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

60 - The Son

Scorpius Frederick Malfoy was just thirteen years old when he lost his mother.

She went to Canada and she never came back.

And in a way, his father didn't either.

He felt as though his whole world had come crashing down around him. His beautiful, fiercely opinionated, yet utterly devoted mother, was dead.

The one saving grace was that he was at home from Hogwarts when it happened and was able to give his little sister lots of hugs and comfort.

She was devastated; he was devastated.

But his father was in another whole world of devastation; his grief being too much for Scorpius to even begin to understand. He shut himself away in his study, and Scorpius knew he was drinking far too much of that whisky crap than was good for him.

Luckily, his grandmother was at hand to take care of them; offering them constant love and guidance. He adored his Nanny Cissy.

But he missed his Grampy and Granny Weasley who, like his father, were too sad to speak to anyone. He knew that his mum had once had a brother who had died during the war.

"Sadly, some people have losses far too great to cope with," Nanny Cissy had explained when Freida had questioned why they don't see their Weasley grandparents as much anymore.

"Like Daddy?" Freida had quivered sadly. "Daddy doesn't say anything anymore."

It had made Nanny cry; it had even made Scorpius cry. They hadn't only lost their mother; but it was as though they had lost their father too.

The funeral was the worst day of Scorpius's life. He kept Freida close by his side the whole time, watching as their father and uncles carried the coffin containing their dead mother.

The grief on everyone's faces was unbearable. Especially his father's, whose grief seemed to have broken him completely. After they placed the coffin down, Scorpius had been both surprised and choked when his uncle George stepped forward to offer his father arms of comfort. And he had watched as these two men, who had always prided themselves on being 'manly' men, wept fiercely in each other's arms.

Scorpius had been relieved to return to Hogwarts after the funeral; though he felt horrible about leaving Freida who had begged him to take her with him.

"Please Scorp, I don't want to be left at home without Mummy," she sobbed the night before he was to go back. "Daddy doesn't talk to me."

"You know I can't take you, Freida," he had said sadly, hugging her to him. "But Nanny will be here, she'll look after you. Dad doesn't mean to be this way, he just... he just misses Mum."

"I miss Mummy too," she cried, her small body shaking in grief, looking and sounding a lot younger than her eight years. "Why did she have to go, Scorp?"

"She got sick, it wasn't her fault." Scorpius said sadly. "She wouldn't have left us on purpose."

He kissed the top of her head fiercely, promising he would return for the Easter holidays.

He was glad he had Albus. Albus didn't probe him, just offered to be there if he needed to talk and even half heartedly offered him a hug too.

"I think Mum feels guilty," Albus said to him unexpectedly one night. "She's offered for you to come and stay over this Easter."

Scorpius looked up at him sharply. "I promised Freida I'd be back. I can't let her down. She needs me."

"Surely Mum'll let her come too?" Albus shrugged. "She is her aunt too, after all."

But Scorpius just shook his head. "My dad. I think he needs me too. He's not coping."

Scorpius just felt sick whenever he thought about his father. He was scared all the time that he was going to receive an owl saying that he had done something stupid. And he didn't want to lose his dad too, he just couldn't bear the thought.

And he was right to worry, because when Scorpius returned home for the Easter, his father was a mere shadow of the wizard he had once been; almost unrecognisable in fact.

His grey eyes were sunken in his gaunt, tired face; his white-blond hair was no longer combed neatly in a side parting but instead fell messily in a tousled heap on top of his head. Not even wearing his usual suit could disguise his dishevelled and unkempt appearance.

It was like he had completely given up on himself.

Scorpius had been relieved to see that Nanny Cissy had pretty much moved into the spare room; taking over Freida's care full time.

But a part of him wondered if this was just enabling his father to hole himself up in his study with a bottle of whisky whilst he pored through endless memories of his mother.

Over the course of the two week holiday, Scorpius tried to make it his mission to get his father out of that study. But it was proving more difficult than he had anticipated.

"Let him be," Nanny Cissy had said gently to him one night after Scorpius had discovered his father lost in the Pensieve yet again. "He needs to be among his memories of her, it's the only thing that makes him happy."

"But he's not happy!" Scorpius implored frustratedly. "It's like he doesn't even realise that Freida and I exist anymore - either that or he just no longer cares."

"Don't say that, of course he cares. He's just grieving. Give him time."

However, when Scorpius went into the study the night before he was to return to Hogwarts for the last term of his third year, he was surprised to discover that his father wasn't in the Pensieve.

Instead, he was sat at his desk, looking piercingly; almost longingly, at a tiny gold trinket nestled carefully in the palm of his hand.

"What's that, Dad?" Scorpius asked, swallowing. He was nervous. He was pretty sure he knew what that was, and if he was correct, then it could change everything. "Is that a- a-"

His father quickly snapped his hand shut, his long white fingers hiding the offending object from view.

"Scorp-" he said hoarsely, his face alarmed. "I- I didn't see you there."

"Dad," Scorp tried again. "Is that a Time-Turner?"

His father's grey eyes seemed to consider him for a moment before he gave a heavy resigned sigh. "Yes, son. I took it from your grandfather's collection. My father's."

"Aren't they... aren't they-?"

"Completely and utterly illegal." His father finished for him. "Yes. But I'm not going to use it. I just... I just need to know it's here, that there's always a way."

Scorpius's heart started thudding excitedly. "But Dad, we could get Mum back! We can tell her not to go to China!"

"Don't you think I've not thought of that myself?" His dad snapped, suddenly looking fierce. "Don't you think I wouldn't sell my soul for another minute; another second with your mother?"

"Then why don't we?" Scorpius pressed, his heart was pounding so wildly now. The idea that he could get his mother back and make everything all right again gave him new hope. "What's stopping us?"

"Because the ramifications of changing time could be disastrous!" His father hissed, now clutching the Time-Turner so fiercely in his fist, that Scorpius was sure he would break it. "And we're talking about possible end of the world scenarios here. It... it isn't worth the risk."

Ludicrous, Scorpius thought. His father was being nothing but a coward and exaggerating the truth. Nothing was more important than getting his mother back.

Nothing.

*****