Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter series.
It took Scorpius three days to perfect the Mentiserum, thanks to Plompy's help and occasional guidance from Rose through owls. He had not heard from Professor Weasley since they left, moments after Astoria's return.
His conscience had been nagging him to apologize, or at least check if the professor was alright. But for what reason? His rational voice would ask. What kind of son would apologize to his father's woman after having his own mother back home? And soon he would hear his conscience answer. Because your mother doesn't care about your father, an answer he would dismiss with a sigh. Scorpius knew that at that moment, his priority was to make his father drink the potion in his hand.
He found him in the garden, sitting on his wizard's wheelchair. His eyes were focused on the pond that reflected the deep orange of the sunset. "How are you feeling?" Scorpius asked a few steps behind the older Malfoy.
His father turned the chair to face him. "I'm grand, my boy," he replied, his face showing a smile that Scorpius knew better than to believe. He could easily see and feel how miserable the man was. "What do have there?"
He looked at the glass of pale yellow liquid in his hand. "It's your… um, Mentiserum. I'm sorry it took three days, it was a very complicated potion to make," he told him.
"I see… " Draco said, eyeing the liquid. "Thank you, Scorp. You actually did well, you know. Our first attempt took us a week, if I remember correctly."
Our. He meant Professor Weasley. Once again Scorpius was reminded of the photo he found on the potion room's floor. He was yet to ask his father about that piece of his past. "Come, sit with me," the man requested, his hand resting on the armrest of the wooden bench beside his wheelchair.
Scorpius walked closer to where Draco was and sat on the bench. A little purple fish jumped out of the pond and back, creating ripples on the water's surface. "Here," he said, handing him the glass. "I didn't want to trouble you with this, but I guess keeping secrets from you has taken its toll on me."
"I'm your son, who else would take care of you if I won't," was his quick reply, but when his father's jaw clenched at his words, he realized that it was a wrong thing to say. "I'm sorry," he added in haste, and his father took a long swig of potion in response.
After an empty glass and a long moment of silence, Scorpius found his voice. "I did not ask, but the potion… what was it for? Was it for your legs? Will it make you… walk again?"
Slowly, Draco shook his head. "No, the potion was for something else." It was already dark, and the view of sunset on the pond a few moments ago was replaced by that of a crescent moon. "Do you have time for a story?"
"Of course."
"Draco wait," Granger touched his arm, stopping him from stepping out of the truck. They were in Queensland, Australia, and it was his first time to travel the muggle way. She reasoned that the long journey would give them enough time to finalize their plan before meeting her parents. He let go of the passenger door to face her and noticed that she looked paler than usual. "Can we just… go over the plan again?"
He wanted to say that they just ran through everything half an hour ago, but knowing how important this mission was for her, he obliged. "Well, first don't call them Mr. and Mrs. Granger. They believe their names are Wendell and Monica Wilkins."
"Alright," she said while nervously tapping on the steering wheel. "And then? What do we do when we step out of this truck?"
"We knock on their door, and when they open for us we introduce ourselves as Mr. and Mrs. Lewis, a newly-wed couple who just moved into the neighborhood. We'll ask for their help to carry our stuff from the back of this truck, but after seeing that they're too old to carry a tevelision set—"
"Television," she corrected.
"Right, television set. We'll just dismiss the request and say thanks anyway, and then you shake their hands to break the spell. The moment they recognize you, you will tell them everything, and apologize for doing what you did. You will give them their month's supply of Mentiserum and instruct them to take it every night, before going to bed. You'll spend some time together make up for the years you've lost, and then it's all over." And I'll finally get my end of the deal, his mind added. "Are you ready now?"
"Yeah, I guess," she said, voice shaking. Draco waited for her to move but she seemed frozen to the spot. When he could no longer stand it, he took Granger's hands from the steering wheel and held them in his.
"Hey," he called her attention, lightly brushing her knuckles with his thumb. "Granger, listen to me. You can do this, alright?" He tried to find her eyes but they were fixed on their joined hands. "You've come this far. Just one more step of courage and it will all be over. You'll finally have your parents back."
After a moment, she gave him a brief nod before removing her hands from his and pulling him into a tight hug. "Thank you, Draco," she whispered. "I couldn't have done this without you."
He gently placed his arm around her in response. "It will be alright."
"How did it go?"
"She could not shake their hands, or even stand near them," his father said with a smile. She just stayed behind me, tugging at the back of my shirt, while I talked to her parents. All her Gryffindor courage forgotten. Eventually the Grangers—then still Wilkinses—invited us inside their home. It happened to be their wedding anniversary and they were thankful for the company. It was before midnight when she decided to tell them the truth.
She squeezed both their hands and waited for recognition to show in their eyes, and then a series of tears, apologies, and tight embraces followed. All fears that her parents would hate her for doing what she did were for nothing. They loved her unconditionally. They knew that their daughter did what was necessary to save their lives, and were very grateful.
I left her in Australia so she could spend time with them alone, but not before making her promise to see me after a month to seal our deal.
But she didn't return.
It took me three months before deciding to pay her a visit."
Of all the days to forget an umbrella, Hermione chose today, when there was actually a storm signal. Drenched and cold, she stopped walking and squeezed herself into the group of people under the bus stop's hade. No umbrella. No wand. Really, Hermione.
She was busy watching the water fall from the shade to her toes when she felt someone move from behind her. "Don't move," he whispered before she could turn her head, his warm breath on her left ear. The hairs on her neck stood, and it wasn't because of the cold. Draco. Her mind said, recognizing his voice. She let him wrap his arm around her waist, welcoming the warmth.
It felt like forever.
There was a pulling sensation and then she was no longer in Queensland, but in his bedroom of black and white—the same place where she promised his freedom. Slowly, he let go of her waist, giving her a chance to face him.
He was unnervingly close, just like in her dreams—her only moments with him in the last three months. She lifted her hand to touch his face, and he let her, his eyes boring into hers as if asking a silent question. Why? She could almost hear them ask.
"I'm sorry," she told him, hoping it was enough.
"Do it now," he pleaded, unblinking.
She shook her head as her tears began to flow. "I can't," she confessed, letting go of his face to grip the sides of his waist and hide her face on his chest, the distance between them gone. "Please, don't make me do it again.
Please, I love you…"
Don't leave me.
They stayed like that while she cried her heart out, praying for him to feel her agony. The pain of an unrequited love. The fear of losing someone she never had. The cruelty of removing her own name inside his mind and heart. The torture of letting him go, just after she found him.
He placed his arms around her and held her drenched frame tightly. She smiled despite her tears, pulling him even closer, thinking that he finally changed his mind.
But she was never prepared for his next word.
"Imperio."