Amerson

"What is this about, Potter?" Draco asked. Rose just sat down. She noticed that her mother didn't look at her either.

"We have a small situation that we need to inform you about," Hermione said, in a strange tone that was trying to be both formal and casual at the same time. Rose frowned. 

"Is this about Scorpius? Has something happened to him?" 

"Yes and no," Harry said. "I need to know, do any of you know about Amerson?"

Amerson? Rose had heard that name somewhere, but she couldn't remember where. Was it a "wanted" poster somewhere?

"Amerson!?" Draco exclaimed. "Please don't say that my son has become mixed up with him!"

"What do you know about him?" Harry asked. 

"I know that he's bad news. Quite apart from his role in the Fredericks kidnapping, rumour has it that he's up to all sorts of Dark things. He is a relatively new player though, so my information about him is limited." 

"So, none of you know who Amerson is?"

"What do you mean? Should I know him?"

"Scorpius confessed this morning, in my office, that Amerson is another one of his aliases. One he hadn't told me about. He told me this almost by accident, as he was trying to explain why he broke into a prison, took Vane with him to a Dark dungeon and left her there in chains overnight."

Rose just gaped. What? How could Scorpius do such a thing? Why? Draco seemed to be just as stunned.

"Why… Why would he do that?" Draco asked eventually. 

"I have no idea. He claims it is because he wanted her to feel just as scared as he had, when he was down in that hole, but I don't think he could fully explain it himself. Either way, it is as Amerson that he has access to said Dark dungeon. Albus caught on to the scheme and was able to prevent him from causing any permanent harm. Vane is back in her cell now."

Rose's head was spinning. Scorpius was a secret Dark wizard that had kidnapped someone? He chained people up in a Dark dungeon? How could any of this be true? Had he really just hidden this dark side of him from all of them? No. There had to be another explanation!

"As for the kidnapping, he claims he is the one who rescued Fredericks from the kidnappers, in that very dungeon, but that he was unable to catch the actual kidnappers before they ran away. He does say he would recognize them on sight though."

Rose was still in shock, so it was Draco that asked the next question. 

"But why are you telling us this? Where is Scorpius?"

"Once I heard this story, I realised that Scorpius needed some time away from his undercover work to process all of this. I suspended him for a month, or however long he needed to clear his head." Harry said. "Unfortunately, I forgot to ask him to point out who the real kidnappers were before he left. And now I can't find him. He isn't at home, and from your reaction, I take it he has not been to see you either?" Draco shook his head. 

"I'm sure he'll come back eventually," Hermione said. "For now, if you find him, please help him get through this. We all know that this isn't who Scorpius is, but his time in that hole in the ground changed him more than we thought."

Rose still hadn't said anything. Harry handed her a binder with photos of known dark wizards from the member list Albus had found. She accepted it, but still didn't say anything. What could she say? Sorry? She also wondered why Scorpius hadn't told her about any of this. How much did Albus know? This was probably why he had been given desk duty. 

"If you need to, take the rest of the day off, Rose," Harry said. "I know it is a lot to take in."

"I should have been more suspicious," she said. "They all took off after dinner yesterday, claiming to have some business to attend to. But I was so caught up thinking about the meeting between the Crickeys today that I didn't pay enough attention…"

"Don't worry about that now Rose. They wouldn't have answered you even if you did ask. And you wouldn't have been able to follow them."

Rose still felt like she should have known. She could at least have had some warning about what was about to happen! Instead of getting it all at once in a shock like this. She barely registered it when Draco got to his feet and gave her a hug. 

"Come on, Rose. Let's go to my house and have a nice cup of tea." he said. She silently followed him, not even saying goodbye to her mother or Uncle Harry. Before she had time to think much about it, she was in Draco's living room with a fresh cup of tea. That was when the tears started coming. Draco silently sat next to her as she got all her tears out. They didn't need to say anything. 

Later, when she went back home, she was hoping against hope that Scorpius would be there, or at the least left a message. But there was nothing. 

***

Almost a full month passed with no sign of Scorpius. Rose went to work but functioned largely on autopilot. She barely even registered that Sam Crickey's case came up in the court system, and it largely ruled in his favour. He had to serve 6 months in prison, but considering what he had been part of, it could have been a lot worse. He seemed relieved. Rose hadn't been able to force herself to be present, but Albus had told her about it afterwards, as he had been called as a witness. Tom had seemed relieved as well. 

Rose spent most of her free time looking for her husband. She went all over Britain, every location they had ever been together. She came to family dinners but was usually quiet and sat in a corner. Most of the family noticed this sudden change, but few of them knew exactly why Scorpius wasn't there. To avoid rumours spreading, Harry had made a claim that he had sent Scorpius abroad on an important secret mission. Rose was grateful, though it meant that she had to endure family members telling her that she had nothing to worry about, that Scorpius would be fine. 

One day, Rose was in a briefing with almost every Auror. Harry came in and started talking about something that was probably very important, but she barely processed a word of it. That is, until Al elbowed her in the side and pointed to Harry. 

"… Malfoy, are you even listening?" Harry said, annoyed. 

"Yes, sorry, I was just… What were you saying?"

"I was saying that this mission may be the most dangerous thing we've done since the events in Norway. So, I need you all to be on your toes. Do you need to be benched?"

Rose took a quick look at the board in front. Taking down a Dark dungeon? Was it THAT Dark dungeon? She couldn't miss this. 

"No. No, I'm fine. I only lost focus for a minute."

"Well, please pay attention. This is important."

"Yes, sir," Rose said with burning cheeks. She really should pay better attention. Why were they only now taking down the Dark dungeon, if it was the same one Scorpius had located?

"Our best course of action is to find a way to get the guard inside to open the door himself. We don't want to wait for anyone else to exit, so our best hope is either to impersonate someone whom we know isn't there, or pretend we are a new patron. We know the passwords, so that should get some of us past the doors."

Rose nodded along as Harry continued with his briefing. Scorpius would have been very helpful in this mission. He could have gotten them inside.

"What about Amerson, sir?" one of the Aurors asked. "Didn't you say he was a member as well?" Rose stiffened. That could be a problem. She highly doubted Scorpius would be there, when he hadn't been seen for so long, but what if he was? 

"Forget Amerson. He is no longer a primary suspect, though he is still a person of interest. If you see him, try to apprehend him, but do not hurt him. He is not who we thought he was." The Auror seemed confused but nodded. 

"That goes for everyone you find in there. Apprehend everyone, but only use force if they begin it. Most likely, we will catch them by surprise. There seems to be a sort of meeting scheduled for today, to initiate new members, so be on the alert for extra guards. Anyone we can catch in there today is one less person we need to find later. Questions?"

A meeting? That would also perhaps be somewhere Scorpius would feel that he had to be. She hoped he was not. That did give her an idea though.

"I may have a way for us to get inside," she said. Harry looked surprised but smiled as she explained her plan.