The next morning was hectic. I didn't get any sleep after waking up due to my nightmare. I kept on thinking I'd have more of them. Not only that, but I thought the pain that came from my forehead would come back as well. Fortunately, I managed to wake up in time for breakfast.
I got up from bed and headed to the kitchen. I found Draco and Scorpius already eating at the table. I grabbed a mug and poured myself some coffee and sat down in between Draco and Scorpius.
"Morning, Mum," Scorpius greeted me.
"Morning," I replied, smiling at my son.
"How are you feeling, love?" Draco asked me, giving me a concerned look.
"Fine," I said, taking a sip of my coffee.
"Is your...head still hurting?" Draco questioned, his eyebrows raised.
"No, it's not, thanks," I said, shooting him a reassuring look.
"Did you have a headache last night, Mum?" Scorpius asked me as he was finishing up his plate.
"Just a small one," I assured him. "But it's not a big deal. Go check to see if you have everything packed, okay?"
"Okay," Scorpius replied, nodding his head as he got up from the table and went upstairs.
Draco looked at me. "What was that all about? We can't talk about your head hurting in front of Scorpius now? He didn't suspect anything."
"Draco, Scorpius isn't stupid. He'll figure it out eventually. Besides, I don't want him worrying about it."
"What, about Voldemort returning?" Draco blurted out.
I widened my eyes. "Voldemort is not returning. He's dead!" I hissed at him.
"Are you sure about that?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Draco, Harry and I killed him. I don't know about you, but I remember that day very well." I got up from my seat and finished the rest of my coffee and put my mug in the sink.
For the rest of the morning, the three of us got ready to go to King's Cross to drop off Scorpius. He was going to be starting his fourth year at Hogwarts, along with Albus and Rose. I hoped his fourth year would be better than mine. The entire Wizarding world knew how rough that year was for me, Harry, and Amos Diggory.
I spotted the Potter family when we arrived at King's Cross. When Harry saw me, he turned to Ginny and muttered something quick before rushing towards me.
"You two go ahead," I told Draco and Scorpius. "I'll catch up with you guys before the train leaves."
"Okay, see you on the platform, then," Draco replied, then giving me a kiss on my temple. He gave Harry a nod before he took Scorpius to the platform.
"Did your scar hurt last night?" Harry asked in a concerned tone.
I nodded my head. "You?"
He nodded back. "Yeah, it did."
"What do you think it means?" I questioned.
"No idea," Harry replied, shrugging his shoulders. "You don't think that he's still alive, do you?"
I scoffed. "Harry, we killed Voldemort twenty-two years ago. We watched him die. Do you really think he came back from the dead?"
"I mean, it's a possibility, isn't it?" he retorted.
I rolled my eyes. "Voldemort will come back when Ron starves to death."
Harry chuckled at this. We headed onto the platform to say goodbye to our kids. I went up to Scorpius and gave him a hug.
"I'll see you at Christmas," he said, pulling away.
I nodded my head. "Promise you'll write to me?"
He smiled, nodding his head in return. "I promise."
I smiled back and gave him a kiss on the head. "I love you, Scorpius."
"I love you, too. Goodbye, Mum." Scorpius caught up with Albus and hopped on the train with him. He stuck his head out of a window and waved at me. I waved back and watched as the train began to make its way out of the station.
"Time flies by, doesn't it?" Draco asked me as he approached me from behind.
"Yeah, it does," I replied.
"Did Harry's scar hurt last night, too?" he asked me.
I huffed a sigh, knowing he was going to ask me that question. I turned around and looked at him. "What do you think?"
"I think something bad is about to happen in the Wizarding world," he replied.
I huffed a sigh. "Well, let's hope you're wrong."
*******
"Order! Order! Do I have to conjure silence?" Hermione spoke up as we were in the Grand Meeting Room in the Ministry of Magic. Everyone silenced immediately, which pleased Hermione. "Good. Welcome to this Extraordinary General Meeting. I'm so pleased so many of you could make it. The Wizarding world has been living in peace now for many years. It's been twenty-two years since we defeated Voldemort at the Battle of Hogwarts, and I'm delighted to say there is a new generation being brought up having known only the slightest conflict. Until now. Harry. Max."
Harry and I both stood up. Harry began to talk first. "Voldemort's allies have been showing movement for a few months now. We've followed trolls making their way across Europe, giants starting to cross the seas, and the werewolves...well, I'm distressed to say we lost sight of them some weeks ago. We don't know where they're going or who's encouraged them to move, but we are aware that they are moving, and we are concerned what it might mean.
"So we're asking, if anyone has seen anything? Felt anything? If you could raise a wand, we will hear everyone speak." The first person to raise their wand was the Headmaster of Hogwarts herself: "Professor McGonagall! Thank you."
Professor McGonagall, who looked like she hadn't aged a day, stood up from her seat. "It did look like the potion stores had been interfered with when we returned from summer break, but not a huge amount of ingredients were missing, some Boomslang skin and lacewing flies, nothing on the Restricted Register. We put it down to the ghosts to be on the lookout."
"Thank you, Professor. We shall investigate," Hermione said as McGonagall sat back down. "Nobody else? Fine, and, gravest of all, and this hasn't been the case since Voldemort, Harry and Max's scars are hurting again."
A series of mutters from everyone came upon the room. "Everyone, don't panic, okay? It could be just a coincidence," I assured them.
"Besides, Voldemort is dead. Voldemort is gone," Draco added. "Just like you said, right, Max?"
Before I could answer, Hermione intervened. "Yes, Draco, Voldemort is dead, but these things all lead us to think that there's a possibility that Voldemort...or some trace of Voldemort..."
I gave Hermione a warning look, but I knew she was going to say it, anyway.
"...might be back."
Another reaction came from the room.
"Now this is difficult but we have to ask it to rule it out. Those of you with a Dark Mark...have you felt anything? Even a twinge?" Harry asked the room.
I knew Harry had made a mistake asking that question when I saw Draco shake his head from the corner of my eye. "Back to being prejudiced against those with a Dark Mark, are we, Potter?" Draco snapped.
Hermione shook her head. "No, Draco. Harry is simply trying to--"
Draco shot up from his chair and looked to have finally had enough. "You know what this is about? Harry just wants his face back in the newspapers again, and he wants to drag Max in it as well. We've had rumors of Voldemort coming back from the Daily Prophet once a year and every year--"
"Do you really think Harry would just make that up?" I spoke up. "Do you think that me, your wife, would let Harry do that?"
"Besides, none of those rumors came from me!" Harry added.
"Really? Doesn't your wife edit the Daily Prophet?" he retorted, talking about Ginny.
Ginny stood up and walked towards Draco, looking outraged. "The sports pages, thank you very much, a field I am excellent in, due to my Quidditch career with the Holyhead Harpies. I only focus on that section of the Prophet and nothing else."
Hermione sighed and calmly stepped in. "Draco. Harry brought this matter to the attention of the Ministry. And I, the Minister--"
"A vote you only won because you're friends with Harry and Max," he interrupted her.
Ron charged at Draco, but was being held back by Ginny. "Do you want a smack in the mouth?"
"Try me, Weasley."
"Oh, you know I will, you--"
"Both of you need to stop it right now!" I hissed.
Draco let out a scoff. "Face it, their popularity impacts everyone in this room, and how better to get everyone whispering the Potter name again than with, 'My scar is hurting! My scar is hurting!' Do you also know what this all means? It means that the gossip mongers once again have an opportunity to defame my son with these ridiculous rumors about his parentage."
I shot Draco an angry look. But before I could say anything, Harry cut me off. "Draco, no one is saying this has anything to do with Scorpius..."
"Well, I, for one, think this meeting is a sham, and I'm leaving." With that, Draco stormed out of the room, followed by everyone else.
"No! That's not the way...come back! We need a strategy!" Hermione shouted. "This is not how I wanted the meeting to end."
I walked out of the room and headed towards Draco's office. I was beyond angry at him. I wanted to hex him like I should've done all those years ago at Hogwarts. I barged into his office and closed the door behind me.
"That was some show you put on back there," I snapped, folding my arms over my chest.
"Oh, really? Did you like it?" he retorted.
"Yeah, I did. My favorite part was when you mocked me and Harry," I responded in a sarcastic tone. "What the hell happened back there? You embarrassed us and made us look like idiots."
"Well, sorry that I was just saying my opinion," he replied.
"Your opinion," I repeated, walking up to his desk. "So you think Harry and I are trying to find an excuse to get our names back in the papers? And you also think that we have something to do with the rumors about our son?" I paused for a moment, then continued. "You know that we didn't start those rumors."
"Really? How do I know you're not lying to me?"
"Draco, we've talked about this! You're acting like everything I said was a lie! But you can't really be talking about me telling lies, can you?"
"What are you going on about now?" he asked in a frustrated tone.
"This morning, you thought there was a chance that Voldemort could return. Not even five minutes ago, you were sure that he was dead."
"Yes, because he is dead!"
"Only when Harry mentioned that stupid Dark Mark of yours!"
Draco slammed his hands on the desk and stood up. "Okay, fine, I wasn't completely honest with you with how I felt about all of this stuff. But you don't understand how hard it is for me to be with you when we go out. I mean, after all, you're married to me, an Ex-Death Eater..."
"Well, I'm sorry that I was born a Potter and not some snobby Pureblood that your parents always wanted you to marry," I snapped.
Draco's expression softened as he sighed. "Max, that's not what I meant..." he said in a more calm tone.
"No, I get it. I totally get it, really. I'll just go home by myself tonight. I don't want it to be too hard on you when people see us together." I turned around and walked out of his office, slamming the door behind me.
A/N: Yikes! I haven't updated in a while...
I've been busy with everything, ya know?
Comment, vote, :)
-A