OBLIVIATE
Scorpius Malfoy
As he sat on his bed, reading the latest Edgar Wronski novel, Scorpius' mind drifted off to his father. He was different these days, and whether the change was for better or for worse, Scorpius couldn't place. He was laughing and smiling as he had never before, his normally cold and determined eyes had a twinkle in them. Since the day Ms. Granger arrived, he had not been to work, something he had never expected from his father.
He thought of the night before when Ms. Granger and his father arrived for the dinner. He was wearing muggle clothes and tinkering with what he proudly called was his new iPhone. He even explained to him how the device worked which, he thought, was really quiet an exceptional bit of muggle magic. He was envious of Ms. Granger for making his father this happy. His father looked at her as if she was his whole world, which he had just earned back. He wanted to shout it to him that he shouldn't look at her this way, she was not his mother. However, the perfect pureblood etiquette which Mrs. Annesley, his governess had instilled in him prevented him from doing so.
A knock at the door brought him back from his reverie.
"Enter." He said absentmindedly thinking it was Mipsy, coming to clean his already impeccable room.
However, it was Ms. Granger who entered. He was about to scramble off from his bed to greet her properly but she just waved him off and perched on the side of his bed.
"Sorry, I could not come to see you soon. Draco was called to the work urgently, so I thought I could use my independence to go visit my friends for a while. But, don't tell him that." She winked and grinned cheekily at him. He smiled back.
"I gathered that Mrs. Annesley left a while back and thought you could use a friend to pass your time. It must get lonely here." She continued.
"I play with Mipsy sometimes and Teddy visits at the evening." He didn't want her pity and his previous musings had already left him enraged.
She must have seen his expression because she smiled knowingly at him and grabbed the nearest pillow and placed it near her legs. "Come lay your head here. I want to tell you something and this usually grabs the interest of my godson, James. He is Harry's son." He looked distrustfully at her but obliged none the less.
She ran her fingers through his immaculate hair and he nearly jumped back from the contact. But her tender act soothed him. "I know that I am like an intruder at your home. You had never seen me before that day and now unexpectedly, you are sharing your home with me. I would not have been surprised had you yelled at your father for bringing just anyone at your home. But you are more mature for your age." She paused and continued her ministrations. "I am aware that Draco should have asked about it first or at least explained properly. But your father is a man of his world. He cannot easily express his feelings, much like you I suppose. So, I feel that I should explain it to you."
"Do you know what happened when your father was in his sixth year at Hogwarts?" She asked.
"I read somewhere that he was given the task to kill professor Dumbledore by you know who." He answered her. He was quite eager to hear the story of his father. He had never been told all of it, just pieces he had gathered here and there.
"Well, that was the motive. At the end of our fifth year, Voldemort had given a task to your grandfather Lucius. He was told to steal something, which was valuable to him from the Department of Mysteries. However, we fought him and few other Deatheaters there, preventing him from completing his task. Members of the Order arrived there and a battle was fought which is now known as battle of Department of Mysteries. Lucius was arrested and thrown into Azkaban. Voldemort was displeased by this and to punish Lucius he gave Draco the dark mark. His task was to kill Albus Dumbledore, the strongest wizard in the wizarding world. He was meant to fail at it. He did not expect a fifteen-year-old boy to kill the wizard, who he himself feared. Voldemort threatened to kill his mother and father if he did not complete the task. He came back to Hogwarts as a changed boy. He stopped laughing and gave all his efforts to repair the vanishing cabinet, which was supposed to create a passage way from Hogwarts. He stopped eating his meals and there were dark circles under his eyes from the lack of sleep. We suspected that he was up to something. We did not trust him at all. But there was one day when I found him in an abandoned bathroom. He had just received a letter from the Dark Lord threatening to kill his mother if he didn't act soon. He was crying when I found him. He was broken from all the stress. He didn't even have the strength to push me away as I sat near him. I told him that I could help him but he just laughed bitterly. I comforted him as he cried out all his stress. We just sat there and after a long time he took a promise from me to not tell anyone what he was going to tell. I agreed and he told me everything. I was shocked after hearing him. He said that he did not expect me to help him but it just felt good to talk to someone. That was when our friendship started. I did not help him in repairing the cabinet but I reminded him to eat and gave some healing potions. We would meet in the room of requirement to complete our essays. We fell in love by Christmas and were in a secret relationship after that. By the end of the term Draco had repaired the cabinet. I told him that I would not be coming back for the seventh year. I gave him a journal which was charmed with mine to communicate. I knew that if I got caught and they found out about Draco and me, both of us would be tortured to death. I made him promise me that he would obliviate me if this happened. You might know what happened at the battle of astronomy tower. Snape killed Dumbledore and all the Deatheaters escaped. I went on the run with Harry and Ron. Draco and I would correspond daily with the help of those journals. Nobody knew what we were doing on the run but me and Harry were named undesirable number one and two. We were finally captured by the snatchers and brought to the manor. It was Easter so your father was at home. I pleaded with him to obliviate me and he reluctantly performed the spell. I was tortured by Bellatrix but we managed to escape. By then I had no memory of your father and me." She took a deep breath and looked at him. He was shocked from all the information. He had never truly realized; how bad the situation truly was for his father.
"I did not know that it was that bad during the war." He muttered quietly.
"Oh!" She snorted. "It was worse. Your generation is fortunate that they didn't have to go through what we did. I did not want to burden you with all of this. I just wanted to explain what your father went through. Before he could heal, he was thrown into a marriage and he could not cope with that so he distanced himself from everyone."
"Thankyou for coming here. I always wanted to hear what actually happened during the war. The stories in the prophet vary every other day."
She ruffled his hair, something he was sure nobody had done before. He quite liked this easygoing behavior, to be treated like a nine-year-old. "Enough about your father. Tell me about you."
He told her all about him. How he liked playing wizarding chess and beat Teddy nearly every time at it. He showed her his cockroach frog cards collections. He also had her card which she graciously signed for him. They laughed when he told her the story of how Mipsy charmed Teddy's hair pink when he brought a gnome with him to let loose in the garden in the manor. He understood why his father was always laughing when he was with her. Hermione was the chattiest person he had ever met. She listened to him wisely as he showed her his books. She told him of her stories at the Hogwarts. He had never talked to anyone so freely other than Teddy. He was always reserved with others, part of the etiquettes. But with Hermione, he slowly forgot about them all.
They both were startled as they heard a clicking sound. He gasped as he saw his father clicking their photographs in his muggle device. However, what caught his attention was his father's face. He had cut his hair short and completely shaved off his beard. He looked quite stunning and young.
"Draco! You look amazing." Hermione said as she recovered from her shock.
His father walked towards them, kissed her temple and leaned down to kiss his head. He was stunned. He was sure, he had never received more than a pat on his shoulder from him.
He sat on the floor, his head resting on Hermione's knees.
"What are the two most important people in my life doing this day?" He asked.
"Not much. Just conspiring about few things." Hermione said nonchalantly.
"Conspiring! Should I be worried?"
"You can if you want." She said. "You got a haircut."
"Well, my witch preferred it this way. Didn't she?"
"You look amazing."
"We Malfoy men always look immaculate. Don't we Scorp?" His father had started to call him by the nickname since his divorce every now and then. He most certainly liked when he called him that.
"Yes, father." He was not very outspoken with his father. He had barely seen him more than an hour a day since his birth, so he was a bit reserved but he loved him.
"Did you have lunch in your office?" Hermione asked him as she ran her fingers through his hair as she had previously done with Scorpius.
"No. I did not have the time for it. I just had to throw my weight a bit so now I don't have to go there for at least a week. I am all yours, now."
He cringed as Hermione hit his head. "It's almost five now, Draco. You just had a toast for breakfast. You have to eat, you know." Scorpius was proud that he was not on the receiving end of her tirade. His father, it seemed was quite used to it.
"I didn't want to eat alone in the office." He kissed the offending hand that had just swatted him in an apology. "Did I show you the photo I clicked?" His father said, probably in an attempt to divert her attention. He opened his iPhone and Scorpius leaned towards him to see. It lit up with his father's and Hermione's photo, maybe clicked when they went to muggle London. They had arms around each other and grinning ear to ear at the camera. His father tapped few icons on the screen and the photo he had clicked of Hermione and him displayed on it. They were grinning at each other in it, probably from some joke Scorpius had shared with her.
"Isn't it good? See, I told you that I will master this device in a day." His father smirked at her.
"It is a good photo. You could send it to me, later. But now, I will ask Tinkle to prepare for early dinner. Maybe, today she will allow me to help her. You two enjoy till I call you downstairs." With that she stood to leave.
"Try not to terrorize my house elves, Granger." His father called after her as she left.
"So, knowing Hermione, she has told you about us." His father said as he got up from the floor and took a seat on the nearest chair. "I hope you are okay with that. I realize that I have not been very attentive towards you as should have been. For that, I apologize."
He was dumbfounded, hearing this. He had never seen his father apologize to anyone except for Hermione perhaps but she was the exception to nearly everything.
"Hermione explained to me what happened during the war. She told me a bit about both of you. But that was ten years back." He did not know how to say what he was truly feeling. He managed some of it, though it might not have been worded properly. "You were married to mother after that. And Ms. Granger is only here for a month."
His father frowned, looking at him curiously. "Hermione will not be going anywhere. She has returned back to me, where she rightfully belongs, after ten years." He said defiantly, daring anyone to contradict him. His expression softened as he looked at Scorpius again. "I understand that it is hard for you to accept her. You have just met her, after all. However, I hope that you will soon see her as a friend. Hermione already is quite fond of you. You were conversing quite amiably before I arrived. I see that you have shown her your Chocolate Frog Card Collection."
"She signed her card for me." He told him sheepishly.
His father chuckled. "Well, she is Hermione Granger. Of course, she has her own card. Do you have an extra one of her?"
He took one of the cards, which was unsigned and gave it to his father.
"Can I keep it?" His father asked him as he read it.
"Sure, I have three of them."
"I was thinking of moving into the Malfoy country house. The manor is too much tainted by the war. I looked through it today and asked Tinkle to have it ready to accommodate us with some renovations. I have not told Hermione, yet. I will inform her after dinner. It is comfortable house for a family. Not as large as the manor but it is charming and just outside London. It will be ready by next Sunday. I am hoping we would move in there straightaway." He looked at Scorpius for a confirmation.
"That would be lovely, Father." It was anything but. He did not want to leave the manor. It was his home. But he conceded.
"Hermione is a very lovely witch, Scorp. She took me in when everyone else, I called friends weren't bothered to even look at me. She not only forgave me for my past transgressions but taught me to love. Try to get to know her. I am sure you will like her, maybe just as much as I do, someday." He inhaled deeply and continued. "I am hoping to marry her soon, if she approves, that is."
Scorpius didn't know what too say. Marry her! So soon, just after his parents separated. What would happen of his mother? He was sure his grandfather wouldn't approve. But mostly, what of him?
"I already have a mother." Scorpius stated defiantly.
He saw Draco Malfoy's face tightened. "I know you do, Scorpius. You must understand that we had a marriage contract which I ended almost a year back. I did not have a choice but to marry her." He scowled as he continued. "I did not like her. I barely tolerated her."
"My affections for you will not be changed, if you are concerned about that. You will remain my son. However, I am hoping to have true relationship with you, perhaps spending more time with my son. Your mother, though will have no part in my life. You may continue to visit her on the Saturdays. I have asked Mipsy to take you there henceforth, rather than you mother flooing in."
"Uncle Theo and Aunt Daphne also had a marriage contract but they are happy. Why can't you and mother be happy? Perhaps you could try again." He spluttered, breathing heavily.
"Because when I married you mother, I was already deep in love with Hermione. Whom I worshipped and loved." His father sneered at him. His eyes flashing with agitation. "I do not care if you accept her or not. I have done far too much for this family, for that." He snapped but then controlled his rage. "Nonetheless, I will be very happy if you and Hermione would learn to love each other. I am sure Hermione will. I have this request for you."
"Grandfather will not approve of it." Scorpius immediately regretted his words, said so defiantly. He did not know why he was being difficult. He liked Hermione, he truly did. She was too lovely, not to. She had listened to him like a friend and stroked his hair, like he wished his mother would do. But she was not his mother. He did not want his father to just forget about him.
Draco Malfoy sprang up from his chair. His eyes darkening with rage and frustration, his lips thinned. "I have no care for your Grandfather. If he as much as breathes a word against Hermione, his vaults will be cut down. I am the head of the house now." Scorpius eyes widened in trepidation. He had only ever seen his father indifferent or smiling warmly at him but never like this.
The sound of the sitting door opening halted his father and Scorpius was never more thankful for an interruption.
"Draco, the dinner is prepared. The elves even allowed me to cook pasta." Hermione said as she crossed the threshold. He watched as his father's eyes immediately softened, his shoulders relaxed.
"The elves allowed you to cook?" His father asked her, his brows arched.
She pursed her lips. "Well, I may have bribed Tinkle with a promise to allow her to clean my flat." His father chuckled fondly at her. "But I got to cook for you and Scorpius, didn't I." She snapped back at him.
"You cooked for me?"
"Of course. I made a penne pasta with vodka sauce and parmesan cheese. I am sure you will love it." She said enthusiastically.
"I am sure I will, love. Allow me to freshen up quickly and I will join you for dinner. Why don't you wait fore me at the dinner table? You can simply apparate there, I have keyed you to the wards."
"Okay. Come back, soon. I will see you at dinner table Scorpius." She smiled warmly at him and apparated.
He turned to his father who was watching him with narrowed eyes. "I do not wish to fight with you. You have made your opinion quite clear. I only wish that it will change with time. But I will not tolerate you behaving unbecomingly with Hermione. She has been nothing but kind to you. I will see you at dinner." With that he apparated out.
He regretted, how the conversation went with his father. He was enjoying his afternoon with Hermione. She had been kind and affectionate toward him, while his mother only talked to him if she felt the necessity. He could see why his father liked her. But that did not mean that she could replace his mother. He was envious of her, of how protective his father was toward her.
Perhaps, he could talk to his father after he calmed down. Scorpius could make him understand of his objections.
Hope, you liked the chapter.