The Dark Side (A Harry Potter Fanfiction)

Chapter 32: Memories

          "He sure is a handful," said Draco. Scorpius Malfoy was running around Diagonal Alley, pressing his little face into every glass window.
         "Mum! Dad! Look! It's a Nimbus 3000! It's the best broom they have! I heard it's so fast you can do tricks and you can't even see it!"
        "You won't be needing a broom till Third-Year, sweetie. You'll have to wait a little bit."
         "Aww, mum! Dad got his in Second-Year! And Albus' dad got in the third week he was there!"
         "Well, we're following the rules. If they think you're good enough, maybe they will let you in early."
          "I am good enough! I promise!"
          "We know you are, but the teachers don't know yet, so be patient," said Draco. This was Scorpius's first year at Hogwarts, and he was far more excited than Draco and I combined. I held his little hand, the only thing that would keep him from running off. 
          "Can we go to Ollivander's now?" I nodded. He jumped up in victory and ran to the shop. Ollivander had passed away, and a new man took care of the shop, but they still kept the name. Scorpius always wanted to go inside when we came, so I talked to the shopkeeper a lot. He said many kids called him Mr. Ollivander, so he had just taken up the name. Ollivander Jr. as a joke. He was bouncing up and down at the counter.
         "Ahh, Scorpius Malfoy, I was expecting you," 'Ollivander Jr.' walked over to a shelf full of wands and picked one out. "Go on! Give it a flick!" A luminous blue glow came from the Oak wand's tip, very similar to a Patronus. "Congratulations, Mr. Malfoy, the wand has chosen you."
          "Look at it mum! It's so cool!" The wand looked a lot like Draco's, very simple, actually, it might even have the same outer wood design, but a different core. I think 'Ollivander Jr.' said a Phoenix feather core. He was just about to bound out of the shop when Draco caught him on the shoulder.
         "Manners, Scorpius," his eyes went wide.
         "Oh! I'm sorry, father. Thank you, Mr. Ollivander!" He sheepishly left, but entirely forgot when he saw the shop across the street.
         "Remember when you got your wand and you thought you'd done something terribly wrong?"
         "Yes, I do. That was a while ago, wasn't it? I was terrified though. I kept thinking that none of the wands would choose me and Father would disinherit me. I can't believe how much I cared about his judgement, it seems so silly now," Draco's father had almost escaped Azkaban three years ago, and the Dementors Kissed him. Scorpius had never met Lucius, thank goodness, but we were all very sad. Being Kissed by a Dementors is the worst of all ways to die in the wizarding world.
         I could see what had caught Scorpius's eye. There was a magnificent Joke Shop near the end of the street. 
         "Dad, can we go inside?" I saw him consider it greatly. It was run by a family Draco wasn't too fond of. 
         "Yes, but stay close," he nodded and walked inside. After the war, I had thought they had closed down the place. Maybe they recently reopened it. Zonkos had closed down the year after I had finished Seventh-Year, so they were doing quite well. The once little shop was now huge. It was packed full of children and adults alike. There were candies, magical sweets, fake wands, and everything in between. We followed Scorpius up the crowded stairs to a less populated level. I saw a man in a red and green stripes suit talking to some young girls beside a bunch of love potions. I would recognize the hair anywhere.
            "George Weasley?" he spun around. He barely looked any different.
          "Alex and Draco," the friendliness towards each other was fake, the Malfoy and Weasley families had never been close, but the relationship had been amended slightly. 
          "I didn't know you still had the place open! You're doing well, I see?"
          "Yes, very well. Oh! That's your son?"
          "Scorpius. He's going to Hogwarts with Albus and Rose this year."
         "Nice! Are you excited, buddy?"
         "Yup! Mum says I might be getting into Quidditch this year!"
         "If your teacher says so."
         "If my teacher says so," he said with less excitement. 
          "I bet you will. I was on the Quidditch team, you know?"
          "Really!"
          "Yup, my brother and I were beaters."
          "My dad was a Seeker, but I want to be a Keeper too."
          "You've got to be really quick to be a Keeper, are you super quick?" I saw him wink at us. I mouthed 'thank you'.
         "We'll be in Flourish and Blotts when you're done, have fun!" Scorpius nodded and continued talking to George about his love for Quidditch. We walked down the street, and it wasn't as packed as before. I had my arm around Draco's and we walked down the street silently. "Are you Ok?"
          "I just don't like the idea of leaving my son with a Weasley. And George Weasley at that."
"He'll be fine. He's giddy as is, George won't make him worse. He's the complete opposite of you."
          "Actually, he's exactly like me when I was that age, my father just suppressed it. He is a lot like you though."
          "You think so?"
          "Yeah, he looks like you as a boy with my hair," I laughed. "But he's a bit of a rebel like you."
          "I'm a rebel now?"
          "When you want to be. Do remember, you stood up to Lord Voldemort on several occasions," I suppressed a shiver. I hated that name. I shrugged.
          "I suppose," I held the door for him and followed behind him. The smell of books, paper and ink will never get old. I took a deep breath. "Shopping first? Or coffee?"
          "Let's wait for Scorpius," we sat down at the little Cafe attached to the book shop. It was a cozy little place, I went every Saturday. I took my gloves off and folded my cold hands in my lap.
          "It's pretty chilly for this time of year. It's still summer, right?"
          "It's never summer in London," we laughed. "I do hope Scorpius will make it through school."
          "Why do you say that? He's very smart, and he's not little or anything, so I wouldn't put it past him to back away from a fight. Plus he's stubborn like both of us," he smiled.
          "I'm not worried about that particularly, just that the other kids might treat him differently if they know who his parents are," I frowned.
           "He's strong, I don't think it'll bother him much."
          "Until they start using spells against him."
          "I'll have a word with Professor McGonagall before he goes. I'm sure he'll be fine. I don't disagree with you, but he knows more magic than any of the first years," he nodded but could tell something else was bothering him. "Draco? What's wrong? What's really wrong?" he wouldn't answer. "Is it Lucius? I know what it's like to lose someone, maybe I could help."
        "No. I've let go of him. I-I've been thinking a lot of my mother, and she'll be devastated to hear dad died. I want to visit her, but I just..."
          "We'll go. I wouldn't mind seeing her again either."
          "I don't want to. But I do. I've seen what Azkaban does to people, it would have killed me if you were sent there. I have slight memories of Aunt Bellatrix, and she was never normal, but she really changed when she came back. I'm just afraid..."
          "You won't recognize her," he nodded. I put my fingers against his rough hands. "I'll go with you. And maybe one day Scorpius can come too. It's up to you. I'll go if it'll make you feel better. I hate seeing you like this," I looked around. "Scorpius should be here by now," Draco was searching too. Like we could use Telepathy, we both got up and walked to Weasley Wizard Wheezes. We found George near the entrance.
          "Where is Scorpius?" Draco said angrily.
          "He left. I insisted that I'd walk with him but he said he'd go alone," I thought Draco was going to take out his wand and start shooting hexes at him, but I pulled him away before he could.
          "Thank you, George, it's been nice seeing you again," we walked out of the shop and through the streets. No one had hair like him, so it would be easy to spot him, right? We searched and searched, and the streets were getting less crowded.
          "Scorpius! Scorpius! Where are you?" Draco shouted. We stood still and heard nothing. Then a shrill scream broke the silence. Luckily I was wearing flats, or I wouldn't have run as fast as I did. We both broke off running in the direction of the scream, and people had noticed too. I saw a glimpse of his hair go around the corner.
          "There! Scorpius!" Draco took out his wand and started shooting spells at them "You might hit him. Wait," we went around the corner and were answered by curses and hexes hissing past our heads. "Expelliarmus!" I swung myself around the corner. "Finite Incantatem!" they all flicked their wands, but they wouldn't work. "Levicorpus!" They all hung upside down tied by invisible bonds. While I held them up, Draco grabbed Scorpius. I put my wand pack into my pocket, and they all dropped to the ground.
          "Let's go!" Draco grabbed my hand and we ran away from the street. Once we got back to Diagonal Alley, we made sure to blend in with everyone. "Scorpius, are you all right?" He ran to me and wrapped his arms around me. I rubbed his back, calming him down. Once he was calmed down enough to speak, he explained what happened.
          "I-I was going t-to Flourish and Blotts as you t-told me, and they used that leg locking spell from behind me. They said if I cried out they'd hurt me so I stayed quiet. When I heard you so close I yelled for help, and they panicked and tried to run," he was wiping the remains of the tears off his face.
          "Did they say why they kidnapped you?"
          "No, they didn't say anything, well, in English anyway. They were talking really fast in another tongue," Draco looked confused.
         "Do you mind taking him back home? I've got to go report this back to Shacklebolt."
         "That's fine. Don't be late for dinner!" I called after him. "Now how about we go get that owl you wanted?" He nodded, and his little mop of platinum blonde hair flopped around. I took his hand and led him to the owl shop. "Now what was it you wanted? And Eagle Owl?"
          "Yup, just like dad's," we wandered around the store looking mostly at owls, and some snakes and rats. "That one! His name is going to be Rocky because he looks like a rock!" I nodded. He went up to the owl and cautiously put a hand up to it. It nuzzled his hand, nipping at it affectionately. "He likes me!"
          "This one?" He nodded. I dug around in my purse and gave him a Galleon. He skipped over to the counter, and Rocky flew over to meet him. The owl was more expensive than most, but I knew Scorpius was worth it. It had just occurred to me that I hadn't spoken in Parseltongue in years. I walked over to one of the snakes, a large blue one, and it looked at me. "Hello there," I could still speak it. The snake coiled itself up as if it was sitting down. I looked at Scorpius. He was talking to the shopkeeper about his owl. I knew everyone who worked here, so I wasn't worried about him getting kidnapped again. The snake simply stared at me. I huffed and walked away. Maybe I couldn't speak Parseltongue anymore. I looked over to Scorpius and pretended that all the snakes weren't staring at me. Every set of beady little eyes was trained on me, and it gave me the shivers. "Thank you, Mr. Ellsworth. Come on Scorpius, we still have to go to Flourish and Blotts, it's already three!" I exclaimed. Rocky happily hopped into his cage and Scorpius carried it very carefully, making sure not to bang it against anything. 
           When we got home, Scorpius's trolley was full and we were both ready for dinner. I checked in and the House Elves were all ready to work. I helped Scorpius pack and sort through some of his old clothes. He was so excited for his new owl that he had cleared out a spot in his room and had created some little toys. He was very upset when I told him that he couldn't fly out right away, he needed to get used to us first. I don't think Rocky liked the idea either. After an hour of packing, his room was tidy and he was ready for school. The table was full of food when we got to the dining room, but something—rather someone—was missing. 
         "Where's dad? He said he would be home by dinner," said Scorpius.
          "I'm sure he'll be home soon, we had dinner early," I wish I had been right. We finished supper, and dessert, with no sign of Draco. I kept checking the clock, but it was 9:30, and he still hadn't shown up. "Time for bed, Scorpius!" I called up. I was sitting in the Drawing Room reading. The room still felt cold after Voldemort sat here. The fire was on, but I still shivered. The only time Draco had been this late for work was when there had been a major accident. I hope nothing had gone wrong.
          At 11:40, the fire turned an electric green, and Draco emerged from it. I stood up and walked towards him.
         "What happened?" 
         "Nothing good. It's a long story, sit down. I went back to my spot on the sofa, and he sat in the one across from me. "When I got there, I knew something had happened. Everyone was everywhere. I went up to Shacklebolt's office and explained to him what had happened. He said that our son wasn't the only one kidnapped. He said there was a bit of a pattern, that every child kidnapped was a relative of a Death Eater," it was as if I could feel the Dark Mark twitch. "They caught the guys we found, but all they will say is that 'Voldemort must be vanquished'. They all admitted to doing all of the kidnappings, and the Ministry is going to put each of them on trial. Scorpius is safe now," he held my hands.
         "It's just so awful. I don't know if Scorpius will ever look at someone the same again. He was just so young."
         "We were too," he moved to my side of the couch and put an arm around me. "Did he go to sleep OK?"
          "Yes, it was a big day for him, but I think he'll join us later on," I saw him smile. "Do you think he'll be OK in school? Now that I've had time to think about it, it's going to be tough."
          "Yes, but I agree with you. After all, it's not like we can keep him out of trouble, he's a little boy! Remember me facing a fully grown Hippogriff in Third-Year? Or when I sent that snake spell at Harry in Second? I was always up to no good. He will be no different sadly," I rested my head on his strong shoulder. 
         "You were always in trouble. Did I ever tell you what happened in Second-Year with the Chamber of Secrets?"
         "No, but part of me is curious."
         "I could hear the basilisk, and I thought I was going mental. But then I went down there, and I saw who was controlling it."
         "Who?" he was genuinely curious. I shivered.
           "My father. I had thought I was the heir for the longest time because my father opened it last time, but it was him," we watched the fire for a while.
          "This room is still cold."
          "I know," suddenly a floorboard creaked outside. "We knew you're there Scorpius, come out," he was in his matching green Pajamas, and he looked embarrassed. 
         "Dad!" He ran up and flung himself into Draco's arms. 
          "You're forgetting someone over here," he went and hugged me too. I scored over so he could sit between us.
          "Did to catch the bad guys dad?"
          "I helped," Scorpius smiled. He did look very much like his father. "Now off to bed, you have a big day tomorrow!"
           "But I can't sleep! Can't I stay with you for a little bit?" he looked at me this time.
          "Only for a little bit."
          "Yay! I'll be right back," he scurried off, his slippers clacking in the hardwood floors.
          "I thought I was going straight to bed, silly me," he said. 
          "If you're tired, you can go. I'll show him off to bed, don't worry."
           "I'll stay. I want to see which story he'll get you to read," Scorpius came back delicately holding a very old blue book. He handed it to me.
          "The Wizard and the Hopping Pot please!" I opened it up. It was his favourite, so the book almost automatically went to it. 
          "There was once a kindly old wizard who used his magic generously and wisely for the benefit of his neighbours. Rather than reveal the true source of his power, he pretended that his potions, charms, and antidotes sprang ready-made from his lucky cooking pot. From miles around people came to him with their troubles, and the wizard was pleased to give his pot a stir and put things right," about halfway through the story, I saw his eyes droop. By the end, he was fast asleep on my shoulder. 

          "Bye mum! Bye Dad" Scorpius said as he carried his bag. Platform 9 3/4 was packed, and I could see kids I went to school with their own children. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all standing together, waving to their children on the train. 
           "You remember to write, and not to meddle with any business besides your own."
            "Yes, mum! I'm going to be late! I love you!" He walked away with his owl and waved to us as he went. I searched the train cars to see where he would sit. I thought I saw his platinum blonde hair beside red hair. Rose Weasley, most likely. Yup, I could see Albus across from her, who looked just like Potter. Speaking of which, I could see him walking towards us in the corner of my eye. Draco and Harry had mended their friendship somewhat, but I knew it was hard for both of them.
          "Potter, Granger, Weasley, how nice to see you," said Draco.
          "You too. Scorpius is just so excited about school. You don't see many of those," Ginny smiled.
           "No, he was all over Diagonal Alley yesterday, and we saw your brother, George!"
           "How wonderful! I suppose Scorpius is into Quidditch as well?"
          "They all are," there was a bit of awkward silence. "Why don't you come with us for tea? If you're not busy."
          "I would love to, but we've got to run. I do thank you for the offer," said Ron. Hermione nodded.
          "It was nice seeing you though, goodbye!" With that, they Disapparated.
          "I suppose we have nothing on our hands, do we?" I had just noticed Harry hadn't said anything the whole time. "We would love to come!" I nodded.
          "I do suppose you've been to Flourish and Blotts' coffee shop?"
          "No, we've been planning on it for a while, but never got around to it," Ginny answered.
          "Now's the time! It's only 11:37, we have plenty of time before Draco and I have to go to work."
          "Ah! What department do you work in? I see Draco almost every day, but I don't think I've ever seen you."
           "I took up my mother's old job as head of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."
           "Impressive! That's why I haven't seen you yet, you work three floors above Harry!" We had just arrived at the entrance to Diagon Alley. Harry, to my surprise, took out his wand and tapped the bricks in a specific order. The wall shifted away to reveal a not so full, Diagon Alley. "Flourish and Blotts you say?"