FIC: Remnants; Chapter Ten
Title: Remnants
Characters: Andromeda, Teddy, Scorpius, Malfoys, Rose
Rating: PG
Length: 2908
Summary: The epilogue gave us hints of Teddy/Victoire and Rose/Scorpius. This is the development of those relationships through the eyes of Andromeda.
Chapter Ten: Scorpius
The arrival of Scorpius’ acceptance letter to Hogwarts was greeted with the normal amount of enthusiasm. It always amused me, the way families acted as though the Hogwarts letter was completely unexpected.
His parents and grandparents and some other facets of his extended family decided to have a dinner party in his honor of his impending Hogwarts career. It was to be held in the dining room of Malfoy Manor.
I wasn’t overly keen on attending as some of the people in attendance were members of the old pureblood set-people I had not seen since I was about seventeen, and people I who I had no wish to ever see again.
I ended up attending. Scorpius wanted me there, and, well, it was his night and if he wanted me there that badly then I couldn’t let old acquaintances keep me away. Scorpius also wanted Teddy to be there but Teddy was even less comfortable with them than I was.
When I arrived, the table was nearly full. Draco and Astoria were there of course, as was Scorpius’ aunt Daphne, Lucius, Narcissa, Daniel, Emmeline (Daniel and Emmeline are Scorpius’ Greengrass grandparents), and Elizabeth, a cousin of Narcissa’s and mine from our mother’s Rosier side.
They all turned to stare as I walked in. Lucius scowled slightly, Daniel and Emmeline looked politely disdainful, and Narcissa looked nervous. Draco and Astoria greeted me happily, and Scorpius ran to greet me.
“Aunt Andy! You came!” he said as he ran to hug me.
I smiled down at him and returned the hug.
“Of course I came, dear.”
He scanned the area behind me.
“No Teddy?”
“No, he wanted to come but he had a lot of things to take care. However, he told me to tell you that he promises to be at King’s Cross to see you off.”
Scorpius looked mollified, but still rather disappointed. It had been a lie; Teddy wasn’t busy at all, he had merely informed me that he would rather chew off his own arm than attend the dinner. I didn’t think that Scorpius, or the rest of the assemblage would appreciate that, so I sugar-coated it. Scorpius couldn’t tell, but I’m pretty sure Narcissa could.
“He’ll definitely be at King’s Cross?” Scorpius pressed. He may have caught on more than I thought.
“Of course he will be, dear. Now will you show me to my seat?”
Teddy would in fact be at King’s Cross, though, it was more to see Victoire off than anyone else. Scorpius didn’t have to know that either. Although, considering how quickly he caught on to the reason for Teddy’s absence, he may have figured that out too.
Scorpius let the subject drop, and led me to my seat between him and Narcissa.
The assemblage eyed me warily. I pretended not to notice.
“So, Andromeda,” Elizabeth began awkwardly, “how have you been since I, erm, last spoke to you?”
I had seen her over the years at various Malfoy-involved events, but we hadn’t spoken at any of them.
"Oh, I’ve been lovely, dear. What about you? I heard that you and your spineless family ran away to Paris to avoid the war.”
In reply to this, she stammered awkwardly for a moment or two. I took pity on her and liberated her from her awkwardness by asking her to pass the chicken. Once the chicken had been passed, yet another awkward pause ensued. I ignored it. I was doing a lot of ignoring.
Eventually the silence prompted Daphne into speech; people will do anything to end an awkward pause.
“So, Scorpius, are you feeling nervous at all?” she asked.
“Not really. I already know a few people, and I’m sure I can handle the coursework.” He chewed contemplatively. “I wish I knew more people in my year, though.”
He looked at his father.
“Do you know anything about who else will be in my year, dad?”
“I’m afraid not, Scorpius. Don’t worry, you’ll make friends, everyone does.”
“Yes, dear, don’t worry,” I chimed in. “It’s not very hard to make friends at Hogwarts. You’ll find that most first years won’t know each other, and they’ll all be eager for friends.”
He nodded, but I could tell that he wasn’t fully listening.
“I know of two kids who are going to be in your year.”
His head snapped to attention.
“Who?”
“Well, I’m not sure that your parents and grandparents would approve…”
“Some of Molly Weasley’s grandchildren?” Narcissa asked with a rather disdainful look on her face. The other guests looked appropriately disapproving.
I disregarded them.
“Yes, Narcissa. Molly’s grandchildren.”
“Well, Andromeda,” Lucius began in that infuriating drawl he always seemed to speak in, “Scorpius is going to be in Slytherin, so I doubt that he’ll have time to associate with those types.”
I considered him for a moment.
“Shut up, Lucius.”
Narcissa scowled.
The party went on for another hour or so, and we were all gone before ten.
He left for school two days later, and true to his word, Teddy was there to see him-and a multitude of others-off.
Teddy walked in around noon and slumped down on the couch.
“Bloody hell, James is a piece of work.”
“What did he do this time?”
“Well I was seeing Victoire off-”
“-You mean that you and Victoire were kissing.”
“Erm, yeah, that. Anyway, we were doing that, end then James pops up and asks me what I’m doing, the bugger.”
“And what did you do?”
“Told him to go away.”
“And did he?”
“Yes, but it was still annoying.”
“Mmm; James reminds me of his grandfather.”
“Was his grandfather that annoying?”
“Worse.”
“Wow, that’s impressive.”
“Indeed. So how were Albus and Rose doing? Were they excited?”
“Rose seemed nervous, but I could tell that she was looking forward to her classes. Al was a bit freaked out, though.”
“About what?”
“Well, he was worried about the Sorting.”
“Yes, most first years are terrified of that. What was he specifically nervous about?”
“He was afraid of what would happen if he was put into Slytherin. Harry reassured him that he and Ginny would be proud of him no matter what house he was put into, but he didn’t look convinced.”
“Albus won’t be put into Slytherin.”
“How do you figure, Gran? I mean, Slytherin is much different now than it was when you were in school.”
“I know, and I’m glad that it’s changed. However, the fact that it’s no longer the pureblood haven it once was… that doesn’t change the sort of person that gets sorted into Slytherin, and Albus is just not that sort of person.”
“But you were in Slytherin, and you’re not ‘that sort of person’ either.”
I laughed.
“Of course I am, dear. How do you think I managed to date your grandfather behind all of their backs for over a year without being that sort of person?”
“I never thought about it like that.”
“Most people haven’t.” I paused. “How was Scorpius?”
“Draco and Astoria were freaking out slightly, but Scorpius seemed pretty cool. A little nervous about typical first year stuff, but good. What house do you reckon he’ll be put into?”
“Slytherin.”
“Why?”
“Because he is that sort of person; I can sense a certain sort of determination in him, plus he’s probably too afraid of what will happen if he’s not in Slytherin to allow himself to be placed anywhere else.”
Teddy considered that for a moment and then took out a book filled with loads of funny symbols (he was trying to learn Gobbledegook in order to rise in his Department). Apparently our conversation was over.
Albus’ fears were baseless, and he ended up in Gryffindor with Rose. Scorpius was sorted into Slytherin, much to his family’s relief.
They all seemed to be relatively happy in their respective Houses. I noticed that the Houses were a good deal less segregated than they had been in my day. Nowadays Gryffindors and Slytherins actually associated with each other-on friendly terms, without bloodshed.
When I was at Hogwarts it was considered a triumph in the name of House unity if a Gryffindor and Slytherin were able to pass each other in the corridor without significant bloodshed. In fact, there was a time when the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff prefects would have to warn their first year Muggle-borns to stay as far as they could away from older Slytherin students.
Once in my sixth year, Marlene was talking to a small group of first years, and they all looked simply terrified as I approached. Not only was I an older Slytherin, but even the first years knew about my “scary” older sister, despite the fact that she had finished Hogwarts. Merlin, was that uncomfortable.
But now, the interactions between the Houses were completely foreign to me. Rose, Scorpius, and Albus became friends. And what’s more, none of their fellow students seemed to find this to be overly unusual. Scorpius was friendly from students from all four of the Houses. Rose and Albus had many friends in Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, and had a few friendly acquaintances in Slytherin.
Rose and Albus’ parents, though supporters of House unity, were obviously uncomfortable with the friendship between their children and Scorpius, but decided against saying anything about it to their respective children. Draco was aware of it as well, but he chose to deal with it by simply pretending that it did not exist, and Scorpius knew that better than to discuss it with his father.
From what Teddy told me-I learned most of what I knew about those three from Teddy; of the three of them, the only one I really talked with on a regular basis was Scorpius-it wasn’t an especially deep friendship that they had. Albus and Scorpius would occasionally banter about Quidditch or make fun of teachers, and Rose and Scorpius tended to work together during class. They all had their own, closer friends.
I sensed a bit of a change when they entered their fifth year. There were no dramatic, overly noticeable changes; in fact, I may have been the only one to even notice them. I-as a woman who had once engaged in a relationship with someone whom my family most definitely did not approve of-was certainly the only one able to put two and two together.
Occasionally I would attend one of the “family” dinners that Narcissa invited me to. During these dinners I would usually ask Scorpius about Albus and Rose-not because I was curious, but because I enjoyed annoying Lucius. He usually responded in a vague sort of way which tended to turn into a discussion of class work, or Quidditch.
But now, now he answered my questions about Albus in the same manner as usual, but when I asked about Rose, his eyes would dart about and he would stammer slightly. I don’t think his parents or grandparents noticed the eye-darting and stammering. Not even Teddy seemed to notice it. I was the only one who noticed, and I kept it to myself.
There was less noticeable awkwardness on Rose’s end. At Weasley family gatherings, Teddy and I generally refrained from mentioning the Malfoys unless asked directly about them, but that didn’t happen very much.
There were a few times when one of Rose’s uncles would tease about having a boyfriend. When this occurred she would turn an intensely deep shade of pink, but everyone assumed that that was because she was embarrassed by the teasing. Sometimes she’d nervously put her elbow in her food while attempting to act casual, and there was some stuttering. However, all of this was attributed to her general shyness and embarrassment at such questions.
Her parents suspected nothing because she didn’t make a habit of hiding things from them. The rest of her family suspected nothing for the same reason.
At the beginning of the next summer, this suspicious behavior seemed to have disappeared. Whenever I saw them, the two of them seemed to have prepared polished responses to every possible question they could be asked that might have had anything remotely to do with the other; these answers were so polished that they even felt scripted.
One night a few weeks into that summer, my curiosity got the better of me. Teddy was visiting for a while, so I chose that moment to bring it up.
“Teddy, dear?”
“Yes, Gran?” he asked, looking up from the tea he was making-we habitually had lunch together. Victoire often came around with him, but this time she had stayed home. I was glad she did; if she had been there, I wouldn’t have been able to bring this up.
“Have you noticed anything odd about Rose and Scorpius?”
“Not really. I know that they’re friendly, but I haven’t noticed anything out of the ordinary. Why?”
“It’s just, I-I’m not sure if it’s even anything, but-”
“-But…” Teddy prompted.
“Whenever I see Scorpius, I ask him about Rose and Albus.”
“To annoy Lucius, I assume?”
“Of course. So, when I ask him about Albus and Rose, he says nothing about Albus and instead stammers something about studying with Rose for the OWLs. Then he turns bright red and changes the subject.”
“That could just be discomfort at the fact that he’s discussing them in front of his family.”
“That’s what I thought at first, but, you know how Rose’s uncles occasionally tease her about having a boyfriend?”
“Oh, come on, Gran, they’ve been doing that ever since she started at Hogwarts.”
“Yes, but when they asked her she would always blush, laugh it off, and say that she would alert them when she managed to procure one. Last time they asked her she turned red, didn’t laugh, looked mildly upset and changed the subject.”
He considered that for a moment.
“Have you considered that she may have looked upset because she’s sick of being teased and really wants a boyfriend?”
“Yes, I have considered it.”
“And?”
“And…I know how teenagers act when they’re trying to conceal something from their families. I was more subtle than they’re being, but I recognize the signs, Teddy.”
“I still think it’s a bit far-fetched, Gran, but I’ll keep an eye out if you want me to.”
“Yes, I do. Scorpius and Rose spend much more time with you than with me, so really, you’re the ideal person to keep an eye out.”
He thought about it for a moment or two.
“But, Gran, I still don’t understand why you seen so invested in this. Even if they are together, why do you need to know so badly?”
“Because, dear, if they are seeing each other than they won’t be able to keep it a secret for long, and when their families find out, there will be hell to pay. You know that.”
“Yes-”
“Yes, so and they’re going to need someone on their side, won’t they?”
“Yes. I suppose.”
“So, I’d like to know ahead of time so I can begin to plan what to do in the event of their families finding out. Thank you, dear. Now, how is your job going?”
He scowled at the obvious subject change, but he knew the subject was closed.
I didn’t bring it up with him for the rest of the summer, but I knew he was doing as I had asked. As the kids got on the train to Hogwarts for their sixth, Teddy reported back to me.
“Well, Gran, you may have been right.”
“About Rose and Scorpius?”
“Yes.”
“How did you come to this conclusion, dear?”
“Little things, like you said. I was spending time with Al, and he mentioned that Rose had spent a good chunk of her fifth year studying with Scorpius. And when I talked to Scorpius about Hogwarts and his friends he neglected to mention Rose in the most obvious way possible. After he finished not mentioning her, I asked him about her. He turned bright red, dropped his fork, said that she was good, and started babbling about Quidditch scores. You were right.”
“Yes, dear,” I said with a grin, “I know.”
“So what do we do now?”
“We wait.”
“For what?”
“For all hell to break loose.”
I realize that it may seem odd how much I care about the relationship between the cousin of my granddaughter-in-law and my grandnephew, especially since I still wasn’t entirely sure that there was even a relationship. I’m still not entirely sure of why I cared so much.
I suppose that it all went back to Ted. I had loved him, and was willing to give up my family for him. Rose and Scorpius came from a more coddled, less independent generation of young people, and I knew that they wouldn’t have the slightest idea of how to deal with the fallout from all of this. That was why I cared so much: because I would know how to deal with it. However, when the fallout did come, even I wasn’t entirely sure of how to deal with it.
When they arrived back for their winter holiday, they both annoyed their respective families by being “out” for long periods of time without much explanation. However, their families blamed that on their ages. Teddy and I knew better.
The ball dropped in the first week of the summer holiday. Draco found a letter.
Characters: Andromeda, Teddy, Scorpius, Malfoys, Rose
Rating: PG
Length: 2908
Summary: The epilogue gave us hints of Teddy/Victoire and Rose/Scorpius. This is the development of those relationships through the eyes of Andromeda.
Chapter Ten: Scorpius
The arrival of Scorpius’ acceptance letter to Hogwarts was greeted with the normal amount of enthusiasm. It always amused me, the way families acted as though the Hogwarts letter was completely unexpected.
His parents and grandparents and some other facets of his extended family decided to have a dinner party in his honor of his impending Hogwarts career. It was to be held in the dining room of Malfoy Manor.
I wasn’t overly keen on attending as some of the people in attendance were members of the old pureblood set-people I had not seen since I was about seventeen, and people I who I had no wish to ever see again.
I ended up attending. Scorpius wanted me there, and, well, it was his night and if he wanted me there that badly then I couldn’t let old acquaintances keep me away. Scorpius also wanted Teddy to be there but Teddy was even less comfortable with them than I was.
When I arrived, the table was nearly full. Draco and Astoria were there of course, as was Scorpius’ aunt Daphne, Lucius, Narcissa, Daniel, Emmeline (Daniel and Emmeline are Scorpius’ Greengrass grandparents), and Elizabeth, a cousin of Narcissa’s and mine from our mother’s Rosier side.
They all turned to stare as I walked in. Lucius scowled slightly, Daniel and Emmeline looked politely disdainful, and Narcissa looked nervous. Draco and Astoria greeted me happily, and Scorpius ran to greet me.
“Aunt Andy! You came!” he said as he ran to hug me.
I smiled down at him and returned the hug.
“Of course I came, dear.”
He scanned the area behind me.
“No Teddy?”
“No, he wanted to come but he had a lot of things to take care. However, he told me to tell you that he promises to be at King’s Cross to see you off.”
Scorpius looked mollified, but still rather disappointed. It had been a lie; Teddy wasn’t busy at all, he had merely informed me that he would rather chew off his own arm than attend the dinner. I didn’t think that Scorpius, or the rest of the assemblage would appreciate that, so I sugar-coated it. Scorpius couldn’t tell, but I’m pretty sure Narcissa could.
“He’ll definitely be at King’s Cross?” Scorpius pressed. He may have caught on more than I thought.
“Of course he will be, dear. Now will you show me to my seat?”
Teddy would in fact be at King’s Cross, though, it was more to see Victoire off than anyone else. Scorpius didn’t have to know that either. Although, considering how quickly he caught on to the reason for Teddy’s absence, he may have figured that out too.
Scorpius let the subject drop, and led me to my seat between him and Narcissa.
The assemblage eyed me warily. I pretended not to notice.
“So, Andromeda,” Elizabeth began awkwardly, “how have you been since I, erm, last spoke to you?”
I had seen her over the years at various Malfoy-involved events, but we hadn’t spoken at any of them.
"Oh, I’ve been lovely, dear. What about you? I heard that you and your spineless family ran away to Paris to avoid the war.”
In reply to this, she stammered awkwardly for a moment or two. I took pity on her and liberated her from her awkwardness by asking her to pass the chicken. Once the chicken had been passed, yet another awkward pause ensued. I ignored it. I was doing a lot of ignoring.
Eventually the silence prompted Daphne into speech; people will do anything to end an awkward pause.
“So, Scorpius, are you feeling nervous at all?” she asked.
“Not really. I already know a few people, and I’m sure I can handle the coursework.” He chewed contemplatively. “I wish I knew more people in my year, though.”
He looked at his father.
“Do you know anything about who else will be in my year, dad?”
“I’m afraid not, Scorpius. Don’t worry, you’ll make friends, everyone does.”
“Yes, dear, don’t worry,” I chimed in. “It’s not very hard to make friends at Hogwarts. You’ll find that most first years won’t know each other, and they’ll all be eager for friends.”
He nodded, but I could tell that he wasn’t fully listening.
“I know of two kids who are going to be in your year.”
His head snapped to attention.
“Who?”
“Well, I’m not sure that your parents and grandparents would approve…”
“Some of Molly Weasley’s grandchildren?” Narcissa asked with a rather disdainful look on her face. The other guests looked appropriately disapproving.
I disregarded them.
“Yes, Narcissa. Molly’s grandchildren.”
“Well, Andromeda,” Lucius began in that infuriating drawl he always seemed to speak in, “Scorpius is going to be in Slytherin, so I doubt that he’ll have time to associate with those types.”
I considered him for a moment.
“Shut up, Lucius.”
Narcissa scowled.
The party went on for another hour or so, and we were all gone before ten.
He left for school two days later, and true to his word, Teddy was there to see him-and a multitude of others-off.
Teddy walked in around noon and slumped down on the couch.
“Bloody hell, James is a piece of work.”
“What did he do this time?”
“Well I was seeing Victoire off-”
“-You mean that you and Victoire were kissing.”
“Erm, yeah, that. Anyway, we were doing that, end then James pops up and asks me what I’m doing, the bugger.”
“And what did you do?”
“Told him to go away.”
“And did he?”
“Yes, but it was still annoying.”
“Mmm; James reminds me of his grandfather.”
“Was his grandfather that annoying?”
“Worse.”
“Wow, that’s impressive.”
“Indeed. So how were Albus and Rose doing? Were they excited?”
“Rose seemed nervous, but I could tell that she was looking forward to her classes. Al was a bit freaked out, though.”
“About what?”
“Well, he was worried about the Sorting.”
“Yes, most first years are terrified of that. What was he specifically nervous about?”
“He was afraid of what would happen if he was put into Slytherin. Harry reassured him that he and Ginny would be proud of him no matter what house he was put into, but he didn’t look convinced.”
“Albus won’t be put into Slytherin.”
“How do you figure, Gran? I mean, Slytherin is much different now than it was when you were in school.”
“I know, and I’m glad that it’s changed. However, the fact that it’s no longer the pureblood haven it once was… that doesn’t change the sort of person that gets sorted into Slytherin, and Albus is just not that sort of person.”
“But you were in Slytherin, and you’re not ‘that sort of person’ either.”
I laughed.
“Of course I am, dear. How do you think I managed to date your grandfather behind all of their backs for over a year without being that sort of person?”
“I never thought about it like that.”
“Most people haven’t.” I paused. “How was Scorpius?”
“Draco and Astoria were freaking out slightly, but Scorpius seemed pretty cool. A little nervous about typical first year stuff, but good. What house do you reckon he’ll be put into?”
“Slytherin.”
“Why?”
“Because he is that sort of person; I can sense a certain sort of determination in him, plus he’s probably too afraid of what will happen if he’s not in Slytherin to allow himself to be placed anywhere else.”
Teddy considered that for a moment and then took out a book filled with loads of funny symbols (he was trying to learn Gobbledegook in order to rise in his Department). Apparently our conversation was over.
Albus’ fears were baseless, and he ended up in Gryffindor with Rose. Scorpius was sorted into Slytherin, much to his family’s relief.
They all seemed to be relatively happy in their respective Houses. I noticed that the Houses were a good deal less segregated than they had been in my day. Nowadays Gryffindors and Slytherins actually associated with each other-on friendly terms, without bloodshed.
When I was at Hogwarts it was considered a triumph in the name of House unity if a Gryffindor and Slytherin were able to pass each other in the corridor without significant bloodshed. In fact, there was a time when the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff prefects would have to warn their first year Muggle-borns to stay as far as they could away from older Slytherin students.
Once in my sixth year, Marlene was talking to a small group of first years, and they all looked simply terrified as I approached. Not only was I an older Slytherin, but even the first years knew about my “scary” older sister, despite the fact that she had finished Hogwarts. Merlin, was that uncomfortable.
But now, the interactions between the Houses were completely foreign to me. Rose, Scorpius, and Albus became friends. And what’s more, none of their fellow students seemed to find this to be overly unusual. Scorpius was friendly from students from all four of the Houses. Rose and Albus had many friends in Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, and had a few friendly acquaintances in Slytherin.
Rose and Albus’ parents, though supporters of House unity, were obviously uncomfortable with the friendship between their children and Scorpius, but decided against saying anything about it to their respective children. Draco was aware of it as well, but he chose to deal with it by simply pretending that it did not exist, and Scorpius knew that better than to discuss it with his father.
From what Teddy told me-I learned most of what I knew about those three from Teddy; of the three of them, the only one I really talked with on a regular basis was Scorpius-it wasn’t an especially deep friendship that they had. Albus and Scorpius would occasionally banter about Quidditch or make fun of teachers, and Rose and Scorpius tended to work together during class. They all had their own, closer friends.
I sensed a bit of a change when they entered their fifth year. There were no dramatic, overly noticeable changes; in fact, I may have been the only one to even notice them. I-as a woman who had once engaged in a relationship with someone whom my family most definitely did not approve of-was certainly the only one able to put two and two together.
Occasionally I would attend one of the “family” dinners that Narcissa invited me to. During these dinners I would usually ask Scorpius about Albus and Rose-not because I was curious, but because I enjoyed annoying Lucius. He usually responded in a vague sort of way which tended to turn into a discussion of class work, or Quidditch.
But now, now he answered my questions about Albus in the same manner as usual, but when I asked about Rose, his eyes would dart about and he would stammer slightly. I don’t think his parents or grandparents noticed the eye-darting and stammering. Not even Teddy seemed to notice it. I was the only one who noticed, and I kept it to myself.
There was less noticeable awkwardness on Rose’s end. At Weasley family gatherings, Teddy and I generally refrained from mentioning the Malfoys unless asked directly about them, but that didn’t happen very much.
There were a few times when one of Rose’s uncles would tease about having a boyfriend. When this occurred she would turn an intensely deep shade of pink, but everyone assumed that that was because she was embarrassed by the teasing. Sometimes she’d nervously put her elbow in her food while attempting to act casual, and there was some stuttering. However, all of this was attributed to her general shyness and embarrassment at such questions.
Her parents suspected nothing because she didn’t make a habit of hiding things from them. The rest of her family suspected nothing for the same reason.
At the beginning of the next summer, this suspicious behavior seemed to have disappeared. Whenever I saw them, the two of them seemed to have prepared polished responses to every possible question they could be asked that might have had anything remotely to do with the other; these answers were so polished that they even felt scripted.
One night a few weeks into that summer, my curiosity got the better of me. Teddy was visiting for a while, so I chose that moment to bring it up.
“Teddy, dear?”
“Yes, Gran?” he asked, looking up from the tea he was making-we habitually had lunch together. Victoire often came around with him, but this time she had stayed home. I was glad she did; if she had been there, I wouldn’t have been able to bring this up.
“Have you noticed anything odd about Rose and Scorpius?”
“Not really. I know that they’re friendly, but I haven’t noticed anything out of the ordinary. Why?”
“It’s just, I-I’m not sure if it’s even anything, but-”
“-But…” Teddy prompted.
“Whenever I see Scorpius, I ask him about Rose and Albus.”
“To annoy Lucius, I assume?”
“Of course. So, when I ask him about Albus and Rose, he says nothing about Albus and instead stammers something about studying with Rose for the OWLs. Then he turns bright red and changes the subject.”
“That could just be discomfort at the fact that he’s discussing them in front of his family.”
“That’s what I thought at first, but, you know how Rose’s uncles occasionally tease her about having a boyfriend?”
“Oh, come on, Gran, they’ve been doing that ever since she started at Hogwarts.”
“Yes, but when they asked her she would always blush, laugh it off, and say that she would alert them when she managed to procure one. Last time they asked her she turned red, didn’t laugh, looked mildly upset and changed the subject.”
He considered that for a moment.
“Have you considered that she may have looked upset because she’s sick of being teased and really wants a boyfriend?”
“Yes, I have considered it.”
“And?”
“And…I know how teenagers act when they’re trying to conceal something from their families. I was more subtle than they’re being, but I recognize the signs, Teddy.”
“I still think it’s a bit far-fetched, Gran, but I’ll keep an eye out if you want me to.”
“Yes, I do. Scorpius and Rose spend much more time with you than with me, so really, you’re the ideal person to keep an eye out.”
He thought about it for a moment or two.
“But, Gran, I still don’t understand why you seen so invested in this. Even if they are together, why do you need to know so badly?”
“Because, dear, if they are seeing each other than they won’t be able to keep it a secret for long, and when their families find out, there will be hell to pay. You know that.”
“Yes-”
“Yes, so and they’re going to need someone on their side, won’t they?”
“Yes. I suppose.”
“So, I’d like to know ahead of time so I can begin to plan what to do in the event of their families finding out. Thank you, dear. Now, how is your job going?”
He scowled at the obvious subject change, but he knew the subject was closed.
I didn’t bring it up with him for the rest of the summer, but I knew he was doing as I had asked. As the kids got on the train to Hogwarts for their sixth, Teddy reported back to me.
“Well, Gran, you may have been right.”
“About Rose and Scorpius?”
“Yes.”
“How did you come to this conclusion, dear?”
“Little things, like you said. I was spending time with Al, and he mentioned that Rose had spent a good chunk of her fifth year studying with Scorpius. And when I talked to Scorpius about Hogwarts and his friends he neglected to mention Rose in the most obvious way possible. After he finished not mentioning her, I asked him about her. He turned bright red, dropped his fork, said that she was good, and started babbling about Quidditch scores. You were right.”
“Yes, dear,” I said with a grin, “I know.”
“So what do we do now?”
“We wait.”
“For what?”
“For all hell to break loose.”
I realize that it may seem odd how much I care about the relationship between the cousin of my granddaughter-in-law and my grandnephew, especially since I still wasn’t entirely sure that there was even a relationship. I’m still not entirely sure of why I cared so much.
I suppose that it all went back to Ted. I had loved him, and was willing to give up my family for him. Rose and Scorpius came from a more coddled, less independent generation of young people, and I knew that they wouldn’t have the slightest idea of how to deal with the fallout from all of this. That was why I cared so much: because I would know how to deal with it. However, when the fallout did come, even I wasn’t entirely sure of how to deal with it.
When they arrived back for their winter holiday, they both annoyed their respective families by being “out” for long periods of time without much explanation. However, their families blamed that on their ages. Teddy and I knew better.
The ball dropped in the first week of the summer holiday. Draco found a letter.