Gray: Scorpius Malfoy and the Scepter of Night

by Fiery Gray

UNDER EDITING! (IV): Scorpius is back for his Fourth Year and finds himself along with his friends fighting on different fronts with the Ministry's new approach, the resurgence of werewolf prejudice and even estrangement from his family. All the while still fighting to stop the Shadow Master from gathering the pieces of the Scepter, before it's too late. COMPLETE

3. Chapter 3: Trying Out

Parts (12-18)

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IV

Chapter 3

Trying Out

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Part 1: Odd Behavior

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Rathan Loren did everything he could to give his daughter a good life, she was the most important thing in the world and he made sure she knew it. He showered her with gifts and whatever she desired, also showering her with affection and giving her his time. He was forced to hire a babysitter but fired her when the atrocious behavior she encouraged at a playdate, encouraging Alzay to share when she didn't want to. Alzay had every right to do whatever she wanted, she was his daughter and she was better than everyone else on the planet.

"You what you want because you deserve it," Rathan told the four year old seriously, "Never compromise because you don't have to, never be afraid to do what you want because it's your right to, never be afraid to fight for something you want. You're better than them and don't you ever forget that. Okay?"

"Okay, Daddy," Alzay agreed.

"That's my girl," Rathan smiled and she beamed back.

He hired another babysitter, one that would agree to his morals and beliefs with her. Alzay was happy, she thought she had the best father in the world. One that gave her gifts and played with her, he was always there if she needed him or needed anything and she appreciated everything. She saved up her allowance, not for herself but to buy her father gifts for holidays because he deserved nice things too. They were almost in their own world because Alzay never did make any friends, all her playdates were beneath her and just tools to get their toys or someone to play with for a few hours but she felt absolutely nothing for them. Why would she? She was clearly better than them, you didn't feel anything for a chair. Chairs were just something you used. She was a smart girl, it didn't help quell her growing arrogance that she was often right. Rathan had no friends either.

Alzay was nine and a half when it became public knowledge that the Dark Lord had returned, for Rathan it was perfect. A man who wanted to eliminate the filthy scum that had stolen his wife? Create a world where the superior - like his daughter - were actually superior? Instead of being considered equal with the likes of things that Rathan stopped classing as human. He wanted Alzay to grow up in that world, not a world where she'd have to sit side by side things that were less than animals in Hogwarts. He signed up eagerly and Alzay didn't give it two thoughts, agreeing with the prospect of a better world order and proud of her father for being a part of it. Even if he was maybe, a bit busier with his extra job but he still made time for her. She never forgot it.

But Voldemort fell. Rathan was arrested among the survivors in the Battle of Hogwarts, Alzay wasn't even allowed to see him before he was mercilessly thrown in Azkaban for all eternity. Alzay was devastated. Utterly devastated. It was completely unfair. Who cared what Rathan had done? He was her father, the loving father that she adored. She had expected to go live with her mother, especially when she'd been sat at the Ministry desk waiting for news of where'd she live now since Rathan had no family. She'd seen a file on her mother, with a picture of a beautiful woman with long light brown hair and big brown eyes that Alzay hadn't seen in a long time. Along with a name 'Adelaide Hunt' - her new married name - and an address. But Alzay was wrong again.

"You see... Your mother... Well..." the Ministry official had babbled out, trying to think of a polite way of saying it, "She's not... interested- able. Not able to take you right now. I'm sorry, Alexis, but we'll find you a nice foster family, eh?"

Curing her lips at the use of her name rather than her nick, Alzay read between the lines and the slip of the tongue though. Her mother just didn't want her, she hadn't wanted her before or wanted her father and she'd just walked out on her family. Alzay had an epiphany. It was her mother's fault. Rathan would never have been a Death Eater if his wife hadn't betrayed everything right in the world, Alzay wouldn't be without her father if Adelaide just knew how to be a better person. Alzay hated her with a burning passion born from the pain of losing her father, the eleven year old vowed two things in that moment. The first was that no matter what it took or how long, she'd get her father out of the prison he didn't deserve to be in. The second was that no matter what it took or how long, Adelaide Hunt would pay for destroying her family. And Alzay always got what she wanted.

---

Scorpius actually felt some relief that he and his parents were speaking again, more than he'd realized although his parents wanting to meet him in Hogsmeade was problematic as he'd been hoping to have a date with Molly. Hanging out with his parents would hardly be considered fun for her, he'd have to think of something. In the meantime he had plenty of homework from just one day of classes to tide him over the weekend, he also wrote a letter to Varanian to convey what little he'd gleaned from Harry's visit and used the scrambling spell to hide its meaning. He didn't have a vulture but he figured he could ask Cassia Ashain for help again, she was an Avisora which meant she could talk to birds and - hopefully - get a non-owl to deliver the letter for him. He hadn't seen her though over the weekend, well not when she wasn't alone anyway and her father was sure to be curious.

Michael was in worse shape than what was apparently normal for a transformation according to Marigold because of James' stunt, damn James. They still visited him though, Scorpius didn't want him to feel abandoned. Scorpius also found himself in the air a lot, Albus was desperate that he practice and improve as much as he could to get on the team and determined that they should help him. Maurice naturally refused to participate, although Scorpius wasn't sure if it was entirely because of his dislike of Quidditch and flying or more because of his continuing withdrawn behavior. He hadn't said anything else to Scorpius about this 'test' over the summer but he didn't mad at him at least, still withdrawn though.

Scorpius was actually glad to be back in the air, he'd always loved flying and it relaxed him. It wasn't just the four of them either, a suggestion to Molly had gotten her to train to along with Latimer and Mirra Pentakel who were her friends and similarly, a suggestion from Abby to her boyfriend had gotten Corin to help train to along with Vern and Orous. Albus was still trying to get Chaser so they helped him with that, Molly and Vern - who both played Keeper - did so to give Albus a chance to try score, Corin and Rose proved to be the best with a bat so acted as Beaters to get Albus dodging Bludgers. Latimer was the only one who played Chaser but Scorpius, Orous, Abby and Mirra all joined him in working as two teams of Chasers, two on Albus' side to practice passing and the others as opposition to practice getting the Quaffle from them and dealing with attempts on it.

Abby and Mirra had some skill with Chaser from flying with their siblings while Orous and Scorpius were definitely lacking, both played Seeker so it was a drastic change for them. Scorpius also truly realized that he'd be going directly against Orous for the Snitch later on in the year, he was good on a broom even if lacking in Chaser skill. Scorpius had been right about his prosthetic foot not impeding his ability to fly, Latimer was always overshadowed by Michael but it was clear that he outshone the rest of them as Chasers in practice and wasn't used to flying with people so lacking in talent. Albus had improved, he was great at getting the Quaffle and keeping it away from prying hands, good at passing or throwing - but not at high speeds - and adequate with aim at least in regards to scoring but still as blocked by both Molly and Vern, also still doing worse faster. However, his basic flying skills - white he had improved - were still not great. He was clunky on his broom, not particularly agile and struggled to anything fast. He was knocked by Bludgers multiple times, even though Rose - while could hit fiercely - had bad aim. His being on the team and in training would probably, in all honestly, benefit Albus rather than Gryffindor.

Albus wasn't a natural flier but he was enthusiastic and always got up without complaint, no matter how many times he was knocked down. Molly would only say it depended on who else tried out which Scorpius thought was fair, as well as perfectly true. It would be Scorpius' fourth year on the team though, he knew the long term members and everyone from last year's team would almost certainly be returning. The trio of Chasers from last year - Michael, Latimer and Caitlin - and the permanent reserve Chaser Louis Weasley were all better than Albus. Even if Caitlin didn't return because whatever health-sort-of-thing that Freddie had been on about, Louis would take the third slot so Albus would be a reserve at best. Which Scorpius supposed was possible, the last reserves had been Seventh Years so weren't in Hogwarts that year. They just needed to be worse than Albus.

Michael still wasn't deemed well enough for classes on Monday, much to Scorpius' disappointment as he missed his friend and it was strange not having him there. Defense Against the Dark Arts was the first class of the week, which he would admit was a vast improvement to always starting the week off with History of Magic like they had the previous year.

"So I was thinking," Albus was saying through a mouthful of oatmeal, "That since after Defense Against the Dark Arts we have a free period because you have Arithmancy that we could have it as another flying session."

"Vern and I have a free period too," Corin spoke up, "Since we're not taking Divination."

"Also have Care of Magical Creatures and Study of Ancient Runes later on so then I've seen what all my elective classes are like," Maurice added, thankfully paying attention again, "Not that I need them but it doesn't hurt to learn more or refresh your memory, it'll be interesting to see how it's possible to learn runes without use of a Blood Quill. Looking forward to seeing the creatures too, I was surprised in the taster to realize that we're not learning how to defend ourselves from them and the best way to kill them but just about their lives and such. It's actually quite fascinating really."

"You are really fucked up in the head, you know that?" Rose commented bluntly, the normal neutral expression on Maurice's face flickered as he glanced at his scarred hands that he was no longer covering.

"I know," Maurice sighed.

"Are you looking forward to taking a class from your dad?" Abby asked of her boyfriend and Corin sat up rather stiffly.

"I'm not," Corin announced.

"Why? What's not to like about your dad's lessons?" Albus wondered, "Aside from the danger and constant fear of severe injury anyway. Also, some creatures are icky."

"No, I mean I'm not taking the class."

"You're not taking the class?!" Rose burst out in shock and Corin's glittery black eyes flashed with anger.

"No, I'm not. Just because my father loves animals and creatures and monsters, it doesn't mean that I do or that I have any interest in them because I don't. I have my own identity desperate from his, I have goals and ambitions and plans and none of that has anything to do with wild things."

"You could still have taken the class," Albus complained while the two Ashain children sat down with them, "Hagrid's going to be crushed."

"Well he's ninety-one years old and I think he should be able to deal with it and... Why are you two here?"

"Betterer view," Cassia shrugged, her butchered hair looked even more unusual up close but she was wearing the most mischievous smile.

"I don't know," Antonius sighed, looking very worried, "Please don't do it, Cassia."

"Well shoo," Albus said as he waved his hand at them to be gone, "This is the Gryffindor table not the kiddie table."

"By that logic we shouldn't be sitting at the staff table with Daddy either," Cassia pointed out.

"No it's the erm... staff and staff family table," Albus invented and Cassia snorted.

"Do I look like I was born yesterday?"

"Quite frankly yes."

"Who's Frank?"

"Oh my god, why?" Albus groaned as he put his face in his hands. Scorpius didn't mind though, he'd been waiting for an opportunity to speak to Cassia, "You're an idiot."

"The post is here! Look!"

Cassia seemed unusually excited by this and even Albus looked up as the birds flew in, Scorpius thought for a minute that Cassia was simply expecting a letter from someone - probably her mother - but she pointed at the staff table. Midas and Grant both looked to the owls to see if any headed for them, both received a dollop of bird droppings on their head. Grant looked unimpressed as more dropped onto his head while Midas gasped in shock and looked up, opening her mouth was a big mistake as one aimed a parcel of white from the wrong end personally. Midas fled into the side room in horror while Grant took out his wand with more dignity. Cassia howled with laughter, as did Albus and plenty of other people who'd seen it.

"I take it back!" Albus announced through his laughter, full aware of Cassia's gift and also realizing she had to be behind the bird's sudden interest in relieving themselves on professor's heads, "That is awesome! Give me five!"

"Yay!" Cassia agreed happily as she high-fived Albus but Scorpius noticed both the Headmaster's and Grant's eyes had gone to her.

"You're so immature," Abby sighed.

"What? They deservered it, I don't like them."

"It's no excuse!" Rose burst out and Cassia rolled her eyes, "That's disgusting and wrong and you can't do that to teachers!"

"Yes you can, I just gaved them some treats and asked them nicely to use the people I don't like as a bathroom," Cassia explained, mistaking the 'can't' as literal while Rose continued glowering.

"What will your father say?"

"I don't know, 'you're the bestest and coolest and smarterest daughter in the whole wider world and I love you.'"

"No! No he would not and he doesn't sound like he's five!"

"I'm six!" Cassia protested as if it was the most important thing in the world.

"You still shouldn't do it," Antonius agreed, looking upset, "Dad will be mad. Do you want him to leave too? Parents do that. They can stop loving you if you're not good enough for them."

"No they can't. Skye wasn't a parent, she was a bitch and good rid ants. Daddy is the best in the whole wider world. And he's too busy being insane to worry about it anyway."

"What? Insane?" Scorpius wondered in surprise and both Ashain kids nodded, "Insane how?"

"Ever since Harry Potter was here and he had to go to a special thing, he's been insane," Antonius told them, "He was talking super-fast that no one could understand, well he's got better but he's still talking really fast. And didn't stop moving and he didn't slept since then, not because he can't sleep but because he just won't stop. When he tried to magic my book over to me, he magicked the whole wall and not on purpose."

"He said he was playing wall tag," Cassia laughed, "He ran between the wall in the sitting space to the other wall in the sitting space after he putted us to bed and as still doing it in the morning when I woked up and I don't know why. He's with Marigold now, I think he wants to be not insane again."

"Well that's... weird," Scorpius admitted with a frown.

"Not really," Albus shrugged, "I mean, you've met Aurelius. I think he doesn't have all the ingredients in his potion if you know what I mean, maybe Ashain's just lost the plot too."

"I think Aurelius is eccentric more so then insane."

"Who's Aurelius?" Antonius wondered.

"Your grandfather on your dad's side," Albus offered as he opened a letter from home to read, "He's a nutjob."

"Oh right. See Cassia, grandfather, that's another parent who stopped loving their child because they're not good enough. You have to be gooder or we'll lose both of them and be orphans."

"What?" Albus asked with a scowl but he was talking to the letter. His expression changed to shock then anger and he threw down the letter and turned on Antonius angrily, brandishing the penny, "This isn't valuable at all! It's worthless! You lied to me!"

"And so is a Knut, you lied to me too," Antonius pointed out dismissively, "Only difference is that I figured it out and you got outsmarted by an eight year old. Keep the change."

"Is that true? You're an idiot," Cassia laughed before standing and Antonius followed suite "Come on, we should get back to Daddy."

"Wait up!" Scorpius protested as he hurried after the kids, who moved surprisingly quickly, "I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Want me to tell your vulture where to go again?" Cassia guessed, also to Scorpius' surprise and it must've shown on his face because she elaborated, "I have rememories too."

"Memories," Antonius corrected, "And what are you talking about?"

"It's a secret. And that's the word thated I said. Meremories."

"Memories."

"Mermorerierias."

"Memories."

"Memremor-"

"It doesn't matter what the word is," Scorpius interrupted, "And it really has to be a secret, both of you. Okay? Even from your dad."

"I don't even know what you're talking about!" Antonius protested in frustration.

"Well good, if you could give us some priviaracy," Cassia told him.

"Privacy. And no, I want to know what the secret is or I'm telling Dad."

"It's nothing bad."

"Then you should have no problem telling me," Antonius insisted and Scorpius scowled but he couldn't see a way around it.

He told Antonius as much as he'd told Cassia, which was just that he needed to send a message to a location without using an owl. He lied about the receiver being afraid of owls and about it being a good friend of his but they seemed to buy it, Cassia agreed to do so and he slipped her the letter. All before they'd even reached the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, Scorpius was now early but he didn't mind. He'd almost finished his breakfast anyway, Professor Ashain was back by then. He was putting a lot of trust in a little kid but he didn't have a choice, she was the only person he knew who could talk to birds and it had worked out last time.

"Hey," a voice greeted him and Scorpius was jolted from his thoughts to see the Slytherin Knight standing in front of him, he smiled nervously and Scorpius noticed up close a fresh scar on his cheek from werewolf claws although luckily it must've just been a graze as it was only faint, "I just wanted to thank you, you know since you and Michael stood up to my brother against Potter and his cronies."

"It was nothing," Scorpius shrugged it off, "Anyone would've."

"No they wouldn't, he's a Slytherin and you're Gryffindors. Plus he's Harry Potter's son, he's in your house and no one wants to stand up to the son of a hero."

"Yeah well... don't mention it, James is an asshole and your brother didn't deserve that. It was pretty much all Michael anyway, thank him, all I did was hold a wand at one of the cronies."

"Oh I intend to, when he's actually here. My Dad always said to..." Knight started to say enthusiastically but trailed off as his expression became sad, "Um... Yeah, lost my train of thought but thanks again."

"Why were you talking to him?" Albus complained as he sat down beside Scorpius, Scorpius almost objected because Michael usually sat next to him before recalling that Michael wouldn't be there.

"He just wanted to thank me for helping his brother out," Scorpius pointed out.

"Oh right. And why did you want to talk to Ashain's kids? They're awful bratty."

"Find out more about Professor Ashain's supposed insanity," Scorpius lied easily, he was curious about it anyway but he didn't think the two would know any more than they'd said, "I don't really want him to be insane."

"Probably just stress, his wife did leave him and stuff," Albus shrugged dismissively as the professor joined them.

Professor Ashain must've been in his quarters because his office had been where the kids had gone and all came back out, Cassia looking less happy as if she'd been told off. They went over to sit down at the table off to the side and get on with whatever work they seemed to be doing, although Cassia again seemed to pay more attention to her father. Scorpius saw immediately what they'd meant.

Professor Ashain's eyes didn't stop moving, darting crazily around like he was trying to look at everything at once before he'd even opened his mouth. He couldn't keep still either, fidgeting, twitching, making an unusual amount of gestures - even by Calderon's standards - and ultimately pacing. He gave a rapid speech about Stunning, tumbling over the words as if they couldn't get out of his mouth fast enough and demanding at random intervals that they take notes. He seemed to realize they couldn't keep up though and gave them a chapter to read on the spell, take notes from that. He didn't stop pacing though, if anything he only moved faster for the entire lesson. He only stopped when the lesson ended, not seeming slightly out of breath. If anything, he was the picture of health. Scorpius was reminded of his behavior the previous year after Christmas but this was... worse somehow. Maybe Albus was right, stress affected everyone different... Didn't it?

He did practice with Albus and the others in the free time before Divination with the blind teacher. Elina's Divination lesson was strange without Michael, Knight - who also took Divination - let him sit with him so he wasn't sitting sadly alone. Knight was quite talkative in a friendly sort of way, although it did make it hard to concentrate on the refreshing what they'd done last year. It wasn't a test exactly but she wanted to see where they all where before moving onto new things, it was only a single lesson anyway. After lunch was the dreaded double Charms, where they started the practical work on the Summoning Charm and Grant continued his pseudo-niceness. It was trickier than most and took most of the lesson for Scorpius to get it, it was a good thing he did because he felt like tearing the damn pillow apart if it was going to wait more. Potions was after that, another speech on needing to work hard that year and recapping. Care of Magical Creatures, drawing the Nifflers and taking notes then finally Herbology with Professor Longbottom still seeming unhappy.

Scorpius was oddly annoyed, he'd been dying to come back to Hogwarts all summer. Couldn't everything just be normal? He knew that was unfair but he was tired, there was enough to worry about with the Soul Eaters then everyone being weird. He was still getting looks too, dirty looks from random people that he didn't even know and some he did know. Stupid werewolf prejudice.

At least Michael was back that night, already in bed when they got back from dinner. He was still looking tired and seemed quite quiet but fatigue did that to you, hopefully he'd been feeling tomorrow. At least he was back. The looks were even worse the next day, some of them looked positively murderous as they glared at Michael. When they threw those kind of looks at Michael, he'd throw the most venomous look that he could back. Knight was true to his word about thanking Michael before breakfast, not seeming to care that Michael was a werewolf. One on their side was better than none, he supposed.

"It was awesome," Albus finished at breakfast, having been recounting what Cassia had done with the birds as the post arrived.

"Did you notice anything weird about Professor Ashain over the summer?" Scorpius asked, recalling the professor's odd behavior and elaborated. Much to Albus' chagrin as it took the wind out of his bird story, however they were all distracted by looking at their mail which Scorpius would get to in a minute.

"He wasn't like that over the summer," Michael explained, still looking weak and something else occurred to him, "If anything, he was kind of the opposite. Upset about his wife I guess but keeping a brave face for the kids."

"Michael, why don't you have any mail?" Scorpius wondered curiously, having expected him to be getting things now that Bob was in jail.

"He never gets mail," Albus pointed out as if it was obvious.

"That was before."

"Well Crystal's stuck in a muggle hospital so she won't have access to owls," Michael offered with a shrug, "I hope she doesn't contact me. She's better off without me, she should just take the little ones and have a fresh, safe start. Without the baggage of a dangerous werewolf."

"Crystal's sick?" Albus said with a scowl to which Michael just nodded.

"That's a horrible thing to think!" Rose protested but Scorpius decided to just let it slide, not wanting to veer off topic.

"What about Jack? Doesn't he contact you?" Scorpius questioned, having expected him too.

"Nope," Michael shook his head, "I haven't heard anything from him since the day I left. So much for all that crap about being a better Dad, told you."

Scorpius had expected more from Jack, it put him in an unhappy mood for the rest of the day. Tuesday was even worse lesson-wise and seemed determined to get him down further, Herbology was a double first thing but there was no practical which was disappointing as that was Scorpius' favorite thing about the lesson. Being followed by a double History of Magic didn't help and Scorpius couldn't help but notice that Michael didn't have his usual enthusiasm for the subject, any of the subjects even and didn't take his usual notes either. Maybe it was his tiredness from the transformation still but Scorpius had a feeling it was more than that. At least he could sit with Michael at Divination, even if they were still recapping but Scorpius realized that they were getting no nasty looks from Knight or his Slytherin friends. That was something good at least.

His sliver of a good mood was killed by Transfiguration, Midas again had Michael sit separate and again had his sleeve pulled down an unnecessary length to make the black werewolf bracelet even more visible. Bitch. Scorpius was glad Cassia had taken a disliking to her for whatever reason. It was another boring lesson where she spoke to them in an unbelievably patronizing way. Scorpius did notice something odd though, most than once he thought he saw Michael talking to himself. At first he'd thought that he'd imagined it, Michael was doing it quietly and discretely, seeming to be whispering. But it happened more than once, he kept his right hand clenched the entire time as he talked to no one. Scorpius sighed inwardly to himself, not even a week back and things were already weird. How he hoped it was just stress.

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Part 2: In Anger

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Alzay was dumped into a foster family that she hated, half-bloods both of them who frequently told her off for her beliefs about blood supremacy. She knew she was right though and who were they to criticize her? She was a pureblood while they were only half that. They knew nothing. She tried writing to her father but every owl came back with a note from the Ministry insisting prisoners were not allowed mail, she thought this was incredibly unfair. Especially in a new Ministry that was supposedly all about tolerance and fair rights, how was this fair for her father and the others in Azkaban? It wasn't.

She had never been much of a crier but she allowed herself to cry for Rathan that week, she just wanted her dad back so badly. It was painful going from feeling so loved and having everything she'd wanted to having nothing. No toys or books or clothes she liked, no one to hug her when she was sad. She missed her dad so much it physically hurt, she clung to the pictures she had of the pasty black-haired man with oceanic eyes as a lifeline and dreamed of the day they'd be reunited while her mother burned in agony for her crimes. Everything would be okay then. She'd have back the life she craved.

Alzay was very glad that she only had a few months before Hogwarts and even more pleased when she could finally start, she thought her foster family was pleased too. She sat by herself on the train, asking those who wished to join the compartment if they were purebloods seemed to other them for some reason. Alzay didn't understand why, she wasn't going to sit with mudblood filth if she could help it. She unfortunately had no choice on the boats but a loathsome look encouraged the others to leave her be. Seeing Hogwarts was a very bittersweet moment, it was a beautiful sight but also the place Rathan had been arrested and hauled off. Damn Aurors. She wasn't nervous though for the Sorting, she knew where she'd be and the Hat must've known it too because it had barely touched her head before it screamed 'Slytherin'. She was overjoyed to get her father's house but was kind of disappointed to not have gotten to hear the Hat speak to her personally, maybe it didn't do that anymore.

The Sorting was rather boring after that, sitting and clapping mechanically through the names when they came to Slytherin. The ceremony was halted further when a boy - Roman Rivers - had a panic attack and passed out after the Hat declared him a Slytherin, he had to be taken to the Hospital Wing and they didn't continue until he was gone. It was most irritating, Alzay was ashamed that the boy had gotten Slytherin, the house of her father deserved better. She had to also sit through a boring speech from the Headmistress McGonagall, explaining there'd be extra students in each year because all the muggle-borns had to take the year they'd missed. Alzay thought they should just have stayed out. After an admittedly delicious meal - far better than the tasteless crap her foster family provided - they were shown to the dormitories by the two Fifth Year prefects, Lark Bishop and some guy. Lark was easily the nicer of the two, although Alzay thought her name was stupid.

Alzay quickly came to realize that Hogwarts was no longer the same as how her father had described it, things were different in the wake of the Second Wizarding War. Slytherins had fallen about as far from grace as they could fall, many had relatives who had been Death Eaters and even those that didn't were guilty from being in the house of cowardice and evil. Alzay thought this was completely unfair, not all Slytherins were cowards and evil was subjective. But still, Slytherins were treated like garbage. Having to endure dirty looks, insults, mockery, being spat on and even outright bullying from all three of the other houses. Not even the Slytherin prefects were respects, frequently being ignored by the houses and even picked on themselves.

She saw one of the Slytherin male prefects jinxed from behind which caused him to fall down an entire flight of stairs, unable to get up from the jinx and the onlookers just laughed and his attacker actually walked over him. No one helped him up. She saw Lark being physically beaten by two Seventh Years as well, one having twisted her wand arm - with wand in hand - behind her back while the other could punch. The teachers discouraged this but it still happened. Students were angry about losing loved ones to Death Eaters and taking it out on Slytherins, Alzay thought this was very hypocritical, they preached goodness and tolerance but deep down were just as 'bad' as everyone else. People could be vicious to those they hated, even if they were nice to others. Not everyone was like this admittedly but those that didn't take part rarely did anything to stop it, acting indifferently regardless of their personal feelings. Those with family, friends or were dating someone in Slytherin tended to be the only ones who would try to stop the bullying. Mostly though, Slytherins just had to stand alone.

Alzay was no exception. She wasn't one to back down or back away, she also wasn't one to give up. She poured over books on defensive magic and practiced relentlessly in every second of spare time she didn't spend on homework, nagged the Defense Against the Dark Arts for any sliver of advice to improve and dedicated the holiday breaks to staying in Hogwarts to improve. It still wasn't perfect but by Christmas, First, Second and even Third Years - unless they were especially skilled - couldn't touch her. By Easter, she could hold her own against Fourth and Fifth Years too - unless they were especially skilled - and by the time her First Year was up, people tended generally to leave her alone because she was just more trouble than she was worth when there were plenty of other Slytherins to torment. It didn't bother her as much as some, the insults didn't bother her because she didn't care what they thought when she knew she was right and in a way, she liked the challenge and she always found some way to get back at the ones who did hassle her. Making them trip down stairs or slipping a Swelling Solution into their morning pumpkin juice, it served them right for hurting her.

She also realized that this gave her a sudden swell in popularity for her Second Year, people who had previously thought her beliefs were too dangerous were now interested in befriending her in the hopes of being picked on less. Alzay reluctantly allowed it, she had been too focused on improving to really bother in the First Year but she didn't want to be weird and friendless like Rivers. She still put more stock in her studies than her social life though, her friends only seemed interested in tedious things like how they looked or Quidditch or what they wore or how cute certain boys were which were not really things Alzay saw the point off. She looked how she looked, if people didn't like it then it wasn't her problem and they wore uniform most of the time so what did it matter what they wore? She didn't understand the appeal of Quidditch and boys... well Alzay wasn't there yet, kissing still seemed icky to her. None of that was going to get her father out of Azkaban anyway, studying and absorbing as much knowledge as she could would help though. That was what mattered.

---

Scorpius realized that he might have overreacted with his concerns. Professor Ashain gradually seemed to return more to normal as the weeks wore on, whatever Marigold had done seemed to be working. And Michael only spoke to himself during his isolation in Transfiguration, probably just to kill the hours of tedious studying what they'd already been taught. Midas was awful, she preached tolerance but isolated Michael and always pulled his sleeve down unnecessarily far to make his bracelet obvious. A couple of times, she even pulled his sleeve down when she passed him at meals. Scorpius quickly came to hate her as much as he hated Grant.

Life soon settled in routine of classes and flying practice mostly, the teachers weren't shy about piling on the work despite it only being the very start of the year. However it did seem to be more a problem than usual, Michael's interest in his schoolwork had died. He frequently claimed it was pointless and that he simply couldn't do it, it was a grueling process to get him to do anything at all. Michael could be stubborn. He also seemed withdrawn, not speaking or smiling as much and even getting angry for little reason. He did apologize immediately after though.

"It's okay, mate. You just picked a bad time to become a werewolf," Albus pointed out after one such outburst over something trivial in the Library on Friday of the second week, "Your body adapting to being freshly turned and teenage hormones are a bad combination. I won't let your little furry problem come between us."

"Erm... Thanks, Albus," Michael offered and relaxed, drifting into sarcasm, "Next time I'm going to be bitten by a werewolf, I'll be sure to tell them to wait until I'm no longer a teenager."

"Exactly!" Albus grinned and Michael rolled his eyes.

"And do you have to call it my 'little furry problem'? It makes it sound like I have a badly behaved rabbit or something. It's more like a big furry problem."

"All the more reason to call it 'little' so it doesn't seem so bad."

"But it is bad."

"What idiot thought up 'little furry problem' anyway?" Rose complained.

"That would be me," Albus announced proudly, "I for one, think it's quite clever. No one else would've ever have thought about it."

"Because you're an idiot?" Corin wondered smugly.

"I don't actually care what you think, I'm just so happy for the tryouts tomorrow. I've never felt more confident, this is the year that I make the team. I can feel it," Albus announced brightly, the tryouts were Saturday afternoon since Pentakel had beaten Molly to the morning slot.

"Good luck, Al," Vern offered with an encouraging smile, "I'm sure we'll all do great."

"Shut up, Vern," Albus complained.

"There was actually something I was wondering if I could ask your advice for something?"

"Nope."

"I meant just kind of everyone," Vern pointed and Albus sighed as he gestured for him to continue, "It's about Hogsmeade. There's this girl I like and I want to ask her out to Hogsmeade, I jus-"

"Silly Vern," Albus laughed randomly, "You're too young to like girls."

"I'm thirteen," Vern protested.

"Who's this girl anyway? Non-existia Imaganiaryson?"

"No! She's real."

"What's her name then?"

"I-I'd rather not say," Vern admitted hesitantly as he shifted nervously, "You'll laugh at me."

"He already did," Rose pointed out.

"Well now I'm curious, why would I laugh?" Albus wondered enthusiastically, "What's wrong with her? Is she fat? Ugly? Fat and ugly and smells like cat pee? Is she like a girl version of Latimer?"

"Latimer's so ugly, why would you want to date a girl who looks like him?"

"No!" Vern burst out defensively, "There's nothing wrong with her, and she's really nice and pretty. And stop picking on Latimer!"

"I know who she is, she's a real person," Orous added.

"Well you could be lying to cover for him. Anyone that you like?" Albus complained and Orous shook his head, "Good because you look really weird, you're going to die alone."

"I know," Orous admitted quietly and sadly.

"You know, speaking of Hogsmeade," Rose spoke up before anyone could defend Orous' albinism, twirling her hair nervously, "Are you allowed to go this year, Michael? Because... Because I was thinking that we could go together.

"Yep," Michael answered simply without looking up from the work he was doing and Rose's face lit up, quickly to be crushed as he continued, "But I'm not going."

"Why?" Rose wondered, looking upset and Michael slammed the textbook shut irritably.

"Why would I want to go back to the place that I became a werewolf?" Michael demanded as he packed up his things, "See you later, I want to shower before dinner."

"I bet he looks nice in the shower..." Rose mused and Maurice promptly whacked her with a text book, "Ow! What the hell is wrong with you?! That hurt!"

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Maurice countered angrily as Rose rubbed her head, "There's a war going on! We're all soldiers and you people should be focusing on defense not the opposite sex! Grow up!"

"You grow up, you're the one acting childish," Rose complained as Maurice simply rolled his eyes and left, "Is it weird that I think he sounds hot when he's angry?"

"Very weird. There is something very wrong with you and also I think he gave you a concushion," Albus commented with a scowl.

"I don't think that's the right word," Scorpius pointed out, he was pretty sure it was concussion.

"You know what I mean."

"Should we go after him?" Orous wondered worriedly.

"Best leave him alone when he gets like that," Corin shrugged, "No one really wants to get talked to when they storm off in a rage."

"So, Al, are you going to ask out your newest supposed true love?" Abby asked half-curiously and half-sarcastically.

"Yeah!" Albus announced excitedly, "It's exciting having found my true soul mate to be the same age as I am."

"She's two years older than you."

"Better than twenty years older," Rose pointed out.

"I'm going to write her a poem to express my love and ask her out in poetry, its romantic and clever and girls dig that stuff. She's totally going to say yes, what girl could resist the charm of a Potter?"

"A lot?" Orous guessed.

"Quiet you."

---

Alzay's life soon settled into a routine for the next few years, keeping bullies at bay, dealing with her tedious friends, studying hard and spending free time researching or practicing defensive magic. When Hogsmeade visits opened up, she spent the time mostly scouring bookshops to feed her thirst for knowledge. It wasn't until her Fourth Year that she understood what the appeal of boys was, she didn't change her stance on her appearance however but she did alter her stance on clothes slightly, trying to dress nice for dates because she had plenty of suitors. It was nice to have a break and relax a bit although she never let her guard down completely, however it also made her realize something odd about herself. She had a very hard time feeling attached to people, her friends could be in pieces over boys they'd dated for a day but Alzay struggled to feel anything.

She enjoyed the physical affection like kissing, compliments and gifts from her dates but she didn't feel anything for them. She felt nothing if they broke up her beyond mild annoyance at having to find someone else, she didn't even feel anything when one of her boyfriends cheated on her. In fact, she didn't even feel any friendship to her supposed friends, they could die tomorrow and she wouldn't lose sleep over it. This really bothered her but the more she tried to feel attached to the people in her life, the more she realized that she didn't. She cared more about the owl that her idiotic foster family had gotten her than the people in her life combined, she didn't know why but she couldn't do anything about it. Maybe she was so used to seeing people as tools that she'd stopped seeing them as people, maybe there was something wrong with her, maybe everyone felt like this and she was overreacting... It stumped her completely. She never said anything though, there was no one she ever spoke to honestly about things that bothered her, she trusted no one but her father in that way. She was very much a loner.

She didn't let her dating get in the way of her studies though, she'd taken every elective except Muggle Studies - knowing mudbloods were wife-staling garbage and muggles not much better was all she needed to know - and got Outstandings in all eleven of the OWL subjects. She took NEWTs in subjects she considered the most useful more so than for an career basis, she considered the core subject the most important - even the incredibly boring History of Magic - but also thought Care of Magical Creatures and Study of Ancient Runes could be useful too. Ultimately sacrificing Astronomy for Runes which she deemed the most important, Defense Against the Dark Arts covered creatures too except from a defensive standpoint which seemed more useful. Sixth Year was also a very important year beyond NEWTs, apparition for one thing and her turning seventeen for another.

Coming of age would finally give her access to her father's wealth, he hadn't had a lot but it would hopefully be enough for her to move away from her foster family. It also finally meant she'd be free of the Trace, free to track down her mother and enact her revenge for destroying her and Rathan's lives. She still remembered the address from when she'd seen it in the Ministry, if they weren't home then she simply needed to try a different day and if they'd moved then it would require more effort. But hopefully, things would go to plan. Even better was that her birthday fell in the winter holidays, she'd turn of age while on break. She spent Christmas with her foster family the previous year in preparation, it would seem less suspicious to do so again.

The main problem was getting there, she'd be learning Apparition but not until after Christmas. Using the Knight Bus or Floo Powder would mean others could place her there, she could fly but she didn't have a broom nor any particular skill or affinity for with it. She saw only one option, to create a Portkey. It was illegal of course but so was everything else that she wanted to do, if she was caught and imprisoned then at least she'd be with her father again. She was prepared to suffer the consequences of her actions if she was stupid enough to fail.

She researched everything she could about Portkeys and about the darker side of magic, NEWT level students had access to the Restricted Section which opened up a whole new wealth of knowledge. Enacting it was the hard part. Christmas Day, 2003. Alzay waited until the celebrations were over, the present opening and the Christmas dinner with her foster family were past. Then it was time. She bade her foster family goodnight and headed upstairs to her room, locking it in case they came looking for her and found her gone. Alzay took a bauble from the tree to use as a Portkey, she thought it was sentimentally perfect in an ironic way. Christmas was supposed to be the time for family but Adelaide had abandoned hers, it made sense to her anyway. She knew the spell had to have worked to some degree because of the blue glow, she could only hope it was to the right location.

Alzay took a deep breath before taking hold of the bauble. In the next second, she was hurtling through space but managed to land with dignity. She found herself in a muggle street, she knew this from the moving metal boxes they called cars that were scattered around unmoving outside houses. Everything was covered in a thin film of snow, the cold breeze curled around her but she didn't shiver. She was already too cold to feel it. Alzay looked around, searching for the right number. She found the right house before she saw the number though, catching sight of her mother through one of the windows. Adelaide was dancing with the mudblood she recognized vaguely, his curly hair was graying now and he was also wearing spectacles, both looked a decade older. They were laughing. She bet her father wasn't laughing now, trapped alone. Feeling her anger resurfacing and igniting the fire of fury in her veins, Alzay stalked over to the door and hammered her fist onto it. A second later, Adelaide Hunt answered the door. Still smiling. She bet her father wasn't smiling either. And it was all Adelaide's fault.

"May I help you with something?" Adelaide asked cheerfully.

"Don't you recognize your own daughter?" Alzay questioned with curiosity and the joy drained with the color from the elder woman's face, "Hello, Mother."

---

Scorpius was nervous about the tryouts, not for his own position but for Albus. Albus was certainly eager and in a good mood for it and spoke essentially non-stop about it all morning, Scorpius hoped for his sake that it would go well. After lunch, he, Albus and Michael headed to the pitch to try out while Rose, Abby and Corin joined them to watch from the stands for moral support. The crowd was smaller than it had been last year but bigger than it had been for Molly's first year as Captain, they seemed to universally eye Michael with a look of disgust. Molly was already there, Scorpius hadn't seen her at lunch.

"H-Hey Michael," Roxy greeted Michael with a nervous smile and Scorpius recalled that she'd liked Michael the previous year, "How are you?"

"Been better, been worse," Michael shrugged obliviously, "You?"

"What are we? Potted plants?" Albus complained at being ignored by his cousin.

"Alright, everyone," Molly cleared her throat and addressed the assembled students, "Another year, another tryout. We will probably be keeping the majority of the team the same so mostly this is just for reserves."

"I have a question," someone with a stern expression called out, Scorpius thought he was a Fifth Year.

"Okay."

"Is the werewolf going to be on the team?" the boy asked and there was a murmuring of agreement from those around him, Molly just blinked in shock.

"If he is then I don't want to tryout," a girl in Sixth or Seventh Year added, "I don't want to be attacked again."

"I don't want to be diseased," added another.

"Plus it'd miss loads of practices and matches anyone," a fourth agreed.

"Hey!" Scorpius snapped angrily, "Don't talk that way about my friend!"

"Well you would be okay with it," the first boy sneered, "Being a Malfoy and all, I'm sure your family is well versed with dealing with creatures of the dark."

"You better shut your mouth or I'll shut it for you!" Albus yelled in a growl and the crowd descended into arguing over werewolves, everyone but Michael.

"Everyone shut your mouths!" Molly shouted over them with a high-pitched whistle reminiscent of Calderon, it was irritatingly effective. Which was probably why she'd done it, "And everyone who has a problem with werewolves on the team, get out. This is the Gryffindor Quidditch team and requires some semblance of unity so anyone who isn't prepared to put yourselves behind each other, regardless of condition, blood status, family history, skin color or whatever other stupidly prejudiced thing you could have a problem with then get out. You're not welcome on my team."

"That's not fair!" protested the first boy.

"I'm the Captain! My team, my rules," Molly insisted and to Scorpius' surprise, everyone started filing out.

"Fuck's sake!" Michael spat and threw down the school broom he'd been going to use to practice, momentarily giving everyone pause, some even eyed him fearfully as if expecting him to attack them, "Fine! I quit the team, the werewolf's gone! Are you fucking happy now?!"

"Michael-" Scorpius started to protest but Michael was already storming off while the crowd turned back hopefully to Molly.

"My rules remain," Molly told them darkly.

The crowd angrily dispersed, muttering under their breaths about Molly and werewolves. Within a few minutes, there were only twelve students still standing there and most of them part of the Weasley/Potter clan. Along with Scorpius there was Molly, Albus, Roxy, Freddie, Louis and Lily, there was also Latimer, Freddie's girlfriend Caitlin and James' friend Carver. Carver's stance was surprising but then, Scorpius thought his reasons for hating Michael had started long before he became a werewolf. The only person who Scorpius didn't know was a scrawny looking First Year who was grinning from ear to ear. Molly sighed.

"You realize he's coming back when he's calmed down, right?" Molly told the boy.

"I don't care, ma'am," the boy promised in his squeaky voice eagerly, nodding his head vigorously and brimming with delight at making the team.

"What's your name?"

"Rufus Rhett."

"Rufus the doofus," Carver muttered with a mocking smirk that went unnoticed, Molly sighed again.

"Okay this year, we're just having one reserve for each position then. Alright, who wants to be Seeker?" Molly asked, Scorpius and Lily raised their hands, "Scor, you're Seeker and Lil, you're reserve again. Who wants to be Beater?"

"I do!" Carver offered eagerly as he, Freddie and Roxy all put their hands into the air, clearly liking his chances against Roxy.

"Alright, Freddie and Roxy are Beaters because you work well together. Carver, you're reserve. Who wants to be Chaser?" Molly continued and Latimer, Caitlin, Louis and Albus all raised their hands.

"Cait!" Freddie hissed desperately, "We talked about this!"

"It's my last year, I don't have to miss all the matches," Caitlin insisted, throwing him a slightly hurt look, "There's plenty of time, stop worrying so much."

"Alright, Latimer and Caitlin are Chasers along with Michael when he comes back-"

"What if he doesn't?" Carver interrupted and Molly frowned, "He clearly didn't seem interested anymore. Don't you think you should give it to Jay's brother? You're being unfair to give him a spot when he's not here."

"He clearly seemed upset because people were insulting him. Do you want to be on the team?" Molly demanded and Carver fell silent at once, "And Louis, you're reserve. If Michael does decide to not play then Latimer, Caitlin and Louis are the team with Albus as the reserve. That better?!"

"Slightly."

"So what position did you want then, Rufus Rhett?" Molly asked of the little First Year, who hadn't lost his grin.

"Keeper," Rufus told her excitedly and Molly nodded content.

"Alright, you're my reserve Keeper and I'm the Keeper," Molly finished and Rufus' grin actually managed to widen.

"Thank you! Thank you so much, ma'am!"

"No problem. You're all dismissed now, look out for practice times on the notice board," Molly commented and most people started filing off, except for Scorpius, Albus and Freddie. Scorpius because he always stayed back with Molly, Albus seemed upset and Freddie was urging his girlfriend that he'd catch up so Albus reached her first.

"Why couldn't you just let me be a reserve?!" Albus demanded as his eyes filled with tears, "You know I've gotten better! You know how badly I want this! You didn't even give us a chance to go in the air!"

"Because I've seen you all fly, except that new kid but my position isn't really up for grabs until I'm gone so it doesn't really matter," Molly pointed out and looked sympathetic, "I'm sorry, Al, the whole point of reserves is to help the team practice or to replace them if necessary. With so few people, I really need to focus on keeping them all good not training up reserves. Maybe things won't be so bad next year."

"Next year?! Next year?!" Albus spat as the tears seeped from his eyes, his voice cracking as he cried but he didn't seem to care, "That's what you always say! You're the worst cousin ever, Molly, I hate you! I hate you."

"Al-" Molly tried to protest but Albus had already ran off sobbing, she didn't have a chance to draw breath before Freddie rounded on her.

"One thing!" Freddie yelled at her furiously, "I asked you for one thing! One! You couldn't even do that for me?! Haven't I always helped you out?! You couldn't do one freakin' thing for me?!"

"If she wants to play then who am I to stop her?! She's good and you haven't even given me a coherent reason!"

"You shouldn't need a reason! You should just trust me!" Freddie screamed venomously, "You're an awful Captain and an awful cousin! Don't expect any favors from me ever again, don't expect anything from me, you... you traitor! I hate you so much right now! If anything happens then it's on you!"

"Freddie, I-" Molly opened her mouth but Freddie was already storming off in a rage, Molly sniffed and he realized she was on the verge of tears, "So does everyone just hate me now?"

"I don't," Scorpius promised as he hugged her and she clung to him for comfort, "I don't. You did the right thing, it'll be okay."

---

Part 3: Moments

---

"I think I just made myself the most hated person in the universe again," Molly sighed sadly as they left the pitch hand in hand, walking around the grounds through the icy melancholic air, "I don't think there was any really good choice though. I mean, if I had done what Freddie had wanted then Caitlin would just hate me instead which I guess is better than my cousin but then it would feel like I was doing a bad thing for no good reason. And then with Al... I really did want him to be on the team but I also need to do what's best for the team, with less people you need to focus on improving them not improving the reserves, you need decently talented people to lean on. I hate being the bad guy but I have to think of the bigger picture.

"It's even worse for the team if Michael doesn't want to come back but if he's on the team or not, I meant what I said. I feel like I'd be selling my soul if I allowed those prejudiced people to get onto the team after practically bullying Michael off it, if I let them get away with it then it'd be like saying that I think it's acceptable how people are acting about werewolves but it's not. I'd hoped more people would stay."

"Me too," Scorpius admitted as they sat down under a tree together, gazing out into the lake.

"I'm sorry," Molly apologized with a blush, "I just veered off into a tangent again."

"It's okay, venting's good," Scorpius pointed out and put his arm instinctively to touch her shoulder comfortingly, "I don't mind listening."

"Thanks," Molly offered and leaned back against him, resting her head on his shoulder. Despite the situation, Scorpius smiled inwardly, he really liked being this close to her. He could smell the cherries in her hair, "So now, not only do James and Lucy hate me but Freddie and Albus. Possibly Louis too just out of loyalty to Freddie because they're close and Roxy out of loyalty to her brother, possibly Rose too out of loyalty to Albus because they're close and Lily out of loyalty to her brother. So out of twelve Weasley/Potter grandchildren - where one of them is me - there's only three who don't hate me."

"I'm sure they don't hate you, Albus just gets really emotional about this. He was a jerk to Michael when he first made Chaser, he'll get over it and there's always next year. Freddie, Caitlin and Louis will all be gone then so we'll have to get new players anyway. I don't know what's bothering Freddie so much but he's generally reasonable so hopefully he'll get over it, the others won't hate you from loyalty. You always have Orous and Maurice if you want extra cousins who don't hate you anyway."

"Doesn't Maurice just hate everyone?"

"No, he hates dating."

"Oh right, that sounds much more healthy," Molly pointed out with a hint of sarcasm and he pulled her closer, "You know those counselling sessions are starting next week? We were warned last night as prefects, they're putting up the notice tomorrow and the people arrive on Monday."

"How's it going to work?" Scorpius asked with curiosity and dread.

"There are seven of them, one for each year. They'll each be given an unused classroom with attached office and private quarters to use, much like the teachers have. There'll put up a list of times for students to attend the counselling sessions, everyone gets an hour and they break for meals the same as we do. They'll also do the staff but they didn't tell us anything about that. Missing your session will just get you an extra session and you will be allowed to leave for it during lessons, staff will be given a list of students who'll miss what class but some will be in free time and they're doing it on weekends too."

"I guess one hour isn't too bad," Scorpius said with a scowl, "Still hate it though."

"You'll actually get four sessions between now and Christmas break, once they've done everyone they will go through everyone again and again and a final fourth time. After Christmas, they'll still be there but only for those who they think need further counselling or those who request it."

"That's the worst idea I've ever heard," Scorpius complained irritably, "It's the stupidest cover to pry information out of people ever, how can anyone think it's a good idea?"

"I don't know, everyone being possessed or attacked at the memorial or attacked by werewolves in Hogsmeade could be construed as traumatic, plenty of people have lost people. I do think they have an ulterior motive for it though, my dad warned me to be very careful what I say to them."

"Was going to do that anyway," Scorpius admitted.

The conversation dwindled for a while, they just sat there silently. Scorpius didn't mind it, the wind didn't bother him when they were cuddled so close together for warmth. He didn't like water admittedly but it was alright and even beautiful from that distance beneath the shade of the tree, the sky was golden from the light of the sun edging closer to setting. In that moment, the chaos of the world didn't matter and he could just relax for a moment and take comfort from being there with Molly. Happy moments seemed increasingly fleeting, he thought it was good to hold onto them while he could because it wouldn't last.

"You know, there was something I've been meaning to ask you about," Molly spoke abruptly and jolted him from his thoughts.

"What is it?" Scorpius asked, already having a feeling that he knew what it was about.

"When we were attacked in Hogsmeade... You went and got Varanian and... I know he's innocent and I knew you needed to get to him, sometimes I just know things but I don't know any more than that really. So... How... How does it work with you and Varanian?"

"There's kind of... kind of a lot to that question."

"Don't you trust me?" Molly wondered, sounding genuinely curious rather than upset as she pulled away from the first time to look at him, Scorpius felt the cold where she'd used to be, "I could have told on you being in contact with Varanian months ago, I know he's innocent and I'm not going to say anything."

"I do trust you, it's just... You know there's truth serum and legillimancy and stuff, the less people who know the better. I don't want to put Varanian more at risk or you at risk for knowing."

"You and Michael know though."

"I- How do you know that Michael knows?"

"I told you, I know things sometimes. Part of the whole Seer thing."

"No one else knows but me and Michael though."

"I want to help too, Scor," Molly told him seriously, "In a few years I'll be out of school and I want to help in the fight against the Soul Eaters, people are involved who I care about and they've killed people I care about. Those bastards killed my mother, right in front of me. I don't just want to sit at the sidelines and watch things unfold while people I care about are risking their lives. Can you at least think about it for a while? If you still think no and decide then I won't hold it against you, you have to do what you think is right but please give it more than two seconds of thought. Would it really be the worst thing in the world if I knew?"

"I'll think about it," Scorpius promised hesitantly and Molly smiled before leaning forward to press her lips against his for a long lingering kiss.

"It's nearly dinner, I want to get changed out of Quidditch clothes before then so I'm heading in," Molly said when she pulled away.

"Good plan," Scorpius agreed and stood, offering her his hand which she took and he pulled her up. Maybe with a bit too much force as he lost his balance a bit and they both nearly fell, instead Molly fell into him though. He steadied them and she laughed as he blushed while smiling sheepishly, he tried to make it seem less embarrassing by encircling his arms around her. She brushed a strand of hair from her face and he leaned in for another kiss, when he pulled away, he spoke in a whisper, "Whatever I decide, it really has nothing to do with how I feel about you. You're just amazing and perfect and beautiful, just being around you makes me happier. I feel so lucky to be with you, the moments we have together are some of the ones I cling to most."

"You can be really sweet, you know that?" Molly whispered as she blushed and hugged him close, "Don't ever let go."

---

"Aren't you going to invite me in?" Alzay asked icily, Adelaide didn't seem to know what to say. Her mouth opened and closed several times but no words came out, "I'll take that as a yes."

"Alexis," Adelaide finally managed to say in a strangled croak as Alzay barged past her mother to enter, she felt a jolt of anger at the use of her name. Even her foster family knew she preferred Alzay to Alexis, knew that she preferred the name her father had given her but her own mother didn't. Adelaide tried to smile, "You... You got grown."

"And you got fat," Alzay threw back truthfully, Adelaide did seem more rotund then in her memories, "I came of age yesterday, did you know that?"

"Of course, you were born on Christmas Eve. Happy Birthday. And Happy Christmas," Adelaide offered nervously, "What did... I mean, did you want something?"

"That eager to be rid of your own child?"

"Who is it, dear?" the mudblood asked as he came out from the kitchen with a look of bemusement when he laid eyes on her.

"My name is Alzay Loren, your wife's daughter," Alzay introduced herself and the mudblood looked stunned, maybe she'd make him stunned, "Stupefy!"

Her wand was in her hand in an instant, the couple had no time to react as the mudblood was struck with practiced precision and thrown violently back into the front room. He'd only get in the way. Adelaide screamed and tried to run to her husband's side, Alzay strode in after with her wand trained on her mother that gave the older woman pause. Adelaide eyed the wand fearfully.

"Why did you do that? What do you want?" Adelaide wailed, looking rather pathetic.

"What do I want?" Alzay sneered angrily, "My father. To have grown up with a mother but you took both of those things away from me! So now I want revenge."

"How did I take Rathan away from you?! I had nothing to do with him becoming a Death Eater, I don't even buy that wrongful, narrow-minded spiel about blood purity!"

"If you hadn't left then he wouldn't have become a Death Eater!" Alzay screamed furiously, "If you hadn't left then he wouldn't have wound up in Azkaban! If you hadn't left then he'd still be here! But you did leave! You walked away from your family, the man you agreed to stand by until death and your own flesh and blood child! You just left! Left us for that piece of filth! Was it worth it?! Was it?!"

"I love Stuart," Adelaide whispered as her eyes glanced to the unconscious man, "Please, we're happy. Don't hurt us."

"Loving garbage is disgusting, Rennervate!" Alzay snapped and aimed her wand at the mudblood, he came to and sat up slightly to straighten his glasses. When he saw her wand still on the pair, he looked suddenly afraid, "Do you really love him, Mother?"

"Yes!" Adelaide protested and Stuart looked at his wife lovingly, "More than anything! I'm sorry that it hurt you-"

"I loved my father," Alzay interrupted darkly and her wand locked unforgivingly onto the mudblood, "Avada Kedavra!"

There was a blinding flash of green that seemed to fill the room from corner to corner, Adelaide screamed but it was no use. The powerful magic burst from her wand and collided with the mudblood, who still was only half-sitting. It felt almost surreal as the light struck the living, breathing person but it was a corpse that fell back onto the floor. Adelaide ran to him sobbing, clinging to the corpse desperately.

"WHY?!" Adelaide cried as she cradled her husband's body, "Why, Alexis?! Why!? Why would you do that?!"

"Now you know what it's like to lose someone you love!" Alzay yelled, feeling an utter lack of sympathy. She didn't feel guilty when she killed a fly that was buzzing around annoyingly, why should she feel anything for the mudblood? And she didn't. She didn't regret it, "I couldn't send him to Azkaban but this is the next best thing! That's what it feels like, that's what it feels like to lose the one person in the world who matters to you and that's what you did to me! It's all your fault."

"Are you going to kill me too?" Adelaide asked in a whisper, her eyes swelling in terror.

"Maybe," Alzay shrugged truthfully, not sure what she really wanted to do now. Maybe letting her live with the loss of the mudblood was better than taking her life but then she was a witness and could just have Alzay arrested, killing her mother was also different to killing a mudblood but she still wanted revenge.

"Al-Alexis-"

"Alzay! What kind of fucking mother doesn't know their child's name?!"

"Y-You're not thinking about it from my perspective," Adelaide tried to continue tentatively, "I wasn't happy with Rathan, he didn't... didn't pay attention to me and he could just be difficult t-"

"HOW DARE YOU TRY TO BLAME IT ON HIM?!" Alzay screeched furiously and Adelaide cowered back fearfully, clinging tighter to her dead husband.

"You're right, I was selfish and that was wrong. I wanted more excitement and adventure, I wasn't satisfied with just being a family with you and Rathan and that... that was wrong of me," Adelaide admitted, "But is it really so wrong? I'm only human. Leaving you was one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make, I just did what I thought was best for me and for you, I had no idea Rathan would end up in Azkaban. I just wanted to be happy, Stuart made me happy... Stuart... I'm so sorry, Stuart."

"If it was so hard then why did you turn your back on me for a second time?!" Alzay spat angrily, "You had a choice when Rathan went to Azkaban and you abandoned me again!"

"We talked about it, it... it just seemed easier to say no and you were starting Hogwarts that year so it wasn't even like you'd be home a lot. What did it matter where you lived three months out of the year?" Adelaide pointed out, "I'm sorry, I was selfish and I didn't realize how much it would hurt you... I never wanted that, I really didn't. Killing me isn't going to help though, it won't change the past and it won't change the present, Rathan will still be in Azkaban. Don't you think there's been enough death? You would really kill your own mother?"

"I..." Alzay began but didn't have a clue what she was going to do or say, anger pumped lazily through her but it shied back from her wand. Would killing her own mother make her just as bad as Adelaide for leaving? Or was it justified revenge? Did she really want her mother dead? Alzay started to lower her wand.

"You're doing the right thing," Adelaide told her with a sigh of relief, "Thank you, Alexis."

"ALZAY!" Alzay screamed in frustration, anger jolting down her arm and snapping her wand back to her mother too, "Avada Kedavra!"

The jet of emerald shot from her wand, Adelaide's eyes widened just before she died as the jet struck her. The light vanished with her mother's life and everything was silent. Alzay was standing alone in a house with people she'd killed. Adelaide's eyes were still wide open. Why couldn't she just have known her daughter's name?

Alzay felt a flash of triumph, her father was avenged, and her mother had finally paid for her crimes. But the flash faded and revealed the emptiness left. Her father was still in Azkaban, her mother was as absent as ever. She was still alone. She tried to wipe away the tears but they just kept coming, her father had justice but it didn't bring him back. She just wanted her dad back, the weight of her grief brought her to her knees as the anger died, she cried. She just waited for the Aurors to come arrest her. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad being locked up if she could just have her dad, she didn't want to be alone anymore. She just wanted her dad back.

But the Aurors never came. Of course they wouldn't, they didn't immediately know when a crime had been committed or who had done it. Alzay wiped away her tears and picked herself up off the ground, she regretted killing her mother but she also thought she'd regret it more if she hadn't. If she could see through that first goal she'd made then she could see through the second, she could get her father back. Wordlessly, she went through the house all dressed up with decorations for Christmas. Like she and her father had done years before, she smashed every happy smiling photograph and anything that looked like it had meant something. Then she lit it all on fire and walked away like her mother had done, never looking back as she squeezed the bauble Portkey and returned to her room as if nothing had happened. But it had.

---

Scorpius parted with Molly and headed up to his own dormitory to change as well, it was a good idea and with any luck he could talk to Michael because he had probably cooled off by now. There was one of his friends in the dormitory but it wasn't Michael, Albus lay alone with his head buried in his pillow.

"Hey," Scorpius greeted him and Albus looked up, his eyes red and puffy from crying.

"Where you were? With her?" Albus asked him darkly and Scorpius felt his defenses slam up, he felt bad that Albus hadn't gotten what he wanted but he was with Molly on it. His reaction and telling her he hated her, were completely out of line.

"Yes," Scorpius admitted and narrowed his eyes, "And you need to go and apologize to her."

"Apologize? She didn't let me be on the team!" Albus protested, anger in his voice but tears in his eyes.

"You told her that you hated her! That was completely out of line!"

"I do hate her! And I'm completely justified, how can you side with her?! She helped me practice just to shoot me down and stab me in the back at the last second!"

"You've improved a lot but Michael, Latimer, Caitlin and Louis are all simply just better than you, I've seen them practice and seen them play and I know this! Molly's just doing what's fairest and best for the team, you can't fault her for that!"

"The only reason you're not faulting her is a stupid, childish crush!" Albus yelled angrily.

"Hey! Just because you didn't get on the team is no reason to act like a jackass!" Scorpius snapped back.

"You wouldn't understand! You're good at freakin' everything and you don't even care what your parents think!" Albus cried as the tears started streaming from his eyes, "But I do! Everyone in my family is good at Quidditch, everyone, even Vern and he's not even really family! Everyone freakin' person! Except Lucy and that's just because she's a squib but if she wasn't then she'd probably be good too! Everyone is just naturally good but me, do you know what that feels like?! My Dad made the team in his first year, my Mum played professionally and I'm too worthless to even make a reserve?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT THAT'S LIKE!?"

"No," Scorpius admitted as Albus continued through sobs.

"I-I'm n-not good at anything, I c-can't m-make the t-team, I c-can't c-cast a Patronus. Ev-Even James is g-good at sp-spells but I c-can't break average, ev-even if I do it doesn't matter be-because V-Vern or J-James or ev-even Lily can outshine me. I l-look so m-much like my Dad and I-I am s-so proud to be his s-son but I c-c-can't ev-even l-live up to it," Albus sobbed and Scorpius cautiously moved closer, "W-We're h-halfway th-through school now, ev-everyone one says th-there's just next y-year b-but I d-don't think I'll ev-ever be g-good en-enough and ev-eventually I'm g-going to r-run out of years. I j-just k-keep thinking that maybe, just maybe if I c-can m-make the t-team then my p-parents will f-f-finally ha-have something t-to be pr-proud of me for. M-M-Maybe D-Dad w-w-would f-f-finally w-want t-t-to spend t-time wi-with me ag-again."

"Molly said she'd let you on the team if Michael didn't, it shows you have a chance. Caitlin and Louis graduate this year so there is more chance," Scorpius offered, feeling sympathy despite still not liking how Albus had spoken to Molly.

"I c-can h-hardly a-ask M-M-Michael to q-quit. H-He's t-t-too good and h-he needs this, he g-gets so much crap f-from p-p-people f-for b-being a werewolf now and I k-know h-he's hurting. He sh-should h-h-have s-something g-good t-to cheer him up and I c-can't t-take that away from him, th-that's not what friends do to one another! Why c-couldn't she j-just let me on the team?"

"Yeah," Scorpius mumbled uncertainly, making the mistake of having moved too close to Albus' bed and he was pounced on. Albus clung to him and cried.

---

Part 4: Wanderings

---

Michael stalked off from the pitch, his upset wrestling his anger while frustration watched over both of them. Just fed up with how people were about him being a werewolf, he noticed the looks he got too, the snide insults and a few times older students had even spat on him. It wasn't like he wanted to be a werewolf, if someone had a way to undo it then he'd take it with both hands. He hated being a werewolf enough without everything else that went with it. It hurt to think that the castle he'd once loved had become a prison he despised, and it was a prison. He'd need Wolfsbane for life, that was why he'd ran there in the first place because he was bound by the need for the potion. Or he'd risk hurting someone and as much as everyone bothered him, he didn't want to hurt them. It was just his luck, to become a monster but still have feelings.

And now he wouldn't even have Quidditch to try take his mind off things. He dipped his hands into his pockets miserably and found the stone, grasping it tightly as he was getting into the habit of doing from fear of losing it. He'd used it to talk to Nick in the past two weeks, he was pretty sure that it could probably summon other people but Nick had been the only one he'd attempted to talk to. He was too afraid of what his family would think if he tried to speak to any of them. He turned the stone over several times in his hand in his pocket to summon back his friend, Nick looked the same every time. Michael wished he could be there all the time, he felt guiltily whenever he let go. He remained while Nick was gone, Nick didn't deserve to be gone forever like that. However it was awkward to keep him around all the time, no one else could see or hear Nick so it would look like talking to himself which would have people doubting his sanity and he'd probably wind up losing the stone, thus killing Nick. He thought he was safe summoning him when he was alone though, or in Transfiguration when he had to sit alone.

"What's up?" Nick asked him cheerfully as they walked down the corridor, "Did you knock the others out of the sky and make the team?"

"No," Michael admitted.

"No?" Nick repeated incredulously, the surprise on his face until Michael explained what had happened, "Well you're only not on the team because you stormed off, just go back and tell Molly you want to be on the team after all. She's nice so she'll let you, plus you have talent so she'd be a fool to not let you and Molly's no fool. To hell with what those assholes think."

"I don't know, I don't want to cause trouble. Plus they do have a point, post-transformation I'm pretty useless for a few days."

"Come on, Michael, don't give up on me now," Nick pleaded, "It's Quidditch! We never got to play together and we never will... I want to you have my broom because you're flying for both of us now. Please."

"Really?"

"Michael?" a voice questioned.

Michael jumped so much he almost fell over. He hadn't even been paying attention to where he was going, let alone if he passing anyone. He realized the speaker was Mirra Pentakel, who he knew from her helping him with his homework. Not that he saw the point in trying now, he was a useless wizard and he always would be. He couldn't even cast Patronuses anymore. Maybe he should be more careful next time, get the Map out again. He wasn't sure if the Map was being faulty or his Dyslexia was just being unusually frustrating, he often looked over it when he had trouble sleeping - which was almost every night - and had seen someone in the Girl's Bathroom on the Second Floor. Myrtle was frequently there, he'd pegged her as the ghost from Albus' stories about his father's adventures but there was someone else. The name was near-impossible to make out, the letters seemed to shift dizzyingly and it only got worse. They always came to and from Ashain's office/private quarters though if he looked at the right time, none of the Ashains looked short of sleep though which was why he suspected a glitch.

"You know if you're that desperate for company, you could talk to me instead of yourself?" Mirra offered with a kindly smile.

"Err... Thanks, Mirra," Michael offered as he blushed at having been caught talking to 'himself'.

"So what's up?"

"You should ask her out," Nick told him with a grin.

"No I shouldn't," Michael complained to Nick but Mirra mistook it as talking to her, she looked slightly confused, "It's just Quidditch stuff and werewolf hating, there's not anything you could do about it."

"Yes you should, she is clearly sweet on you. You could do a lot worse and all these people giving you crap about being a werewolf limits your options, Mirra always seemed pretty kind and pretty hot too so what's there to think about?"

"I could always give whoever's hassling you detentions if it'd make you feel better?" Mirra offered while Michael let go of the stone in his pocket to vanish Nick because Michael could trip himself up by speaking to the... spirit?

"Thanks but unfortunately that's like ninety-nine percent of the school right now," Michael pointed out with a weak smile.

"Sorry," Mirra said sympathetically as they started walking off together, "So how did the tryouts go anyway?"

---

Scorpius could get Albus to admit that telling Molly he hated her was overreacting but he downright refused to tell Molly this, Freddie was still weirdly unforgiving and angry. On top of everything else, the looks that Michael - and his friends by association - got were now also being given to Molly for her stance at the tryouts. Ironically, they got more looks from their own house than they did from the others.

Quidditch practices were thankfully back on and Michael was attending again as well, it was a different dynamic with less people though. Freddie was also obsessively paranoid about his girlfriend, firing Bludgers away from her like a fiend and screaming at Carver and even his sister on one occasion for firing a Bludger that had nearly hit her, he also frequently criticized Michael, Latimer and even Louis - who he was close to - for being too 'rough' with Caitlin. Until Molly threatened to kick him from the team anyway, since then he just glared. At least Scorpius was still spending time with Molly again, he always stayed back to help back up so they could talk and hold hands.

Molly had also been right about the counselors, Elwood had introduced them on Monday briefly and the lists were on the notice board with names, dates, times and locations. Scorpius was one of the last in his year for his session which wasn't until October and Michael was actually the last one in their year - for Gryffindor anyway, it didn't show the other houses or the staff - and Maurice was also in that last week but before the both of them. Albus and Rose had theirs in the first week - Rose was the only person overjoyed that hers was on a weekend to not miss any classes - as did Freddie, Louis, Caitlin, Carver and Lysander who he knew. Molly, Abby, Corin and Latimer would have theirs in the second week along with Lily - she was less pleased about getting hers on a weekend, he thought Harry wouldn't like the language his daughter had used to express this - and Roxy who he also knew. Orous also said he was in the last week and Vern that his was in the second.

As much as Scorpius hated the idea, he was also very curious to what they would actually say. He didn't feel comfortable asking those outside of his close friends about it but that also didn't prove to be very useful, Albus was awful at remembering the specifics and Rose rudely announced that they'd said it was confidential. She had no desire to break this confidentially.

"I'm not asking what you said in reply - although I hope you remembered to be careful with you answers," Scorpius insisted as he took another go at Rose at breakfast on Sunday the day after her session, "Just what they were actually after by knowing the questions they asked."

"You'll just have to wait and see," Rose insisted, "And I for one, didn't think there was anything untoward about it either. You really need to be less paranoid, Scor, paranoia is not very good for your mental health."

"Neither is this stupid spy counselling thing," Scorpius grumbled.

"If you really want to know what's going on, why don't you just spy on someone's session?" Maurice offered, much more interested in this and on Scorpius' side about there being more to it, "That way you'll know what they're asking."

"That's actually not a bad idea."

"Except for it being a complete invasion of people's privacy," Michael added gloomily, he was back to taking Wolfsbane in preparation for the full moon on the first of October and his already low spirits had dropped even further as had what little interest he now had for his classes.

"You can't do that," Abby protested in horror, "Whether they're up to something or not, not everyone believes that and some people are going to be pouring their private thoughts out."

"You could get permission from someone to listen in, then it wouldn't be so bad," Corin pointed out, "They'd know you're there and deliberately be trying not to say anything anyway. I for one don't trust people from a Ministry who came up with those werewolf bands, listen in on me if you'd like. It's Thursday last lesson when I should have Arithmancy."

"Don't we have Potions then?" Michael pointed out and Corin scowled.

"Do mine then, two to three on Wednesday..." Abby volunteered but trailed off, "Where I'll miss the end of Defense Against the Dark Arts and start of History."

"Okay we need someone who has a weekend time," Scorpius frowned thoughtfully, "Does Vern...?"

"Nope. First thing on Friday," Maurice offered.

"Lily's is on the weekend," Albus prompted through a mouthful of cereal, he'd also been gloomy since failing the tryouts.

"Don't talk with your mouthful," Michael chastised him.

"Yes, Mother."

"And Latimer's also is on the weekend, Sunday because he has to miss the Quidditch practice."

"How can you stand to practice Quidditch with him? He's disgusting," Rose complained, "And you're all overreacting, that counsellor is nice. And hot."

"I'll ask Latimer at practice today since he's older and I probably know him better, if he says no then I'll ask Lily," Scorpius decided and added to Albus in a quieter tone, "Will probably need to borrow your Dad's cloak though, if that's alright."

"Sure," Albus agreed sullenly and sighed, "Pretty much all I'm useful for anyway."

"That's not true," Abby insisted but Albus didn't look any happier.

It was a bitingly cold day for practice and everyone's teeth were chattering by the time Molly called the practice to a halt, Rufus Rhett the new reserve Keeper was the only one with a smile on his face. He wasn't especially talented but a few years of practice until Molly left may shape him into a decent player, his enthusiasm was unrivalled though and he neither complained nor put in anything but a hundred percent effort. He also frequently volunteered for anything, whether it was demonstration or carrying equipment, he was just happy to be there and showed no animosity towards Michael or any of them.

"I just wanted to talk to Latimer, I'll catch up," Scorpius told Molly as the others all started heading back, she raised an eyebrow in curiosity, "I'll tell you later."

"Okay," Molly agreed as Scorpius jogged after the others.

"-And why do you have to throw it so damned hard at her?!" Freddie was demanding angrily of Latimer, "It could hit her and hurt her, maybe even knock her off her broom!"

"If you throw it weakly then it's more likely to be intercepted or miss," Latimer protested.

"Well good! At least Caitlin wouldn't be in danger!"

"What is your problem?"

"I'm just protective of my girlfriend," Freddie snapped after a moment of looking stunned, "Maybe if there was any chance in the world that you'd had or ever would have one then you'd understand!"

"Harsh," Latimer muttered and looked down miserably as Freddie stalked off.

"I thought Freddie was done with that?" Scorpius wondered as he went over to him.

"No, now he just waits until after practice to yell at us. Well me and Carver. You, Lily and Rufus don't tend to have much to do with her, Roxy's his sister, Louis is his cousin and best friend and Michael... I guess he thinks things are bad enough for Michael so it's me or Carver. I don't care about Carver," Latimer explained with a hefty sigh, "Do you think Molly would be annoyed with me if I quit the team?"

"Why would you want to quit the team?" Scorpius asked in even more surprise, Latimer shrugged.

"Believe it or not, I don't enjoy being yelled at and insulted. And you know, it's actually worse coming from people who are sort of friends. I'm just fed up with it all and if I can't even get away from it at Quidditch then what's the point?"

"If you quit then you'd be letting everyone down," Scorpius protested and Latimer threw him a dark look.

"I throw bad then Molly's mad, I throw good then Freddie's mad, I quit and everyone's mad at me, I stay and everyone's mad at me. What the fuck do you people want from me?" Latimer complained irritably and Scorpius opened and closed his mouth a few times, stumped on what to say.

"I... I don't... just... talk to Molly?"

"Forget it," Latimer sighed, "What did you want?"

"What makes you think I want something?"

"Why else would you come over to talk to me? To see how I'm doing?" Latimer wondered sarcastically.

"Okay, I was just... You know those counselling sessions?"

"No, never heard of them," Latimer continued in the same tone.

"I think they have an ulterior motive."

"So does everyone who's not a gullible idiot. This is actually a surprising amount of people."

"Knowing what they're asking about might help figure out what information they're after specifically but mine isn't until next week, second hand accounts are unreliable. So I thought of sitting in on someone else's with an Invisibility Cloak but I don't want to break someone's privacy like that without permission, all my friends have ones during classes though. But yours is on the weekend so, would you mind if I sat in on your session?"

"Sure," Latimer shrugged, "Not like I was ever going to spill my guts to a random stranger anyway. It's next week at nine am so if you were having a lie in on Sunday then you'll have to skip it if you want in."

"No that's fine. Thanks, Latimer," Scorpius told him gratefully, "See you."

For Scorpius, the week couldn't go by fast enough in his eagerness to find out what the Ministry-sanctioned counsellors were after. He sped through his workload and was annoyed at how slowly time seemed to be going before it finally reached the end of September, October beginning on the Saturday. Only one day to kill before the counsellor. And then it was only a couple of days for his own session, he'd be much more prepared for their dirty tricks after witnessing Latimer's too.

"Do you want to come with me tomorrow?" Scorpius asked of Michael that afternoon as they played Wizard Chess in the dormitory, to avoid the looks and because they were done with their homework much faster than the others. Or in Michael's case he hadn't done it because the full moon was near. Michael looked at him like he had suddenly sprouted seven limbs, "You know to spy on the counsellor."

"Scorpius, tonight's the full moon," Michael pointed out and Scorpius realized that was why Michael looked so utterly shattered, "I'll be lucky if I can even open my eyes tomorrow, let alone stand for an hour to spy on someone."

"Oh right. Sorry," Scorpius offered guiltily, feeling genuinely bad for not having been paying attention to it, "It completely slipped my mind. How are you doing?"

"What will happen will happen," Michael shrugged but hit his lip to betray his nerves, "You don't think Carver and the rest of James' cronies will attack me with fireworks, do you?"

"I'm sure they won't. Doubt they have the guts to do it anyway without James but you know..." Scorpius answered and felt determined to make it up to him, "If it'd make you feel better then I could use the Map to keep an eye on them, make sure they don't do anything."

"Won't that make you tired?" Michael sighed unhappily.

"I don't mind, it's worth it to make sure you're safe. We have to take a stand against these werewolf-hating bastards somehow," Scorpius insisted and Michael reluctantly nodded, pulling out his wallet to retrieve the Map for Scorpius, "If I see anything suspicious, I'll stop them or get Calderon or something."

"Just be careful, I think that thing might be broken," Michael offered before making his move, he smiled weakly, "And that's a stalemate. May not be able to beat you but I can stop you, sometimes that's the best you can hope for."

"True."

Scorpius wasn't sure what Michael had meant by the Map being broken, he hadn't elaborated and Scorpius hadn't thought of it until later that evening when Michael had gone. The Map - or the Marauder's Map - was something they'd manage to procure the previous year, it having gotten mixed up with Orous' things after James was bullying him. It was far better in their hands than James, hell, it was far better in anyone's hands but James. With a secret sentence and tap of the wand, the blank parchment revealed a Map of Hogwarts but not just any Map, it showed everyone in Hogwarts at any time. You could wipe it much the same way. It was brilliant.

Scorpius didn't think anything looked wrong with it to him and thankfully, he seemed to be right about James' cronies. It occurred to him that he didn't know any of their names except Carver but the only people in the Hospital Wing were Michael - it kept his name even though he'd be a werewolf right now - and Marigold were the only residents. The only other people about were names he recognized as ghosts and names he recognized as prefects, their little dots moving in a uniform patrolling way. Carver was in his dormitory and was not showing any signs of moving. All the teachers seemed to be in their offices, which he knew doubled as their living quarters through a password to the extended living area. The counsellors too.

And then he noticed something odd in the Defense Against the Dark Arts office, there was a 'Cassia Ashain' and 'Antonius Ashain' but there was something very wrong with Professor Ashain's dot. That had to be what Michael meant by thinking it was broken, the name kept flickering from 'Atticus Ashain' - presumably, he thought it looked like - to something else but it was too fast to make out. And the dot was moving, leaving the sleeping children to head to the Second Floor. The girl's bathroom on the Second Floor. Which he knew from his First Year to be the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, Professor Ashain's dot stayed there.

Scorpius had to investigate. He stumbled out of bed and thought of waking Albus to ask for his cloak but decided against it, he had a Map of everyone and everywhere so it should be easy to avoid people. He grabbed his wand and left, keeping his eyes on his route as well as make sure Michael was still okay and the professor was still there. Both situations remained unchanged and he managed to avoid the few prefects easily, finally slipping into the bathroom. Professor Ashain was standing in front of the entrance with a determined expression but it was firmly closed, his wand was out but not in use or being held to be used.

"Professor Ashain?" Scorpius called out cautiously, realizing he could potentially get in trouble but... well, he was worried and he had a good relationship with the professor. Professor Ashain turned to him, his chestnut eyes narrowing darkly, "Are you okay? What are you doing down here in the middle of the night."

"I could ask the same of you... Malfoy?" Professor Ashain said, his voice sounding the same yet different as if someone else was speaking through the same vocal chords... It reminded him oddly of something but he couldn't place what. His voice seemed maybe slightly a lower pitch and there was the hint of an accent that he'd never heard before. Professor Ashain never called him 'Malfoy' but always by his name or nickname, Scorpius felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"I asked first."

"I'm the adult and you're the child."

"I'm not a child," Scorpius insisted and the professor cocked his head to one side, his face now eerily devoid of expression. It finally dawned on him what the vocal effect reminded him off, when the Shadow Master spoke through his possessed grandfather. Scorpius raised his wand at his favorite professor as his heart started beating furiously into overdrive, "And you're not Professor Ashain."

"This is his body," the possessed-professor told him, not seeming concerned even slightly by the wand aimed at him, "I'm not afraid of you, Malfoy. You won't use that wand. Malfoys never do, you're all the same. Getting others to do their dirty work, you have no one to do that here."

"Watch me!" Scorpius snapped angrily at his family being insulted although... it might be kind of accurate. The possessed still gave no reaction, "I don't know how you managed to do it inside Hogwarts or how you managed to do it without making his eyes change but I will stop you. Let him go or I'll make you let him go, Professor Ashain is my friend and I can cast a Patronus. Let him go."

"Yeah... I'm not going to do that."

"Expec-"

Before Scorpius could even finish the incantation, the possessed-professor held out his hand. Light erupted from his palm, a blinding white light that was all encompassing. Obliterating not only Scorpius' sight but all his other senses and then...

"Geez, wake up!" Albus snapped and Scorpius jolted upright immediately to see his friend was shaking him awake, "If you want to spy on that counsellor with Latimer then you kind of need to not oversleep."

"What the...?" Scorpius wondered, looking around in panic as it all came back to him, "Professor Ashain!"

"What about hi-"

But Scorpius wasn't listening, he snatched his wand from his bedside table and leaped into action. He raced down the steps and burst into the girl's bathroom but he was gone, he ran back up a floor to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and barged into the unlocked office. It was empty. Either he was hiding in the private quarters, had made it into the Chamber of Secrets or... or was at breakfast keeping up appearances. Scorpius bolted down the stairs as fast as his legs could carry him, too fuelled by fear to notice the looks he was getting from running barefooted and in his pajamas. Images of his grandfather's soul being torn from his body haunted Scorpius as he ran, he forced himself faster, he was not going to let that happen to someone else he cared about. And there was the imposter at the table, Scorpius ran up the center of the hall and staggered to a halt at the staff table. Breathlessly he threw his wand in the imposter's direction.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Scorpius yelled without further ado, focusing on rather appropriate good memories of Professor Ashain to conjure the magnificent silver Thestral that charged through a stunned Professor Ashain. But nothing happened. No Specter was torn from his body, "What the...?"

"What are you doing?!" Elwood demanded of him angrily but he didn't care, he was terrified. Why hadn't it worked? It should've worked, he'd seen it work.

"Scor, are you alright?" Professor Ashain asked with genuine concern in his voice. In his voice. No strange accent, no strange anything. He looked worried about him too, not calmly expressionless like last night.

"I-I don't know," Scorpius stammered out awkwardly, "I thought I... I... It... It was a dream? It was so real, you were possessed but not with your eyes in my dream..."

"You had a dream about your teacher?" someone random student near the end taunted and laughter followed.

Scorpius realized for the first time that he was standing there in his pajamas, barefooted and his hair in complete disarray from just getting up. The school laughed at him. The staff were kinder, there was a mixture of concern and annoyance from the faces. The laughter echoed around him and Scorpius blushed scarlet with embarrassment at his humiliation, he turned and fled back out with the laughter chasing his heels the entire time.

---

Part 5: Counselling

---

Jack felt weak, as if every last fiber of strength had been completely and utterly torn away from him. Despite this, he didn't feel tired. Lethargic certainly but not tired. He shivered at the fierce cold. He had to force his eyes open, feeling as if they'd been welded shut. The room seemed shadowy, how long had he been sleeping? Minutes? Hours? Days? No, not sleeping. One, he recalled as the memory of agony returned to him. He'd agreed to merge his soul with One. How had that gone? He didn't really feel any different. Aside from being weak. And hungry and thirsty, his mouth felt scorched, he was so thirsty. But that was all physical, nothing to do with his mind which he had expected from his soul being merged with a shadow. Had it even worked at all? Where were his magical powers? How could he possibly protect his son when he wasn't even sure he could stand?

"One?" Jack tried to call out but it sounded more like the weakest of rasps and just the one word stabbed his dry mouth painfully. He got no response.

Groaning inwardly, he tried to force himself to get up and instead managed to fall off the bed. He grunted in pain as he hit the floor but his limbs still seemed reluctant to move, it was fight to just get to his hands and knees. His arms were shaking as he staggered to stand on trembling legs, they buckled beneath him and he crashed into the fall in an attempt to steady himself. What was wrong with him? He tried to run a hand through his hair and realized it was longer than it had been just before his soul was merged, he scowled and went to scratch his chin, finding a heft amount of stubble there. It must've been a few days that he was unconscious, still though, he hadn't thought that hair grew that fast.

"One?" Jack tried again, it was still painful to talk and he still got no reply from his shadowy friend.

"THORNE!" a voice bellowed and Jack jolted in surprise, thankful for the wall's support at the shock of his Landlord's voice. It was followed by vigorous knocking, "Open up!"

"Coming!" Jack croaked, putting effort into making the one word louder but it still was a slightly less weak rasp as if his voice hadn't been used in a while.

He awkwardly made his way to the front door, having to lean heavily on furniture and walls for support as his legs were incredibly unsteady still. He still fumbled with the latch before finally opening it to see his Landlord, he used the door for support and looked at the man. And had to do a double take. Hastings didn't look physically any different, he had the same pointed noise and yellow - not blond, it was quite yellow - hair but there was a strange white glowing aura about him.

Jack rubbed his crusty eyes, thinking it was a trick of the light but the aura remained. It was odd though, he'd thought it was just his apartment but even basking in the glow of sunlight from the corridor, everything seemed tinged as if in shadow. Except for the white glow around Hastings, with him it was like looking at him through a white-tinted lens. It was most disconcerting, Jack hoped it would wear off.

"Are you alright? You don't look well," Hastings commented with a look resembling concern, it was hard to tell through the damn aura.

"I don't feel well," Jack admitted instead, "So let's make this short, what did you want?"

"Rent," Hastings informed as his tone became harder, "I've been trying to cut you some slack because you're always been good before but this will be the third month in a row now that you won't have paid now, that's a quarter of a year. And it's not even like you're giving me a reason or bothering to answer or return my calls or notices."

"Hey!" Jack protested irritably, "Wait just one second, I am not behind on my rest. I paid the last two months and I'll pay this month too, it's only the beginning of August and I usually pay at the end of the last week. I-"

"Jack, it's October," Hastings interrupted seriously with a deep scowl that shone through the aura.

"What? But that can't be... That's two months... It was just August, it was..." Jack stammered out in panic at the ludicrousy of having been unconscious for two months of his life but the expression on Hastings' face stopped him, he wasn't joking around. It was true. He felt his mind reeling in panic, two months. Michael and Crystal must think he'd forgotten them completely, that he didn't care. Two months?! Dammit, One! "I-I'll have your rent by tonight or tomorrow, three whole months. I just... I just need to figure this out."

---

Scorpius ran back to Gryffindor Tower in shame, not paying attention to where he was going but was much more aware of the eyes burning into him. His lungs were burning by the time he was back in his dormitory, where he naturally managed to run into Albus. At least he was back though, he could just be alone in his humiliation and hide under his bed covers. How could he have been so stupid?

"Erm… You okay, Scor?" Albus asked slowly and worriedly as Scorpius threw himself down onto his bed and pulled the pillow over his head.

"I don't want to talk about it," Scorpius muttered under his breath.

"Okay… Are you not going to spy on the counsellor with Latimer still?" Albus wondered and Scorpius swore, "Yes? No? Did I get my cloak out for nothing?"

"No, I'm still going," Scorpius complained irritably as he closed shut the drapes to get changed, "But I may want to borrow the cloak for longer."

"Why?"

"Because I want to be invisible forever."

"Running out in your pajamas does not rank very highly on your list of best ideas ever."

"Thank you, Al," Scorpius said through gritted teeth. Stupid dream had felt so real.

Scorpius finishing getting dressed and pulled back the drapes, Albus had the cloak waiting and Scorpius threw it over himself before leaving. He didn't really want to show his face at that moment in time, maybe ever. He headed off to the room that the Sixth Years' counsellor had been given, Latimer was already there waiting. Scorpius tapped him on the shoulder to alert him to his presence and Latimer had his wand out in a panic.

"It's me!" Scorpius protested and Latimer lowered his wand immediately, pocketing it once more.

"Sorry. Are you ready?" Latimer asked and Scorpius nodded stupidly before remembering he still had the cloak over him.

"Yes," Scorpius confirmed instead and Latimer as he knocked on the door.

"Come in, it's open!" a cheerful voice called.

Latimer rolled his eyes as he pushed open the door, gesturing for Scorpius to go in and waited a moment for him to do so before entering himself. He lingered on closing it, not being able to see Scorpius to know that he was in or ask because the counsellor would hear.

The counsellor was too busy looking over a file to notice however. It was one of the female counsellors, Scorpius didn't remember her name but he'd guess she was in her thirties with bouncy curly hair and half-moon spectacles that hid grassy green eyes. She was humming to herself and smiling, sitting on a comfortable chair to the side of a desk filled with neatly stacked papers as she looked at the file in her hands. There was a pink floral couch angled beside her as they went over to her, she looked up from her file to smile a greeting at Latimer while Scorpius got a peek before she closed it.

Pupil Name: Latimer, Tobias Lytar

D.O.B.: July 31st 2004, St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries

Parentage: Latimer, Austin Gareth (father*). Latimer, Lark Thalia (mother, deceased**)

House: Gryffindor

"Why don't you take a seat, Mr Latimer? Make yourself comfortable," the counsellor told him, Latimer remained standing, "My name is Chastity Prinkett, you may call me Chastity or Counsellor Prinkett, whichever makes you feel more comfortable. What do you prefer to be called?"

"Lord Voldemort," Latimer quipped sarcastically but Chastity didn't lose her smile.

"A joker, I see," she commented as she took out a notebook, jotting down 'TL Latimer – uncooperative, suspicious, distrustful. Hiding something?' before looking back to him, "I told you that you could sit down."

"You also said to make myself comfortable, I'm more comfortable standing," Latimer pointed out with a shrug as he folded his arms, clearly having no intention of playing her game.

"Really?" Chastity gave him a look of mock concern, "Is it not difficult with your prosthetic foot?"

"No."

"What's your favorite color?" Chastity asked and it clearly took Latimer off-guard because the shock managed to show on his face before he buried it behind his usual stony expression.

"Green. Why?"

"Because..." Chastity began as she took out a frilly wand and flicked at the couch to turn it a bright green instead, "I can make it more to your tastes, we want you to feel more comfortable because these sessions are all for your benefit. Is that more to your tastes?"

"Well..." Latimer mused before flicking his own wand at the couch, making a much darker shade of green without vocalizing the spell which was surprising. Molly claimed non-verbal magic was difficult and was frustrated with struggling with it but it had looked easy for Latimer, "That's more like it."

"Then sit," Chastity told him in a more commanding tone as her smile dimmed until Latimer had done so, "You have an impressive grasp of non-verbal magic for someone who's only been practicing it for a month, in fact your teachers claim you've grasped it much faster than the others in your year. Why is that?"

"My Dad gave me some good advice," Latimer shrugged dismissively and Scorpius supposed this made sense, Austin's wandless magic was also non-verbal so he would have some idea.

"Your father, who was expelled in his Fifth Year before they start learning non-verbal magic?"

"No, my other father," Latimer commented sarcastically and Chastity's smile was strained as she scribbled down 'possible lie about use of non-verbal magic, trained by Soul Eaters?' Scorpius smiled to himself under the cloak, he knew they had an ulterior motive.

"You're a Gryffindor, is that right?"

"No, they let me wear their colors, access their Common Room and sleep in their dormitory for some other reason."

"Right," Chastity said as she scribbled down 'issues with behavioral attitude', "But none of your family share your house, your father was a Ravenclaw before his expulsion and your mother a Slytherin. Why did the Sorting Hat place in your Gryffindor?"

"Do I look like the Sorting Hat to you? Go ask it."

"No, it won't be necessary. Your opinion is what matters here not the Hat," Chastity pointed out as she scribbled down 'not close to family. Bad attitude still', "Tell me, does it bother you that your grandfather on your mother's side was a Death Eater responsible for over a dozen deaths?"

"I never really thought about it, it's not like I ever met the guy."

"He was skilled with non-verbal magic at a young age and excelled in Defense Against the Dark Arts like you do, do you aspire to be like him?"

"What? No!" Latimer protested, looking offended, "What kind of question even is that?! Why would you think that?!"

"Well, your involvement with the defensive efforts in Hogsmeade is noted and there were plenty of people including students who also did so. However, none of them killed anyone," Chastity told him as her tone became icy and her expression hard, "You literally blew someone's brains out, how does that make you feel? Do you enjoy killing, Latimer?"

"No!" Latimer snapped, "I didn't kill it on purpose, I was just trying to protect myself."

"Is that how you feel? You'll just kill anything that gets in your way?"

"No, it was self-defense and an accident."

"An accident? So killing is so natural that you don't even have to think about? It just happens?"

"What? No! Stop twisting me words."

"I'm just trying to understand how you feel. How does killing make you feel then?"

"I don't know, I try to think about it," Latimer pointed out quietly as he looked away and Chastity said nothing as she scribbled down 'lack of empathy for victim or guilt over crime. Possible sociopath. Possible violent psychotic tendencies. Possible explanation for bad attitude to me,' which Scorpius thought was completely unfair.

"Tell me, do you believe Varanian to be innocent?" Chastity asked and Latimer looked back to her.

"Yes."

"Why is that?"

"I don't know, maybe because he fought against the bad guys in Hogsmeade. It makes more sense about him being innocent too, I think."

"You weren't here when Varanian attacked the school and tried to possess everyone with Specters, were you?"

"No," Latimer admitted to Scorpius' surprise.

"Your file says that you were in St Mungo's hospital, is that correct?" Chastity wondered thoughtfully.

"Yes."

"Why were you in St Mungo's hospital?"

"Why do you think? I was sick," Latimer pointed out as if it were obvious which it sort of was, "Dragon Pox."

"Most convenient, isn't it? That you missed all that."

"If you classify nearly dying of illness more 'convenient' than nearly dying from Specters attacking then sure," Latimer answered sarcastically and Chastity scribbled down 'confirms illness, extreme lengths to keep Soul Eater out of attack?'

"Tell me, are you close to your father?" Chastity asked to which Latimer seemed surprised again, he shrugged, "He has a... shall we say, criminal disposition?"

"Gee, really?"

"Tell me, do you use sarcasm to mask pain?"

"No, I use it for sarcasm. That's just stupid," Latimer quipped but Chastity wrote down that it might be possible anyway, Chastity paused thoughtfully before asking her next question.

"To the best of your knowledge, do you believe your father to be a member of the Shadow/Soul Eater organization?"

"No!" Latimer protested firmly, "My Dad's a... shady guy but he's not completely evil, he's not one of them nor would he ever be."

"Hmm... Odd you should be so loyal to a father who's only had you back from Hogwarts for two out of five winter breaks and no Easter breaks, do you not feel like he doesn't care about you? Or do you just not care about this obvious lack of attention because you don't feel attachments to people? Or do you accept that he has more important things to do, in regards to illegal activities with the Shadow/Soul Eaters?"

"I... I really don't know what to say to that. The first one I guess?" Latimer wondered in confusion but he looked offended but Chastity decided to randomly jump topics.

"Your mother died when you were five years old, is that correct?"

"She died? And here I was always told that she went to live on a farm with my pet beetle, Beetley."

"You saw her die. You know that's not true," Chastity said sharply and Latimer looked away with pain in his eyes, Scorpius thought he actually saw the corners of Chastity's mouth attempt to twitch to a smile, "That must have been awfully traumatic. And she wasn't killed instantly either, how long did it take her to bleed to death from internal injuries? Minutes? Hours? What did it feel like to watch your own mother die?"

"I don't remember," Latimer muttered in an obvious lie and Chastity scribbled down 'upset about mother's death, could be a good button to press'.

"Alright, we'll come back to that. Tell me, do you ever have a problem with bullying?"

"No."

"Really? In your First Year you reported being bullied multiple times in the first few months. Did it really just stop or did you just stop reporting it because it was only making it worse?"

"The first one," Latimer lied and Chastity must have known too because she wrote 'conflict with reports from teachers, lies to protect bullies'.

"It must be difficult with your appearance. You never had any friends in your first three years of Hogwarts, did you?"

"No."

"Did you have friends in your muggle school before Hogwarts?"

"No."

"Why do you think this is?"

"Because I'm unlikable?" Latimer guessed.

"Probably," Chastity muttered but Scorpius thought that Latimer still heard, "Yet you've managed to gain some friendships since your Fourth Year, is that correct?"

"I guess," Latimer shrugged.

"Anyone besides people on your Quidditch team?"

"No."

"I see," Chastity nodded and this time, she did smile, "Quidditch is all about unity, needing to work as a team. It's understandable that the players would have some kind of semi-decent relationship for the sake of the game. That's the only reason they'd bother with you, they'd turn on you in an instant because they have no real loyalty or attachment to you besides your usefulness in game. You know that right?"

"I know," Latimer agreed, sounding sincere much to Scorpius' surprise.

"Have you ever had a girlfriend or dated anyone?"

"No," Latimer admitted and his cheeks colored slightly with embarrassment, reminding Scorpius sorely of his own embarrassment. Why did that dream about Professor Ashain have to feel so real?

"Does that bother you?" Chastity wondered and Latimer shrugged.

"I don't blame them. I wouldn't want to date me either."

"You have no career plans, do you?"

"No."

"So, your family is either dead or doesn't care about you, you have no romantic relationships, your so-called friends also don't care about you, you're frequently picked on and you have no plans for the future?"

"Pretty much. When you put it like that, it sounds really depressing though."

"Well, it's no wonder you have such a low sense of self-worth!" Chastity told him jokingly but Scorpius was pretty sure that everyone in the room knew it wasn't a joke, she smiled at Latimer, "You should be aware that we at the Ministry do care about you, you have talents that you simply choose to downplay but we at the Ministry see your potential and believe you could have a very bright future with us. But it requires making the right choices now, do you understand?"

"Not really."

"Tell me what you know about the enemy, you're friends with both Molly Weasley - whose uncle is a known Shadow and - Scorpius Malfoy. Malfoy, as in the family with known Death Eater ties and whose grandfather was a Shadow before his death, Scorpius was seen with Varanian in Hogsmeade and at the Ministry during attacks as well as another classified location. People talk, Latimer, what do you know? What has either said?"

"Look, you're not only barking but you're running in the wrong garden," Latimer told her firmly and with an edge of finality as he stood, "Even if I knew something, there's no conceivable way in this life that I would willingly tell you. I'm not involved with the Soul Eaters, neither are my friends or my father and I think we're done here. Good day, Prinkett. And just a word of advice, you suck at subtly."

On that note, Latimer simply left and Chastity didn't even bother to try stopping him. She didn't even seem concerned, Scorpius was tempted to follow Latimer but was curious to whether Chastity would say or write anything more. He was rewarded by a smile as she wrote down 'definitely hiding something. Definite possible Shadow connection. For next session, ask for more details on Hogsmeade and press mother issue to throw off-guard.' Scorpius left in disgust - Latimer had kindly left the door open for him - as Latimer had been right, she didn't even try to be subtle. He hadn't thought it possible but he'd been mistaken, Scorpius was now dreading his own session even more.

---

Part 6: Battling Back

---

Roman Magnus Rivers was the youngest in his family, born near the end of August to Magnus and Mavis Rivers. Roman didn't think his parents could possibly be any more different, Magnus was a reserved, down-to-earth man of few words while the excitable, dreamer Mavis was never short of them but they seemed close nonetheless. This was even more unusual considering it had been an arranged marriage, Mavis wasn't even from England but rather a pureblooded family in America and had neither met Magnus nor stepped foot in England before her wedding day. Then again, Magnus had been the one to arrange the marriage. Magnus was a Seer.

The only others in the Rivers family were Roman's elder siblings, twins Aubrey and Audrey who were a full decade older than him. Roman disliked this, the gap was too great for them to be interested in playing games with him or if they did it was only because they'd been commanded too. Aubrey was… completely spoiled. He'd stupidly climbed a tree as a toddler, falling and badly injuring his hip and leg – even gaining a scar from the ordeal on his hip – which had forever since made him coddled by Mavis. This had left him incredibly self-obsessed, vain and rather oblivious to everyone's needs but his own. None of which Mavis had a problem with, as long as he was happy. Magnus didn't treat any of children more or less bias but he also never did much to stop her from inflating Aubrey's ego.

Not that Mavis was a bad mother, she went overboard with Aubrey but she did dote on all of them. She read Roman a bedtime story every night – after he'd outgrown lullabies – which was usually myths or legends because they absolutely fascinated him, she'd then hug him and tell him she loved him before tucking him in and kissing him goodnight. She was bubbly, happy and affectionate, which was the opposite of Magnus. He was always serious and rarely showed emotion, he hardly ever smiled too. Roman didn't doubt his father loved them, he'd always give you his time and he was actually a better listener than Mavis but he was less obviously affectionate. Mavis frequently praised him and cuddled him but Magnus was much more difficult to please, it made the rare moments when Magnus would give praise – albeit sparingly – or hug him or even smile at him all the more precious.

Roman thought that must be just how it worked with families, the mother could be doting but the father was sparing. The siblings were homeschooled by both parents, Magnus could work alone from home and Mavis was technically a housewife so they were both always there. Roman was usually with one parent and his siblings with another, because of the different age and skill level. Roman didn't mind, it made him feel less overshadowed by his siblings. Between Mavis and Aubrey, he and Audrey sometimes struggled to get a word in. Magnus also didn't say much but it was by choice and when he did speak, everyone listened. Roman also had something of a unique upbringing as Magnus didn't believe in waiting until age eleven to learn magic, he didn't have his own wand - British wandmakers didn't sell them to children under ten - but he'd started learning spells as early as five and practicing them as young as six. It was tiring doing a lot of magic so young and took longer to learn but still possible, it tended to be one practical magic lesson a week but gradually increased in frequency as he grew older.

Roman still considered them quite a close bunch, not that he really had much to go on since they were very isolated. They lived in the countryside a fair way away from neighbors, if there was any at all then they weren't in contact with them. Mavis wrote to friends back in America but that was it, Magnus was not only a loner but had no desire for friends and the three children simply had never met anyone their own age. Roman especially was kept even more isolated due to being under age and had never been outside of the garden without family accompanying him, the only people he'd met were people like shop clerks and waiters or occasionally his father's supervisor would visit but there was no one he really knew by name or was close to except his family. Sometimes Roman missed having someone who didn't think toys were childish but mostly he didn't mind, he was happy with his life. Even when news broke of the big scary wizarding war, Roman felt perfectly safe in their nice near little cottage. Mavis was very house proud and Magnus craved order so things were always neat and tidy, the one commonality they seemed to share. Nothing could touch them. How wrong Roman was.

---

Scorpius returned to Gryffindor Tower, following behind some returning First Years due to still being invisible and spotted Abby, Albus and Rose in the Common Room. He headed back upstairs first though to remove the cloak before joining them downstairs as his visible self, happy to be able to tell them that he'd been right. He'd actually managed to get the awful embarrassing incident out of his mind until he was greeted by snickering and comments by random people as he passed to move over to his friends, his face going a darker shade of red with every step.

"Sleep well?"

"I see you remembered to get dressed this time, well done!"

"No pajamas?"

"Do you shoot Patronuses at all the teachers you dream about?" Carver taunted the last, the only person he knew by name and his friends laugh.

"Shut up James' cronies," Scorpius muttered at them as he finally reached his friends while the nameless ones angrily protested they had names.

"Did you really run into the Great Hall in your pajamas and cast a Patronus at Ashain?" Albus asked him immediately grinning broadly and Scorpius buried his face in his hands.

"I told you that he did, some of us were actually at breakfast," Rose pointed out testily.

"Yeah but it's better to hear it from Scor himself, I thought he'd just forgot where the nearest bathroom was or something. So is it true?"

"Yes," Scorpius groaned and to his surprise, Albus laughed. Scorpius shot up his head to glare at his friend, Albus fell silent and gave him an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, it is pretty funny."

"It wasn't funny for me," Scorpius protested as the laughter returned to his memory and he felt humiliated all over again.

"Hey Malfoy," a random Sixth Year called out and Scorpius regretfully glanced in the boy's direction, "Just out of curiosity, do you dream about all your teachers? Or just the dudes? Or is Ashain just special?"

"If anyone wants me, I'll be in my room," Scorpius announced to his friends as the boy laughed with a group of others in his year.

"You're not going to tell us how it went?" Abby wondered as Scorpius stood.

"It can wait," Scorpius muttered miserably, his being right hardly seemed important then.

He headed back to his dormitory, trying to ignore it all but failing not to feel awful. He had put the cloak back onto Albus' bed but retrieved it again, this time simply lying on his front on his bed and throwing it over himself to be invisible. He wanted to be invisible forever. How could he have been so stupid to confuse a dream with real life? Should it not have been obvious from the lack of glowing black eyes? And since when did possessed people talk with random accents? There was no excuse, he was just an idiot. Scorpius didn't know how long he lay there, he probably had homework but he didn't feel moving. Not even when he heard footsteps.

"I don't actually know. What kind of question is that anyway?" Michael's voice was saying, sounding tired. Scorpius assumed he was talking to Albus although he could've sworn that he could hear only one set of footsteps, Albus was much more heavy-footed than Michael so it was strange. But what happened next squashed that thought, Michael laughed weakly, "Accidentally bite someone as a human? When would I ever accidentally bite someone? Who does that? Could you pass the potatoes plea- oops, I apologize, it appears I somehow bit you!"

Was Michael talking to himself? Scorpius had dismissed it before as just something to kill time in Transfiguration because he was forced to sit alone, maybe knowing Roman talked to himself had made him biased against it being too strange. But this... Michael was actually talking to himself as if in response to something said but that was impossible, Scorpius hadn't heard anyone else speak.

"What other way did-"

"Michael?" Scorpius questioned in confusion as he sat up and turned to his friend, Michael must've jumped nearly a foot in the air in shock and almost seemed to drop something.

"You scared the crap out of me! What are you doing lying there invisible?!"

"What am I doing?! What are you doing talking to yourself?! And don't pretend you haven't, I heard you just now and I've noticed it in Transfiguration too!" Scorpius snapped back defensively.

He felt immediately bad though as he realized that Michael had started shaking after being surprised by him, his small fragile body was trembling. The strain of the transformation showed in the exhaustion on his face, he looked incredibly faint for a moment and Scorpius managed to leap to his feet in time to spare Michael from collapsing to the floor. Michael leaned heavily against him for support but remained conscious, he was surprisingly light and Scorpius helped him to his bed.

"Do you need to go back to the Hospital Wing?" Scorpius asked worriedly but Michael vigorously shook his head although he kept his mismatched eyes closed.

"I barely managed to convince Marigold to let me return to the dormitory, I just need to rest," Michael told him weakly.

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather be in the Hospital Wing?"

"Scorpius, I have to learn to live with being a werewolf and the whole weakness thing is part of that. I'm going to have to live with it outside of Hogwarts so there won't always be a Hospital Wing for me to rely on, I need to get used to this outside that. I just need to rest."

"Okay," Scorpius nodded, deciding he'd leave Michael to rest and talk to him about what he'd heard later. He went to move back onto his bed but Michael opened his eyes and spoke again.

"And the whole talking to myself thing... It... It just helps me cope with this werewolf stuff, I'm not hallucinating or hearing things or anything. I'm sorry if it weirds you out, I just... Please don't worry about it, I'm fine," Michael told him reluctantly.

"Okay."

"Okay," Michael nodded, looking relieved as he lay down and stretched his arm under his pillow for a moment as he yawned. He kicked of his shoes and crawled under the covers still clothed, "And fill me on how it went later because I won't absorb any of it now, sorry. Goodnight."

Scorpius lay back down worriedly and guiltily, he was feeling bad just for being humiliated while Michael had just spent the night as a werewolf. And Michael was talking to himself to help him cope with being a werewolf? He had friends, why didn't he just talk to Scorpius? Or one of the others? Scorpius would certainly be willing to support him or listen or whatever, he was sure the others would too. Did Michael just not trust him? Did Michael just blame him for being turned? Or was this just Michael being Michael and not wanting to bother anyone with his worries? Or a combination?

If he was being completely honest, maybe Scorpius had been neglecting Michael in favor of worrying over the Ministry counsellors - or spies more like - and studying. It wasn't exactly easy though, not when Michael actually seemed to prefer solitude these days. But then, who wouldn't with all the filthy looks that Michael got? Scorpius had retreated to his dormitory to avoid a similar thing after all. But Scorpius could hardly do anything about that, he couldn't undo Michael's becoming a werewolf and he couldn't cure it either, that was beyond his - or anyone's - power. He sighed miserably but remained determined, he had to do something to help Michael so he'd stop talking to himself. He didn't like the thought of Michael winding up like Roman.

He glanced over at Michael, already sleeping with heavy lines of exhaustion written into his face even in sleep. Scorpius felt a pang of guilt as he saw the scar that he'd given Michael, it was even more obvious in sleep as it continued through the closed eyelid. Michael always wound up hurt because of him, why did he even stay friends with him? Why did anyone? People around him just got hurt while he walked away completely fine, his parents shouldn't be worrying over the danger that Michael posed to him but the danger that he posed to Michael. His eyes drifted to Michael's wrist, possessing both the friendship bracelet and the werewolf identifying one. If not for that stupid bracelet things might be easier for Michael, those who didn't know him wouldn't know immediately that he's a werewolf at least. But it was law to wear them, he couldn't change a law.

But maybe he didn't have to. An idea clicked into his mind, there was a law that werewolves had to wear them but no law that said non-werewolves couldn't wear them. If he wore one as well then it'd hopefully make Michael feel less alone, maybe even more able to talk to him. Scorpius liked the feeling of having an attainable goal and headed off to the Library, needing to research a spell to duplicate Michael's werewolf bracelet. It made it easier to ignore the mocking comments and smirks thrown in his direction as he went to the Library, he was pretty sure there was a spell for it. It could be used as a curse but the creator was in control so it could also be used just to copy something, the copy wouldn't last forever but that didn't matter. He could just make another when it failed. He successfully retrieved a book about it before hearing his name being called by a friendly voice, Orous, Maurice, Corin and Vern were in the Library - probably working on homework - and he decided sitting with them was as good a choice as any.

"How'd it go with Lassiter?" Vern asked him curiously.

"I was completely right," Scorpius pointed out proudly and Maurice joined him in looking triumphant at being right all along, "She wasn't interested in helping Latimer - Latimer not Lassiter - at all, in fact she was kind of cruel really and all she wanted was information."

"I told you I was right," Maurice exclaimed happily.

"Yeah who cares about that. What was up with you today at breakfast?" Corin wondered instead and Scorpius felt his face flush red.

"I had this stupid dream that I thought was real and I don't want to talk about it so can we just drop it?" Scorpius told them through gritted teeth before Vern gasped at something beyond him, he turned to see Vern watching a girl who'd just came into the Library. He recognized her vaguely as Olivia Nott but from the expression on Vern's face and knowing he had a crush... "Olivia Nott, that's the girl you like?"

"Y-Yeah," Vern admitted with a sheepish smile while Scorpius scowled, "What? Slytherins aren't evil and I know her brothers have been mean to you in the past but she's not like that, she's really nice and she doesn't like bullying. In fact, she was scared to talk to me for ages because of James being my cousin because he and his cronies pick on her sometimes. But now we get along, we usually sit together in History of Magic and talk. I really, really like her. And I want to ask her to Hogsmeade, I'm just scared she'll say no or that someone better will ask her first because well, she's super pretty."

"You don't sit with Orous in History of Magic?"

"I usually fall asleep through it," Orous shrugged in explanation.

"I don't think Albus will like her though because of her being a Slytherin and because of her brothers but you'd like her if you got to know her," Vern defended his crush.

"Have you asked her out yet?" Scorpius asked curiously, surprised at himself for being off-put by her for the same reasons Vern had just said.

"Not yet, the Hogsmeade trip isn't until the end of October and it's only the start now. It's plenty of time to practice."

"You want to practice asking her out?"

"Practice this spell," Vern told him with a cautious smile, "She likes birds and flowers, just look at that flower barrette. So I... I found this spell that animates paper and I was going to write down on paper that would she like to go out with me then fold it into an origami bird, give it a flower and have it fly over to her. What... What do you think? Do you think she'd like that? It's like different and romantic, right?"

"I... I guess," Scorpius offered and Vern's face fell at his lack of enthusiasm, "It's just that... well... She's a Slytherin and you're a Hufflepuff. And she's a pure-blood, you're a muggle-born and she might have a problem with dating you because of that. Plus Harry Potter's your uncle and her grandfather was a Death Eater sent to Azkaban, she might have a problem with that."

"She's not like that," Vern protested.

"I'm just saying, I come from that world where purity matters especially when it comes to dating. I hope it goes well for you but just... try not get your hopes up too much in case it doesn't go well, okay?"

"What is wrong with you people?" Maurice complained irritably.

"When you start liking girls, you'll understand," Corin told him, which only made Maurice scowl more.

"Why does everyone keep saying that to me?"

"Because it's true."

"The only possible useful purpose for relationships is to reproduce offspring to stop the human race from dying out, students in this school are too young for this thus dating within Hogwarts is completely pointless," Maurice reeled off to which Corin rolled his eyes, "And outside of Hogwarts, there's a war going on and times of war are the worst possible times for offspring to be born. So at the absolute minimum, dating should only be done by adults not in Hogwarts at such a time when the Shadow War has ended and only for the purpose of reproducing offspring. Furthermore, dating should be about selecting the mate with the most ideal characteristics that you wish to pass on to the offspring and this has nothing to do with looks or even personality. The most desirable traits are health, power and intelligence so you should be looking for the female with the best personal and familial health record, high intelligence and very powerfully magically. Bear in mind, all relationships end badly and mothers tend to abandon their offspring so choosing a female you don't feel attached to will make it less painful."

"Maurice, you're a great friend," Vern offered and patted Maurice on the back with a sympathetic expression, "But you have really serious issues."

"Also a word of advice when asking someone out, Vern or Orous," Corin spoke up.

"Unless I start dying my hair, wearing contact lenses and spray-tanning my skin," Orous interrupted, "I don't think I'd have any chance of dating anyone anytime soon."

"Well anyway, try not to phrase asking a girl out as," Corin continued and switched to a very robotic voice, "'Female, I believe you would be a good potential choice for producing offspring with when we have reached adulthood and the war has ended.'"

"I'll try," Vern commented as everyone but Maurice laughed at the impression, Maurice simply frowned.

"Laugh all you want, I know I'm right," Maurice insisted.

"Well good look trying to ask someone out when all the criteria is met," Corin offered with a shrug and Maurice looked even more offended.

"I still wouldn't do that. Deafness is not something I'd ever want to risk passing onto my offspring-"

"They're called children."

"-Offspring so I would never do it anyway. Plus, I only said that was the only possible way I think it could ever possibly be useful, not for me specifically. Kissing looks gross and reproduction sounds icky and I have no desire to be hurt over being abandoned by someone I would theoretically care about."

"Oh brother," Orous sighed and Maurice rolled his eyes, Scorpius just shook his head hopelessly and opened the book.

"This is why it's more fun arguing with Rose, she actually bothers putting passion into her arguments," Maurice insisted while Scorpius skimmed the contents to find the right page, turning to it had apparently not gone unnoticed by Maurice, "Why are you looking up the Doubling Charm?"

"Because I had this idea," Scorpius pointed out and explained about duplicating the werewolf bracelet to stop Michael feeling so alone, Maurice grinned but shook his head.

"You're thinking too small, you need to duplicate it so that lots of people can wear it."

"I don't follow," Vern said in confusion.

"Think about it," Maurice volunteered and gestured with his free hand as if indicating more.

"The more people wear it the less that Michael will feel alone?" Scorpius guessed.

"Close, but no. What's the point of having these werewolf bracelets at all? To identify werewolves," Maurice started to explain, sounding more enthusiastic than he had since before the summer, "Look at this way, what's the point in having Hogwarts school uniforms? And Beauxbatons school uniforms? To identify them as from their respective houses. If everyone started wearing Hogwarts robes, say children not old enough yet and those who'd graduated and those from other schools. What happens then?"

"I don't know," Corin complained.

"It means it no longer represents Hogwarts anymore, if everyone's wearing it then you can't tell which are the real students and which are not anymore. It no longer identifies Hogwarts students, making the uniform obsolete and it's the same with these bracelets. If werewolves and non-werewolves alike are wearing these bracelets then there's no way to tell just by looking who the real werewolves are anymore, making them pointless and obsolete."

"That's brilliant," Scorpius realized and Maurice flashed him a smile.

Maurice abandoned whatever he'd been doing in favor of helping Scorpius with the spell, it was a tricky spell but he'd been successful once by lunch and both worked through lunch - Scorpius' face felt scarlet just thinking about what had happened in the Great Hall that morning - to work at it. By dinner, Scorpius was perfectly capable of recreating things and Maurice had had a lot of practice in eliminating duplicates. They headed down to dinner eagerly and Scorpius' good mood was again squashed by taunts, however people were thankfully too busy with eating to bother with him during the actual meal

Marigold came over to him at one point, tapping him on the shoulder to ask him to bring Michael up some soup and give him permission to take food and a bowl from the table. Scorpius did so, waking a sleepy Michael up to eat - with painful slowness - and getting him some water before Michael collapsed back into slumber. The other two in their dormitory threw dark looks Michael way until Albus silenced them with words after they went to the bathroom, hopefully to brush their teeth. He'd filled the others in on the plan at dinner but refrained from telling Michael, getting him to eat seemed more important and it could wait another day. Michael was surprisingly up for breakfast, he looked like death but he was up and trudged at a snail-like pace down to the Great Hall. Scorpius was still being mocked, why couldn't everyone forget about that already? At breakfast was when he finally filled them in on the counsellor and how he had been completely right all along.

"Well done," Rose sighed sadly, "Congratulations on being right."

"Thank you," Maurice said happily.

"But that doesn't mean you're always right, or that there's always something going on."

"Actually, it does because I'm right because I'm smart."

"And I'm not?!" Rose demanded angrily and Maurice smirked.

"Not as smart as me, clearly if you couldn't see through such a thinly veiled attempt to steal information from the lesser minded amongst us. Even Latimer saw through it and I'd had him pegged a lot less intelligent than you."

"It has nothing to do with intelligence, I'm just a more trusting person than you. And a smarter one."

"Being trusting is another way of saying being stupid."

"Scorpius," Michael interjected while Rose and Maurice continued bickering, "Why do random people keep saying weird things to you mockingly?"

"Because yesterday he ran down here in his pajamas and cast a Patronus at Ashain, when nothing happened he stammered about having a dream with Ashain then ran away," Albus explained helpfully and Scorpius through him a dark look, did everyone have to know?

"What dream?" Michael asked curiously as the post arrived, surprising everyone was the fact that a letter dropped before Michael and Scorpius recognized Jack's handwriting.

"Wow, you actually got a letter for once," Abby wondered in surprise before giving him a kind smile, "That must be nice."

"I only didn't before because of my stepdad and he's gone now anyway," Michael shrugged as he opened it with a scowl, "This is from Jack, I thought it'd be from Crystal if she got better. Weird."

"What do you mean 'he's gone'?" Albus asked in confusion as Michael skimmed through the letter, shrugging at Albus' question.

"Your dad arrested him, he's locked up as far as I know."

"My Dad? What? Why?"

"Because..." Michael hesitated for a moment, possibly debating whether to be honest or not, how to phrase it or simply finishing the bit he was reading, "My stepdad used to beat the shit out of me."

Albus, Abby and Corin's jaws all dropped - Corin's spoonful of cereal missing his mouth and dropping unnoticed onto his robes - as they turned to gape at Michael, Rose stopped mid-argument with Maurice - much to Maurice's annoyance as he probably hadn't been paying attention to what Michael was saying to translate - to stare at Michael in shock. Michael was either completely oblivious or just didn't care as he continued reading his letter, even Scorpius was surprised that Michael had just casually announced it like that but he had known beforehand so it wasn't so much of a shock.

"Still weird," Michael told them as he folded the letter back up, "All of a sudden he's anxious how I'm doing, what is up with that? Why are you all looking at me like I turned into a werewolf?"

"Your stepdad..." Albus began but trailed off.

"Ask your dad if you don't believe me," Michael shrugged as he went back to his food, "It doesn't matter anymore."

"I-I'm sorry," Rose offered quietly and they continued eating in silence, Maurice still in the dark as he looked between them all with a scowl.

"Okay," Maurice said finally which only earned him half-glances, "So are you going to tell Michael about the bracelet thing and do it?"

"The bracelet thing?" Michael wondered in confusion and everyone else seemed to perk up at the change of subject, Scorpius had forgotten it momentarily in his surprise at Michael's willingness to admit about Bob. Maurice quickly filled him in though, Michael didn't look half as impressed as they did but he handed his bracelet to Scorpius anyway, "I doubt it'll make a difference but feel free to give it a shot. And give it back quickly before Midas complains."

Scorpius eagerly took the bracelet and duplicated it eight times - for him, Rose, Albus, Abby, Corin, Maurice, Vern and Orous - which they all put on, Corin went to go give the two Hufflepuffs theirs and Scorpius returned the original to Michael. His good mood returning as he eyed the bracelet resting beside the friendship one as the bell went, it felt oddly good to be a rebel. The bell went just after and they parted with the Third Years to head to Defense Against the Dark Arts, they'd moved onto Counter-Curses last week but it remained his favorite class. Scorpius just hoped Professor Ashain would forget about the whole Patronus breakfast incident.

"Erm... Sorry for asking but why are you guys - and girls - all wearing werewolf bracelets?" Knight wondered in surprise as he took a seat near them.

"Taking a stand against a stupid system and that bitch Midas, not that a Slytherin would understand," Albus announced grandly but Knight didn't seem to notice the tone of superiority as he grinned from ear to ear.

"Give us some, I can hand them out to my friends and we can do it too!"

"I don't think it's a Slytherin-"

"Absolutely," Scorpius agreed and took off his own copy to duplicate, "How many do you want?"

"Err... Ten to start, I'll ask for more if I run out," Knight told him and Scorpius duplicated the bands ten times, handing them to Knight who put one on and handed some of the rest out to his friends.

"Can I have one?" Cassia Ashain asked and Scorpius jumped, not having noticed the small six year old near him, "And one for Antonius, I don't like Midas and to hell with bitches!"

"Al, you really need to work on your language in front of the little ones," Abby complained while Scorpius duplicated two more for the Ashain kids, Cassia happily skipping away back to her brother as the professor started the lesson.

Scorpius was immensely pleased with the result and it only got better. Knight approached him again during Divination the following day to ask for more since he'd ran out, Byron Knight also approached him nervously at lunch to ask for one and two extra for his friends. After Quidditch practice, Freddie, Louis and Caitlin all took some to give to their Seventh Year friends as well as for themselves, Rufus Rhett - despite barely knowing them - also took one and some for his First Year friends, Lily as well and for her Second Year friends too, Roxy did the same for her and her Fifth Year friends and even Carver was begrudgingly obliged to take one.

"I still hate you," Carver complained to Michael as he put it on, "I just don't hate you specifically for being a werewolf."

Molly and Latimer took one as well although none for their friends, Latimer because he had none and Molly because her only other friend was Mirra. Mirra had already approached him for one and some for her friends, as had Krum's daughter Grozda who knew Michael from over the summer, Mirra's brother the Ravenclaw Seeker - now also Captain - Sequoia Pentakel also approached him and asked for a lot to give out, Mirra's Second Year sister Eliza - who Scorpius had never met - also approached to ask for some. Olivia Nott also - someone else he'd never spoken to - approached him to ask for some, Maximus Nott from their year also asked for one weirdly. At his next Study of Ancient Runes lesson, Professor Kresmir made him stay back.

"Y'know, I've noticed that you've been wearing that werewolf bracelet despite not being a werewolf as have several others," Professor Kresmir told him and Scorpius swallowed nervously but was ready to hold his ground.

"Yes, Sir," Scorpius confirmed unashamedly, "There's no law that says you can't."

"I see," Professor Kresmir nodded before smiling widely as he winked, "And I also see what you're doing here, I agree that it's a complete bollocks law anyway. If you could see one my way then you'll have part of the teacher vote."

Scorpius could only smile as he duplicated one for the professor and it wasn't the last time either. Professors Ashain, Longbottom, Koray - whose son also wore one as he'd befriended Byron apparently, Hagrid - he had to enlarge that one and Vipera all asked for one, as did Elina. He was approached by Krum, Oring and a begrudging Rivers for ones as well, despite not having them for any class and weirdly enough Grant asked for one. He was really taking the 'sucking up to Professor Ashain to not be arrested for torturing him' far. Marigold the Head Healer also asked for one and Scorpius was proud to see that the majority of staff opposed the werewolf identifying bracelets, the look on Midas' face was priceless.

"Wha- Bu- Y- What?" Midas stammered in bewilderment as she looked at them, "You four are not werewolves."

"No, we're not," Scorpius confirmed and stretched his arms, deliberately making sure his sleeves fell back to make the bracelet even more obvious.

"You can't wear them, they're for werewolves only."

"These are fakes."

"Well take them off."

"Why? It's not breaking the dress code, is it? Because that would mean that actual werewolves aren't allowed to wear them either which breaks the law," Scorpius asked as innocently as he could manage.

Midas opened and closed her mouth a few times before sealing it. Her eyes met his and burned with unabashed hatred before she stalked back to the front of the class and began the less, Scorpius allowed a smile to play on his lips. The bracelets had killed the humiliation over the dream thing, not even his counsellor meeting tomorrow could break his spirit. His bracelet idea had caught on better than he'd really thought, if he could do that then he could handle one hour long meeting with a spy.

---

Part 7: Leebin

---

Jack didn't understand it. He'd managed to get back on his feet, paid off the rent, written to Michael, visited Crystal, quenched his thirst and gotten things generally back on track. There was three niggling differences however, one was that his vision. Now everyone he looked at had an aura. Every man, woman and child that he passed in the streets had an aura of white, gray or black and of slightly varying shades although white was the majority. Everything also seemed darker no matter where he was, everything looked as if it was in shadows even if it was in bright sunlight. Not that he liked the sunlight anymore, it made him feel oddly uncomfortable. He'd also discovered that he could see in the dark now, he could make out shapes - and still see auras - even in pitch-blackness. The change in vision was rather disconcerting but he thought he was finally getting used to it, he couldn't do anything about it either and he also had yet to discover his promised power.

The second was his own appearance, he wasn't sure if it was just because of how he viewed the world now but he always thought he looked tinted as if in shadow as well. And his eyes, you didn't notice it immediately but if he stared into the mirror then you'd realize that his pupils were no longer circular. The edges were all lumpy and they seemed to move like the blobs in a lava lamp around the iris, he'd first suspected something when a checkout assistant had given him a double take. It didn't seem to affect his vision but it was strange, he also thought he saw similar lumps only more like shadows that bobbed randomly across his skin but he only really noticed it if he was naked or sometimes in short sleeves. He wasn't sure he trusted his eyes anymore but if it wasn't a trick then there was also that, thankfully it wasn't too noticeable though and even if someone did notice then they'd just chalk it up to a trick of the light because shadows made shading oddly.

The third and most pressing thing though, was the hunger. He was so hungry, he'd managed to quench his thirst but his hunger was insatiable. He'd eat until his body physically could not eat anymore and he'd still be hungry, he was so hungry that he literally licked the plate or bowl or piece of cutlery for every last sliver of food, he was so hungry that he'd even lick the packaging but he'd still be hungry. He was so desperate that he'd start eating things like butter or sugar or salt, he could eat every scrap of food in his apartment in a day and still feel starved. He was so hungry that it hurt, it actually hurt. Gnawing, clawing, digging in its nails, desperately biting at his insides to give him something that he craved, painkillers didn't help and he could only lie there curled up in agony as his stuffed - but still surprisingly slim - body starved for no apparent reason. And it only got worse.

"What do you want?!" Jack cried to no one in particular as he lay on the floor of his kitchen, clutching his stomach as the agony ate away at him inside amidst a graveyard of plates, bowls, cutlery and empty boxes. He couldn't exactly go to a doctor either, "Why is this happening?!"

You're hungry, Jack, a familiar voice spoke into his mind as if whispering.

"I know I'm bloody hungry! And One?! Haven't you heard me calling for you?! What is wrong with me?!"

I'm weak, merging your soul to me and breaking from her... Well it took every ounce of strength I've had, it's slow to regain it

"Why am I so hungry?" Jack begged to know.

You've long since satisfied your body's physical hunger and thirst, you- we need something else

"What do you mean?"

Shadows don't require physical sustenance, we feed off of pain. Now we're merged and we still require pain, we've been neglecting that need

"F-F-Feed off pain?" Jack stammered out fearfully, not liking how that sounded in any way, shape or form.

Yes. We need pain. We need to kill. We need to tear someone's soul apart and feed on that agony

"I'm not killing anyone."

But you must if you want us to survive, you must if you want magical powers. Your body will be able to cope with the magic from a witch or wizard now because of me being merged with you but we still need to get it from someone in the first place since it's not naturally occurring in either of us. Find a witch or wizard and tear their soul apart, we can take their power and feed of the pain the destruction causes them

"I told you, no!" Jack yelled firmly, "I did this to protect my son, not become a murderer!"

You can't protect anyone like this!

"I'm not doing it!"

Fine. I don't actually have the strength to argue with you. Just lie here in useless agony, tell me when you've had enough and change your mind

"I don't change my mind," Jack promised but One gave no answer, only the hunger pain remained.

---

"Wish me luck," Scorpius sighed to his friends as the bell went to signal the end of lunch, meaning he now had to have his counselling session. They muttered their wishes of luck as he gloomily left, annoyed that he'd be missing Defense Against the Dark Arts - or at least most of it since it was a double - even if it was just their Patronus lesson. He was so absorbed by his annoyance that he didn't immediately notice Professor Ashain going in his direction for a minute, they were heading for different floors but still up the Grand Staircase, "Hey Professor Ashain."

"What? Oh hey, Scor," Professor Ashain greeted him, also apparently having been too lost in thought to notice him. It was the first time Scorpius had had a chance to talk to him alone except for when he'd given the professor a bracelet hastily in a rush to hurry before the next lesson.

"I erm... I'm sorry about the whole Patronus breakfast thing," Scorpius apologized and felt his cheeks flushing scarlet.

"It's okay, don't worry about it," Professor Ashain brushed it off, also looking slightly embarrassed but gave him a reassuring smile anyway, "I don't hold it against you."

"I'm glad. I am sorry, it was just a weird dream when you were possessed..." Scorpius started to say and hesitated for a moment, allowing himself to wonder for the briefest of moments if it had been real and the Specter had just left him since the morning, "There's no... no chance that you were possessed that night and hanging out in a bathroom, is there? I mean you were a little weird near the start of term."

"Of course not, zero chance. Hogwarts is protected, Specters can't possess gray souls - which I am - against their will - and I'd never agree to that - and I'm not a metamorphmagus so my eyes would be black. Plus I take something to help me sleep every night now to stop that... weirdness so there's no chance I was wandering about," Professor Ashain assured him and Scorpius felt much more relieved and maybe a little silly, "I'm fine. If anything then I was wondering about you, it's not a fun experience being laughed at like that."

"No, it wasn't," Scorpius admitted and felt his cheeks flushing again.

"Similar thing happened to me once back when I was a Fifth Year, I worked up the courage to ask out this girl - Kitty McGuire - who I had had a crush on for years but I stupidly did it at breakfast when everyone else was about. She said no of course, mocked me and then pointed and laughed at me. And then her friends started laughing at me. And then everyone was just kind of laughing at me. And I ran away crying... Fun times."

"That doesn't sound very fun."

"It really wasn't, at the time it was pretty humiliating and soul-destroying. I was being sarcastic," Professor Ashain pointed out, "But the student population is fickle, they forget these things pretty quickly when something else comes along. Plus in my case, having an older brother who hexed anyone who tried to bring it up probably helped, he also cursed Kitty with these terrible boils too. Never had any luck with women. And this is my floor."

"I'm sorry about having to miss the class for this stupid counselling thing," Scorpius sighed as his gloom returned, "Isn't there any way you could get me out of it?"

"I wish but we're not allowed, staff have to do them too and I can't get out of that either," Professor Ashain apologized before giving a derisive snort as he folded his arms, "But I would if I could, stupidest waste of time if ever I heard it."

"I know, right?" Scorpius agreed, "They could've thought of a less insulting lie to spy on us, I mean counselling? Do they think we're weak and stupid and pathetic?"

"It is ridiculous, people don't need counselling, and it's just a way to make money or get information. How is yabbering on to a random person supposed to help?"

"Exactly! People need to deal with things themselves."

"And if you wanted to talk that badly then you'd speak to someone you trusted, a friend or family or professor."

"Exactly, see that makes much more sense to me."

"And to me."

"You two have a very definite pureblood attitude, you know that?" a new voice commented and both turned to see a man standing listening to them, Scorpius recognized him vaguely as one of the counsellors. He had unruly reddish brown hair and oval-shaped spectacles, he looked maybe a bit younger than Chastity Prinkett and was dressed in normal wizard robes although had a scarf on oddly.

"Neither of us has a problem with blood purity," Scorpius pointed out defensively.

"No, no, you misunderstand," the counsellor protested as he smiled and held up his hands, "I simply mean in your attitude to this, pure-bloods especially are very self-containing. They're raised to believe that problems should be dealt with internally, not announced to the world and that outside help is a sign of weakness. This is very damaging to your mental health, sometimes people need help and it's perfectly alright to ask for it."

"That's absolutely not true."

"Yes. And even if anyone did have that attitude then I don't see how it's damaging," Professor Ashain agreed testily, the counsellor smiled.

"Really? You don't see how a stubborn, unyielding attitude to outside help with issues could be damaging?"

"No," Scorpius and Professor Ashain said together.

"Well let's take you for example," the counsellor began and gestured to the professor, "From my observations on you, I'd guess you suffered through some kind of traumatic event in your early childhood... maybe at five or six? And it scarred you mentally, leaving you prone to these bouts of depression that you naturally never get help for because that would be weak. Instead struggle with it by yourself, sometimes overcoming it and sometimes spiraling dangerously and succumbing to suicidal thoughts. You also have poor socialization skills which really doesn't help anything."

"Well that's completely wrong," Professor Ashain scoffed and yanked his sleeves oddly violently down to his palms before shoving them into his pockets, the counsellor looked surprised at being accused of being wrong, "I'm nothing like that and your theories are stupid. I'll see you in an hour, Scor... Good luck."

"Thanks," Scorpius sighed and threw the counsellor an irritated look before starting to climb the final flight of stairs, annoyed when he realized the man was following him, "Don't you have students' brains to pick?"

"Yes, yes I do," the counsellor confirmed as they reached the next floor, the man continued down it with Scorpius, "You shouldn't believe everything he says you know, there's nothing wrong with counselling."

"Save your spiel for your next poor sap," Scorpius complained, not liking how he'd insulted them both for being purebloods and was even more annoyed when the man continued to follow him to the room that Scorpius' session was supposed to be in. He knocked but got no reply, his frown deepened as he turned back to the man, "And tell that Flannery Leebin woman that she's late."

"Ah, I see," the man mused before chuckling to himself, "Did you ever hear about my great aunt?"

"No," Scorpius said firmly and wished the man would go away, he was planning on leaving as soon as. He shouldn't have to wait for a late counsellor.

"Her name was Flannery and my mother was very close to her, she raised my mother you see but unfortunately she died when my mother was pregnant. To honor her, my mother decided to name the child after her and as it turned out, that child was a boy. And me. And so I was saddled with the somewhat unfortunate name of Flannery Logan Leebin for all eternity."

"I am really sorry," Scorpius apologized as his face burned scarlet once more at his mistake but Leebin simply chuckled.

"It's alright, my father insisted upon the middle name Logan to try make it sound manlier. What's the story behind your name?" Leebin asked as he unlocked the door and led Scorpius inside.

"My family on my grandmother's side name kids after stars," Scorpius shrugged, seeing the room had a similar layout to the one Latimer had been in except Leebin's couch was vomit-colored.

"How interesting," Leebin mused as he sat down at the chair beside the desk, his desk however was rather a mess and he had to dig through the files to find his note book and the file with Scorpius' name on it. He glanced at it briefly before sitting with the notebook and gestured for Scorpius to take a seat, "Please, sit. I know you don't want to be here but you may as well be comfortable."

"Who picked the couch color?" Scorpius asked as he sat, wondering why anyone in existence would want a vomit-colored couch. Especially someone who supposedly wanted people to feel at ease so he could probe them for information, he thought he'd actually prefer it if they did something less subtle like legillimancy.

"Oh, I did. A nice aqua blue," Leebin announced told him cheerfully and Scorpius' confusion must've shown on his face before his smile wavered, "Or maybe not, I'm color-blind you see. True story, one time for several hours I thought I had a son because of the bright blue blanket I saw but it actuality, it was a pink blanket that she'd been wrapped in. Ironically my daughter is also color-blind, last Christmas she asked for lots of girlie pink things since it's all the rage and was distraught that everything my wife chose was blue."

"How amusing," Scorpius told him disinterestedly and distrustfully, "Is this a real daughter or just an attempt to gain my trust?"

"Oh she's real," Leebin assured him and dug inside his robes for a wallet, flipping it open to show him a picture of a little girl about two or three who bore a strong resemblance to Leebin including his hair and wore a pink floral dress. Leebin was also in the picture along with a dainty dark haired woman who shared the little girl's eyes, an elaborate hoax if it was one and Leebin wore a wedding ring, "Tell me, are you this distrustful of all Ministry employees, just counsellors or just me personally?"

"What?" Scorpius asked stupidly, unsure whether to answer honestly or not as Leebin put away his wallet and scribbled something down in his notebook. Scorpius missed being under the cloak and able to read the secret notes.

"You clearly dislike this idea and are distrustful but why? Is it because we're from the Ministry? Because that's understandable, why should you trust people who continue to disbelieve you about things you're so sure of? Or is it just the idea of counselling in general? Because that's an understandable side effect from being a pureblood, you also clearly put a lot of stock in Ashain so why should you believe what he doesn't? Or is just because you dislike me personally? Because that's understandable, not everyone can like everyone else although a few minutes isn't the best amount of time to judge, I'm often criticized for being too talkative and scatter-brained. However, if you want another counsellor then you need only ask and I'll reschedule it with someone else for you. This is for your benefit after all, it's not going to help you much if you sit there in loathing for an hour. Or alternatively just because you're missing your favorite class? Or something else?"

"All of them. But don't bother changing counsellor, I'll sit here loathing for the whole hour. If this is really for my benefit, then you should just save time and let me go now."

"I know that's what you want but it's not what's best for you in my opinion, you've been through some highly traumatic events the past few years and sometimes it really is best to talk about things. I want you to be completely honest with me, if you don't want to say the truth then just say that you don't want to say that instead of lying because then things just get complicated. Alright?" Leebin asked and Scorpius grunted in acknowledgement, having a feeling that he'd be saying he didn't want to talk it a lot. Leebin scribbled something down and Scorpius eyed the quill darkly, wondering what lies he was writing, "What?"

"What?"

"You just started glaring at me randomly. Is something the matter?"

"No," Scorpius lied.

"What did I just say about lies?" Leebin sighed and Scorpius glanced at the quill again, wondering if he was going to write down that Scorpius was suddenly a liar but Leebin seemed to follow his gaze, "We just take notes because well... there's a lot of students, it helps me anyway to keep track and not get information mixed up. Does it bother you?"

"No..." Scorpius started to say but Leebin tilted his head to one side disbelieving, he had said to be honest, "Well yes."

"It's nothing bad."

"Of course not," Scorpius quipped sarcastically and Leebin turned the book over to show him what he'd written.

Scorpius Malfoy

Distrustful - Ministry, counsellors, me. Making miss lesson liked (all)

Auror mode

Suspicious

"See, nothing bad," Leebin insisted as he slowly took it back, "I asked you about why you were distrustful, I think it would be fair to say you're suspicious of me but that goes with distrust and your name is rather self-explanatory really."

"Why did you write 'Auror mode'?" Scorpius wondered in confusion.

"Ah well, you see usually I do evaluations on Aurors or Aurors-In-Training or people wanting to be Aurors. That's my usual job at the Ministry, making sure they're mentally stable enough because it's a dangerous job and it could literally be life or death. But... well, Aurors particularly absolutely hate being evaluated with a passion, they see it as kind of an insult that they're even there. Auror mode is just my way of saying that you don't want to be here as you said in your own words, it's just shorter to write."

"Oh right."

"Would it make you feel better if I didn't keep notes?"

"A bit," Scorpius muttered with a shrug and Leebin closed the notebook, putting it on the desk without further comment.

"So is there anything in particular that you would like to talk about?" Leebin asked as he cleared his throat and leaned back.

"No."

"Alright. Would you like to tell me about the werewolf attack on Hogsmeade, or anything about the duel with Florian or the Ministry attack?"

"No."

"Alright. Would you like to tell me about Pandoran Hills, or anything about your near-death experience in the Quidditch match attack, or the attack on the start of term feast or the Diagon Alley attack?"

"No."

"Alright. Would you like to tell me about the Shadow attack on the school, or anything about the memorial attack or that whole ordeal in your First Year?"

"No."

"Alright. Would you like to tell me about your abduction?"

"No!"

"Okay, you don't need to shout. I can't force you to talk about anything so if you don't feel comfortable about it then there's nothing I can actually do, well I could but unlike some people, I don't believe counselling should involve threats. Would you like to tell me about your grandfather and sister's deaths?"

"No. Wait, Lyra had nothing to do with the Soul Eaters, why would you want to know about her?" Scorpius wondered in confusion and Leebin scowled.

"Because the loss of a sibling can be a traumatic thing, I'm here to help you in anyway not just Shadow-related things. It just so happens that quite a few of the traumatic events were Shadow-related but that's not why I'm here."

"Really? It's just... I... I heard from a friend that he got the impression that they were interested in information only not about helping them," Scorpius admitted hesitantly and Leebin looked away, "What?"

"Nothing. But I assure you that I am genuinely here in the best interests of the pupils," Leebin shrugged it off but Scorpius got the definite impression that he was hiding something or at least seemed unhappy about something, "Do you like Wizard's Chess?"

"Y-Yes," Scorpius confirmed without meaning to, he'd been taken off-guard by the randomness of the question and Leebin was smiling when he looked back to him.

"I thought you might," Leebin mused as he began searching in the desk for a board and pieces to set up, "You can be whites, they move first."

The rest of the hour passed much more pleasantly, Leebin wasn't especially talented at chess but he wasn't so easy that it was boring. Leebin only asked him things that Scorpius didn't mind saying, about what subjects he liked and disliked or about Quidditch, he didn't think he could give anything away from talking about those. Occasionally Leebin would throw in a more uncomfortable question such as asking what he'd thought of Florian or Headmistress McGonagall as teachers but for the most part, it was actually alright.

"And alas, our hour is up," Leebin pointed out after a while, just as Scorpius checkmated him again as Leebin had yet to win, "I am sorely out of practice with this game."

"Maybe you'll have better luck next time," Scorpius shrugged as he headed off, oddly afraid that if he didn't leave now then he never would, "Bye."

"One more thing!" Leebin protested and Scorpius looked back in surprise, "Can I have one of those bracelets?"