Thanks to: ChakraKitty, Colin Creevey, Cal and TheMidnightSun10 for reviewing!

Questions:

When will varanian find out his baby is alive?/Will they all live?/Will he (Scorpius) tell anyone about his immortality?
All things too spoilery to say

What's up with Lysel? Is he some kinda Animagus werewolf now? Able to choose when to turn?
As he gets older more is learned of or figured out about his condition which is a bit different because he was turned in utero when his body was still developing, he's not an animagus

How's molly?
She's healthy enough to walk around now

Is their (Dom and Aurelius) baby ok?
Yes, Cres is alive and safe (as safe as anyone can be right now) with Bill

Is Michael stepping up yet?
Assuming you mean for his unborn child, no he is not

What's JackOne up to? Did he die?
Jack/One is still alive, they just aren't with Gray constantly

Will we get to see baby Leo (that's what I've been calling Varannian and Annie's baby in my head until his name is revealed) soon?
Yes

When is Scorpius going to start digging into his immortality?
Soon

Will Scor be talking to Brutus soon?
Yes

Sly Atoll rubbed at his wrist, his skin now covered in raw red words scrawled in his neat handwriting. That was the way of the Training Tower, in place of regular quills they used blood quills which scarred his flesh. It was especially sore today as he'd just got done writing a long essay on the properties of ingredients most valuable in the creation of Dark Magic potions and why they're the most valuable, and Sly couldn't be happier. Well, apart from if he could see his dad.

Gone were the days he was forced to sit in a muggle classroom being degraded, sitting through patronizing lectures on ABC's when he'd been reading since he was still in diapers… which was a little embarrassing in hindsight but his father had prioritized reading at the time. The point was those horrible days were over, it was such a relief to be able to be treated like he had a brain again. And to learn! He was actually learning things again, new things, interesting things, things he didn't have to fight to find information on because his foster parents refused to acknowledge he wasn't a brain dead moron like the majority of kids his age that hadn't been lucky to enough to be exposed to Vanharisk potion. Though today it had just been nice to show off knowledge in his essay, he was born and bred in Knockturn Alley after all and his father dabbled in dark potions for a living so of course he was familiar with the subject matter.

Sure, the Blood Quills sucked but if there was any universal truth he'd learned during his time in this world it was that life sucked. Life just sucked, there was always going to be pain and if he was going to endure pain it might as well be to benefit himself instead of just humans being the violent barbarians they were. Sly definitely considered it a step up from living in foster care here, of course it wasn't going to be perfect and there were things he actually disliked more than the dull ache of the blood quill he could put out of his mind.

A downside for the Vanharisk did mean he suffered from seizures – and migraines - which had been gradually reducing in frequency since he'd been forced to stop taking it in foster care but they remained an issue. One of the few things his dad actually had in common with his many many foster parents was how they dealt with his seizures, they'd help him through it and make sure he was okay then usually let him relax for a bit to recover. The Soul Eaters… well, they didn't care. They'd just let him drop and expect him to get back to it immediately, some would even go as far as to kick him if he didn't recover fast enough. It did make the whole experience rougher and he would rather they be a tad more lenient, it wasn't like he had a choice in the matter or he'd never have another seizure again. The worst was spellcasting, he was happy to have a wand but it did not come easy to him. Most things did, he was a fast learner and did well on more academic things or potion crafting – which was also fun to do again, even better the Soul Eaters could afford proper equipment so he didn't burn his hands - then he was mediocre at more physical things but he was keeping up. Spells though? He really struggled and doing it for extended periods of time tended to trigger his seizures or especially migraines, making it even harder when he had to press on after it. The Soul Eaters were pretty harsh about it all, it wasn't unexpected – only an idiot would expect that from them – but he'd still appreciate some leniency.

But whatever, Sly could live with it and he was sure he'd get better. He remained in good spirits as he headed to the canteen for food, though the food itself was pretty bland. They had porridge for breakfast, a broth for lunch and a stew for dinner, bread was also allowed with it and water was the only thing they drank but it was same every day. The kind of broth or stew also would change but it still cycled through the same vegetables, it was all vegetarian. It was just pretty bland, good thing Sly had long since learned not to be a picky eater. It was the newspaper of all things – apart from his dad and sister of course - he found himself missing the most, granted the Shadows had a better reason to deny him this small pleasure then those foster idiots but nonetheless nothing ever trumped starting the day with a cup of warm cocoa for company as he read through the day's events.

"Sly!" a voice called as he reached the canteen.

He spared a glance and saw it was his roommate, Milton, who had already grabbed a bowl for him and saved him a seat so he went over. Milton looked around eleven or twelve and also was as bland as such a lame name would suggest, he wasn't tall or short and had dull brown hair framing an entirely forgettable face. His personality was non-existent while his hobbies included crying himself to sleep and waking up screaming, he was pretty pathetic really but he could've been a lot worse.

"What have we got today?" Sly asked as he slid into his seat.

"Lentils," Milton informed him, already returning to his meal and Sly sighed.

"I miss real food like marmalade toas- well that's more breakfast, right now I'd love a burger."

"Aren't those made out of meat?" Milton wondered in surprise and his widened in horror as Sly nodded, "Eating innocent animals is barbaric, Sly, it goes against the wishes of our Shadow Master and the values we as Soul Eaters have a duty to strive for. It's also illegal so I would abandon such horrific thoughts, you're not in that horrible place anymore you're safe hear and there's plenty of great food that provides more than enough sustenance. Like this Lentil Stew."

"Yum," Sly said without enthusiasm at the third day in row of Lentil Stew, picking up a slice of bread from the plate between them while propping his head up on his other arm

"Are you still struggling with spell work?" Milton inquired as Sly nibbled on the bread, apparently taking his dissatisfaction with lentils again for dissatisfaction with his lessons, "Because if you are you could always ask Mo for help."

"I don't need anyone's help," Sly scoffed irritably, "Certainly not from some uncultured inbred hillbilly hick."

"But Mo's good, he's really good. He joined late like you did but he's taken to spellcasting faster and better than anyone I've ever seen, if anyone can help you improve quickly then its him. And he's terrible at all the things you're good at so you could probably offer to help him with Potions or something in exchange."

"I just said I don't need help!"

"Well it's our duty as Elites to be the best soldiers we can be for the Shadow Master, if you need help to do it then I don't know why you wouldn't take it."

"Figures a loser like you wouldn't understand pride," Sly complained with a roll of his eyes while dipping his bread into the Lentil Stew and taking a more substantial bite out of it.

"I'm not a loser," Milton objected in confusion, pausing in bringing his spoon to his mouth, "I just passed the test."

"That doesn't mean you're not a loser."

"But if I passed the test what exactly are you accusing me of losing?"

"It's more of a general term to describe you, your whole demeanor just screams loser," Sly told him casually as he dipped his bread again, Milton continued to look confused. This was another minor criticism, a lack of good company because people were either annoying anti-Shadows or brain-dead drones who failed to understand let alone be upset at his insults.

"But why? I passed the test, I've done everything the Soul Eaters have ever asked of me to the best of my ability. I'm a good soldier."

"Exactly, you're incapable of original thought which is important in the whole grand scheme of human existence. The only remarkable thing about you is how you manage to be completely unremarkable in any possible way."

"I- I have original thoughts," Milton protested albeit more unsurely, "That's the same as being resourceful basically and I can do that, resourcefulness is a valued trait for a good soldier and I'm getting a lot better at using the environment to my advantage. I passed the test, you know."

"Milton, what's your favorite color?"

"My favorite color?" Milton repeated and Sly was sure he could almost see the cogs turning in the synthetic skull as Milton tried to process what should be a question simple enough that even toddlers could answer, "I'm not sure, I'd have to ask one of the masters what that's supposed to be. That question has not come up before."

"Milton, if it's your favorite you don't need to ask others what it's supposed to be. This is exactly what I mean by lacking original thought, you don't have it which puts your intelligence more in line with an Inferius then an actual human person," Sly pointed out readily, gazing into the blank face in front of him, "Though to be fair, what could anyone really expect from a guy whose parents named him Milton of all things."

"They didn't."

"Your parents didn't name you?" Sly wondered, impressed to be genuinely surprised by this while Milton shook his head, "Are you an Inferius, Milton? Or did you just congeal in a gutter somewhere?"

"Some of us joined late like you, others are the children of older Soul Eaters but most of us are the children of muggles. They abandoned us when we were toddlers because they hated our magic," Milton explained, a hint of sadness cracking his usual monotonous voice, "The Soul Eaters took us in though because the Shadow Master is a great and kind leader, they shed the names of our cruel parents and instead gave us new names along with a place in the Training Tower."

"Huh, and do you remember your real parents by any chance? Or your life before?" Sly queried curiously, somehow doubting there was a secret epidemic of muggles who abandoned their magical toddlers, "Or even your original name?"

"No," Milton confirmed with a shake of his head, "I was too young, we all were."

"Hmm," Sly mused to himself thoughtfully as he went back to eating, deciding not to share his thoughts with Milton.

So most of the Training Tower kids were likely just kidnapped muggle-borns, they had to be. Their parents must've either been killed or had their memories of their children erased and since it occurred long before they'd be old enough for magical school, the wizarding world wouldn't even have noticed since they didn't pay attention to muggle-borns before that- bar emergencies to protect the statute of secrecy, of course. The kids either genuinely didn't remember due to age or had a little magical help forgetting, they gave them new names to erase the connection and decrease the likelihood of triggering memories because they wanted soldiers not children crying to go home. It was kind of twisted and kind of brilliant at the same time, he should really expect no less from the Shadow Master.

"Do you think the Masters will quiz us on this favorite color thing?" Milton asked worriedly, "I don't want to disappoint them or get in trouble for being wrong."

"Milton," Sly sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation, "There's missing the point and there's landing on the moon."

"So… you don't think it'll come up?"

"What I think is that I've had enough of you for the day," Sly announced, standing and taking his bowl with him as he ditched the now thoroughly confused looking Milton.

He cast his eyes around the room where there unfortunately were no empty tables, easily distinguishing people like him from people like Milton as they were exhibiting emotion when they spoke and tended to be more talkative in general. Those were the people he should sit with except it wasn't like he really knew any of them though, certainly not enough to declare himself a seat at their table. Last time he'd done that a girl had threatened to cut him so he was more wary of it, damn Yankees.

No sooner had he thought that, he laid eyes on an acceptable target. The kids from Hogsmeade he'd been brought in with, Emerald and Damien. They weren't alone, they were sitting with three other kids – one of which he had some classes with - who looked similar enough to be siblings and the blind, blond Arab kid who Milton had told him was called Cyrus… he kind of stood out. At any rate, Sly didn't find the group threatening and while he didn't think they were particularly interesting either, they couldn't be more boring than Milton. Surely.

"Well hello," Sly greeted the group as he slid in between the red-headed toddler and Cyrus, earning disapproving scowls all around bar the oldest boy. This actually pleased him, people like Milton didn't react at all if he did this, "Don't mind if I sit here."

"Actually we mind a lot, go away," the red-headed Hispanic girl opposite him complained, he believed her name was Rocio. He often saw her talking to Emerald in class, he thought they were friends.

"Well I don't mind and my opinion is the one that matters, not like the staff actually care where we sit," Sly told her smugly, dipping his bread into his stew again and taking a large bite. She glared, "So what's up with you losers today?"

"I want go home," Damien wailed before Rocio could continue objecting to his presence, the toddler's face was red and blotchy from crying making him look even uglier which was impressive considering he'd already been capable of winning an award for the world's ugliest toddler. Darn, he should've saved that thought to say out loud, "The quills are hurt and I don't like and I want go home to Auntie Althie and Uncle Virgil."

"You mean the home that was overrun by and destroyed by Inferi?" Sly prompted and Damien nodded, wiping his gross snotty nose on his sleeve, apparently not noticing the stupidity of his agreement, "You realize if it was destroyed and overrun by Inferi there is no home for you to go back to?"

"N- No?"

"He's three, leave him alone," Emerald spoke up defensively, reaching out to give her brother's hand a comforting squeeze which immediately sparked bitter anger that these two still had each other while his own sister had perished.

"Doesn't mean you should allow such stupidity to fester," Sly scoffed, "You don't have a home to go back to, this is your home now. Stop being such a pathetic brat, learn to use that small shriveled sack in your skull that resembles a brain. You're in Shadowland now."

"It doesn't matter if we don't have homes to go back to," Cyrus spoke up with a dark look that went nowhere, his milky orbs gazing in his vicinity but not lining up right like they would if he was actually seeing him. He was just glaring in the direction Sly's voice had come from, Sly smirked at how pathetic it looked and was further amused to realize Cyrus' inability to notice his smirk, "Home is just where our families are, being with them is what matters."

"Y- Yeah," Damien sniffed, "That's what I meanted."

"What a ridiculous notion," Sly snorted at such an idiotic definition, "By your backwards ass logic my home is a prison."

"Prisdons are realed?" the tiny red-haired tot spoke up with a look of shock.

"Of course they're real, why would you think they're not? Idiot."

"Um… cuz it seems tood bad to be realed. Like eating of anmals."

"Really, Xerx?" Cyrus wondered, seeming surprised by this and Sly took more amusement that his attempt to look in the boy's direction went nowhere close, "You live in a place where they make you write everything with quills that cut you but a prison for bad people is too horrible?"

"Yes," the toddler apparently known as Xerx confirmed, bobbing his head at Cyrus even though the older boy was incapable of seeing such an action.

"What do you expect, Cy?" the oldest boy said after swallowing a spoonful, though he still only looked around eight or nine, "Xerx's never been in your world, Dad died when he was too young to know him and unlike us, his mother is a Training Tower kid so the Shadow Master's world is all he knows."

"Yes. I love Shadow Master, I be good soldier like Mama," Xerx agreed, smiling hopefully and it didn't go unnoticed by Sly how no one else at the table seemed as enthused by this as the little boy.

"So your parents are in prison?" Emerald wondered of Sly, seeming to want to get back on subject. Or maybe just off the Shadow subject.

"Yes, at least for now," Sly confirmed after finishing his mouthful, wondering if hers were also. Damien had wanted to go home to his aunt and uncle not mum and dad after all, plus he still had his suspicions she'd been abused from her reaction to being hurt, "Are yours?"

"No, they're dead. That's why we live with our uncle and aunt, our other brothers got put into foster care-"

"That's why you look familiar!" Sly exclaimed, slapping himself on the forehead as it slipped into place, "One of your brothers is named Amadeus, correct?"

"Y- Yeah, that's right," Emerald stammered out in confusion, "How do you know that?"

"Because he was my foster brother for a time, freakish fuck who never spoke," Sly told her with a shrug of annoyance, not wanting her to think they'd been friends or anything… even though they kind of had and he'd been sad when the muggle took him away. But he wasn't going to tell them that, then he'd look weak, "That idiotic muggle took him away a couple of months ago though."

"Cade," Emerald provided a name Sly didn't care about but looked suddenly eager, "Did you see Caradoc too? He's our youngest brother."

"That dumb baby with half his face looking like roadkill? Sure I saw him, saw the deaf kid and a crippled albino too. It was a regular freak show."

"Wait, what?" the oldest boy spoke up again and Cyrus scowled, suddenly making an effort to eat, "Albino and deaf? Cyrus, aren't those the conditions your brothers have?"

"Brothers, huh?" Sly wondered, smirking in amusement at such a messed up family, "Well you'd fit right in with them, white eyes."

"They're not my brothers, they're Roman's children," Cyrus snapped darkly, "Davin, you know that. And you, slimy British jerk, just go away."

"But their dad's name was Cade…?" Emerald pointed out in confusion.

"And Roman's your dad too," Davin – least that's what Sly was assuming the oldest boy was called – pointed out.

"He's not my dad, okay?!" Cyrus barked, slamming his spoon down onto the table, "He abandoned my mother, he abandoned me and he probably abandoned those two as well which is why that Cade guy has them now! He's not fit to be called a dad, I'll have nothing to do with Roman Rivers and that includes any other children he abandoned."

"Your brothers didn't do anything wrong."

"Half-brothers," Cyrus corrected acidly, "And they're unfortunately on the half that isn't part of my family."

"Now who's a jerk," Sly taunted in amusement at this causing a rise out of him.

"What is the meaning of this disruptive noise?" a new voice asked and they all looked – though Sly wasn't sure 'looking' was the correct word to apply to the blind – to see one of the staff members approach, Master Ludwig, who was middle aged with dark graying feathered hair and a very pointy nose. Emerald and Damien immediately looked afraid, the other set of siblings didn't seem worried and Cyrus threw a menacing look at- well more like simply in his general direction.

"It was him making the noise, Master," Rocio lied immediately, pointing to Sly himself though Master Ludwig was eying Emerald suspiciously, "He just barged over onto our table and started being loud and annoying."

"I most certainly did not," Sly insisted indignantly, while being almost impressed with her ability to form a cunning plan to be rid of him by twisting the situation to her benefit, "It was Cyrus, ask him about his Daddy issues."

"Conflicting stories I see," Master Ludwig mused which had Damien promptly burst into tears, Sly smirked in amusement. This kid was such a wimp, it was hilarious. He wasn't going to make it as a Soul Eater, he'd be lucky to make it as a fast food worker.

"Please! Please, Master! Please don't hurt us!" Damien begged, sobbing brokenly and cradling his wounded hands, "Please! We am sorry!"

"It's only a minor grievance where only a warning not a punishment is required, Damien, though I suggest you calm yourself before it becomes a major grievance where punishment is required."

"Don't hurt my brother," Emerald shot out immediately, now unafraid and sounding more determined while Damien attempted to stop his pathetic crying which just left him sniveling.

"Speaking back to me, Emerald? Well now I'll need a word, we don't tolerate insubordination," Master Ludwig decided and gestured for the girl to follow, her fear returning as she made to follow.

"Don't go…" Damien whimpered as she left, seemingly too scared to object loud enough for Master Ludwig to hear.

"Odd standards of insubordination," Sly mused thoughtfully.

"He really has it out for her, I don't know why," Rocio shrugged, drawing his attention back to her and reminding him of what she'd tried to do.

"And what was that?" Sly questioned of her with a scowl, she raised an eyebrow but didn't look confused, "Trying to blame me for trouble to get rid of me? What if he had been mad and had tortured me?"

"I told you I wanted you to go away," Rocio told him coldly with another shrug, "Just because I don't like the Shadows, it doesn't mean I didn't grow up here and my brother wants us to be ruthless. If you got tortured then good, you deserve it and I don't care. Bother us at your own risk."

And so Scorpius found his day pretty much dedicated to just waiting to go back, since they'd been successfully saved there wasn't much to do there. Not for non-healers anyway, the healers had plenty to do but unfortunately Scorpius was not one of them.

Since he'd given his permission, Maurice did bring his stepdad's healer girlfriend Tabitha Morse who was a pretty enough dark-haired woman. She didn't have much – well any – time to get acclimated, Hogan set her immediately to work helping him stabilize Marigold without so much as an introduction like they already knew each other. It dawned on him at some point that they probably did already know each other, they'd both worked at St Mungo's until London fell after all. He doubted they were friends – he found it hard to imagine Hogan having friends, let alone a female friend his nephew's age – but co-workers yes and she seemed to know what she was doing as much as he did, both would order Maximus about while Rutherford was relegated to handing out potions and being an extra wand if they needed it. It was more than Scorpius did, he ultimately got shooed out for taking up space.

So did Abby who seemed to want to hover around Albus, he wasn't woken by any of the noise which could be because he was ill but he was a heavier sleeper anyway. They helped the Embrys make breakfast, it was nice to not have to worry about porridge because Hogan was busy. Rose's dad came down to bring some food up for his wife and the werewolves, Scorpius almost mistook him for a random old man in the house. Being imprisoned by the Shadows had not done any favors for his health, he was all skin and bones leaving his- Rose's blue eyes sunken into a gaunt face while moving cautiously like it pained him a little or he was just really old, even his once Weasley red hair was now brittle, wild and white. He looked a lot older then he should, only a lack of severe wrinkles hinted that was only in his forties. At least it didn't look like he'd been horribly tortured, that was a plus. Ron didn't say anything to him but the way any hint of joviality bled out of his face when he saw him said enough, he didn't meet his eyes and just silently went back upstairs with the food.

They handed the breakfast out, making sure the Koray kids ate because they were looking underweight and admitted to barely being given anything in the few weeks of their imprisonment. They then set them up in the front room to get some rest, aided by a Sleeping Draught as they had been up all night and had been through a lot. Thanks but to him, not that they seemed to know that. It was only after they cleaned up the dishes he really got a chance to talk with Abby since the Healers were still busy and would be for a long time, he filled her in and she caught him up including on what she'd meant before in regards to not telling Albus.

"Wow, he's going to be devastated," Scorpius thought aloud upon learning Albus' mother had been killed.

"I know," Abby sighed heavily from opposite him, picking at the last of her food, "I'm dreading telling him."

"Why haven't you?"

"He's still drifting in and out of consciousness, we just want to wait until he's awake more and doing a bit better," Abby explained before noticing her sister walking by, "Hey Heather, have you eaten yet?"

"No," Heather answered shortly, her expression stony.

"You should eat, there's still some left," Abby insisted and her tone became more pleading when Heather said nothing, "Come, sit with us."

Heather said nothing but her eyes glanced to the plates of spare food in the center of the center of the table, she slowly picked up a spare plate from the pile and tossed some food onto it then begrudgingly sat in the seat between them. They were clearly sisters, they had the exact same hue of milky skin and he exact same shade of golden blond hair except Abby's was all tied back into a large braid that trailed down her back while Heather's was only neck length. He thought Heather was objectively more attractive too, she was also taller and had a very athletic build. They carried themselves very differently though, Heather reminded him bizarrely of John with the same kind of stoic guardedness.

"So you said Molly is doing better?" Abby asked of him to restart the conversation as Heather had just started eating in silence, Scorpius nodded, "Well that's good, I'm sure Al will be pleased."

"You shouldn't have saved her," Heather spoke up abruptly, startling the both of them to be so blunt, "She's an adult and she signed up to be a soldier, she knew the risks."

"So that means we shouldn't try to save our own people?" Scorpius demanded, disliking that mindset in general and Heather's cold eyes slid to him.

"No, it means we shouldn't put thousands of innocent lives at risk to save people who willingly agreed to put thousands of innocent lives before their own."

"Well you don't know what it's like…" Scorpius muttered more lamely, he couldn't argue she was devoid of a point there.

"I know exactly what its like," Heather told him coldly, an empty bitter smile curling the corners of her mouth, "I've seen and I've tortured scores of people for the Soul Eaters when they forced me to work for them, so I know exactly what they put torture victims through."

"I'm sorry," Abby offered, looking at her sister with a mixture of horror, sympathy and guilt. Heather didn't even look at her, instead merely shrugging and continued eating. An uncomfortable silence contained solely to the small breakfast table descended, despite knowing she'd done bad things for the Shadows he still found it chilling to know she was involved with the barbaric torture they inflicted.

"So… how's your fiancé doing?" Scorpius asked Abby, trying to think of something to break the silence and she hadn't mentioned him. This time it was Heather's turn to look surprised and she turned on her sister in shock before Abby could respond.

"Albus is your fiancé?!" Heather wondered, her stoic expression breaking for the first time.

"What? No! Why would you think that?!" Abby countered, flustered and her face went scarlet.

"I don't know because you spend every waking second pouring over him or worrying that you're not pouring over him," Heather explained in confusion, "And this is the first I've heard of a fiancé, I just assumed…"

"Well it's not Al! He's just my friend," Abby answered quickly, very quickly, "You know? I've only been friends with him my whole life, he's one of my best friends and why wouldn't I be worried about him? He's in bad shape and there's been so much dea- I'm sure Scorpius would be doing exactly the same if he were here."

"Um…" Scorpius murmured unsurely, of course he was worried about his friend but Heather made it sound kind of extreme and Molly would still be his priority. Thankfully the Longbottom sisters seemed not to notice his failed attempt at saying nothing.

"Okay…" Heather said slowly, "So who is this fiancé then?"

"Sequoia Pentakel," Abby offered readily, Heather continued to look at her.

"Christa's brother. What's he like?"

"Well he's… he's smart. And nice," Abby answered with a nod but Heather continued to gaze at her, "He's really nice… Tell her, Scorpius, you've met him."

"He's really nice," Scorpius confirmed at her command, he had no qualms with the former Ravenclaw. He felt like he was ignored though as Heather kept her piercing gaze on her sister, it seemed to be making Abby uncomfortable.

"What?!"

"Nothing," Heather answered quickly, finally breaking eye contact and leaning back, "It's just a little odd you haven't mentioned him once this entire time."

"I've just had other things on my mind and I know he's safe already, it's not weird. Right, Scor?" Abby said, again turning to him and Scorpius didn't immediately say anything. He didn't want to lose one of the friends still talking to him but he was with Heather here, he did think it was kind of weird though he was hardly an expert.

"Haven't you gone to see him or anything?" Scorpius wondered of her, after all she'd earned her apparation license and knew where he lived, "He's probably worried about you."

"I haven't seen him but its fine, we saved his sisters still in Hogwarts so they should've told him that I was okay so he has no reason to worry."

"You haven't been worried about him?" Heather asked.

"We get told about attacks, I know where he lives and he's fine," Abby insisted though she looked uncomfortable, she fell quiet for a moment and resumed eating, "Is it really that weird?"

Heather gave a shrug and immediately returned to her food, Scorpius followed suit. It wasn't really any of his business and he didn't consider himself particularly knowledgeable on the subject, he also had more pressing things on his mind. He wondered if Heather felt the same. Abby told him later that Heather was dating Latimer, it was very surprising to him and he wasn't sure how to feel about it. He should probably be happy for his friend and Heather was Abby's sister but… well, Heather kind of unnerved him and he didn't want Latimer to get hurt. He didn't think he should tell Abby that though, especially not based on her reaction to asking about her sister.

"It's weird, I got my sister back but she's more like a stranger," Abby admitted later when Heather had gone back to the base and they'd just finished up the dishes, "She says I only worry about Al but I worry about her a lot too, you know? She's clearly been through a lot and… well, she's the only siblings I have left now."

"Yeah," Scorpius muttered as sorrow drifted through Abby's eyes as he was sure guilt went through his, her brothers were both dead now. Ironically both had died in Hogwarts, Nick had been killed by Florian a few years ago and August by Lysander in the attack that Scorpius had indirectly caused. From what he'd heard, her poor dad had taken his youngest's death terribly as well, "I um… I'm sorry about your brother."

"Thank you," Abby offered quietly, averting her eyes, "I'm not mad at you by the way, not anymore."

"Thanks," Scorpius mumbled out in reply, not sure how he was supposed to respond to that. He was glad she wasn't mad anymore, he wasn't either, "This isn't the time for anger."

"Yeah, we don't stand much of a chance against the Shadows if we keep tearing ourselves apart," Abby agreed and sighed, "Wish Michael got that, any excuse to bite someone's head off. Before the full moon he almost came to blows with Maximus, something about not trusting him to care for Al since he bullied him back in First Year."

"Maybe it's just the full moon," Scorpius suggested though kind of doubting it as he recalled Michael's rage a few weeks ago, "I mean he's already grieving so… it's rough."

"So are all of us but we're doing our best to keep it together," Abby insisted before they were distracted by the door opening, bushy brown hair identifying the newcomer but Rose's mum left almost as soon as she'd entered.

"So she hates me."

"No. Well, she might but it's probably not why she bailed," Abby offered quickly before she stood, "She's had an upset stomach recently, I think it might be stress about Rose… I'll go make sure she's alright."

"Okay."

On that note, Abby stood up and went after her which left Scorpius alone with his thoughts in the quiet. Not silence, on his peripheral hearing he was aware of footsteps and voices from elsewhere in the house, water running – he knew some of the others were getting showers. It was all distant sound though, none of it was in his immediate vicinity. He was alone, listening to the gentle ticking of his pocket watch marking the seconds of his life trickling away.

He pulled the silver out idly, a wizard's coming of age that meant even more since it was a gift from Varanian. Of course, Varanian seemed to have no idea it belong to Jack the Ripper. He ran his fingers over the Latin inscription he didn't understand, he scowled slightly as thoughts occurred to him. What did it mean? Or rather had Savas engraved this text? If so, did it mean anything important?

"Scorpius?" a voice questioned and Scorpius looked back up, seeing Hermione had entered with an unreadable expression on her face.

"Oh hey, Abby just went to check on you," Scorpius offered, pocketing his watch.

"I'm fine," Hermione brushed it aside quickly as she approached him, folding her arms, "And I saw Abby, Albus is awake and thirsty so she went to get him a drink. I just wanted to talk to you for a minute."

"Um sure, go ahead."

"You know where Varanian is, right?"

"Right."

"Well can you tell him I need to speak to him about something? It's important."

"What's it about?" Scorpius wondered curiously.

"I'd rather wait to talk to Varanian about it, the sooner the better."

"Okay… well, I'll pass the word along later then," Scorpius agreed and Hermione nodded in acknowledgement before leaving.

He was intrigued as to what Hermione would want to talk to Varanian about, it didn't come across as basic as just wanting to know what the plan was. He didn't really see her the rest of the day, she and her husband seemed to be on caring for the werewolves – the ones at the Embry's house anyway – duty which made sense since one of them was their only remaining child, one of them was also Michael so Scorpius stayed away, he didn't really want to accidently aggravate him.

When things stopped being so critical, the Healers allowed him in again so he got to spend some time with Wyatt. They seemed to have finally stabilized Marigold though he was still unconscious and very pale, his breathing was pretty weak. Byron was sleeping peacefully and the healers were now working on Professor Koray, Sebastian was still sleeping as well but he had to be weak from the full moon anyway. Wyatt – who needed to take Blood-Replenishing Potion regularly so couldn't take a Sleeping Draught like the rest - did give him a full report on what had happened so he could tell Varanian, enlightening him on how he'd managed to upset Sebastian before. Albus was also there of course, Scorpius said hi but not much else since he fell asleep too quickly. He hadn't forgotten Vern's message.

"Will they be okay?" Scorpius asked of Hogan later that evening when they were finally on their way back, he waited until Hogan had apparated them.

"Pre-existing medical conditions notwithstanding , all the underage kids will be fine. Koray and Wyatt will have more of a rough road for recovery but should be okay, long as we can keep up their treatments. Marigold's touch and go, he's gotta fight this so… he's probably dead," Hogan answered him dismissively as they approached the house, he opened the door for them, "If you mean your friend then he's doing well, he's through the worst of it and is just on the mend."

"That's… good, mostly," Scorpius offered as they went inside unsure of what else to say, Hogan gave a dismissive shrug, "Good job."

"Whatever. Got to go check on Oathan and look at the werewolves since you guys were freaking out over them this morning.

"You remember that?" Scorpius wondered in surprise as Hogan started up the stairs.

"Duh!" Hogan called back irritably, sounding offended Scorpius thought he might've forgotten. Or maybe not, he was a pretty irritable person.

Scorpius left him to it and instead wandered into the front room, Varanian was still sleeping so telling him anything would have to wait. He went on into the kitchen expecting maybe Leebin working on dinner so he could bring it to Molly, instead he was shocked to see Molly herself was there. She and Maurene were sitting at the counter, some crayons and parchment sprawled between them.

"Molly!" Scorpius couldn't help but exclaim when he saw her and smile, it was great to see her up and about again, "You're up!"

"Well yeah, Hogan said I could," Molly pointed out as if it were obvious, sparing him a glance as he approached.

"Molly's drawing with me!" Maurene told him excitedly as he reached them, he picked up the nearest picture which was pretty poor and looked like some kind of dog.

"Wow, what a cool dog you drew," Scorpius offered encouragingly to the child.

"I drew that," Molly told him with a frown while Maurene giggled, Scorpius felt his cheeks burn a little at his mistake, "And it's not a dog, it's a goat. Those are its horns."

"I thought they were its ears," Scorpius mumbled in embarrassment.

"What kind of dog has ears like that?"

"Silly Scorpius," Maurene chuckled, shaking her head at him and going back to coloring something vomit green, "Do you need glasses?"

"I'm sorry," Scorpius apologized, not having realized how bad Molly was at drawing though missing some fingers probably contributed to that. The ship she was currently working on was looking better or more recognizable, "That ship looks good."

"Thanks. It's the Argo Navis," Molly told him.

"Cool."

"I'm drawing Daddy killing Inferi," Maurene told him cheerfully, letting him see the half drawn picture of Leebin stabbing vomit colored people shapes.

"Very nice," Scorpius complimented her as well, thinking it was kind of disturbing but then Molly's drawing subject was pretty random too. It didn't dampen his spirits though as he glanced back to his girlfriend, smiling again. He was just glad she up and about now, not being bedridden anymore was a massive improvement.