Author's Notes: Thank you to my dear reviewers! Now, if our heroes have been lazing about until now, things are going to get hectic from this chapter onwards. Buckle up, guys because the upcoming chapters are going to be wild!
Concrit about the way I wrote the mystery is well accepted. I'm no good with mysteries!
To hashi: Well, dear, those questions were too interesting not to answer them! Lily is lovely and nice and beautiful and always sees good in everyone, you're right. The students at school were not all nice with her, and they could be divided into two groups. Some of them were lovely and understanding and nice and gentle with her. Some others were mean to her, called her names behind her back because of her past and even to her face. But luckily she had her knight even at school. Hugo, not Scorpius, because she started at Hogwarts the year after Scorpius finished. For the two years that he was there Hugo looked out for her as if he was her own brother. Then, naturally, people were also rather scared of her mother, who seemed to hang out with her most of the time. And when Scorpius visited on the weekends he always wanted to know if everything was alright and if he had to hex someone. Hmm, I didn't write any Lily/random guy interaction, but I think that even if the guy was flirting with her she wouldn't even realise, blinded as she is by her love for Scorpius. I'm glad you like the way I describe the characters. I always try to flesh them out a little. Thank you for all your comments dear! You always make me so happy!
Chapter Eleven
The Burrow was a nice, peaceful place.
Of course, it was also the place where a nine-year-old Lily had been kidnapped by a tall man with a mask near the edge at the end of garden… but now it wasn't that anymore. Lily came every summer to swim in the pond and was very fond of her grandparents.
And of that place. And of her Uncle Charlie.
And who wouldn't be? Charlie Weasley always came back home with tons of presents and hundreds of anecdotes about dragons. Dragons. Who on earth wasn't fond of stories about dragons?
Right now, though, all Scorpius and Albus were craving were stories about plants and unicorns. And about Toots and Sprout.
"Tilden was a bit of a loony," Charlie told them as he stretched his arms on the back of the couch, "not as loony as his wife, but still…"
"And what about Professor Sprout?" asked Scorpius.
"Sprout was alright back in the days," he told them, "when she taught at Hogwarts and stuff, but lately… well, she'd lost it a bit, hadn't she? I mean, went up to the Highlands all alone at her age… of course then it's easy to drink the wrong infuse and end up dead…"
Albus nodded and so did Scorpius. "But you knew them," said Albus, "I mean, Luna and Rolf said that Herbologists and Magizoologists all know each other…"
Charlie shrugged a shoulder. "Well, I knew Toots because he came to Romania once to collect some Romanian Peonies for his garden," he told them, "and I vaguely remember him asking about mythical flowers of Europe…"
"Mythical flowers?" asked Scorpius, furrowing his brow. That was new. "What mythical flowers?"
"Well, Scorpius," said Charlie, "you know, I'm not an expert in flowers, but… the Lady's Slipper for example, or the Black Daisy, the Fairy Wing Dahlia, the Golden Orchid, the Spotted Poppy…"
"Wow, luckily you're not an expert, Uncle Charlie," pointed out Albus.
"Wait a second," cut in Scorpius, "what was that one again?"
"The Spotted Poppy? Oh, it's quite interesting, it's a poppy that is—"
"No, no, the one before that."
"The Golden Orchid?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow. "Well, it's a mythical flower, as I told you, and not much is really known about it. Just that it has the shape of an orchid and that… well, it's gold…"
"You don't say," sighed Scorpius.
"Hey! But Luna said that Toots was working on orchids," exclaimed Albus, finally getting there himself. "The Golden Orchid, do you think… do you think he was working on the Golden Orchid?" Albus' voice was rather excited for someone who was talking about something he didn't even know what it was.
"Might be," replied Scorpius cautiously, before looking back at Charlie. "What about unicorns? What can you tell us about them?"
"That all girls are crazy about unicorns," he chuckled, "I got into more knickers after a herd was found near the Reserve than—"
"Charlie!" exclaimed Lily's grandmother from the kitchen door, brandishing a wooden spoon in her hand. "Don't talk like that in front of those young, innocent boys!"
"Innocent?" muttered Charlie. "If you two are innocent, I am the Queen of Britain."
Scorpius lowered his eyes, his cheeks heating up. Well, he was innocent. What was wrong with that? Almost twenty-four and still innocent. He set his jaw and tried to think about the ring in his pocket. Innocent not for long…
"As I was saying, the only thing I know about unicorns is that they are very useful when it's up to woo a lady," he said, glancing at the kitchen door though which Mrs Weasley had just disappeared. "And also they are much more innocent animals than you two are…"
Scorpius rolled his eyes, but luckily at that moment Molly Weasley walked back into the living room. "Are you coming for dinner tonight, Scorpius?" she asked sweetly.
Scorpius smiled as gently as he could. "I'd love to, Mrs Weasley," he replied, "but I'm afraid I'm expected at Grimmauld Place tonight right after—"
"Oh, but everybody is coming here, dear," she cut him off, "to celebrate Charlie's return."
Scorpius let out a sigh. Right the night he had wanted to finally get Lily alone up to the terrace. "I didn't know that," he replied, glancing reproachfully at Albus. "I wouldn't want to disturb your family reunion…"
"Nonsense," replied Albus, standing up and patting his shoulder, "you're almost family anyway."
"Almost family?" asked Charlie. "What do you mean?"
Albus stopped in his tracks and looked at Scorpius, biting his bottom lip. Scorpius tried to murder him with his glare. "He means because of Teddy, since he is married to Victoire and he is my second cousin, we are basically almost family." He wanted to add 'unluckily', as he thought of Albus, but didn't.
Charlie laughed heartedly. "Well, aren't you complicated? Let's have a Butterbeer, shall we?"
"We're on du—"
"Great idea, Uncle Charlie, you're definitely my favourite uncle!"
oooOOOooo
Lily had never seen the toddlers being so excited. All those days at the school when they threw toys at each other and screamed and jumped up and down were nothing compared to that morning at the Ministry. She had to charm some children's hands together to keep them from running here and there as they all followed her father around the place.
Since she had the children aged two to five, the tour of the Ministry that they were taking was a special one, different from that of the older children. It was shorter and Lily thought also more interesting, since they had to keep the children captivated.
Therefore the Head Auror himself as well as Auror Teddy Lupin and Auror Rose Weasley, were guiding them through the Department of Magical Games and Sports, where they had prepared some little toy broomsticks for the children to securely fly around in a room filled with Cushioning Charms. Once they left that department, they were brought to the Portkey Office where they were given Portkeys that would activate with touch and transport them a few feet away. The children laughed and screamed all the time, happy beyond words to do such unusual things and to find themselves in a new and incredibly exciting environment, so different from the school.
"Alright," said Lily's father when the children had all been transported here and there for the room. "Shall we go back to the Ministry Atrium? There's lunch awaiting the children and the adults as well."
There was a mildly interested chorus of yeses, but some children seemed rather disappointed to have to go.
"Come on Joshua," said Lily patiently, "give me the—" She Portekeyed a few feet away. "—Portkey. Oh! I guess that was silly."
Her father chuckled as the Ministry employees came to collect the Portkeys from the children with some special gloves.
Teddy picked up Remus, while Rose took a couple of children by their hands and Lily's father grabbed one who was trying to touch the remaining Portkeys over and over again.
Lily grabbed Martha's hand and Jenny's. "Let's go, aren't you hungry?" she asked gently.
"Chocolate!" exclaimed Remus.
"Yeah, right," replied Teddy, shaking his head, "you're going to have something healthy, and no sugar!"
Remus pouted, but he let his father carry him through the corridors and up the stairs and back to the Ministry Atrium.
The food was already set on the tables and there were benches where the children could sit and eat the sandwiches and little hot dogs and meat pies and other delicious-looking foods.
Uncle Ron was already stuffing his mouth with mini hot dogs and Aunt Hermione was scolding him and talking about a diet that he seemed to never be able to stick to.
"John, don't push Mary!" said Lily sternly as they made their way to the table. "Remus no, look, Daddy is here what if—oh!" Suddenly, Lily's eyes were covered by two warm hands.
"Guess who?" murmured a voice in her ear.
She smiled. "Hmm, my boyfriend?"
"Ten points to miss Potter," murmured Scorpius as he let her turn in his arms.
"Only ten?" he pouted.
"Okay… Twenty," he agreed.
"I'm glad you're back," she grinned, "how was Uncle Charlie?"
"He's well," replied Scorpius, "we're going to have dinner at the Burrow tonight. How are the midgets?"
"They are good," she replied with a smile. "They enjoyed the toy broomsticks and the mini Portkeys immensely."
"Good to hear," he smiled at her. "And I'm going to walk around the Ministry with you for the rest of the afternoon, I've already asked the Head Auror…"
"Awesome," she replied, standing on tiptoes to kiss him.
He smiled against her lips. "Shall we get something to eat?"
"Hmm, you go ahead, I'll check on the children and will get something in a second."
He nodded at her and when she turned she found Martha covered in pumpkin juice and Lily hurried to clean her with a swish of her wand.
oooOOOooo
The sandwiches were delicious, and they were cut into little adorable shapes: hearts, flowers and stars. And the pumpkin juice was flowing like Albus had never seen it before. Merlin, but they had to invite those midgets more often at the Ministry! The food at the canteen tasted like poo compared to that.
"I've just met my future wife," said a voice next to him.
He turned to find Alastair O'Keefe, a tall, sandy-haired Auror trainee fresh from out of Hogwarts, leaning against the table which was covered in sweets offered by Honeydukes.
"I beg your pardon?" asked Albus, swallowing his umpteenth sandwich.
He nodded in front of him. "That girl there," he replied, "the cute teacher. Man, she's hot."
Albus turned and followed the young man's gaze only to find himself staring at his own sister. Of course, the cute teacher… He took a deep breath. "She's not hot," he told him dryly, "she's pretty."
He snorted back at him. "She's hot and Merlin! I would bugger—hey! No, no, no! What's Malfoy doing?"
Albus was about to tell him that he wouldn't have buggered her even if he tried because there were at least fifty people at the Ministry who would have prevented that when, on the other side of the Atrium, Scorpius offered Lily a glass of pumpkin juice and she smiled and kissed his cheek to thank him.
"He's flirting with her!" spat O'Keefe disgustedly. "I mean, isn't he in some kind of relationship with your sister, Potter? I mean, he can't have all the pretty girls!"
Albus looked at him as if he was stupid, but the man's eyes were trained on Lily.
"He is my sister's boyfriend," he told him flatly.
"Well, go on and tell him something then!" he huffed, turning to look at him.
Albus merely cocked an eyebrow and that gesture alone seemed to be enough for the other Auror to understand. "Oh!" he finally let out, disappointed and embarrassed at the same time.
"Yeah."
"She's your sister?" he asked in disbelief. "But… but… she's so hot! She doesn't look anything like you!"
"Hey!" snapped Albus. "What's that supposed to mean?" He darkened and added, "She takes after my mother and I take after my father."
The other Auror shook his head and sighed discomfited to understand that his 'future wife' had already been taken.
oooOOOooo
That evening, they had dinner at the Burrow, and Uncle Charlie had the most amazing stories. And then, the rest of the week went by pretty quickly. After her conversation with Teddy about her moving, the outing at the Ministry and with Uncle Charlie home, Lily forgot that she had wanted to look for a flat for herself and her Crup.
She also fretted every day more when she didn't see Alfie in her class, and kept furrowing her brow at Scorpius who looked increasingly nervous for some obscure reason that she couldn't understand.
In the following evenings, they always had dinner at the Burrow and Lily got to show Sparky and Patches to the rest of the family. Hugo was absolutely ecstatic at the sight of the two pups, and started pestering Scorpius every single evening about asking for a free Crup to Mr Malfoy. Aunt Hermione, on the other hand, just listened with a smile on her face as Lily's mother talked about the kitten Mrs Malfoy had brought home from Magical Menagerie.
"They really look like your Patronus, Dad," said Rose with a smile.
Uncle Ron nodded as he petted Sparky. "Yeah, they do," he replied, "maybe I should go and steal a Crup from your father too, Scorpius…"
Scorpius swallowed and Lily could feel it next to her temple. "Yes, Sir," he replied stiffly, his fingers squeezing her shoulder, "he has a litter right now, so…"
She stood on tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "You are too nice," she murmured against his skin.
He smiled softly and turned to kiss her forehead. "I wasn't before I met you," he told her, "you ruined me."
She giggled and tightened her arms around his waist. "Are you okay?" she asked softly against his chest.
"Yes," he replied just as quietly, "why do you ask?"
She shook her head. "You just look rather tense," she whispered, "as if… I don't know…"
He turned and enveloped her in his arms, leaning his cheek against the top of her head. "I'm sorry," he replied, "I just have some things on my mind and…"
"Do you want to talk about them?" she asked softly. "You know I love to listen to you."
He tilted her head upwards and kissed her softly on her lips. She felt the eyes of her family being trained upon them, but she ignored them altogether. All that mattered at that moment was Scorpius.
When he released her lips she smiled softly at him.
"Did Alfie show up at school?" he asked her, pulling a lock of hair behind her ear.
She shook her head. "I'm really worried, Scorpius," she murmured, "promise me that if he doesn't show up by the end of the week, you'll go and check on him."
"I promise," he replied sweetly. "I'll drag Al all the way to… where do they live?"
"70 Bishop's Rd, Cambridge CB2 9NQ, UK," she said. "Maybe I can come with you, surely they'll know that we don't mean any harm if I come. And I really want to see Alfie."
Scorpius smiled at her. "Of course," he replied, "but I hope he'll be back before Friday. I'm sure that everything is just fine with him."
"I hope so," she sighed, leaning her head on his chest. She closed her eyes and let Scorpius' soft breathing cradle her head up and down on his chest. He was warm and his arms hugged her tightly and she felt safe and—
"Shall we head back to Grimmauld Place?" he asked, his voice almost high-pitched with nervousness. "We could enjoy the peace and calm of your house without anybody to disturb us for a bit…"
She smiled and looked up at him. "Sounds good," she murmured, "let's go."
He grinned and when Lily grasped his hand to drag him towards her mother to let her know that they were going home a bit earlier, she could feel that he was shaking slightly.
"Okay," said her mother, glancing at Scorpius and giving him the hint of a smile. "Sure, Lily, we'll be here a little bit longer. Do you want to leave Sparky here with us?"
"Oh, I don't know," she replied, looking at the pup as he trotted towards her and wagged his tail happily. "Maybe he's going to miss me…"
"Lily, dear, we'll be right there," replied her mother gently.
She bit her bottom lip and glanced at Scorpius who nodded eagerly. "Okay," she replied, kneeling to scratch Sparky between his ears. "I'll see you later Sparky, okay? Be a good boy."
The Crup barked twice, but before Lily could scoop him up in her arms, Hugo grabbed him and brought him to his face.
"Hey!" protested Lily. "We were saying goodbye!"
Hugo pouted. "But you're going to see him in a while back at your house," he replied, "I won't see him until tomorrow night…"
Lily's mother sighed. "Well, I surely know what to get you for your birthday, Hugo," she told him gently.
"What?" he asked, eyes wide. "That would be awesome, thank you, Auntie!"
Lily stood up and went to him to rub Sparky's head and the Crup tried to get to her from Hugo. "Bye Sparky! I'm going to miss you," she told him, "behave, okay? Be a good Crup!"
The pup barked again, and Lily would have just wanted to grab him and take him with her, but Scorpius had instead grabbed her wrist and dragged her away. "Let's go," he mumbled, "otherwise your family is going to be there before I even…"
"Before you even?" asked Lily, cocking an eyebrow.
"Nothing," he murmured as he shook his head and offered her some Floo Powder from her grandmother's vase.
She looked at him questioningly, but grabbed a fistful of powder and stepped into the fireplace. She would ask him later. "Twelve, Grimmauld Place," she said out loud, throwing the powder at her feet. She was gone and arrived in a matter of seconds. And she stilled as soon as she had set foot in her house and the faint echo of a noise lingered in the air.
Scorpius was right behind her, and he bumped into her the moment he stumbled out of the hearth. "Oh sorry, Lily," he told her softly, "I need a bit more of space then you do when I get out of—"
She turned and pressed her fingertips to his mouth, bringing her forefinger to her own lips to silence him. Scorpius looked at her without understanding but then his grey eyes seemed to narrow as a frantic knock on the door finally reached their ears.
He kissed her fingertips and moved her hand away. "Stay here," he whispered, drawing out his wand.
She drew out her own wand as well. "No," she let him know as she walked towards the door ahead of him.
"Lily!" Scorpius whispered urgently. She could feel his hand trying to close on her shoulder, but she was already standing in front of the main door and turning the keys and the locks. That was her house, after all, and she was not a child, and honestly! Evil-doers didn't come knocking on people's door in the middle of the week!
"Lily!" hissed Scorpius, trying to push her away. "Stand behind me! Don't… no! Lily!"
But she was already opening the door and dropping her wand in surprise.
"Lily," said a low voice in front of her. "You have to help me."
"Who are you?" asked Scorpius nervously, his arm draping around Lily's shoulders as he tried to push her back. "Show your face. I'm an Auror."
"It's Mrs Whittle, Scorpius," said Lily, moving away from the door to let her in as she knelt to pick up her wand again. They couldn't see her face, but Lily remembered her cloak. She had worn it once, back in November, when she had brought Lily a new box full of crayons for the class. "Come in, Mrs Whittle."
She took a step inside, her boots squelching on the floor as if she had something squishy underneath. She didn't walk too far into the hall though, but stopped and started to fumble with her cloak.
"Are you alright. Mrs Whittle?" asked Lily, concern seeping through every word. "I was worried for Alfie, you didn't owl the school and I was—oh!"
When Mrs Whittle had managed to move away the cloak, she wasted no time to push Alfie into Lily's arms. She grabbed him hastily, afraid to let him fall because of his mother's rapid movements.
"I gave him a sleeping draught," she told her, before looking at her with wide eyes. "Lily, you have to keep him here."
"Keep him here?" repeated Lily upset. "But… but…"
"My husband and his friends need him," she whispered urgently, "they want to use him. I can't let them. You need to hide him, Lily. They will never look for him in this house."
Lily shifted Alfie in her arms.
"What?" asked Scorpius, his grey eyes moving quickly from the child to his mother. "What are you talking about? What does your husband do? If you need to report him, I'm… I'm an Auror, I'll escort you to the Ministry."
She shook her head frantically, her dark hair flying here and there. "I can't," she murmured harshly, "I can't…" She stepped back and rummaged under her cloak once again before drawing out a little bag. "Here," she said. "That's all his stuff… his teddy bear. His teddy bear is very important."
Lily nodded, her heartbeat impossibly loud and quick in her chest. "But… but don't you want to come in? Just for a moment?"
She shook her head. "Take care of him," she whispered. "Please, he is all I have." She stretched her pale hand to caress the child's head and then turned and hurried away.
"Hey!" called Scorpius, running after her. "Wait! You can't—"
His sentence was truncated when she turned and with a last look at Lily and Alfie, she Disapparated into thin air.
"Damn!" muttered Scorpius, as he stared at the place where she had just disappeared.
Lily stared at him as he came back and looked at her with a frantic expression over his face. "I don't know what—"
"I told you there was something wrong!" snapped Lily. "Didn't I tell you? I told you not to give Alfie to his father! I told you, Scorpius! Nobody listens to me! Nobody ever does! I'm just a silly little girl to you!" She felt the tears burning her eyes as she turned away from him and stomped her feet back into the drawing room. She knelt next to the couch and placed Alfie on the soft cushions, rearranging them to create a safe place where to put him.
She drew out her wand. "Accio Alfie's bag," she said and there was a small 'oh!' of surprise when the bag was torn from Scorpius' hand and flew next to her. She looked at him and muttered a soft, "Sorry," before she started rummaging through it. She found the teddy bear that he had wanted back at the school and placed it next to the child's sleeping hands.
She smiled as she caressed the hair away from his forehead. He looked so peaceful and little and sweet… how could anybody want to use him? His own father… Lily knew the feeling, she remembered it. Nott had not been her father, but he had made her believe it, and it was more than enough.
No, Alfie was still little and Lily would have spared him the pain and the fear and the suffering that she had gone through. Even if it meant going against Scorpius and her whole family.
"Lily," murmured Scorpius, sitting on the armrest of the couch. "I'm sorry, you were right. You are always right."
She didn't look at him. She kept her eyes on Alfie, still caressing his forehead.
"Lily," he called her again, "we need to call your father and your uncle, if you give them the address, they'll go and check and—"
"I don't care," she told him quietly. "I just want Alfie to be safe."
"Yes, but… you can't keep him…"
She glanced at him. "Of course I can," she replied coldly, "his mother gave him to me. To hide and look after, and I will do that until I die."
"Lily, he's a child," insisted Scorpius, "we need to find his mother again and take her to a safe location and see what's wrong with her husband and their friends."
"I know what's wrong," snapped Lily, standing up, "they like children! Just like Nott!"
Scorpius bit his bottom lip as he tried to stretch a hand towards her. "Lily…"
"I remember everything," she snapped, "don't you forget it!"
He tried to tell her something else, but at that moment, one after the other, the fireplace spat out her family. Albus first with the two Crups in his arms, then her mother and her father.
Lily turned her flushed face to look at them and lowered her eyes as she looked at Alfie's sleeping body.
"Whoa," muttered Albus, "we leave you alone for five minutes and you already have a child? Merlin, Scorpius you don't waste time…"
"Not now, Al," growled Scorpius.
"What's going on?" asked her mother. "Who's that child? What… what's happening?"
Lily went to her and hugged her tightly, surely her mother would understand her. "It's Alfie, Mum," she told her, "Mrs Whittle brought him over. She was scared, she told me I have to hide him. His father… his father wants to use him, Mum…"
Her mother looked just as horrified as Lily felt. "Oh my," she muttered, "use him?"
Lily nodded. "And Scorpius didn't believe me!" she cried. "Nor Teddy or Miss Mitzy! I knew there was something wrong, I knew it, Mum!" She leaned her head against her mother's chest and sobbed loudly.
Her mother's hands went to her head to caress her hair. "Oh no, Lily," she whispered, "he's safe now."
"Scorpius," said her father, "why didn't you stop the woman? We can't keep the child here without… why didn't you stop her? We should have brought her to the Ministry."
"I'm sorry, Sir," murmured Scorpius abashedly.
Lily let her mother go, she wiped away the tears, and turned to look at her father. "It's not his fault, Dad," she said softly, "he tried, but she Disapparated before he could reach her."
Scorpius looked gratefully at her.
Her father glanced from her to him. "Alright," he said, "we need to go and look for the address of Alfie's family then. Whatever this man does, we need to bring him to the Ministry for questioning…"
"70 Bishop's Rd, Cambridge CB2 9NQ, UK," said Lily frantically, "that's the address. Don't tell them that Alfie's here, please, Daddy…"
Her father shook his head softly. "No," he replied, "okay, Scorpius, use the Floo and go to fill in James, Rose and Hugo, okay? Al, you stay here and keep an eye on your mother and your sister. I'll go and get Uncle Ron."
Lily swallowed the I don't need someone to keep an eye on me in favour of going back to kneel next to Alfie and brushing his dark hair away from his face.
"Be careful," she heard her mother saying to her father, and she was just in time to see her kissing him gently before she looked at Scorpius.
He looked back at her with eyes wide, as if he was crestfallen for not having believed her, she felt a pang of guilt for having screamed at him. She looked at him and finally went to him, standing on tiptoes she kissed his cheek. "Be careful," she whispered, just like her mother had done.
He nodded and kissed her forehead back, whispering a hasty, "I'm sorry," before going to the fireplace and disappearing amongst green flames.
Sparky barked at Lily and tried to jump to her legs. "Shh, Sparky," she cooed, grabbing him. "We have to let Alfie sleep…"
"Shall I send Hermione?" asked her father. "Just to keep you company."
"It's okay," replied her mother, shaking her head. "Go, now."
He nodded and, amongst green flames, he was gone too.
oooOOOooo
70 Bishop's Rd, Cambridge CB2 9NQ, UK was a small cottage with bricked walls and a garden full of flowers. On that cold February night, the windows were all dark and the heavy curtains drawn tightly not to let strangers peer inside.
"Nice place," commented Ron, looking around himself. "It reminds me a little of Teddy and Vicky's cottage."
Harry nodded. "It does, doesn't it?" he murmured. He turned to look at the four younger Aurors at their backs, his son, his niece, his nephew and his soon-to-be son-in-law. "Wands at the ready," he reminded them uselessly, since all of them were already holding theirs. They all nodded back at him though.
Ron glanced at Harry and nodded. "Let's go," he said. He walked in front of him and climbed up the three steps that brought to the entrance. When he knocked on the wooden door his movements were firm.
They waited in silence for a reply, but it never came.
Ron knocked again, adding an, "Aurors, open up!" to his gesture, but still there was no reply.
"Can we go in?" asked Hugo softly.
"Under normal circumstances, not without a Ministry warrant," pointed out Ron.
"But these aren't normal circumstances," replied James.
"No," assured Harry, as he pointed his wand at the door and muttered, "Alohomora."
The door opened with a sinister creaking sound, and Harry was pretty sure that the people around him were all holding their breath, for he could almost hear the wind caressing the plants in the garden.
"Lumos," he and Ron said at the same time. They stepped forward and walked inside. The house was small and rather messy. The floor was covered in footprints and clothes and books lay all over the place, as if someone had hastily packed their stuff.
"Let's split up," said Harry, turning to look at the youngsters at his back, "Scorpius, Rose, you come with me, Hugo and James you go with Ron, alright?"
They all nodded and shuffled to line tidily behind the two Aurors. They looked ready to hex some evil wizards, and Harry just hoped that they didn't do anything reckless.
Ron, James and Hugo climbed up the stairs to the first floor, their steps creaking on the battered wood of the stairs. Harry led Rose and Scorpius into what seemed to be a living room.
"There's nobody here," murmured Scorpius. "They've already left."
Harry nodded. "Look for clues for where they might have gone," he told them, "look for an address, for a note, a picture, anything…"
They replied in the affirmative and started to look about the living room. Moving empty photo frames, opening books and notebooks, looking for traces and clues, just like Harry had suggested.
"Uncle Harry," whispered Rose suddenly.
"What, Rose?"
"What do you think it means that they wanted to use the child?" she asked, her voice a mere whisper of undisguised disgust. "Does that mean… like…"
He knew what she wanted to say, he didn't want her to say it though. It still hurt, no matter how well Lily had recovered, no matter how normal she looked now. "I don't know," he replied quietly, "I hope not."
"Hey," called Scorpius, "I found something."
Harry and Rose hurried at his side. "What? A name? An address?" asked Harry urgently. Anything to find this man who might be abusing his son the way Nott had abused Lily.
He shook his head. "A book," he replied, "a book about legendary plants."
Harry took a deep breath and cocked an eyebrow at Scorpius. "You are too invested in that Toots case," he told him quietly, "it's just a book, Scorpius, we need to find an address, or something that brings us to them."
"Yes, Sir, but Charlie said that Toots was working on legendary plants, and maybe there's something in here—"
Harry waved a hand impatiently at him. "Grab the book and bring it to the Ministry as a clue and then you can study it," he said, "but we're not looking for Toots now."
Scorpius nodded and grabbed the book without replying.
"Shall we turn on the lights, Uncle?" asked Rose, her voice slightly more relaxed than before since now it was pretty clear that they were there alone.
He nodded and once the lamps flickered with fire, they lowered their wands. But there was nothing there, or better nothing that could lead them anywhere at all. Just a mess, a total mess and dirt on the floor.
And the only thing they brought back to the Ministry that evening was the book.
oooOOOooo
Albus stared as Lily scooped up Alfie in her arms, cradling him gently, and she started to climb up the stairs to the first floor. It was the middle of the night and no Auror had come back from their little expedition. His mother was in the kitchen sorting out the contents of the child's bag, and Lily was more than determined to take the child to her bedroom and lie down with him. She wanted to be there with him when he woke up, because surely he would be scared out of his wits to find himself in a foreign place away from his mother. She had already told Albus that she didn't want to go to work the upcoming day nor afterwards, until she was sure that Alfie would have been all right without her at Grimmauld Place. Sparky followed her up the stairs his little tail wagging in anticipation to jump on her bed next to her.
"Poor child," he sighed loud enough for his mother to hear him in the kitchen.
His mother hummed her assent. Poor child indeed.
"Lily's good… with children, I mean… she's good. I know it's her job, but I've never seen her interact with anybody except for Remus, or maybe I didn't really pay attention, like at the Ministry the other day… but… she's good…" he said. Well, she was definitely better than himself. He was scared to hold any child in his arms afraid as he was to let them fall.
"Kreacher is insolent," snapped Taffy suddenly. "Taffy can just snap her fingers and make the dirt disappear. Taffy knows what is needed when there are children. Taffy took care of Miss Lily when she was just a child."
"Kreacher took care of all Mistress' children when they were babies," growled Kreacher. "Kreacher knows that everything needs to be sterilised. Simple house-elf magic isn't enough. Especially Taffy's magic."
Albus' mother appeared on the kitchen door. "Al, be a dear and go shush those two," she told him irritably, "they might know everything about cleaning, but they evidently don't remember that they have to keep it down when there's a child sleeping in the house."
Albus looked for the two house-elves in the hall, since their high-pitched voices were coming from the main door. And surely enough, there they were! Arguing on what better way to clean the floor from Merlin knew what!
"Hum… Mum says to keep it down, guys," he told them, "because the child is sleeping and we wouldn't want to wake him up in the middle of the night, you know…"
Taffy beamed at him. "Master Albus is right," whispered the elf, "Taffy will keep it down. Taffy will clean and keep it down."
"Taffy doesn't know anything," grunted Kreacher, "Taffy can't use her magic with this sticky stuff, Master Albus. Tell Taffy to clean the proper way."
"I… hum… okay, sure—what's the sticky stuff anyway?"
"Taffy doesn't know," replied Taffy, "and neither does Kreacher. Taffy and Kreacher just found it here." She pointed towards the floor in front of the main door and Albus finally saw it.
It was dark violet and rather sticky, and there were imprints in the shape of a sole. Albus furrowed his brow. "Don't… don't clean it," he told the elves. "Bring me a piece of paper or something, instead."
That looked every bit similar to what was in Toots' garden. Of course, many wizards had Dirigible Plums in their gardens and Albus was sure that they made quite the mess.
"Here, Master Albus," squealed Taffy, handing him a napkin. "Shall Taffy pick it up, Master? Shall she do it?"
"Nah, it's okay, Taffy," he replied distractedly, "go and see if my mother needs help in the kitchen, maybe."
She squealed happily and ran to the kitchen. Kreacher followed her slowly.
Well, if that thing didn't come from Toots' garden, at least Albus could have had it analysed at the Ministry. At least they could have known where Alfie's mother had been right before she had arrived at their house.
oooOOOooo
Lily was lying on the bed with Alfie in her arms. Sparky was rolled up near her feet and the teddy bear was tickling her neck as she sang a lullaby – the same lullaby that her mother used to sing to her when she still was at the hospital after Scorpius and Albus and James and Uncle Ron and her father had set her free from the brothel.
She felt as if in a way they had set Alfie free too. Well, his mother had done that, but at least he was safe now. Safe and sound in Lily's arms.
The door to her room opened slightly and her mother and Scorpius slid in, silent as two Kneazles and with eyes as wide as owls. She stopped humming the lullaby and looked at them, Scorpius made a come-hither gesture and nodded towards the door.
She hugged Alfie more tightly to her chest and shook her head. Whatever it was, it could wait.
"Lily, go talk to Scorpius, dear," murmured her mother as she placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'll stay here with Alfie, darling. Go."
Lily was reluctant when she stood up from the bed, her arms sliding slowly from around Alfie. She turned just in time to see her mother lying down at her place and stroking the child's hair. Sparky jumped down from the bed and followed her outside.
"Did you find anything?" she murmured as she closed the door of her bedroom at her back.
Scorpius looked at her with big grey eyes as if he had expected her to kiss him and hug him and tell him that she was glad that he was back safe and sound from the mission. She was all those things, but she just didn't feel like telling him yet.
He shook his head. "The house was empty and a mess. They had already left by the time we arrived, there was dirt all over the floor and… no clue as to where they could have gone. All I got was a book that I took—"
"You stole a book?" she asked scandalised.
He shook his head frantically. "No, no, it was a clue, it was about mythical plants, just what Toots was studying and… I don't even know…"
She nodded and rubbed her hands on her upper arms. She was cold and tired, and all she wanted was to go back to bed and fall asleep with Alfie in her arms and Sparky on her feet.
"Lily," he murmured, "I'm sorry about earlier… and I'm sorry I underestimated the danger with that man… I… I know what it means for you that Alfie is safe, and if I could go back I would listen to you and arrest that man right in front of you at the school and I'm sorry I—"
Lily's lips crashing against Scorpius' were what cut him off mid-sentence. She forgave him. Honestly, she would remember his mistakes for all her life, but she couldn't stay mad at him for more than a few minutes. The few hours that had passed since Alfie had been delivered to her house where she had boiled with rage towards him were an exception.
Scorpius pushed her against the wall at her back and slid his hands on the small of her back, pulling her to him. Her arms went to his neck, her fingers treading his hair. She pushed herself flat against his chest with all her forces.
"I'm sorry," he tried to continue, between a kiss and another, "I'm sorry, I should have never…"
"Shh," she whispered against his lips, "I'm just happy that you believe me now…"
"You're always right," he murmured, "always…"
She giggled and hugged him more tightly, her lips leaving his to kiss their way to his ear and then down to his neck, enticing a groan from him. "I love you," she whispered.
"I love you too," he replied with a moan.
"Auror Malfoy," said Lily's father from down the hall, "have you filled in my daughter about what we found at the house?"
Scorpius tried to step back from her, but Lily just giggled softly and hugged him even more tightly. Honestly, she knew that Scorpius didn't like to be found in that position by her father, but right at that moment all she wanted was for him to be pressed against her and kiss her a bit longer.
"All done, Sir," replied Scorpius, giving in and finally hugging her back once again. "I… shall I go now, Sir?" his voice was uncertain, as if he didn't want to go, but at the same time he didn't want to stay if her father didn't want to.
"I want you to go to the school tomorrow morning, Scorpius," he told him, "before the lessons start and tell Miss Mitzy what happened tonight and that Lily won't be able to go to work for a few days, okay?"
He nodded, his chin brushing against Lily's hair.
"Are you staying tonight?" she asked him softly.
He shook his head. "Better if I let you sleep with Alfie," he told her, "I wouldn't want him to wake up and not find you there or worse find me right next to him…"
She kissed him again, in front of her father, it didn't matter. "How is that worse?" she giggled.
"Well, we wouldn't want to scare him first thing in the morning."
She sighed. He was right. She kissed him again. "Are you coming here tomorrow?"
He nodded. "Yes," he replied, kissing her back.
"Albus wanted to talk to you, Scorpius," said her father, "he is downstairs."
"Thank you, Sir," he replied, disentangling himself from Lily. "Sleep tight," he whispered to her.
"You too," she replied, kissing him one more time, before staring at him as he walked past her father and down the stairs.
"Good night, Lily," said her father as a smile tugged his lips.
"Night, Dad," she replied, before walking back into her room and trading places once again with her mother.
oooOOOooo
"What is it, Al?" asked Scorpius flatly. "I'm tired, I didn't get to ask Lily to marry me, she rightly got mad at me and is now sleeping with a child, while I have to go back to the Manor." He looked at his Auror partner and sighed. "Make it quick."
Albus seemed oblivious to his river of words as he straightened his back and handed him a napkin. "Look at this," he said seriously.
Scorpius took the piece of paper in his hands. There was some dark violet gooey stuff on that thing, and it was not a nice sight. "What the hell is this?" he asked softly.
"Let it go."
Scorpius glanced at him, but the dark-haired man looked particularly serious and he decided that it was better to just let the napkin go in midair. To his surprise, instead of falling to the floor, the napkin started to fluctuate gently about the room.
"Dirigible Plum," said Albus matter-of-factly. "And dirt."
"Where did you get it?"
"The floor," replied Albus, "the floor in front of the door, where Alfie's mother was standing probably. It's a clue, isn't it?"
Scorpius shrugged his shoulder. "Well, I don't know Al. It was kind of dark in the garden, so… I mean I don't know, maybe they had some Dirigible Plum in the garden, that wouldn't be much of a clue, would it? I mean if it came from the house."
Albus' lips parted in surprise. Evidently, he hadn't thought about that. "Right," he said quietly. "We need to go back there tomorrow morning, to check if they do have a Dirigible Plum in the garden."
Scorpius nodded. "Yes," he replied, "first thing first, though, I have to go to Miss Mitzy's and tell them about Alfie and about the fact that Lily won't be able to go to work for a few days… But then we should go back to the cottage."
"Great," replied Albus, yawning and standing up from the couch. "I'm off to bed."
"Aren't you going back to your flat?"
"Nope," he replied, stretching his arms over his head. "I'm staying here for tonight. Just in case…"
Scorpius nodded. "See you tomorrow morning," he told him, before finally going to the fireplace and back to the Manor.