Thank you

The trial had been on a Friday, so they had the whole weekend ahead of them. Scorpius was relieved that the trial was over and decided that Lehrer could be absent for one weekend. He needed to spend some quality time with his wife. Besides, everyone would be very suspicious of everyone for a few days, after what he had revealed, so he doubted there would be many people out and about anyway. 

Their quiet Saturday, however, was interrupted when someone knocked on the door. Rose sighed but went to open it. If this was a family member, she had every intention to send them away. But it wasn't a family member. Scorpius heard her exchange words with someone in the hallway, apparently inviting them in. He sighed but rose to greet the guest. 

It was Yann Fredericks. Alone. Scorpius had hardly ever seen him alone, without either his group of friends or his family with him.

"Fredericks! Come in, sit down. Would you like some tea?" Scorpius didn't really know what else to say. Fredericks and he had never been in the same room voluntarily before, though he knew Rose had spent time with him. It was inevitable, as they had been in the same House in school and shared most of their classes. 

Rose seemed to have the same thought as he had, as she came into the room with a full tea tray. That gave them something to do with their hands, if nothing else. Yann took a cup from her with a polite smile. He didn't seem in a hurry to say anything. 

"How are you doing, Yann?" Rose asked. Scorpius was relieved. Rose was a lot better than him with people and knew Fredericks better than him. 

"Much better, now that I know it won't happen again," Yann said, though still with a slight shake in his hand that made the teacup rattle against the saucer. He sat the cup down on the table. 

"That is actually why I am here. I… I was surprised when I heard your testimony yesterday. I felt I needed to thank you. If you hadn't been there, I don't want to think about what might have happened. I…" his voice faltered at the very thought. 

This was a first. Scorpius had never received a personal thanks from any of the people he saved. That came with being in the shadow. He thought he knew a little how Fredericks felt as well. He wondered why Scorpius had bothered to rescue him, after how he had treated him, and especially Albus at school. 

"I was just doing my job, but your thank you is appreciated," he replied. He saw Rose roll her eyes. She thought he sounded too formal. Well, what else was he supposed to say? Mercifully, Rose spoke up to break the awkward tension. 

"I was very relieved when I heard that you had been found," she said. "It was before I was allowed to work on my own, so I wasn't very involved, but of course I heard about it. I was worried."

Yann turned to her. "So… so, it wasn't you that made him do it?"

"Made who do what?" Rose seemed confused.

"Made him come and rescue me." 

Rose at last seemed to understand what Yann was here for. She smiled. 

"No. As I said, I wasn't very involved in your case, other than to help with a list of your friends etc. I didn't even know Scorpius had been the one to rescue you until a few months ago."

Yann nodded before he turned to Scorpius again. Scorpius wondered if he would dare to ask the question he had probably come here to ask. Yann was a Gryffindor though, so at last it came. 

"Why did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Rescue me."

"Like I said, it was my job. You were the third such person that I rescued, and the only one where I was able to see their faces. I had only just gained access to the dungeon, in the other cases I had to wait for them to leave and sneak in."

Yann nodded but seemed to expect more. Scorpius suddenly realised what he really wanted to know. Why had he rescued him, when he had always treated Scorpius so poorly.

"I didn't know that it was you that were kidnapped until after the fact," he added. "But even if I had known, I would still have rescued you. I don't want anyone to have to experience something like that. Once I saw who you were, it was a lot easier to simply return you home, rather than to take you to the Ministry. That meant I could return more quickly and maybe catch the kidnappers before they left. Unfortunately, they discovered the escape sooner than I expected, so they were gone before I got there."

"Were there any others? After me?"

"I don't know. As you may have heard, I got kidnapped myself shortly afterwards, but I don't think there were. From what I heard, the men started to think that their first victim, who died in there, haunted the place and was the one who released their next victims. And according to Harry, there haven't been any other wizards gone missing in the same period."

"Was your kidnapping related to mine?"

"No, not at all. Unfortunately, we never have the luxury of dealing with only one source of evil at the time. I was kidnapped by a crazy witch who had a convoluted plot by which she hoped to achieve… Well, anyway, she wasn't connected to the Dark side at all, as far as we can tell." Scorpius remembered that Harry didn't want it to be known what Vane's motives were just in time. Yann didn't ask any more about that though. 

"I hope they didn't just move their business elsewhere."

"Either way, they are captured now," Scorpius said in what he hoped was a reassuring tone. 

"I don't think they did move elsewhere," Rose added. "They were still members in that dungeon, after all. And finding a place like that isn't easy."

They were silent for a time, sipping their tea. Rose wondered if she could get Yann to leave without being rude. 

"Anyway," Yann said eventually. "I mainly came to say thank you. I probably owe you my life. I also wanted to apologise…" Here he hesitated again. "Apologise for the way I treated you, when we were at school. You and Albus. You hadn't done anything to me, and I kept making comments… I… I prejudged you, and I'm sorry."

"We shouldn't let old grudges linger," Scorpius said, though he groaned internally at his formal reply. "I cannot speak for Albus, but I for one bear you no ill will. Besides, we are all adults now, aren't we?" Then, he held out his hand. Yann seemed relieved as he took it. They shook hands and smiled. Blessedly, Yann then left. Rose burst out laughing the moment she saw him Disapparate. 

"I've never seen you so awkward!" she managed to say between her peals of laughter. 

"Well, I've never been in that sort of a situation before either!" Scorpius said, a little annoyed. "I mean, when your mother came to apologise, it was different. What was I supposed to say?"

"Well, we need to work on your hospitality."

"I was plenty hospitable."

"Yes, but you also sounded like you were at a royal court, conversing with nobles or something. Not a meeting between friends."

"Well, maybe that is the problem. Fredericks was never my friend. He admitted as much himself. I hold nothing against him, as I said, but just because we had some of the same classes doesn't mean he is a friend."

Rose stopped laughing as she considered that. She forgot, at times, that Scorpius and Albus hadn't been friends with all of her friends from school. 

"Look, it was unexpected," Scorpius said. "I'll be better prepared next time." 

Rose smiled. She had no doubt he would be. 

"Well, before Yann interrupted us, what were we doing?" she asked in a teasing tone. "Oh, yes, I remember…" in just a few moments, Yann Fredericks was out of their minds completely.