The sentence played over and over in my head as I left the Ministry of Magic. The words sunk into my brain. What Draco said was true. Harry and I did curse the Malfoy family. It all started when I was placed on their doorstep as a baby. I changed their lives forever.

I didn't want to go back home, so I decided to go to the one spot I hadn't been in a long time: Grimmauld Place.

I hurried along the sidewalk and in a matter of minutes I was in front of the building. I watched as it slowly separated, revealing another door. I went up to the door and opened it, entering inside.

Grimmauld Place looked like it did twenty-three years ago. The place was empty and dusty, the tables still looked old and untouched. I headed upstairs and found the old bedroom that I stayed in the summer before I started my fifth year at Hogwarts.

I went into Sirius' room and remembered when Harry and I found the letters my parents left me. I went back downstairs and went to the room where the Black Family Tree was painted all over the walls. I looked over at Sirius' name and the black spot on the wall where his face would've been. I remembered when Sirius told us here that Harry and I weren't bad people. I remembered hugging Sirius and being able to smell that weird dog scent he always had on him.

I went down to the kitchen, remembering eating here with the Weasleys and some members of the Order. I remembered when Kreacher and Dobby Apparated into the kitchen and brought Mundungus Fletcher back with them. The more I looked around the house, the more I was reminiscing about the days when I was a stupid, hormonal teenager.

In the kitchen, I sat down on the floor and opened the cabinet that Kreacher spent most of his time in and looked at the things that Kreacher had collected in his time of staying in this house. Most of it was old, stale bread and ripped up napkins. I remembered Kreacher and how he was grouchy all the time. He was the complete opposite of Dobby, which made me think about the moment when Dobby died in Harry's arms. The memory made my heart sink. Thinking of Dobby made me wonder what things would've been like if Bellatrix hadn't thrown that knife at him as we escaped Malfoy Manor that day.

"Hello? Anyone here?" I heard a female voice call out.

"Down in the kitchen!" I yelled back. I heard footsteps get louder and louder until they died down. I turned around and sighed. "Let me guess, Harry sent you?"

Ginny chuckled a little and shook her head. "No one sent me. I came here on my own."

I stood up, wiping off the dust that got on my clothes. "How did you know that I was here?" I asked.

"Well, I figured you'd want to be anywhere else but your house," she replied, folding her arms over her chest. "So I thought about all the places that meant something to you. It was either here or Hogwarts, and I didn't think you'd go all the way to Hogwarts, given the circumstances, so I came here." She walked towards me. "You want to talk about it?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "What's the point? Draco's right. Harry and I did put a curse on the Malfoy family, especially me. I ruined their whole lives by being placed at their doorstep as a baby."

Ginny shook her head. "You didn't curse the Malfoy family, Max."

"How do you know that?" I asked.

"I just do," she answered.

I scoffed, rolling my eyes. "Thanks, Gin, that made me feel a lot better," I said sarcastically, sitting down in a chair.

"Look, Draco loves you. If he really thinks that you and Harry put a curse on the Malfoy name, then he wouldn't have chosen to be your friend. He wouldn't have chosen to fall in love with you." Ginny sighed, sitting down in a chair beside me. "You gave Draco the opportunity that some men never get to have."

"And what's that?" I questioned.

"The opportunity to be a father," she answered. "And you have to admit that he's a great father to Scorpius."

I nodded my head and smiled a little. "Yeah, he is." I thought about Scorpius and sighed. "Where the hell do you think our kids are at?"

Ginny shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, Max. They could be anywhere at this point."

I rubbed my head, knowing that Ginny was right. There was no telling where Scorpius and Albus went. Why did they even jump off the train? Did they not want to go to Hogwarts anymore and just decided not to tell us? What if they had gotten hurt, or even killed? The thought of them being dead made my heart hurt.

"So, are you going to go back home tonight or stay here for the night?" Ginny asked.

"Maybe I should just stay here," I responded. "I don't think I can even look at Draco right now."

Ginny sighed, nodding her head. "Okay. If you need anything, you can always come to me."

I gave Ginny a weak smile. "Thanks, Gin."

She smiled back and stood up from her chair. "See you later, Max." With that, she went up the stairs, leaving me alone in the kitchen.

I was wondering what Draco was doing right now. Was he at home? Was he wondering where I was at? Was he thinking about what he said to me and Harry? Hell, was he even thinking about me at all?

As I was leaving the kitchen, I let out a yawn. Instead of heading upstairs to crash in one of the bedrooms, I made the choice to sit on a chair in the living room and not go to bed just yet. I took the blanket that was hanging over the chair and unfolded it, covering my legs. I grabbed the pillow that was sitting on the chair and placed it against my head. I huffed a sigh and looked up at the ceiling, feeling my eyes getting heavy already.

*******

"Potter! Potter, wake up!"

I groaned and opened my eyes, wondering what time it was. I got up from my bed, the cold floor giving me goosebumps. I opened the door and rubbed my head. "Draco?" I asked.

"Do you realize what time it is?" he asked.

"Let me guess, time for me to get up and make breakfast for everyone?" I retorted.

"Wow, you're so smart, Potter. Too bad you can't actually wake up on time to make breakfast," Draco spat at me. "You look terrible. Like, worse than usual."

"Well, that's what happens when you don't get any sleep," I snapped. "I was having another nightmare. I thought I saw my parents die. There was this other man, too. He was shouting something. It sounded like he was saying--"

"I don't care about your stupid nightmare, Potter," Draco cut me off. "Hurry up and get downstairs. You know how Father is. He's not a very patient man."

I rolled my eyes and followed Draco down the stairs. Halfway down the steps, the house around me began to dissolve into darkness. I was now surrounded by trees and Scorpius was now in front of me. However, he wasn't wearing his black Hogwarts robes. He was wearing red robes instead.

All of a sudden, he began to speak in Parseltongue. "He's coming. He's coming."

Then, I heard my name being whispered. "Maxxxinnnee Pottterrrr..."

"SCORPIUS!" I shouted, opening my eyes and shooting up from my seat. I began to pant, pacing the room back and forth. "We were surrounded by trees. Scorpius was standing there in red robes."

What the hell did I just dream about? I continued to pace back and forth in the living room, trying to figure out what the dream meant. Where were we at? Why was Scorpius wearing red robes?

Wait. Red robes. Durmstrang had red robes.

"But we weren't at Durmstrang," I said to myself. Then, I thought about the trees again. Suddenly, it hit me. "The Forbidden Forest," I muttered. Before I knew it, I ran out of Grimmauld Place and made sure it was hidden like before. "Harry, you better be at Hogwarts by the time I get there."

*******

"Maxine, are you sure that you saw your son?" Professor McGonagall asked me after I entered her office by Floo Network and explained to her what I dreamt about.

"I'm positive, Professor," I replied. "He was standing in front of me. I'm about to send a Patronus to Harry--"

All of a sudden, Harry stumbled into McGonagall's office, followed by Ginny. Well, I didn't need to send that Patronus after all.

"We're here," Harry announced.

"We can see that," I replied. "Let me guess, you saw Albus in the Forbidden Forest wearing Durmstrang robes?"

Harry nodded his head. "You saw Scorpius, didn't you?"

I nodded my head. "Yeah, I did."

"And we don't know where in the Forbidden Forest?" McGonagall spoke up.

"No. There were just trees, but we know that it's the Forbidden Forest," I said.

"She's right. We haven't had dreams like this in years. But Albus was there in my dream. I know he was."

"And I know that Scorpius was in mine," I added.

"We need to get searching as quickly as possible," Ginny said.

McGonagall nodded her head in agreement. "I can give you Professor Longbottom. His knowledge of plants might be useful. Also--"

Before McGonagall could finish her sentence, a rumble came from the chimney. Concerned, McGonagall went to approach the chimney when Hermione tumbled out and landed in the middle of everyone.

"Is it true? Can I help?" she asked, panting.

"Minister, this is quite unexpected..." McGonagall stated, surprised that Hermione was here.

Ginny slowly raised her hand. "That may be my fault. I persuaded them to put out an emergency edition of the Daily Prophet. You know, asking for volunteers."

McGonagall sighed, nodding her head. "Right. Very sensible. I expect there will be quite a few more showing up soon."

Ron was the next one to show up. He was covered in soot and was wearing a gravy-stained dinner napkin.

"Have I missed anything? I couldn't work out which Floo to travel to. I ended up in the kitchen somehow," he explained.

"On accident or on purpose?" I asked him.

"Ha-ha, very funny, Max," he said, pulling the napkin off of him. "It's nice to know that you still have a sense of humor." He looked at Hermione, who was glaring at him. "What?"

And finally, not to my surprise, Draco came down the chimney hard, also covered in soot and dust like Ron was. "Sorry about your floor, Minerva," he said, standing up and brushing the soot off himself.

McGonagall let out a scoff. "I dare say it's my fault for owning a chimney."

Harry looked at Draco. "Quite a surprise to see you, Draco."

"I'm not," I mumbled.

"Well, I do trust your luck and my wife's luck," he responded. "You guys are always where the action is at, and I need my son back with me."

Ginny sighed and looked at everyone. "Then let's get to the Forbidden Forest and find them both."

*******

Professor McGonagall and Hermione made the decision to stay behind at the castle in case Scorpius and Albus showed up. Harry, Ron, Draco, Ginny, and I walked down to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, where Hagrid's Hut was still standing.

"Okay, so I think we should all split up," Ginny said to everyone.

"I'll go with Weasley," Draco quickly spoke up, staring at me. "Weaslette, you can come with us as well."

Ginny, who was slightly confused and annoyed by the nickname, reluctantly nodded her head. "Okay, that works, I guess."

"Great, I'll go with Harry, then," I added, pulling him by his arm. "Let's go, dear brother."

Harry didn't have time to argue as I pulled him away from the others and dragged him into the Forbidden Forest with me. "What was that all about?" he asked.

"What?" I questioned.

"You and Draco. Are you two not talking to each other?" Harry raised his eyebrows, looking a bit concerned. "Is it because of what he said earlier this evening? About me and you being a constant curse on the Malfoy family?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," I lied.

Harry yanked his arm away from me. "Don't play dumb, sis. It's obvious that what he said hurt you," he said.

I stopped and looked at Harry. "So what if it did? I can't act like he didn't say it," I responded.

"Max, you shouldn't let it get to you."

"And why is that?"

"Because you know that he's wrong."

"He's not wrong, Harry."

"No, you're wrong, Max. You're just too blind to see that," he retorted, walking past me. "Albus! Scorpius!"

I rolled my eyes, catching up with Harry. "I don't think they're going to answer," I said, changing the subject.

"Well, it's worth a shot," he replied. "At least I'm trying, unlike you."

I groaned. "Fine. I'll try it. Albus! Scorpius!" I waited for one of them to respond. Of course, we heard nothing. "See? I told you. They're not going to answer."

SNAP!

"What was that?" Harry asked, looking around, a bit worried at the sound of twigs snapping.

"How am I supposed to know?" I retorted.

SNAP!

"Albus? Scorpius?" Harry called out.

We then heard the sound of hooves. Startled, Harry and I didn't move a muscle. Suddenly, a centaur finally stepped forward, standing tall in front of us.

"Harry Potter and Maxine Malfoy," he announced.

"Bane," we said at the same time.

"Good. You still recognize us," Harry added.

"You two have grown older," he said.

"We have," Harry and I replied.

"But not wiser. You two have trespassed on our land," he explained.

"We have always respected the centaurs. We are not enemies. You fought bravely at the Battle of Hogwarts, and we fought beside you," Harry pointed out.

"I did my part," he responded. "But for my herd and our honor. Not for you two. And after the battle, the forest was deemed centaur land. And if you're on our land, without permission, then you are our enemy."

"Our sons are missing, Bane," I spoke up.

"Yes, we need help finding them," Harry added.

"And they are here? In the forest?" Bane questioned.

Well, we saw them in a dream. Why else would we be trespassing on your land?

"Yes," Harry answered.

"Then they're both as stupid as you two," Bane retorted.

"Can you just help us, Bane? Please?" I begged, raising my eyebrows.

Bane paused and looked at us imperiously. Then, he continued. "I can only tell you what I know. However, I tell you not for your benefit, but for the benefit of my herd. The centaurs do not need another war."

"Neither do we!" Harry raised his voice, getting a little impatient. "What do you know?"

"I've seen both of your sons. Seen them in the movements of the stars."

"The stars?" I repeated. "You've seen them in the stars?"

"I can't tell you two where they are. I can't tell you how you two will find them," Bane replied.

"But you've seen something? You've divined something?" Harry questioned.

"There is a black cloud around your sons, a dangerous black cloud."

"Around Albus and Scorpius?" Harry asked.

"A black cloud that may endanger us all. You'll find your sons. But then you could lose them forever." With that, Bane made a loud cry that was similar to a horse. He stormed off into the night, leaving us behind.

I shook my head, then looked at my brother. "Harry, I'm not losing my son."

"I'm not losing mine, either," he replied. "We need to find them before anything happens to them."

I nodded my head in agreement, feeling more determined than ever to find Scorpius. Harry and I continued with our journey in the forest, calling out Albus and Scorpius' names, wondering what the hell those two boys got themselves into.

~~~~~~~

A/N: FINALLY! I FINISHED THIS DAMN CHAPTER.

Sorry it took hella long. This was just hard to write because I had no idea what I was doing. XD

Anyway, tell me what you think! Next chapter will NOT be in Max's POV. It will be in someone else's.

No, not Harry's. It will be a different character this time. ;)

This chapter is dedicated to Audrey (arty_writes) because she had to put up with me and my rambling about this chapter. :) Thanks, girl! (and she's having a shitty day so go give her some love and follow her and check her awesome stories).

Comment, vote, love me. Please? XD

-A