Disclaimer: You are cordially invited to watch me cry because I don't own HP.

"We searched the whole house; there were no signs of a struggle anywhere but the Drawing Room and the Entrance Hall. We found two wands in the building: one that was on Victim #1's hand, and one in a room upstairs, which we assumed is the boy's room."

"Could you determine the cause of death?" Ron asked, looking straight into Conway's eyes. He looked sideways at Nash, who took a step forward.

"Victim #2 was clearly on the receiving end of the Killing Curse. We are yet unsure as if Victim #1 died from the wounds inflicted magically to his chest and limbs that led to him bleeding to death, or if he died from another curse." Nash stated, trying to figure out what the hell he was thinking when he had mentally complained about lack of action in the department.

"I have a theory." O'Halloran announced. Ron looked at her questioningly. "Considering the amount of blood surrounding him, I'd say he was left to bleed for a long time before his actual death. I don't think he was a victim of the Killing Curse though… his body was oddly paralyzed and it couldn't be attributed to rigor mortis because if the information we have is correct, he would've died at most ninety minutes before our arrival, and it takes at least three hours for rigor mortis to kick in. My theory is that he was attacked, probably tried to defend himself, and after receiving the deep wounds he was put under the Body-Bind Curse. That'd explain his facial expression, because he was surely in pain from the cuts, and the stiffness of his body—"

"You really need to stop watching Muggle TV shows." Nash interrupted. "I'm sorry you had to listen to that long ramble, Weasley, our partner's got a huge imagination—"

"What she's saying is actually quite plausible." Conway interfered, frowning. "I don't know if the Body-Bind Curse would've kept on working after death, though."

"According to what I've read in Magical Research Papers, the way Body-Binding works is by causing Calcium ions to diffuse from—"

"Don't start with your Muggle science bullshit explanations." Nash said, rolling his eyes.

"Then how can you levitate a dead body? Wouldn't it be possible for the Body-Bind Curse to work after death?" O'Halloran insisted, looking over at Conway for approval.

"That'd mean the caster of the spell would have to be around, wouldn't it? There was no one around when we arrived, remember?" Conway said, trying to hide his smile. He had a soft spot for O'Halloran and her crazy ideas, but he always knew she was taking it too far. After all, he had personally confirmed with his spell that there was no one in the house…

"How do you know there was no one at the place when you arrived?" Weasley asked, frowning slightly.

"I performed the spell on the house to check." Conway said, a little annoyed by the stupid question.

"Did you perform it on the whole forest around?" Weasley's voice rose a little. Conway closed his mouth immediately, his pupils widening as his heart started pumping faster.

"Shit." He mumbled, looking over at O'Halloran and Nash, who looked absolutely stunned as well.

"You bloody idiots! How did you not… you were told to search the place! You're supposed to be Highly Trained Aurors! How did… Harry, I need you here—Expecto Patronum!" Ron yelled, flicking his wand furiously, without even bothering to look at his Patronus running out to find Harry. "Now, what are you waiting for? Go back there and do your job like you're supposed to, gits! I'll join you shortly with Harry."

The three young Aurors nodded without saying a word and turned on the spot, vanishing in a swirl of robes.

"Mr. Malfoy, I want you to know that if you don't feel up to going to class, you'll be excused." Professor Longbottom explained. "And if you need to talk to anyone, the whole staff is willing to help in any way we can."

"Thanks, sir." Scorpius replied, shifting slightly on his chair, trying to avoid the older man's eyes. "I… I'll keep on going to class, probably. I don't want to fall behind, especially this being OWLs year."

"I know. Just keep in mind that we're here to help you. You might go now." Professor Longbottom said with a warm smile that Scorpius had trouble returning: it was irrational, but he always felt intimidated in presence of his Head of House and Herbology professor. He stood up and left the office as quick as he could without seeming rude, and was relieved to find out that Albus was waiting for him outside. They took off without saying a word until they were at the Entrance Hall.

"Where's Rose?" Scorpius asked.

"She was hungry, so I told her to have breakfast and that I'd wait for you." Albus explained, running his fingers through his hair, trying to keep it off his eyes.

"Are you ever getting that mop cut off?" Scorpius asked, amused. Ever since they had met in the school train, Albus' hair had been out of control, but now it was just ridiculous.

"I can't. James won the bet, and I said I wouldn't get a haircut until my 16th birthday."

"At least your birthday is in October and not August." Scorpius commented, laughing a bit. Albus smiled a bit and opened his mouth to say something, but Rose cut in front of them abruptly.

"I brought you toast. We're late for class!" she said quickly, pushing the food towards the boys. "You know Professor Vaughn doesn't like to be kept waiting—"

"Rose, relax, we still have ten minutes to get upstairs." Albus said, getting started on his toast right away. Rose frowned and drew her wand, pointing at Albus' face. "What the bloody hell are you doing?"

"Let me do your hair, it's driving me insane!" she protested. The green-eyed boy rolled his eyes and shrugged. Rose waved her wand satisfactorily, tying her cousin's hair in a ponytail. "You look like Uncle Bill! It suits you!"

"Hey Al! Nice hairdo!" his brother James yelled while running by. "I can't wait to see you flying with your gorgeous hair trailing behind!"

"Git." Albus said, rolling his eyes. "Won't you just love being on the team with him as Captain, Scorp?"

"Oh, I'm dying to try out. He'll probably just cut me from it because he doesn't like me." He didn't look bitter about it at all. He knew he was the best Seeker they could possibly have.

"He'll probably cut me too, for being his brother." Albus said, shrugging. "He won't want people to say he's letting people in because they're his family. You know how much he values his popularity."

"He knows the team needs your scoring touch, Al." Rose interjected, leading them towards the classroom. "I don't see why people would object either: He knows you're much better than him at scoring."

"He's better at flying than I am, though."

"Maybe you should try getting a Seeker who doesn't run away from the Snitch." A voice interrupted. Albus stopped right on his tracks and turned around, drawing his wand and almost snarling at the newcomer, a tall boy who was smiling with mockery.

"Scorpius seeking ability didn't seem a problem when we beat you 200-0 last year, Sanders." Rose shot right away, grabbing Albus' left arm so he wouldn't curse the head off the Slytherin prefect.

"He just ran into the Snitch, if you ask me. He was too busy escaping from the Bludgers, the dirty little coward."

"Call him coward one more time and I'll make sure you can't open your bloody mouth again." Albus said angrily, golden sparks shooting from the end of his wand. Scorpius put his hand on his friend's shoulder, pulling him back.

"It's not worth it, Al."

"Yeah, Malfoy, run away. That's what you were taught, wasn't it? In the end it didn't help your parents much, now did—"

"Occludo!"

"DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT MY PARENTS!"

Rose felt like it happened in slow motion: Scorpius had brandished his wand like he was carrying a sword, and without saying a word the magic slapped across Sanders' face like a whip, although he couldn't muster a sound from Albus' jinx.

"POTTER! MALFOY!" a thunderous voice rang through the corridor. Albus froze in place, looking at the bald Defense against the Darks Arts professor approaching with a stern look, being closely followed by the rest of their class, all with curious eyes especially set on Scorpius, whose fury was almost palpable. He was shaking and his wand was still issuing sparks, his eyes set on the taller boy, who was on the floor cradling his face, clutching his wand, unable to perform any magic due his magically shut mouth. "Ten points from Gryffindor from attacking another student. And ten from Slytherin, because I'm not going to pretend I'm deaf either, Sanders. Go get yourself fixed, will you?" he said in his American accent. "Potter, Weasley, go in the classroom. Malfoy, you can go back to Gryffindor tower if you want to—"

"I'll just stay in class." Scorpius mumbled, putting his wand away and walking past his classmates, who were whispering without even trying to conceal that they were talking about him. No one had ever seen him react like that to any taunt, and he was on the receiving end of them at least once a day, especially from the Slytherins, who were usually led by Evan Sanders.

He sat on the backmost desk, quickly being joined by Albus and Rose on each side. The latter opened her mouth to say something, but Scorpius just shook his head as he took parchment and quill out. Albus sighed, finally putting his wand away. The rest of the class had already joined them, most of them throwing sideway looks at the blond boy sitting with his head down, his hands trembling slightly, his eyes dry but full of feelings that no one there could possibly begin to understand.

"As you know, fifth year means OWLs." Professor Vaughn said walking to the front of the classroom, lazily waving his wand at the blackboard, where the words 'Ordinary Wizarding Levels Examination' appeared. "I will not take anything below an E on my NEWT level class, and I must say this is an important class that I expect most of you to take next year, so I want to see your best effort for the next few months until it's time for you to take that damned exam."

He paced between the desks, smiling a bit.

"Mr. Potter, as one of our most accomplished duelists in 5th year as usually seen in corridors, would you care to assist me with a demonstration?" he said, slowly making his way towards the front. Albus blushed madly, knowing very well that he referred to all the times he had landed in detention for fighting with other students, especially Slytherins. "Put your things away and stand up so we can make room."

Everyone did as they were told, and at another lazy flick of Professor Vaughn's wand, all desks were stacked by the walls. Albus stood still, not sure whether to take his wand out or not.

"Everyone who is not named Albus Potter, please stand by the walls and pay attention." He started, presenting his wand in front of him, in a dueling position. "Mr. Potter, you'll get to follow everyone's desires and try to hex me. Please, be creative. Of course, no Unforgivables shall be forgiven." He chuckled at his own joke, an action that wasn't mirrored by anyone else in the room, for they all seemed to concentrated on the scene: it wasn't the first time they had a practical lesson with professor Vaughn, but it surely was the first time he gave a student an open invitation to attack him.

"Sir, what kind of jinx…?" Albus started.

"Just whatever your brain comes up with, Mr. Potter. I'm waiting." He said. Al finally nodded, taking his wand out and walking towards the older man. "First of all, I must applaud Mr. Potter's dueling etiquette. Yes, we must start at the middle. We bow, we present our wands." They both acted upon the words, and walked away from each other. Albus was nervous, but turned on the spot, his wand at the ready.

"Petrificus totalus!" Albus waved his wand, but it didn't take more than yet another lazy flick from professor Vaughn to stop it.

"Nice attempt. Of course, rendering my whole body useless could be a good idea. Another one, Mr. Potter?"

"Stupefy!" the red jet of light dissipated in front of Professor Vaughn as he laughed.

"That seems a lot more like something a student would want to do." He said. "Well, that's enough. Who can tell me why there is no chance Mr. Potter can defeat me at his level of magical education?"

"You're too experienced." Daniel Finnigan piped up, not raising his hand. Professor Vaughn laughed again.

"Nice try, Finnigan. Anyone else? How about you, Mr. Malfoy? Any ideas?"

"He's too predictable." Scorpius said, looking over at his friend. "I mean, it's pretty obvious with the yelling."

"That's exactly the problem. Five points to Gryffindor. Now, what could be done to prevent this? Miss Weasley?"

"Non-verbal spells, like you used to defend yourself."

"Excellent, excellent. But non-verbal spells could be predicted, with enough practice. How so?"

"The wand movements. And knowing your opponent helps, too." A black-haired Slytherin said with a slight smile.

"That's exactly right, Ignatius." He smiled slightly. "But wand movements are only predictable if a known spell is used… Which is why we'll spend this first term studying the mysterious land of Created Spells."

"Aren't we going to review for our OWLs?" Rose asked, feeling a little uneasy.

"Would you rather study something you already know or learn something new and exciting, Miss Weasley?" Professor Vaughn asked with the same smile. "Not meaning to brag, but I know you're all capable of passing that examination… after all, I've taught you well for these past four years. Besides, we'll spend the last two terms reviewing. Creating spells is something that isn't properly covered, and I'd much rather know you can do it properly than start inventing dangerous spells. Now, please sit back down and start taking notes."

The desks went back to their original place, and everyone sat down as Professor Vaughn started talking about Latin roots and magic.

Albus glanced sideways at his blond friend, who seemed to be unable to pay attention.

"Scorp? Are you alright?" he asked in a whisper.

"Yeah… I'm just…" he shrugged and started writing, his mind travelling back to that dreadful night: Part of him wished he had stayed behind to fight for his family, but he knew he didn't stand a chance. He looked at the back of their professor's bald head, and wondered, just slightly, whether there was more behind this sudden need to teach them better dueling technique.

His stomach felt heavy. What if he had known how to fight back? Would he have done it? Would he have still run after his Mother's orders?

Maybe Sanders was right. Maybe he was a coward… maybe being a Malfoy was about being a coward, after all. There were so many things he knew came with being a part of the Malfoy family, and sadly, he knew most of those things weren't good things to begin with.

"Dad, please…" Scorpius said, grabbing onto his father's arm. Draco didn't turn to face his child, unable to meet his pleading eyes. Instead, he just shook his head.

"You already know the answer, Scorp." He said, touching his boy's fingers just so slightly. Scorpius sighed, resigned.

"You said you were okay with them being my friends." The 12-year-old objected once again, biting his lower lip. Draco looked sideways at him, right into his gray eyes, those that had been a part of the Malfoy family for generations but that for the first time belonged to a boy who wasn't a Slytherin, eyes that belonged to his beloved boy, his only son, his best companion…

"You can be friends with them, but they won't come to this house."

"But dad…"

"That is my final word."

"So you're not totally okay with them, are you? If you were, you'd let them come over! Everyone else goes to their friends' during summer vacation, yet here I am, you never let me go anywhere, but you don't let me invite my only friends over!"

"Scorpius, enough is enough." Draco snapped, his voice sounding harsher than he had meant. His son shut his mouth immediately, recognizing the dismissive tone of his voice.

"Okay." He said in almost a whisper, closing his eyes. "Okay. I get it."

He let go of his father's arm and walked away, trying to hold back the tears. Was it too much to ask for?

"Scorp…" He stopped right at the doorstep, turning around to face his father again, his eyes swimming in tears. "I'll… we'll talk about it with your mother."

Scorpius nodded slightly, all sorts of questions running through his head.

"Is it because it's Rose and Albus?" he finally asked, not wanting to hear the answer. Draco didn't move or say anything, but the look in his eyes was enough for his son. "Is that also a part of being a Malfoy? Because if it is… if it is…"

Scorpius didn't finish, his words lost on an escaped sob. He just turned around and ran up the stairs into his room, wishing once again to not be a Malfoy.

I know it's been a while, but I've been busy for the past year because of school (see profile)! I'm on my winter break, so I can write again.

I hope you liked this one… I tried to make it long so it would make up for the long delay! I've been writing a lot these days, so hopefully I'll have another update up soon.

Thanks to everyone who showed interest and has reviewed! Hopefully this one you'll like too :)!

-Phankam