possible on the journal and her, Scorpius & Sienna to patrol the edges of the forest in case there were any more trespassers. Rose had everybody's day scheduled down to the minute in order to allow time for examining the journal, patrolling the borders of the grounds, classes, homework, food (with the unfortunate sacrifice of certain meals a day) and a few hours of sleep a night. At first Albus thought this to be completely over the top but when he found himself barely awake in his 3pm potions class with no clue whether he had a free period for journal study in the common room, quidditch practice or his allotted eating time he found himself thankful for Rose's colour coded schedule.
As the looming celebrations got closer and closer Albus became more and more thankful for the welcome distraction from thinking about, what felt to Albus, a glorified press conference with his parents Infront of the entire school. Rose on the other hand had gone into full planning mode, preparing her outfit, preparation interview questions for when the paparazzi inevitably hounded her and various poses and outfits to be photographed in on top of all her other commitments. Rose often prided herself in her time management skills and wonders how she'd cope with being the daughter of the minister of magic without it. Scorpius wasn't worried about the upcoming events however, as he had already planned his escape to the room of requirement as soon as the inevitable questions about his death eater father came. at least he didn't have to worry about his father being there like Albus did, it was clear his father wasn't welcome here.
With Albus and Thalia completely preoccupied with journal deciphering in their free time and Rose in full on preparation mode without a moment to spare, Scorpius found himself left with Sienna often. Scorpius held nothing against Sienna, but he hadn't spent an awful lot of time with Sienna, of course they'd had their group meetings together, but she was mostly focused on Albus during this time and they hadn't really been alone a lot. But now with Rose's scheduling system it meant that Scorpius, Sienna and Rose rotated patrol in pairs, so Scorpius had many hours now patrolling with just Sienna, which Scorpius found were the quietest times. When he patrolled with Rose she almost couldn't seem to shut up, discussing theories as well as their upcoming homework and exams came naturally with Rose, it was easy for Scorpius to talk to her. But Sienna and he had little to talk about, every now and again one of them would attempt small talk but it never got far, that is until the particularly hot summers day the day before the celebration when Scorpius and Sienna were patrolling in between there care of magical creatures and Ancient Runes exams. As they were approaching the boating house Sienna unexpectedly turned to him in another attempt to make small talk and asked,
"Excited for tomorrow?" Scorpius could see it was just another attempt to make their patrol more exciting but as with all their attempts at conversation, they had little to talk about.
"I'm not going, I'll make a quick appearance, watch Albus' Dads' speech then I'll head up to the room of requirement for the rest." Sienna's eyes narrowed slightly in confusion as they sat down on the boat house steps as Rose instructed them to do while patrolling the perimeter.
"Why? Everyone's talking about how epic it's going to be. There's supposed to the grandest feast hogwarts has ever seen, and I saw Harlow setting up the quidditch pitch earlier so you know there's going to be some kind of contest, and Penny swears she overheard Longbottom and Hart discussing a fireworks display…" Sienna rambled to try to fill the silence but was quietened by Scorpius' response.
"And a bunch of press. Forget the feast, the only thing we know for certain that will be there are press. I don't really feel like getting a camera shoved in my face and being asked if I'm a death eater, or if my father approves of my Gryffindor lifestyle, or where my mother is" Sienna was quieted for a moment before smiling slightly and asking.
"Don't know why they'd bother asking you that when your scandalous love affairs are far more interesting! Who wants to read about politics and death eaters when you could read about a torrid affair between you and Rose and Albus!" Scorpius snorted as he laughed with her for the first time in what felt like a long time.
"Me, Rose and Albus!?"
"Oh, come on! You know that slimy Rita Skeeter been all over you, Rose and Albus' friendship since you all started Hogwarts, it's only a matter of time before she starts reporting about how your breaking Rose's heart with your romantic rendezvous' with Albus!" Sienna held her arms out as if she were imagining a newspaper title "I can see it now 'Malfoy caught with Potter in a secret shameful love affair breaking Weasley's heart!'" Scorpius was laughing down to his core now, desperately trying to catch him breath as he and Sienna were nearly doubled over in stitches.
"Oi you'd better watch it tomorrow, if you get caught with Albus you'll be the Slytherin temptress ruining his heroic Destiny" Scorpius countered making Sienna almost choke with laughter. As the continued to imagine various newspaper headline and the imaginary stories the press would run with them it was 17 minutes after there expected leave time from there post that Sienna and Scorpius finally calmed down and realised how late they were. As they began walking along the lake Sienna turned to Scorpius to ask,
"You can't let the rubbish they write effect you. None of what they write matters. You're a good person and you've got friends that have your back and that's all that matters, not the way a bunch of idiots who hang onto the Daily Prophet's every word sees you as. You should come tomorrow, have fun." Scorpius was thrown by Sienna's profound insight and was once again reminded of how much of a mystery she was to him.
"Thanks. But It's not so much the fact that the press will be there but the fact that it's just another reminder of who's not." Scorpius looked down at his feet as he tried to regain his composure.
"Look I know what it's like to get constantly reminded of what you don't have, believe me I get it. But at some point you have to stop focusing on the fact that you don't have a mum and focus on the fact that you've got us, stop fixating how you don't have a dad and remember that you have Teddy and the Weasley. You could spend your entire life feeling jealous of what you don't have but you'll never be able to appreciate everything you do. At some point parents stop mattering as much as having a support system around you to call family. Couse we're each other's family now, you, me Rose, Albus & Thalia were a family, we've got each other's backs. So yeah, your parents aren't there but who needs them!? Your family will be there with you." Scorpius studied Sienna's firm expression and it became clear that this talk wasn't just for him.
"Are your parents not coming either?" Scorpius tentatively asked, he knew how well prying into Sienna's private life usually went.
"Don't have any. Care home kid." She responded he pace quickening, so she was slightly ahead of him.
"Oh…. I'm sorry I didn't know."
"Don't be sorry, can't miss what you never had."
"But you can miss the idea of it. The idea of that perfect family life you always imagined having, parents to come home too in their little cosy house, you can miss the idea of a family without ever actually having one." Scorpius thought about all the times he'd imagined what it would be like to live in a simple little cottage with his parents tucking him in and reading him stories and healing scraped knees. The memory of all those nights spent wondering still stung Scorpius today. Sienna's face softened as she allowed Scorpius to catch up with her and Scorpius wondered if she too and stayed up at night imagining what a real family might feel like.
"Yeah not having parents sucks. Especially on days like tomorrow when you look around at everyone with the perfect happy little families and wonder why you don't get to have that. And as much as I like Albus seeing the way he complains about his parents just makes me want to rip his head off…"
"It's like he doesn't even realise how lucky he is! He has a mum and a dad that just want to love and care for him and he doesn't even appreciate it!" Scorpius interrupted finishing Sienna's thought.
"Exactly! I can't even listen when he's in his whiny complain about his dad mode! Like he expects us to feel sorry for him because his dad loves him too much!" Sienna rolled her eyes.
"I thought you liked Albus?" Scorpius dared to be brave now that Sienna's guard was lowering to try and figure out more about what was going on with Sienna and Albus.
"I do." Sienna saw the analysis on Scorpius' face and raised her eyebrow in defiance. "Just because he's cute doesn't mean I can't also find him annoying, I thought you and freckles would understand that blondie!" Sienna smirked.
"Rose… no… we're not... I mean..." Scorpius looked over at Sienna's smug face and realised how pointless denial would be at this point. "Rose doesn't think of me like that." Scorpius sighed in defeat.
"Rose doesn't think of anybody like that right now. She's so wrapped up in organising and scheduling and schoolwork to see anything else. Doesn't mean she doesn't have feelings though." Scorpius tried to hide the optimism in his face, but he judged by Sienna's smirk that he hadn't done a great job.
"So, if you think Albus is so cute why haven't you made your move yet?" Scorpius countered to try to let the blush in his face go down.
"Same reason you're not making your move on freckles. He's too busy with that stupid journal and Thalia to take a second look at me right now." Sienna noticed the look of silent judgement on Scorpius' face and her eyebrows knitted together in frustration. "What!?"
"Oh, come on! That's such a load of rubbish!" Sienna opened her mouth to protest but Scorpius cut her off before she could even continue.
"If you're so wise about MY love life, you tell me mister know it all why haven't I told him yet?" Scorpius studied her face for a moment, challenge and defiance written all over it.
"You're scared. You're scared he might turn you down. You're scared of letting someone in, only to have your heart shattered. You're not holding back because he's so busy, you're holding back because he's been so busy with Thalia. Your worried that you might tell him how you feel only to have him reject you for Thalia. You can act as tough as you want but your just as scared of rejection as the rest of us!" Sienna was stunned into silence for half a moment before taking a deep breath and raising his hand ready to object but as Scorpius looked at her with his eyebrow raised in challenge, Sienna realised it was pointless, after all the stuff she'd already said to Scorpius today what was one more secret. So, against her better judgement Sienna sighed as her body deflated. No words seemed to be able to leave her mouth as Scorpius met her eyes and all the was able to do was shrug.
"it's okay to let yourself be open with him. You may get your heart broken, you may not, but the important thing is you tried. You gave it a shot which means you won't spend your life wondering what could have happened. It's okay to let yourself be vulnerable every now and again. You don't have to keep this guard up." Scorpius placed his hand on her shoulder as he sat next to her against the quidditch pitch which was there next designated post on patrol. Scorpius thought Sienna might cry he'd never seen her show this much emotion. Sienna seemed incapable of words as she feared the second, she opened her mouth her body might betray her, and the tears may fall instead.
"I mean if you never give it a shot, you'll never get to be the slytherin temptress pulling him away from his torrid love affair with me! What will the papers write about then!" Sienna couldn't help but laugh as a few tears escaped down her cheeks and she quickly brushed them away.
"You're such a hypocrite Blondie! You're telling me what to do when your too cowardly to tell Freckles you dream about her every night!" Sienna rolled her eyes trying her best to deflect from the heavy stuff Scorpius had said that was still sitting in her chest.
"Hey! That makes me sound like a lovesick puppy… I'm not that desperate…" Sienna raised a knowing eyebrow, Scorpius started to protest before letting out a big groan. "I'm pretty pathetic, aren't I?"
"Pretty pathetic? You're a mess!" Sienna and Scorpius laughed.
"She's just so driven, especially with everything going on lately… I just don't want it to get in the way for her…" Sienna rolled her eyes in disbelieve
"Dude! You gotta toughen up! Rose Weasley is a headstrong badass, that girl will eat you alive if you don't Gryffindor up! Freckles needs someone who can't be bossed around by her. She needs someone to bring her back when she goes to far and push her when she starts to doubt herself, if your gunna stop pining after her and start being with her your gunna have to be brave enough to stop letting her tell you what to do all the time! If I recall in first year you didn't take any of her bossy stuff, what happened to that?" Scorpius thought back to first year for a moment, how frustratingly stubborn Rose had been and how he'd stuck his ground against it. It was different then; she wasn't like she was now… or maybe he wasn't. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something had changed.
"It was different back then…"
"Look do you want to be Rose Weasley's boyfriend?"
"Yes" Scorpius reluctantly admitted
"Then you need to stop letting her treat you like your little pet and make her realise you're here and a viable option. And that starts with telling her how you feel, even if she's too busy to hear it. Put yourself out there." Scorpius realised she was right as he thought back to the many times he'd put her first without even thinking of his own feelings, now was the one time he needed to think about himself and stop thinking about whether it inconvenienced Rose and tell her how he felt.
"I will if you will." Scorpius challenged. Sienna read his face for a moment realising how serious he was.
"Okay fine. By the end of the summer, I'll tell Albus if you tell Rose."
"Deal." Scorpius and Sienna shook hands and for the first time Scorpius wondered how he and Sienna had avoided properly talking up until now. She felt like the first person to really be able to understand what he was going through; he felt a kinship with Sienna he hadn't felt with anybody else. Maybe this was what it felt like to have a sister, someone to always have your back even when she'd constantly annoying you.
"Come on Blondie, if we waste anymore time Freckles is going to have us hung, drawn and quartered by the school gates!"
"I don't get it! Why do you keep calling me Blondie, your blonde too!" Scorpius finally spoke up about the question that had been bugging him since he met her. Sienna laughed as he leant up to put her arm around his shoulder and rustle his hair.
"I have my reasons, not that you'll ever find them out, Blondie."
The next morning the Hogwarts ground became entirely unrecognizable almost over night. Banners, streamers & balloons had filled the grounds, the quidditch pitch had been transformed into a competition and entertainment ground with a duelling ground on the one side, a wizard on a pedestal doing various transfiguration tricks to an impressed group of children, a flying display from the English national quidditch team and various other attractions, mainly designed to keep the large number of young children and teenagers occupied. Between the pitch and the castle a multitude of tables of covered in every food and drink known to man had been prepared, thousands of blanket and sun blocking umbrellas had been set out next to it for families to sit and eat the prepared food in a picnic style. At the base grounds of the castle a podium had been set up ready for the number of speakers the ministry had managed to procure, highlights included the opening speech by Minister for magic herself, Hermione Granger, a message on the importance of preserving Hogwarts by former headmistress Minerva McGonagall and a most anticipated inspirational speech from the man himself, Harry Potter. A number of benches had been set up between Hagrid's hut and the Herbology green houses to view the speeches, Headmaster Harlow had tried to place some under the Whomping willow but the tree had simply swatted them away until they simply gave up trying and moved the benches just out of the trees reach. Many local businesses had set up stalls for people to sample and buy their products in the designated stall area by the lake reaching around to the boating house. By far the most exciting though was the huge preparation area along the right-side of the lake where a multitude of fireworks were being set up for what was sure to be a fantastic closing display.
As Albus watched the mass crowds began to seep through the mass security set up at the gates. He knew he wouldn't be catching a glimpse of his father among the crowd, oh no. His father would already be in headmaster's office. Both his Father and Rose's Mother were far to important to be let in with the rest of the crowds, they'd likely be preparing their speech in there already. Albus was thankful when all the other boys in his dorm room had began to filter out so he could enjoy at least a few moments peace before he had to meet his father and play perfect son again. As Albus buttoned up his smartest maroon shirt and dark blue jeans he couldn't help but wonder how it felt to just have a normal family. Not to have a hundred photos taken of him or every watching and listen to him as he spoke to his dad. But just to be able to simply be with his dad like any other normal kid. But he wasn't any normal kid and his dad wasn't a normal dad, he was a Potter. He learnt long ago that came with sacrifices when it came to the press. As Albus did up his shoelaces Rose stuck her head through the door.
"Are you still not ready! Professor Harlow was very clear that we were to be in his office at EXACTLY 9am! Come on!" Albus quickly finished his shoelaces and examined his hair in the mirror, desperately trying to get it to lie flat, if it lay flat maybe he'd look a little bit less like him… but just his luck even his hair failed him. Eventually he gave up and turned to follow Rose who Albus couldn't help but noticed looked perfect for the occasion. Rose's hair looked neater than he'd ever seen it Albus wondered how long it had taken her to get it to fall flat in the twisted bun behind her head. Albus hadn't seen Rose in makeup before at least not that he'd ever noticed. Her eyes had a hint of blue eye shadow behind and her peach lip gloss was undeniable. Albus hadn't been aware till now that Rose even had her ears pierced but the blue studs in her ears looked lovely next to her sapphire sun dress. As he came closer, he noticed she seemed taller, almost the same size of him now and he realised she was wearing heels. He hadn't seen Rose in formal wear before, he was used to her jumpers and tights he supposed he shouldn't have been that surprised but she looked so comfortable in her formal wear that Albus was painfully reminded of how much more she fit into this famous parent world than he did. Everything about Rose exuded the daughter of the minister of magic whereas nothing about Albus screamed son of a famous hero. As he and Rose met up with their siblings and headed towards the office a looming sense of dread filled into Albus' gut. As they opened the doors Albus was first greeted by his mother in her tight green dress who gave him a hug. Albus found his mother was a lot easier to deal with than his father most of the time, but events like this often reminded Albus that his mother was also a famous quidditch player as well as a war hero, meaning she was just another person for Albus to let down. As his mother straightened his brother's shirt and brushed off his sister's skirt, she talked the three of them through various things the press might ask them and what to say and what not say. Albus tried to focus but all Albus could focus on was the mounting tension filling in his gut. In a few moments he'd step out there and thousands of pictures would be taken all day of him and his parents and if he didn't do everything just right they'd all be discussing how he was the disappointment of the family again, no matter what his mother was telling him Albus knew there was only one rule today, don't be himself. No one wanted him today they wanted the perfect little image they'd created of Harry Potter's son and he needed to be that, or he'd disappoint everyone. The all too familiar buzzing filled Albus' ears as his thoughts flooded with all the things he had to do and say to make sure everything he did was what they all wanted. Suddenly Albus was brought out of his spiralling thoughts by his fathers' hand on his shoulder.
"You doing okay bud?" Harry looked down at his youngest son. Albus gently nodded. "Should be a fun day all in all." His father stared out of the window listening to the gathering masses outside.
Albus couldn't help but think about how easy it was for his father to go out there and make all the public appearances and still have fun doing it. Albus couldn't enjoy a day filled with worrying about what everyone else was going to think about him or print about him, how could he do it all so easily? The speeches, the press, being that heroic person, they all wanted to see. Of course, it was easy for him Albus thought, he's not pretending like I am, that's just who he is, none of this is me.
"Is Uncle Charlie coming today dad?" Lily asked as she came up next to Albus. Harry was brought away from his thoughts and looked down at his daughter with a smile.
"Of course! He's the one in charge of the dragon they've got opposite the greenhouses." Lily's face immediately lit up and Harry chucked as he watched his daughter's immediate excitement.
"Look guys, if nothing else please just remember this, just be on your best behaviour and remember your representing not just yourself but all of us today… that means you James! I don't want to deal with another junior marauders prank today, especially not Infront of all this press!" Ginny's strict expression turned towards her eldest child who smiled wickedly at her.
"Wouldn't dream of it mum!" James laughed at Ginny's narrowed eyes.
Albus once again wondered how the thought of representing the ultimate war hero didn't absolutely terrify his siblings the way it made him almost want to vomit. He noticed Rose and Hugo talking with there mother on the other side of the room and wondered if they were getting a similar speech or if aunt Hermione and uncle Ron just knew that Rose and Hugo would be perfect representations of them.
"It's time" Professor Harlow gently tapped Aunt Hermione's shoulder and Albus took a deep breath knowing what that meant… time for the charade to begin.
Thalia was excitedly showing her parents and little sister Violet around the school, and with Albus and Rose preoccupied with their parents, Scorpius had no choice but the find a bench and sit alone waiting for the opening speech, that was until Sienna sat down next to him.
"This seat taken?" Scorpius gestured for her to sit down and smiled over, realising that she wasn't just making sure he wasn't alone, she was making sure she wasn't alone either. Scorpius' smile faulted as he caught sight of a figure behind her in a smart coat, a coat Scorpius recognised, as the stranger turned to face him Scorpius was left to wonder, why on earth his father was here.
As Thalia sat Violet on her knee while the minister gave her speech on the importance of coming together as a community. she was reminded of how amazing magic had felt to her at 6 years old too, the wonder in Violets eyes reminded her of the first time she'd seen hogwarts.
"Balloon!" Violet shouted in excitement as she caught sight of a bunch of green, red, yellow and blue balloons meant to represent all the hogwarts houses. As Thalia watched her almost jump out of her arms pointing at the balloons she smiled.
"Go on then, go get one" She resigned herself much to her 6-year-old sister's joy. Thalia placed her onto the ground and watched her run off to man nearly handing out the balloons to the children. Thalia glanced up to see Rose solemnly stood by her mothers' side and was realised how well Rose fit into the role of minister's daughter, her put together demeaner made her perfect for the role. Thalia made a mental note to remember to introduce her parents to Rose, it would be nice for them to see she had some friends here.
Thalia glanced back over to see if Violet had selected her balloon yet and her heart skipped a beat as she realised, she couldn't see her anymore.
After her mother's speech Rose had taken multiple photos for the press and answered some of there questions, after which she had some time to enjoy the day. She, Hugo and their parents had enjoyed a lovely lunch on one of the picnic blankets before entering the stadium, formerly the quidditch pitch. Rose knew how anxious these public events made her younger brother, so she resolved to keep him close to allow her to step in if needs be with any pushy photographer or rude interviewer. As Rose was taking note of the fantastic quidditch display and remarking to her father how much more remarkable it would be if they'd got the Chuddley canons, her and her fathers' favourite team. Rose felt her arm being tugged away. She looked up to find a particularly star eyed woman who'd just snapped a photo of her.
"Rose! What's your opinion on your mothers new law allowing the recognition of centaur land rights?" As Rose gave her standard rehearsed answer, she got hounded with more an more questions, each one she tried to answer with the same composure, she'd practiced this after all Rose noticed her family had moved on and quickly excused herself. It wasn't long before she found her fathers familiar orange hair and re-joined them. Only to notice one significant member missing, her brother Hugo.
"What are you doing here!" Scorpius hissed, after the speech he'd excused himself from Sienna and made his way over to the bench his father was sitting on alone. He had managed to gain significant attention; it was hard for Scorpius not to hear the whispering as people stared at them.
"There are no restrictions on who can attend this event, and as a father of a pupil at the school I felt it my place to…" Draco failed to meet the desperation in his sons' eyes willing him to be anywhere else.
"It's NOT your place!" Scorpius tried not to raise his voice so as not to attract anymore onlookers.
"Scorpius, you don't talk to me like that!" The all too familiar firmness filled Draco's voice mixed with a hint of surprise at having his son speak back to him.
"I will speak to you however I want. Go home father. This is a celebration, a day of remembrance and joy and your presence here is unwelcome" Draco looked down his nose at Scorpius meeting his eyes for the first time.
"You haven't been home…" Draco began changing the subject Scorpius quickly cut him off.
"I'm staying with extended family. Now why are you here." Scorpius met his father's eyes with a fierce defiance his father didn't recognise in him. There was a hint of pride in his face that filled Scorpius with hatred.
"I'm just as entitled to be here as anyone else. Are you going to join me in seeing the activities of the day?" Scorpius' body filled with disgust; this was a press opportunity for him. A chance to parade his son around to show their family paying their respects and making amends, except he didn't mean any of it.
"No. This may just be a chance to be seen for you, but it actually means something to those people who fought in the battle, lost people… how could you use that as a publicity scheme!"
"I…" Scorpius cut him off by walking away. It made him sick to his stomach to stay there a moment longer, he looked out to try to find Sienna but found she'd left her seat at there previous bench and saw trace of her.
As lunch time began to approach Albus mentally congratulated himself for making it through half the day without breaking. He'd smiled for all the photos, answered all the questions and withstood all the stares. But as he stood in the transfiguration yard with his father and brother listening to his father rehearse his speech Albus knew his real challenge would be in the next few minutes. Getting through his dads' speech without breaking would easily be his hardest task, luckily, he was saved from his downwards thoughts by his mother's abrupt entrance to the courtyard that had stopped his father in his tracks.
"Any sign of her?" Harry asked Ginny, fiddling with his cue cards out of habit.
"Nothing! Last I saw her she went to see Charlie and the dragon, but Charlie said she wandered off, I can't seem to find her. We'll just have to do it without her!" Ginny sighed. Lily's frequent wondering trips had often been a point of annoyance with his parents.
"Oh, Merlin it'll look awful if it's just the boys, I can see the headlines now, they'll say we're neglecting her!" Harry argued, Ginny sympathetically met her eyes.
"You're on in 2 minutes there's not a lot we can do. Hopefully she'll turn up, but you know what Lily's like! What else can we do?" Albus' wondered what adventure his sister was having this time and as his parents discussed their options Albus' couldn't help himself but wonder towards the window and glance out at the crowd. Wondering where his sister had disappeared off too this time.