"Sorry, I'll get a mop." said Scorpius bending down to pick up the broken glass.
"Don't worry about it," said the unsettlingly familiar man- withdrawing his wand and vanishing the shards. "I'll see you in there." Scorpius nodded, and returned to the cupboard where he withdrew another glass and filled it at the sink. He knew that man, they had met on several occasions, they'd had conversations, he was just…. shaking his head, he tried to clear his mind. How did he know him?
"Scorpius, are you coming?"
"Be there in a minute, Al." Taking a sip of water he returned to the dinner table. There was only one seat left, next to Albus, and opposite the man from the kitchen who was currently staring at him.
"Scorpius, this is Teddy, Teddy, this is Scorpius." The blonde inclined his head ever so slightly. They began to eat in silence, the two men sat opposite each other constantly glancing up at one another. One would fiddle with his food, whilst the other would stare, and vice versa. It didn't take long for the rest of the group to cotton on to the tension brewing at the far end of the table, so when Teddy began to speak all eyes turned to him.
"Carrots?" He picked up the dish filled with the orange vegetables and handed it to Scorpius who accepted with a nod, scooping a small portion onto his plate and handing the bowl back to the other man. Their eyes locked.
"If I… If I were to wear sun glasses indoors, what would you tell me?" The other man smirked, and tipped his head to the side.
" Well, first I'd tell you that wearing them indoors is bad for your vision."
"And then?"
"Then I'd ask you why you wanted to hide your eyes, when they're brighter than the sun." Scoprius rolled his eyes and Teddy sat forwards in his seat "Then I'd invite you out onto the terrace. It's terribly stuffy in here."
"Isn't Austria beautiful this time of year?"
"Österreich ist immer schön" He replied, before taking a drink of water. "But then I'd ask you why you look so lonely."
"And wouldn't you know it, Andrej just walks right up to us." Teddy supressed a laugh,
"Ahh. I heard you broke up. Kids these days."
"Er ist ein Arschloch, und wir uns getrennt haben, aber ich höre, er tut einfach gut." Teddy simply raised an eyebrow,
"How fortuitous. You know, I was meaning to thank you for saving me from that oaf at the party in Vienna." Scorpius snorted,
"Foul, foul man. I remember you saving me from him once also, as it so happens." Teddy nodded,
"He cornered you in the function room."
"He wouldn't let me go, the bloody oaf. Kept on telling me about his latest acquisitions and business ventures. Tell me, how does a man become so boring?" Teddy snorted,
"He was born that way, I suppose."
"And you and Kamal?" He nodded,
"Broke up as well."
"Really?" Scorpius played with his food for a moment, before looking back to the other man. "You know, I heard something quite interesting about one of K's exes once upon a time…"
"Ohh really?" Scorpius nodded, again.
"Have you ever been to Red Water Lake?" Now it was Teddy's turn to look slightly uncomfortable.
"Yes."
"And you went with K?" He nodded again, "And that's when your…."
"Yes." Scorpius giggled,
"And ever since then, you…."
"You know it's mortifying that she told other people that story" Teddy moaned, poking at his potatoes with his fork. Scorpius simply shrugged,
"Ohh, come on it's not that bad. By all accounts, you are quite the talent." Teddy threw his head back and laughed,
"Well, I suppose it is kinda funny looking back on it. And hey, I guess my reputation proceeds me!" Scorpius snorted,
"Sleazeball."
"Getting cocky now, are we?" Their tone was light, and jovial.
"I still think I could take you." Scoprius smirked, and looked up through his eyelashes at Teddy.
"I'm afraid I'm a lover, not a fighter." Scorpius let out a small laugh,
"So I've heard." A silence settled over the table. It almost seemed as though the pair had forgotten that everybody else was still present. They were rather involved in playing whatever game this was that the other party members were not privy to.
Not that the others couldn't converse amongst themselves if they so wished, it just seemed as though they were more interested in listening to their conversation and trying to work out what exactly was going on.
"Who would have thought Draco Malfoy would be my own personal saviour by proxy?" Said Teddy, making the sign of the crucifix on his chest.
"Guess he has a thing for lost causes…" Teddy snorted,
"I guess it's a trait that runs in the family, huh?" Scorpius simply raised an eyebrow,
"I guess you'll have to wait and see." Harry took the opportunity to chime into the back and forth.
"You two know each other then?" The older boy nodded.
"To a point. We run in similar circles and we have… several traits in common."
"Such as?" It was Scorpius who replied-
"Well we both have crazy exes…" That did not get the laugh Teddy was intending from the rest of the table,
"And I believe we are both musicians if I'm not mistaken?" Asked Scorpius, "You play the violin right?"
"Violin, Viola and Cello" Scorpius let out a bark of laughter and rolled his eyes,
"So the little violin, the violin and the big violin?"
"We're also both exceedingly sarcastic and bratty" finished Teddy with a grin.
"That's so great that you know each other! You know you two are technically related right?" Added Hermione before taking a bite of potatoes.
"What?"
"Sure- Teddy's grandmother was Narcissa's sister, making Draco his uncle and you his cousin once removed." Teddy tilted his head to the side again
"Well this is awkward."
"Ohh please, half the wizarding world is related in one way or another..." Scorpius took a sip of his water,
"True and besides you can still marry your first cousin in England, so no harm no foul." A deafening silence settled over the table as everyone stopped eating and stared at Teddy in disbelief. For his part, Teddy held on for several seconds before he and Scorpius burst out laughing.
"Wow you guys really hated that joke!" He laughed looking around the room. A few other people around the table began to snigger also, including Ginny who simply smiled and told him how much she missed his sense of humour. "Nah, we attend the same parties and have a lot of friends in common. That's all – my ex-girlfriend was actually in a movie with his dad. Not Draco, the other dad."
Albus felt Scorpius' hand reach for his own under the table and squeeze it. He returned the calming gesture and tried not to read too much into it. Teddy was just joking and they were just friends. The dinner continued in much the same way, with other people such as Rose and Lilly becoming much more involved in the conversation and Ron insisting on making as many derogatory remarks as possible. For his part, Hugo remained surprisingly neutral – even complimenting Scorpius on his Quidditch skills.
After the meal had ended, the group retired to the lounge and for the most part broke off into two separate groups. The over 30s (and Hugo) and the under 30s. Al and Scorpius were sat next to one another on a two-seater couch, whilst across from them was Teddy, James and Rose on a longer sofa and Lilly on the floor.
"Have you ever actually met my father?" Asked Scorpius looking directly at Teddy. The other man shook his head,
"Not in person; but I have photographed him. In Rio." His voice went up a couple of octaves as he said the name of the city. His eyes also widened slightly, and a grin slid across his face.
"Don't you dare." He looked Teddy straight in the eye.
"I don't know what you mean."
"I mean it, Teddy!" He yelled, clearly trying to keep himself from laughing.
"And what exactly are you going to about it?"
"Please, Teddy. Half of his family already hate me, let's not give them anything else to complain about." The man shook his head,
"On the contrary, it will probably make a few people here like you a little more. Tell you what, why don't we put it to a vote?" Scoprius just waved his hand nonchalantly,
"I give up. Do as you wish." Teddy smiled and waved wand- a small bag came floating towards him. He plucked it out of the air and withdrew a camera. Turning it on and waving his hand again, the camera interface was projected onto the wall behind Teddy.
"I would like to apologise on behalf of both myself and my fathers… This is hardly appropriate for a social gathering" said Scorpius, his tone passive.
Al could tell he didn't really care one way or another- but the unexpected connection between Teddy and himself had started to make him uncomfortable. Not that Scorpius seemed to notice. Scorp was supposed to be there with him – not spending all his time making in-jokes with Teddy. Scorp took a seat next to him on the couch and put his arm around Albus who had to fight not to lean into the embrace more than was strictly necessary.
"So I was sent to Rio by my boss earlier this year to photograph a muggle event called Carnival, which is basically one huge street party and parade where people dress up and celebrate life." Teddy continued to fiddle with his camera, tipping it over and ejecting what appeared to be a memory card and inserting a different one from his bag.
"My father was the guest of honour, meaning he was on one of the main parade floats through the city. We were on summer break at the time, so I went with him and performed at some of the parties afterwards" added Scorp.
"Yes, but you were also on the float, the proof of which should be just about…. Here." Scorpius let out a bark of laughter as he saw an image of his father projected onto the wall.
Draco was wearing the tiniest gold shorts Albus had ever seen and his hands were running through his short cropped hair. His entire left arm was covered in a sleeve of tattoos and his toned muscular body had an exceedingly well-defined torso, trailing all the way down to a small patch of hair that disappeared below his waistband, sandwiched in between two lines that created the shape of a 'V'.
"Jesus Christ, Teddy do you have to show us this shit just after dinner?" Ron chided, making his way over with the rest of the adults, but Teddy simply swatted his concerns away
"Ohh stop being so grumpy. Look…" Waving his wand, the photo turned into a video and began to play. Draco was joined by what could only be described as a behemoth of a man- about six inches taller than Draco with a gruff beard and long shoulder length hair. He came up to Draco and wrapped his arms around him.
"Who's that?" Asked Rose, her voice clearly indicating she would like nothing more than for him to remove his similarly tiny pair of silver shorts.
"That's Marcus, my dad Well… my stepdad I suppose but they've been together since I was two so I just call him dad." Ron tutted and rolled his eyes,
"Bloody hell are you all poufs then?" The remark was met with a speedy slap to the arm from Hermione
"Ronald!"
"What? I was just asking…"
"Yes, Ronald. We're all pouffs. Happy?"
"But your mother?"
"Was a wonderful woman."
"Awh look, here you come!" It was teddy again, directing everyone's attention back to the projection and the two men beckoning a third who as of yet remained out of the shot. Scorpius buried his head in Albus' shoulder.
"Kill me now". A couple of seconds later Scorpius entered the frame wearing what could only be described as white and gold American football jersey with the number 21 on it that was cropped right above his belly button, a backwards cap and a pair of slightly more modest gold pants to match his father. The three men hugged each other and Marcus lifted the older Malfoy up and gave him a kiss whilst Scorpius moved to throw beads at the crowd. Scorpius heard a stifled moan come from the man next to him as the next image began to move and show Scorpius dancing atop the float- and a similar sound came from what Scorpius assumed was Harry as the third photo showed his father doing the same thing only without a cropped shirt.
"Is it not weird seeing your father dance on a float in his underwear?" asked Rose "I think I would rather die"
Scorpius snorted in laughter and discreetly pressed his leg against Albus'. "I'm just going to grab a glass of water- please continue to enjoy my humiliation" he said, good-heartedly and he rose to his feet. "Albus, could you show me where the glasses are again please?" Albus nodded
"Oh, Al don't worry about that – I'll show him." Added Harry, moving to stand in front of the smaller boy- Scorpius turned to Albus who simply shrugged
"OK, dad." Scorps' eyes remained on Albus, as if trying to say something but he was too busy enjoying the photos- turning back to the images on the screen, Scorpius was led into the kitchen.
"Here you are" said Harry, moving to the sink to fill up a glass of water. Scorpius thanked him and reached for the glass- but Harry's hand did not let go.
"It's been a pleasure having you here, Scorpius." Harry's voice has an edge to it that made Scorpius' skin crawl.
"Thank you" Scorpius tugged, perhaps harder than he should have on the glass and returned Harry's stare with a steely gaze. He took a sip of water before placing the glass on the kitchen counter and leaning against it. "You have a… lovely home". Harry smirked,
"You remind me so much of your father." A tense silence settled over the room.
"In looks only, I presume? I hear that at my age he was a bit of a prat." Harry nodded.
"So how is he?"
"My father? … Good, I guess. Busy as always. He's shooting a movie in…"
"Is he happy?" Scorpius frowned
"He is, perhaps, the most fulfilled person I have ever met. He loves his life, he loves his job, he loves his…"
"Husband?"
"Yes. He loves his husband." Harry nodded and took a step towards the smaller man
"And what about you?"
"What about me?"
"What floats your boat, so to speak?" Another step.
"I hardly think that's an appropriate question." Harry took a final step forwards, placing his hands either side of the counter- trapping the younger man.
"Maybe I don't want to ask you appropriate questions." Scorpius grimaced- not attempting to hide his disdain.
"Are you out of your mind - what on earth do you think you're doing?"
"What does it look like I'm doing?" Harry's face was dangerously close to Scorpius' who was leaning as far away from the older man as the counter pressed against his back would allow. Scropius pushed against Harry's chest, but the older man wouldn't budge.
"You're seriously cornering a sixteen year old in a kitchen when you're wife is in the other room?" He pushed at Harry's chest, but he wouldn't budge.
"Something tells me you like a bit of danger." Scorpius almost snarled,
"You need to back off. Way off –
"And if I don't?"
"Ohh something tells me you will…" The sound didn't come from either of the men in the kitchen. They both turned to see Teddy stood in the doorway. Scorpius breathed a sigh of relief. "Now, Harry." Throwing his hands in the air, he stepped away from the blonde.
"Nothing happened, I just…"
"I don't need to hear your explanation. Scorpius, go pack your things - we're leaving. I'm going to take you back to your father." Scorpius lept out of the room- refusing to even look at his tormentor.
"What the fuck, Harry?" Teddy stepped towards the older man and pushed him harshly, "He's a child, what do you think you're playing at scaring him like that?" Teddy's voice was low as to not draw the attention of the other guests.
"I know, I know… it's just…"
"No. No excuses. I know he seems mature, but he's still sixteen. You can laugh with him, you can joke with him – hell, I've been doing it all night - but you don't ever take it to that place. I don't know what is going through your head right now but you need to get it together. You just crossed the line!"
"You don't think I know that!?" Hissed Harry, slamming his fist down on the kitchen counter- "It's just every time I look at him I see Draco and …I just … I can't let it go." Teddy moved to place a hand on his godfather's shoulder-
"Listen, I have no idea what happened between you and Draco Malfoy, but you can't take it out on his son. He's just a boy, and if he tells his father what you were about to… what you could have done – what do you think would happen?"
Harry put his head in his hands. "You're right. Gods, you're right. I took it too far, I should go apologise."
"Ron, stop. Please calm down!" Both men whipped their heads around as they heard the cry, followed by an almighty crash.
..
..
Scorpius entered the living room and made a beeline for Albus – He would at least have to make some effort to explain his abrupt departure. As he approached, it became apparent that he and the other guests were now watching footage Teddy had captured from the event in Barcelona.
"Al, can I talk to you for a second?"
"Wait, so your father is seriously OK with you doing this shit?" The question came from Ron and Scorpius wasn't even close to being in the mood to deal with his attitude problems. He snarled,
"Clearly- otherwise he wouldn't be with me in the videos- would he? Seriously Al, can I borrow you?"
"What do you mean, clearly? You Malfoy's are all the same with your superior attitudes and your…"
"Yes, yes I'm sure I'm awful. Ever so sorry to cut you short, but I really don't have time for this- Al, seriously I need to talk to you." He tugged at the other boy's hand trying to lead him towards the stairs,
"Well it looks like you're just going to have to make time, doesn't it? I've spend all night putting up with your bullshit and I…"
"Will you give it a rest!" The room fell silent-
"Who do you think you are talking to me like that?"
"I don't care what you have to say" came the cold response. Ron was turning bright red, and Al recognised the signs of danger as Scorpius desperately tried to lead him out of the room.
"Don't you know what your family has done, don't you know what you did to my family, what you did to me!?"
"Ronald, please calm down" said Hermione, putting a hand on her husband's shoulder. He brushed it off and stepped towards Scorpius
"Let me say this just once," stated Scorpius as calmly as he could, "I don't care what happened to you before I was born and I don't care if you don't like my Farther – hell, I don't care if you don't like me. I just don't care. Honestly, no-one in my family ever thinks about you. Ever. You're completely irrelevant. I can't name one impressive thing you've ever done and you play no part in our lives, so you can stop now. Thank you." He tugged at Albus' hand once more and began climbing the stairs-
"And just where do you think you're going, I'm not done with you?" yelled Ron, stalking closely behind the boy.
"Upstairs. I understand that the shack you were raised in probably didn't have one, so you may not be familiar with the concept- but…."
"Ahh, there he is. There's the man we've all been waiting for. Hello, Draco!" Scorpius flexed his fingers in annoyance
"And can you blame me? You've been nothing but hostile since I walked through the door but I have to give you a pass and be pleasant to you because your wife is -" Scorpius caught himself on his last word and took a deep breath. "Never mind, you're not worth it. This whole thing is fucked." He turned to make his way up the stairs only to have a hand pull on his wrist and drag him back down "What do you think you're doing!?"
"You're not going anywhere you little brat!" Ron was livid. His face was red with anger and his breathing heavy.
"I strongly suggest you remove your hand from my persons." Hermione rushed to Ron's side-
"Ron, stop. Please calm down."
"No, 'Mionie. I'm sick of being treated like this. Of being spoken down to by them, of them stealing my job, of them killing my brother!"
"He didn't kill anyone, Ron –" countered Ginny, speaking up for the first time – "You're way out of line, let the boy go now." Ron just grabbed tighter, yanking on Scorpius' arm, who stumbled and was snatched away from Albus in the process. Scorpius twisted his wrist and yanked it free of the older man,
"What's going on now? Scorpius, get your things, we need to leave. Now." said Teddy, stepping out of the kitchen with a scorned looking Harry in toe,
"Get the fuck off me! Your whole family is fucked! The wizarding world loves you, but look at yourself - first I get harassed for months on end by your son, then accosted in the kitchen by your step-brother, and then you assault me in the lounge – why on Earth did I come here? Father was right about you people" he pointed between Ron and Harry, "You do realise you're directing a lot of misplaced rage and…" he waved a hand towards Harry "Whatever sick shit it going on in your head – towards a boy half your age who has nothing to do with any of it!"
"I have every reason" Ron practically seethed
"Uncle Ron, stop! He wants to leave, just let him." Yelled Al. Lilly, Rose and James all echoed his sentiment – but Ron ignored their pleas. Even Hugo chimed in telling his dad to give it a break.
"You get everything. Your family gets everything, your family TAKES everything." Scorpius calmly regarded the other man, all he could see was a toddler – a child so fuelled by rage and resentment that he was unwilling to listen to reason.
Everyone around him was either related to or involved with Ron on a much deeper level than they were with him, and Scorpius was sorely lacking any home-field advantage. This was a battle he would never win, so he acquiesced.
"No. My family earned everything. We've earned everything we have. After the war, my father was left with nothing and we re-built. Became better, became stronger – but you? What have you done other than sit around and expect things be given to you? You're nothing. Your only claim to fame is that you once went camping with the guy who killed a lunatic more than a decade ago. You're pathetic." Scorpius tuned his back on the older man, his eyes lingering on Harry as he began to walk back up the stairs, "Both of you".
"DON'T TURN YOUR BACK ON ME!" a hand wrapped around Scorpius' shoulder, pulling on his shirt and pulling him backwards – a second later, another hand grabbed at the waistline on his jeans and threw him clear across the room.
The throw sent Scorpius careening into an ornate glass cabinet. He landed on the upper surface of the display, causing the frame to break and the glass to shatter.
Scorpius felt a sharp pain in his abdomen as he rolled over, tasting blood in his mouth. He tried to stand, but couldn't. His hands travelled to the spot the pain was coming from – a large piece of glass protruding from his lower abdomen.
"Ron, what the fuck?" Yelled Teddy, pushing past the older man and running to Scorpius. Hermione did the same thing, tears streaming down her face. Scorpius tried to stand again but the pain was too much – gritting his teeth he pulled the piece of glass from his stomach with a sickening squelch.
Blood was pooling at his side, "Where the hell is my wand?" yelled Hermione, almost desperately trying to stem the flow of blood with her hands. Scorpius' breath was getting short as blood continued to pour from his open wound.
Lilly screamed at the sight of all the blood and Al felt like he was going to faint – what had they done? The pool of liquid gushing from Scorpius was growing, a deep red river flowing onto the floor and colouring the carpets a violent shade of red.
Scorpius let out a scream, followed by a blast of magic that sent Hermione and Teddy careening backwards,
"Wyatt…." He whispered, "Wyatt, I need you… WYATT!" He cried, pain coursing through his body. Blood lurched from his mouth and stained the side of his face as he yelled.
All anyone saw next was a pool of blue lights and Scorpius Malfoy was gone.