Smoke billowed around the floor where Amelia and Scorpius had just disapparated. Fred watched the smoke and soon it disappeared; leaving no sign of her daughter behind. He felt his arm become prickly and a far away thought was that Hermione was clutching his arm so tight the blood had stopped flowing. He opened his mouth but nothing came out. There was only silence. Fred grabbed Hermione’s hand and led her into the kitchen, banging the door behind him.

‘Dominique, James,’ Harry muttered under his breath and took his son’s arm. James looked up at him with eyes that couldn't recognise his own father. Harry frowned, ‘go upstairs and don’t talk about this to anyone.’

Dominique obeyed at once and tugged on James’ hand who shot her a death glare and ripped his hand out of hers. Dominique widened her blue eyes at her cousin but he took no notice so she took her broom and went upstairs.

‘Where has she gone?’ James asked Harry, his hands turning steadily into fists. He could feel his veins on his arm but he just shoved his hands in his pockets and looked Harry straight in the eyes, ‘bring her back.’

‘You know I can’t, son,’ Harry muttered, for the first time he realised just how much older James was getting. He could remember him coming up to Harry‘s stomach and now he was staring straight into his eyes. Harry slowly laid a hand on his shoulder, ‘she’s apparated with him and could be anywhere by now.’

‘Dad, I need to find her,’ James tried to plead but Harry shook his head firmly.

‘You will not go after her,’ Harry said firmly, his grip tightened on James’ shoulder while James’ glare intensified. Ginny touched Harry’s arm to get his to loosen his grip but he waved her away and looked back at James, ‘give it up, son. This is not our family business and you are not going to get involved. Go upstairs, comfort Lily and don’t tell Albus what happened. I think we’ll be going home soon.’

‘Harry, Christmas is tomorrow!’ Ginny cried out and crossed her arms over her chest, ‘we can’t go home!’

‘James, go upstairs,’ Harry ignored his wife. James didn't move one inch and his eyes didn't waver at all. There was shouting coming from the kitchen and they all recognised Draco’s voice but didn't acknowledge it. Harry was losing his patience now, ‘go upstairs, right now! James!’

James turned on his heel, grabbed his broom and took off. Although he did not go upstairs, instead he marched out of the front door. Harry sighed as James got onto his broom and kicked up, soaring into the sky. Ginny lay a hand on his arm and her head rested on his shoulder.

‘Let him go, Harry. He’ll be back soon,’ she muttered.

---

Fred grabbed Hermione’s hand and led her into the kitchen which was thankfully empty. She shot Ginny an apologetic look which was not returned back since the door shut behind them. Hermione turned nervously to watch Fred as he leaned over the counter with his head in his hands. She was glad Mr and Mrs Weasley were not here, nor anyone else.

‘Fred?’ Hermione muttered, not knowing what to say or what to do.

She walked forwards, her shoes clicking on the wooden floor. Fred didn't look up at her at all so she leaned over and touched his face with her fingers. What Hermione expected was him to turn to her and hold her in his arms but he didn’t do that. Instead he did the thing she didn't expect him to do. Fred jerked away from her touch and turned his back on her, facing the window.

‘Fred, love, what’s wrong?’ Hermione asked and boldly touched his shoulder. He shrugged her off and shook his head; his red hair, getting a little too long, flopped from side to side.

‘Tell me, Hermione, is it genetic?’ he asked, still not turning around. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared out at the window where yesterday Mr Weasley was looking out of after their fight.

‘What... what are you talking about?’ Hermione stuttered, her eyebrows furrowed together and she walked so that she was standing in front of him. Fred sighed and looked into her eyes as she took his face into her hands, ‘what do you mean ‘is it genetic’?’

‘Falling for Malfoy, is it genetic?’ Fred asked and scowled at her before shaking his head so that she couldn’t hold his face anymore. Hermione watched as Fred moved away from her and bent over the counter again, holding his head, ‘first you cheat on me with Malfoy and now my own daughter-’

‘She’s not just your daughter!’ Hermione retorted, glaring at his back. Fred turned to face her, eyebrows raised, ‘if I remember correctly, you didn't even want a child so don’t you dare bring up what happened in the past between me and Malfoy as an excuse! I thought we were over that!’

‘Over that?! Don’t you realise that Amelia has apparated with Draco Malfoy’s son?!’ Fred yelled at her for the first time in years. Hermione flinched but retorted back with a glare in his direction, ‘don’t look at me like that!’

‘I told you something like this would happen, Fred, but you didn't believe me. She loves Scorpius Malfoy but you didn't seem to think she was capable of doing something like this! She takes after you! Not me!’ Hermione yelled, watching Fred glare at her with seemingly red eyes. He walked past her and got a glass out of the cupboard, ‘what are you doing?’

‘Getting a drink, do I have to ask your permission?’ Fred asked and muttered something vile under his breath that Hermione didn't catch. He couldn’t be saying anything nice in that tone. She watched as he poured himself some firewhiskey.

‘I wish you wouldn’t drink,’ she muttered, crossing her arms over her chest.

‘Don’t start,’ Fred muttered and drank a glass of firewhiskey straight; reminding himself of his drinking days and what drinking nearly led him to do. He didn't stop, just poured himself another drink until he felt Hermione’s shaking hand stop him from raising the glass to his lips, ‘get of me, Hermione. Now!’

‘Don’t you dare do this to me again,’ Hermione whispered and bought their hands down onto the table. Fred turned to look at her and she saw what she had seen all those years back; doubt. Doubt of their relationship.

Fred jerked his hand away but Hermione didn't let go off him; she couldn’t, not after everything that they had been through. He growled under his breath, looking down at her hand clenched around his, and swept his hand to the side, letting go of the glass so it slid across the room and smashed against one of the counters. Fragments of glass and alcohol poured like blood over the wooden floor.

‘Fred!’ Hermione yelled, closing her eyes as the glass shattered into a million pieces. She opened her eyes again and Fred’s face was close to hers, his jaw clenched and his hand on her arm.

‘Don’t... touch... me,’ he enunciated.

‘Let go of her or I’ll have you struggling on the floor.’ A wand was jabbing into Fred’s back and the voice was close to his ear. He glared at Hermione who was staring at the man protecting her from her own husband, ‘let her go... NOW!’

Fred let go of Hermione’s arm but the wand was still digging into his back. He turned around and was face to face with Draco Malfoy who was staring at Fred with a death glare, more intense than Hermione’s. Fred glowered at him and then turned to Hermione who wiped away her tears and looked at Draco.

‘He won’t hurt me,’ she muttered, looking at the ground. A part of her knew that Draco was just trying to protect her but, for Merlin’s sake, Fred was her husband! He would never hurt her and Draco had made the matter a million times worse that it needs to be. Hermione took Fred’s hand, ‘let’s talk alone. Come on, Fred.’

‘Where’s Scorpius? Is Potter right? Did Scorpius and... your daughter... did they apparate out of here?’ Draco asked as Hermione had no luck in getting Fred to move an inch. She stood beside Fred and nodded solemnly. Draco frowned, ‘where did they go?’

‘I don’t know, they just-’ Hermione started and Draco’s eyes caught onto hers. The brown and grey eyes stared at each other for a while until Hermione coughed and looked away. Fred took a step closer to Draco, trying to intimidate him.

‘If you come between my family once again, I will kill you,’ he said simply and glanced at Hermione who was looking at the ground like it was the most interesting thing she had ever inspected. Fred turned back to Draco who glared at him, ‘and you better hope Amelia shows up before Christmas or else I will be the first one to be on your doorstep with my wand pointing straight at you.’

Fred turned on his heel and Hermione tried to grab his hand. He dodged it and glared at her; a warning not to follow him or touch him or stop him. Hermione watched him walking to the door and she thought he was going outside but there was a pop and Fred disapparated just like her daughter.

‘Well... he’s very joyous, isn’t he?’ Draco stated after a brief moment of silence where Hermione stared at the spot her husband had just disapparated. Hermione turned and watched Draco pick up the bottle of firewhiskey. He smirked at it and slowly took a sip before frowning, ‘this is strong.’

‘For you, I guess. Not for Fred, he’s had stronger,’ Hermione frowned at her own words as she realised that Fred really could withhold lots of drinks. She sighed, ‘you should leave before the Weasley’s and Potter’s kill you.’

‘And the Granger’s?’ he asked quietly, watching her as she narrowed her eyes at him, ‘what will the Granger do?’

‘There is no Granger here. If you’re talking about me, my name is Hermione Weasley,’ she said coldly, ‘give up the habit, Malfoy.’

‘Scorpius won’t come back but... I’ll get Amelia back for you, I promise,’ Draco muttered, his eyes followed Hermione as she bent down to pick up the shards of glass that Fred had thrown.

‘Ouch!’ Hermione grumbled as a piece of glass cut deep into her finger. She stood up, letting all the glass she had in her hands fall onto the ground. Hermione sighed and walked over to the sink where she put her finger under cold water.

‘Let me see that,’ Draco muttered and without warning he took her hand in his. Hermione frowned, she hadn’t even heard him walk towards her and there was glass all over the floor. Draco waved his wand over her finger and Hermione watched as the piece of glass fell to the floor and the cut sealed itself quickly, turning pink as though a pink thread had sealed her skin together, ‘you do realise you’re a witch, right?’

‘I...’ Hermione stuttered and Draco only rolled his eyes. He waved his wand once around the floor of the room and the pieces of glass rose up into the air before vanishing completely. He sighed and turned back to her, eyebrows raised. Hermione, realising he wanted a thank you, frowned at him, ‘why can’t you be like this around Fred or the Weasley’s?’

‘Like what?’ Draco asked, inspecting her finger casually. Hermione was aware her cut was just an excuse for him now to hold her hand. She sighed, taking her hand away.

‘Why can’t you act helpful and nice around everyone else rather than a... flirting git?’ she asked.

‘I don’t need them to like me,’ Draco muttered back and took a step backwards. Hermione turned to him and felt her stomach twist as she looked into his grey eyes; she should not feel this way, she knew that but couldn't seem to help it, ‘I have to leave and find Scorpius. I never wanted him to do this, before you ask, I had no idea he was going to take her and run. I will find them and bring her back to you.’

‘Thank you, Malfoy,’ Hermione muttered gratefully.

---

‘What are we doing?!’ Amelia yelled, her hands going straight to her hair as they landed in what looked like a forest. Everything was calm and peaceful and there was snow on the ground and covering the trees; it was freezing and Amelia was in her Quidditch clothes.

‘Amelia,’ Scorpius muttered, watching her pace in her Quidditch boots. Snow crunched under her feet and her hair hung off one shoulder.

‘No, Scorpius. I have to go back! Did you see the way my dad looked at me? The disappointment and alarm in his eyes; he never looks at me like that, that’s usually my mum’s role. And James...’ Amelia let out a trembled moan and shook her head, ‘I can’t handle this, Scorpius.’

‘But, Amelia...’ Scorpius muttered and she shook her head, tears were streaming down her face like mini droplets of rain against her pale skin.

‘I don’t think this is going to work out,’ she whimpered, her lips quivered as she sat down and leaned her back against a tree.

‘You can’t do that to me, Amelia! Not after everything we’ve just been through!’ Scorpius glared at her and she whimpered once more, covering her face with her hands, ‘please... Amelia.’

Scorpius sat down on the ground in front of her, his trousers were getting wet with all the snow but he didn't care at that particular moment. He took Amelia’s hands in his so that he could see her face. Their eyes met. Grey and blue. Dark and light.

‘What about all the things you said back at Hogwarts?’ Scorpius asked in a quiet voice, ‘about how much you love me, how you really want to be with me... was that a lie?’

‘Of course not-’ Amelia frantically shook her head, she did love him and she did want to be with him but not like this. She wanted her family and Scorpius but that was too much to ask, she guessed.

‘You also said you’d never give up on us... are you giving up now?’ Scorpius asked, taking her face in his hands instead.

‘N... No, Scorpius, I love you,’ Amelia muttered, wiping  away her tears and leaning closer to him, ‘sorry, I was just... freaking out.’

‘I know, love. Stay strong, we’ll get through this together,’ Scorpius murmured and pressed his lips to hers. Amelia thankfully let his arms hold her and they leaned against the tree again in silence before Scorpius sighed, ‘but you’re right, we have to go back.’

‘Then why did we leave?’ Amelia asked, shaking her head.

‘We have to show them that we’re totally serious about our relationship. They’ll have to sort out their differences, there’s no other choice since we won’t stay away from each other,’ Scorpius explained, ‘so we’ll go back soon.’

‘But not quite yet,’ Amelia said and pulled his lips to hers again. Scorpius willingly kissed her back until they were both out of breath. They pulled back and panted, ‘I missed you, Scorpius.’

‘I missed you too, love.’