Chapter Text
“Rose! Are you there?”
Rose Granger grinned at the voice outside her window as she yanked it open and looked down to the sunny street below.
“Is your mother in?” The boy on the street asked.
“She’s in Diagon Alley,” Rose said, “But she won’t be gone long.”
“Move out the way and let me in then,” Scorpius said.
Rose moved back from the second-floor window and let Scorpius fly in on his broomstick.
Their old grumpy cat hissed at him as he dismounted, and Rose rolled her eyes, “Oh, be quiet, Crookshanks,” she said as she waved the cat off.
“Hey,” Scorpius said. It was too casual, and the way he was leaning against the wall was too suave. He was up to something.
“What are you doing here?” Rose asked, narrowing her eyes at him.
“I wanted to see my best friend,” Scorpius shrugged, “Is that illegal?”
“In my Mum’s eyes? Yes,” Rose said. She rolled her eyes at the very thought of her mother finding a boy in her bedroom.
“Well, your mother isn’t here,” Scorpius said, “And it wouldn’t be the first time you did something rebellious.”
Rose rolled her eyes, “Apparently, I’ve been rebelling since I became a Slytherin. Coincidentally that was when I met you. My mother thinks you are a bad influence on James and me.”
Scorpius smirked, “I’m definitely a bad influence on James.”
“And that is all I need to hear about that,” Rose said, raising an eyebrow at him, “My best friend screwing my cousin is bad enough thanks, I don’t need to hear all the gory details.”
“You know, he isn’t actually your cousin, right?” Scorpius queried, “He’s just your mums best friends kid.”
“I call his dad Uncle Harry, so James is basically my cousin,” Rose remarked.
“I know. You have the pleasure of being able to go and see him during the holidays because you call his dad Uncle Harry,” Scorpius remarked irritably, “Whereas if I show up on his doorstep, his dad will go nuts. And if he shows up on my doorstep, my dad will go nuts.”
“Top tip Scorpio, if your dad has an arch-enemy, don’t date that arch-enemy’s kid,” Rose remarked sarcastically.
Scorpius smirked at her, “Great advice Rosie, I’ll remember that. Now, my sarcastic little snake, would you like to hear the good news that I flew all the way here to tell you about or not?”
“News about our project?” Rose asked eagerly.
Scorpius laughed, “Ah, see now you want to talk? Well, I talked to my dad about it. I mean, I know we figured out you must have been conceived sometime in July or August 1999, so I asked him if he had heard anything about who your mother was dating then.”
“And he knew something?” Rose asked hopefully.
“Yep,” Scorpius said with a grin, “He said your mother was dating this guy long-term, and then it broke off, and she spiralled a little. Then had a one night stand or two.”
“So my dad could be one of like three guys?” Rose asked in disbelief, “I find that hard to believe. My mum hasn’t even been on a date since I was 5!”
“It was a different time,” Scorpius said, “I can’t imagine how hard it must have been for our parents. Anyway, dad reckons you’ll be able to find the newspaper articles from the time if you look through the records at the Ministry, it might help you narrow it down.”
“Ugh, I love you, Scorp, thank you!” Rose said, kissing him on the cheek, “Where would I be without you?”
“Probably lost down a hole somewhere,” Scorpius teased, “Or worse…in Gryffindor!”
Rose just shot him a grin at that comment, “I’ll grab Victoire as soon as I get a chance, and I’ll force her to come along to the Ministry with me to check it out.”
“Owl me and let me know what you find,” Scorpius said. Then the sound of footsteps on the stairs caused him to grab his broomstick and mount it, “Or better yet. Be even more rebellious and fly to the manor to tell me in person.”
With a smirk, he shot out of the window. Rose hastily shut it behind him, then she sat down on the sofa with the book she had been reading before Scorpius had shown up. Her mum walked into her bedroom in the house they lived in, in London.
“Hey, Mum,” Rose said casually.
Hermione smiled at her daughter, “Hi Rosie. What are you reading?”
“Hogwarts: a History,” Rose said offhandedly, “I’m bored.”
“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” Hermione said. She sat down next to her daughter on the bed, “I know it can’t be fun having to spend your summers cooped up in here with me, but you know I worry about you being out, wandering the streets on your own.”
Rose smiled, “I know Mum, but Fleur did say I could spend some time at her house with Victoire.”
Hermione nodded, “I know, but I didn’t want you imposing yourself on them so early in the holidays. It’s July now. You can go if that’s what you want?”
Rose grinned, she did want to see her best friend, but it also meant that she could work on her project without her mother catching her, “How long can I go for?”
“Fleur said two weeks,” Hermione said, “But I’d rather you only stayed for one and a half.”
“Okay,” Rose agreed immediately, “I’ll owl Victoire and pack!”
Hermione chuckled as Rose got to her feet and rushed eagerly from the room. She knew that her daughter wanted to spend time with her friend, but at the same time, she felt sad that she couldn’t wait to get away from her own home and family.
“Hey, stranger.”
“I’ve missed you, Vic!” Rose said as she hugged her gorgeous blonde friend.
Victoire laughed, “I saw you last month.”
“It feels like longer,” Rose admitted as Fleur, Victoire’s mother, walked into the kitchen.
“Ah, nice to see you again, Rose,” She said as she hugged the girl.
“Thank you for letting me stay for a while,” Rose said with a smile, “I love Mum, but she’s so stressed as it is right now with that big treaty she’s brokering to merge those two hospitals in Scotland.”
“Oh, don’t worry,” Fleur said kindly, “You know that you are always welcome here.”
Rose nodded, still smiling as she left the kitchen.
“So what was this development that Scorp owled me about?” Victoire asked the moment her mother was out of hearing range.
“I know a way to narrow down the search for my dad,” Rose said quietly, “Between July and August, the year before I was born, my mum had a string of romances, that was around the time I was conceived. If I can find the newspapers for those couple of months, I might be able to figure out who he is.”
“That’s huge news!” Victoire said excitedly, “But how do you access the newspapers?”
“They’re on public record at the Ministry,” Rose said, “In the public part of the library.”
Victoire laughed, “When do you want to go?”
“Am I that predictable?” Rose asked.
“You’ve been my best friend since you learned to talk, Rose,” Victoire pointed out, “You’re transparent to me. You want to go now, don’t you?”
“A little bit,” Rose admitted as she bit her lip.
Victoire called, “Mum, we’re going to Diagon Alley!”
“Okay, have fun!” Fleur called from another room.
Victoire turned back to her best friend with a smile, “Shall we find this elusive father of yours then, Rose?”
When Scorpius walked into the kitchen of Malfoy Manor, he was surprised when he saw his father sitting at the table reading the paper.
“Hey, Dad,” Scorpius said casually, “Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”
Draco shook his head, “I got finished early. Harry did a good job catching the guy. It was an open and shut case.”
“Don’t you normally stay in the office to do paperwork when you get finished early?” Scorpius asked as he sat down across from his father.
“I’m not a complete workaholic Scorp,” Draco said with a slight smirk.
Scorpius rolled his eyes, “I thought Harry was injured at the moment.”
“He is,” Draco said, “But we’re behind as usual. I’m still persecuting the last few he caught before he got his injury.”
“How is he?” Scorpius asked. His father worked very closely with the famous Head Auror due to his position in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
“He’s okay,” Draco said, “But you know what he’s like. He’s going mad with boredom, and he still has 5 months to go until he can get back to work.”
Scorpius grimaced, “That sucks.”
Draco merely nodded, “I’ve been trying to get him to join me in Law Enforcement, but he won’t budge. Anyway, where have you been?”
“I was just at Rose’s place,” Scorpius said.
“Oh?” Draco asked, his attention now on his son, “Did you tell her what I told you?”
Scorpius nodded, “Her and Victoire are going to check it out as soon as they can.”
“Well, let me know how she gets on,” Draco said.
“Why do you even care?” Scorpius asked curiously.
Draco got to his feet and smiled, “What’s the first rule of being a Slytherin Scorp? Don’t let anyone know what you’re thinking.”
Scorpius rolled his eyes, “Dad, that’s not an answer.”
Draco merely smirked at his son, “Exactly. Septimus is coming for dinner tonight with his mother. You should probably get changed.”
“So that’s why you’re home early and in such a good mood,” Scorpius said as his father left the room whistling.
“Wow.”
“You didn’t say it was this big,” Victoire pointed out as they stood in the immense public library of the Ministry of Magic.
“I didn’t know,” Rose admitted, “But it’s huge. You could fit Malfoy Manor in here.”
“Twice,” Victoire added, “How are we going to find anything in here?”
“Easy,” Rose said as she threw a smirk towards her friend, “We ask one of the many librarians.”
She pointed to a row of desks with about 20 librarians along it, “Of course,” Victoire mumbled as she followed Rose to one of the desks.
“Hi, I was hoping to look at the editions of the Daily Prophet from 1999,” Rose said politely, “I wondered if you could tell me which section of the library to look in?”
The librarian sighed heavily and pulled out a map. She hastily drew a circle around one area of shelving and then drew arrows on the map before thrusting it into Rose’s hands, “Follow the directions,” she said glumly.
“Uh, thanks,” Rose said, walking away from the desk and showing Victoire the map. Between them, they worked out the way to the newspaper section, and when they reached it, they were met with shelf upon shelf of unfiled mess.
This didn’t seem to discourage Rose as she grabbed a stepladder and began to sift through the years for the folder containing the 1999 editions.
“Rose, I hate to break it to you, but you’re a witch,” Victoire pointed out with a raised eyebrow.
Rose frowned, “What do you mean?”
Victoire raised her wand and said, “Accio, 1999 newspaper folder.”
In seconds the folder flew into her hand, and Rose frowned, “Hang on a minute. How are you using underage magic?”
Victoire rolled her eyes, “We’re in the Ministry of Magic. We can use underage magic here.”
“Really?” Rose asked.
“Of course,” Victoire said as if this were obvious, “The wards that detect it don’t work inside the ministry because it’s like Hogwarts, duh.”
Rose shrugged this off. She eagerly pulled the file from Victoire’s hand and opened it, looking through it for the section for ‘July’.
“Here,” Rose breathed as she found it and pulled out the stack of papers from July of 1999.
“This won’t take long,” Victoire said sarcastically.
“It’s only 31 editions,” Rose said, “And what we are looking for will probably be on the front page.”
Victoire took a newspaper from the top dated the “1st of July, 1999”, and Rose took the one dated from the 2nd, so their search began. They were silent as they scanned the dusty old papers. They didn't find anything for the first half an hour or so, and their search seemed futile.
“Vic! I’ve got something!” Rose exclaimed, getting glared at by a librarian, “Look!”
The paper she was looking at was from the 14th of July and on the front page was the headline, “War hero and heroine: Torn apart by distance.”
The accompanying picture provided far too much information for Rose, but more than that was the person her mother was kissing,
“Professor Longbottom might be my dad?”
Victoire sniggered, “You do kind of have mousy brown hair….”
“Yes, but so does my mum, and I have brown eyes like her,” Rose said, “I don’t have any distinctive features from my dad.”
Victoire frowned, “Is this helping or is it just making things worse?”
“It’s helping,” Rose said, “At least I have some idea who my dad might be now,” she added as she scanned the newspaper article.
“War hero Neville Longbottom and war heroine Hermione Granger were thought to be a match made in Heaven when they coupled up a few weeks into their final year at Hogwarts. Both had returned to finish their schooling and achieve their N.E.W.T’s when they found love.
After an 8 month relationship, Mr Longbottom was accepted onto a prestigious Herbology course that required him to relocate for the following year. The distance was too much, and the young lovers have sadly separated.
Sources say that Miss. Granger is heartbroken. Will she ever find love again?”
Rose found herself feeling kind of sorry for her mum. She hadn’t even known that her mum had dated Professor Longbottom.
While she had been thinking and reading, Victoire had been sifting through the rest of the papers.
“Oh my gosh.”
“What?” Rose asked, looking up sharply.
Victoire shoved a paper across the desk. It was dated the 23rd of July, 1999.
“War heroine Hermione Granger goes off the rails!”
Rose frowned as she looked at a photograph of her mum, looking quite frazzled and pale and definitely not like the woman that she knew.
“War heroine, Hermione Granger, falls apart after her break-up with war hero Neville Longbottom earlier in the month.
Since Mr Longbottom departed for his new job in Brazil, Miss Granger has been seen in several unsanitary joints such as the Hogs Head looking ill and under the influence. Sources close to Miss Granger say that she is not coping well after the break-up.
An anonymous source claims to have seen Miss. Granger leaving the Hogs Head last evening with none other than Draco Malfoy, a ‘supposedly’ reformed former Death Eater who is now working as a lawyer in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
Is Miss Granger out of control?”
“Draco Malfoy,” Rose said in disbelief, “As in Scorpius’s dad?”
“Yeah,” Victoire said, “But I mean, it’s just speculation. It’s far more likely that Professor. Longbottom is your dad.”
“But if Draco Malfoy is my dad, then Scorpius is like my half-brother,” Rose said in disbelief.
“Which would be weird,” Victoire agreed.
Rose frowned, “I thought when I found out there were a few people that I would just know which one was my dad, but Vic, I have no idea!”
“Do you really have no idea which one it is?” Victoire asked.
“I really don’t have a clue!” Rose exclaimed.
“Well, which one do you want it to be?” Victoire asked with a curious smirk.
“Neither! One is my teacher, and the other is my best friends dad!” Rose exclaimed.
“Why don’t you just ask your Uncle Harry? He’s your mums best friend, isn’t he?” Victoire asked.
“Yeah, but I can hardly just wander up and casually ask him which one of the people my mum shacked up with is my real dad,” Rose pointed out.
“True,” Victoire said as she bit her lip, “So what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to talk to Scorp,” Rose said with a heavy sigh, “He’ll know what to do.”
When Scorpius walked down the stairs into the entrance hall of the manor, he grinned at who he saw there. With his dark hair covering his eyes as always, Septimus Greengrass smirked at his best friend.
“Did you arrange this dinner?” Scorpius asked in amusement.
“I may have hinted at wanting to have dinner here so I could hang out with you,” Septimus smirked.
“Do you think they’ve figured out what we’re trying to do yet?” Scorpius asked, pushing his blonde hair out of his eyes.
“Oh probably,” Septimus said, “But they still agree to all of these dinners so….”
Scorpius laughed and said, “They’ve been friends for too long for anything to happen, but we can still try.”
“Septimus!” Daphne Greengrass called from the dining room, “Is Scorpius here yet?”
“He’s here, Mum,” Septimus called, “We’re on our way.”
Scorpius chuckled and said, “So Rose is getting closer to finding her dad.”
“With a nudge from you by any chance?” Septimus asked.
“Not me, Dad,” Scorpius said, “He told me that Rose’s mum had a string of romances in the month she must have been conceived, like two or three guys.”
Septimus whistled, “Saucy Miss Granger.”
Scorpius raised an eyebrow at his best friend, “She negotiates peace treaties for the Ministry. That’s not exactly glamorous, is it?”
“Well, clearly, she used to have a glamorous life,” Septimus said with a wink as they walked into the dining room and sat down next to each other at the table. Opposite of them were their parents, both in their dining outfits.
Scorpius and Septimus had been close since they were young kids because they were both from single-parent families.
Draco had told Scorpius when he was around 12 years old that his mother hadn’t wanted him because she had been so young when she got pregnant, so she had walked out on them both, and he had been raised by his dad and his aunt Daphne.
Septimus (his cousin) had two parents, but although they had been forced into an arranged marriage, they still hated each other all of these years down the line. He saw his dad occasionally when he wasn’t sleeping with glamour models and the like, but he lived with his mum, who happened to be Scorpius’s aunt.
And to make the whole thing even more confusing, Scorpius was pretty sure that his aunt was sleeping with his dad. Pureblood relationships, go figure.
“How are you, Scorpius?” Daphne asked, “Looking forward to your sixth year?”
“It should be fun,” Scorpius said politely, “Did Dad tell you? Rose and I became the Slytherin prefects this year.”
“He didn’t tell me,” Daphne said, “And neither did you, Septimus.”
Septimus shrugged, “Who wants to be an authority figure? Lame.”
Daphne rolled her eyes and muttered, “You are too much like your father sometimes.”
“Why is that always an insult, Mother?” Septimus drawled.
“Because your father is an arrogant shit, my son,” Daphne said matter of factly.
Draco hid his amused smile behind his hand.
“Mother,” Septimus said, “What have I told you about swearing in front of the children? Our poor innocent prefect over here can’t handle the vulgarity.”
Draco raised an eyebrow, “This is the boy who dangled naked from his broomstick outside the Gryffindor common room for a dare. And you say that is not vulgar?”
“It wasn’t for a dare. It was to impress James Potter actually,” Scorpius corrected with a smirk.
Draco scoffed, “Why would you need or want to impress Harry’s son? I may like his father well enough these days, but that boy is arrogant just like Harry was back then.”
Scorpius rolled his eyes at Septimus. His father was in complete denial about his relationship with James Potter.
Septimus winked at Scorpius, who burst out laughing.
Daphne merely rolled her eyes, “Sometimes I think a lack of a real father figure messed that boy up,” she said almost fondly.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Draco said, “You’ve done alright. He’s more mature than Theo already.”
“That really isn’t saying much,” Daphne pointed out, and Draco nodded in agreement, trying desperately hard to hide his smirk.
“Well, you are the one who married him,” Draco said.
“Don’t remind me about the arranged marriage that ruined my life,” Daphne said despairingly.
“Anyway,” Scorpius was now saying to Septimus, “Think of all the control I’ll have. The amount of firsties I can put in detention!”
“Should I tell him, or will you?” Draco asked Daphne.
“You can tell him. He’s your son,” Daphne said in amusement.
“Tell me what?” Scorpius asked with narrowed eyes.
“You can’t actually put first years, or anyone, in detention, Scorp. Only Professors can do that,” Draco told his son.
“What?” Scorpius asked sharply, “Then what can I do?”
“Patrol the corridors and stop people making out in cupboards?” Daphne suggested.
Septimus sniggered, “He’ll be the one making out with his boyfriend in the broom cupboards.’
“Then there’s your answer. You can do that without being caught,” Daphne said in amusement.
“Oh, Merlin,” Draco said, “You are far too young to be doing that!”
“Calm down Dad, I’m a perfectly responsible young adult,” Scorpius said calmly.
“Of course he is,” Septimus said, not quite so convincingly.
“And before you try and use that ‘you’re too young excuse’ again,” Daphne cut in, “I remember who you were making out with in broom cupboards in our 6th year Draco so – hush.”
“Who were you making out with in broom cupboards in 6th year, Dad?” Scorpius asked eagerly.
Draco was able to avoid the question, thankfully, because, at that point, the Malfoy family house-elf appeared and said, “Master Malfoy. Missy Rose and Missy Victoire are at the door. Shall I tell them to come back later?”
As Draco opened his mouth to reply, Scorpius said, “No, let them come in, Dad! They must have news on who Rose’s father is!”
“Are you still working on that?” Daphne asked in surprise.
“We’re getting close now, please, Dad,” Scorpius said.
Draco looked a little uncomfortable, but he caved, “Alright. Kokey, tell Rose and Victoire to come in and set two more places at the table.”
The elf nodded and clicked her fingers to set the table up for six, then she left to go back to the door. Minutes later, Rose and Victoire walked into the dining room.
“Sorry to interrupt your dinner,” Rose said tentatively.
“It’s not a problem,” Draco said, “We have set two extra places if you want to join us?”
“Oh, thanks, Mr Malfoy, I’m starving,” Victoire said as she sat down next to Septimus.
Rose smiled and sat down next to Scorpius, “Thanks, Mr Malfoy.”
“So, what did you find out?” Scorpius asked.
Rose frowned, “I can’t tell you now.”
“Of course you can,” Scorpius said, “Dad was the one who gave us the hint, and Septimus knows anyway, you know I tell him everything.”
“Even the stuff I don’t want to know about,” Septimus said dryly.
Rose glanced cautiously at Daphne.
Scorpius said, “Oh, Aunt Daphne’s interested. She’ll keep it quiet.”
Daphne smirked slightly but nodded, and Rose bit her lip, “Well, the most likely possibility is Professor Longbottom.”
“Ah,” Draco remembered, “Yes, your mother was dating him for a while, then he ran off to discover some rare venomous tentacula or something of that ilk.”
Septimus was too busy sniggering to listen to much of the conversation. Still, Rose only noticed this when Victoire slapped him around the back of the head.
“Hey!”
“What are you laughing at?” Rose asked.
“Just the fact there’s a possibility that your dad is Professor Longbottom,” Septimus said through his laughter, “You know the weird Herbology professor?”
Scorpius joined in, unable to help himself, “And the Head of Gryffindor house,” he pointed out.
Rose glared at them both, “That is not helpful, you know?”
“Did you find out who the other guys were?” Scorpius asked, smiling apologetically at her.
Rose nodded, “Yes, there was another article…speculating about…um…” she looked up at Draco, “…other people.”
Scorpius followed her line of sight, and his jaw dropped, “Fuck off.”
“Scorpius!” Daphne scolded.
“Dad!” Scorpius said in disbelief, “You slept with Rose’s mum? Seriously?”
“I don’t remember sleeping with Hermione Granger,” Draco remarked with a frown.
Daphne raised an eyebrow at him, “You were going through a fair string of girls around the time Astoria got pregnant. I reckon it’s very likely that you did sleep with Hermione Granger.”
“Perhaps, but even if I had, I wouldn’t tell you,” Draco murmured to her.
Daphne smirked, “It’s not likely that your father would remember it if he had, Scorpius. Considering the haze of alcohol he was under.”
Septimus frowned, “Were you an alcoholic, Uncle Draco?”
“Yes,” Draco admitted grudgingly, “For a good number of years after the war, until you being born finally pulled me out of it, Scorpius.”
Scorpius had known this, so he just nodded, “So did you sleep with Rose’s Mum?”
“It is possible,” Draco admitted, “But there is someone else that you have not considered. Towards the end of July, Hermione had a love affair with Harry. It was all kept hushed because he was engaged to Ginny Weasley at the time, but they were having a break to work out if marriage was what they wanted.”
“Wait…my mum and my Uncle Harry?” Rose asked in disbelief.
Draco nodded, “I can assure you, it happened. That comes from a very, very reliable source.”
“Harry told you, didn’t he?” Scorpius asked.
“Yes, Scorpius, he did,” Draco confirmed.
Rose frowned, “But he’s my Uncle Harry, and James is my cousin, but that would make James my brother, and if you are my dad, Mr Malfoy, then Scorpius would be my brother!”
“Do you regret starting this search now?” Septimus asked sarcastically.
“Shut up, Septimus, you inconsiderate prick,” Victoire said, “Oh, sorry, Mrs Nott.”
Daphne snorted, “Call me that again, and you will be sorry, Victoire.”
Septimus sniggered, “So what do you do now? I mean, are you going to try and find out which one is your dad?”
“I want to,” Rose admitted, “But I have no idea how.”
“Why don’t you ask your mother about it, Rose?” Draco asked.
“I can’t. I asked her a couple of years ago, and…it didn’t go very well,” Rose said.
“Ah, the infamous Hermione Granger temper?” Draco asked.
Rose nodded, “Yep.”
“I know, I’ve suffered it first hand,” Draco said, “She punched me in the face once.”
“Your mum is awesome,” Septimus grinned.
Daphne shot her son an exasperated look, “Manners, Septimus.”
“Yes, Mother, I don’t have any,” Septimus quipped.
“Septimus, if I wanted to live with your father, I would have kept him around. Stop being such an arrogant little toe rag,” Daphne said sternly.
Septimus merely rolled his eyes at this.
“Well, Rose, I can rule myself in or out tonight if you like?” Draco said, “It would take a simple blood test.”
Rose nodded, “Yes, Mr Malfoy, can we please do that? Because as much as your son is my best friend, I really don’t want to be related to him.”
“Wow, that’s harsh,” Scorpius joked, “Being my brother would be better than being Jamie’s brother. And think about it, your other two speculative dads are Gryffindors, so your Slytherin genes must come from somewhere.”
“Harry was a hat stall actually,” Draco remarked as he rolled his sleeve up, “He nearly became a Slytherin.”
“Did he?” Rose asked in surprise, “How do you know that, Mr Malfoy?”
“He likes to talk a lot, and I spend more time in his office than my office when he’s handing cases over to me,” Draco said with an amused shake of his head, “Daphne, do the honours, would you?”
“Of course,” Daphne said. She conjured a first aid kit with a needle in it and took a vial of Draco’s blood.
“Rose, do you mind?”
Rose shook her head and lifted her sleeve. Daphne produced a vial of her blood and sat it next to Draco’s in a test tube rack.
“I need to use a charm which will boil your blood,” Daphne explained, “Then I need to cast a spell to see if the steam mixes. If it does, then it means that you are related.”
Rose felt quite sick as she watched Daphne perform the charm to boil the blood. Daphne cast another spell when steam started to come off the blood, but the steam did not mix.
Rose breathed out a sigh of relief, “Thank Merlin for that.”
“I am in agreement with her on that one,” Draco mumbled under his breath to Daphne, “Because I definitely did sleep with Hermione Granger in the middle of July that year.”
“I heard that, Dad!” Scorpius exclaimed.
“In my defence, we were both very drunk, and I seem to remember that she cried a lot,” Draco said with a frown.
“Wow, Draco, you must be a terrible shag,” Daphne said matter of factly.
This sent the four teenagers into fits of hysterical laughter.
“Thank you for that, Daphne,” Draco remarked dryly.
Once this laughter had died down, Septimus said, “To be fair though, if you want to find out which one is your Dad, you just need to bring them closer to keep them under observation.”
“What do you mean?” Rose asked.
“Well, Professor Longbottom is at Hogwarts, so you can easily watch him and try to figure out if you share any traits with him,” Scorpius said. He had just cottoned onto his best friends plan, “If you find a way to bring Harry to Hogwarts, you can spend the next year getting close to them both and figuring out which one is your dad.”
“Does your mother not approve of your search?” Draco asked.
Victoire snorted, “Her mother doesn’t know.”
“Don’t you think you should perhaps tell her? Before she finds out through other means?” Draco asked.
Rose shook her head, “She doesn’t approve. I think she wants to forget about that time of her life. But when I find my dad, she’ll change her mind, I’m sure of it.”
“Well,” Draco said, “I disapprove of you lying to your mother. But I think I can help you get Harry to Hogwarts.”
“How?” Rose and Scorpius asked in unison.
Draco smirked slightly, “He’s on sick leave from work with an injury, and he’s going positively insane with boredom. With a nudge or two, he might be persuaded to take the vacant Defence Against the Dark Arts post.”
“That would be amazing!” Rose said eagerly.
Draco chuckled, “Well, I can’t promise anything, but I can try.”
“Thanks, Mr Malfoy!” Rose said with a smile, “But…why are you doing all of this?”
“I owe your mother and at least one of your possible fathers,” Draco said simply.
Rose groaned at this and said in exasperation, “I have two possible Fathers!”
- TBC -