Working Through the Rest

A Soft Place To Land

After breakfast, Scorpius takes me upstairs to his room. I try not to stare around at the hundreds of things decorating the walls – I've not been here before, and it is impressive. There are likely hundreds of paintings and photos, though it doesn't feel like any of them belong to the traditional, 'pure blood' era.

I put my trunk in the corner and look up to see Scorpius land on his bed and bounce a few feet. I smile, shaking my head as he beckons me over. He stands up again, grabbing my hands and pulling me forward so that we both land on the bed in a heap.
"What are you doing?" I laugh.
"Giving you a hug because you ate your breakfast."

I smile, wrapping my arms around him and burying my face in his shoulder. I missed him and it feels as if I've missed him more with every passing moment.
"Do you fancy doing some baking?" Scorpius muses.
"What?"
"Dad and I were going to do some baking at some point. We could make cookies."
"I don't want to use up you and your dad's stuff–"
"He won't mind," Scorpius insists. "Come on, Albie."
"Okay," I nod. "Baking. Cookies. I – um – yes. Okay."
"It'll be fine," Scorpius jumps up eagerly. "Come on."

I follow him back out of his room, laughing at how eager he appears to be. It's almost a bit worrying, because he is so energetic that he stumbles several times on the stairs, yanking me with him whenever he does. Somehow, we make it to the bottom without falling down them, and then Scorpius drags me back towards the kitchen.

I feel slightly guilty about agreeing to this. I cannot imagine how much mess we are going to make.

*

About half an hour later, there is chaos everywhere. Scorpius may be a reasonably calm, organised person in most senses, but there is now a phenomenal amount of stuff around us. I now understand the photo of Scorpius with brown-tinged hair. It's turning now, with all the cocoa powder he's using.

He seems to be pretty much in his element with what he's doing. So I do what I'm told, laughing as I do. I've never seen him become such a whirlwind of activity, and it is both beautiful and hilarious.

He doesn't seem like the sort of person whose chaos would explode this much. He's squeaky and funny and hyper, but not chaotic. Except now he is. And I am fairly sure I have never seen this much confusion around him at one time.

I freeze slightly as the kitchen door opens and Draco walks in, before stopping in shock. I smile sheepishly, looking down at the work surface. Scorpius doesn't stop, smiling brightly at his dad as he grabs something else from the shelf.
"Hi, dad. We were baking."
"Where else would this mess have come from?"
"You baking?"
"True," Draco chuckles. "Well, have fun. You need a break."
"Has he been revising too much?" I ask.
"You can't revise too much!" Scorpius protests.
"You did need a break," Draco murmurs. "And I'm glad you're taking one. What are you making?"
"Cookies," Scorpius grins. "I was using the recipe we used that time mum went to see grandad and grandma. We tried to surprise her, remember?"
"Of course I remember," Draco nods. "That would explain the mess." A pause. "I'll leave you both to it."

And with that, he turns around and walks out again. I glance at Scorpius, who has stopped his whirlwind. A look of sadness crosses his face and I stop what I'm doing to walk over to him. He leans into me as I wrap my arms around him, letting out a sigh.
"You okay?" I murmur.
"I stopped to think," he sounds as if he's smiling bitterly. "Stupid mistake."
"I've got you," I promise. "I've always got you."

Scorpius nods and then he moves away, starting to move at a million miles an hour again. I don't stop him as he practically dances around, rolling out the cookie dough and spreading the shapes out on baking trays. Once everything is in the over, we sit at the table and I offer him my hand.
"I'll say it again," I say quietly. "She'd be proud of you. She'd be so proud of you."

Scorpius nods, his eyes filling with silent tears, and I hug him tightly, trying to promise I won't go anywhere without words. I hope he understands.

About twenty minutes later, the oven beeps and Scorpius walks over and switches it off. He walks back to me without taking the cookies out, and I frown a little. He shakes his head.
"Can we take a break?"
"Of course," I nod. "Are you okay?"
"Just – you know – bit of a mess. I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry. It's not your fault."

He nods, smiling as he takes my hand and leads me through another room. We settle again on a sofa and I look up. Across from us is something that I can only assume is a piano. It's covered in a large, white sheet, but it is just about visible.
"Does your dad play?" I ask quietly.
"He doesn't," Scorpius mumbles. "Mum did. She taught me."
"Oh," I murmur. "I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

Scorpius shrugs and stands up to walk towards the instrument. He runs his hand over the sheet, and starts to pull it back. I stand up and walk over to him as he opens the lid, sighing.