Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, if I did I wouldn't be swimming in debt right now.

AN: Okay, I worked really hard on this chapter, and it went pretty smoothly because my muse is talking to me again. The action begins here, and get ready for dark, cause these are not gonna be fluffy chapters coming. As I said before this section will end at Chapter 30, and the next section, Book III, will be contained in it's own fic, mostly because I think this is getting too long for this to all be one fic. That said, I'm leaving for Greece the week after next, and will begone for seventeen days, so the work I've been getting done won't be posted till after the ninth of next month. Summer should allow me time to finish this up, and get started on the next book, which I don't plan to start posting till I've got this first section finished. All that aside, happy reading!

Dreams

Chapter 25

Of letters and war strategies

Everything Scorpius had wanted to say stilled on his lips the moment he saw his mother. Not because of her, but because of the tall blond figure standing in front of her. He had always remembered his father being tall, far taller than he had every hoped to be as a child, with the posture of the statue he had always appeared to be. Now standing in the drawing room, his back straight and his eyes level, he realized he could now look the man he hated and loved the most right in his ice blue eyes. He tightened the reigns on his anger, afraid that should he let them loosen only a little he would not be in full control of himself. The silence in the room must have become truly tangible for his mother turned slightly her hazel eyes gleaming in the dim fire light. "Scorpius, I trust Albus is settled?" He nodded stiffly, knowing the question had been meant to relieve the tension in the room even if it hadn't. Giving her own nod Alicia walked to the couch, wearily setting down, her frame seeming weaker then before. Moving forward in concern she brushed him off. "I'm fine, the recovery is taking a bit of time and I occasionally feel a bit weak." Giving a pat to the back of his hand she smiled gently, waving a hand towards the couch in invitation. Instead he shook his head, remaining as he was. As paranoid as it sounded he wished to be at eye level with his father, should the older man chose to make a move of any kind.

"I think you had best set down, Scorpius, there are things we need to discus." his father's voice broke through the still of the room, his cold eyes focusing on his son. Widening his stance Scorpius stared at him forthwith, refusing to back down now. Obviously not up for a confrontation, Draco gave a sigh. "Very well, do as you wish." Moving to stand in front of the fireplace he stared into it for a moment his shoulders sharp as blades. "Viktor Krum is dead." The words hung for a moment, none moving to show a reaction of any kind. "The Raiders which you have been evading for several months now took him down the night the rest of you escaped. It wasn't an easy task from the looks of it, we found four bodies of Raiders scattered around the manor, and one on the front lawn. It was a good death."

Scorpius' fingers dug into the sides of his legs as he tried hard not to have a reaction to what his father was sawing. The girls upstairs, young and naive about the way the world works, were now orphans, and quiet possibly completely alone in the world at this very moment. "Is that all?" he found himself barking out, his voice horse and strained. His father's gaze moved to him for a moment before he turned back towards the fire.

"The Falcons are running scared." he said after a moment, still refusing to look at them. "They won't be coming back to England anytime soon, and with each passing day, England becomes a little less safe for us all. The storm's really starting to brew out there, and soon there won't be a thing that can stop it." The silence hung like a heavy cloak around the room, all adverting their eyes so that they would not have to fully realize the implications of his words.

Staring down at his booted feet an idea worked its way into Scorpius' mind. "The prophecy. When we first went to London they'd found a prophecy about how to stop the Coming Storm. It still might work." Looking up he found himself locked in place by his fathers eyes.

Shifting slightly he waited for him to say something. "That prophecy will only work, if you feel like killing your little friend up stairs and taking his place." Turning away again Scorpius could almost swear he saw a slightly slump in his shoulders. "Albus Potter is as good as lost to us, anyone with eyes can see the darkness brewing in his heart. It is only a matter of time before it finds the source of its fruition." Turning back towards them he looked at Alicia with an expression Scorpius had never seen before. "I'm sending your mother away, to relatives abroad. I will be asking her to take the Krum girls with her now as well." His face softened with what Scorpius supposed was fatherly affection as he looked at him. "I have never asked much of you, Scorpius, but I ask this of you now. When your mother leaves in two days time I wish for you to accompany her. I can not make you, but I ask, as your father, that you consider it before you do something that will break your mother's heart." Nodding slightly he made his way towards the door, laying a hand of Scorpius' shoulder for just a second, before slipping out of the room, barely a floorboard creaking as he went.

The room was silent once more in his wake, the grandfather clock ticking loudly in the corner as the rooms occupants lingered. "Your father has seen too much war in his time Scorpius. He has no desire for you to see what can be done with bigoted attitudes and blind hate. On both sides of the killing field." Standing gracefully she smoothed down her skirts, her eyes looking far more dull than he remembered them being a mere hour ago.

"Father has no idea what war is like. The Malfoy name remained unscathed through the Great War." he said, his words tinged with resentment. Malfoy's always found a way of escaping conflict, and his grandfather had been a slimy as anything could ever hope and despair to be. He had heard Rose's parents talking once about how his father had not joined the Order, Mr. Weasely accusing him of taking the easy way out. Mrs. Weasely had chastised him for it, but why he didn't know, he hadn't been wrong.

His mother moved slowly towards him, laying a warm hand on his cheek. "Perhaps sometime you should consider why it is that your father never wears short sleeves." With out another word she glided out of the room, the door clicking gently behind her. At the soft sound he suddenly found his legs weaker than he had expected. As he stumbled to the couch he wondered only vaguely what his mother's words had meant, before he allowed the fatigue to over take him.

When he opened his eyes he was no longer in the drawing room of Malfoy Manor, instead he found himself surrounded by sunlight and tall, summer greened grass. "Mal." a soft voice tickled his ear. Jerking up into a setting position he took a deep breath, only one person had ever called him that, and it was a rare occasion even coming from her lips. Looking beside him he took in her glowing cinnamon eyes, her hair, once again its natural brilliant shade of red, gleaming in the sun light. "You can't spend all day napping, sleepyhead." she chastised gently as she gently pressed her lips, soft and tasting of peppermint, against his own. He remembered her taste well, from that night by the lake. Gently wrapping his arms around her he pulled her closer, revealing at the feeling of her in his arms once again. Breaking away from the kiss she pressed her forehead against his, her sweet breath tickling his face, as her hair curtained off the rest of the world. "If I let you go the pixie lights will go away."

"Then never let me go." he answered in a hushed, husky tone. Wrapping her arms around his neck she held him closely to her as she played with the hair that fell at the nap of his neck. Placing a gentle kiss to his lips she let out a sigh.

"If I never let you go, how will I be able to find you." Pulling him into another, deeper kiss he clutched her to him, too afraid to let her go. "Let me go, Mal, let me go." her sighed words caressed his lips. His eyes snapped open when he no longer felt her lips on his. Glancing around he realized he was in the same field only that now it was dark, a heavy full moon hanging over head. Pulling himself to his feet he looked around, but Rose was no where to be seen. A soft orange glow colored the horizon but he knew it wasn't the sun. Taking off at a sprint he only managed to make it to the fence before spotting a figure on the other side. Her face glowed an eerie yellow with the back light of the burning structure, her eyes shining with murder and malice.

"I caught a kitten, a right orange tabby." she said in a sing song voice, her lips curving into a cruel smile. Before he could utter so much as a syllable he caught sight of the figure standing next to her, pale, ghostly fingers wrapped around her neck. "What's wrong? Don't you thinks she's a pretty kitty?" Leaning in close she sneered at Rose, her thins lips drawing up into a scowl. Rose's eyes pleaded with him but he couldn't tell what their message was meant to be. "Oh, well. Bored now." She raised her wand, pointing it at her face. The scream tore through Scorpius' throat as an eerie, deathly glow blinded him.

He opened his eyes, once again finding himself seated on the drawing room couch. Looking up and towards the door he saw Vic standing there, wearing a dress obviously borrowed from his mother. It was the look of distress on her face that fully caught her attention. "What is it?"

Tears ran down her face as she bit at her nails, shifting as though she didn't know what to do with herself. "It's the Burrow." she finally blurted out, more tears rolling down her cheeks. "Raiders, just after dusk. No one made it out." He was of the couch and hugging her closely before the weight of her tears could drag her to the floor. Closing his eyes tightly he prayed that Rose hadn't been there, but a sinking feeling in his stomach told him not to hope too hard.

He'd managed to coerce her into the kitchen, asking Tweak to make her a cup of tea to calm her down a bit while he went to fetch his mother. News of the Burrow had traveled quickly through out the house, his mother already half way to the kitchen when he'd run into her. She refused to say were his father was, but he speculated he had gone off to find out more about what had happened. "Mr. and Mrs. Weasely, that is the eldest Mr. and Mrs. Weasely were at home. From what I gathered George Weasely was also there, but no word has come about finding his body just yet. Ronald Weasely and his wife were also due there this evening. I'm not yet sure if they had arrived before the Raiders did." Stopping short out side of the kitchen door, his mother turned to look at him with sadness in her eyes. "Victorie's father, and her sister were there. She has scare few family left."

Bitting the inside of his lip Scorpius tried to calm himself. "They never got to see Nymph." he said absently, more as an observation than anything else. Giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze she nodded grimly before entering the kitchen. Running his hands over his face her sunk to the floor, tears of frustration pooling in his eyes. He could have stopped his, he knows he could have.

Banging his fist against the wall he scrubbed his tears away from his face, scowling at the gossiping portraits. "Sod off." he ground out pushing himself up off the floor and stalking down the hall. He really felt like hitting something right now.

His feet carried him to the rose garden at the back of the east wing, a place that had been his safe haven since the abysmal day they entered the wretched house. He'd hated it then, as he hates it still now, looming over him, mocking him. He had been more than content in the small grey stone cottage his parents had reared him in for the first nine years of his life, he had no use, or need for cold, detached opulence. Setting down on the stone bench near the roses he allowed his mind to replay the dream, remembering the orange glow, the fields. He had seen the Burrow burn before Vic had even opened her mouth to tell him there was a reason it should be on fire. He wasn't sure how long her had set there, eyes glazed and limbs too weak to stand, but sometime right before dawn he heard someone enter the garden. "Scorpius, come inside." Looking up at his mother he gave a stiff nod, and followed.

The first thing he noticed when he entered the kitchen was that there was a letter setting on the table that all of the adults seemed to be pointedly ignoring. Vic looked up as he entered, her eyes hollow in a way he'd never seen, Nymph cradled in her arms, playing with her mother hair. "Scorpius." was all she managed to say before her voice broke. Instead of attempting to speak again she gently picked up the piece of parchment, holding it out to him. He only saw the first word, Mal, before his heart seized and his stomach dropped.

"She's not. She can't be." he rasped out, desperation filling every note. He couldn't bear to read the rest of it, the letter heading told him all he needed to now. May 11th, just the day before but a life time ago. She'd written it just hours ago really, and now it could very well be the last thing he'd ever have of her.

"We don't know." Vic said softly, gently rocking her daughter as she spoke. "There is no way of know if they were at the house the night, they haven't found their bodies. The only thing we know for sure is that Hugo is still alive, he was at Hogwarts at the time." Nodding almost dumbly he folded the piece of paper he stuffed it into his pocket.

Taking at seat he closed his eyes tightly for a moment before looking out over the table. Scared women and children, all of them even himself, and they could honestly be the last thing standing in the way of the coming darkness. "What do we do now?" They question hung in the air, the collected group either too afraid to answer, or having no idea how to even begin too.

The door to the kitchen swung open moments later, Draco Malfoy red faced and billowing entered the kitchen in a fluster. "The Ministry had fallen. It's started again."

tbc.

Next: The coming Dark: The Ministry had fallen, their allies are gone, can Scorpius and his family and friend survive the night, and what new horror awaits for them next.

AN: Be kind, please review. Also I noticed that I accidently said Fred, instead of George, I've fixed that now.