A/N- As promised, this chapter picks up, so be sure to R&R and tell me just what you think!
PART ONE:
THE BEGINNING
It was their third day at Luna's and Scorpius had taken a strange liking to the Thestrals that were continuously visiting her front yard. Patricia laughed as she looked out the kitchen window, seeing Scorpius completely enthralled in everything Luna was doing, tending to the curious plants and creatures that surrounded her odd little house.
He came in covered in mud everyday, talking on and on about the Thestrals, the dirigible peaches, and mandrake roots, and every other plant and creature that he encountered in the forest. Today he stood very Luna- like in the front yard. He wore no shoes, his jeans were rolled up to just below his knees and his sleeves were pushed up above his elbows as he pulled another piece of raw meat out of the satchel Luna had given him, tossing it to the closest Thestral.
She glanced to the table where his school list lay, smoothed out across the battered wood, the emerald ink glistening, almost jumping off the parchment. The letter had posed a new problem: Diagon Alley.
With the knowledge now that she was being hunted by Death Eaters, she knew that they would be everywhere, someone, somewhere would spot her and tell them and she couldn't let Scorpius get hurt. Draco had left him with her for a reason, to 'take care of this' whatever that meant, how he planned to take on all of the Death Eaters himself, she hadn't the foggiest. That didn't change anything though; nothing could happen to Scorpius.
She had contemplated even allowing Scorpius to attend this year, under the given circumstances. Looking back on her own days within the walls of Hogwarts, she knew there was no place safer than the halls of that castle, and so, he would go, but it wasn't going to be easy.
But just how were they going to do it? She thought back to the wild escapades of her and her friends and back to the golden trio and their mischievous ways, always the talk of the common room. The answer was so simple – Polyjuice potion.
Patricia searched Luna's potions cupboard for the ingredients, sure she would have them; after all, she had everything even remotely curious stashed away somewhere. It was only a matter of moments before she began to pull out the ingredients she would need to complete the potion.
"Polyjuice potion?" Luna's airy voice asked, Patricia jumped, not expecting her presence. "You know, I keep a batch of Polyjuice potion, just in case. You never know when you might need such a thing…" she trailed off, leaving the room, padding her way up the creaky stairs, leaving Patricia frowning.
There was some rustling from the floor above and then she re-emerged, a flask in hand. "There you are, just need to add something from whoever you want to change into." Patricia eyed her up, her mind reeling.
"Luna, if I were to say, turn into you, and use some Weasley's hair colour, do you think I could pass without recognition?" Luna seemed to stare off into space, and Patricia wasn't really sure if she was thinking or just gazing off, but eventually she responded.
"Yes, I think that would work… very well," She pulled out her wand, and with a quick murmur handed a small chunk of her platinum blonde hair to Patricia. "Good luck!" she said, smiling as she wandered off, seemingly in a different world.
Surprised that it was just that easy, Patricia added the blonde hair into the sickly looking concoction. The potion made a slight sizzling sound and bubbled slightly at her, as she stared at it distastefully. She could almost taste the sickly concoction on her tongue as she swirled it around, examining it.
"Scorpius!" She yelled through the open window, still staring at the potion. He appeared at the window moments later, an annoyed look on his face.
"Yes? Ms. Lovegood was just about to show me where the pixies live. She says their blue, how could they be blue? Wouldn't the muggles see them?" He babbled on, completely enthralled with the idea that there were magical creatures at every turn. She was sure he would do well in both Herbology and Care of magical Creatures this year.
"We're going to go get your things, come inside and get cleaned up." She explained. A new look of excitement crossed his features and he came running in, dashing up the stairs leaving muddy footprints behind him, which Patricia cleaned up with a quick flick of her wand.
It was now or never, she eyed the potion one last time and shutting her eyes tight, she took a deep swig from the flask. The putrid taste ran over her tongue and the thick consistency made her gag.
A strange feeling came over her, as if her skin was coming alive and she could feel herself panic a little, hoping that the potion had in fact been brewed correctly and wasn't going to turn her into some strange plant, or couch or purse or other curious object.
Eventually the feeling subsided and her skin felt like her own again, though the mirror she now stood in front of, told her different. "Hello Luna," she muttered, now pulling out one of the Weasley's fine products. She looked at the Purple and Turquoise canister; silver lettering glistening in the bathroom light. 'A fantastic cream to make your hair a dream!' it read, 'In a variety of shades that will make your hair any charming colour you desire. Rub a little or a lot into hair. For maximum results top off with Weasley's Wondrous Hair: Lumos Shine.".
She turned the canister in her hands, searching for which colour she had pulled out. This particular canister she saw, read brown. Perfect to alter her appearance enough to not be recognised as Luna, or so she hoped.
She stuck her fingers into the coloured goop and started rubbing it into her hair. The cream turned dry as soon is it touched her hair, leaving a perfect chocolaty colour behind. Luna's hair was long and it took her a while to complete, but in the end, she stood in front of the mirror, a stranger staring back at her.
The woman in the mirror resembled Luna, but the clothing choice and the hair colour was all wrong, all the same she didn't want to risk it. With one final touch left, she lifted her wand to her hair and murmured 'praecido' and brown hair fell to the floor, as she slid her wand across it.
She emerged from the bathroom to find Scorpius staring agape at her, unsure what to make of her. "Mum?" he asked cautiously, moving as if looking from another angle would reveal her.
"Let's go then, shall we?" she asked, a mischievous grin on her face. Scorpius smirked, the same exact smirk as his father, Draco.
"Brilliant Mother, absolutely brilliant!" he exclaimed.
The Alley was busy for the hour and Patricia became more and more paranoid that she would be found out as their shopping continued. She followed Scorpius as he ran from shoppe to shoppe, not going lightly on his father's money, ducking into the shadows when she passed someone who might have the slightest inkling of who she was.
They stood in the doorway of Flourish and Blotts, their last stop of the day. Scorpius pulled out his list once more and began searching through the haphazardly stacked books, winding in what seemed to be an aimless direction. Scorpius pulled the books off the shelf that he needed, and she marveled at the difference in curriculum from when she attended school.
He stacked his books in his new cauldron, adding even more to the heap of polished, new items they had picked up. He took his time, browsing the titles and stopping at all the books that caught his attention, eventually talking Patricia into buying him a three book set on Quidditch.
As they stood at the counter purchasing the books, she took a glance at the large gold clock that hung on the wall and felt her stomach drop. Surely the small amount of Polyjuice potion that she had had wouldn't last much longer, she felt panic slowly begin to set in.
The man behind the counter seemed to move painfully slow, and every minute seemed like another hour, as he wrapped the books and tucked them back into the cauldron. His customer service seemed unecessary, as his regular greetings became seemingly longer and longer.
She smiled at the man sweetly, and grabbed Scorpius' wrist, a little more forcefully than intended. He squirmed against her grip before he finally succumbed to her solid hold and her quick step. She took a look at her reflection in a store window and felt her grip loosen and her pace slow in relief as she saw the altered Luna still staring back at her.
Scorpius immediately dug his heels in and they came to a sudden stop. Feeling slightly annoyed at his ignorance to the situation at hand, she gave him a disapproving look before seeing what he was.
The scarlet window frame accented the crisp gold lettering on the windows and the wood just beyond the glass. Sitting in the front display was the most magnificent looking broom Patricia nor Scorpius had ever seen. The polished wood shone bright under the showcase lights, and the silver name on the handle twinkled, winking back at them; 'Wind-seeker 5000'.
It's sleek design was really something magnificent to behold, between the dark wood and the shaped tail, not to mention it's handle design for maximized comfort and grip, it gave the best broom of any day a run for it's money. And she could tell by the awe on Scorpius' face and the gleam in his eye that there was no way he would not own that broom.
"You have a perfectly good Firebolt 3000 sitting at home, you really have no use for another broom." Her words seemed to fall on deaf ears, as he continued to stare longingly at the broom. "Scorpius, let's go! Look at the price tag on that thing, that's a lot of money to be taking from your father after you've so graciously spent so much of his money already!"
Unlike the Malfoy family, Patricia never saw the need to buy frivolous things, especially things that she already had, and a perfectly good broom was sitting at home leaning up against the wall in the living room, waiting for Scorpius to go back and retrieve it.
"But Mum, look at it!" and she knew, even she herself, that that broom was the most amazing broom she had ever seen. She started to walk away, pulling Scorpius with her, before she broke down and bought the thing herself. "What if I buy it myself?!" He shrieked, pulling against her with all his might, looking back towards the shoppe. She stopped.
"And how exactly do you plan to come up with that kind of money hmm?" she gave him an intense look, awaiting a response that, in turn was something she had not expected.
"I've been saving." He responded. She knew when they had gone to Gringotts that morning, he had insisted on visiting his own vault, though how much was in it, she wasn't really sure. As they stood in the road, he pulled out a black leather pouch from his pocket, the Malfoy crest ablaze. "Everything Dad's given me for the last year and a half, so I could buy a new broom. I want that one." She stood in shock, not knowing what to say, as he reached his hand in, it became obvious that there was an extendable charm on the pouch and with the first fistful he produced, she knew not to doubt him.
"Alright." She sighed, turning back towards the shoppe, Scorpius dashing off ahead of her.
She entered the shoppe after him to find him already asking the man behind the counter for the broom out of the display. The man refused, laughing at Scorpius as he got angrier and angrier. Patricia decided to intervene just as Scorpius was drawing his wand, the last thing they needed was for an expulsion.
"The broom, please." She said coolly, and the man slowly stopped laughing. He cleared his throat and immediately got up, making his way over to the case, muttering an enchantment as he reached the display. Another group of children watched from the other side of the glass as he lifted it from the stand and brought it over to Scoprius.
As Scorpius dug in his money pouch the man looked up Patricia, a slight smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth. "I don't think I've seen you around here before, you new around these regions?" She laughed slightly, knowing that she herself had visited the shoppe many times.
"Yes, just moved back." She lied.
"How about a butterbeer sometime? I could… show you around…" He asked, flashing her a smile, showing off his perfectly white teeth. She stared at him for a moment, taking in his appearance. The man had his light brown hair pulled back into a low pony tail, he wore a claw of some sort that was hung around his neck with a piece of dark leather. He wore a variety of leather and string bracelets around one wrist and rings on both hands. His robes were a deep scarlet, which matched the colour of the displays surrounding the store.
"Intriguing idea, though I have been quite busy as of late…" she trailed off, scheming in her mind.
All this time Scorpius stood impatiently money in hand, waiting for the man to pay any attention to him. He cleared his throat and tapped his fingers in irritation. The man followed her gaze and finally acted on the purchase, ringing it up and taking Scorpius' handfuls of coins. The man quickly wrapped the broom in packaging paper and tied it off, handing it over the counter to Scorpius before turning back to her.
"So, a butterbeer?" he raised his eyebrows, giving her a questioning look. She smiled back at him and twirled a strand of hair around her finger.
"Alright, how's Friday?" She asked, biting on her lip slightly. His grin widened.
"Great! I'll meet you at the Leaky Cauldron then? Say… 8 o'clock?" he shouted at her as she slowly walked towards the door.
"Sure, I'll see you then!" She responded, casting a look back over her shoulder, catching Scorpius' dark look from the corner of her eye.
As the door closed behind them, Scorpius exploded. "What the bloody hell was that? 'I'll see you then!'? If Dad finds out about this-"
"Scorpius, Scorpius, Scorpius," she said, shaking her head, a laugh on her face, "I have no intentions of going! I do, however, have the intention of making a fool of him, that arrogant man is in for a bit of his own medicine." Scorpius smirked and shook his head.
"Once again Mum; brilliant, absolutely brilliant!" he exclaimed, looking excited to be in on the scheme.
As they neared The Leaky Cauldron once more, Patricia began to feel the affects of the potion wearing off. Her skin felt like it was crawling, it was an unpleasant feeling and she had hoped it would have held off another few steps by which time they could be somewhere out of the public eye.
Scorpius gasped when he turned around and spotted her. "Mum," he whispered urgently, "you look like you again!".
"Ah, what do we have here?" came a cold voice from behind them. "Is that, Patricia Fontaine?" She turned to be face to face with a man that's face appeared to have had better days. His eyes, which were two different colours, were sunken in and his colour was pale. He was scruffy and unshaven, a giant scar that crossed his entire face immediately grabbed at Patricia's attention. It wasn't the man that Patricia was afraid of however, him, she was sure she could handle, it was what stood behind him that sent shivers up her spine.
As if like thick, black smoke, they appeared, seeming to materialise from the plumes. Death Eaters. They were outnumbered, and judging by the frantic screaming of the nearby passers, no one was going to be willing to help.
Patricia gripped her wand and moved Scorpius behind her, shielding him from the view of the Death Eaters. They pointed their wands directly at her and she waited, there was a moment of elongated silence, where it seemed, no one dared to breathe, and then all hell broke loose on Diagon Alley.
She pulled Scorpius to the ground with her as blasts of red went off above their heads, resounding off the shoppe walls around them. "Get inside and go home!" She said, her lips nearly pressed to his ear so she could be heard over the commotion. She jumped to her feet as Scorpius scrambled, trying to grab his things. "Leave it!" she shouted and gave him a push towards the wall behind them.
She knew there wasn't much hope for her, there was six of them and only one of her, her odds were severely diminished. She felt a scream pressing against her lips as one of their spells hit, leaving a large gash across her wand arm. She was done.
She tried to lift her arm and dropped her wand, it clattered to the street in what seemed like slow motion, mocking her from the ground. She could hear their cold laughter as one of them stepped forward, wand pointed at her chest. "Oh, Malfoy will be so happy with us!" he sneered, a smirk on his face, his eyes alight with the sense of the accomplishment he was clearly displaying.
She could feel herself holding her breath, not wanting to move an inch with the fear that the slightest of motions would surely end her life. She listened carefully for Scorpius, not daring to look over her shoulder to see if he was still there.
The man's wand now dug into her neck, slightly warm from the continuous release of spells. "Yes, Malfoy will be so happy with us…" he repeated. She closed her eyes tight as she heard the words starting to roll off his tongue. This was it.
A/N- CLIFF HANGER! What comes next?! Well... you'll have to wait for me to actually finish writing the next chapter, unlike these four, I don't have it finished yet! So R&R and let me know what you think! What do you guys think will happen?!