A/n: The whole chapter is the memory, continuing from the previous chapter, but the parts which are the actual memory have been italicised and the normal text is the transition between memories.

The underlined 'she's refer to present time Rose just because I wanted to use pronouns and to avoid confusion.

Chapter 20

Painful Truth

She spun around and broke out into a run as the next scene came rushing towards her, her heart pounding in her chest. Why, why was she being shown Scorpius's memories? And so far, none of the three scenes she had seen had anything to do with Albus. Was she missing something entirely?

Her mind returned to the lost little boy and the crying little boy and she felt her heart clench. She had a growing suspicion about what could connect these memories together and the next one proved that she was spot on.

This time, she knew for sure that the little boy had been Scorpius. The teenager in the memory, who was around fifteen, was standing at a tree by the side of the Great Lake, his platinum hair almost blinding against the dull colours that surrounded him. He was looking out towards the lake with a somewhat distressed expression, his mouth downturned in a brooding frown. She had the immediate urge to reach out to him and hold him, but her hand passed right through him. Her body had returned to its ghostly state.

There was a rustling behind her and she turned around. Her heart slammed against her ribs as she saw her younger self stride towards Scorpius, an almighty scowl on the girl's face.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" fifteen-year-old Rose spat, coming to stand a good six feet away from the boy. He took a moment to turn towards young Rose and she immediately recognised the wide-eyed look of innocence on his face.

"You heard about my grandparents."

Fifteen-year-old Rose's expression softened and she nodded slightly. "I did," she replied softly.

"And?" the blond demanded, stomping up to her and glowering down at her. The redhead took a step back, a fearful expression flitting across her face.

"What do you mean? I heard that they passed away and I'm sorry that they did," younger Rose said in a choked voice. Fifteen-year-old Scorpius didn't look like he believed her in the least.

Here it comes, she thought with a pang, her gut clenching.

"You liar!" screamed young Scorpius.

"How dare you! Did you blackmail me into coming all the way here just to spite me?" yelled back young Rose.

"Don't lie to me, Rose! I know you feel sorry for me! I saw the pity in your eyes earlier today! I thought it was odd that you would simply give up your Charms essay without your usual tirade, but now I know! You felt sorry for me and let me have it out of pity, didn't you?"

"So what if I did! I thought you'd be glad to not have another thing to deal with—"

"Don't fuck with me, you wench! I don't need your pity!"

Rose's eyes flashed and her lip trembled as she tilted her chin up and said stonily, "Then I am truly sorry that I gave you any. You're absolutely right. It was foolish of me to think I had the right to empathise with you."

She watched as confusion flickered in Scorpius's eyes as the redheaded girl angrily wiped away her tears.

"What is that supposed to mean?" he asked quietly, making fifteen-year-old Rose laugh bitterly.

"I'm only your plaything, aren't I? Nothing more than a feeble source of entertainment for the benevolent heir to the Malfoy name. How stupid of me to even think for a moment that you considered me something more. Goodbye, Scorpius, and worry not, your secret is safe with me. I may be a lying wench, but even I have some integrity."

And so saying, the redhead marched away, leaving a dumbfounded Scorpius to watch her leave with a pained look on his face.

She remembered this scene like it was yesterday. The way her heart had fluttered at the prospect of Scorpius Malfoy calling her out on a Saturday evening; the vain hope she had had that he would confess his unbounded love for her, but had been thoroughly heart broken by the end of it. She had thought that his secret smiles in her direction or the way his eyes followed after her as she walked past him was an indication that he actually noticed her—that she wasn't just another pansy girl among all those who desperately wanted his attention.

She watched with an aching heart as fifteen-year-old Scorpius screamed in frustration and kicked at the tree, swearing at himself, probably for being the stupidest git on the planet. She remembered his words from a few days before – "Because the one who was doing the chasing has always been me, and the one who was being chased has always been you."

The scene shifted again and this time, it was one she didn't recognise. She stared at the marble hallway and wondered mildly if it was Malfoy Manor. Turning at the sharp sound of footsteps, she watched as a younger Albus strode towards her, his expression strained and an aura of doom hanging over him. He turned sharply into the door just beside her and she poked her head in to see what was going on.

The room was quite small as compared to the descriptions she remembered of the Manor, and was devoid of any and all finery. There was only a single bed pushed against the wall opposite the door and two chairs on either side of it. There was a lone table at the foot of the bed and a single window let in the pale, waning rays of twilight.

She moved to stand in the centre of the doorway as Albus leaned down beside the bed and spoke in hushed whispers with the man laying in it. A thin, bony hand poked out of the covers and Albus hesitated very briefly before taking it. They continued talking for a time, Albus now perched on the edge of the chair.

"He's been like that for almost five months now."

She jumped at the deep voice next to her and stared wide-eyed at a younger Scorpius. He was dressed in a black suit with silver trimming and his short hair was slicked back as it always used to be. She thought for a moment that he was addressing her, but then he looked past her and she turned to see that he was addressing the woman on the other side of her. The woman looked so much like the one who had spoken to six-year-old Scorpius in the very first memory—except, not really. This woman was much older and much thinner and paler. She was almost completely black and white, her skin being so pale.

"Yes," she agreed with a deep sigh, bowing her head sorrowfully.

"Mother! Why are you so swift in giving up hope? Albus said he would help, didn't he?"

"But is that what you want, my son?"

Astoria Malfoy looked at her son with pained eyes and she stepped back so she didn't have to swivel her head back and forth in order to watch them speak.

"What I want is of no concern! Who am I to claim the right to let a man die?"

"You are the dying man's son."

"Mother, please…" Scorpius begged, his voice thick with unshed tears. Astoria's face pinched together into a grimace.

"You truly have a kind heart, if you can say such a thing after all that he has put you through," the older woman said quietly, reaching out to touch her son's arm.

"He was ill!" Scorpius hissed, clenching his fists. "He wasn't in control of his actions!"

"Maybe so, but not always. He was in control of himself when he chose to drink himself into oblivion and take his anger and helplessness out on you."

Astoria had such a painfully hopeless expression on her face that it seemed to break her son's heart.

"Mother please," he begged again, his voice breaking. "It was only the one time. After that, he didn't—"

"He beat me as well."

The silent confession seemed to throw Scorpius off completely. He staggered backwards and stared at his mother wide-eyed, tears streaming down his cheeks. "What," he choked, gripping the doorframe for balance.

Astoria bowed her head, her own tears falling down her face.

"Why didn't you tell me!"

"You were only a child. What would you have done?"

"I would have at least tried! Mother, I would have tried!"

"You had enough burdens of your own. I could not add my own to them."

"So you hid the fact that he was abusing you from me?!"

"It was only when he was uncontrollable," Astoria said hurriedly, trying to placate her raging son. "Not always."

"Do not lie to me!"

"I am not—"

"He beat me almost every day when I came home! Don't tell me the days he left me alone, he came after you?!"

Astoria winced at the force of her son's voice. "He was ill," she whispered her son's words back to him brokenly.

Scorpius seemed to tremble from repressed anger as he raked his hands through his hair and tried to calm himself down. He blinked the tears out of his eyes and dashed them off his cheeks. He reached forwards and did the same for his mother, reaching around her and pulling her against him.

"We really are one hopelessly pathetic family, aren't we?" he asked with a bitter laugh.

"But we are still family."

They stood in each other's arms for a long moment – until there was a rasping call from within the room. Astoria snapped her head up and froze, as though she was expecting a beating at any moment.

"What does he want?" Scorpius hissed and Astoria clutched his arm.

Albus walked out to them and pulled them aside, giving them both acid looks. "Very smart, shouting about a dying man at his own door."

Both mother and son flushed and looked away, shame-faced. Albus made an irritated sound and finally turned to Astoria. "Let me save him."

The older woman almost began shaking her head but caught herself. "Please," she begged in a trembling voice. "Please tell me, can you really save him? Can you bring back my Draco to me? My husband? The father of my son? Or can you only salvage his life so he lives on like the ghost of his former self that he is, while the illness eats away at him?"

"It is very common for patients suffering from a psychological illness to make a full recovery," Albus told the woman gently.

"But?" Scorpius asked. Albus's gaze flickered to Scorpius.

"But I cannot guarantee that he will."

Astoria let out a pitiful wail and Scorpius closed his eyes and swallowed, shaking his head slowly. "Enough," he said in a strangled voice. "He's suffered enough. We've all suffered enough. Put an end to this suffering. Allow this family to retain its last bit of sanity."

"Do you really mean that?" Albus growled, his dull emerald eyes flashing with anger. "Are you really asking me to kill off your father when there may be a chance that he may recover?"

"What chance, Albus! Are you asking me and mother to bear the burden of his abuse until he passes away peacefully, leaving us broken and traumatised?"

"He's ill! You know he hates that he hurt you! You know how much guilt he feels that he can't even remember raising his hand against either of you! You know that's the reason he tried to kill himself!"

"Why didn't he succeed?" Scorpius asked quietly, his face an emotionless mask. "There was nobody to stop him from dying. Who saved him?" he turned to his mother. "Mother, was it you?"

She stepped back and sobbed, shaking her head. Scorpius rounded on her, grabbing her shoulder and shaking her. "What did he do to you?" he roared, the force of his emotions making the entire memory tremor. "Tell me mother, what did he do?"

"He—He—" Astoria stammered, shaking her head and sobbing uncontrollably. Scorpius's face twisted into a snarl, his silver eyes so dark, they were almost black.

"Did he try to kill you? Answer me, mother!"

"Yes," Astoria wailed and both Scorpius and Albus closed their eyes, pained expressions on their faces.

"What happened?" Albus asked quietly while Scorpius cradled the older woman against him.

"He tried to hit me and I resisted. He got angry and began throwing things around. It was too much for his body to take. He—he collapsed on the floor and I rushed to him—I thought he was dying. But he suddenly looked at me and lunged for me, trying to choke me and—and he thought—he thought—"

"He thought you were the Dark Lord," Scorpius finished quietly as Astoria broke down and sobbed into his chest. The two males exchanged looks and Albus shook his head.

"I can't do it," he choked. "I'm sorry, but I cannot kill the man who saved my life."

"That man no longer exists, Albus!" Scorpius yelled, gripping the other's shoulder.

"He may still be there. We may still be able to reach him. Just give me some time—"

"It's been five years, Al! How much worse does he have to get until you let him go in peace?"

Astoria began to wail again and Albus fixed Scorpius with a determined look. "Then let me take custody of him. Name me his Healer and give me the power to decide whether he can go or not. I've been working on some new potions and drugs that haven't yet been tested—"

"Are you asking me to give you permission to use my dying father as a test subject?" Scorpius snarled.

"What other choice do we have?! I'll put him under and keep him alive using the new technology we've developed by studying the Muggles' intensive care techniques, and when there is not even the faintest chance that I can save him, I'll—I'll let him go," Albus finished shakily.

"Can he get better?" Astoria asked, the hope painfully obvious in her voice. Albus shook his head.

"Like I said, I cannot give any guarantee—"

"Then let me help as well. I am very skilled at potion making and have brewed many new potions of my own. Let me aid you in your endevour to save my husband."

Albus nodded and they turned to look at Scorpius, waiting for his permission. He sighed and pressed his palm against his temple. "Alright, fine. Fine, put him under, do whatever you see fit, but you cannot test anything on him without knowing what effects the potions will have."

"Of course," Albus agreed instantly. "I'll test them on myself, if I have to."

Scorpius finally nodded and sighed. Astoria caressed her son's face in her hands and he gave her a wry smile. "I can't go on that expedition now, can I?"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Astoria admonished. "Of course you must go! You will be absolutely useless even if you remain here."

Scorpius cringed at the bluntness of her words but gave the older woman a small smile, nonetheless. "I may not be back for a long time, though."

"Then that gives us enough time to heal your father and when you return, it will be to the same man you have known your entire life."

Scorpius smiled sadly at the hope in his mother's voice. "Yes, I would like that."

She was so shocked and stunned by everything that she had witnessed that it startled her when the scene melted in a puff of grey, swirling and churning into the next memory. She wrapped her arms around herself, feeling like she was losing herself. She had not known. She had never known. All the pain that he had to bear on his own. And all she had done was scream at him and insult him and never trust him.

And what was this about Draco Malfoy saving Albus's life? Her cousin had never mentioned any such thing. What was this illness that the older Malfoy suffered from? It was obviously psychological in nature, probably trauma from the War, but why had he only worsened almost a decade and a half after the War ended? Was there something else that triggered his illness? Did it have something to do with Albus?

Her mind felt like it was on fire. Every second she spent in Scorpius's memories, the more confused she became. There were more unanswered questions than answers, and after the latest memory, she didn't even know what she was going to see next. She scanned the fluctuating memory and waited with bated breath as it finally settled around her.

What will you show me now, Scorpius?

She stared around her, wondering when the memory would begin.

There was a sharp crack beside her and she jumped, her head snapping to the side. She was staring at a young Scorpius, younger than in the previous memory. Where were they? Why was it so pitch black?

"Are you sure he came this way, Hagrid? Mental or not, I don't think Al has the guts to enter the Forbidden Forest on his own after dusk."

'The Forbidden Forest?! Al had run into it? When it was so dark? What in Merlin's name was he thinking!'

"I agree, bu' he was'n in his senses, now was he? Eh, boy?"

"No," Scorpius admitted, seeming to shrink under Hagrid's piercing gaze. "I still highly doubt he ran in here. Are you sure you saw him?"

"Migh've, migh' not've, can' say anythin' fer certain in my old age," Hagrid said with a belly-rumbling laugh. Scorpius looked at him incredulously.

"You're yanking my chain, aren't you?" he asked in a scandalised voice, staring around him in the dull light of the lantern he held. "Al never came in here!"

"Can' say he did," Hagrid agreed with a thoughtful nod.

"Hagrid!"

"Decided to teach you lads a lesson, I did," he chortled as Scorpius yelped when something slithered down the tree beside him.

"Hagrid, this isn't funny! We've to look for Al! Get me out of her, now!"

"Is t'at a way to talk to yer Professor, Scorpius?" Hagrid asked, his eyes flashing.

"Please," Scorpius begged, looking thoroughly panicked as he eyed his surroundings fearfully. "I'm sorry we snuck mead into the dorms, but the Sixth years threatened to tell the Professors if we didn't!"

"Ready to give me their names, then?"

"Sure, of course," Scorpius answered readily, bobbing his head and stepping back. "Can we please go now?"

Hagrid chortled happily and thumped the blond on his back, making him wince from the force of it.

'I remember this time,' she thought suddenly. 'This was in our fourth year when a group of Sixth years were almost expelled for breaking a whole bunch of school rules. There were several rumours about them doing outrageous things while they were drunk, and that two Fourth years had got dragged into it, but I didn't know Al was one of them!'

She was suddenly pulled out of her thoughts as a bloodcurdling yell rang through the dead quiet of the night. Scorpius and Hagrid immediately spun around towards where they had come from.

"I told you we had to look for him!" Scorpius shouted, running out of the forest and towards the source of the sound, Hagrid hobbling close behind.

'Was that Al just now?' she thought as she ran after the two, panic rising from within her. They broke the line of trees and immediately blinked in the bright light of the moon. Even though it was well past midnight, the brightness was blinding as compared to the profound darkness of the Forbidden Forest,

"Al!" Scorpius yelled, taking off in a run towards a crumpled figure lying on the grass. Feeling as though her heart would explode in her physical body, she ran after him, her fear only increasing ten-fold.

There was a shout slightly away from where Albus was lying in a crumpled heap, his eyes rolled into the back of his head as he foamed in the mouth.

"Hagrid!" Scorpius shouted, as the half-giant took off after the two students, who were probably the perpetrators, as they turned tail and ran. "Al," Scorpius whimpered, pulling the other boy's head onto his lap. "Mate, can you hear me? Albus!"

Feeling like she was going to be crushed from the weight of both her own emotions as well as Scorpius's emotions that lingered in the memory, she collapsed onto her knees, her voiceless sobs wracking her body as she heard someone running towards them. Scorpius snapped his head up, his eyes going round.

"Help! He's dying! Al is dying, please help! Father!"

A/n: This isn't a cliffie, I had to break the chapter into two because it got too long. Anyway, too much information is too bad, so I think it's better off this way.

I would love to know what you thought so far, and I know it's all confusing, but Rose is just as confused as you lot, so yeah xD

Lots of love~