Raindrops on Roses

Chapter 5: Third Year Part 2: Hallelujah

2019-2020

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Scorpius was a bit put out when all he found at the end of his bed on Christmas morning was a letter from his mother. That was nice enough, he supposed, but he couldn't see how Rose and Albus could have forgotten about him. Perhaps his yearly offering of free sweets was no longer exciting enough to warrant something in return?

He quickly pushed that thought to the back of his mind. His friends would force presents onto him even if he gave them nothing, though they had learned not to do it except for Christmas and birthdays. There had to be another explanation.

To take his mind off his disappointment, he opened the envelope. Five gold coins fell out of it onto the bedspread. He stared down at them for a moment, then he quickly looked back at the letter.

Dear Scorpius,

I hope you are having a productive term. We might have had you home for the holidays this year, but that dreadful man is still taking advantage of our hospitality and I do not find him suitable company for you.

Your father's business dealings are progressing well, and he wishes you to have the enclosed five galleons to buy yourself a treat for Christmas. We are looking for a more suitable house and should have moved into the town by your summer holidays.

with affection,

your Mother.

Scorpius read the letter a few times. It was quite typical of his mother, for certain, formally worded and fuelled by duty rather than any real emotional concern. And the bit about moving, just tacked onto the end as if it weren't important! A townhouse - surely that was very expensive?

He picked up the coins, more gold than he had ever held before in his life, and not for the first time he wondered about his father's 'business'. He and Goyle were involved in something that no one wanted him to ask about. Did it have something to do with the messenger they had met in Paris, and the man called Ezekius?

Maybe it's illegal, he found himself thinking. Why else would it be such a secret? Then he felt guilty for such a thought. It had to be wrong to suspect your own parents of illegal activity.

But what if it is? said a treacherous voice at the back of his mind.

He shook his head and stuffed the money into a drawer for safekeeping. If it is, he reasoned, it's not as though I can do anything about it.

He brooded for the rest of the day until Lizzie came to get him. Professor Longbottom had drawn him aside in Herbology before the end of term to ask him if he was coming to dinner again on Christmas day. "I understand if you'd rather have it here," he had said. "But Hannah's glad to have you, and so am I, of course."

"Oh no, I mean, I'd love to," he replied happily. "I haven't seen Alice or Hannah since last May."

And Christmas at Hogwarts was fine, he supposed, but there wasn't really anyone to talk to, nearly all of his year mates having gone home for the holidays.

Lizzie was certainly pleased to have him come. She bounced all the way down to her father's office, chatting excitedly about the broomstick she had got for Christmas. "Dad said we could use the Floo ourselves this year," she said, rolling her eyes. "Nice, isn't it, not like we've been Flooing for thirteen years, or anything."

He chuckled to humour her, though privately he thought it was nice that her parents cared so much about her. He had been Flooing too and from the restaurant all summer and no one ever worried about Ihim/I getting lost.