Thanks to: Colin Creevey, Vyxien and Cal for reviewing!

Questions:

I'm assuming that Varanian and Alaric met about it then since it's announced?/Is it likely he takes part in those meetings?
They haven't had the meeting yet, Harry should be a part of it which is why he's being told about it beforehand and will have discussed it more with Hermine and Alaric before it goes down

He's the Head Auror and this acting Nobody Head of Law has the gal to ask him to look at Azkaban papers when he has far bigger, more important things to do? I suggest she gets off her lazy butt, and looks at them herself if they're so important. And he's Head Auror, why swamp him with paper work to begin with?
Its part of his job, as Head Auror he's responsible for the security of New Azkaban prison. Its a responsibility he mostly trusted to Cel which is really why he's so swamped in the first place, Cel was a second-in-command to Harry just as much (if not more so) then he was to Sal and he hasn't replaced him (in fact he's kind of afraid to delegate exactly because of Cel) so he's not sharing the workload (which is worse then ever with the current situation) like he did before which leads to him being swamped. As to why she doesn't go to the prison herself, she gladly would but she doesn't have the authority since its Harry's responsibility and he doesn't want her interfering with his people nor does he completely trust her so he won't give her authorization to deal with it

And Who cares what's happening at a prison full of Shadows?
The prison actually isn't full of Shadows just normal criminals, they've killed some but never successfully captured any Shadows. They're legally responsible for the prison and its prisoners, keeping them safe and keeping the general public safe from them

People mad at Harry
It also wasn't exactly a question but I wanted to clarify, people aren't mad at Harry just for trusting Cel and in fact many others did to. Its that Harry gave Cel full access in regards to Sal's imprisonment which is how he got to free her, people aren't mad so much he did that as that he did that AFTER Alaric ordered him not to (this is why they argue in the first chapter). They had conflicting views on security and trustworthiness, Harry was so confident he was right he went against his superior's orders which led to Sal's freedom. When you disobey orders and it goes well you look brilliant for having the foresight to go against the foolish authority, when you disobey orders and it goes badly... well you just look like an idiot

Scorpius was not having a great day.

Michael had stormed off to go fall off the wagon, while he hoped his friend would come to his sense and return any second he knew it was unlikely and was proven correct. He was mad at him for it but it wasn't like he could stop him, it wasn't like he could force him to stay sober- well technically he supposed he could but he could hardly imprison him until he got over it and Michael clearly did not want help. Varanian had also gone off though Scorpius was concerned not mad at him, him he actually wanted to go after to make sure he was okay but he had no idea where he was to even do so. Abby had even checked for him, Varanian wasn't at Hogan's or the new base, he wasn't even at the old base which was the last place Scorpius could think to look for him. He'd just have to hope Varanian was okay and see how he was doing when he – hopefully – returned. Then there was Antonius who Hogan still wanted to take his leg off despite everyone else opposing it, Scorpius finally just straight up ordered him not to which Hogan complied with thankfully.

By the time Scorpius decided to call it a day because it was ridiculously late at night and most people had gone to bed, neither Michael nor Varanian had returned. Antonius was stable at least though he remained unconscious, complete with all legs attached though and Cassia – who had filled him in - of course had shelter with them so they were safe at least. Though seemingly once satisfied Antonius – and the other patients there – were stable, Hogan had angrily declared he was going home and left. He'd been very clearly pissed about Scorpius' decision, he hadn't so much as glanced at him without a seething glare for the rest of that day and had frequently made comments complaining his way was better, criticizing them for not listening to him or insisting real Healers would be. Even when Lamb apparated them back to Hogan's, he was throwing a tantrum over it in the kitchen and ranting at Leebin. Scorpius was increasingly concerned that someone had dropped him on his head as an infant, Leebin seemed unfazed by this though.

On the bright side, it had been nice to walk in to see Molly sitting on the couch playing wizard's chess with Maurene rather than being bedridden. It was just too bad he couldn't spend time with her like Maurene could, if Michael and Varanian didn't show up tomorrow he'd have to deal with that, had to make sure they were alright. Tomorrow didn't start off well though.

"Hey Hogan," Scorpius had greeted the Healer politely, hoping he'd slept off his anger though the dark look he was thrown suggested otherwise, "So I was thinking when you go to the Embrys-"

"I'm going now," Hogan interrupted icily, already on his way towards the front door Scorpius realized.

"Well… that's fine, I just want you to me with you."

"No!" Hogan barked stubbornly as if he was a petulant child, Scorpius could only ogle him incredulously as he stalked past him.

"You… You get not taking me accomplishes nothing right? Someone else will just apparate me," Scorpius pointed out but Hogan didn't stop walking, opening the front door readily much to his frustration, "Lysel is more mature then you and he's a three year old!"

"I know it!" Hogan called back, slamming the door behind him and Scorpius let out a sigh of irritation.

"Have you gone to see your family yet?" Myriam inquired of him as she came down the stairs, carrying an empty glass that probably had been Lysel's- he was still ill from the full moon.

"Not yet, I'm kind of busy right now," Scorpius answered, trying to keep the irritation out of his voice, "And Hogan isn't helping."

"Ah," she offered and despite the short answer, he surmised from her tone she very much could relate, "Well whenever you are ready I'd be happy to take you since you can't apparate and all."

"Thanks."

The dainty woman cast him a smile before continuing on in the direction of the kitchen, he wondered what had brought that on. At any rate, he had other things to do right now. Namely finding Lamb because Hogan was a jerk.

"Michael, get up!"

Michael Sanford jolted awake instantly at the urgency in the voice in fear of attack, instantly regretting it as consciousness felt like a knife to the brain. He groaned, pressing his face further into his pillow as the acrid taste of emptiness rolled around on the insides of his arid mouth, nausea clawing through his stomach beneath him.

"I'm serious, Michael!" the same voice hissed angrily, a female voice that he didn't recog- Had he slept with someone last night? Torn by curiosity, he dragged his throbbing head up an inch and opened his eyes a crack, vision immediately obscured as his underwear was thrown into his face, "Get up!"

"Where's the fire?" Michael mumbled out in a sleepy slur as he took the boxers, sitting up a little and feeling cool air on his bare chest. He had slept with someone, hadn't he?

"My husband is coming home early, you need to get out of here!"

With this she threw his jeans at him, he wasn't sure if it was actually being slapped in the face by washed out denim or the words she said that but he found himself feeling suddenly more awake now. He dragged himself out of the covers and started pulling on his boxers then his jeans, memories starting to drizzle into the slog that was his alcohol soaked mind. He glanced up at the woman who was frantically get dressed, some strawberry blond who looked older then Dawn but – thankfully – younger than Grissy. She was pretty enough, vaguely recalling meeting her at the bar and… coming home with her.

He groaned as a wave of nausea and shame slammed into him, letting his head fall into his hands before spotting his boots and socks that the woman had probably got ready for him, he started to put them and tried to swallow his bile. What even was this woman's name? What was wrong with him? She apparently had a husband.

"I didn't know you had a husband," Michael stated, sure that even drunk he wouldn't stoop to being complicit in an affair. Least he hoped he wouldn't…

"Well I won't anymore if he finds you here, he said he'd leave me if he caught me cheating on him again," she explained as he was tying his laces and he just had to stop to ogle her incredulously.

"Then why did you do it?!"

"It's the apocalypse and I don't want to die alone, if he doesn't want me to go out and bring home strange guys then he shouldn't work nights all the time. A girl's got needs," she insisted defensively and Michael shook his head – regretting it instantly, it made the world swim dizzyingly – before going back to tying the laces, "Don't judge me, I'm sure your Rose wouldn't be too happy if she was here."

"Rose… Rose wasn't my wife," Michael stammered, having to swallow the bile trying to rise as memories of her screams as she torn apart echoed inside his skull.

"Well she sure didn't strike me as your sister," she scoffed as he finished tying the laces and instead let his still throbbing head fall back into shaky hands, his stomach swirling sickeningly inside him, "Hey, don't stop, you still need to get out of here!"

Michael grunted in acknowledgement, not really trusting himself to speak least he spew instead. He stood up unsteadily, the world spinning around him so forcefully he feared he would pass out. The woman – whose name he still didn't remember – came over to him though and handed him his shirt, it was the jingle of his dog togs that drew his attention away from the vertigo. He realized she was ogling his bare chest, she then placed her soft hands over his rune scar and he noticed her nails had been painted the most vibrant shade of pink. More pleasant memories of last night started trickling through into his mind, her name was Susie or Sammy or something like that.

"Not that it wasn't fun but I forgot it's our anniversary apparently so my husband is coming home early, he's a soldier like you so you probably don't want to stick around to meet him," Susie or Sammy told him before leaning up to kiss him, leaving him very confused as she pressed her Tequila tasting lips against his own.

"Sophie!" a man's voice called from downstairs, the sound of a door slamming closed punctuating how sharply Michael and – apparently Sophie – jolted away from each other, "Baby, I'm back!"

"Get out of here!" Sophie hissed at him desperately and gestured to a door on the other side of the bed while Michael started hastily pulling his shirt over his head in a panic, footsteps stamping ever closer every second.

"Happy anni-"

Michael disapparated frantically as the door swung open, knowing how badly he needed to get home. He didn't know if it was his brain addled hangover or how quickly and unfocused he'd departed but it was the worst apparation he'd ever experienced, he felt like the tube he was being shoved through was a drinking straw so violently he was reminded of the lycanthropy transformations. He collapsed onto the pavement, limbs shaking like leaves and his head feeling like another several knives had been plunged in. His stomach lurched, expelling its contents into the gutter. His arms gave out and his head hit the concrete, leaving him lying in a pool of his own foul-smelling vomit. He groaned but he felt too ill to move, to even open his eyes…

"Rose run, I can hold this long enough for you to get through," Michael told Albus' cousin, "If one of us doesn't keep this up we'll be overwhelmed and killed by Inferi before we can get away, one of us has to fight for the other."

"Michael?" a vaguely recognizable voice questioned but he couldn't wake up enough to stir even as he felt his shoulder's shaken, "Um… Are you okay? You shouldn't be lying in the street…"

"You go then," Rose countered.

"No, I want to make sure you live!"

Michael felt someone trying to pull him to his feet, he still couldn't wake up but he tried to stand. Letting them support him, letting himself be led until he was laid back down on a kinder surface.

"You need to live more, Michael, you're going to be a dad!"

Without waiting on a response from Michael, Rose pushed him forcefully back through the entrance. Michael cried out in protest but it was too late, one wasn't enough to keep the Inferi back despite Albus' best efforts with the Knockback Jinx.

An Inferius' hand tore through the side of Rose's neck before he could stop it, she screamed in pain and…

Michael forced himself to wake up, howling in anguish and trying to stop his brain replaying her horrific death again. He buried his head in his trembling fingers, squeezing shut his eyes as if that actually helped do anything besides slightly stem the flow of tears. No matter how hard he tried, he always seemed to be haunted by ghosts these days. If it wasn't Rose, it was Annie and if it wasn't Annie, it was Flynn. Rose was the only one he'd actually seen die though.

He sat there breathing heavily for a minute, letting the memory fade from his mind and trying to focus on other things to distract himself. He still felt nauseous but its wave had receded, likewise his head still ached but it had dulled considerably. He wondered how long he'd been out, probably longer then it felt like if the pain had dulled that much. His throat was still parched though.

"Anyway, then we just leave it to dry," a vaguely familiar voice said and Michael's head shot up in surprise.

He just assumed he'd apparated to outside the Embry's and been brought inside by someone but he realized now that wasn't the case at all, he must've brought himself back to John's town which was the last place that had really been a home because he was now back in Dawn's grubby apartment, complete with cockroaches crawling up the walls. He cringed in disgust, wondering how anyone could live like that. The rest of the apartment seemed unchanged, everything looking like she'd dragged it out of a landfill site.

Then there was Dawn, his eyes honing on her swollen stomach like being sucked into a black hole. Her bump had certainly gotten bigger since last time he'd seen her, of course it would be as she'd either just entered her third trimester or would any day now, he was too hungover to think of dates. Three months until baby time.

He dragged his eyes off it to glance at her, aside from her stomach she didn't look much different. Her dark dyed hair was clipped out of the way, she had a model car kit box on the table beside a model car and some paints she was screwing the lid back on. It was probably what she'd been talking about, though he didn't think it had been aimed at him as she wasn't even facing his direction.

"What are you doing?" Michael tried to demand of her but his voice came out more as a weak rasp, he was really dehydrated.

"Building a model car," Dawn offered, sparing him a glance before continuing what she'd been doing.

"Why?"

"It's called a 'hobby,' dunno if you wizards have those," Dawn answered snarkily before seeming to take a more serious route, "My Dad used to do them with me all the time as a kid, it's something I intend to share with my son. I hope Easton will like it."

"The fetus can't hear you," Michael pointed out through gritted teeth, feeling his anger rise again at the name. It was a stupid name, especially for a fetus of unknown gender.

"Actually he can, his hearing is that far along- Sometimes I can even feel him moving when I talk to him," Dawn told him, sounding increasingly excited and smiling to herself as her hand seemed to instinctively go to her stomach, "Its… It's really cool, like he's responding."

"Well the fetus can't understand it so it's pointless talking to it."

"Just because he can't understand it doesn't mean it's pointless," Dawn complained, losing her smile and going back to cleaning up, "You're so negative."

"Then why did you bring me here?!"

"I don't know, it seemed wrong to leave you half in the road drowning in your vomit?" Dawn told him incredulously, "Would you I just leave you there to choke on it next time?"

"Yes!" Michael yelled stupidly, "I don't want anything to do with you!"

"I'm not asking you to have anything to do with me, there's the door!" Dawn shot back, jabbing her finger towards the front door while getting up and storming off towards the other door.

"Where are you doing?!"

"I need to pee!" Dawn snapped, slamming the door behind her.

Michael buried his head back in his hands, his head ringing from noise. Why had he done that? That was stupid, and rude. What was the matter with him lately? He was so irritable and quick to anger lately, he knew he shouldn't be – even when the people actually deserved his anger - but such rational thought rarely crossed his mind at the time.

Heck- What was the matter with him now?! He'd spent the night with some random woman- a married random woman no less and now he was back in the home of another one night stand who he'd knocked up, he couldn't handle alcohol which was why he needed to stop. And now he wasn't at the Embry's, what if there'd been attack? What if Antonius was dead because Hogan had decided to hack off his leg? He was letting everyone down. He didn't want to be like this, why was he like this? Lamb had even refused to come with him, the homeless career alcoholic was somehow managing to be more responsible than he was!

He was dreading going back and having to face that, face all of them. He was dreading going back in general, he didn't want to be there. The weight of the world was a brutal amount to bear, he felt like he was crumbling under the pressure. He didn't want to not be there either though, he wanted to help and they needed healers. This was why alcohol was nice, it was the only escape the situation, the only way he could be nowhere.

"Oh, you're still here," Dawn spoke again and Michael glanced back up, seeing her ambling out of the bathroom.

"I um… I wanted to apologize for snapping at you," Michael offered ashamedly, trying to stop his eyes drifting to the bump, "I'm sorry. It was kind of you to help me."

"No problem," Dawn brushed it off while Michael jumped as a cockroach scuttled over his foot, "Don't suppose you have a magic exterminating spell? Pop those suckers and we can call it even."

"I don't," Michael admitted truthfully, cockroach killing had not been in the Hogwarts curriculum, "Why don't you just hire an exterminator?"

"You think I can afford that?" Dawn scoffed with a shake of her head, "Besides, the whole place is infected not just my apartment so getting rid of them isn't as simple as clearing them from my room. The Landlord's supposed to take care of it and he's a piece of shit, he's taken off to one of those Ministry shelters so he's not even pretending to ignore us right now. On the bright side I stopped paying my rent because what the fuck's he going to do? But I'm about to go on maternity leave so I won't have much coming in anyway."

"Ministry shelters?" Michael wondered as Dawn went back to cleaning up, he recalled vaguely hearing about them on the radio or the Embry's television.

"Yeah, you know those places all over the country the government are setting up as shelters for survivors of the Shadow attacks or those who are preemptively want to evacuate, they're already magically protected and stuff. How can you not have heard of it? I mean I know they're running it for wizards too-"

"I've just been busy, some shelter isn't something we're interested in anyway. Since you're not in one, I'm guessing you can understand that."

"I've thought about it," Dawn shrugged, "I mean I'm a sitting duck without magic, you can just peace the fuck out if something happens or fight but I'm fucked so magical protection seems amazing. Except there's only like a gazillion more non-mag- muggles then wizards, protection won't mean shit if its spread too thin and there'll be a drain on supplies and resources. I have a good hoard of supplies here I'd have to ditch to go to a shelter so unless they attack this place- which is a small town, way smaller than anywhere else hit - I'm probably better off. If things get as bad as they get in other countries I don't think it'll really matter, small towns and magically protected shelters will all fall then. Might as well die at home free then cowering in some shelter with everyone else in the world."

Invite her to come back with you, his mind spoke up abruptly as his eyes drifted back to her swollen stomach, the stomach carrying his child, they'll be safer with us in Gray. Michael conceded this was probably true, his mouth opening and closing a little as the offer of helping her danced on his tongue. But then he heard a different voice in his head, this time it was Rose. You need to live more, Michael, you're going to be a dad! And he felt a resurgence of rage, the fetus- that thing was the reason she was dead instead of him and that was on Dawn.

"I have to go now," Michael said as he stood, seeming to startle Dawn from her thoughts a little.

"Good luck," Dawn offered politely as she caught his eye, she did have pretty eyes.

Michael just turned on his heal, disapparating without a word.

"Thank you," Scorpius offered gratefully to Lamb after he apparated them, now thankfully finding himself outside of the Embrys.

"I- It's basically what I'm h- here for," Lamb shrugged with a suppressed yawn, he still looked tired from the full moon, "C- Can't do much but I c- can app- apparate."

"Its more than I can do," Scorpius admitted ashamedly at his inability to apparate, death was apparently easier for him to overcome then common magic everyone of age could manage. They started approaching the front door and he recalled yesterday Lamb refusing to go drinking with Michael, "And you should be proud of yourself, Ephraim. I don't think I mentioned it with everything going on but that was great of you to stay sober, I'm sure it wasn't easy."

"Th- Thanks," Lamb offered and actually gave a sheepish smile while Scorpius knocked on the door, "I- I was tempted esp- especially so cl- close after the full moon but I- I knew I h- had to stay strong s- so I did, it felt g- good to be able to s- say no."

"Well you did the right thing," Scorpius assured him as the door was opened not by Richard but a gangly teen with a large mop of bushy red hair and freckles, Rose's younger brother, "H- Hey Hugo."

"Hi Scorpius, come in," Hugo greeted him kindly, even smiling politely as he stepped by to let him enter. He had thought the Hufflepuff would be one of those mad at him because of Rose's death, apparently not so that was a plus, "Lamb, is it?"

"How are you doing?" Scorpius asked of him as they went inside, recalling he'd been injured.

"My leg's healed enough that I'm allowed to walk around now, long as I don't overexert it," Hugo explained, the satisfaction in his voice reminding him of Molly who was in a similar position, "Got through the full moon too I'm doing better than I have been all month."

"I- It's always a r- relief when the full moon is over and y- you don't have to worry ab- about it for a while," Lamb agreed.

"That's good," Scorpius offered, his attention drifting to the dining turning hospital room where he noticed a distinct lack of Michael, "Don't suppose Michael or Varanian have showed up?"

"No," Hugo answered immediately and looked apologetic, "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," Scorpius brushed it aside, trying not to worry. It was still early after all, if Michael was hungover he probably wouldn't be up at the crack of dawn.

He moseyed on over to the hospital section though, keen on checking on Antonius. He was still in the same bed as yesterday, they'd erected a new one for Wyatt by the wall and from the way the blankets were bundled in the corner it seemed he was still asleep though most of the patients were. Antonius was no exception, Cassia was very much awake though and sitting cross-legged on her brother's bed since his small stature left plenty of space. He thought this might have been to stop Antonius' incredibly large dog lying on his injured leg, the mutt had retreated to Sebastian's bed and though he stroked her – least Scorpius thought it was a girl dog - she had her eyes on her master. She wasn't the only one by Antonius though, Tabitha Morse – Maurice and Orous' stepdad's Healer girlfriend he'd just allowed to join - was looking over Antonius with a worrying scowl.

"Is something wrong?" Scorpius wondered anxiously as he strode over.

"Huh? No, he's stable and the potion is working on the infection," Tabitha answered distractedly.

"Then what's with the scowl?"

"I'm just confused, I don't know why you would bother salvaging the leg instead of amputating it."

"Not you too!" Scorpius groaned and caught Hogan throwing him the most triumphant, satisfied smirk.

"It's a better quality of life- especially for a child – to grow up with full use of their leg with a prosthetic instead of being crippled like a poor old man."

"That's exactly what I said," Hogan pointed out defensively, "But I was overruled by everyone else. And we don't have prosthetics right now."

"Having a leg is better," Cassia insisted determinedly and Scorpius backed her up with a nod of acknowledgement.

"Just don't try to blame me when he's crying his eyes out about it."

"Will he be okay though?" Sebastian asked worriedly and timidly, "He hasn't woken up."

"He should be asleep for a few days barring any complications, its nothing to worry about," Tabitha assured him kindly, "The body heals better when asleep and his infection will clear faster this way, give him a couple of days."

"Okay."

"Oh, hey Scorpius," another voice spoke, causing him to tear his eyes away from his friend to see it was Hermione approaching him, "The meeting is set for tomorrow afternoon."

"Um… Okay," Scorpius offered, not entirely sure why she was telling him that and she even nodded in acknowledgement.

"Alright, I'm going to speak to Mrs Koray then and bring her so she can see her family," Hermione told him and he opened his mouth to object when she elaborated, "I already cleared it with Varanian when we talked yesterday, in fact he'd already met her because she helped with the Canadian evacuation. She's trustworthy."

"Well if Varanian okay'd it, go for it."

"I'll be back then."

On that note Hermione walked away, giving Hugo – who he realized had been talking to Lamb by the door – a hug before leaving. Scorpius decided to just wait around in the hopes of Michael or Varanian returning, spending some time sitting with his injured friends and uninjured ones because Cassia was there and Abby like yesterday hovered almost perpetually around Albus' side. Even Lily – Albus' sister - just popped in and out, actually leaving later on when she went with Tabitha so she could spend some time with Orous and that was after waking much later then everyone else.

"Scor?" a very welcome voice spoke up weakly, interjecting into their conversation and he saw Albus' emerald eyes were fluttering open. Even better, Albus gave him a wide toothy smile when he saw him and Abby brightened up immediately, "Scor! It's so good to see you!"

"I'm glad you're awake," Scorpius grinned in return, Albus had only been awake a little yesterday and Scorpius hadn't really been around at the time, "How are you feeling?"

"Good- I mean, I've been better but I don't feel that bad, just sleepy. And I miss eating food that isn't mush but it could be worse."

"Yeah," Scorpius offered and recalled Vern's message he still had to pass along, distracted slightly as he heard the door, "You're getting better though, I'm sure you'll be back to real food in no time."

"I hope so," Albus agreed before his eyes widened slightly at something behind Scorpius, "Woah, Michael, you look terrible."

Scorpius turned quickly to see Michael had indeed returned and did indeed look terrible, his eyes were red and he looked worn out. His hair was a mess – more than usual – and his stubble was overgrown, his clothes looked disheveled too and his shirt had vomit-stains. He approached unsteadily when Albus spoke to him, the closer he got the stronger the smell of alcohol was.

"Yeah… I'm a little hungover," Michael admitted in a croak, scratching at his beard.

"Where did you sleep?" Abby asked, sounding very much like she was trying to keep the disapproval out of her voice.

"Um…" Michael offered, his cheeks burning, "I um… went home with err… a woman, Sophie. I didn't get a last name but erm… well it was probably her husband's anyway-"

"What?!" Abby and Scorpius exclaimed in unison, Albus just groaned.

"I didn't know she had a husband!" Michael insisted, his face flushing further and he folded his arms, "She rushed me out of there when he showed up, I erm… kind of accidentally went to Dawn's and she let me sleep the rest of it off there. Then I apparated back here, and now I'm here."

"Are you pleased with yourself?" Scorpius demanded of him disapprovingly but Albus had latched onto another part of what he said.

"How was Dawn?" Albus inquired, sounding genuinely concerned, "She doing okay with the pregnancy and all?"

"She's fine," Michael answered shortly, his expression souring.

"Must be in her third trimester, right?" Albus continued, either not noticing or not caring about the change in Michael's expression. On the contrary, Albus smiled while Maximus Nott walked by carrying some potions, "She can probably feel Easton kicking now, it's pretty exciting how your son is developing, huh? Not long now until you could meet him."

"Wait, what? You have a son with the hag?" Maximus exclaimed in surprise, stopping to look at Michael, "I wasn't even sure hags could get preg-"

"Not the hag!" Michael insisted and his face went scarlet again, Scorpius recalled the whole hag incident had been talked about in Hogwarts for a while which was probably all Maximus knew as he wasn't close to them or anything to hear about Dawn, "I got a different woman pregnant before I met the hag."

"Oh," Maximus muttered and went to go on with his task.

"And she's not 'the hag' you know," Michael continued, holding out his arm to stop Maximus, "Her name is Grissy, I actually knew what it was."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Lech," Maximus stated disinterestedly and Michael scowled at him as the Slytherin carried on, bringing the potions over to where Hogan was still working on Marigold.

"You should invite her to join Gray!" Albus spoke up, drawing the attention back to him and Michael glanced back in utter confusion.

"Grissy…?"

"No, Dawn!" Albus corrected, looking enthusiastic while Michael's look soured again, "With all the attacks she'd be safer here. Even if you don't want anything to do with Easton, you at least care about being him being born safely, right?"

"I said she's fine!" Michael insisted irritably, "Small towns don't get attacked, she's not even worried and she knows about the Ministry shelters if she gets desperate. She's got a brain."

"If you're sure…" Albus muttered, looking disheartened while Michael went over to Antonius which inexplicably bothered him. If he cared that much about Antonius he shouldn't have ditched the kid when he needed him, full credit that Hogan had actually saved him even if he was pissed off about not getting his way. His way, which Michael would have absolutely no way of knowing wouldn't have happened if he wasn't there.

"Do you want some Pumpkin Juice?" Abby offered to Albus as if trying to suggest something to restore his spirits, he gave her an interested glance, "Hogan said it was okay as long as it was only the occasional glass."

"Okay, Pumpkin Juice beats water," Albus agreed, giving her a half-hearted smile and she beamed in response before going over. Albus' smile faded and he spoke quieter, "She's always by my side lately, you know?"

"Yeah, she's pretty worried about you," Scorpius confirmed and Albus looked concerned by this.

"I wish she wouldn't be, I don't want her to be holding her back. She shouldn't be stuck here because of me, I mean she has her fiancé and can speak to her sister again… I'm sure she'd be happier hanging out with them instead of me all of the time."

"Heather visits and it's not like you're forcing her to be here, if she wanted to be with them she would be."

"I guess," Albus shrugged then yawned, reminding Scorpius he slept a lot so if he wanted to tell him Vern's message he should do it sooner rather than later.

"There's actually something I wanted to talk to you about," Scorpius spoke up, deciding to just go for it and Albus raised an interested eyebrow.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, when I was rescuing Molly-"

"How is Molly?" Albus interrupted, suddenly looking anxious for his cousin.

"She's good," Scorpius answered quickly and realized this wasn't entirely accurate, "Well of course she's been through a lot but she's getting better, she's up and about again now so she's happy about that."

"That's good," Albus smiled again.

"It is. So anyway, when I was rescuing her I had a near-death experience-"

"What?!" Albus and – annoyingly – Michael exclaimed in unison, Scorpius scowled and waved his hand dismissively as he did not want to get into it.

"It's nothing, Martha brought me right back," Scorpius brushed it off as quickly as possible, "The important thing is that I saw Vern."

"You saw Vern?" Albus wondered in awe, ogling him with his mouth hanging open a little as Scorpius nodded.

"I did and he wanted me to… he wanted me to thank you for him."

"Thank me?"

"Yeah," Scorpius confirmed, feeling more melancholy as he recalled their dead friends words and trying to quote him as directly as possible, "He said he's really grateful for everything you've done taking care of his… his girls since he can't, he really appreciates it."

"He does?" Albus said, his eyes starting to water now, "He cared about Lydia."

"He did. He said he wished he could've met her, that he could be here."

"You see, Michael!?" Albus shot suddenly at Michael who was silent, sounding choked up now, "I told you, I told you that Vern would care about Lydia! I knew he would!"

"Calm down, Al," Abby urged him as she returned with the pumpkin juice, placing it on the bedside table and placing a hand on his shoulder, "Don't get yourself worked up."

"Vern cared about Lydia, Abby, he cared," Albus told her immediately, smiling through the liquid sliding down his face, "And he's grateful, for everything I've done for her and Olivia. Scorpius had a near-death experience and talked to him."

"He what?!"

"It was nothing," Scorpius brushed it aside and was thankfully saved from further discussion on the topic by the door.

Unfortunately it wasn't Varanian. At that moment Hermione walked in, talking to the large woman he'd seen once before and knew to be Professor Koray's wife. There was a boy with them too, maybe nine or ten – too young for Hogwarts – with a sheet of dark hair like his presumably mother, Scorpius knew Professor Koray had three children.

"Mum!" Auriga burst out immediately from the other end of the room and ran, she raced across the room and threw herself into her mother's welcoming arms.

"My poor baby," Mrs Koray cooed as Auriga burst into tears, squeezing her daughter tightly as the crying girl clung to her. Pollux wasn't able to run due to his damaged lung capacity but he started making his way down the room seemingly as fast as he could go, when he got close enough he too was engulfed into the hug by his mother who kissed the tops of both of their heads lovingly. Not to be left out, the youngest - who Scorpius didn't know the name of - hugged at his siblings, smiling at their reunion, "My poor precious babies, I'm so proud of you. You were so brave and so strong, I love you so much. I love you both so much."

"Aww, I'm so happy they get to be reunited," Albus said and Scorpius glanced back to his friend, who was wiping at his eyes, "I can't wait until I get to see Mum again."

Scorpius tensed at this, recalling Albus hadn't yet been told about Ginny Potter. Very unfortunately, both Abby and Michael also tensed at this comment for likely the same reason. While they kept their faces blank, the fact all three of them very visibly tensed was picked up on.

"What?" Albus asked of them, starting to look worried as his head swiveled between the three of them.

Silence. Scorpius debating mentally whether it was time to come clean as the alterative would be outright lying to him, the other two presumably doing the same and the longer they stayed quiet the worst it would be. Cassia also looked between them, she alone hadn't tensed though she had been told and apparently had more guts them all of three of them.

"Albus," Cassia spoke up, turning towards him and meeting his confused eye without hesitation, "Your Mum died."