Lily had been loitering in the Entrance Hall when he’d emerged from the dungeons that morning. His initial pleasure at seeing her had turned to a vague disquiet when she’d nervously asked if she could meet up with him after breakfast. Puzzled by her attitude, he’d murmured ‘of course’, but hadn’t been able to rid himself of the suspicion that something was going on.
He frowned slightly when he saw her exchange looks with Mrs Zabini; there was certainly some sort of collusion going on between the pair of them. Perhaps aware of his scrutiny, Lily turned to face him and after a moment’s hesitation, smiled. He smiled back, not showing the irritation he was feeling, and returned to chewing on his toast. They meant to ambush him, he was sure of it, and however well intentioned their motives, he wasn’t going to let that happen.
He nudged Harper with his foot. “Stand up, will you?”
“Huh?”
Merlin, couldn’t he understand a simple instruction? “Can you stand up,” he muttered, “and get your friend to stand up as well? I want to leave the table and not be seen.”
“Oh.” Harper grinned and pulling his friend up by his elbow, stood to form a partial barricade. Just then, the still unnamed Baby Zabini let out a wail from the sling Mrs Zabini was carrying him in. Her distraction proved a big enough incentive for Scorpius to duck down and flee the Hall.”
“Scorpius,” he heard Ben shout after him, “I need a word...”
“No time,” he called back. “Sorry, got to run.” Grinning, he sprinted towards the steps leading down to the dungeons. The trouble was that as Mrs Zabini had full access to everywhere in Slytherin, he would not be able to hide for long, but maybe long enough for her to get distracted by the baby. Lily would be harder to put off, but then Lily he could deal with in a far more beneficial way. Deciding not to head for the common room, or his dorm, he ducked into a disused classroom along the corridor.
A sound from the corner alerted him to the knowledge that he wasn’t alone. “Who’s there?” he called and lit his wand.
“I’m not doing anything,” replied an unfamiliar voice, sounding sulky.
Scorpius stepped toward the source. It was a boy, he thought, but one with a reasonably deep voice. In the gloom, he saw the boy’s frame; he was taller and broader than Scorpius, but his arms were raised in a non- threatening manner. Holding his wand light up to the boy’s face and noting the dark eyes staring warily back at him; he smirked and lowered his wand. “You’re one of Lily’s cousins, aren’t you?” The boy nodded. “Uh ... Fred, isn’t it?”
“That’s right,” Fred replied, adding belligerently, “You going to report me for being here?”
“Should I?” Scorpius asked. “You said you weren’t doing anything wrong.”
“I’m not!” Fred exclaimed indignantly. “It’s just that ... well, I’m not supposed to be here and every time I go somewhere I shouldn’t strictly be, everyone assumes the worst and I get landed with a detention.”
“You did make half the baths in Hufflepuff explode last September,” Scorpius replied mildly, remembering the chaos when the corridors near the kitchen had been filled with pink frothing liquid. The food that day had smelt perfumed and tasted slightly soapy. “You can’t really blame the teachers for suspecting you, Weasley.”
“That,” Fred said witheringly, “was an experiment. I was merely trying to locate an underwater tunnel that Moaning Myrtle had told me about.” He frowned. “Still not found it, I’m not sure she was telling me the whole truth.” He sighed and then shook his head. “Anyway, I’m not doing anything wrong, so will you let me off?”
“Only if you tell me why you’re here,” Scorpius said, folding his arms across his chest. “I am a prefect, after all.”
“It’s nothing,” Fred muttered. “I just needed to get away and ... Hold on, you might be a prefect and a seventh year, but I’m pretty sure you’re not allowed here either. You entered bloody quietly and you haven’t put the lights on.” A look of disgust crossed his face. “Oh Merlin, you’re not meeting my cousin here, are you?”
Scorpius grinned. “Actually I’m avoiding her ... and Mrs Zabini,” he added when Fred’s look of disgust turned to annoyance.
“Why are you avoiding Lily?” Fred asked suspicion creeping into his voice. He fingered his wand and started to square up to Scorpius. “You’re not two-timing her, are you?”
“No, no, no,” Scorpius hastily reassured him, taking in Fred’s superior height and bulk. “She ... uh ... well, she and Mrs Zabini keep trying to get me to talk.” He pulled a face. “Why do women always do that?”
A smile flashed across Fred’s face revealing crooked white teeth. He started to laugh. “I don’t know, but it’s always over a cup of tea, isn’t it? My dad knows he’s in trouble when Mum and Granny Weasley sit him down and get out the best china.”
Scorpius grinned back, grateful that Fred seemed to understand, and hadn’t asked why he was being harangued into talking. He’d tried to explain to Lily that nothing was wrong; he’d told Mrs Zabini that really he was fine and that his Granddad’s death and funeral weren’t affecting him at all. But neither of them seemed prepared to give up.
“So are you going to tell me why you’re in here?” Scorpius asked. Fred considered, his eyes flickering from Scorpius and to the door; Scorpius stepped aside. “You can go if you want. I won’t say anything. Just don’t tell Lily where I am, yeah?”
Fred nodded as he stepped past him, but halfway towards the door, he stopped and turned around. “I’m running a book on the baby’s name,” he explained softly. “I thought if I could find a place to hide near the Zabini’s quarters, then I might hear them discussing baby names. Kind of helps me set the odds.”
Scorpius started to laugh. “Brilliant, but can’t you just borrow the map from Lily?”
Fred scuffed the floor with his shoe, then obviously feeling that wasn’t adequate enough to reflect his irritation, kicked an upturned chair across the floor. “I made the mistake of asking her, and she said no. It’s not bloody fair, you know. Just because she doesn’t approve, there’s no reason for her to act like Rose all of a sudden.”
Raising his eyebrows at this show of ‘disunity’ from a Weasley clan member, Scorpius tried to remonstrate. “It is her dad’s map. You can’t blame her for not wanting to share it.”
“It was my dad’s as well! He and Uncle Fred used it all the time.” Fred protested. “They found it in Filch’s office and stupidly gave it away to Harry.”
“And Lily won’t let you look at it?” Scorpius asked. “Um, can’t you ask Potter ... I mean Albus? It’s his as well.”
“We take it in turns,” Fred admitted. “Only after the bathroom thing, Mum told Albus I wasn’t allowed it for the rest of the year.” He picked up the chair, and levitated it towards the side of the room. “All I want to do is find out which names they’re considering, or what they’ve ruled out.” He snorted. “I’m hoping Lavender will call it Ron.”
Not understanding the reason Fred found it so funny that Lavender would call her baby after a Battle hero (it was the third most popular behind Harry and Neville), Scorpius considered Fred and his ‘book.’
“If I tell you that I know for a fact certain names won’t be used, will you cut me in on the profits?”
Fred frowned. “Depends how useful your information is,” he replied. “I’m not going to hand out money just because you tell me the baby isn’t going to be called Zach, or something pathetic like that.”
“Zacharias?” Scorpius asked. He Summoned two chairs, sat on one and gestured for Fred to join him. “Yeah, I know that’s not going to be used. I ... uh ... saw her dismissing that. No idea why, though.”
Fred rolled his eyes. “Battle day coward,” he said scathingly. “Did a runner just as they were evacuating the underage kids. It would be like Lavender calling the baby Rodolphus, or Drac ... uh, sorry, no offence.”
“None taken,” Scorpius replied blandly. There was a silence as he wondered whether to pursue this. He didn’t particularly need the money, but he realised he rather liked Fred despite the boy being three years younger than him. He took a breath. “Okay, I have seen the map, and saw some names coming up for discussion, and then dismissed. I don’t know what they’re going to call the baby, but I can tell you that they are not going to give it a Battle name.” He licked his lips, waiting for Fred’s response.
“Are you serious? But they’re both from the Battle. Isn’t it like the done thing? Honouring the dead and all that malarkey.”
Shrugging, and ignoring the dull ache in his shoulder, Scorpius continued. “Mrs Zabini wants to look to the future. And can you really see Professor Zabini wanting to name his son after a famous Gryffindor?”
“Scorpius, where are you?” Lily’s voice from the corridor drifted towards the both making them jump.
“Hell, hell. If she’s with Mrs Zabini, then I’m dead meat!” Fred whispered anxiously. “Can you distract them while I hide?”
But he’d only just stood up, when the door handle started to open. As quick as a flash, and without really knowing why, Scorpius tapped Fred on the head with his wand and cast a Disillusion spell. “Don’t move too much, or they’ll see you,” he hissed. “I’ll lead them away, and then come back for you, okay?”
“Why are you in here?” Lily asked as she strode into the room, looking around curiously. “I wanted to speak to you. Oh “” she held her hand to her mouth ““ are you meeting someone?”
“No!” Scorpius yelped, as she turned on her heel. “Lily, don’t be ridiculous.”
“Well, why are you hiding here when I specifically asked if I could see you?” She stood there, hands on her hips, looking furious, and then her face crumpled. “Are you avoiding me?”
“Yes ... no ... not really,” he spluttered, and catching her by the arm, he drew Lily towards him.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she muttered, not quite giving in to him as his hands began to wind around her waist, but not yet pulling away.
“You and Mrs Zabini keep following me around,” he murmured in her ear. “I just didn’t want to get trapped by you both.”
“We only want to help,” she grumbled. “Mrs Zabini thinks you need to talk to someone.”
He sighed and pushed his hair off his face. “Lily, I’m fine. I don’t want to talk over a cup of tea. I just want to get on with revising for these sodding exams.”
“Is that why you’ve been avoiding me?” she asked, now looking directly into his eyes.
“Yes,” he replied, touching his lips to hers.
“No, no, no,” cried the Disillusioned Fred. “I’m not hanging around watching this.”
“What the...?” Lily pulled away and looked around the room panicking. “Fred, what are you doing down here? And where are you?”
Grinning, Scorpius pulled out his wand and quickly returned Fred to visibility. “We were having a chat, that’s all,” he assured Lily. “You interrupted us, and Fred thought he might end up in detention if he was discovered in here.”
“What were you chatting about?” she asked, her eyes narrowing as she studied her cousin.
“Lily, come on,” Fred said grinning at them both. “You keep telling us that Malfoy’s an okay bloke and we should make an effort, so I’m just “”
“You never do anything nice like that,” Lily said waspishly. “Only if there’s something in it for you, Fred Weasley.”
“I’m hurt!” he said, sounding outraged and slapping his hand across his heart. “Lily Potter, how can you possibly think that I’m not here to genuinely make friends with your boyfriend?” He winked at Scorpius. “The fact that your boyfriend has given me some pretty decent inside knowledge has nothing to do with “”
“UGHHH!” she screamed. “Fred, how dare you trick Scorpius like that? Running a book on the baby’s name is ... is ... immoral and using Scorpius to make money is disgusting.”
“Oi!” Scorpius protested and then started laughing. “He’s not using me. Freddy-boy is going to cut me in on the profits “ aren’t you?”
“Sure,” Fred said, grinning at him. “Ten percent, Malfoy.”
“Twenty!” Scorpius bartered, and ducked to avoid Lily’s punch on his arm. “I haven’t told you everything.”
Fred started laughing and sprinted to the door. “Fifteen,” he called back. “We’ll renegotiate if you get any more information, but if I get a flood of bets from Slytherins on one name, then all deals are off.”
“Agreed!” Scorpius grinned at Fred, watching as he ran up the corridor. Then he turned back to Lily. “He should have been a Slytherin.”
“He’s a con artist,” she said dismissively, but he could hear real affection in her voice.
“I like him,” Scorpius declared, but didn’t add that Fred Weasley was the first of her relations willing to give him a chance. “He’s not like the rest of you, though, is he?”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“He doesn’t play Quidditch. I mean I get that Rose would be bloody useless “ I still remember the first flying lesson we all had “ and Hugo doesn’t fly but he’s still obsessed with the game.”
Tucking her arm in his, Lily led Scorpius out into the corridor. They ignored the murmurs of the Slytherins returning after breakfast, and walked up towards the main door. “Pressure,” she said at last.
“Pressure? From whom?”
“His dad played Beater with his twin brother “ that’s who Fred’s named after, and his mum was Angelina Johnson.”
“The Arrows’ Chaser?” Scorpius opened his eyes wider, wondering why he’d never connected the famous Chaser, who’d been injured on her England debut and never made a comeback, with the Weasley family. Although it had been before he was born, Angelina Johnson was still a legend with the Appleby Arrows.
Lily nodded. “Mmm. Fred doesn’t think he can live up to either of them.” She pulled Scorpius closer to her as they walked outside and towards the Greenhouses.
“Where are we going?”
“Well,” she said, sounding sly. “I still have half an hour before my Herbology class, and as you’ve explained that you’re not avoiding me, I was hoping we could ... um ... make up for lost time.” She giggled and squeezed his arm tighter. “I promise not to make you talk.”
The last weeks leading up to the exams were both satisfactory and unsatisfactory for Scorpius. Satisfactory because he managed to spend most of his revision time with Lily, either in the library or out in the grounds, but unsatisfactory because some strange sense of morality stopped him from pushing things with her. It was when she’d mucked up a simple Banishing Charm three times in a row, whilst they were practising in an empty classroom, that he stopped her.
“Lily,” he said exasperated. “This is your best subject, what’s the matter with you today?”
“Nothing,” she muttered, her voice quavering. “I’m thick, you know that.”
“Bollocks!” He snatched the wand away from her angrily. “Will you stop putting yourself down? You’re good at Charms. At least Exceeds Expectations, so you either tell me what the problem is, or “”
“That’s rich, coming from you,” she mumbled.
“What?”
Hands on hips she faced him. “You won’t talk to me about your granddad and the funeral, yet I’m supposed to spill my guts out about my problems.”
“Because I have nothing to say and am not affected by it,” he exclaimed, resisting the urge to shout. “Lily “ there’s clearly something putting you off. Have your family had another go at you?” She shook her head; he took a breath. “Okay, is it me, then? Do you not want to practise with me anymore?”
“Of course I do,” she said, but wouldn’t quite meet his eye.
“Lily,” he complained. “I don’t mind if you’d rather practise with your friends. I just thought it was a good way for us to spend time together, and I thought I could help you. But it’s not a problem. I can carry on by myself.”
“No,” she interrupted, and took a breath. “Really, it’s not that I want to be with them more than you. It’s just that ... um ... well...” She stopped speaking and gnawed at the side of her mouth before taking another breath. “You’re a bit distracting, that’s all. We’re here and alone, and I’m trying to concentrate on casting all these spells, or cramming theory in my head, but all I can think about is kissing you and ... uh ... well, you know. I’m waiting for you to make a move ...” Her face reddened. “If the Fat Lady hadn’t appeared when she did, then ... um ... I think we would have ... um ...”
Scorpius touched her cheek with his fingertips, tracing the curve of her face, but made no other move towards her. “Very probably,” he agreed. “But it’s a bit different now.”
“Because of your granddad?” she asked sounding tentative.
“No.” He wasn’t exactly lying. The knowledge that his grandmother and probably his dad would be horrified if he was actually having sex with Lily had crossed his mind, and in a way made him more determined, but that had also made him realise that revenge sex was not what he wanted with her. “I want to do well in the exams, Lily, that’s all. And the trouble is, you’re so bloody gorgeous, I’m pretty sure that once I start things with you, I’m not going to want to do anything else for at least a month.” He grinned at her, and then pulled her close, tweaking a tress of her hair. “I don’t want to muck things up with you, okay? So after the exams, yeah, that is if you still want to.”
She smiled, obviously hearing the slight edge of insecurity in his voice that he’d unsuccessfully tried to hide. “I still want to,” she whispered. “But staying in bed for a whole month would be embarrassing to explain to the examiners.”
He snorted, and then cheered when she snatched her wand back and successfully Banished the apples they’d been using to the fruit bowl on the other side of the classroom, landing each apple softly so they wouldn’t bruise.
Five different delivery owls at one sitting wasn’t quite a record at Hogwarts, but at the Slytherin table, it was something of an unusual occurrence. Scorpius creased his brow, puzzled not by the owls but by one heavily embossed envelope delivered by a very stiff beaked tawny. The owl delivered its missive, accepted some plump grapes in payment, and then flew off not waiting for a reply. In contrast, his parents’ owl hung around, obviously after more than fruit, and eyed the other four owls warily. Scorpius grimaced; his father’s owl, Kronos, was a notorious bully, always jostling owls it thought inferior, but a rough looking, tufty-eared owl, was watching Kronos with what could only be called dislike. Scorpius ripped open the tufty-eared owl’s letter and started to laugh.
‘Good luck with your N.E.W.T.s and don’t let yourself get distracted by a certain Weasley or rather Potter witch “ you’ll come to no good!’
Love Teddy
And underneath, in far neater handwriting, a simpler message,
‘Good Luck, Scorpius, for your N.E.W.T.s. ~ Andromeda Tonks~’
Still grinning, Scorpius flung some bacon at the owl, hastily scrawled a thank you on the discarded envelope and watched as the bird took to the air. Then he opened the other cards. His Greengrass grandparents had sent a particularly hideous good-luck card, complete with snakes in the shape of a lucky horseshoe, but also tucked some Galleons in the envelope. His aunt Daphne had sent him a card of monument in Mexico where she was currently researching Mayan wizards. He was touched she’d remembered, and even more touched when a small bottle of the local brew fell out with a note attached saying this was very strong, but just the thing to help him celebrate when it was all over. Finally he opened his parents’ card “ or more pertinently his mum’s card, since she’d written the long good luck message, and his dad’s signature with his terse ‘good luck’, appeared to have been tagged on at the last minute.
He supposed that at least it was something. Since the funeral and his grandmother’s refusal to speak to him, his dad had treated Scorpius with cold indifference. The only time he’d engaged Scorpius in any conversation at the funeral had been to warn him that any relationship with Lily Potter would end in disaster. Scorpius had stared his father in the eyes, blue meeting grey, and muttered that at least this disaster wouldn’t kill them all. It was hardly like allying himself to the Dark Lord. If Professor Vector had not been there, he was pretty sure his dad would have hexed him, and he’d left with his headmistress shortly after that.
When the cards were read, all owls duly treated, Scorpius slid his finger under the seal of the fifth envelope.
“Oh!”
“What a sparkling conversationalist you are,” Ariadne called from the other side of the table where she was sitting with both Vaisey brothers and her gaggle of friends.
Scorpius looked across, coolly perused her, but said nothing. He was confused by the letter, not just the contents, but the writer as well. Chewing his bottom lip, he scanned the Gryffindor table, briefly registering that Lily was there giggling with Natalie and Albus, but not one of the two people who could help him with this.
Then he saw one of them walking out of the Hall arm in arm with Ben. On balance, he’d rather have asked Hugo, as Rose had a much sharper tongue, but then again Hugo was less likely to show off his knowledge and Rose wouldn’t be able to resist.
“Rose,” he called as he caught up with the pair of them. “Can I ask you something?”
“No, I’m not switching rosters again,” she snapped. “Really, Malfoy, if you can’t even get on with your fellow Slytherins, then why should you get to pick and choose your patrolling partners? You’ll patrol with Edge-“
“It’s nothing to do with that!” he exclaimed, biting back a sudden surge of irritation. He needed her co-operation. “I’ll ... um ... patrol with whomever you want. Just Bletchley probably isn’t a good idea”
“Agreed,” Ben interrupted, then nudged Rose’s arm. “I think Scorpius wants to ask you about something very different. He’s got an official looking letter in his hand.”
Rose peered closer, so Scorpius held out the letter.
“It’s from the Law Department,” she said, adding scornfully, “Are you trying to get a job there, now? Sorry, I doubt my mum would take a recommendation from me.”
“No,” Scorpius replied, willing himself not to snap at her. “Look, it’s nothing much, but I wanted to check if this is her writing or whether it was a standard letter that she’d just signed. She’s pretty high up, isn’t she?”
“Heads the department,” Rose explained sarcastically. “Can’t get much higher than that.” Then she stopped being rude, cast her eyes over the first page of the letter, and stared at him curiously. “That isher writing. Why is she writing to you?”
“Uh, my granddad’s will,” Scorpius explained hurriedly, ignoring Rose’s embarrassed flush. “It’s been over a month since he died, and she’s apologising for the length of time it’s taken for probate to come through.”
“Uh, Malf “ Scorpius, what are you after?” Rose asked, this time not sounding at all rude, merely interested. “I can’t talk to my mum about this.”
“Yeah, I know,” Scorpius replied, now feeling awkward. “It’s just ... Is it usual for your mum to write to people about wills?”
She considered his question, pursing her lips and for once not looking disagreeable. “It’s the sort of thing she used to do when she first joined the department. So ... well ... I suppose it is unusual, now.”
“Thanks.” Thoughtfully, Scorpius turned away, still ruminating on the delayed probate and Mrs Weasley’s involvement. He knew the Ministry could confiscate dangerous items bequeathed by the deceased, but his granddad’s most dangerous artefacts had been seized long ago.
“You were popular this morning,” Ben remarked. “Five owls, I noticed. And that tufty-eared one delivered a card to Rose, as well.”
“Teddy and Andromeda,” Scorpius replied. “They must have spent a fortune on cards.”
Rose raised her eyebrows. “Andromeda signed your card?”
“Sure,” Scorpius replied, wondering why she looked so surprised. “We met recently. Why are you so astonished she’d wish me luck?”
But instead of replying, Rose started to laugh, calling over his shoulder, “Lily, Al, guess what? Malfoy got good luck wishes from Teddy’s gran.”
“Really?”
Merlin, even Lily sounds surprised, Scorpius thought irritably. “Excuse me,” he snapped, turning round to face Lily and her brother, “but what is the problem with that? She’s my great-aunt. I met her at the funeral. We talked and got on. Why is it such a surprise that someone actually likes me enough to want me to do well?”
“Ouch, prickly!” Rose exclaimed and laughed again.
“It’s not you!” Lily soothed, tucking her arm into his and ignoring the half-resigned glare that Albus was shooting their way. “It’s only that Andromeda Tonks scares the daylights out of us all. I think she finds us all too noisy, or silly, or just plain rude.”
“She likes Victoire,” Albus pointed out.
“She likes Victoire, now,” countered Rose. “But that’s only because Victoire has a proper career and Teddy is determined to marry her.” She smiled slightly at Scorpius. “You must have impressed her. The only people she usually talks to in the family are my grandparents, my mother and Uncle Harry. The rest of us are all treated with a certain amount of disdain.”
“Must be my Slytherin blood,” Scorpius remarked, and smirked as they all “ Ben included “ flushed, betraying the fact that they’d all been thinking that. He squeezed Lily around the waist, and then kissed her, partly to annoy Albus, but mostly to reassure her he wasn’t annoyed anymore. “See, being a Slyth has its advantages.”
Grumpily, Albus started muttering about getting back to the common room and walked towards the stairs. With a reluctant sigh, Lily pulled away from Scorpius, but squeezed his hand. “Good luck today,” she whispered. “You’ve got Charms first, haven’t you?”
“Mmm,” he agreed, and racked his brains to think what her first exam was. How the hell did girls always seem to remember everything? “Sorry, is it Herbology for you?”
Lily nodded her head. “Theory first, practical this afternoon.”
“You’ll be okay!” he called after her as she mounted the stairs with Rose. “Just keep calm.”
“Never thought I’d see the day,” Ben murmured.
“Huh?”
Ben grinned, a teasing note in his eyes. “Scorpius Malfoy concerned about someone else. Merlin, mate, you have got it bad.”
“Nonsense,” Scorpius scoffed, but inside he could feel his insides squirming. He’d prepared for the N.E.W.T.s and knew, without being bigheaded, that he’d do well. His nerves were all for Lily.
Although he didn’t coast through the week (Transfiguration under the eagle eye of the former Headmistress Minerva McGonagall, who had been coaxed out of retirement to become an examiner, had been particularly hard), Scorpius did feel as if he’d mostly done himself justice. It hadn’t been easy, but he had put the effort in and was proud of the Potions practical. Fleetingly, he wondered whether to write to his dad, who’d always looked for the Potions result first on Scorpius’ reports. He’d probably had the most difficulty with the Charms practical because his shoulder was still stiff, but after flexing his wand arm, he had performed the complex Flavorous Charm, which changes the taste of certain ingredients without altering their makeup, on a chocolate cupcake and had presented it to the genteel witch in front of him.
Bending her nose towards the plate, she had taken a tentative sniff and then nibbled at the icing before smiling beatifically at him and declaring that the switch from chocolate to apple was perfect!
So it was with increasing confidence that Scorpius stood outside the Great Hall waiting for his Defence Against the Dark Arts theory paper. He mused over the past week. Lily had approached every exam with trepidation, but had emerged from each one with a smile on her face and gasping with relief. She’d spent most of last evening hugging him with delight because a question about vampires had come up in her Defence paper, which she’d only read up on because Scorpius had threatened to bite her neck if she didn’t get down to it.
“I know I won’t get an Outstanding,” she’d said. “But then Aunt Hermione didn’t, so that’s not a big deal. I think I’ve passed, and the practical was much easier than I thought it would be.”
Scorpius had pulled her closer for a cuddle, delighting in her newfound confidence. “This time tomorrow, it will all be over, and we can celebrate,” he’d murmured.
“Mmm,” she’d said dreamily. “I’d like that.”
The thought of how they’d be celebrating idly distracted him as he waited for his next exam. Because only twenty students were taking Defence at N.E.W.T. level, Professor Vector had decided they should sit the exam in an old classroom on the ground floor. They were not sat alphabetically, or in houses, but rather randomly. Scorpius assumed it was random because no one would have thought to deliberately place him right next to Albus Potter, given their history. He glanced at Albus, noticing that he looked rather pale and was staring ahead, his lips moving as if he were trying to memorise something. In the past, Scorpius would have thrown a mocking remark at him, enjoying Albus’ flash of temper, but today he leant across the aisle and touched him on the shoulder.
“Good luck,” he murmured.
“What?” Albus looked annoyed at being disturbed, and even more annoyed when he saw who’d spoken to him.
“I said ‘good luck’,” Scorpius retorted. “Sorry I bothered.”
Albus flushed, and then smiled apologetically. “I didn’t hear you,” he replied. “But ... uh ... good luck to you, too.”
As the invigilators walked down to the front of the Hall, their eyes swooping from side to side to check no illegal quills were being used, the head examiner stood at the front of the Hall, her hands placed together as if in prayer and announced, “You may begin.”
Letting out a sigh, Scorpius read the first question. ‘Describe the effects a Dementor has on the Muggle world?’
“Piece of cake,” Scorpius muttered under his breath as he remembered stories of frost and fog settling over Britain even in summer contributing to an atmosphere of gloom in pockets of the country. Beside him, he noticed Albus scribbling furiously and somewhere ahead Ben was sucking his quill.
He was two thirds of the way through the paper, with half the time remaining when he turned the page for the final question. Scorpius knew this would be a harder question. Professor Goldstein had impressed on his class the need to spend time on the appropriate questions. The last one, he’d told them, is worth more than the others. It will be an essay, a reasoned discussion and it is the one to concentrate on.
Scorpius wasn’t bothered. He’d sped through the others and now had half the time left to devote to this question. He smiled as he bent his head towards the question, reading slowly so he didn’t misinterpret a word.
‘The use of Unforgiveables has been authorised in certain circumstances. Discuss the circumstances and whether this, in your opinion, has ever been justified.’
Scorpius stared at the question. It should be easy. He was a reasonable debater in class, often playing Devil’s advocate “ mainly to wind Rose up “ but also because he knew how to argue even if he didn’t agree.
Unforgiveables, he thought, trying to formulate an argument in his brain. Imperius Curse, Avada Kedavra and ... He gulped.
He was five years old.
“Cruciatus Curse, Scorpius,” whispered his granddad, a glint in his eye. “The most terrifying weapon in the Dark Lord’s armoury. Death would be a release by the time he’d finished with his victim. His power was astonishing, my boy.”
Scorpius stood with a stick in his hand trying out the spell on a mouse.
“What are you doing?” his mum shouted as he screeched at the terrified creature.
“Ganda told me,” he sobbed, frightened by her rage.
He was eight years old, the incident with the mouse long forgotten when he woke in the night.
“No, stop, no, no, no! I’m SORRY,” screamed his dad.
He hurried to his parents’ bedroom, anxious to help, but faltered at the door. His mum was cradling his dad in her arms. “It’s okay,” she murmured. “Bellatrix is dead, Draco. She can’t hurt you now. No one can harm you. You’re safe.”
“It still burns me,” his dad moaned, clutching his arm. “She’s never gone.”
“Oh Merlin, no,” cried Scorpius in the exam room. He could feel bile rising in his stomach, and his head was pounding as cold beads of sweat ran down his forehead. Only vaguely aware of Albus looking up, Scorpius clutched his palm to his mouth and ran out of the Hall.
“Mr Malfoy,” he heard someone call. “You have to finish the paper.”
“I can’t,” he shouted back as he tried not to retch. “I’m done.”