Sympathy

Rose went back to St. Mungo's to talk to Tom again. She was not looking forward to this conversation. She hoped Tom had some other family that would help him out. He had been in trouble previously and Sam had done his best to keep him straight since then. What would happen when he was gone? Rose didn't know what would happen to Sam, but she suspected he would be held in custody for a while longer. She understood Scorpius' feelings about him completely, but she also felt bad for Tom. And to some extent for Sam as well. He had been manipulated and terrified. Not everyone had the ability to be brave in a tough situation. 

Tom looked up at her as she entered his room. His eyes were full of pain, more than they had been yesterday. He had the Daily Prophet in front of him. Had he realised that his brother had been involved in that? 

"How are you feeling today, Tom?" 

He didn't answer. There was an awkward silence in the room. 

"It was Dawson that arrested me," Tom said at last. "And it says here that it was someone pretending to be Dawson that kidnapped those people. Was my brother involved in that too? I know he's worked with Dawson before." 

Rose sighed. "If I had known that they would publish that today, I would have told you yesterday. I wanted you to have a night's sleep away from Azkaban before you had to face that. But yes, your brother was forced by the Dawson impersonator to be a part of that project. The impersonator threatened to place you in a cell with a Death Eater if he didn't cooperate." She told most of what she knew about Sam's involvement but avoided giving details about what they had gone through that wasn't already mentioned in the article. Tom was almost crying when she finished. 

"What's going to happen to Sam now?"

"I don't know. That is not up to me to decide. He is in custody for now."

"Will he end up in Azkaban?"

"No, probably not. If nothing else, since he was once a guard there, there is a general rule that people who have worked there as guards can't be there as prisoners later."

"But will he end up in prison?"

"I don't know. I'm sorry I can't tell you more, it is still not decided."

"What about the person who did all this? The impersonator?"

"Oh, she's in jail, not the same place as your brother, and will most likely stay there for the rest of her life."

"Will you send her to Azkaban?"

"I don't know."

"You should. She deserves it."

"It is not up to me, but I don't disagree with that." 

"What's going to happen to me now?"

"You are free to go. You shouldn't have been arrested in the first place and definitely not been sent to Azkaban. I have a pouch here, with a letter of apology from the Minister for Magic and some money as recompense for the trials you've suffered." Rose gave a fairly large pouch of money to Tom, who's eyes went wide. It was about 100 Galleons, which wasn't that much but it was the most she could get on such short notice. She probably shouldn't be handing him a lot of money all at once anyway. The letter specified that he was entitled to more recompense that he could get from the Ministry at the time he chose. When she found out about the compensation, she no longer felt so bad about leaving him to fend for himself. That money should last him a while, if he was careful.

After Tom had recovered from the shock of seeing all that money though, he looked sad again. He seemed to want to ask something else but wasn't sure if he was allowed to. 

"How old are you, Tom?" she asked, to get the conversation started again.

"I'm… I'm 19," he replied. "I turn 20 in just a few months though."

"Do you have anywhere to stay?"

"No. Sam had the keys to the house, and I don't know if that technically belongs to us anymore. We had to mortgage the house when our parents died a few years ago and we haven't paid much of that back. I think the Ministry confiscated it… I don't really know, Sam's the one who takes care of things like that."

"I see. Well, if you want, I can see if we have somewhere for you to stay temporarily while you figure out things like that."

"Can I see my brother? He would know about things like that."

"I don't know where he is at present but that should be possible to arrange." 

"With this money, I can take a room in the Leaky Cauldron," Tom replied. "You don't have to help me."

"I want to help you though."

"Why? After all my brother and I have done to you, why are you helping me?"

"No one should be all alone in the world, Tom. And I know that you haven't done anything wrong in this situation. That being said, I should advise you to stay away from Knockturn Alley and especially Scorpius Malfoy and James Potter in any form. They are not quite recovered from what has happened to them yet."

"I understand. I don't want to be a bother. It seems that no matter where I go, I cause trouble."

"You shouldn't think like that. In any case, you need to be strong now, for your brother. He will need to know that you can take care of yourself, if he cannot be with you. Show him that you will stay out of trouble. That is probably the best thing you can do for him."

"I want to stay out of trouble. I never want to go to jail again."

"That is good. Anyway, you are free to leave. The Healers are satisfied, so you are officially discharged. I will be in touch to let you know what will happen to your brother."

"Thank you. I am sorry for all the trouble we've caused you. And your husband. I hope he recovers fully."

Rose smiled as they parted ways. She couldn't help but worry though. What would Tom do with his life if Sam ended up having to go to prison? She suspected he would have to serve some time. She had never really thought about what happened to the people around the person she arrested. They were innocent, but often suffered ill consequences because of what their family member had done.

She couldn't think like that. If she started going down that route, she would soon think that no one should be in prison, because their families would suffer because of it. As an Auror, she couldn't go down that path. But she had never thought she would find herself in this type of situation, with conflicting loyalties. Though it shouldn't really be any question. She barely even knew the Crickeys. And Scorpius was her husband, her family. Her loyalty was with him. But she couldn't help feeling that she needed to help Tom as well. Either way, she really couldn't do much to help Sam. She hadn't been the one to arrest him, nor did she have any say over his punishment. Honestly, she was glad that she wouldn't be the one to decide that.

It was time to get back to work. She would ask Harry about arranging a meeting between Sam and Tom, then she would go back to focusing on her husband. He was the one who needed her love and support the most. She hoped he wouldn't go back to work too soon, having to pretend to be a Dark Wizard may not be a good idea for him right now.