Black coffee, with sugar

Chapter 27

Daphne read the first line of Lilian's letter and knew the poor boy was going to be in trouble. Lilian's scrawl (getting progressively worse with every year, which was a feat in itself, and Daphne wasn't going to discuss it until it became unreadable) told her that the train trip had been fun and nice, and when she and Molly had come back from a game of Exploding Snap they had gone watch, she had found Scorpius making friends with Albus and Rose - apparently, that was the name of Granger's kid. Who knew? -, and the two of them had decided to not interfere. Daphne was sure Astoria would appreciate Scorpius being left to make friends on his own.

During the Sorting, though, was when issues came - Scorpius went to Slytherin, which Daphne had not seen coming. The boy just didn't seem like a Slytherin, too soft and quiet for it. But then, wasn't a snake that could pass up as something else the best sort of snake? It was a question to be pondered at a later date.

The second issue was Albus' sorting - Slytherin as well, in a family of Gryffindors (so far; who knew what Lily Luna would end up being?), which was bound to not be well seen. Poor kid. Daphne kept reading, finding other little notes on her impressions, but at this point, it was the same thing as always. That is, until the end of the letter, of course.

"I'll keep an eye on him, mum, don't worry.", Lilian had written, letters careful, almost as if she had taken care to write each letter. "And if anyone tries anything, I'll defend both Scorpius and Albus!"

Daphne made a move for the writing materials before she realized what she was doing, quill being dipped in ink and writing a quick note, hunched over her desk. Had she Apparated to her own room, or had she been that hasty? She didn't know.

"Be careful,", Daphne was able to write, before hearing her door open. Her head rose, eyes focused on the door as Harry appeared.

"Harry,", she breathed, and he seemed - confused. Maybe he had received the news, as well. "Are you alright?"

Harry stalled, blinking in surprise, as if he hadn't expected that question. No, scratch that; Harry seemed as if he hadn't expected anything, confusion shining as bright as the sun in his eyes.

"I...", he started, only to stop for a moment. Daphne let go of her quill, going to Harry, hugging him for a moment.

"What's wrong? Lilian told me.", it wasn't that of a dramatic thing, really, but it seemed as if it was the end of the world. Hah.

Not even close, but the end of the world seemed different for all. Hers had been when she had to decide what to do in regards to her pregnancy; Harry was about his kid being sorted.

"Yes, it's just... I never imagined. I keep thinking...", Daphne gently guided Harry to her couch, the two of them sitting. She waved her wand, an incantation leaving her lips so that the machine could make some coffee on its own, and faced Harry, who seemed deep in thought. "I never told you about Tom, did I?"

"Tom?", Daphne asked, incredulous, trying to remember if there was any Tom or Thomas in her year, above or under. She couldn't remember.

"Tom Riddle. You may have known him as Voldemort, but that was years before he was Voldemort. Maybe not, though.", the way Harry spoke the Dark Lord's name was so casual, Daphne almost forgot it had been a taboo once. "But that's beyond the point."

"What does he have to do with anything?", Daphne was doing her best to not sound annoyed, and Harry simply smiled, far away from the current time.

"He didn't seem like a Slytherin, if you looked at him. Muggleborn, quiet. It's silly, but I'm a bit afraid Albus will turn out like him."