(A/N: This is one of my favorite chapters to write. You'll see why. Enjoy!)

The Funeral Bells

Chapter 6

Special Interests

Take back what's mine

Just leave me in it

And everything I believe in

He's shaking

She's shaking

Of all the teachers in all of Hogwarts - including Headmaster Flitwick - Rose and Al could only think of one that they would could trust with this. Of course, they knew as soon as he heard, he would tell the Headmaster and send an owl to the Auror Department immediately. However, they felt that Professor Longbottom will do his best to keep it under wraps.

It was only one day later when the cousins where pulled out of their respective classes and asked to visit the Headmasters office. The two had never really been up there, since they've avoided trouble - except of course of the Neo-Death Eater incident they both were involved in two years ago; they skipped the Headmasters office and went straight to the Auror Department. That was a very interesting visit, seeing as though that the Head of the Auror Department just happened to be Al's father.

They got pass the Gargoyle guarding the door without a fuss. When they entered the office, they were immediately greeted with the presence of Professor Longbottom, Professor Maylow, the head of the Slytherin house, and of course, Professor Flitwick.

"Please, come in," Professor Flitwick asked kindly.

The two entered the office and Al shut the door behind him…that's when they saw him.

He had been hiding himself in the corner of the room, looking at the different portraits and artifacts that decorated the office. When the two saw him, they felt their stomachs drop; he looked almost exactly like Scorpius. The only real difference was that he was slightly taller and his hair was short and slicked back as Scorpius prefers to wear it long and shaggy.

"Mr. Potter, Ms. Weasley," Professor Flitwick spoke continuing to display his kind voice. "I suppose you've already met Draco Malfoy."

Al and Rose had never formally met him before, though they've seen and heard many stories about him - most of which were unpleasant.

The father of Scorpius didn't say anything. He just nodded his head with greetings, and the cousins returned it.

The look on his face was almost undeterminable. He didn't look mad. He didn't look sad. He sure as hell didn't look happy. It was rather unemotional; almost as if Malfoy didn't have a clue to how to react about his son's sudden disappearance..

"Please, you two," continued the Headmaster. "Have a seat."

The fact that the Headmaster sounded so calm and unworried made the cousins feel uneasy. It was as if everyone in the room knew something that they didn't. Is it possible that they've found him already?

"Now, then," began the Headmaster Flitwick as he took his seat behind his desk. "The Aurors should be arriving any minute, so can I offer you some-"

He was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Ah," Flitwick exhaled as he pulled out his wand from seemingly nowhere. "Right on schedule…"

He pointed his wand at the door, which soon slowly opened.

At first, 3 Aurors were visible. An unshaven man with a long ponytailed hair was the first to walk in. He was tall and big; he seems like he could do more damaged with his fists than with his wand. Right behind him as a blonde woman with her hair barely past her ears, followed by another man who had enough scars on him to safely assume that he's been through a lot in his career.

One more walked in soon after. Rose and Al recognized him instantly, for they knew him their whole lives. His long-spiked hair decided to be a dark shade of green today, which is a color he rarely sports. He wasn't wearing his glasses, but they noticed that they were hanging from his collar. Right when he step foot in the office, he gave a wink to the two cousins.

Although they were surprised to see him, they smiled back at him. However, their surprise wasn't even close to peaking. It was the last Auror that came in that brutally shocked the two.

His round glasses were planted on his face, which is utterly common. His hair was a mess - more so than normal. He wore something of a smile on his face, which isn't too uncommon because this particular Auror is known from trying to keep the room as calm as possible. His brilliant green eyes met with Al's, who felt like sinking into his chair upon the sight of him.

"Potter?" spat Draco Malfoy in a tone that was anything but strange to the Head Auror.

The two then focused their eyes on each other. An uncomfortable silence filled the room, for everyone present knew the history between these two wizards. Even though the two haven't said much more than a word to each other in over 20 years, you could cut the tension with a knife.

"Well this is quite the surprise," Draco continued to speak as he subtly paced about the office. "I wasn't aware that missing persons caught the eye of the Head of the Auror Department."

Harry Potter didn't answer his former nemesis right away. He just gave him a small smile.

"Well," Harry finally spoke. "I suppose you could say I took a special interest in this one."

"Mr. Potter," Professor Flitwick finally spoke. "It is great seeing you again, as well."

Harry gave the Headmaster a small bow.

"But I hope," began the Headmaster once more. "You can appreciate the fact that we'd like to get down to business as soon as possible."

"But of course," Harry said right away. "The Hogsmede Bell Tower is just as it was reported. The substance on the top floor was, in fact, blood."

Al and Rose looked at each other with horrified faces. Draco looked to the floor.

"We took a sample of it and hopefully the department could - quite literally - work their magic to see if we can match it to Scorpius Malfoy. There were no witnesses found to have seen him enter the tower, however there was one witness of a red-haired woman wearing a dress entering."

Rose swallowed hard. All of the attention immediately focused on her, except for Al. He graciously decided to look away.

"Rose," Harry began to address his niece. "You were to meet young Malfoy at the top of the tower, correct?"

She didn't answer right away. She was too busy getting over the fact that all eyes were on her.

"Yes," she responded softly.

"And he did not show up, correct?"

"Yes."

"And you did not notice the blood or anything abnormal at the time?"

"No."

"It was not until the next day, when you and Albus did some investigating of your own until you discovered the blood?"

"Actually," Rose began. "Al discovered the blood."

Her cousin shot her look as if to say: "Thanks for bring me into this".

"Right then," began the Head Auror once again. "We have currently have no evidence pointing that the blood belonged to young Malfoy," He addressed the rest of the room. "And we might not for days. But as of now, we will be doing our very best to find him."

"How do you expect to do that?" Draco inquired with a raised eyebrow.

The cousins still couldn't help but realize how generally unemotional he is. Scorpius have told them both that he's always had a problem dealing with issues emotionally, but this was his son they were talking about!

"Well, since there are currently no suspects," Harry began once again looking Draco straight in the eye. "I will personally be checking through all the Hogsemede residents that are already on record, including ex-cons, former suspects, and…"

He paused for a moment. He looked around the room one more time before focusing back to Draco.

"…With all due respect, anyone who would have any reason to want to hurt you."

Draco showed his first spit of emotion of the night. His eyes widened at Harry's last comment and once again focused his eyes downward. Even though the Malfoy family has - for the most part - cleared their once-tainted name, Draco could still think of at least 10 different people who would like to hurt him off the top of his head in Hogsmede alone.

"And I'm afraid that's we can do for you now," Harry said as he took a few steps closer to his son and niece.

There was another silence that befell the room. Al looked towards Teddy Lupin, who's hair color has now changed to a faint shade of yellow. Very rarely does he change his hair color in the middle of a crowded room. It must have been the atmosphere of the school, which - as a former Hufflepuff - would explain his hair color.

Draco took his focus off the floor once again and gazed at Harry.

"Thank you," he said finally.

Harry didn't respond verbally. He just nodded his head, as did the rest of the Aurors.

"I'll escort you gentlemen out, then," Professor Flitwick stated as he got out of his chair and proceeded towards the Aurors. As he passed Harry, Flitwick gave him a slight nod, and the Head Auror nodded at him back. As a small man, it was a strange sight to see Flitwick next to Aurors; however, Al and Rose both remembered their fathers telling them that Flitwick had a huge role in the Battle for Hogwarts. You can imagine the surprise on the two's faces when they first met him.

Flitwick accompanied 4 Aurors and Draco Malfoy out the office, and the two cousins closely followed.

"Where are you two going?"

The cousins stopped in there tracks right before the threshold. That wasn't the first time the two heard the Head Auror say that. They slowly turned their heads to see Harry take off his cloak and hang it up right next to the Headmasters.

"Sit," he said pointing at the two chairs Rose and Al were previously sitting on.

There was no way to tell if they were in trouble or not, for Harry Potter telling his sons, nieces, or nephews to sit could mean that he has some candy for you, or your grounded for a month. Al and Rose took their respective seats once again as Harry paced about the room.

"Sneaking out of the castle, eh?" He asked smiling. He didn't give the children time to answer. "Rose, when you were younger you had a lot of your mother in you. I can see that that's changed in recent years, hasn't it?"

Rose didn't respond, and Harry didn't expect her too: what he said was true.

"In fact," he continues. "I've noticed Hugo has become the big reader in the family, hasn't he?"

This was true as well. In recent years, Rose and Hugo made a subtle, yet noticeable switch. Her younger brother became quite the reader after his second year in Hogwarts, as Rose began to focus more on Quidditch. None of this was true when they were much younger.

"And you, Albus Severus," he focused his attention to his son.

Albus Severus…only his parents could ever getting away calling him that.

"It's quite impressive, really," Harry complimented, which confused Al. "How do you know about any of the secret passages out of the castle?"

Al's face looked as if he was caught red-handed stealing a cookie from the cookie jar just before dinner.

"Maybe that's just my side of the gene pool," Harry commented, making Al feeling a little at ease. "Or maybe…"

Harry walked up to his hung coat and reached inside. He took out his wand and pointed it at the two children. Rose and Al felt a tingle in their stomachs.

"Accio Marauder's Map."

Just like that, a blank piece of parchment flew out of Al's pocket and right into his father's hand.

Al opened his mouth to speak, but his father beat him to it.

"Ah, very interesting," Harry said immediately. "You know, when this went missing," he continued to speak as he unfolded the blank piece of parchment. "I always assumed that it was your brother who swiped it from my study."

Rose and Al looked at glanced at each other for a split second.

"Speaking of which," Harry said as crouched down right were the cousins were sitting. "How about we find out what your brothers are doing? Hm?"

Harry took out his wand and touched it to the piece of parchment.

"I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good."

As expected, lines and words began to form all of the once blank parchment.

This time, Rose tried to speak, but Harry beat her to it.

"Let's see, let's see," He spoke under his breath as he searched the map. "Ah!" he exclaimed finally. "There's your brother, Rosie."

He showed her a portion of that map with stationary footsteps and the name Hugo Weasley, among other footsteps and names.

"In the library, I see," he continues as he pulled the map back towards him. "Proves my earlier point, doesn't it? Oh, and Lily's with him!"

He showed the two cousins the map again, which shows a pair of footsteps with the name Lily Potter walking towards Hugo and company.

"Never been much of a reader, that one," Harry continued once again as he began to flip through the map. "If she's in the library with Hugo, that must mean she's slipping up in a class."

"Dad, I know we-"

"Ah, there we are!" Harry exclaimed once again as he showed the map to his son and niece.. "James Potter in the Gryffindor common room, not so surprising." He pulled the map towards him once again. "With fellow Quidditch players - including your cousin Louis. Also not surprising."

"Uncle Harry," Rose finally got her word in. "We know what you're doing."

"Really?" The Head Auror asked as he folded the map. "What's that, dear?"

"We know we shouldn't have this," Al spoke in Rose's place. "We know that this thing got us into all this mess. I'm sorry,"

"I am, too," added Rose.

Harry didn't speak right away. With the map still in his hand, began to pace about the room. It always annoyed Al when his father did that…then again, it always annoyed Rose and Scorpius when Al did it.

"You know," Harry began. "A very wise wizard once told me, that the magic is hardly ever to blame for any mishaps. In fact, magic was 100 pure, before any wizard or witch ever tampered with it." He paused for a quick second. "So it's not the amount of power we obtain, it's what we use if for."

Al and Rose glanced at each other once again. Al was almost puzzled, for it didn't seem like they were getting in any trouble. Rose was still slightly nervous.

"Does that sound right to you, Professor?" Harry asked as he turned to a portrait.

It was the biggest portrait in the room. It contained a glamorous background, but the subject appeared larger than life. Dark purple dress robes, wizard hat, long white beard and hair. Half-moon glasses.

"My dear boy," spoke the old wizard in the painting. "I couldn't have said it better myself."

"I doubt that," Harry spoke back. "Al, Rose, you haven't spent nearly as much time in this office as James or Teddy have, so I wouldn't be surprised if you never met them." Harry approached the brilliant portrait. "This is Professor Dumbledore."

Al and Rose froze as the man in the painting, whom they just realized was the great Albus Dumbledore. They've heard many stories about - arguably - the greatest wizard in the entire world, but they never thought they could ever meet him…or his portrait, anyway.

"A good pleasure to meet you both," said the portrait of Albus Dumbledore. "I see a lot of your parents in you."

"Yes," said another - considerably smaller - painting next to Dumbledore "It is a pity, isn't it?"

Harry chuckled at the apparent insult, as if he was expecting it.

"And of course, Professor Snape," Harry continued as he pointed to the painting of a man wearing all black robes and greasy black hair. "25 years on the wall hasn't changed you one bit, hasn't it?"

"I could say the same to you," the painting retorted. "Only you have the up-most pleasure of being alive."

Harry only replied the last comment from Professor Snape's portrait with a smile. He turned his attention back to the two 16 year olds.

"You know," he spoke as he waved the Marauder's Map in front of them. "If I was a teacher here, I'd have no choice but to take this away from you two."

The Rose and Al glanced at each other. They suspected what was coming next.

"Mischief managed."

The map quickly turned back to a normal piece of parchment.

"I suppose you're lucky I chose a different career path," Harry stated has held the parchment out for Al to take. "Don't waste it."

Al was shocked, as was his cousin. As he slowly reached out and took the map, he couldn't help but feel huge gratitude towards his father. Al was barely in his third year at Hogwarts when he and his father slowly became estranged.

Even though Harry was interested in the Dark Arts when he was younger, it was mostly because he had constant battles against them. Harry noticed that his son's interest was a little more dangerous, yet every time he tried to confront him about it, he began calling him a hypocrite.

It wasn't until a year later - after the Neo-Death Eater incident - that Harry and his second son started becoming close again. It was a long a difficult road, but their relationship continued to grow.

"Now let's go," Harry said as he escorted the two out of the office. "Get to class, you two," he told them as he closed the doors behind him. "Christmas is in a week, I'll see you then."

"Bye, Dad," Al said as he began to climb down the stares. Rose did not follow.

"Uncle Harry?" Rose said, causing Al to stop in his tracks.

"Yes, dear?" Harry answered back.

"Do you think we'll find him?"

Harry didn't answer right away. Al focused downward in fear of his fathers answer. Harry Potter was never known to tell lie. As Head Auror, he's learned that even though the truth may hurt, the pain of the truth can only help one become stronger. Except, of course, when his wife asks him how she looks.

"Listen, Rosie," began Harry as he put a hand on her shoulder. "It's not healthy for me to promise you anything." Rose nerves began to shake. "Except for the fact that I will do everything within my power to make sure we do."

It wasn't the answer she was hoping for, but it still made her smile.

"Thanks, Uncle Harry," she said just before embracing him.

"My pleasure, pet," he said after the two separated.

Rose quickly caught up to Al and the two proceeded downstairs.

"Oh wait! You two! Wait!"

The two froze upon Harry's request.

"Just one more thing," he said just after they turned around to face him.

He withdrew his wand.

"Accio Invisibility Cloak."

Nothing happened. The two cousins glanced at each other.

"Accio, what?" asked Al.

"Nothing," Harry sighed. "Get to class."

(A/N: Review, please??)