Harry Potter: 19 Years Later

Chapter 48: A Boost Of Bravery

Scorpius felt an immense pressure in the middle of his throat. As his eyes glanced around the room to survey the damage he and his friends had done from simply being afraid, he realized that his grandfather was right. Maybe this was all just too much.

"Why did you try to kill us?" Holly suddenly blurted out, shocking everyone.

Lucius demonstrated mock surprise at her question. Then he shook his head, chuckling, and replied, "As harsh as that incident may have seemed, I was doing everyone a favor."

"By murdering?" Scorpius's father demanded, his face displaying pure disgust and enmity. "That's your solution to everything these days, isn't it? You do realize that you're never going to be like him, right?"

It took a moment for Scorpius to realize who his father was talking about. Then it hit him. The "him" he was referring to was the Dark Lord.

Lucius stared at his son for a moment, then sneered at him. "Don't you dare speak to me that way, Draco."

Then, without any warning, Lucius turned around and raised his wand towards Rose, Albus, and Holly, who were closer to the door than Scorpius was, who was still standing over by the couch. Judging by the murderous look on his grandfather's face, Scorpius knew what spell he was about to cast in his friends' direction. At a speed he thought he could never humanly reach, Scorpius dashed in front of his friends and muttered "Protego!" in his mind before the killing curse could hit them.

Everyone in the room froze in shock; even Lucius. Scorpius let a shaky breath of relief, not believing what he just did. Did he really just block a killing curse?

Indeed you just did, Salazar said in his mind. Scorpius could tell the sly Slytherin man was smiling.

"My, my," said Lucius, breaking the stunned silence. "I'm very impressed, Scorpius. Maybe my grandson has more potential than I thought..."

"Enough," Scorpius snapped, his voice dropping an octave or two. "Enough of your nonsense. Get out."

Again, astonished silence filled the room. Lucius appeared at a loss for words. Scorpius couldn't help but smirk at his own sudden boost of bravery.

Finally, Lucius sighed and said, "I admire you, Scorpius, I really do." Then he looked from Scorpius to his friends, and added, "But mark my words, children, things will get much harder from this point on."

Impatient, Scorpius caused the door to fly open, flinging against the wall with such brute force that one of the hinges broke. Oops...

"Out," Scorpius said slowly, his voice sounding even more threatening.

With one last smug smile, the old Malfoy man Apparated out of the Burrow with a loud crack. Scorpius had to pull out a chair and sit down, holding his woozy head. He'd never had to control that much magic that was waiting to explode out of him before.

"That was insane," Albus laughed in disbelief, patting Scorpius on the back.

Scorpius smiled weakly. Then his mother and father walked over to him and pulled him into a small group hug. The gesture made Scorpius feel safe again.

"Are you alright, my darling?" his mother asked gently, brushing his wispy blonde hair off his forehead.

Scorpius nodded wearily. "I can't believe I stood up him like that."

His father chuckled. "Neither can I. Even at your age, I never could have stood up to my father like that. I'm proud of you, Scor."

As am I, Scorpius, said Salazar genuinely. It was a bit odd, considering his reputation, to hear such kindness in Salazar Slytherin's voice.

"I just thought of something," Rose suddenly said, sparking everyone's attention. "Where is the real Kingsley Shacklebolt? Wasn't he supposed to meet with us today?"

Rose's father glanced at Harry, Scorpius's father, and Neville. "She has a point. We might need to go check the Ministry to see if everything's in order."

Neville looked uneasy. "I have a bad feeling about this."

Hermione looked to the four men and told them, "Go find Kingsley. We'll watch the kids."

Scorpius knew Rose's mother was referring to "the kids" as him and his friends. Great, now they needed to be babysat.

With a goodbye kiss to each of their wives, the four skilled wizard men Apparated to the Ministry to search for Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"I just thought of something else," Rose said, her voice evident of despair.

"Your thoughts are never good anymore," Scorpius mumbled, earning a light slap from her.

"Seriously," Rose scolded him, then turned to her mother. "Tomorrow is the first day of Hogwarts. Since we didn't get to meet with Mr. Shacklebolt today, what are we going to do?"

Rose's mother glanced unsurely at Ginny, Luna, and Scorpius's mother. This wasn't very reassuring.

Finally, Rose's mother grabbed her daughter's hand comfortingly and told her, "We will all Floo to Professor McGonagall's office and talk to her about it, okay? Everything will be alright."

The tone in her voice wasn't very convincing, though Scorpius decided to ignore it for now. He trusted the adults to help them.

For the rest of the day, Scorpius retreated up to his and Albus's room to rest, since channeling magic tended to suck all the energy out of you. He prayed to the heavens that everything would work out. All he wanted was to go to Hogwarts, enjoy his 6th year, and be normal. Was that too much to ask?

~ ~ ~

Ehh...I know this chapter sucked and I apologize.

Trying to figure out how to properly wrap up this story soon has been so difficult lol...

Anyway, you know the drill! Vote, comment, and share if you can! Thanks for reading! :)