A/N: Ok, this is coming much sooner than the last one! I'm trying to be a better writer, promise! Since this is a rather large milestone (I think my length record is 21 chapters so we'll be getting past that soon, too!) something has to go down. Hope you like what I've got planned!

Chapter 20

It took me a moment to understand what Scorpius just told me. His grandfather Lucius wanted to meet him. His grandfather Lucius. His grandfather. For some reason, it was just now hitting me that Scorpius was Lucius Malfoy's grandson. Lucius Malfoy, who had been such a large part of the War, and such a large supporter of Voldemort, was Scorpius's grandfather. For his sake, I tried to school my face into a neutral expression, but I don't think it worked. It just made no sense.

"Why now?" I finally blurted into the silence, eyes widening as I realized what I'd chosen to say. Of all the words at my disposal, I chose 'why now'? It took all of my effort not to smack my forehead at my stupidity.

Luckily for me, Scorpius seemed amused by this, letting out a soft chuckle. "You never cease to surprise me."

I opened and closed my mouth a few times, trying to articulate something more appropriate. "I just meant… well… I guess that's pretty much what I meant. It's just… you've always been his grandson. Why would he pick now to want to meet you?"

Scorpius eyed me warily, tensing slightly at my question. "You assumed we'd already met, didn't you?"

Unable to deny it, I nodded. It seemed a reasonable assumption, after all, given that they were family.

"We haven't. I asked about him once, when I was younger. Father told me he was not a part of our lives and that was all I needed to know. I took it at face value and didn't question him," he told me, studying his hands. He sat facing the fire, forearms on his knees, but I could see the tension in his profile.

"Wait, does this have anything to do with meeting your dad today?" I knew I shouldn't interrupt, but I couldn't help myself.

He nodded, taking a deep breath. "Over the break we… well we had a sort of falling out. He wanted to fix things, answer any questions I might have."

I simply nodded, knowing to keep my mouth shut this time.

"Remember when I told you that he always disappears on Christmas morning?" He asked, still not looking at me. "When he came back this year, he told me where he goes. After the War, my father's parents were sent to Azkaban. He didn't go himself because… well, because he was so young and your uncle… your uncle asked the Ministry to show him mercy and understanding. So he went about his own life, trying to distance himself from the Malfoy reputation, but it didn't work out. He was able to get a job in one of the seedier districts in London and then he met my mother at a pub one night. With her, he said he was able to finally be himself, not the version of Draco Malfoy everyone assumed he still was.

My grandmother Narcissa got out of Azkaban after they were married and convinced my father to move back to Malfoy Manor. He'd inherited it after his father went to prison, but avoided it at all costs. He said there were too many bad memories there. She told him that it was time to make new ones, so they set about rebuilding it. One of the new installments was a set of hexes to keep Lucius out, should he ever be released. Right after my mother told him she was pregnant with me, the impossible happened, and it was announced that Lucius was being let out. He showed up at the Manor on the day he was released, angry that no one had come to collect him. He was furious when he realized he couldn't get into his own property. Dad sent him away, telling him he would never allow him to be near his family after the mess he'd made of his own. He told me he wanted a fresh start, away from his father and his influence. No son or daughter of his would be exposed to that man if he could help it, he said."

Scorpius paused then, taking another deep breath and staring into the fire. I debated reaching out, just to let him know I was there, but thought better of it as his expression darkened even further.

"He told me Lucius didn't want to be a part of our lives, but it was just the opposite. Apparently Lucius started popping up near his work, and in places he knew we'd be. He learned my mother was pregnant and tried to send gifts. He told my father he wanted to start over. Eventually he stopped 'accidentally' running in to my parents, and my father thought the problem was solved. Then one day, when he was taking me to work with him, he saw his father out of the corner of his eye. I was too young to remember, but he said that was when he realized that Lucius had never truly left us alone; he'd just started being less obvious about it. My mother was scared, and my grandmother couldn't convince him to leave us alone, so my father finally went to see him. They had it out, and Lucius told him he'd never stop trying to be a part of his grandchild's life. So my father made a deal with him."

"A deal? What kind of deal?" I asked, horror struck. It hadn't occurred to me that Draco Malfoy would be as appalled by his father as the rest of the world. A lot of things hadn't occurred to me.

Scorpius's lips twisted into a wry smile as he wrung his hands. "He told Lucius that he could have one day out of every year. Lucius could pick any day, my father would spend the entire day with him every year, and Lucius could pretend to have a family again. In exchange, he would leave me alone. No random visits, no coincidences, no following me around. He would stay completely out of my life."

My stomach dropped as I understood. "He picked Christmas, didn't he?"

The wry smile was back. "He did. He said if he had to sacrifice his family 364 days of the year, my father could sacrifice his on one of the only days that mattered. He also told my father he had one more condition. He wanted to give me letters, explaining who he was. My father finally conceded to one letter, the Christmas after my 17th birthday. He said I could decide for myself once I was legally an adult, but that meant the Christmas visits were off."

"So that's the one letter," I said, more of a statement than a question.

"This is the one letter, and now my life is open to his interference," he sighed, "After all this time thinking he didn't care, I don't know what to think anymore. He wants to know me, but does that really matter? He's still an awful person, and I'm not so sure I want to know him."

"But…?" I prompted.

"But he's still my blood. He's related to me. I almost feel as though I owe the man a conversation for at least that. I owe him closure, don't I?"

I had no idea what to say. Clearly, I'd never been in this situation before. After a long silence, I reached out and squeezed his arm. "You owe him whatever you feel he deserves."

"He doesn't deserve anything after everything he's done," he ground out, crumpling the letter in his fist. "My father wanted him out of my life for a reason."

"If you really believed that you would have burned that letter by now," I pointed out.

He sighed, smoothing the letter out and letting it fall to the table as he rubbed his hands over his face. "I don't know what I believe. I've worked so hard to pretend I'm not a Malfoy, but this just reminded me that I can never escape the name. I will always be Lucius Malfoy's… grandson," he said, cringing around the last word. It was then that I realized he called the older man Lucius, not his grandfather. He hadn't referred to the man as his grandfather after that first time.

"By blood, yes. But you don't truly consider him your grandfather, do you?"

"No, I don't," he answered.

"So who cares what everyone else thinks? Isn't that what you're always telling me? If you want to meet him, even if you're just curious, do it. See what he has to say, or just tell him to leave you alone."

"It's not that simple, Rose."

"Of course it is. What you do is your business."

"Not this. If I'm seen associating with Lucius Malfoy… It's more than what I want. I have to think about what the world is going to assume. I have to think about my parents, too. They wanted him away from me for a reason, and while I'm angry that they lied to me, I understand now why they did. If I meet him, it's essentially saying everything they did was for nothing."

"It isn't saying that at all. Your parents didn't want his influence around you growing up, but your father allowed you to make your own decision once you turned 17. This is just you making that choice."

He turned to look at me then, and the confusion in his eyes nearly broke my heart. He looked so lost. "I don't know what I'm meant to do, Rose. He's a terrible man, but a part of me is curious to see… I want to know where my father comes from. It's clear my grandmother loves him, but his father was a large part of who he is. And part of me thinks… Well, my father was given a measure of forgiveness, so shouldn't I at least attempt a conversation with the man, at least to tell him I'm not interested in knowing him? Is it wrong of me to allow him an hour of my life? It's only an hour."

I slipped my hand into his and squeezed reassuringly. "It's not wrong of you to feel that way, but if you're this unsure about it, why don't you start with a letter? You won't have to worry about people seeing you together and you can reply or cut off communication whenever you want. Start small and work your way up to that conversation."

His eyes darkened as he stared at me intently, and my stomach flipped. Before I could process much more than that, his lips were on mine and his fingers were wound in my hair as his other arm pulled me closer to him. I braced myself with a hand on his chest, allowing my remaining hand to curve around the back of his neck. When he pulled back, his eyes were still dark.

"You're remarkable, Rose Weasley."

"W-What do you mean?" I stuttered. His voice was strangely husky and left me flustered.

"Just what I said. Lucius is this terrible person who committed so many atrocities during the War and yet here you sit encouraging me to at least give him some closure."

I shrugged. "It's clear you need some closure, too. It's not a bad thing. It doesn't make me think any differently of you; I'd want the same thing in your shoes."

He didn't say anything in reply, just kissed me again.

Over the next few weeks, things started to return to normal. As far as I knew, Scorpius hadn't sent the letter yet, but some of the tension had ebbed away. I was right about Al's reaction to his career ambitions, which also helped ease it. All Al did was grunt in acknowledgement and try to tune out Dom and Emily's giggles over their respective boyfriends.

Emily had gone for her interviews the previous week and was eagerly awaiting the results. I could tell James was waiting just as anxiously, but I couldn't decide if it was because he wanted them to go well, or if he wanted France to reject her. I knew thinking of him like that was wrong, but I did understand his desire to keep her close to him. She'd confided that there was still some tension between them, and James's approaching birthday was how she planned to make it up to him. She'd been planning the perfect night for weeks, and I hadn't seen her so nervous since their first date over a year ago.

"What do you think?" She asked me for what felt like the fiftieth time. She took it in turns to interrogate me and Dom about our opinions on her plans. We gave her the same answers each time, and meant them, but that didn't stop her insecurities.

"Emily, you guys have been together for over a year," I remarked, flipping a page in my Alchemy book. I had a quiz the next day. "You know him, and he's going to love whatever you plan."

She sighed heavily. "I know, I know. I just really want him to like it, you know? I mean, what if he wants to have some huge party instead? What do you think Al?"

My breath caught as she turned her attention to Al, who had been studiously ignoring the conversation. He shrugged. "Whatever you think I'm sure he'll be happy with. He's probably all partied out."

Emily looked confused as he excused himself and gathered his books. She waited until he left before leaning toward me. "What's going on with him?"

"What do you mean?" I asked carefully. This was dangerous territory.

"Well we were getting on fine all through the year and now it's like he's avoiding me without actually avoiding me. We still do homework, but it's- we actually do homework. Before, we talk and joke around and stuff, but now he just does the homework and then finds an excuse to leave. And if we're in a group he rarely talks to me. It's not the same as it used to be and I don't know why. Has he said anything? Did I do anything? Does this have anything to do with me being angry with him for the whole telling James about France thing? I apologized to him for that!"

I sighed, trying to determine how best to handle this. I couldn't very well tell her the reason Al was angry was because she'd fallen in love with his brother. I also couldn't reveal that his avoidance was his attempt to distance himself from her so he wasn't torturing himself anymore. "You didn't do anything wrong, Em. He's just been busy. The Slytherin-Gryffindor match is coming up, and exams are starting to get close."

She didn't look like she believed me. "It's more than that. I know him, and he's never been like this with me. He's been different since January. I- I miss him, Rose. I miss talking to him, laughing with him. He- I don't know what I did but I miss my friend."

I didn't know what to say to that. Emily was obviously upset, and I knew precisely why Albus was acting differently, but I couldn't say anything. I really hated this.

I regretted my decision to visit as soon as James started asking questions. Not only was he curious about his birthday plans, but he had noticed Al's distance, too.

"Is everything OK with my little brother up there, Rosie? He seems… Off."

I gave him a half-shrug, leaning against the table in the back room of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. "Things are busy. Qudditch, exams, you know how seventh year is."

"Yeah, yeah. I just didn't think Al was one to get so hung up on this stuff, you know? He wasn't like this during OWLs. Em's noticed it, too. Said he barely talks to her anymore."

I tensed. "Emily talked to you about it?"

He nodded. "She's worried, figured his brother might have some insight. I had no idea they were so close."

I was acutely aware that this was a loaded statement. How I replied could make or break what James did next. "They have a few classes together, so they've gotten closer over the years. Besides, the rest of us were kind of preoccupied last term so it added to them being pushed closer together. It's probably just a combination of Al's busier schedule and the rest of us finally getting out of our own little bubbles that she thinks anything's going on."

He studied me for a moment longer before nodding. "I guess that makes sense. Speaking of bubbles…"

I eyed my cousin warily as his eyes took on a slightly more mischievous glint.

"When do you and Scorpius plan on leaving yours for the real world?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"Oh, come off it Rosie. When are you going to tell Uncle Ron you guys are dating? More importantly, can I purchase a ticket for the show?"

I reached out and slugged him the shoulder. "That will not be happening. When we tell them… Well, I'm sure you'll hear Dad from here anyways. No need to waste the money."

"You're assuming he's going to be able to make a sound. Personally, I'm expecting him to keel over from heart failure before he gets a word out. His only daughter, his precious Rosie, dating a Malfoy. It'll be priceless."

I rolled my eyes. "You're exaggerating. It won't be that bad."

James turned to look at me with disbelief in his eyes. "Have you met your father?"

It took me another week to work up the courage to bring up my conversation with James to Scorpius. When I did, his reaction wasn't at all what I expected.

"Why don't we do it together?" He suggested.

I blinked in surprise. "What?"

He glanced at me, grinning. "You heard me."

"You actually want to be within a mile radius of my dad when he finds out? I guarantee he won't be happy."

"Hasn't anyone told you? I love a good brush with death. Should be fun."

That conversation brought us to this point, sitting in my kitchen over Easter break, gripping each other's hands under the table. It was time for the bubble to pop. We couldn't exist inside Hogwarts forever, and the first step to becoming true adults was admitting something that made us both happy.

"Mum? Dad?" I started, taking a deep breath. "We're dating."

A/N: Aaaand that would be where I'm going to leave it. Hopefully a fitting end to the 20th chapter? It seemed to take forever to get here but we're finally at the big reveal. Well, one of them, at least. I've still got a few more ideas up my sleeve for this, so it'll go at least a couple of years into the future after Hogwarts, but there will likely be time jumps like there were in this chapter. I'm just so proud of myself for getting this up much more quickly than I have been recently that I'm going to go do a little happy dance and then start working on Ron's reaction.