Ginny was waiting for Al as he walked into the great hall. Beaming from ear to ear, she swept him up into a hug "Congratulations Al, I'm so proud of you!" He smiled and awkwardly returned the affection.

"Where's dad?" He looked around her the older man, but Ginny just grimaced.

"He left." Albus laughed. He just couldn't help it, of course he'd left. Why would he stick around for Al? They'd barely said two words to each other in months, it wasn't like they were going to start now.

"Of course he did." Ginny frowned and put a hand on his shoulder,

"He really wanted to stay, he just…"

"It's fine, mum" interrupted Al. "I don't really want him here anyway." The cold glass of the vial was pressing against his skin, almost begging to be free. "But I was given a gift," he took the vial out of his pocket. "It's a mystery memory, want to watch it with me?" Ginny's brow furrowed, her long red hair framing her delicate features. She looked older than Al remembered, more tired and weary.

"Someone just gave you a random memory, why?" Al simply shrugged in response.

"I was just told to watch it with you, but it's OK if you don't want to." His mother shook her head,

"It's not that – I just don't know where we're going to find a pensieve - Unless the headmistress has one?" Al nodded,

"I'm pretty sure she does; and I know the password to her office! Come on, I've already graduated. She can't tell me off anymore!" Ginny rolled her eyes and smiled softly,

"Good to see there's at least a little bit of your father inside you." Oh how wrong she was.

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"Is he happy?"

"Yes. He loves his husband."

"What floats your boat, so to speak?"

"Maybe I don't want to ask you appropriate questions."

"Your wife is in the other room."

"You need to back off.."

"Now, Harry."

"Scorpius, go pack your things - we're leaving. I'm going to take you back to your father."

The images played out in front of Al and Ginny, who both stood watching. For Al it simply confirmed everything he's already been thinking about his father, but for his mother… He couldn't imagine how she must feel. He chanced a glance over in her direction. She was staring directly at the scene, her face completely stoic.

"Humh." She mumbled, as the scene drew to a close. After exiting the memory, she simply stared at Al who put the memory back into the vial. She cleared her throat. "Well… That was… informative." Al simply stared at her,

"Is that all you have to say? You just saw dad try to assault a minor." She smiled sadly,

"Albus – " The air hung heavy between them, "have you ever heard of transference?" he shook his head, "Well, sometimes when a person has very strong feelings towards another person and something stands in the way of those feelings, they kind of shift those emotions onto someone else."

"And what does that have to do with dad?" The headmistress' office stretched out around them, heavy and dour - somehow making Albus wonder if he'd ever belonged at Hogwarts.

"Your father and Draco Malfoy have a very… complicated history. I think when your father was talking to Scorpius, he was simply reliving his experiences with Draco." Al simply shrugged,

"So what?"

"So, I don't believe your father is interested in Scorpius in any way other than seeing him as a projection of Draco". Albus starred at his mother, she couldn't be serious… "Did you know that your father almost left us when you were little?" Al shook his head "Yes, he very nearly ran off and did something stupid."

"And why didn't he?"

"Because I wouldn't let him." Ginny narrowed her eyes, "I made him realise that leaving me, leaving you, leaving us would be the worst mistake of his life. I made him see that the Harry Potter people needed was stable. That running off half-cocked to start a new life with a death eater wouldn't be fulfilling his purpose. Do you have any idea how many people rely on him? How many people look up to him? Your father has a duty to those people to be the man they need. He doesn't get to do whatever he wants; he lost that right when he became the chosen one."

"But…"

"No buts, Albus. Whether you like it or not, the wizarding world needs your father. I need your father, and I'm not going to let this, or anything else stand in the way of that." She extended her hand, "Give me the memory". Albus stepped backwards,

"No."

"Give me the memory, now." Ginny drew her wand,

"Mum… I …"

"Stupefy!" Al lunged out of the way, barely avoiding the spell and drawing his own wand in the process,

"MUM, WHAT THE HELL!?"

"Locomotor mortis." Albus threw up a shield and cast around, but his mother was stood in front of the only exit. Ginny was mumbling spells under her breath, and Al quickly realised his shielding charm wouldn't hold much longer. No longer thinking, Al grabbed the closest object to him, a solid heavy desk ornament and hurled it at the older woman. Not expecting the change in medium, the ornament struck Ginny in the shoulder and gave Al an opening. He quickly cast a leg locking jinx and disarmed his mother, summoning several ropes to ensure she didn't attack him again. What the fuck was going on?

Ginny was livid, "You're going to ruin this family!" she screamed, straining against the ropes, "And for what? We raised you and gave you everything and now you're going to abandon us for people who don't give a shit about you, for death eaters!?" Albus looked down at his mother,

"I'm not abandoning you for anyone. You raised me to do what's right, but what is this? You're lying, defending people who have done wrong and you're attacking me! You're not the person who raised me. She would have known that this is wrong, she would've made amends for the harm her family caused, not try to cover it up!" Ginny's hair was hanging over her face and she was breathing hard. She looked so vulnerable, so far away from the woman who loved him. Waving his wand, he levitated his mother over to a chair and set her down, reinforcing her bonds. "I'm going to leave you here with a note for the headmistress. Maybe she can talk some sense into you." Ginny's breath was ragged and Albus heard her sniffle,

"I just… I can't lose him… He's all I have left. Your brother is gone, you're leaving, your sister is next – and I just… I can't let you take him from me." Albus walked towards the door,

"Dad isn't even on trial, look at yourself. I get it, you want to protect him but this is insane! At worst, dad is a footnote in this entire thing – he made some shitty choices, but nothing he did was going to get him taken away!"

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" She shrieked, tears falling freely from her eyes, "I could never compete with him… If it wasn't for you kids, I…I hate you for bringing him back into our lives." Albus stood, shocked. His mother had never said anything like this before, she was always the reasonable one – the level headed one. The one to take care of him and tell him that his father was just busy, but loved him really. And all this time, she'd been… What? Lying to him? He felt tears sting at his eyes,

"My things will be out of the house by the time my spell wears off. I really hope he's worth it... Ginevra."

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By the time Albus got to the café he was shaking. The rain was hammering down from above, causing his hair to stick to his face in various awkward patches. Myra had ushered him inside and sent him straight up to his apartment to change whilst she made him some food. His apartment. His own little corner of the world. No Ginny, no Harry, no constant reminders of all the way his family was fucked up.

Myra had stayed true to her word and Albus was given the flat above the café. She'd put some furniture in there too, a couch, a television and a some other basics. Albus wandered around the apartment and grinned. Finally- for the first time Albus was home.