12 Days
Something had opened up or broken inside Scorpius on Christmas Eve. He'd been experimenting at night with working through the cursed restraints, and during the day he devoted himself to more and more difficult feats.
He sat on the floor of the drawing room with every single piece of furniture in the air. He was cross-legged and breathing slowly with his eyes closed, his face relaxed and calm, though his wrists had burning red rings around them where the cuffs had fought him the night before.
"Very nice," said Daphne. Today, all four of his captors were present, and Scorpius kept making a point to make eye contact with Pansy Parkinson, who was at least somewhat sympathetic.
Scorpius set all of the furniture down gently. He was exhausted, but not entirely beat.
Selwyn moved a chair to the center of the room and Daphne gestured for him to take it. When Scorpius stood, he caught a glimpse of himself in an old, tarnished mirror that hung askew on the wall, and for a moment, he was glad Albus couldn't see him like this - thin and dirty with blood under his ear - a side effect of overexerting himself in the evenings.
Scorpius sat down in the chair, and as Daphne walked in front of him, he saw that she had his wand in her hands. As she paced before him, she tapped it against her palm, taunting.
"I'm wondering if you've had enough time to rethink your stance on a few things," she said.
"Like?"
She bent over before him to look him in the eye.
"I want you to look me in the eye and tell me that you believe pure-bloods are superior to the blood traitors and mudbloods. I want you to tell me that you respect your duty as a Greengrass and a Malfoy to work towards the goal of pure-blood advancement, and that you'll continue your family line."
Scorpius knew he could kill her right there. All he had to do was reach out and wrap his hands around her neck and summon enough electricity to shock her. Or he could summon the water from the pond outside - one he hadn't seen, but when he closes his eyes he could sense the still water - and freeze her in a sphere of ice. Or he could set her on fire.
Scorpius knew he could, but Selwyn and Travers were near with their wands ready, and he knew killing Daphne would be the last thing he did, and while he wasn't entirely certain death wasn't preferable to his current circumstances, he thought of his father and Albus and put away the idea.
"No," Scorpius said.
"No?"
"No," he repeated and sighed when Daphne straightened and looked to her comrades.
"Parkinson?"
Scorpius looked at Pansy, his eyes dead and tired, and she shook her head.
"I'm no good at the unforgivables," she said. "Let one of them do it."
Pansy turned and left the room, her robes trailing behind her. Selwyn stepped forward and Scorpius closed his eyes, trying to focus on a happy memory before the pain started. He pictured Albus wrapping the blanket tighter around their shoulders and kissing his forehead between chapters of Wuthering Heights, and it was enough to dull the pain for a few seconds more.
15 Days
Albus bent over the Malfoy Manor table, a mug of coffee under his hand. His father was at his side, pouring through reports while Draco paced back and forth across the room, letting his eyes take a break from reading. The sun was setting on the icy, dead landscape visible through the study window, and Albus checked his watch. He'd been up for nearly 24-hours straight.
"That's three houses today," Harry said, throwing the file down. "We're running out of places to look."
Fifteen of the old homes. Some of the families had let them in - let the great Harry Potter search for clues. Others had not, forcing Albus to find other points of entry. He was glad that invisibility cloak was impervious to tears.
"There's got to be something we're missing," said Albus, rubbing his jaw, thinking that he needed to shave, but then deciding that would be a waste of valuable time. He flipped the pages on the oldest tome they could find in the archives - the ones Scorpius was supposed to work at - scanning names and dates and places where wizards had lived across Europe.
You'd love it here, Scorp, Albus had thought as he walked through the stacks. Please be alive so you can come here.
Albus, distractedly flipped through the pages. The details of Scorpius' face were getting farther and farther away from him now, but he could see him pulling parchment from the shelves, excitedly pushing his glasses up on his nose, talking to the other historians. Albus skimmed name after name in the register as he pictured Scorpius compiling information and giving lectures in jackets with arm patches, and when nothing jumped out at him on the current age, he flipped to another -
Out of the corner of his eye, Albus thought he saw Ainsley Greengrass' name in the 400-year-old book, but that couldn't be right.
He knew he was tired when he flipped back to the page and located the record. Gringras of Annesley, Nottinghamshire.
Gringrass of Annesley, he thought.
He read the entry, which indicated the family had immigrated from France in the early 1600s.
"Draco, how long as Daphne been obsessed with her family line?"
Draco turned and shrugged.
"All the pure-blood families were obsessed with it when Voldemort was coming to power," Draco said. "They had to be. Information was key."
Albus stared down at the book, open-mouthed.
"We hadn't gone back far enough," he said quietly.
"What do you mean?"
"We were looking for the names as they are now," Albus said, his eyes still glued to the page. "Not how they could have changed over time."
He slid the book over to Harry and pointed at the line before throwing papers off the desk in a search.
"I need a map!"
Draco looked over Harry's shoulder.
"The Gingras family of Annesley?"
"Annesley Gringras," Albus said. "Ainsley Greengrass! She named Ainsley after the Gingras family's original home when they came to England. The name just changed over the years when it was anglicized."
Draco and Harry stared at him in surprise.
"What?" Albus said to Draco. "Your bookworm son rubbed off on me. Maybe I learned a couple things."
Albus pulled the map across the table when he found it, sending his coffee cup to the ground where it shattered. He looked over every inch of the map until he found the name.
"I know where he is," Albus said, pointing. His heart was pounding in his chest and he felt warm for the first time in weeks.
"We know where he is!"
"Albus," Harry said skeptically. "There's a good chance that's a coincidence."
"It's where he is, dad," Albus said. "I know it. I know it is."
Draco considered Albus for a moment while Harry looked at the map.
"Draco," Albus said earnestly, gripping the cuffs of Scorpius' sweater. "I know that's where he is."
"We have to go, Potter," Draco said.
Harry straightened and looked at them both.
"We should bring backup," he said.
"No," said Draco. "It's safer for Scorpius if we don't. What if they hurt him before we can get to him? If he really is there."
Draco backtracked as if he didn't dare get too optimistic, his face restrained.
"Dad," Albus pled. "We have to go. Now."
Finally, Harry nodded.
"I think we do," he said. The three men grabbed their wands from the table.
"How do we get there?" Albus asked. "We can't apparate. None of us have been there before."
"Take the Floo network to the nearest settlement," Draco said. We'll fly from there."
Draco handed Harry and Albus their coats. Albus buttoned himself in and put his wand safely in his pocket as Harry looked through the Floo Network map and Draco retied his ponytail.
"I think I've got it," Harry said. Albus summoned three brooms from a rack in the corner, and they each caught one before walking toward the fireplace.
Albus knew the moment they passed the wards. An old manor sat on a flat plane in the distance down a long and broken path. It made the Travers manor look like a pristine castle.
"I don't know that anyone would be in there," Harry said skeptically. "It doesn't look like it's been touched in centuries."
"We still have to check," Draco said.
It took an eternity for to reach the manor, and Albus was already shivering. The light from the sun was barely visible when they'd flown from the next village over since Annesley was too small to have its own Floo destination. Clearly, no wizards or witches had lived nearby for years.
The front steps were covered in leaves and dirt, and when Harry pushed the ajar door open, a sheet of dust came down.
"Oh, hello."
Harry had his wand out before Draco and Albus even noticed the other person in the room. Daphne Greengrass stood in the dirty atrium with a smile on her face, near a door to an adjacent room.
"What are you doing here?" Harry asked.
Out of the corner of his eye, Albus saw Draco arrange his expression into one of indifference and irritation at his companions.
"I could ask you the same question," Daphne said, walking towards them.
"We're still investigating the disappearance of my son," Draco said with a roll of his eyes. He strode past Harry to meet Daphne. Albus clutched his wand so tightly in his pocket that he feared it might break, his eyes still adjusting to the light. There were lanterns lit all around the atrium and in the edges of every room he could see.
"And you're looking here?" Daphne asked, amused.
"Potter has it in his head that we have to check every house ever inhabited by a wizard," Draco said dismissively. "I'm only coming along to make sure he doesn't miss anything."
Harry was clearly offended. Albus didn't take his eyes off Daphne.
"Well, I can assure you that he isn't here," Daphne said. "This place is a wreck. It's the oldest Greengrass home in England, you know."
"That's what Potter said," Draco told her. "Though I wasn't sure he had his facts straight."
Daphne opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by voices echoing down the hall. She called to them.
"Come out here! We have company."
Instantly, the voices fell silent, and after a moment, Selwyn, Travers, and Parkinson appeared. Albus watched as Pansy froze, her eyes wide beneath her bangs as she stared at Draco, whose expression tightened for only a moment before he reassumed his bored drawl.
"And what are you all doing here?" Draco asked.
"I was thinking about restoring this place to its former glory, and asked some friends to come along and give me their thoughts," Daphne said, gesturing to the grand stone atrium. "It's high time we start bringing the old pure-blood homes back to what they once were."
"I see," said Draco, looking around. He folded his hands behind his back and looked up at the ceiling. "It certainly has some potential. Especially if you can keep that original chandelier. I bet it was beautiful in its day."
"Draco," Harry said. "If Scorpius isn't here -"
"I just want to look for a moment, Potter," Draco sneered. Daphne giggled.
"Just for a moment. I want Draco's opinion," said Daphne.
As they talked a few meters away, Harry stood perfectly still, and Albus followed suit.
Had he been wrong? He'd been so certain when it had clicked in his mind, but maybe he was too exhausted now to differentiate between information and desperation. Maybe he was wrong and Scorpius was nowhere near...
Draco gave a loud, fake laugh at something Travers said and his voice echoed throughout the empty house and Albus felt something tighten in his chest.
What if he isn't out there?
He'd tried not to think it for the last two weeks, but the thought kept inching into his mind, and now he couldn't shake it away. Two long, cold, lonely weeks, and he was beginning to lose faith. If this is what Draco Malfoy was like as a child, maybe someone had killed Scorpius as an act of revenge.
Albus closed his eyes, trying to hold himself together, and saw Scorpius' body in the snow, covered in ice, and he let out a long, slow, shuddering breath -
And then it happened.
A single shock ran up his leg and it felt familiar - too familiar, and he thought instantly of the Malfoy library and the feeling of the sparks coming from Scorpius' hands, hitting his skin. He thought of how it felt when Scorpius burned him by the black lake, and his eyes went wide. He held his breath.
A moment later, Draco bid Daphne and the others a good evening, making it clear that he would love to see the place once it was renovated, and turned on his heel, walking back towards the Potters.
"I suppose we should go," Draco said, loudly enough for the others to hear. "There's nothing here."
Harry met Albus' eyes as they turned and he mouthed "let's go," but Albus didn't move. In the distance, Daphne and the others were talking to one another, and they were smiling.
Albus caught Draco's arm when he got near, still staring at Daphne's back.
"He's here," Albus whispered as quietly as he could.
Draco looked at him.
"Are you certain?"
Albus felt another shock run up his leg.
"Positive," Albus swallowed. His entire body was shaking now. "How do we do this?"
"Quietly," Draco whispered before turning around.
"Actually," he began, walking back across the atrium to the group. "Pansy, can I speak with you? Alone? Just for a moment."
Harry, who had not heard Albus, watched the exchange, still gripping his wand.
"What's he doing?" Harry whispered to Albus, but Albus didn't risk answering.
Pansy looked surprised.
"About what?"
Draco walked towards her and placed a hand on her arm.
"Us," he said. "I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since I saw you last week."
Pansy's eyebrows raised and Daphne looked very pleased.
"Well, well," Daphne said, teasing.
"I... suppose," Pansy replied.
Daphne looked smug, as if she were responsible for something, and watched as Draco ushered Pansy down the hall, his hand on the small of her back.
Daphne smiled as she watched them leave, and then turned to Harry and Albus, looking them over with disdain.
"The two of you can wait right there," she said before turning and walking through another door.
Selwyn and Travers stood guard, while Albus stared at the ground. Harry was beside him, clearly confused, but Albus knew he couldn't speak. He didn't dare - for Scorpius' sake.
So close.
Draco and Pansy wound up in a small reading room, lit only by a single lantern on the center table.
Draco shut the door behind them and stood over Pansy, imposing and desperate.
"Pansy, I know he's here," Draco said. "Where is he?"
"I don't... I don't know what you're talking about," Pansy stammered.
"I know when you're lying," Draco said. "I know when you're scared, and I know when you're lying."
"Really?" Pansy said. "I don't know, Draco, it's been a long time."
"You're right. It has. The Pansy I knew wouldn't have helped kidnap a young man on his way to Hogsmeade."
Pansy stared at him and after a moment, her face fell.
"She tortures people," Pansy said finally, her voice quivering with fear. "You don't know..."
"I've known people like her," Draco assured her. "And you can tell me about it later. But please, tell me where my son is."
"I don't think you've ever said 'please' to me. For anything."
Draco sighed and rubbed his face.
"I know I hurt you," Draco said. "And I know I was wrong. But if you ever cared for me... if you ever loved me, or the child we lost -"
"The child we killed," Pansy snapped.
"We were young and stupid," Draco said. "Neither of us understood -"
"Don't use that against me," Pansy warned. "I've regretted it every day."
"I have too," Draco said, holding his hands up, relenting. "Don't think I haven't. But if you ever cared about me or that child, please give me back the one that's still here."
Pansy swallowed hard and turned away from him, and Draco watched as she looked out the old, dusty mirror with her head bowed. He could almost see the weight on her shoulders.
Finally, she turned around and dug into the pocket of her robes.
"You'll need this for his restraints," Pansy said. "But I warn you, the Scorpius you lost isn't the one that's down there."
"Pansy, thank you," Draco choked, taking the small key from her hand and clutching it tight in his palm.
"He's in the dungeon. Go down this hall -"
Travers pushed open the door behind Draco with one hand and cursed Pansy with his wand in the other. She fell backward onto the ground as Draco spun, wand in hand. Travers was an experienced dueler, he knew, but Draco was angry and closer to his son than he could have imagined he would be when he woke that morning.
He pushed Travers out of the room and into the hallway and heard a commotion begin down the hall where Harry and Albus were. He heard the sound of curses and jinxes flying and being deflected, and Albus' voice echoing as he said spell after spell.
Draco yelled as he dueled Travers, looking for an opening as he ducked another curse, and when he found one, he sneered and said -
"Petrificus totalus."
Travers fell backward onto the carpet, and Draco looked the way he came - where Harry and Albus were fighting Daphne and Selwyn - and ran in the opposite direction.
It was a long hall, and when he looked over his shoulder he could see the dust cloud he left in his wake.
The hall turned, and Draco kept running until he reached the end and found an arched wooden door that was unlike the others he'd seen, and found that it was sealed with magic.
"Alohamora."
Nothing happened.
Draco pounded on the door and yelled, "Scorpius! Are you in there?"
"Dad? Dad!"
Draco choked at the sound of his son's voice but gathered himself. He knew he had little time.
"Step back from the door!"
Draco backed up and aimed his wand at the lock. It took five blasting curses, but the door gave way, falling off of its hinges. He coughed through the dust and dirt and pried the door open before climbing through.
