Hey guys! Thank you so much for the reviews, I'm so glad you're enjoying this story! This chapter is where things get interesting:) hope you like it! I always appreciate reviews, they keep me motivated.
Scorpius saw many more of his dad's memories: the time he had been punched by Hermione, the time he had been turned into a ferret, and when he joined the Inquisitorial Squad in his fifth year in order to get revenge on the three Gryffindors he hated so much. Honestly, Scorpius thought that his dad deserved the punch from Hermione. He had been a cruel person as a child, especially to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. But being turned into a ferret by a teacher? That was too extreme.
He saw many more times of his dad being hurt by Lucius Malfoy's cruel abuse, and his heart ached. Scorpius was glad when his grandfather was put into Azkaban, even if his dad was devastated. And he would never wish that fate on anyone. But none of those memories could have prepared him for what he saw happen to his dad in his sixth year, and in the war.
He watched as his dad got the dark mark, thinking it would finally make his father proud and his family honored by Voldemort. But what really scared him was how proud his dad looked, how he truly believed that being a Death Eater was the right thing to do. Scorpius knew that now, his dad regretted being a Death Eater more than anything else in his life. But back then, he had actually wanted it?
Scorpius had seen the dark wizard fleetingly when in Godric's Hollow, but he had never imagined how terrifying he would be in person. Even looking at him from a memory made him shiver. He watched the dark mark be seared into his dad's flesh. It was burned onto his arm with Voldemort's wand, and Draco's screams of agony echoed around the room. Scorpius winced at the noise, and wondered if that was how he had sounded when under the Cruciatus curse.
And his dad had only been 16. A year older than Scorpius was right now. He couldn't imagine anything like this happening to him. Having the fate of his entire family rest on his shoulders, and knowing that if he failed, everyone he loved would die. He didn't know what he was getting himself into when he took the dark mark, Scorpius thought.
Scorpius suddenly remembered what he had said to his dad in the other world, that he was nothing but a torturer and murderer. He felt so guilty now for ever thinking that. Because even if his real dad didn't know what Scorpius had told him in the other world, Scorpius had actually believed it. Now, watching his dad as a teenager Scorpius's age go through things that even adults shouldn't go through made Scorpius realize that his dad was really a good person, who just had the horrible luck of being raised on the wrong side of the war.
Scorpius grimaced when he saw his dad laying his head on the lap of a girl he'd never seen before, on the Hogwarts Express. It was strange to think that his dad had had girlfriends before marrying his mom. But now that he thought about it, of course he had. His dad was the complete opposite of Scorpius: he was popular, handsome, and confident. He had been the bully, unlike Scorpius, who was always the one being bullied.
He watched his dad take his revenge on Harry by stomping on his nose and throwing the invisibility cloak over him, pure hatred in his eyes.
"This is for my father," he snarled, throwing Harry's invisibility cloak over him and walking out of the compartment calmly. Scorpius was shocked by the loathing in his eyes. He had never seen that expression on his dad, and seeing it now made him shiver. Draco could be scary when he wanted to be.
He watched his dad's pitiful first two attempts at completing his task. He had almost killed a girl, Katie Bell, and had accidentally poisoned Ron Weasley. His dad had almost killed two innocent human beings. The thought was enough to make Scorpius sick, as he remembered the flash of green light and the vacant eyes of Craig Bowker Jr. That guilt would never leave him.
Scorpius had always known what his dad had almost done in his sixth year, both from history books and his mother's explanations. The first and only time Scorpius had asked his dad about the war, he had looked away with an almost pained expression, gray eyes staring off into the distance. He had mumbled some excuse and left the room. Scorpius had been confused then, wondering why his father wasn't answering his question. But now he understood how difficult it was to talk about painful memories.
Scorpius had never known about the toll the stressful task took on his dad, watching helplessly as he slowly became unhealthily thin and pale, dark shadows under his eyes, skipping meals and crying in the girl's bathroom, with Moaning Myrtle as his only companion. He now understood what Myrtle had meant when she had said that she had been "moderately partial" to a Malfoy, right before he and Albus had gone back in time the second time. She had tried to comfort his dad when he was crying. Scorpius had always thought of Myrtle as annoying (even if he'd never tell her), but now, watching her attempting to comfort his dad, he felt guilty. He was feeling guilty about a lot of things now.
Scorpius watched in devastation as his dad made another one of his trips to the girl's bathroom, gripping the edge of the sink tightly, like it was the only thing keeping him stable. Scorpius wished he could do something, anything, to help. He was watching his own dad slowly break into pieces in front of him, and he could only watch.
"Don't… Tell me what's wrong. I can help you." Myrtle pleaded with Draco.
"No one can help me," he cried, his entire body shaking. Scorpius wanted to comfort him. He wished so badly that he could be there to help him.
"I can't… I can't do it." He let out a sob. Suddenly, he whirled around, and Scorpius was startled. For a moment, he panicked, thinking that his dad was looking right at him. Then he realized it was something behind him. He turned around to see what his dad was looking at.
It was Harry Potter, and he was standing near the door, hand near his wand by instinct. He looked shocked at seeing his school enemy sobbing.
Scorpius looked at his dad, and saw the obvious desperation in his eyes. He stood up and pointed his wand at Harry. Harry dodged the jinx and sent his own one back. Scorpius gasped.
It was so strange for him to be seeing his best friend's dad and his dad fighting each other. He and Albus looked so much like their fathers, it almost looked like he was watching himself and his best friend fighting. And that was not something Scorpius wanted to watch. But he couldn't help it. He was unable to tear his gaze away from the two dueling boys.
Draco gasped, choking back a sob. "Cruci-" he cried, his voice breaking, and Scorpius gasped. His dad was going to cast the Cruciatus curse on Harry Potter! He shuddered when he remembered how horrible the curse had been. He couldn't believe that his dad could actually hurt another person so horribly. But it was likely that he had. Even if not here, later in the war.
But before Draco could finish, Harry waved his wand wildly and yelled "Sectumsempra!"
Scorpius cried out when his dad fell to the ground, blood coming out of various cuts all over his body, that seemed to come out of nowhere. It was like an invisible sword had stabbed him in multiple places. Scorpius and Harry both ran toward the fallen boy. Harry dropped to his knees in front of him, rambling.
"No, no, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," He kept repeating, trying to cover up the cuts on Draco's body. It seemed like he hadn't known what the curse would do. The whimpers that his dad let out made Scorpius's heart hurt. He fell to the ground as well, hand covering his mouth at the amount of blood on the floor, mixed in with water flooding from the taps. He knew that his dad survived- obviously, or else he wouldn't be here. But how did he survive?
Draco's whimpers were cut off by Moaning Myrtle, who screamed, "Murder! Murder in the bathroom!"
"Scorpius!" Scorpius jumped in shock and whirled around, heart pounding at the thought that someone in the memory could see him.
But it wasn't anyone in the memory. His dad stood behind him, relief flooding his features. Scorpius stared in astonishment. How did his dad know where he was? But that didn't matter now. He was here.
"Dad!" Scorpius yelled, running forward. He threw his arms around his dad and squeezed tightly, burying his head in his dad's robes.
"I love you Dad, and I'm sorry for what Grandfather did to you, he's evil, I hate him so much, and I missed you, and…" Scorpius knew he was rambling, but he couldn't help it. It happened whenever he got very emotional, and now he was so happy to see his dad. He felt his dad stiffen and clear his throat uncomfortably, but he still put his arms around Scorpius awkwardly.
"Scorpius," he muttered. Scorpius could hear the relief in his voice, and that made him clutch his dad tighter, afraid that if he let him go he wouldn't be there anymore.
He heard Moaning Myrtle's screams stop and turned to watch the memory, still clutching his dad's arms. He didn't want to let go.
Scorpius saw Snape enter the bathroom. Upon seeing Draco's bleeding figure, his eyes widened and he ran forward, shooting a glare at Harry before leaning over Draco. Scorpius glanced up at his dad, wondering how he was coping with this, reliving one of his worst memories. His dad was watching, almost in a daze.
Snape began to murmur something, almost like a song, and waved his wand over Draco. The cuts on his body began to heal, and his whimpers died down.
"You may have some scarring, but if we get to the hospital wing soon enough, we may be able to avoid even that," Snape said, more gently that Scorpius had ever heard him talk.
"And you," Snape glared at Harry. "Stay here and wait for me to come back. Don't you dare move." Harry nodded quickly. The two of them walked out, Snape mostly supporting Draco's thin frame.
"Let's go now, Scorpius," his dad said softly. Scorpius nodded. He was ready to leave.
Scorpius felt himself lifting up out of the memories, back into the real world.
They landed back in his dad's bedroom, and there was a long moment of silence.
Scorpius didn't know what to say now that they were out, even though he had so much he wanted to say. His dad sat down on the chair beside the bed shakily, and Scorpius noticed that his hands were trembling. Scorpius suddenly felt overwhelmingly guilty. It was his fault that his dad had gone into the pensieve, with all of his worst memories in it.
"I never heard what he said," Scorpius's dad said slowly. Scorpius frowned. "What?" he asked, confused.
"Snape." His dad let out a shuddering breath. Scorpius could see how hard it was for him to open up to something this emotional. Even if it was to someone he cared about and who cared about him. So he gave his full attention to his dad, determined to make the most of this rare show of emotion.
"After Pot-Harry," he corrected. "After Harry put that curse on me, I was faint with blood loss. I couldn't hear anything. My eyesight was becoming dark, and there was so much pain." He was shaking violently now, Scorpius realized. It was strange for him to see his normally cool and composed dad so shaky.
"Dad, if you don't want to tell me, it's ok," Scorpius said gently. He sat down on the edge of the bed, next to his dad. His dad turned toward him, and Scorpius was startled at the amount of raw emotion in his eyes, the anguish. His eyes were glassy, and Scorpius realized in horror that tears were forming in his eyes. He had never seen his dad cry before. Not even after his mother's death, though he supposed that his dad had cried privately. He reached out to comfort his dad.
His dad stood up abruptly, pointedly looking away from Scorpius, ignoring his son's hurt look.
"It's late. We should sleep now." When Scorpius didn't move, he raised his eyebrows.
"Scorpius, it's time for you to sleep now," he said firmly, looking at the clock on the wall. Scorpius followed his gaze and his mouth dropped open. 12 AM! He had been in the memories for hours! He hadn't realized that they were so long, even though he had seen a majority of his dad's childhood and sixth year. He was suddenly glad he hadn't seen the actual war. The history books were horrifying enough.
He glanced at his dad, who still had his eyebrows raised, waiting for Scorpius to leave. He was obviously trying to stay patient, but Scorpius could tell that it was wavering. Scorpius wondered if he should stay and talk to his dad for longer. He remembered the weeks after Godric's Hollow, when he would wake up in tears from nightmares in the middle of the night. His dad would always come in, no matter what time it was or how tired he was. He would hold Scorpius close and comfort him as he cried. When Scorpius had told his dad about Delphi using the Cruciatus on him, he had never seen him so angry. And now, Scorpius wanted to return the favor. He wanted to help his dad.
He also knew that talking about your experiences really did help. Scorpius had done that with his dad and Albus, after his mother had died and after the time turner incident.
"Dad, I'm not leaving. You need someone to talk to about this," Scorpius said strongly, trying to discern his dad's expression.
"Scorpius, you will leave now," his dad warned, stepping forward threateningly. Scorpius winced at the harsh tone. His dad never talked to him like this. Scorpius went closer to his dad cautiously and touched his arm, making him flinch once again.
Draco's head jerked up and he glared at his son, who let go of his arm in shock. His normally cool grey eyes were red and wild with fury, and that alone made Scorpius slightly afraid.
"This is all your fault!" he yelled, suddenly enraged. Scorpius jumped in surprise, staring at his dad.
"If you hadn't come in here without my permission, none of this would be happening!" He yelled, standing up tall. Scorpius had never realized how scarily alike his dad was to his grandfather when angered. But what was he talking about? What happened to make him so angry? Was it because Scorpius had invaded in his privacy? Although his dad was a private person, that didn't sound like something he would get this furious about.
"What are you talking about?" Scorpius asked in confusion. Draco's temper snapped.
His hand lashed out, backhanding his son across the face. Pain flashed in Scorpius's vision, and he stared in horror at his father, feeling the wound sting. His eyes began to tear up as he slowly touched the mark, which was beginning to swell. His dad had just hit him. Hard enough to make a bruise. His dad stared at him as all anger suddenly left from his face, the flush of anger in his cheeks fading. He seemed to realize what he had just done to his son. Scorpius didn't know what to do as his dad's expression changed to horror as well. "Scorpius-" he pleaded, his voice heavy with guilt. Scorpius only shook his head, tears pouring down as he turned around and ran out of the room.