Disclaimer: Okay, I'll admit it. No one reads this junk. Watch, I could say something totally random, and no one would notice. Oogala boogala! By the way, I don't own Harry Potter or anything associated with Harry Potter. The dementors arrested me when I tried.

Harry: Haha, I think that is the one quality from me that I put in all of my characters. It gets infuriating sometimes. Greyback is only good for torturing. And shunning. Don't give up yet! There is still hope. After this chapter, there is one more and the epilogue… Yeah, I felt bad for James. He knows Scorpius doesn't mean it and yet that doesn't stop it from hurting. Merci, and here is another chapter for you (even though I think you got offline while I was typing up the review response…)

Draco glanced over at Harry, watching as Harry wiped away the tear. He refused to feel guilty; he wasn't dating Harry anymore, and he wasn't the one who had kissed Astoria. Draco turned back to his paperwork, stomach twisting. He didn't need Harry, did he?

"Of course not," Draco muttered.

He forced himself to ignore Harry and finished his paperwork. When it was finally time to go home, he sighed in relief, leaving before he could look at Harry again and feel guilty.

~Hogwarts~

~A couple of days later~

James gave up. He wasn't going to go wait outside the Slytherin common room for Scorpius this morning. He didn't think he could take seeing that accusing look directed at him anymore. He walked in silence to the Gryffindor table and sat with his head down, eating whatever was closest and easiest to put on his plate.

Scorpius nearly ran to the Great Hall when he saw that James wasn't waiting for him. He pushed several older students out of his way in his haste to get to James and apologize.

The sixth years turned around and roughly shoved him into a wall. Scorpius stumbled and hit his head on the wall, causing him to black out for a few seconds as the sixth years started hitting him.

"Watch where you're going, third year dork!" one of them laughed, breaking his nose.

Scorpius winced.

James walked around the corner, staring at the ground. When he saw Scorpius being hit by the sixth years, he ran in and pulled Scorpius out. The sixth years shrugged and walked away.

As soon as they were gone, James let Scorpius go and started to walk to his first class.

"James, wait!" Scorpius called.

James paused and turned back, looking curiously at Scorpius.

"I'm sorry," Scorpius said.

"Sorry for what?" James asked, confused. "For getting beat up by sixth years?"

"No, for how I acted the past week," Scorpius whispered.

"Oh," James whispered, blinking back tears.

"I didn't mean any of it, honest," Scorpius said, noticing that James was trying not to cry. "I don't know what came over me, and I feel really terrible."

"It's okay," James said in relief. "I knew it was just because of the moon."

"But that didn't stop it from hurting, did it?" Scorpius sighed.

James shrugged noncommittally.

"You didn't forget that I love you, did you?" Scorpius asked in a low voice.

"Of course not," James said, smiling. It came pretty close though.

The months continued in this fashion until Easter Break, Scorpius having extreme mood swings and pushing James away before making up with him. Draco and Harry were still separated, and Astoria still tried to seduce Draco. Ron and Hermione had a healthy pair of twins, a boy and a girl, who they named Aislin Jayden Weasley and Kanik Sophia Weasley.

"Uncle Ron, can I go with you to the Ministry today?" James asked.

Ron looked over at James, blinking. "Of course you can, James."

"Thanks," James said with a smile.

His plan to get rid of Greyback was almost finished, but he needed to check one more thing. James ran upstairs to change into his best robes, knowing it would be important to look good if he was going to go to the Ministry. When he got back downstairs, it was time to leave.

Ron held his arm and transported him to the Ministry using side-along apparition. "Is there any particular reason you wanted to come with me?" Ron asked, getting James his name tag.

"I was curious. I want to work here someday, and I figured I should get to see what it was like," James said, shrugging.

"All right. You can look around, but don't get yourself into trouble," Ron said.

"Thanks!" James said, grinning.

"If anyone asks, tell them the truth, that you're here with me. Feel free to ask anyone for directions—they won't bite," Ron said, winking.

James laughed and headed off, looking around. He had found blueprints and maps of this place, and had memorized them. He found the lift and went down to the ninth level, followed the corridor to a plain black door, and slipped inside, glancing around to make sure he was alone and hadn't been followed. Having already heard his uncle's stories about this room, he left the door open slightly before going to the door to the right.

"Brains," he muttered, leaving that door open as well.

He continued opening doors until he got the one he wanted. He stepped through, careful to leave the door open. He scanned the rows, gulping when he saw his name. He slipped the orb into his pocket and left, running back to the lift and going back to the Atrium before asking for directions to his uncle's office.

Later that night, making sure that nobody could hear what he was doing, he pulled the orb out of his pocket and smashed it, listening carefully to what it told him. He wrote it down with trembling hands and curled up on his bed, breathing as if he had just run a marathon. He knew what he had to do.