Bitter Chocolate - (A 'Veronica Weasley' sequel) || Draco Malfoy

57 - A Union and a Reunion

Scorpius felt nervous as he walked down the train's narrow corridor.

As much as he had been looking forward to starting at Hogwarts; he didn't want to leave his mum. He knew she was ill; and he knew it was something she wasn't going to get better from.

And he didn't want to leave his little sister. He would never admit it out loud, but he worried about her. Freida was only six years old but there was a great sadness surrounding her.

And he noticed his father never hugged her; never really looked at her. He couldn't understand it; Scorpius loved his father to bits and adored the warmth and affection he received from him.

But something was gravely wrong where Freida was concerned, and it frightened Scorpius beyond words.

He finally found an empty carriage which he nervously settled in. He wished with all his heart that he was back on the platform with his mum.

The compartment door opened and Scorpius looked up to see a raven haired boy enter, closely followed by a bushy haired girl.

"Hi." The boy spoke, offering him a nervous smile. "Is this compartment...?"

"It's free. It's just me." Scorpius smiled back, feeling a flood of relief at the friendliness on this boy's face.

There was something familiar about these two, but Scorpius couldn't, at first, work out why.

"Great," said the boy enthusiastically, "so we might just - come in - for a bit - if that's okay?"

"That's okay. Hi."

"Albus. Al. I'm - my name is Albus..."

"Albus?" Scorpius's frowned for a second before his eyes widened in realisation. "You're Albus Potter! I've seen your photo in Granny's house! We- we are cousins!"

"Cousins?" The boy said, looking confused.

"This is Scorpius," the girl finally spoke up, frowning coldly. "We should leave, Al."

Scorp turned his attention to her, and the familiarity of her face almost winded him. "Rose?" He breathed.

It had been a long time, of course.

*****

So, my son decided that of all the students in his year at school, he was going to befriend a Potter.

I was secretly thrilled.

Especially as it turned out my nephew - Harry Potter's child was a Slytherin, too.

"I can't remember the last time I saw you laugh so much," Draco said to me when I read Scorp's first letter home.

"I'm just gutted I didn't get to see Harry's face when he found out that Albus - the kid he named after the most Gryffindor wizard in the world - turned out to be one of us."

"One of us?" Draco blinked, before his face slowly broke into a wide smirk. "Hang on a minute, has my darling Gryffindor wife actually forgotten she wasn't a Slytherin?"

"Sometimes I think I should have been," I confessed, smiling wryly back up at him.

"Nah," he remarked, shaking his head. "Once upon a time, maybe. But lately, I've realised I've never met a braver witch or wizard than you."

His smile faltered and I saw the flicker of sadness behind his eyes.

But he was wrong, I wasn't brave at all. I was utterly, achingly, stomach wrenching terrified.

I didn't want to die.

*****

The weeks rolled by with most days me not being able to get out of bed. When it came to picking up Scorp for Christmas, I was having a particular bad day and could barely lift my head, let alone stand.