A few days after Christmas, Scorpius finally gathered up the strength to talk to his father. After meeting Albus on Christmas Day, Scorpius decided to help Draco find his lost love, and with his best friend's help, the young man was determined to make it happen. Now, he just had to find out the rest of the story.

Draco sat in his office, lost in his thoughts. After the heart-to-heart with his son, Draco's memories began to invade his mind more often. Now, sitting in his office, he tiredly closed his eyes, and the painfully familiar image reappeared again. Draco had already gotten used to seeing her as soon as he closed his eyes. It had become his reality. So many years had passed, but he still remembered all the smallest details of her face. Remembered her adorable freckles and the way she furrowed her brows when she was lost in a book. A knock on the door made Draco open his eyes.

"Scorp, is that you?" Draco asked.

"Yes, Dad." The door opened, and Malfoy Jr. looked in.

"I take it you came to hear the rest of the story?" Draco looked at his son and slightly smiled.

"How did you know?" Scorpius looked so surprised that Draco couldn't help but laugh.

"You forget that I'm your father, and I'm pretty sure that I know you better than you know yourself."

Scorpius closed the door behind him and sat down in the chair opposite his father's desk.

Draco smiled at his son's eagerness and asked him, "Where did we leave off last time? Ah, yes... The end of the fourth year, right?"

"Yeah, that's right." Scorpius settled comfortably into the massive chair, ready to hear the rest of the fascinating story.

Draco chuckled and continued his tale, "In our fifth year, our headmaster changed. A lot of things happened, one after another, so I haven't had a chance to speak to her until the end of winter."

Scorpius stared at his father in surprise.

"Yes, Scorp, I know. But that's how the story went. We exchanged glances but nothing more. However, I didn't know how much longer I could keep going like that because I missed her. Deep down, I knew I shouldn't feel that way about her, that my family wouldn't approve of my choice, but I just couldn't help myself.

"It was the beginning of February. Valentine's Day was fast approaching, and I finally decided to do something. I wrote her a letter inviting her to spend Valentine's Day with me. A long time ago, my father told me about a small café in Hogsmeade, The North Star, you probably haven't heard of it. It's hidden from prying eyes by the Fidelius Charm, and I knew it was the perfect place for our first date. I sent a letter to the café's owner asking to close off the entire establishment so that no one would disturb us. The owner agreed and sent me the price list. I prepared everything in advance, booked the restaurant, ordered fresh flowers to decorate the cafe and secretly found out which ones were her favourite. I think that was the hardest part." Draco laughed. "She was talking to a friend once, and I overheard her saying that her favourite flowers were pink tulips. Well, everything was ready. I was so nervous because I didn't know whether she would actually come or not."

"What? What do you mean?"

Draco smiled at his son. "In the letter, I wrote to her that I would wait for her there. If she came, I would know that she felt the same."

"You confessed your feelings just like that?" Scorpius was amazed.

"Yes, I did. And she came. You can't imagine how happy I was when I saw her enter the café. The day flew by after that. We talked and laughed, and I realised that I was head over heels in love with her." Draco chuckled. "It was dark outside when we finally decided to go back. I took her hand, and we slowly walked to the castle. When we stopped near the entrance, I looked into her eyes and tried to predict how she would react if I just went for it."

"Went for it?" Scorpius looked confused.

"If I went for it and kissed her." Draco chuckled. "But I did it, and she kissed me back. Right away, no hesitation. All my doubts disappeared when her arms came around my neck. So, that night, standing near the Hogwarts entrance, under the starry sky, your father had his first-ever kiss. Romantic, huh? You probably never would have guessed that your father was such a romantic." Draco smiled when he saw his son shake his head.

"And what happened next?" Scorpius was giddy with excitement to finally get the whole tale. So far the love story was so beautiful, but his father said that it ended in heartbreak. The young man was starting to feel a little nervous about what would happen next.

"And then we started seeing each other more and more often. I think you know about the Room of Requirement?" Scorpius nodded in agreement. "Well, we met there every day after lessons and talked for hours. Well, not only talked." The father winked at his son, whose face turned toamto red. Draco laughed and continued, "She breathed life into me. During all those hours that we spent together in that room, I realised that I loved her and that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. Towards the end of our fifth year, it dawned on me. I would not see her all summer, and I couldn't leave for the break without telling her how I really felt.

"I asked the Room of Requirement to recreate the scene of our first date. When she came inside with her face full of surprise, I couldn't hold back a smile. Soft music started playing and I asked her to dance. With her in my arms, I quietly confessed, 'You know, I still regret not asking you to dance at the Yule Ball.' She smiled sadly at that and said, 'I can imagine how well everyone would've reacted to us dancing together in the open.' I pressed her closer and inhaled the scent of her hair. Over our time spent together, it became so familiar to me. The scent of orange blossom.

"When the music ended, we continued to stand in each other's arms. I looked into her eyes and finally said those three words, 'I love you.' She smiled and laid her head on my shoulder. 'I love you too, Draco,' she whispered back."

Draco closed his eyes. That was the best day of his life. It felt so good to hear Hermione say those magic words back to him. He felt like he was floating and that nothing bad could ever happen to them. In that moment, he thought that nothing could stop their happiness. How wrong he'd been.

"What happened? If you were so happy, why did it all end?" Scorpius looked at his father with a sad look in his eyes. The boy couldn't understand how such a beautiful love story could simply fall apart.

Draco's previous smile evaporated from his face. "Summer break began. As you already know, during that time, I accepted the Dark Mark."

Scorpius opened his mouth, but Draco continued, "When I was first offered to become a Death Eater, I immediately refused. But the Dark Lord wasn't known to accept no as an answer, so threats came into play." Draco sighed heavily. "I don't know how he found out about my relationship with her because I was always extremely careful. But He knew. He always knew everything." Draco closed his eyes, the pain of that day threatening to drown him.

"He said that he would kill her. That he would kill her and make me watch. He said that I had already sunk to the very bottom just by being with a muggle-born. And believe me when I tell you this, Scorp, the Dark Lord doesn't make empty threats. If he said it, then he would kill her. I couldn't let that monster kill the love of my life, and so I took the mark."

Draco fell silent. It was so hard for him to relive all of this. But he pushed on, "I took the mark and said that I would carry out his task. For her. I would do anything for her."

Draco sighed. "Sixth year began, and I started distancing myself from her. I couldn't put her in danger, so I didn't say a word to her about the Dark Mark on my arm or Voldemort's task. She saw that something was happening to me. Of course, she did. So, one day she came up to me and asked me, 'Draco, what happened? You came back from the holidays as an absolutely different person.' I looked at her lovely face and knew that there was no way around it. No magical solution that allowed us to be together. I already sold my soul to the devil for her, so I didn't care what happened to me. But she must live. The world could not lose its brightest light. I had to do it, no matter how painful it was. I had to protect her, so I said, 'We can't do this anymore.'

"And just like that, with that one phrase, I destroyed everything that we had built for so long. She looked at me like she didn't know me. 'What are you saying?' Her eyes welled with tears, and it broke my heart to become the reason she cried. I allowed myself to look at her beautiful face one last time and said, 'I'm sorry. ' I knew that no amount of words was going to change the heartbreak I was causing her, so I just turned around and left. Tears were streaming down my cheeks, but I forced myself to keep walking and not look back."

Draco fell silent. Scorpius looked at his father and couldn't believe what he'd just heard. His father told him about taking the Dark Mark, about how he didn't want to do it but simply had to. Now, listening to his father's story, Scorpius was amazed by his father's inner strength. He had always wondered what prompted Malfoy Sr. to become a Death Eater, but the true reason behind it turned the boy's world upside down. He broke up with the girl he loved to save her life. Did she know about it?

Scorpius turned to his father, "After Voldemort died, did you explain to her why you did it?"

His father's eyes were sad when he looked at Scorpius. "No. I broke her heart, Scorp. After that conversation, I couldn't even look her in the eyes. I hurt her so much that day that I just couldn't hurt her even more." Draco sighed. "I haven't seen her since the Battle of Hogwarts. I know that she has a family now, a husband and two children. I genuinely hope that she is happy."

Draco stood up from his office chair and went to the window. Scorpius followed after him. The young wizard hugged his father tightly and said, "Don't worry. Everything will work out."

In his mind, he added, "I will make sure of it."