Written for Quidditch League, Round 11
Team: Holyhead Harpies
Position: Beater 1
Main Prompt: Where Are We Going? (S5)
Optional Prompts: Draco Malfoy / "This isn't a game."
Word Count: 1358
Safe
"I've got to get you out of here," Draco muttered, glancing out of the window at the approaching lights. "Come on, Son."
Scorpius looked up at him, eyes bright and curious. "Where are we going, Daddy?"
"Away," Draco replied. "Far away from here, where they can't find us. Where they can't find you."
Scorpius picked up his plush kneazle. "Freddo can come?"
Draco softened. "Yeah, Scorp. Freddo can come."
xxx
"This isn't a game, Astoria!" Draco shouted, throwing his hands in the air. "If they find out about him, they're going to try and take him from us!"
"We'll protect him," Astoria said softly. "Nobody needs to know about him and his… difficulties."
"He's a squib, you can say it," Draco spat. "It's not a disease."
Astoria grimaced but nodded. "I know that. Draco, you know I love our son, I just… I didn't expect this. We've both got strong magic in our lines, I just don't understand."
Draco softened slightly. "Nobody knows why Squibs are, they just… are.
xxx
Draco held Scorpius tightly in his arms and slipped into the basement. He'd hoped he'd never have to use the tunnel he'd made when it had become clear that Scorpius didn't have magic of his own, but he hadn't been naive enough to actually believe it would be unnecessary.
He pulled the pre-packed backpack he kept in the basement onto his back, thanking Merlin that he'd thought to prepare it when he'd built the tunnel, and he tried to smile for his son.
He slipped through the door, sealing it behind him with the strongest magic he knew before he set off through the tunnel. It would open up past the wards, beyond those coming to hurt his boy, and Draco would be able to Apparate away.
Merlin, how he wished Astoria were still alive to help him with this. How was he supposed to explain to his son that he could never go back to the only home he'd ever known?
How was he supposed to tell him that if he was ever found, those looking for him would kill him without remorse and without hesitation?
xxx
"Is that really necessary, Draco?" Astoria asked, holding out a glass of cold lemonade to her sweaty husband.
"You know it is," Draco replied, wiping the moisture from his brow before he took a long drink of the deliciously icy liquid. "And you know I have to do it myself. Nobody can know about this."
"It just seems like overkill. They may not like Squibs but… many of them are our own blood, Draco. Many of them are still our friends."
Draco sighed. "Do you really think that will matter?"
It wouldn't he knew, and she knew it too. Draco never thought he'd believe it after having lived the hell of the Dark Lord's reign in his teen years, but the vacuum his death had left had been filled with an even worse terror.
Astoria bit her lip and then shook her head. "No. I suppose it won't."
xxx
"Where are we going, Daddy?" Scorpius asked.
He was trying not to whine, Draco knew, but he wasn't really succeeding. Not that Draco could blame him.
Draco was exhausted, so he knew that must be doubly so for the little boy. "We'll stop for the night soon, Darling," he murmured.
They'd made good distance between his initial apparition and the walking they'd done, but Draco didn't feel safe. He wouldn't feel safe until he'd gotten his boy out of the country completely.
They'd be safe in France. Hopefully.
Finally, he found a place to stop. They were within reasonable distance of the Dover coast, and there was a Muggle ferry leaving there in a little over nine hours. They had time to rest for a few hours.
He pulled a tent from the bag he carried on his back, smiling grimly to himself as he sent a silent thanks to Granger. In the only interview she'd given after the war, she'd explained about her little beaded bag and the way it had saved them when they'd had to go into hiding.
It was where he'd gotten the idea.
Scorpius crawled onto the bed as soon as the tent was up, while Draco secured their spot with the best protective charms he knew. He set up a multitude of alerts, knowing he was being paranoid, but feeling better for it anyway.
There was a second bed, but Draco ignored it and lay down with his little boy, wrapping himself around him protectively. He fell into an uneasy sleep, praying that it would be smooth sailing in the morning.
xxx
"I'm sorry for your loss," Blaise said, patting Draco's shoulder.
Draco nodded, as he'd done when he'd heard the same words countless times during the day. The pitying look on Blaise's face wasn't the first he'd seen. He knew he looked a mess. Though his robes were as pristine as always, and there wasn't a hair out of place on his head, his eyes were red-rimmed and puffy.
"Imagine, losing both your wife and son," he heard an elderly woman mutter a little way across the grounds. "At least he's young. He can rebuild, start again."
Her words hit him like a knife to the heart. How dare she be so callous?
Admittedly Draco knew better than her—his son was alive and well and at home with the house-elves—but he'd still lost his wife.
Even if he didn't have Scorpius to think about, the last thing Draco could even imagine thinking about was replacing his wife.
The ministry official standing by her ornate coffin cleared his throat, and Draco turned his face towards him.
"We're gathered here today to mourn the lost lives of Astoria and Scorpius Malfoy…"
xxx
"Boats are fun, Daddy," Scorpius said, looking over the side to watch the waves crashing against the side of the ferry.
Draco smiled softly at him. They were on their way, thankfully, and he'd relaxed a little.
"Are we nearly there, Daddy?"
Draco checked his watch. "Another half an hour, Son, and we'll be in Calais."
"Calais," Scorpius repeated, sounding it out carefully. "Where are we going when we get there, Daddy?"
Draco smiled sadly. "We're going to have an adventure, Scorp. Find ourselves a new home and a new life where we'll be safe."
"Like mummy went on to her new life?"
Barely holding back a wince, Draco shook his head. "Not quite. You know Daddy told you about the Lord of Magic, and how he's a bad man who doesn't like people born without magic?"
Scorpius nodded, biting his lip.
"Well, he's only really being mean to people in England, so we're going to France so that we can be safe away from him. You like it in France; remember when we visited a few years ago with your mummy?"
"And we saw the big tower?"
"That's right," Draco said, nodding.
Scorpius grinned. "I like it there."
"I know you do."
Scorpius turned his attention back to the waves, leaning into his Dad's side as he looked over the edge. Draco kept a hand on his hip—a comfort for both of them—and closed his eyes.
Whatever it took, he'd keep his boy safe.
xxx
Draco startled when his wards pinged him. He wasn't expecting guests, and he cast a worried look at his son as he crossed the room to look out of the window. The wards pinged again, stronger this time, and Draco realised that they were being tested.
They were under attack.
A flash of light made him jump, and suddenly he found himself looking at a little dog, the light swirling around the patronus even as he heard Pansy's voice emanate from it.
"They're coming, Dray. They know about Scorp. Run, Draco. Run, protect him."
Draco looked through the window again, to see more lights joining the few he'd seen as the attack on the wards became more insistent. They wouldn't last much longer.
He looked down at his son, happily playing on the rug, and he felt his heart break.
"I've got to get you out of here."