It's bright.

The first snow flurry of the year is starting to fall. Ainsley is laughing nervously beside me, and I know she's in on whatever Albus is up to. I'm anxious - in a good way, though, and I'm happy to be anxious here, with Ainsley, on the way to Hogsmeade without feeling like I'm going to lose control and set the trees on fire.

"So what is Albus up to?"

She just smirks at me and wraps her arm through mine, and it feels so very good to have family near.

"You'll see."

The wind blows and the leaves rustle under the gray sky, so I don't think anything of the noise until raised voices come from behind us.

"Stop."

I turn and see two men in black robes striding towards me, both with their wands raised, and a third, hooded figure that's shorter - possibly a woman.

"Run along, little girl," says the taller of the men. "We're only here for Malfoy."

Ainsley tries to step in front of me, but I push her back more aggressively than I've ever intentionally pushed anyone.

"Run, Ainsley," I tell her, but she refuses. Damn Hufflepuffs.

"Run along," the man repeats. "Malfoy here needs to learn a few things about family duty, and even though you're a blood traitor, it's not time for your lesson yet."

I don't know what they want. I've never seen these men before in my life. I grip my wand in the pocket of my robes, feeling my hands start to tingle. I don't want to start something unless I have to, because I'm not sure I'll be able to get away.

Ainsley raises her wand, and the shorter man raises his wand too, and I'm left with no choice. The tingling becomes painful pins and needles - a physical static.

"Ainsley, go," I say again, quiet. "Go get help."

But it's too late. The shorter man casts a hex aimed at Ainsley and she only barely blocks it. I try to hold them off - to protect my cousin and myself - but the third person steps forward and duels us. Ainsley, untrained, misses a hex aimed at her and falls back with a yelp and I turn my head for only a second to see if there's something I can do - some way I can help her - but it's no use.

They're on me. The hooded one - clearly a woman - grabs ahold of my arm and I feel the tug of apparition a second before it happens, and I react, releasing all the energy I have, but it's no use. The world dissolves into shades of gray, and my consciousness fades.


30 Minutes

Albus stood on the edge of a small crater - only a meter deep - where the earth has been blown away. Ainsley stood behind him in Rose's arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

Scorpius was gone. Missing. Taken. Albus mulled over the words she'd said in his mind - black robes, blood traitor, family duty.

Draco stood at his shoulder, staring down into the depression as well, his jaw set and his eyes unblinking. Seeing physical evidence of the attack made it concrete, and Albus' heart pounded in his chest.

"What do we do?" he asked Draco.

Draco stared down at the fresh, brown earth for a moment longer, his gaze distant.

"We go to your father," he said. He pivoted and looked at Scorpius' friends standing behind them.

"Rose, take Miss Greengrass to the hospital wing. Stay there. Lily, alert Professor McGonagall."

Lily nodded and looked at Albus, concern etched across her face.

"What can we do?" Flint asked, gripping Maggie's hand.

"Go back to the castle. Stay there," Draco commanded. He held out his hand for Albus.

"Let's go."

Albus' head spun and when he took Draco's hand they appeared instantly to the Ministry of Magic atrium.

Draco released him and strode toward the elevator as quickly as he could.

"Do you have any idea what happened?" Albus asked as they got into one of the cars. It had been years since he'd been to his father's office, and he had no idea how to get there.

"The Malfoys have a lot of enemies," Draco said.

Albus took a deep, shuddering breath and tried to calm himself.

This can't be happening, Albus thought over and over again. This isn't happening.

The elevator ride took approximately two eternities, in which Albus imagined every possible thing that could be happening to Scorpius. His pulse pounded in his ears and his breaths came shallow and quick.

Draco looked about as bad as he felt.

When the elevator stopped, Draco pushed past the crowd waiting to board, clearing a way for both himself and Albus. They strode down a long, black hallway in silence, and Albus wished he would say something - anything - to fill the void.

But Draco did not. He walked right to a door at the end of the hall that read "Head of Department of Magical Law Enforcement," and shouldered it open without knocking.

Harry was at his desk, quill in hand, and looked up.

"Draco? Albus? To what do I owe the -"

"Scorpius has been kidnapped," Draco said, his voice menacing and firm.

Hearing Draco say the word out loud - kidnapped - made Albus shudder and he gripped the chair across from his father's desk for support.

What was the last thing I said to him?

"Kidnapped?" Harry asked, rising from his desk. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. You'll want to send someone to talk to Ainsley Greengrass at Hogwarts. She was there."

"Do we know who took him?"

Harry stood in front of Draco, his eyes daring to his son.

"They called Ainsley a blood traitor and said something about family duty. There were three - two men, one we don't know. They dueled, she was hexed, and when she woke up, he was gone and she was in this shallow crater where they'd been." Draco said, his voice starting to break. "That's all I know."

Albus had heard his father talk about investigations before, and he knew what they had was insufficient.

"His powers were out of control," Albus added, looking to his father. "He probably blasted that crater himself trying to get away."

"Out of control?"

"That doesn't matter right now," said Draco.

"It does matter," Albus said. "He could hurt himself."

"Or someone else," Harry said.

"Who cares if he hurts the people that took him?" Albus snapped.

"What do we do, Potter?"

Harry looked between them, thinking, and then looked to Albus.

"I have to do my job," he explained. "And that means I can't be your dad right now."

"I know," Albus agreed.

"Come with me," Harry directed, and led them out of the room and back down the long hallway towards the elevators.

"Where are we going?" Draco asked, keeping stride with Harry.

"To see the Chief of Investigations," said Harry, entering the elevator and pressing the button for Level 2.

Harry turned and faced Draco.

"Do you have any idea who would want to hurt Scorpius?"

"He injured a Gryffindor a few weeks ago, but they wouldn't have called him a blood traitor," Draco said. He shook his head and bowed his head, and the gravity of the situation began to crash onto Albus.

"We'll still have to look into it," Harry said. Draco nodded in agreement as Albus studied the floor, wracking his brain.

What was the last thing I said to him?

"We're going to find him," Harry assured them, and when the elevator doors opened, he led them into a maze of hallways and into an area fully of desks where Magical Law Enforcement officers were filling out paperwork. They muttered perfunctory greetings to Harry as he walked past, and gave Albus confused looks as he trailed behind his father and Draco.

Harry opened the chief's door without knocking and the three men filed inside. Chief Kara Bones looked up from her desk where she too had been filling out paperwork, and looked at Harry.

"Yes, Mr. Potter?"

Harry spoke clearly and concisely to make sure he wasn't misunderstood.

"Scorpius Malfoy has been kidnapped by three people, two male, one undefined. He was with Ainsley Greengrass who reported the crime. The perpetrators called them blood traitors and said something about family duty, so we're likely looking at some pureblood extremists."

Chief Bones stared up at him, her eyebrows raised.

"How can I assist?"

"Do you have any information on any kind of suspicious activity in the last six months? Or even a year?"

"Elwin!"

A young, mousy man from an adjacent office stuck his head in.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Get me a report on any activity among the purist circles. Anything suspicious within the last year that you can find. Based on the jargon we might be looking at Death Eater affiliates or their offspring."

Draco cringed as Elwin agreed and went back into his office.

Chief Bones folded her hands on her desk.

"Is there anything else I can do?"

Harry looked down at her.

"I'm sure there is," he said.

"The best we can do is comb through reports and citings from the last year," she said.

"The best you can do?" Albus' eyes darkened.

"Well, yes. The Department of Investigation primarily gathers information. I'm quite certain we can provide -"

Draco opened his mouth to protest, but Albus beat him to it.

"You're the Ministry of Magic, for Dumbledore's sake!" Albus yelled. "And you're telling me the best you can do is prepare a report?"

"Mr. Potter, this office is very busy compiling information on activity across Britian," she said. "This is protocol -"

"I don't give a damn about your protocol!" Albus braced his arms on the edge of her desk. "He could be anywhere. He could be hurt. He could be -"

Albus cut himself off before he could say the word.

"And you're just going to sit here? You're the Department of Investigation. Investigate."

"Mr. Potter, I -"

"Get people out there. Have them looking -"

"Mr. Potter -"

"Track down every Death Eater sympathizer in England and shake their homes out for spare change until you find him!"

"MR. POTTER -"

"CHIEF BONES," Albus yelled back. "Scorpius Malfoy is the kindest person at Hogwarts and it's your job to help find him. Believe me, I would this country apart brick by brick and burn London to the ground if I thought it would help bring him home safely, but it won't."

Albus took a deep breath and took in Chief Bones' frightened expression with some satisfaction acutely aware of his father's eyes on his back.

"You have to do something."

Chief Bones glanced at Harry, and then back to Albus who had yet to move.

"We'll do everything we can, Mr. Potter."

Albus turned on his heel and left the room, and as he swung the door open, he heard his father apologize.

"He gets that from his mother."

Albus waited outside Chief Bones' office, trying to calm himself to no avail. When he looked around, all he saw was people going about their lives as if Scorpius Malfoy, the most wonderful human being he'd ever met, wasn't in danger, and when he closed his eyes, all he saw was Scorpius' smiling face, holding his coffee mug, as Flint pulled him away.

I didn't even kiss him goodbye.

Albus looked around, lost, and waited for his father and Draco to emerge.


1 Hour

Scorpius woke with a start on a cold and dusty wooden floor. Hs shoulders ached, but it took him a moment to figure out why - as he sat up, he felt metal wrapped around his wrists, restraining him.

"What the hell?" he muttered, his vision blurry. He sat up, looking around, taking in his surroundings to the best of his ability without his glasses. In the distance, he saw fuzzy motion - a woman in a deep, purple dress coming towards him and leaning over him.

"Mum?"

"Hardly."

The woman bent over him and placed his glasses on his face. The right frame was cracked, but Scorpius' vision cleared, and he looked up to see Daphne Greengrass standing over him.

"Aunt Daphne? Where am I?"

"A safe place," she said. Scorpius looked around and saw dust-covered furniture - a drawing room - that looked as if it hadn't been used for decades, and a large window that overlooked a hilly, empty countryside.

"A grim place," Scorpius responded. "What do you want?"

"Right to the chase," she said. Scorpius heard a shuffle behind him and turned quickly, startled, to see the two men who had abducted him standing near the doorway.

"I like to be direct," Scorpius said, nudging his glasses into place with his shoulder. He looked back to Daphne, who was leaning back on the once-grand desk, her arms folded as she regarded him.

"You put up more of a fight than I thought."

"They threatened Ainsley," Scorpius said. "Your daughter."

"You were never going to hurt Ainsley, were you, gentlemen?"

"No," said the tall one. The short one just shook his head.

"One of them hexed her," Scorpius said.

"A necessary sacrifice, I'm sure. Nephew, meet Angus Selwyn," she said, gesturing to the tall one, "and Hugh Travers."

The short one curled his lip at him in greeting.

"Pleasure," said Scorpius coldly. "You still haven't told me why I'm here."

"You, dear boy, are here for a re-education."

"I think my Hogwarts education is going just fine, so I'll be getting back now," Scorpius said.

"Oh, no," Daphne said, shaking her head. "You won't be going back there. It's time someone took proper responsibility for you - one of the last true pureblood wizards in England."

Scorpius stared at her blankly, trying to muster some energy from his fingertips to free himself to no avail. The energy bottled up inside him with nowhere to go.

"It's very important that the pureblooded families - the Sacred Twenty-Eight - take their place at the top of wizarding society once more. As it was meant to be," Daphne said. "People love to talk about the Malfoys, but the Greengrass family has a long and storied history of power as well, and you're a descendant of both."

"I don't follow," Scorpius said.

"They tell me you're particularly powerful - the kind of power that frightens your peers."

Scorpius watched as she paced, still trying to figure out the irons his hands were in. He couldn't even summon a single spark.

"It's time you learned to use that power for good, Scorpius," Daphne said. "We're here to teach you how to be the wizard you were meant to be so you can lead our families back to greatness. It's your duty to continue the Malfoy and Greengrass lines into the future."

"I'll do no such thing," said Scorpius.

"Why?" Daphne replied. "Because you've been shagging the Potter boy?"

Scorpius fell silent.

"No," Daphne said. "You'll see soon enough. You'll learn."

"Why am I in restraints?" Scorpius asked.

"Those? Those are there to keep you from using magic to escape. At least until you've seen the light."

Scorpius looked up at her, realizing the direness of his situation.

"Did you really think you and your father could consort with muggles, mudbloods, and blood traitors without consequence?" Daphne asked. "You're purebloods. It's high time you acted like it. First, you'll learn how to wield your powers. Then you'll learn how to use them."

"I refuse to do... whatever it is that you're asking of me," Scorpius said. "You might as well kill me."

Albus.

Daphne sighed. "Killing you would be a waste, but I thought you might say something equally dramatic. Travers?"

Travers stepped forward, withdrawing his wand and Scorpius swallowed hard. He knew what came next.