When darkness return

Chapter 4

Lily was sat in the empty audience watching the rehearsal. She held the script in her hands to check it every now and then. 

"Okay cut!" she said and went up on stage. "Remember. Your husband has just died, and you've lost your home. Your children are all that you have so you have to beg her not to take them away. Okay? Now again from the top."

Once they called it a day she flooed to burrow where her grandparents were watching her children. Normally she would've apparated but considering the fact that she was pregnant she couldn't take that risk.

"Lily!" her grandma greeted and gave her a hug. "How was your day?"

"It was alright. We're a bit off the schedule though", Lily said and paused. "Where are they?"

Molly laughed. "They found Fred and George's old stuff and are now pulling pranks on grandpa." 

She lead her to the living room where the children were playin with Arthur.

"Children", Molly called. "Mummy's here."

"Mum!" Greta and Rocky said and ran up to her for hugs.

"Hey, mind the belly", Lily laughed and hugged them both.

"So how is the play going, Lily?" Arthur asked. "Would be lovely to see it."

"The premiere is in two weeks", Lily said. "I've already saved the tickets for you."

"Is this your first directed play?" Molly asked.

"Yeah. I will go back to acting though once this fella is out."

"Oh yeah. From the donor right?" Arther said. "Fascinating how those muggle inventions keep inspiring the wizarding world."

"Does that mean this child won't have a daddy either?" Rocky asked.

"It means that all three of you will have a strong loving and independent mother", Molly said.

"But that's not fair", said Greta. "If Tori has two daddies then why can't we have one of them?"

The adults laughed.

"Aren't Scorpius and Albus good enough as your uncles?" Lily said. "It would be very inappropriate of me to let one of them be your dad."

"I think mummy is good enough as our mum", Rocky said.

"Aww", Lily said and hugged her children once again.

* * * * *

Scorpius was watching the students hanging around in the courtyard. Some were studying. Some were playing gobstones or exploding snap. Some were just chilling. He took a sip of his tea and checked his notebook that he used as his planner.

"Enjoying your break?" a voice behind him said. 

He turned around and saw Delphi. "It's one hell of a schedule", he said.

"Does our children behave in your class?" Delphi asked.

"They work very well together, I've noticed. Always pick each other when they work in pairs."

"It's the exact same in my class", Delphi said. "It seems to be Bella's favourite subject."

"Remember your first visit here?" Scorpius said. "That day when you came up to me by the stairs?"

"Oh you should see me pass that very same place."

"What's it like now? I mean now that you can explore this place properly. Without hiding."

"Can't say much have changed since then. Except I'm more recognised now. Even by ghosts and portraits." Delphi gave a small giggle to force the small amount of frustration away. "So. The halloween ball is coming up. You excited?"

"Actually I should check my schedule on that", Scorpius said. "I'm very preoccupied as it is."

"You're allowed to bring your husband", Delphi said.

"He's working that night", Scorpius said and took the last sip of his tea. "Gotta run. Wish me a good luck with the third years."

"You can do it!" said Delphi. "See you at lunch?"

"Yeah. See you there."

Later at night Tori and Bella were having a slumer party with their dorm mates. Scorpius had bought them some sweets for the weekend that they decided to share with their friends.

"Aria, truth or dare?" Amanda said. 

"Hm... Dare", Aria said,

"Okay. I dare you to eat this super strong pepper imp without making a face or letting the smoke out."

"If I vomit you owe me a silver card", Aria said.

"Deal", Amanda said and put the pepper imp in Aria's mouth.

Aria chewed it, careful not to let it touch her tongue. She swallowed it and kept her mouth shut. Her cheeks began to blow and she had to cover her mouth to keep it shut. Finally she had swallowed it all, except for the tiny puff of smoke that escaped her mouth.

"Okay, I'll take it", Amanda laughed.

"Can we do something else now?" Bella asked.

"We could tell scary stories", Tori suggested.

"Oh yes!" Amanda said. "Who wants to go first?"

"I could", Jovie said. 

Everyone wrapped themselves in their blankets and listened. 

"There once was a young boy. His name was Harold. He had all the good things in life you could ask for. He was never afraid of standing up to people. And he was tough. You could almost say this boy wasn't afraid of anything. Although there was this one thing that scared him more than anything. Puberty. For Harold had been born in the wrong body. And growing up in it was the one thing he feared the most."

Once they had finished the story everyone looked at each other.

"No offence", said Amanda. "But that one was more emotional rather than scary."

"I have a good one", Bella said and sat up straight while the others listened. "Once upon a time, there was a witch who lived in the woods. She had no human friends. All that she had was a cat and a crow. The world however was frightened of her magical powers and had threatened to burn it all out of her. The witch did not fear the humans. Although she did fear whatever harm it would cause her companions. One day she found her mother's old spell book. She flipped through the pages to see if she could find anything to prevent the power against her. The very same day there were several men coming to burn her forest down. So she brought her book outside. Drew a circle on the ground. Collided the cat and the crow, along with her magical essentials. She read throuh the book and followed the ritual speech. So that everything inside the circle was protected from the fire that kept spreading. And finally. The fire vanished. All the trees and everything outside the circle, including the men, had burned to the ground."

Everyone had their mouths wide open. Not that they hadn't heard of similar stories, but the fact that Bella told it which such pleasure was beyond their expectations.