October 2008
Wizarding London, England
St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries
Saturday

A spell-damage Mediwizard visited Lyra in the morning to tend to her cuts now that she finally had enough blood in her body for the long healing spell. He was a kind, older man, probably in his early 60's, who chatted idly with Lyra while she endured the terrible itching of the repair process.

"We've seen this spell a lot since the second," he explained referring to the Second Wizarding War. "Lot of the anti-Ministry activists, kids mostly, fancy themselves dark heroes against the establishment, like old Snape himself. Most of 'em couldn't spell Sectumsempra if you gave 'em a copy of Ward's Magical Lexicon and a page number," he harumphed grumpily.

Lyra smiled. "I'm sure he would have just loved that."

"How much do they teach you Yanks about our history over there?" the wizard inquired.

"In school, not much. I had a broader education by virtue of being born here. I used to study under Professor Snape at Hogwarts a few times a year" she replied honestly.

"Did you? What do you think he would make of all this?" he asked, innocently, motioning to her injuries.

The question made Lyra pause. She had no idea what Severus would think. He would never tell her the truth, were he still alive. She also wouldn't be able to read it from him either. Once he had made her an ace legilimens, she had seen some things he intended to keep hidden from her and he handled it predictably by flatly proclaiming he had created a monster and banishing her from his mind. So, while she wouldn't editorialize his thoughts, she did, however, have a pretty good idea of what he would say to her about it...

"I think he'd probably ask me why I didn't just duck," Lyra replied, trying to ignore the aggravating itch.

The old man chuckled as he assessed the skin of one of her legs. "Well, dear, why didn't you just duck?"

"Poison. I wasn't really on my game," she answered.

"Ah. Quite right." The mediwizard answered, looking contrite. "The itching will let up over the next hour or so, but do be careful with the new skin for at least a day. It will be delicate," he counseled before awkwardly patting her foot and leaving the room.

Lyra found herself thinking about Severus as she chased her afternoon potions with a strong cup of bad coffee. She did wonder what he would think about this whole mess. Severus had cared for Draco, she was certain of it. He more or less killed someone for Draco. Not just someone. Albus Dumbledore, a great man and wizard. A man who Lyra owed for her happiness as she knew it. She had no memory of him but was aware that he and his brother had taken care of her for a time before she was placed with her own family. Dumbledore and Harry had been close, if she remembered correctly. She wondered if, when everything had quieted down, if he would be willing to talk to her about some of it.

Her thoughts were disrupted by the sudden, unannounced appearance of Astoria Nott in her room, a shopping bag around her wrist and her little son in tow.

"Oh, there you are! I've been wandering around this gloomy ward forever trying to find you," the woman exclaimed dramatically, setting her bag on the floor and dropping herself into a visitor's chair, pulling the boy into her lap. "How are you? You look terrible! I mean...Sorry, I didn't mean..."

"No, it's fine. I know," Lyra interrupted. "I'm alright, I suppose. I'm exhausted, having some headaches and the coffee is terrible, but all things considered, I could be much worse. How are you?" She asked, politely.

"Better now that we're all back home, thanks to you. I should have Theo buy you one of those muggle coffee machines. When are they letting you go?" The blonde woman inquired.

"They say tomorrow, provided I behave until then." Lyra replied.

An awkward silence descended upon them then. Lyra looked over at Scorpius who was idly playing with a diamond bracelet on his mother's wrist, turning it to make it flash under the harsh lights of the room. He looked so much like Draco, it was unreal.

"Look, Miss Black, I'm not very good at these things. I've lived through a war, but I have no idea what to do in this situation. I'm at a loss. My people typically show our thanks through gifts and favors. I...I don't have the words to explain how grateful I am for what you did for me and my son, so please, I am begging you. Just let me give you this pair of shoes I brought you and allow my husband buy you a silly muggle coffee maker," the witch said in a rush.

Lyra looked at her stunned for a moment before breaking out in a laugh. It felt like her first real laugh in weeks.

The blond witch across from her widened her eyes in surprise but then began to chuckle herself.

"In that case, I absolutely accept, and I'm so happy you're both home and safe," Lyra replied warmly, when she had regained her composure.

Astoria got up and placed her son at the end of Lyra's bed. She grabbed her shopping bag and brought her chair forward to sit next to Lyra. She pulled a red box out of the bag and opened it, revealing only a white leather pouch. From the pouch she produced a pair of black pumps in soft, buttery leather and placed them in Lyra's lap.

Lyra picked one up and emitted a half-gasp, half-squeal. "These are Spellman's! Are you serious!? Like charm into any color, any style, any size that I want. Like the 'only shoe you will ever need' shoe. Girl, you didn't get me one pair of shoes, you got me every pair of shoes! Don't take this the wrong way but I think I love you. These cost like three months rent! It's too much. I can't even..."

Astoria beamed warmly at Lyra as she babbled. "It's not too much," she interrupted before looking down at her son. "I don't think anything will ever be too much. Scorpius, come say hello to Miss Black. She's a friend of your Daddy's and she's the one who kept us so safe this week."

He looked up from toying with Lyra's blanket, blushing adorably. He clamored over Lyra's legs and reached out for his mother who settled him in her lap facing Lyra.

"Hi Scorpius, I'm Lyra. Thank you for coming to see me today. It was really nice of you," she said softly to the shy little boy.

Scorpius looked up at her with a half-smile that he took straight from Draco's face. "Hello. Mummy made me shop all day with her and it was for forever. Then I got a chocolate frog though. Then we came to see you and after this we get to go see Daddy. I got him a frog too because he likes them," he said to her in a whisper, as if his mother couldn't hear them.

"You're so right, Scorpius. He does like them. I'm sorry you had to shop for forever but I really REALLY love my present. It was so sweet of you and your mum to think of me," she whispered back to him. "Hey, do you want to see something cool?"

He nodded.

"What's your favorite color?" She asked.

The boy tilted his white-blonde head to the side for a moment to think before replying. "I dunno, blue I guess."

Lyra reached over for her wand and waved them over her new shoes, turning them a rich, shiny blue. She touched her wand to the toe of one of the shoes and a burst of bright silver scorpions scuttled out over the surface of the shoe, covering it at appropriate intervals. She repeated it on the other shoe and looked up at him.

"What do you think?"

He was thrilled. "Whoa! Do mine! Please! Please!" he implored.

"I would love to. Feet up, young man," she replied, smiling.

Astoria helped him put his feet next to Lyra on the bed and she spelled his little shoes as best as she could. Since his shoes weren't magical, the transfiguration would only last a few hours, but he thought it was great and squealed with laughter, trying to catch the little creatures as they ran across his toes.

"Do Mummies!" He said.

Lyra raised her eyebrows at Astoria who nodded her head and put her feet up also.

Once they all had blue, scorpion-covered shoes, Scorpius started asking her questions about trains. She explained to him that she didn't really know much about trains but thought they were neat. Scorpius had just launched into an overture about exactly how neat they were when Astoria notified him that it was time to go because they had to go see Draco.

"Can't Daddy come here? I have to tell Lyra about the trains. She doesn't know about the trains, Mummy," he explained. as if it were a kind of emergency situation.

"And she deserves to know, because trains are fantastic, but I'm afraid it will have to wait, darling," his mother replied to his adorable pout.

"Thank you for coming to see me, Scorpius. Have fun with your Dad and enjoy your frogs," Lyra said to him as Astoria was getting them ready to leave. "And thank you, Mrs. Nott for the thoughtful gift. They are amazing. I love them," she beamed at the blonde witch over her blue shoes.

"You're welcome. Please, call me Astoria," she replied.

"Call me Lyra, if you'd like," Lyra offered warmly.

"Get well soon, Lyra. Scorpius, say goodbye," the blonde witch said.

"Bye!" The little boy replied to her with a wave as they left.

Lyra laid back on her pillows with a dopey smile on her face and looked down at her new shoes. Sweet kid. She thought. But oh my god these shoes...


October 2008
Wizarding London, England
Saturday

"Daddy!" Scorpius yelled running into his father's arms. Draco caught him easily and brought him in close to his chest, burying his nose in his son's hair and inhaling the familiar scent of him. Although Draco was unable to remember the last five or so weeks of his life, he could feel the end of the long separation that he'd endured without him, as if his parental instincts remembered something that his cursed brain could not.

"Scorpius," he breathed into the little boy's hair. "I missed you so much. Tell me everything. Are you hungry?" Draco carried him into the kitchen, placing him atop the counter. The two of them talking as if not a single day had passed.

Astoria watched the pair with restrained fondness. She and Draco had been a disaster from the start, but their son was perfect and Draco was a completely devoted father. This thing with the American had made her feel territorial, not really because she felt some ownership over her ex-husband, that door had long closed, but because it made her feel like she'd been blindsided by this important part of his past that was impacting their present.

"Where did you get those! They're brilliant!" Draco asked his son, motioning to his blue, scorpion covered shoes.

Scorpius raised his foot proudly to give his father a better look. "Miss Lyra did them! She did Mummies too! Mummy show Daddy your shoes!"

Astoria walked into the kitchen and flashed her matching blue pumps. "We went to Mungos to look in on her just now. We brought her some very pretty shoes and so she made all of our shoes pretty too, didn't she darling?"

"Yep! Miss Lyra lives in the hospital because she's sick or something," Scorpius explained to his father.

"Yes I know, son." Draco replied sadly. "How is she?" He asked his ex-wife.

"She's, alright I suppose. Pale, tired, but she's improving. There's a chance they might release her tomorrow. Oh! I wanted to have Theo get her one of those things for coffee...the Muggle, Italian one. Do you know what they're called? I should ask Blaise."

"An espresso machine?" Draco offered.

"That's it, yes. She said the hospital had such bad coffee, I feel like it's the least I can do," Astoria explained.

"That's...that's really kind of you, Astoria. Thank you." Draco replied.

"We owe her. We all do," the blonde witch explained, looking at her son.

"And I'm going to teach her about the trains. She didn't know about trains, Daddy" Scorpius said to his father, sympathetically as if to say 'poor thing.'

"Oh goodness, well, you'll have to show her the ropes, then."

"What ropes?" The boy inquired.

"It's an expression, Scorpius. It means, you'll have to teach her about the trains," Draco clarified.

"Oh. Yeah, she doesn't know about the ropes then I guess," he confirmed.

Astoria chuckled at the exchange. "Ok, Mummy is leaving," she swooped in to hug her son and kiss him on the cheek. "You boys behave, I'll be back in the morning."

Draco pulled Scorpius off the counter and deposited him on the couch before seeing Astoria to the door.

"I don't even know how to begin apologizing for...everything. I know that if you hadn't started talking to the courts about me being absent, things could have turned out very differently. Thank you for that and for letting me see him and for...all of it. I know it must have been terrifying and all a bit of a shock" Draco bumbled at her, awkwardly rubbing his neck.

Astoria rolled her eyes at him, which stopped his rambling immediately.

"You know. I really wanted to hate her. I tried. Yelled at her and everything. It just didn't take. How can you hate a woman who basically died for your son? She's...she's alright, Draco. A little plain maybe, but...I get it," Astoria confessed. She patted him on the arm and walked out the door, leaving Draco standing there with his mouth open in shock until Scorpius called him back to attention by asking for a snack.