Deciding that the chairs really were too uncomfortable, even with the cushions Scorpius appropriated from the Slytherin common room, the three of them migrated to the floor. Harry had made a sortie to the kitchens and come back with bread, cheese and some delicious looking cakes. He grinned as he told them about a previous visit when he’d seen a drunk house-elf covered up by tea-towels, and didn’t seem to mind that Lily was now sitting slumped against Scorpius, his arms around her.
It was the waiting that proved hard. Conversation whilst Lily was there proved far easier than when she wasn’t, mainly because both Scorpius and Harry had reached a tacit understanding to distract her as much as possible “ to keep her spirits up.
Lavender’s cries were muffled now, no doubt because they’d managed to move her to the bedroom, but still her screams could be heard punctuating the silence in the study. It was during one of these silences, when Lily had left the study in search of her last Defence essay to show her dad (she’d received an E), that Harry started to speak.
“I’m surprised not to have heard from you after my letter.”
Scorpius stared warily at him, trying to smooth the scowl from his face. “I didn’t think there was any point. You’ve made your mind up so why would me sending a Howler make a difference?”
“Howler?” It was Harry’s turn to look puzzled. “Why would you send me a Howler? It’s hardly my fault “ OH!” He paused and then he started to smile. “Er ... Scorpius, have you read my letter? Properly, I mean.”
“You rejected me. What was there to read?” Scorpius muttered. Bloody hell, did the man have to rub it in? Just because he hadn’t shouted at him for seeing his daughter, Scorpius didn’t see why he had to be pathetically grateful for the rest of his life ... “Uh, what are you doing?”
Harry, chuckling slightly, had removed something from his inner pocket. “I was planning to catch you after the match because I wondered why I hadn’t heard. Obviously, if you’ve changed your mind, then there’s nothing I can do, but ...”
Stretching out his hand, he handed Scorpius a sheet of parchment “ a duplicate of the rejection letter.
Dear Mr Malfoy,
It is with regret that the Auror Department cannot offer you a place on the training programme. Although your application was strong,
Scorpius swallowed. It was at this point he’d screwed the letter up, refusing to read anymore, but under Harry’s gaze, he read on.
we are in the unfortunate position of not being able to run the Auror Training Programme due to budget cuts enforced on us by the new Ministry budget.
“Oh!” Scorpius glanced up from the letter and offered Harry a tentative smile.
“Read on,” Harry murmured.
However, we would like to offer you the chance to either wait for the next training programme to start, or else come and work in the Auror office as a clerk.
“Clerk?” Scorpius hoped he didn’t sound ungrateful, but sitting in an office all day was not what he wanted to do.
“A lot of Auror work is boring,” Harry explained. “It’s not all fighting Dark Wizards. I can’t promise that working in the office would be as rewarding, but it would give you a foothold into the department.”
“Could I still become an Auror?”
“You could work your way up, but that might take a few years,” replied Harry, shuffling across the floor to him. He turned the page and let Scorpius read the back of the letter. “Or you could clerk for us until the Auror Training Programme starts up again.”
“But I have a place on the next programme, anyway?”
Harry nodded. “Trouble is, I’m not totally sure when we’ll be running it again. We’re not short staffed and no one is approaching retirement age.” He grinned at Scorpius. “The bad guys just aren’t as bad these days, so no one gets killed or injured beyond use for active service. It could be three years down the line, although I’m hoping it’ll be two.”
“Do you mean this? Only “ it’s just that “ Shit, I’ve been imagining all this -- just amazed.” Scorpius gulped at the air, hardly able to believe the opportunity in front of him. To his horror, he could feel a lump in his throat. It wouldn’t do any good to cry in front of Harry “ not now.
“I’ve got it, Dad,” Lily said as she walked back into the room. She took in the scene; there must have been an odd expression wrought on Scorpius’ face because she blanched and stepped back. “What’s happened? Is Mrs Zabini okay?”
There was another cry from the bedroom, followed by a very loud curse. Harry laughed softly. “She’s fine, although I doubt your Potions Master is. I’ll let Scorpius explain,” he said and rose to his feet. “I’m going to stretch my legs and read through this essay.”
“Mr Potter,” Scorpius called after him. Harry turned in the doorway as Scorpius hurriedly stood up. “Er ... has your son accepted a clerk’s position?”
“Who Al?” Harry gave Scorpius an odd crooked sort of smile. “My son is a lot like you, Scorpius. He doesn’t want to be like his dad in anything, even when, because of his looks, he can’t escape it.” He started walking again, then stopped and swivelled around. “Why do you ask?”
Scorpius blinked as he thought back to the conversation he’d heard. “Potter ... uh ... Albus said he had a job offer if he wanted it. And said something about being a family thing, so I ... um ...”
“Al’s thinking about the Department of Mysteries.” Harry sighed and looked suddenly wistful. “My mum was training to be an Unspeakable before she had me.” He shrugged and as he walked away, his voice drifted back towards Scorpius and a puzzled looking Lily. “Perhaps these things do run in the blood.”
“What were you and Dad getting cosy about?” Lily asked, as she sat back down on the cushions and snuggled up to him.
Scorpius smiled, and after explaining what a twat he was for not reading things properly and always assuming the worst, he started to kiss her. Pushing him off, she scanned the letter, reading avidly. “What will you do? Take the clerk position, or wait for the training programme to restart?”
“I have absolutely no idea,” he said and started to laugh. “Merlin, this hasn’t sunk in yet. Your dad’s just given me back that chance. I can’t believe it.”
“How are things going?” Mrs Longbottom appeared at the door, about an hour later carrying a basket and a rather large flowering pot plant.
“Not sure, Hannah,” replied Harry. “We’ve been here just over two hours now. First labours are long, though, aren’t they?”
“Usually,” Hannah agreed. She smiled down at Lily. “The Gryffindor team are getting ready to celebrate the win. You might want to join them. You as well, Scorpius,” she added, her eyes flickering to his. “Professor Longbottom has said it’s only fair that you’re allowed to attend.”
“Thank you,” Scorpius muttered, “but I think we’re staying here for a while. At least until we’ve got some news.”
A long, loud shriek, a deathly silence, and then a cry rippled towards them, Scorpius stiffened as Lily sat up straight, neither daring to think what that sound could mean.
Then a beaming Blaise burst into the room closely followed by Ginny who was also smiling. “It’s a “ a “ a -” he stammered, “baby!”
“A boy to be precise,” Ginny said, laughing at his uncharacteristic incomprehension. “Both mother and son are doing wonderfully.”
“But he was too early!” Lily called out. “Mrs Zabini said she wasn’t due for six weeks, and you told me that I had to spend a week at St. Mungo’s after I was born because I was so little.”
Ginny started snorting, as did Blaise, his face split in two by the biggest smile Scorpius had ever seen. “Turns out my wife got her dates wrong,” he laughed. “Madam Bones is pretty sure the baby is full term, give or take a week or two.”
Scorpius exhaled. The knot of tension he’d barely been aware of in his shoulders, dissolved into nothing. He could feel Lily shaking in his arms, relief bubbling through her. And even though Ginny Potter was watching them like a hawk, she made no attempt to pull her daughter away.
“Can we see them?” Lily asked, sounding hopeful.
“Maybe another day,” Ginny replied, and sat on the floor next to Harry. She stretched out as he put his arm around her. “Madam Bones has ordered us away because Lavender is really tired.” Giggling, she continued, “I can’t believe the matron is Susan’s cousin. They’re not at all alike. I thought she was going to hex Blaise when he turned up.”
Professor Zabini grinned. Crouching down on the floor next to Scorpius, he picked up one of the honey cakes Harry had acquired, and bit into it. “I’m just pleased you removed Lavender’s wand from her reach. Apparently, it was all my fault for getting her pregnant in the first place.”
“Tell me about it,” Harry stage-whispered, shooting the professor a sly smile and avoiding Ginny’s glare of mock-annoyance. “I still have the scars. And I’m sure Nev’s been at the receiving end, too.”
It was odd, Scorpius mused, seeing the four of them laughing like this. Professor Zabini looked years younger than when he’d arrived, and he was smiling widely, which wasn’t something Scorpius associated with the man. As Ginny Potter joked with the two men, he glimpsed the teenage girl she must have been and was instantly reminded of Lily’s own effervescence.
“Do you have a name for the baby, sir?” Lily was asking eagerly.
The professor rolled his eyes. “We now have a problem, Miss Potter. My wife was so convinced this baby was a girl that she refused to even think of boys’ names.”
“There are always Battle hero names,” Hannah suggested.
Professor Zabini raised one eyebrow and smirked at Scorpius. “Sorry, Hannah, I think we have far too many Harrys and Nevilles at this school, as it is.”
“You may go back in now,” Madam Bones called from the door. “Mrs Zabini has specifically requested that you come and see her “ all of you.” There was a faint note of disapproval in the matron’s voice as she eyed Scorpius and Lily, but she said nothing.
Trooping towards the bedroom, they found Lavender, now dressed in a clean nightdress, sitting up in bed and cradling her baby.
“Hello,” she said, looking exhausted yet still smiling at them all as she accepted a kiss from Hannah. “Sorry if I worried you, Lily, but as you can see, Baby Zabini is doing very well.” In her arms, the baby opened his mouth and let out a wail.
“Lungs like his mother,” Blaise murmured fondly. He sat on the bed, and stroked the baby’s soft black hair. “We can’t call him Baby Zabini forever, Lavender.”
“What do you suggest, then?” she asked. “Any of you?”
“A decent Slytherin name,” Blaise replied, grinning at Scorpius. “Salazar Zabini, perhaps.”
Ginny snorted but stifled any other response.
“Hmm, that’s the problem isn’t it,” Lavender stated, and glared as she studied them all. “Now, as I’ve just done something rather miraculous, you have to listen to me. Indulge me, if you want to call it that, but I want you to really take note.” She patted the space next to her, and gestured for Lily to sit down. “Being pregnant is quite worrying, you know, Lily. You’re continually told what you can and can’t do, and then there’s this constant niggling fear that something will go wrong.” The professor stopped stroking his son’s hair and kissed Lavender faintly on the cheek. “What I didn’t realise is that the worry really starts now he’s here. And do you know what I’m most concerned about?”
Scorpius stared at her, wondering where this was going. Mrs Zabini rambled infuriatingly, but she always had a point.
“If things carry on the way they are, then my son is, in all probability, going to hate one of his parents.” She raised her head and stared across at Ginny and Harry. “If he follows me into Gryffindor, I don’t want him being taught that all Slytherins are evil. And, Blaise, if he’s a Slytherin like you, then I don’t want him learning that he has to hate Gryffindors.” She paused and returned to gazing at the baby snuffling in her arms. “Am I going to have to pray that you’ll be a Hufflepuff, instead?”
“Not such a bad thing,” Mrs Longbottom murmured. “And there are some fine Hufflepuff names to choose from.”
“No,” Lavender replied, firmly. “He’s not having a name that sets him in any house. I am not having him looking back the whole time and having to live up to something from years before he was born. Sorry, Harry, I know you meant well with your children, but Albus Severus “ that’s one heck of a legacy.”
Harry looked as if he were about to protest, but a nudge from Ginny quenched whatever he’d been about to say. “We should go,” she murmured, “and leave this pair with their baby. Lavender, Blaise, your son is gorgeous and whatever name you decide on, and wherever he’s Sorted, he is going to make you proud.”
“Thank you for everything, Ginny,” Lavender called as they left the bedroom, “but think on what I said, yes?”
In silence, Scorpius trailed behind the three Potters and Mrs Longbottom as they left the room and walked out through the study. He stalled to pick up his Firebolt from the floor, wondering whether he was still welcome in their company. Despite Mrs Longbottom telling him he was allowed to join the Gryffindor party, he didn’t want to push things “ not now.
“Thank you,” Ginny Potter was standing in the doorway, waiting for him whilst Lily walked ahead with the others.
“For what?” he asked, puzzled yet also relieved she’d lost the anger from her eyes when she looked at him.
“Staying with Lily. I could see you clearly didn’t want to be there, yet you stayed and you calmed her down.”
Scorpius shrugged, unsure what to say. Lily’s mum, he realised, was very perceptive because he hadn’t wanted to be there at all. The spectre of his own birth, he knew still haunted his dad, and he hadn’t wanted to go through that with the Zabini’s. “Lily needed to stay,” he mumbled.
“I can’t imagine your father acting like that,” she replied.
“I’m not him,” he said, feeling a spark of annoyance that they’d so quickly fallen back to their entrenched positions. “Obviously it will surprise you to know that my dad would have acted exactly the same way.”
Her raised eyebrows said it all; Ginny Potter plainly thought he was lying.
“My mum nearly died when she had me,” Scorpius muttered. “They were abroad; she was eight months pregnant, and Dad couldn’t find a Healer so had to take her to a Muggle hospital.” He stopped speaking, waiting for her to say something, but she remained silent. “My dad, Mrs Potter, says the worst moment of his life was not living in terror of the Dark Lord, or nearly dying in battle, but watching as a Muggle cut into my mum’s stomach and pulled me out.”
“I didn’t know,” she replied, her voice soft.
He snorted. “It’s not something they spread around. My grandparents “ both sets “ don’t like the idea that they’re in debt to something so Muggle. But Mum and Dad have never forgotten. There’s a small hospital in Provence that never lacks for funds.” He glanced along the corridor; Lily had stopped walking and was peering back towards him. “He’s not the same person you hated at Hogwarts.”
She smiled ruefully. “Despite what you think, Scorpius, I don’t hate your dad. I don’t like him much, admittedly, but that’s a long way from hate.”
“Then what is your problem with me?” he asked, desperate to know.
“It’s a long story, Scorpius,” she replied wearily, “and after today’s events, I am not up to the telling.” Touching his arm, she lowered her voice. “Some things are better left buried in the past.”
“I’m not him, Mrs Potter.”
“You don’t have his eyes,” she said faintly. “Perhaps I should just concentrate on them when I look at you.”
Turning away, she walked along the corridor towards the stairs leading to the Entrance Hall. Lily was still at the steps, talking with her dad, but stopped and beckoned to Scorpius. After a moment’s pause, he followed.
“You will come to the party, won’t you?” Lily asked, sounding anxious as she glanced from her mum to Scorpius.
“Uh ...”He broke off, looking across to where her parents were listening in. Ginny gave a small shrug, signalling if not her approval at least not her active antipathy. “Yeah, sure. I’ll go and get changed and meet you ...” He laughed. “I have no idea how to get to Gryffindor Tower. Stupid, isn’t it?”
“Be in the Entrance Hall in ... um ...” she squinted at her dad’s very battered pocket watch, “thirty minutes.”
“Cool,” he replied, grinning. Then, after giving her a small peck on the cheek (still very aware that Ginny Potter wasn’t entirely happy), he raised his hand in a wave to her parents, and then scooted back towards the Slytherin dungeon.
It had to be said he was incredibly relieved not to see Vaisey or any of the other Slytherin team in the Common room when he got there. Although a few fourth years gave him baleful looks when he arrived, most of the younger Slytherins barely glanced at him “ obviously not the slightest bit perturbed that he’d been snogging a Gryffindor. He sauntered along the corridor to his room, praying his luck would hold because he had no wish to run into Vaisey or Ariadne just yet. Then a sound from the bathroom made him smile. On hearing Ariadne’s shriek and Vaisey’s guttural grunt, he was left in no doubt as to what type of water activity they were getting up to. Smirking, he sped into the thankfully empty bedroom to get ready.
“Sorry, am I late?” Lily trilled as she pelted down the staircase towards him.
Scorpius beamed at her. Dressed in a gold and red shirt and a black skirt, with her red hair flying behind her, she looked the very epitome of a feisty Gryffindor girl “ everything he’d previously claimed to despise. And she’s mine, he thought proudly.
“I’ve only just got here,” he replied, and laughed when she practically leapt into his open arms. “You look beautiful.”
“Hmm,” she replied as he started nuzzling her neck. “I think I should take you to the party before you get squirted again.”
However, when they climbed the seven flights of stairs to her tower, and meandered along the corridor (it took a long time because Scorpius kept stopping to kiss her), there was no one there to let them in.
“Don’t you have a password?” he asked, wondering why Lily was staring at intently at a rather dull picture of a chair. Perhaps she was supposed to Charm the chair, or something.
“Yes, we do, but I need to say it to The Fat Lady, and she’s gone wandering again. Urgh! This is so annoying. We’ll have to wait until she either comes back, or someone else appears from the common room to let us in.”
Scorpius smirked. This was ideal because the less time he had to spend with a whole bunch of Gryffindors meant he had more time alone with Lily. The memory of this afternoon and how hot things had got were driving any sentient thought from his head. “Let’s wait,” he murmured, pulling a tapestry curtain to the side. “I wouldn’t mind picking up where we left off this afternoon.”
Her eyes widened, but not with shock. Instead, a kind of nervous excitement sparked inside her, and she acquiesced willingly when he pulled her up close and started running his fingers up and down her back. Tilting his head down, his mouth found hers with a kiss that signified his intentions were far from honourable. Lily responded, matching his passion and gasping when his lips reached her neck. With no one to stop them now, Scorpius began to fumble with the buttons of her shirt, and then groaned when her hand tentatively touched his thigh. She splayed her hand out on the same spot, and as her fingers crept up, he gasped. Unbidden, a picture of water suddenly squirting into his face reared into his mind. Lavender Zabini screaming. Professor Zabini’s horrified face. The pair of them cooing over a...
“Merlin.” He wrenched himself away, his breath heavy and heart thumping nineteen-to-the-dozen in his chest.
“What’s the matter?” she whispered, and tried to pull him back towards her.
“Baby Zabini,” he replied ruefully. “More effective than a bloody cauldron of icy water, Lily. I just ...” He groaned as he pulled further back and leant on the wall, desperately trying to recover his sang-froid.
She blushed, so he took her hand and sat on the floor with her. “When we do this, I don’t want to be worrying about knocking you up,” he mumbled, feeling awkward.
“I’m not totally clueless, you know,” she murmured, staring at her hands. “I saw Madam Bones last week and ... um ... she gave me this long embarrassing lecture about boys and their ‘base urges’.” Unable to help herself, Lily started giggling. “Then she gave me a potion. Tastes foul, but um ... well ... there you go.”
Scorpius chuckled. “That explains why she was glaring at me.” Pressing her hand to his lips, he waited until she lifted her face to his. “You didn’t have to. I could have taken care of it.”
“Um, well, it was just that after my birthday and then last week when I saw you after the Slytherin match, I thought ... uh ... well, I don’t want to get pregnant, either.” She stopped speaking, her face now flushing furiously, yet still she held his gaze.
Reaching across, he caressed her cheek with his thumb. “I wouldn’t mind giving in to my ‘base urges’“”
“Violet, stop that!” A raucous voice echoed through the corridor.
“What the hell is that?” Scorpius sprang back from Lily, scared witless by the sound of two matronly voices.
Lily grinned. “It’s the Fat Lady. She must have been celebrating with Violet, again. She’s a very loyal Gryffindor who thinks it’s her duty to have a few glasses of wine whenever we win something.”
Scorpius snorted and began to stand up. “She doesn’t get to drink much, then.”
Lily scowled and punched him on the arm, then stretched out her arms. “She drinks when we lose as well. Says she needs to drown her sorrows!”
“I know it’s not every day Hogwarts celebrates the birth of a baby, but I should have been here ages ago,” the portrait complained. “Harry’s daughter is bringing the Malfoy boy to the party. Wouldn’t do to keep him waiting. No telling what he might do.”
“She’s an old gossip, so don’t get angry with her,” Lily whispered. Scorpius smiled back at her, not at all annoyed especially as the Bloody Baron was known for his highly incorrect opinions about anything Gryffindor.
“The Malfoy boy!” exclaimed another shriller voice. “I never thought I’d see the day. Mrs Potter won’t be at all pleased, not after the incident.”
“Between you and me, this younger generation get away with far too much. Ginny Potter should have put her foot down. Blood runs through, after all,” The Fat Lady replied, starting to hiccup. “I think I’m a little bit tipsy, Violet.”
Scorpius sat up straight; Lily’s fingers, which had been tracing circles on his thigh, stopped moving.
“What ‘incident’?” he asked her in a low voice.
“I don’t know,” she replied, her eyes wide. “Seriously, Scorpius, I have absolutely no idea. Look, let’s go to the party. They’ll stop talking as soon as we appear ““
“Exactly” he clasped her to him. “I want to know what they’re talking about.”
“Mind you, I’m still surprised Professor Dumbledore let the man walk away. I was there.” Violet’s voice rose as she expanded on her tale. “It was obvious he was guilty and little Ginny Weasley nearly died.”
Scorpius barely registered Lily’s faint gasp, so caught up with his own shock at this revelation. What had his dad done?
The Fat Lady sighed. “No proof; that was always the problem with Lucius Malfoy. He is a very clever man and a sly one, never a good combination. I hope the grandson isn’t cut from the same cloth. My poor Lily doesn’t deserve a cad!”
“Scorpius, where are you going?”
He stared down at her, barely aware that he’d released her. “Granddad,” he mumbled, shaking off her arm. “Need to talk ...”
“You can’t leave... Scorpius ...” Her voice followed him as he pulled the tapestry aside, so hard that it wrenched away from its rail, and strode away from her and Gryffindor Tower.
He could hear her running, her faint breaths sounding in his ears mixing with the embarrassed squawks of the two portraits.
“Please, Scorpius, talk to me,” Lily cried.
“Go to your party,” he mumbled, not looking at her. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“No!” She wrenched him towards her, her brown eyes full of fire and compassion as she faced him. “Scorpius, you can’t leave Hogwarts. You’ll get caught.”
“I don’t bloody care! I need to speak to him, Lily. If that stupid bint is going around telling everyone my granddad tried to kill your mum, then don’t you think he deserves a chance to deny it?”
Wavering, Lily released his arm. “Perhaps it was at the Battle,” she murmured. “I mean, lots of people were fighting, weren’t they, and your granddad was a Death Eater, wasn’t he? So it’s sort of ... um ... not unlikely that they were fighting against each other and ...”
“NO!” Scorpius said vehemently, causing the other portraits to stare balefully at them. “Granddad didn’t fight at the Battle. Your dad swore to the Wizengamot that neither he nor Grandma raised their wands. And that painting, Violet, she mentioned Dumbledore and ‘little Ginny Weasley’. She’s telling everyone that my granddad tried to kill a child.”
“But you can’t go now,” she pleaded. “Scorpius, listen to me.”
Thwarted by a staircase moving just as he was about to step on it, Scorpius faltered and in that time, Lily pulled him down to the floor, sitting with her legs dangling over the stair edge. She touched him gently on the cheek, her smooth palm soothing away his anger. “You need time to think about this, and maybe to find out what could have happened before you ask him anything.”
He knew her words made sense. He had nothing but the story of two drunk portraits to go on, and they were probably confused. “He wouldn’t have hurt her,” he mumbled.
“They probably got it wrong,” she agreed and slipped her hand around his waist. “Do you want to skip the party? We could go out for a walk instead?”
He nodded, knowing he was unable to deal with anything Rose or Albus would throw at him at the moment. “You can’t miss your victory party, Lily. Just give me half an hour to cool down, then I’ll meet you back up here.”
“I’m coming with you,” she insisted, and as the staircase slid back into place, she started to walk down.
“I don’t have a say here, I suppose,” he said, in a resigned tone.
“None at all,” she replied stubbornly.
There were still plenty of pupils barging up and down the stairs as they made their way to the Entrance Hall. Draping his arm across her shoulders, he slowed their pace as he felt himself calming down. Whatever that Violet person had thought she’d heard, it couldn’t be true. His granddad wouldn’t have attacked Ginny Weasley. He wouldn’t have been able to get away with it, for one thing. The Weasleys were an important family and Scorpius had no doubt that Ginny’s parents would not have let the matter drop.
Except...
Fragments of a long ago conversation filtered through his thoughts. His granddad begrudging the Weasleys the respect they held in the Wizarding World.
“Wasn’t always that way, Scorpius, my boy,” Lucius said, throwing down his copy of the newspaper, which had a picture on the front page of a grinning Arthur Weasley accepting a long-service award from the Ministry. Picking up his grandson from the floor, Lucius started to swing him around by his arms, laughing at Scorpius’ delight.
Scorpius giggled excitedly, loving the attention from his granddad. “What did the Weezies do, Ganda?”
“Told a lot of lies,” Lucius replied. “Stupid Muggle-loving family. No proper respect for Wizarding ways, Scorpius. Not like us. The Malfoys and Blacks have always had proper pride. We never consorted with Mudbloods and the like.”
“Stop that!” Astoria strode across the room and snatched Scorpius away from Lucius’ arms.
“I’m swinging him around,” Lucius remarked coldly. “My grandson is perfectly safe.”
“Not from your opinions!” Astoria hissed.
A small glimmer of doubt began to seep though Scorpius mind. His granddad hadn’t liked Arthur Weasley “ at all. It was evident by the sneer whenever he read something about him in The Prophet, yet dislike was a long way from wishing someone dead.
A loud laugh ahead shook him from his thoughts and he stumbled on the stairs. Lily hadn’t noticed, but a little further away, by the doors to the Defence classroom, stood Ginny Potter with Harry and Professor Goldstein.
He couldn’t see his granddad, but here was the other half of the story, living, breathing and laughing uproariously.
“Mrs Potter!” Lily tugged on his arm, but he shook himself free of her and ran towards her mum. “Did Granddad try to kill you?” he blurted out, hoping the only way to stop her prevaricating was to come straight out with the question. “Is that why you hate him?”
Blanching, Ginny stepped into Harry’s arms.
“Now isn’t the time, Scorpius,” he said firmly, protecting her in his embrace. “My wife and I are about to leave, and you’re supposed to be at a “”
“Scorpius!” rapped Professor Goldstein, at the same time as Harry. “Are you Confunded? What on earth makes you think you can run up to a guest of Hogwarts and-”
“I need to know!” Scorpius raged. “I overheard two portraits gossiping about how my granddad tried to kill you, Mrs Potter.”
“Not now!” Harry reiterated. “We’re all tired and over-excited after the match and the Zabinis’ new baby. And if that’s the Fat Lady and her friend Violet talking, then it’ll be gossip.”
“Dad, they said Mum nearly died,” Lily murmured, staring from him to Ginny. “Was it about the Chamber?”
The Chamber? Scorpius shook his head. Something was coming back to him from the history books he’d read. The Chamber of Secrets and a girl dragged there to die.
“Harry,” Ginny whispered. “I ... I ... can’t do this, not now.”
“Please, Mrs Potter, I need “” Looking at her face, Scorpius broke off, unsure what to say. Whenever he’d seen Ginny Potter before, she’d been a confident woman, staring him down and not scared to show her disapproval of him. But now, as he loomed before her, she suddenly seemed smaller in Harry’s arms. He stepped away, mumbling an apology.
But at that gesture, his move away from her and decision not to interrogate further, Ginny began to speak, “I was eleven years old,” she mumbled, then looked around at the children still scurrying around the place. “I can’t speak to you here, Scorpius. Let’s go somewhere private.”
Scorpius nodded, hardly daring to breathe in case even that slight sound made her change his mind. Beside him, Lily slipped her hand in his, and followed when Professor Goldstein waved them all into his empty classroom, then closed the door behind him.
“Ginny, you don’t have to do this,” Harry said, his eyes flicking from his wife and back to Scorpius. “And Lily, you shouldn’t be here.”
Scorpius squeezed Lily’s hand. “Go, I’m okay.”
“No,” Ginny uttered. “If I’m telling my story to him, then my daughter needs to know as well. I’m not letting anyone twist things.”
“Meaning me,” Scorpius stated, holding her gaze.
“Meaning you,” agreed Ginny. She took a breath, whilst Harry Summoned four chairs, and settled herself in one opposite Scorpius. “Lily and all my children know that I was the girl in the Chamber. You have heard about that, I take it?”
Scorpius nodded. “I didn’t know it was you, Mrs Potter. But I still don’t know what this has to do with my granddad. He wasn’t at Hogwarts then.”
She smiled bitterly. “He didn’t have to be. I was lured into the Chamber by Voldemort, or rather the memories of Tom Riddle, encapsulated in a diary where I’d been writing all my deepest thoughts.” She leant across and touched Lily on the knee. “That’s why I always tell you never to trust something if you “”
“Can’t see where it keeps its brain,” Lily finished in a low voice. “Mum, what does this have to do with Scorpius’ granddad? It wasn’t his diary.”
Ginny licked her lips and looked across at Harry. He smiled tenderly at her then faced Scorpius. “I destroyed the diary with a Basilisk fang, and managed to get out with Ginny. She was close to death, but when the diary ‘died’ she came back to life,” Swallowing hard, he looked away, staring at the empty blackboard. “I was in Albus Dumbledore’s office explaining everything when Lucius Malfoy turned up. He’d tried to get the Headmaster removed from the school, but it hadn’t worked, at least not for long.”
“Are you telling me he dragged an eleven year old girl into the Chamber and tried to kill her? That’s ridiculous! He wouldn’t do that!” Scorpius got up, pushing his chair back so violently it sped across the room. “This is a bloody pack of lies and I’m not staying here to listen to any more shit. It’s laughable! You’ve already said it was Riddle’s diary, so what the fuck does that have to do with Lucius Malfoy?”
“He gave me the diary!” Ginny exclaimed, her eyes spitting fire. “Your grandfather wanted to ruin my dad. He wanted to make our lives even more difficult. Merlin knows we were bloody poor throughout my childhood, yet that wasn’t enough for your wonderful granddad, so he slipped the diary in one of my cauldrons. He wouldn’t rest until the Weasleys were utterly discredited, Scorpius. And you know why?”
He watched, unable to move as she crept up to him. There was something he feared about her now. It wasn’t because she was shouting, and she didn’t have her wand out, but Scorpius was scared because ... because ... What if she’s telling the truth?
“Why?”he mumbled, still staring her in the eye.
“Because my dad never believed your grandfather’s story about being Imperiused during the first war. Lucius Malfoy hated his disapproval, so decided to let him suffer the disgrace of a daughter possessed by Voldemort and unleashing a terrifying creature on the Muggle-borns.” She took a couple of breaths, her white face slowly regaining some colour.
“It’s not true,” Scorpius said, but even to his ears, the denial sounded flat.
“He tried to deny it,” Harry replied wearily as he removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “And there wasn’t any proof, not with the diary destroyed. But, Scorpius, I knew the truth.”
“Lies,” Scorpius whispered. “Why say all this now? Why not accuse the man to his face? Or what? You can only do this because now he’s ill, he can’t defend himself.”
“The truth would kill my dad, that’s why!” Ginny called as he stormed away.
Scorpius faltered, his hand on the door handle, but he didn’t turn around. “What do you mean?”
“If he knew that I’d nearly died because of his feud with Lucius Malfoy, he’d have killed him where he stood,” she replied, not cowed but in a much gentler voice. “To this day it eats into him that his daughter was possessed. He feels guilty that he couldn’t stop it. I still have nightmares “ and so does he.”
“I don’t believe you,” Scorpius retorted. Still not looking at any of them, he grasped the door handle firmly and walked away.
“Scorpius, wait!” Lily cried out.
He kept on walking, desperate not to see her, yet feeling relieved when he heard her remonstrating with her parents. Her light footsteps tapped quickly up the corridor towards him, then stopped.
“You should go to your party,” he said, his voice thick with emotion.
“Where are you going?”
“Anywhere. Nowhere . I ... have no bloody idea, Lily. I just know I can’t face any of your family “ not tonight.”
“Mum and Dad could be wrong,” she whispered as she crept closer. “Maybe the diary got into her cauldron by accident.”
He closed his eyes, relishing the contact as she wound her hands around his waist, but when he turned around, she wouldn’t quite meet his eyes.
“You don’t really believe that, though, do you?” he said bitterly and pushed her away.
“I ... er ...” she stumbled on her words, then took a step closer. “I don’t think my parents are lying, Scorpius. But ...” She paused. “You’re not him. Mum knows that and she doesn’t blame you “ not for anything. I think it was just a shock to her.”
It would have been so easy to stay here, her arms entwined about his neck, drawing him down to her lips and kissing him soundly. He let himself drift for the moment, longing for this to never cease, but the past hung between them like a shroud.
“I need to speak to Dad,” he said, pushing her away but far less forcefully this time.
“You can’t. It’s nine o’clock and you won’t be able to get permission to leave, not for this,” she protested.
He laughed humourlessly and stepped towards her. Bending down he placed a very soft, very gentle kiss on her cheek and whispered, “I don’t need permission, baby Potter. Zabini’s hearth is connected to my dad’s place, and the professor’s far too preoccupied at the moment to concern himself with a missing handful of Floo powder.” Pulling away from her, Scorpius broke into a run, taking the steps two at a time in his desperation to get to his Housemaster’s office.
“Funis!” Lily cried. Taken by surprise, he saw a silken rope wrap around his wrist before he had a chance to block the spell, and was yanked back towards her.
The third years hovering on the stairs started cheering and crowding round, but Lily pushed them out of the way and sat on the stair next to him.
“One bloody rope won’t stop me, Lily,” he muttered. “I will speak to him.”
“I’m not trying to stop you,” she said fiercely. “I know you’ll go whatever I do, but I won’t let you go alone.”
Cupping her face in his hands, Scorpius touched his lips to hers. “You don’t have to do this. If we get discovered outside the castle ...”
“That’s why I’m coming,” she replied in a whisper. “Getting out is the easy part, but you need me to break back in.”