He watched all this fluttering and scurrying about, coldly and detachedly. Silly and vain people, thinking that all this was so easy… He gave them a few more moments to revel in the magnificence of the plan they had concocted so strategically. A hippogriff could choke on his own feathers, looking at them…
By the way, hippogriffs are not really such terrible animals. Oh, pardon me, magical creatures. Which, really, is about the same thing.
Yet, these two creatures, blessed with a certain degree of magical ability, have been fluffing their feathers, thinking that they can control Malfoy. They can't even control themselves: all these smiles, winks, touches. Laughable.
"Are we going, Malfoy?"
Oh, finally, they remembered him! Scorpius got up slowly, staring at the waning green flames from when Potter vanished, proud at his assignment. For which, dear Gregory-McLaggens, you have my humble merci…
"Of course," he smiled coldly, stretching. "I am going to see Parkinson."
"What?" the wunderkinds cried out in unison. It was nice to watch their surprise.
"Clean your ears," Scorpius suggested, buttoning his coat. "I am going to see Tobias Parkinson. To visit an old school buddy."
"Malfoy, but we've decided…"
"Gregory, you shoe-laces came undone," Malfoy interrupted the master of this humble abode. "It's been nice seeing you."
"Malfoy, are you an idiot?"
"McLaggen, the fact that you once kissed me does not give you the right to talk to me in this tone of voice," Scorpius drawled. "I do not have the time to figure out the intricacies of your brain processes."
Liana blushed, and Malfoy even smiled in satisfaction.
"Greg, then you…"
Wow, what tender loving care… And such understanding between them, enough to make a niffler puke. Scorpius watched Gregory pick up the parchment roll and nod. As in, he was going to go door to door, to visit everyone in the list?
"This is mine," Scorpius remarked, motioning the parchment toward him. "And you, Gregory, tie your shoe-laces and head to the Ministry: to search for proof that you had not even intended to create a portkey. When I have the time, I shall check it.
"Malfoy."
"Yes, McLaggen? Do you wish to accompany me? What will your husband think?"
The girl did not respond, and Scorpius merely shrugged his shoulders: having company to chat with might not be so bad… He nodded at Gregory, a tad dismissively, and stepped into the fireplace.
"Malfoy, do you know where Parkinson lives?" McLaggen (nee McLaggen) did not budge from her spot, her arms crossed over her bust. An alright bust, but nothing special…
"No, but this will not be a hindrance."
"I know where Parma lives," Liana remarked, watching Scorpius with amusement. "So? Are you taking me along?"
"I am so…" Scorpius snorted, but walked out of the fireplace. "And?"
Liana smiled apologetically at her husband, but Malfoy had turned and headed for the door, unwilling to watch the lovers' parting.
"I have begun to grow cold," he noted when Liana joined him in the yard a couple of minutes later. Liana did not respond, shivering a little from the chill. "Shall I warm you?"
"Malfoy, why are you going to see Parkinson?"
"It is simple," Scorpius decided to allow a couple of seconds for an explanation. "I am not going to violate the rules of the game."
"What?"
"You really ought to check your hearing," Malfoy said. "He sets the rules, I play. As long as I am in play, he is engaged also. Once the game is over, who knows what this begotten by a sick acromantula will think of next. And so, I continue to play…"
"And what if Parkinson has nothing to do with all this?"
"MacLaggen, the chain of moves cannot break," Scorpius nodded towards the house next to them. "They brought me here. And now I am moving on."
"And what if you are wasting your time?"
"I am. With you. Are we going to Parma's or what?"
Liana sighed in resignation, then took his hand, prompting an icy-cold smile on his face, and they Apparated side by side.
"An idyllic spot," Scorpius raised his eyebrows mockingly, looking at a small, a tad fussy cottage. The lights were already on in the windows. Around them, fields stretched out in all directions, and far away they glimpsed a large cluster of house roofs. "I have always dreamed of country living…"
MacLaggen remained silent once again. She entered the gate and was soon knocking on the door.
"Couldn't we have simply talked to her through the fireplace?"
"Shut up, Malfoy!" Liana hissed at him. "Parma is married to a Muggle."
Scorpius was overcome with hysterical laughter, the likes of which he had not experienced in a long time. Parkinson? With a Muggle? Love is blind, indeed…
"Glad to see you in a cheerful mood, Malfoy."
He wiped his eyes and even managed to stop laughing, looking at the hugely pregnant Parma Parkinson standing in the doorway. If his mother saw the dress and the apron the young woman wore, she would order a house elf to summon a healer for her.
"Parma, we are looking for your brother," Liana said after a few words of greeting, trying to ignore Scorpius.
"Oh, then you are at the right place," Parma smirked. "He just left here and must have gone to the village pub, as usual."
"As usual," Malfoy raised an eyebrow. "Is Parkinson fond of his drink?"
"Well, he must be fond of at least something," Parma snorted. Then she peered at Malfoy in slight alarm. "What do you want with my brother?"
"I am thinking of cutting off his ears, for amusement," Scorpius said calmly, turning away. "MacLaggen, are you coming?"
The girl caught up with him in a few seconds.
"So? Are you happy now?"
"Happy about what?"
"Well, here is your wizard reproduction theory in action. A pure-blooded wizard girl married to a Muggle…"
"Malfoy."
"Yes?"
"Have you forgotten completely why we are here?"
"Can't say I have. We are looking for Parkinson."
"What for?" they were walking briskly toward the houses in the distance.
"To figure out where to go from there. It is simple…"
She stopped and grabbed his hand:
"Do you not remember Lily and Xenia? Are you not feeling anything?"
He stared at her, trying to get her meaning.
Lily and Xenia.
Lily.
It was as though the name returned to him something that had gone missing. As though boiling water was poured into ice-cold one. It scalded.
It was but a name, yet an entire world. His world, one that had been somehow lost. Forgotten. Because the world called "Lily" was that of feelings, frozen by the potion.
"Welcome back," Liana's voice showed her relief. "I shall never again give you any potions, Malfoy."
"Let's go," he nodded at the girl, hurrying toward the village. The effects of the potion were not gone, but they were wearing off. Slowly, everything was coming back…
The pain. The fear and uncertainty. Once again, he was afraid. Once again, he was feeling. Once again, he was… alive?
They easily located the pub – a loud and quite an assuming establishment, next to which was gathered a group of inebriated locals.
"Maybe…"
"I am coming with you, to ensure that you don't kill him," Liana's tone did not broach a further discussion, despite the odd glances that had begun coming their way.
Fine, as you wish, Scorpius thought, entering the building. He saw Tobias right away – the man was sat at the counter, with three shot glasses before him, two of them already empty.
"Greetings to the former Slytherins," Scorpius sat down next to Parkinson and gestured to the bartender to bring him a drink. He desperately needed something alcoholic. Enough with the potions…
Tobias looked up at Scorpius with surprised– and quite intoxicated – eyes, and a beef-witted smile slowly spread over his face:
"There you are…," and Parkinson took a small flask out of his pocket.
"You've been waiting for me then?" Scorpius remained calm. Outwardly.
What now? What's the next move?
Lily, where are you? I hope that as long as I keep playing, you are not harmed. That's the only hope I have left.
"But of course," Tobias was clearly drunk. His eyes were strangely bright, and he looked quite pleased with himself.
"Why did you send MacLaggen that letter?" Scorpius finished his drink in one gulp, whatever it was that the bartender had put before him. He didn't even feel the burn of the alcohol down his throat.
"You already know why, what with you being here," Parkinson smiled again. "How is it Malfoy? Unpleasant?"
"Did you see him? Did you see this…?"
"Scorpius…" Liana appeared from behind him. "Tobias, do you know the person who kidnapped Lily and Xenia?"
"His name? No. But I saw him and spoke to him. I would have given him half of my fortune, if not for a small problem: I was disinherited," Parkinson said, and his eyes returned to Malfoy's face. "He has taken you for quite a spin, hasn't he? He said that this was his revenge for the past. A brave chap. Braver than the rest of us… Oh, how many times we have threatened to get our vengeance on you. To avenge everything you'd done to us. And how you had done it. Lightly, like blowing your nose into a hanky, and then tossing it away… And now someone came along who actually dared…"
"And you decided to help him out, you pettifogging reptile?" Malfoy asked through his teeth.
"Of course, why not help a plucky bloke? I wrote the letter, as he had asked… And I informed him that you showed up."
"How?" Liana grabbed Malfoy's elbow just in time.
"A small portkey, that flask," Tobias shrugged his shoulders. "It was bewitched to return to its owner. Just a small favor, given what he is doing for all of us… Plus, he paid for a month's worth of my drinks, what with my allowance cut off…"
Scorpius did it, after all. He punched Parkinson in his smiling face. The man dropped to the floor, startling the men standing next to them. The bartender yelled something, but Malfoy paid him no mind. He grabbed Tobias and dragged him outside.
"Scorpius!" Liana tried to stop him, but Malfoy could no more be stopped than "Hogwarts Express" at full speed.
"You will tell me everything you know about this, right now…!" Malfoy hissed, pressing Parkinson against the wall.
The man merely smiled, his mouth bloody:
"Unpleasant, isn't it, that there is always a price to pay, eh, Malfoy? You have dismissed us left and right, without so much as a thought. You didn't need allies or friends. And where has that gotten you? You have so many ill-wishers that you don't even know whom to suspect… No one wants to help you, but many are helping him. Have you asked yourself, why? Because you are alone. You wanted it that way, Malfoy. And you will be running from one person to another for a long time, because there are too many of us. It is all your fault. You never thought, before tossing someone aside. And you ought to have…"
"And what have I done to you?" Scorpius uttered quietly, still holding Parkinson.
"You ruined her, you ruined Priscilla. You denied her a chance to be with you. You denied her a chance to be better. You ruined her…" Parkinson's eyes filled with hatred. "And you will pay for it – for everything…"
"Scorpius…"
"Wait…"
"Scorpius, an owl!" Liana pulled at his shoulder, pointing at the bird hovering above them. Malfoy recognized his father's owl. His heart squeezed in his chest – in fright. The first fright of his life for his parents.
"Your wand, MacLaggen, and watch him like a hawk," Scorpius ordered, motioning to the black owl to descend. Malfoy took the parchment roll and scanned it. No, only his father could, despite everything going on, write him about some trifling business matters!
"What's in there?"
"Nothing," Scorpius stuffed both the letter and the document in his robes pocket, ignoring his father's request to sign it and return to him immediately. A quick and profitable deal to be closed, which would be invalid without Scorpius' signature.
Of course, he apologized about the ill timing… This was Draco Malfoy in a nutshell, but he would have to just grin and bear it. Just like he had to bear that his father stipulated in his will that, upon his grandson turning seventeen, all decisions regarding the Malfoy fortune and estate had to be made with the young man's approval. Scorpius' grandfather did not trust his son, and Scorpius was well aware of how much it irked his father.
Scorpius was about to get back to Parkinson and force him to tell them everything he knew, but for the arrival of another, unfamiliar owl. He angrily grabbed the parchment and read it.
"Rabid salamander," he whispered, looking up at Parkinson. "This is from Ms. Zabini herself."
Tobias craned his neck, unbelieving, trying to peek at the letter.
"What does she write?" Liana looked at Scorpius with frightened eyes.
"That she needs to speak with me, tete-a-tete, because she has important information for me."
"Don't go," MacLaggen said. "Maybe it is just another false move. A trap…"
"I am going," Malfoy replied firmly, pocketing the letter. "You take Parkinson to the Ministry, find Potter, and have them question this bloke. I shall contact Potter as soon as I can…"
"Scorpius."
He turned around.
"Be careful."
Malfoy hemmed as he Apparated.