Scorpius knew where he was going. He didn’t want to go, he wanted to pull himself back the moment he reached that hallway, but his legs wouldn’t let him. Instead, he walked along the twisting corridors in an almost robotic fashion.
He doesn’t bother knocking. He was told that the Head of Magical Law Enforcement was expecting him, so he didn’t feel the need to. The door creaked open to reveal a dark and solemn room, with Augurey embroidered flags blanketing the walls.
“You are late.” Draco Malfoy’s voice echoed behind him. Scorpius whipped around to see his father standing impatiently, paperwork in his hands. Scorpius stared at his father in shock, subconsciously backing away from him. “This is your office?” He took another look around the room which used to belong to Harry Potter.
“You’re late and unapologetic. Maybe you are determined to compound the problem.” Draco ignored the question and placed his papers on his desk. Scorpius turned back to his father, “You’re Head of Magical Law Enforcement?” He still couldn’t believe what he was hearing, and was also unaware of the rising anger within his father.
“How dare you!” Draco shouted, “How dare you embarrass me and keep me waiting and then not apologise for it!” Scorpius stared back at him, astounded; he’d never seen such anger from his father before, let alone over such a small thing.
“Sorry.” He muttered, bowing his head in fear.
“Sir.” Draco corrected. Scorpius looked up again in confusion - since when had he been made to call him sir? “Sorry, sir.” He decided not to push, as his father was already seemingly annoyed at him - he’d either had a bad day at work or something was very, very different about this version of Draco Malfoy.
“I did not bring you up to be sloppy, Scorpius.” Draco dropped himself into his chair, “I did not bring you up to humiliate me at Hogwarts.” His father’s rage seemed to have simmered down now, but Scorpius was still on edge about it.
“Humiliate you, sir?” He asked, in a partially fake but partially real manner. Draco leaned over the desk, closer to Scorpius, “Harry Potter, asking questions about Harry Potter, of all the embarrassing things. How dare you disgrace the Malfoy name.”
A horrifying thought pushed its way into Scorpius’ mind, making his eyes widen, “Oh no. Are you responsible? No. No. You can’t be.” He shook his head lightly, silently hoping that if he shook his head enough, the thought would leave with his words.
“Scorpius…” Draco spoke in a warning tone, which Scorpius probably should’ve recognised as a signal to stop, but he didn’t - he couldn’t. “The Daily Prophet today - three wizards blowing up bridges to see how many Muggles they can kill with one blast - is that you?”
“Be very careful.” He spat the words with so much venom, like they were poison to his mouth, like they could make Scorpius stop voicing his trail of thought.
“The ‘Mudblood’ death camps, the torture, the burning alive of those that oppose him. How much of that is you?” He couldn’t stop himself, the words were flowing out of his mouth and he had no control over them, “Mum always told me that you were a better man than I could see, but this is what you really are, isn’t it? A murderer, a torturer, a-”
Draco saw red. He pushed himself out of his chair, which flew backwards at the impact. He grabbed his son by the back of his head and slammed him down on the table.
Scorpius shrieked in terror, and tried to fight back, but it was no use - his father was much stronger than him, and had the upper hand. He couldn’t breathe; he wasn’t sure if it was the beginning of an anxiety attack or the slight push of his father’s hand against his neck, but something was preventing him from breathing.
He took shallow gasps of air, vaguely hearing his fathers stern words, "Do not use her name in vain. Do not score points that way. She deserves better than that.”
This was where he was supposed to be let up. But, as in all of his other recurring nightmares, he was still stuck with his head against the desk, still unable to breathe.
He squeezed his eyes tightly shut and prayed for help, for safety, for his brain to wake him up from this hell because he was running out of air.
Then, he felt it - he felt the feeling of the final wisps of air rushing out of his lungs, to later be inhaled as he woke up.
***
Scorpius sat bolt upright in his bed, feeling a pair of eyes on him. His eyes flitted around the room, to land on a figure in his bedroom doorway. He gasped and crawled backwards, into the furthest corner of his bed, his feet slipping clumsily over the duvet.
“Scorpius?” The voice of Draco Malfoy emerged from the shadows, full of concern, “What’s going on?” Scorpius could only breathe - he couldn’t tell his dad that he was fine, couldn’t tell him he wasn’t fine. All he could do was breathe.
“Scorpius, are you alright?” Draco edged closer to the bed as Scorpius pressed himself tighter against the wall. When Draco noticed this, he took a step back, a sad look crossing his face.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t - I didn’t mean to upset you. Come over here, please.” It wasn’t a question. Scorpius couldn’t live like this anymore - he needed someone to know what was happening to him. His father walked slowly across the room, so as not to startle his son. He perched gently on the edge of the bed, on the corner diagonally across from Scorpius.
“I haven’t been entirely truthful.” Scorpius felt a tear roll down his cheek, but he didn’t care. He was going to tell his dad and he was going to tell him now. “It’s time I tell you.” He let out a shuddering breath as he drew his knees into his chest.
“Time you told me what?” Draco asked.
“Everything.”
***
After reciting the whole story, Scorpius felt a metaphorical weight lift off of his chest. He glanced up through bleary eyes at his dad, who was openly crying just as Scorpius was.
“So… the reason you’ve been like this is because of - because of me?” Draco stared at him in a combination of hurt and shame. Scorpius shook his head, “No. Dad, no. Not you. Never you. It was him, it was all him, it wasn’t you.” He felt the nausea building up in his stomach, a feeling he couldn’t fight off - the look his dad had over his face made his heart ache. It was sickening.
“I’m sorry.” Scorpius sprung off of his bed and raced to the nearest bathroom, which was just opposite his bedroom. He’d just made it so that he was bent double over the toilet before the vomit surged up his throat and into the bowl in front of him. He coughed a couple of times to rid himself of the vile taste and, after a couple of minutes, stood up and paced slowly back to his room.
When he re-entered, he saw Draco leant against the wall, his hand up to his head. “Dad?” He crept closer to him, but Draco didn’t seem to respond to his presence. Scorpius sat next to him gingerly and wrapped an arm around him. He didn’t usually like physical contact, but it was moments like these that made him realise how much he needed it at times.
“I’m so sorry…” His dad’s muffled voice whispered just loud enough that Scorpius could hear it. Scorpius shook his head and took his fathers hands away from his face, making eye contact with his son. “Dad…” He started. “No. This wasn’t - this wasn’t what I wanted to happen. I didn’t want to make you feel like this was your fault, because it isn’t, it really isn’t. You had nothing to do with what happened, and I will never hold this against you, because it wasn’t you.”
“It’s not like that, Scorpius.” Draco put a hand on his son’s shoulder, “It doesn’t matter if it wasn’t me, it’s the fact that you couldn’t just tell me what I did. I am so sorry that I made you feel like you couldn’t tell me, and for everything else that happened. It’s just taking me a while to process all of this. I mean… you stopped eating, Scorpius. You didn’t eat properly for 2 weeks and you nearly died… because of me...”
The tears continued to fall from Scorpius’ eyes as the guilt washed over him - maybe he should’ve just kept his mouth shut. “That has nothing to do with you, Dad, I swear. That was because of my own problems. I’m sorry that I did it, you know that, it was never my intention to hurt you or myself in that way, and I’m really sorry that I told you about everything else because clearly that was a mistake.” He glanced away to wipe the tears from his cheeks, but the damage was already done.
Draco sighed and put an arm around Scorpius, pulling him into his chest, “I’m sorry. I know you’ll tell me it’s not my fault, but I really am sorry. Whatever version of myself did that to you, I am nothing like him. We’re 2 separate people, and I need you to remember that for me. I think I need to remember that too. I think we should go and visit your mother tomorrow, clear our heads. How does that sound?”
Scorpius sniffled and pulled away slightly from his dad, “That sounds lovely.” He smiled up at him before pulling him into a long, warm hug.
They didn’t move from their positions until the next morning.
***
Scorpius took his coat off of the peg and swung it over his shoulders, not having the energy to put his arms through their respective holes.
“You ready?” He asked his dad, who was still dawdling in the kitchen. Draco emerged from the door, a smile on his face, “Course. Let’s go.” He walked around his son and pushed the front door open - Scorpius didn’t move though.
Draco held a hand out to Scorpius, who hesitated for a moment before looping his own hand though Draco’s and following him outside.
They strolled most of the way in silence, admiring the wildlife on the journey that they’d never really realised was there before. When they arrived, Scorpius sank to his knees and shook his coat off of his shoulders. Draco sat down next to him, not missing the collection of letters that spilled out of Scorpius’ coat pocket.
“You can read them if you want.” Scorpius must’ve realised he was staring at them, because he had picked them up and held them out to his dad. Draco grinned gratefully and accepted the letters - they all seemed to have the same handwriting, apart from one.
Draco started with the letters with the same handwriting. They were all from Albus, each letter he read becoming more affectionate, until when, in the last letter, his friend had asked him to meet by the park near the Manor - it was from just after the whole ordeal had taken place.
“What did Albus want to meet you for?” Draco asked, putting the letters down momentarily. Scorpius closed his eyes and exhaled deeply, as if he was preparing himself for something big, “He wanted to - he wanted to confess something to me. A confession we both shared, that was.” Scorpius smiled at the memory.
“And what was that?” Draco inquired, intrigued. Maybe it was something about Delphi, or another reality they’d both visited? Scorpius looked up from Astoria’s headstone and straight into Draco’s eyes, “He told me he loved me. In more than a friend way.”
That wasn’t what Draco had been expecting. He said nothing, but still, Scorpius carried on, “We started dating that day. We still are.” He giggled, “I guess almost dying with you best-friend-now-boyfriend makes you realise stuff about yourself that you didn’t know before.”
His dad still didn’t say anything, and Scorpius grew worried, “You’re not mad, are you?” His expression deepend.
“Scorpius…” Draco started, but Scorpius cut him off.
“Look, if you don’t approve I’ll just move out. I love him, dad, and if you can’t accept that then I’m no longer a part of this family. That’s fine by me.”
“Scorpius!” His dad shook his shoulder, making Scorpius turn to face him, “I’m not mad at you. How could I ever be mad at you for loving someone?” He smiled, “I was just thinking of how proud she would be of you right now.” He nodded at Astoria’s grave, tears blurring his vision slightly.
“You’re…you’re not mad?” Scorpius’ own eyes grew misty again and, for the first time since his mother passed, he felt truly happy. “Of course I’m not mad, Scorpius. I think Albus is a lovely young boy, and if he makes you happy, that’s all that matters to me.”
Scorpius beamed and threw his arms around his dad, squeezing him a little too tight, “Scorpius - you’re suffocating me.” Draco loosened himself a little, but they stayed like that for a while before reluctantly pulling away.
“But just so you know,” Draco smirked, “If he ever hurts you, I’ll hurt him 10 times worse, ok?” Scorpius laughed and gave his dad a light slap on the shoulder.
“Dad!” He bit his lip and collapsed back onto him, closing his eyes. “Thank you.” He whispered, cuddling up closer to him. “No, thank you.” Draco responded. Scorpius sighed in relief; after what had gone down in the past couple of months, he just felt happy to be alive and well.
That’s when he knew everything really was going to be ok.