Chapter 3: Mothering

Notes: Translations (Done by twitter users nova_frogster and Sylith_Senjak. Huge thank you!)
Ruelle Noire - Night Alley
Rue Enchantée - Enchantress Street
Café Aux Chats - Cat Cafe
Putain - Fuck

Almost fifteen years later…

Lyra Madeline Granger was a strong, confident witch who attended the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. A renowned school that led the world in its advanced practice, knowledge, and innovation in the fields of charms and transfiguration. As such, the academy churned out more charms and transfiguration masters than any other school in the entire world. Though, truth be told, while she was decent in both of those subjects, Lyra's true passion was potions.

It was the summer before Lyra's fifth year of school, and her fifteenth birthday was in just a few days. Running through the streets in the Montmartre District, Lyra felt a thrill of excitement as she smiled over at her best friend.

"Alright, where are we to go first?" Lyra's mother – Hermione Granger – asked, clapping her hands together as she turned towards the teenage girls. "Café Aux Chats?" Her mother asked, a hopeful tone in his voice, but Lyra only could groan.

"I don't want to go to a book shop cafe with a bunch of bloody cats running around." Lyra complained, causing her mother's lips to press into a thing line.

"Lyra, language," her mum scolded, even snapping her fingers and sticking Lyra's mouth closed for a moment so she couldn't gripe more. "It's a cute shop, and they have tea and biscuits that we can snack on while we read, and you get to cuddle cats that are up for adoption. I don't see why you're so opposed to it."

"Mum, that is something that you would want to do," Lyra continued with her mouth free again, even going as far as to stretch her jaw in an exaggerated motion that made her mother roll her eyes. "We're fifteen, nearly grown women now. We want to venture out and explore, take in the sights without a chaperone."

Lyra gave her mother her best innocent smile, trying to make sure that her dimples were on full display. The only problem was her mother was not naive and was very aware of her daughter's tendencies to attract trouble. "Please," Lyra added, gripping her hands together, prepared to beg.

Her mother's dark brown eyes narrowed as she looked between the teenage girls, as if she were mapping out just how much trouble they could possibly get into. Just before Lyra was preparing herself to drop to her knees, Hermione finally gave a defeated sigh.

"You are to stay on Rue Enchantée, you understand?" Lyra had to stop herself from jumping in joy. Her mother never gave in so easily, but Lyra wasn't about to question her good luck.

"Totally, wouldn't imagine going anywhere else."

"I'm serious, Lyra. I'm grabbing one thing from the shop and then I'm going to come to find you. I'll stay a distance back, so I don't cramp your style, but I want to at least know where you're at. No sneaking off."

"Absolutely, yes, yes. Enchantress Street, stay put. Get ice cream, check out Quidditch gear, buy dresses, that's all we'll be doing."

"I'll be right back, stay close so I can find you." Hermione told the girls, leaning in to give each a kiss on their cheek. "Have fun, stick together. And under no circumstances are you to leave this street." Her mother emphasised the last point once more, and with that, the elder witch was scurrying down the street, disappearing from view into the cat cafe. Fucking mental woman needed a boyfriend.

As soon as she was sure that her mother was distracted and deep in the shop, Lyra turned her full attention to her best friend. "Vivi," Lyra nearly purred, making the other girl shake her head in distress.

"No, absolutely not. You heard your maman, she's only getting one book." Vivienne Delacour shook her white blonde hair, motioning in the direction of the store Lyra's mum was inside.

Vivi was a distant cousin of Lyra's Aunt Gabby. Having grown up living with her mother's best friend, Lyra and Vivi were often put together for playdates, making their friendship inevitable. As it turned out, Gabby's great-grandfather and Vivi's great-great grandfather were twin brothers, who's sons both fell in love with Veelas. The only difference was that while Aunt Gabby was only a fourth Veela, Vivi was two thirds, her father being part Veela having married her mother, who was a full Veela.

With their matching long white hair and their eye colour nearly identical – Lyra with silver and Vivi with sky blue – the pair were often mistaken for being sisters. As little girls, they would often even dress in matching clothes to confuse people further, but when they went off to school they'd begun to find their own styles.

Lyra had grown up with a mother who despised doing all things athletic, but her Aunt Gabby had still introduced her to the wonderful sport of Quidditch. As it turned out, Lyra was a natural in the air, thriving on a broom. Because of this, Lyra preferred to wear clothes that she could easily jump into a pickup match in. Vivienne, on the other hand, detested any physical activity that might jostle her perfect hair out of place. However, even in her designer skirts, dresses, and towering heels – Vivienne was not a witch to be crossed. One of her well-placed curses could reduce even the most senior wizards at their school to tears.

"Do you know what she'll do to us if she catches us in Ruelle Noire…again!?" The girl exclaimed.

"You know as well as I do that she's going to be in that shop lost in the shelves for a solid four hours. We've got plenty of time to run into Night Alley and get back before she even knows we left." The protests were visible on Vivienne's lips, but Lyra held up her hands, begging again. "Please! There's an apothecary there that sells the ingredients I was needing to brew Wolfsbane. I wanted to show Madame Averesch when we go back to school. I swear, it'll only be a moment and nothing bad will happen. It's nearly at the entrance, we won't even have to wander far!"

After a much longer pause than her own mother had given her, Vivi finally let out a sigh and hung her head in defeat, her straight blonde locks hanging over her shoulders. "Are you sure that I'm the Veela and not you?" The girl grumbled as she dragged her feet behind Lyra, who was skipping and jumping in the air with her victory.

"I am positive I have no Veela blood on my mother's side, my father's, well that's up for debate seeing as I don't even know his name. Mum believes he was a muggle, but perhaps he was a Veela that lured her in with his charms. Now, come on, we must make haste!"

"Putain , you are positively the most irritating girl on the planet." Vivienne let out a heavy sigh, waving her hand for Lyra to lead the way. "Just so you know, when we're caught, I'm telling them it was entirely your idea and you kidnapped me. I was taken by force, Madame 'Emione, Lyra made me do it."

"Noted," Lyra grinned in triumph, turning on her heels in the direction of Ruelle Noire . "Night Alley awaits!"

ooo

Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy was just like most nearly fifteen-year-old boys. Except, that his parents were divorced, and he lived with his father and his father's new husband – Theo. Also, unlike most of his peers, his mother had a deep held resentment towards him for his entire existence. Oh, and his father and stepdad were both wizards and his mum was a witch, while Scorpius didn't have even a single drop of magic running in his veins. In fact, all of Scorpius' family on both sides were entirely made up of witches and wizards.

Not being magical but coming from a long and proud line of magic, had caused a bit of a drift to form in his family. His grandmothers and aunts still loved and adored him, as did his father and stepfather. His mother and grandfathers, however, preferred to ignore him and pretend that he didn't exist. Which in most cases suited Scorpius just fine, they were hardly pleasant people anyway.

As wealthy as his father was, he'd attended the most prestigious private muggle schools. His father had wanted him to make friends that were more like him, therefore opting out of having him be taught by a governess as a child. Social interactions with non-magic folks were not something that he could have done while growing up in a magical family with their magical friends coming around with their magical children. It wasn't that it bothered him to not be able to do magic, but had his father not insisted on his upbringing being seamlessly woven into the muggle world, Scorpius might have felt differently.

As it was, instead of attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as his father and a long line of Malfoy men before him had, Scorpius instead went to Eton College in Windsor. Of course, he attended the same school as the royal family. Where else would his father send him? Harrow School?

"Mother, must you buy more robes? I'd think you had enough by this point, and they all look exactly alike." Scorpius drawled, walking slightly behind his mother as they trekked through some posh wizarding shopping district in Paris. He pushed a few strands of his pin straight white blonde hair out of his face as he took in the shops again.

None of it was really of any interest to him. All his friends used cell phones (because they lived in the twenty-first century) so buying an owl would be more of a hassle than it was worth. The singular sport the magical community played was all done on brooms, so any of the supply shops were pointless to venture into as it wasn't what he'd use for cricket or polo. The books were all about spells, potions, and hexes. Though as interesting as it might have been, he was bored exploring a world that had no use for him.

"Why don't you go look around?" His mother – Astoria Greengrass – said, waving him off as if he were a bother. Her long brown hair was hanging around her shoulders as she looked in yet another high-end robes shop, readying to buy another set she'd never wear.

The amount of alimony his father paid her kept Astoria living in the comfortable lifestyle that she'd grown accustomed to over their nine-year marriage. When it'd been confirmed at the age of eight that Scorpius was in fact a squib, that had been the breaking point for his father to finally file for divorce. If it wasn't for his grandmother Anita, Scorpius was fairly certain that he'd never see his mother. As it was, his grandmother had insisted that he come on the Greengrass family holiday to celebrate his grandparents fortieth wedding anniversary in France. Normally, his father wouldn't have allowed for a trip, but sweet Anita had insisted and promised that Astoria would never be responsible for him. And yet look where he was now.

"Because I'm a bloody squib and nothing in this shopping district will work for me therefore, it doesn't hold my interest. Also, the magic here is interfering with my cell." He clipped, shoving his hands into his pockets as he trailed behind his mother. If it hadn't been for his grandmother insisting he come along with Astoria – to have lunch with just the two of them to try and have a 'bonding moment ' – Scorpius would have been perfectly content staying at their villa and playing Xbox Live with his mates.

"Keep your voice down," his mother hissed, turning on him and making eye contact with him for the first time this entire holiday. "Do you want everyone around to know what a freak you are?" She spat out, causing a flush to rise on his pale cheeks.

He knew he wasn't a freak. He knew that there was nothing wrong with being a squib, but when his mother phrased her words like that, they cut much deeper. The anger in his chest began to rise, and Scorpius gripped his hands into fists at his sides. He really should have stayed at the villa.

"Go find a bench to sit on and I'll come find you when I'm finished," she spat before turning and waltzing into the upscale robes shop she'd been headed towards before his outburst. The click of the door shutting told him that he was now completely and utterly alone.

Normally, when it came to any forced proximity with Astoria, Scorpius was able to just get on the tube and make his way back home. Floo and other magical means of travel only worked if one of his parents or grandparents was with him, you know, being a squib and all. So, after the third time of him showing up at the front steps of his father's townhouse in Kensington without a chaperone, he hadn't been forced to go for a weekend visit again. Not that his mother complained at the revision to the schedule. In fact, Scorpius had a sneaking suspicion that's what the cow had been hoping for all along.

However, now that he was stuck with her, Scorpius didn't have the option to just buy a ticket to head back to his house. Scowling at the shop, the idea of sitting around and waiting hours for her to finish made his temper rise even further. If Astoria thought he was going to make it easy on her by being a good dog and sitting outside the shop waiting for her, she had another thing coming. She wasn't stupid enough to just leave him behind, his grandmother and aunts would ring her neck if she did and she knew it. Especially since her sister – Daphne – and Daphne's wife – Pansy – had given, in vivid detail, the agony that they would put her through if she were to come back empty handed.

Turning on his heels, Scorpius spun and stalked off down the street, trying to put as much distance between himself and Astoria bloody Greengrass as he could. With his hands shoved deep in his pockets and his eyes trained on the ground, he didn't even notice the change in the streets or the sign Ruelle Noire. More importantly, without having any magic, Scorpius also didn't notice the warning of dark magic dancing over his skin. Instead, he just rubbed his arms, mistaking the warning for a chill in the air.