No, no, no, no, no!

It had all gone horribly wrong.

Scorpius didn't want to live in a world where his sister wasn't. He loved Freida to pieces, the idea that she had never existed... it was more horrible, more unfathomable than his mother dying.

But... but if he went back in time and undid this then his mother would die all over again.

He would technically be killing his own mother to save his sister.

Scorpius felt sick; how could he ever make that decision?

He sat numbly in the car as his parents drove them home. He was relieved to see at least the house was the same.

"You'll be alright on your own, won't you Scorp?" His dad asked, lifting his school trunk out of the boot. "Mum and I need to get back to work. We shouldn't be too late back. But if we are, you can always get Chalky to rustle you up some supper."

"Chalky?"

"The house-elf."

Scorpius's mouth hung open. They didn't have house-elves. They had Nanny Cissy to look after them.

"Isn't Nanny home?"

"Scorp, are you feeling alright?" His father frowned, looking at him in concern. "Did you bang your head or something?"

"Where's Nanny?" Scorpius pushed. He couldn't bear it if something had happened to her too.

"At Malfoy Manor I expect... why would she be here?"

Of course, Scorpius thought. She was only practically living here to look after Freida. But there was no Freida.

He thought he was going to vomit.

"Can't Mum stay home with me? I've missed her." He tried desperately. This couldn't be all for nothing.

"Sorry, Scorp," she said, sticking her head out of the window. "You know how important business is. You're the one saying that you want us to buy that new mansion in Notting Hill, after all."

"But I like this place!" Scorpius started to panic. This house seemed to be the only thing that had stayed the same about his old life, and like hell he was going to lose that too.

"Maybe you should go and have a lie down." His father frowned, hesitantly getting back into the drivers seat. "It's been a long journey for you."

The first thing Scorpius did when he entered the house was race up to his sister's room. Except it wasn't hers anymore.

What had gone wrong? Scorpius wondered as he sat in what appeared to be a study instead of his sister's pink shrine to unicorns bedroom.

He was sat at a large desk that sat central in the room. Bits of paper covered it with what appeared to be recipes scrawled over them. The walls were adorned with framed certificates to 'Ron Appetit's' for various awards.

Scorpius felt bewildered. Why hadn't Freida been born? He had just assumed she would be here like everything else. She was a fact.

Did this mean he was an only child? He couldn't understand it. His mum had told him that they had tried so hard for Freida, that she was their little miracle. Her illness had made it difficult for her to conceive but they moved hell and earth to have her.

But if his mother never got sick, then why hadn't they had more children?

Scorpius thought his head was going to implode. He had so many questions he didn't know what to do with them.

Everything had changed, including himself. And despite having his mother back, he suddenly longed for the life he had before he used the Time Turner.

He reached inside his pocket for it, but then hesitated. So much had changed from one tiny little thing he had done in the past. He had wiped his sister's entire existence just by telling his mother not to go to China. How could he be sure he wouldn't cock it up again?

He leant on the desk, putting his head in his hands and started to weep. Why hadn't he listened to his father?

"Scorp?"

Scorpius froze. He looked up and gave a small sharp intake of breath.

It was his mum.

Her face was furrowed in a frown. "What are you doing in here?"

"I thought you were going back to work?" He asked quickly, trying to cover up the fact that he had been crying.

"I made your father turn around and drop me back. I was worried about you. You don't seem yourself, Scorp."

Scorpius's heart gave a tiny hopeful flutter. This sounded like his mum, his wonderful loving mum who loved him and Freida so much she would do anything for them.

She walked into the room and cautiously perched herself on the desk next to where he was sat. "Did something happen at school? Your dad says he saw you chatting to Albus Potter. Has there been more trouble between you two?"

Trouble? Oh, this just got better and better, Scorpius thought wryly.

"NO! He's alright Mum," Scorpius insisted. "He's my cousin, why wouldn't I get on with him?"

His mother raised an eyebrow. "Scorpius, you nearly got expelled after that fight. Thank goodness your father managed to persuade Professor McGonagall not to proceed with it. I still blame your dad though; he should not have been filling your head with all his hang ups about Harry Potter. He's never changed since school, despite the fact that I tell him there's more important things in life than old school rivalries."

Scorpius looked up at his mother and had the sudden urge to hug her. But he didn't know if he did that anymore. He didn't much like the sound of the boy he was now. Had his mother's illness really made him a better person?

His mother looked back at him, genuine concern flooding her eyes. "You really don't seem yourself Scorp, are you sure nothing has happened?"

"Why didn't you have anymore kids?" He blurted out without thinking.

His mum looked slightly taken aback, but then quickly composed himself. "You know why, Scorp. The business takes up all of our time. There was just never a good opportunity."

"But Aunt Luna could have taken care of things whilst you had a break." Scorpius pushed, frustration making him want answers.

"Aunt Luna?" She gave an incredulous laugh. "First off Scorp, when did you start calling her that, and second, why would I leave my business in that scatterbrain's hands?"

Scorpius felt another uneasy twist of his stomach.

"She married George, didn't she? She's my aunt. They're my godparents. Why would you be mean about her? You gave her a third of the business when you came back from travelling. You wanted more time with me."

But his mum just looked back at him, her face completely bewildered.

"Are you sure you didn't bang your head, Scorp? Why do you think I would just give away my business? I had brilliant ideas when I came back from travelling - I had never felt more alive. I'm sorry if you felt like I neglected you Scorp, but the business has done us good, hasn't it? And what's this craziness about George marrying Loony and them being your godparents? We never even got you christened."

Scorpius shook his head in disbelief. He felt as though he couldn't breathe. If George and Luna hadn't married that meant his cousin Fred had never been born either. How could so much have changed from one tiny little thing?

It was as though he had entered some kind of crazy upside down world.

"I take it you didn't go to China then?" He said quietly, looking down morosely at the floor.

The words did something to her. He felt her gasp rather than heard it. Slowly, she slid off the desk and crouched down on the floor before him.

"Scorp?" she whispered, her voice trembling slightly. "Look at me, Scorp."

Slowly, he lifted his head and hesitantly allowed his eyes to meet hers. The same eyes that looked at him curiously only the day before when he had time travelled to the past. Except it had been fourteen years for his mother.

"It was you..." she breathed, her face filling with horror and realisation.

Scorpius swallowed. He really had cocked it all up.

"You- you were going to die," he trembled, tears spilling down his face. "You had died. It was awful. Freida and I needed you. And Dad... he wasn't coping, I was afraid he was going to kill himself."

He watched as her face paled. He thought for a horrifying moment that she was going to pass out.

"Freida?"

"My sister... your daughter. Except you never had her in this life. This is her bedroom!"

His mother closed her eyes, as if trying to take it all in.

"Are you telling me Scorp, that this life, this here isn't real?"

"I don't know Mum, I don't know what's real anymore!" He cried harder. "I'm frightened! I don't want you to be dead, but I don't want Freida not to be born either!"

"I always felt something wasn't quite right," his mum said slowly. "That something was amiss, but I could never put my finger on it. That day, in the kitchen, when... you turned up with... hang on a minute, was that Albus?"

"He's my best friend Mum, he wanted to help. So, when I showed him the Time Turner-"

"Where the hell did you get a Time Turner from?" She gasped, her eyes dancing in horror. "They were supposed to have all been destroyed!"

"It was my father's, wasn't it?"

The voice made Scorpius jump. He snapped his head up to see his father standing in the doorway.

"Oh, Scorp," He said, shaking his head, his grey eyes glinting sadly. "What have you done?"

*****