Before I knew it, Draco, Scorpius, and I were heading back to King's Cross on the first day of September. Scorpius was starting his second year at Hogwarts, along with Albus and Rose. My son seemed excited to go back to Hogwarts. I was hoping the others would be excited, too, especially Albus.

Draco and Scorpius went through the platform, followed by me. I caught up with the two and watched Draco help Scorpius get his trunks onto the train.

"Can you believe that he's going to be a second year, Draco?" I spoke up.

Draco sighed and looked down at Scorpius. "I know. He's growing up so fast."

Before I knew it, I wrapped my arms around Scorpius. "I'm going to miss you!"

"Okay, okay...Mum, get off of me!" Scorpius pushed me away, fixing his hair.

I huffed a sigh and then spoke up again. "Now, Scorpius, I want you to keep an eye on Albus."

"Max, I'm sure Albus will be fine," Draco assured me.

I looked at Draco. "I'm worried about him. I have the right to worry about my nephew."

"Well, don't forget that you have a son to worry about, too," Draco snapped.

Hurt at the comment Draco said, I gave Scorpius one last glance and a kiss on the forehead. "I love you, Scorpius. Behave this year, okay?"

He nodded his head. "Okay, Mum. I love you, too."

I shot Draco a hurtful look and then left to find a member of the Potter family. I scanned around, seeing no sign of the Potter family anywhere. I felt the eyes of everyone on the platform staring at me as I walked by them. I was wondering if people would continue to do that for the next twenty years.

I finally found Harry and Albus entering the platform, followed by James, Ginny, and Lily. Albus looked as if he didn't want Harry to be with him. I made my way towards them.

"Hey, guys," I greeted them.

"Hey, Max," Harry said back.

"Hi, Albus," I said to him, looking down at my nephew.

He didn't respond and looked down at his trunk.

"Apparently, second years don't like to be seen with their dads," Harry told me.

"No. It's just...you're you and...I'm me and--"

"Is it because people are looking?" Harry questioned. "Albus, they're looking at me, not you."

"Yeah, at Harry Potter and his disappointing son," Albus retorted.

"What does that mean?" Harry asked

"At Harry Potter and his Slytherin son," Albus added.

"Oh, Albus, not that again..." I spoke up. "It's been a year already. I'm sure the nicknames have all stopped by now."

Then, as if it was perfect timing, James came strolling behind us and said, "Slithering Slytherin, stop with your dithering, time to get onto the train."

"Unnecessary, James!" Harry scolded at him.

"See you at Christmas, Dad!" James shouted at him.

Harry shook his head, then looked back at Albus. "Al--"

"My name is Albus, not Al," Albus said, cutting Harry off. "I'll see you at Christmas." With that, Albus took his things and headed off without saying a goodbye.

Harry, who looked heartbroken, sighed Then, he looked at me. "I wanted to be here with him," he said.

"Let me try talking to him," I replied.

"Are you sure?" Harry shot me a questioning look.

"Positive. I mean, after all, I am his favorite aunt," I responded, giving Harry a grin.

Harry chuckled. "If you say so, Max."

I smiled and followed Albus. Once he loaded his trunks on the train, I called out, "Albus!"

He turned around and rolled his eyes. "Did my dad send you over here to talk to me?"

"No, he didn't. I came here on my own because I wanted to talk to you."

Albus reluctantly followed me to a spot that was not as crowded and he stared at me. "Okay, what is it?"

"Albus, don't give me that look."

"What look?"

"That one," I answered, pointing at his face. "So, what's really bothering you?"

"Nothing is bothering me, Aunt Max. I'm fine," Albus replied.

I was not convinced. "Albus, are the other kids being mean to you? Is that it?"

Albus looked down at his feet. "They call me names. I'm known as the Slytherin Squib at Hogwarts. I'm not good at magic."

I sighed and gave Albus a sad look. "I know how you feel, Albus. People made fun of me at Hogwarts, too. Uncle Ron, Aunt Hermione, and your parents were on the same boat as me."

"What about Uncle Draco?" he asked.

"Yes, even people made fun of him." Yeah, everyone in Gryffindor House. "The point is that you can get through this. I know that being a Potter isn't easy, but things will get better. I promise."

"But what if they don't? All I want is to make my dad happy, and all I do is disappoint him."

"Your father could never be disappointed in you, unless you get expelled from Hogwarts or something like that...Anyway, as long as you're happy, then that's all that matters to him."

"Yeah, whatever," I heard Albus mutter. "I've gotta go now. Scorpius said he'd save me a spot on the train."

"Okay, have fun this year," I replied. I watched Albus as he turned around and ran towards the train. I sighed and walked back to where Harry was standing. Surprisingly, I saw Draco standing over there as well.

"Ah, Max, you're here," Draco announced as I approached them. Draco looked at Harry. "We need a favor."

"We do?" I asked in confusion, staring at Draco, furrowing my eyebrows.

"Yes," he replied, not taking his eyes off of my brother. "These rumors--about Scorpius' parentage--they don't seem to be going away. The other Hogwarts students tease Scorpius about it relentlessly. If the Ministry could release a statement reaffirming that all Time-Turners were destroyed in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries..."

"Scorpius is being teased at Hogwarts?" I cut him off. "No one told me this."

Harry, who ignored me, huffed a sigh. "Draco, just let it blow over. They'll soon move on."

"But my son--"

"Our son," I corrected him.

An impatient Draco continued. "Scorpius is suffering. He needs all the support he can get."

Harry sighed. "Listen, Draco, if you answer the gossip, you feed the gossip. There've been rumors that Voldemort had a child for years. Scorpius is not the first to be accused. I thought Max would've told you that. The Ministry, for your sake as well as ours, needs to steer well clear."

Draco nodded his head and turned to face me. "Let's go."

I waved at Harry and followed Draco out of the platform and back to the Muggle world. We didn't say a word to each other on the way back home. I was irritated with Draco just as much as he was irritated with me. When we arrived at home, I headed straight for the kitchen and grabbed a glass and a bottle of firewhisky.

"Why didn't you tell me that these rumors about Voldemort having a child have been going on for years?" he asked.

"Why didn't you tell me that our son was getting bullied at school?" I retorted, pouring some firewhisky in the glass.

"Because you were too busy worrying about our nephew to worry about our son!"

"If I had known that Scorpius was getting bullied, then I would've talked to him. But I didn't, because I didn't even know about it, but you did! You knew and you didn't even bother to tell me!" I took another swig at my drink, then continued. "Do you not trust me? Does Scorpius not trust me?"

"Do you not trust me, Max?" he retorted. "You didn't bother to tell me that these rumors about Voldemort had been going on for years!"

"Because I didn't think it mattered!" I shouted. "They all eventually blew over, and so will this one about our son." I paused, then continued. "Now, answer my question. Why didn't you tell me about what was going on with Scorpius?"

Draco exhaled loudly, sitting down at the kitchen table. I sat down beside him, my drink still in my hand. "He specifically wrote to me, Max. He didn't want me telling you about what was going on."

"Why not?"

"Because he's a boy. He just feels more comfortable talking to me about this. It's not that he doesn't trust you. He just needed to talk to his dad for once." Draco took my free hand. "Scorpius knows that he can come to you if he needs anything."

I looked down at my glass, swishing the drink in circles. I set it down on the table and looked up at Draco. It was good to know that everything was sorted out between the three of us.

"I'm sorry I overreacted," I said.

"It's okay," he replied, taking my hand in his. "I'm sorry for snapping at you."

I gave him a weak smile. "Want a drink?"

Draco chuckled. "It's like you read my mind."

~~~~~~~

A/N: Helluuuur.

I know this chapter took forever to write, but school is just...ugh. College life is not fun at all.

So yeah, what did you think? What do you think will happen next?

Dedicated to damnthatkookie for the banner above! :)

Comment, vote, I'll try to get a faster update. :)

-A