Father-son meeting

Two days later, Scorpius was awakened in his cell again.

"Malfoy. You have a visitor! Get up. Seems even Death Eaters are allowed visitors now."

Scorpius got on his feet, though with some difficulty. The guards had started chaining him to the wall. Clearly, they had heard the stories of what he had done to Rose.

"Again? I seem to be popular. Who is it this time? More depressing news?" Scorpius asked lethargically. He was still worried about what Rose and Albus had said.

"I am sure I can provide some. Though I prefer to be a bringer of good news," Draco said in his normal drawl.

"Dad! What are you doing here?" Scorpius tried to walk over to the door, but the chain stopped him. The guard smirked at him.

"Well, my son is here, so I figured I would drop by. How are you doing son?" Draco looked at the guard. "Could we have some privacy please? You have already searched every inch of me. I don't have anything to give him. You even took the food I had. And he is not going to be able to touch me."

The guard waited for a long 20 seconds. Then he reluctantly left. Scorpius feared he would pay for it later.

"I am sorry, Dad. I know you hate to see me like this. That you hoped my life would be better than yours."

"You are not the one to be sorry. I am very proud of you. You did much better than I did with the lure of the Dark Arts. Besides, this whole situation means I get to know that lovely girl of yours a lot better."

"You've met Rose?"

"Met her? Didn't she tell you? She is staying with me. That way, she doesn't have to argue with her family daily, but she is also not alone. Hmm, you are not supposed to say that to anyone in her family except Albus though. She really is a remarkable young woman. I understand your fascination with her. And she seems very much in love with you."

"I am very much in love with her as well. I am still in awe that she actually returns my love. I keep thinking it is just an act she puts up to annoy her mother, or a love of gratitude or something. She could choose almost anyone."

"But she chooses you. I must admit, I thought her love for you was mostly gratitude as well. But it is real, as far as I can tell. When you get out of here…"

"If I get out of here," Scorpius interrupted.

"When you get out of here," Draco insisted, "You should have a proper wedding. With her whole family. And, if they concede, take their name. The Malfoy name brings little good with it."

"What? Would you agree to that? That would mean that the main branch of the Malfoy family would be extinct in the male line."

"I turned my back on that sort of nonsense years ago. I considered changing my own name at my wedding, but I figured that my reputation could not be salvaged with a new name. You, however, need not be judged by other people's past mistakes. You are better than many Malfoys. You have a chance at a life without feeling hate and prejudice as soon as your name is mentioned. Take it."

"I will think about it. But I doubt that Rose's family will agree to it. If we are able to get married at all, I suspect it will be against their wishes"

"Don't worry about that. Oh, by the way, your trial is in three weeks."

"Three weeks? What is taking so long?" Scorpius didn't want to stay here for three more weeks. Azkaban was probably not that much better, even if the Dementors were gone. But if he ended up there at least he would know how long he would be there and what his future would be. This uncertainty was the worst.

"There are many other trials as well. Yours will be the last for the people who were in Malfoy Manor. The Minister will probably use some of them to get statements on your behaviour to use against you," Draco explained.

"Great. I am sure she will love hearing about how I kept her daughter chained in my room. Sharing the bed with her. Or the fact that they all seem to think we have been intimate. That is not going to make her like me more. I suspect that is half the reason the guards insist on having me chained like this."

"If that is the worst of it, you should be clear," Draco said. "You are in fact not charged with taking advantage of Rose in any way, though they might try to bake that into the other charges."

"There is also the small detail of me holding a sword to the Minister for Magic's neck and being ordered to murder her."

"Which you failed to do. Mostly because you yourself had alerted the Ministry of what was about to happen."

"It was Albus' owl and Rose's letter. There is no proof that I was also in on that."

"Let us worry about that. Listen, we are working out a plan. Albus and Rose are both trying to go through every scenario to prepare what to say. She is quite determined."

Scorpius wanted to change the subject. "I met Brutus. He was the one inviting us to Malfoy Manor."

"So I heard. In the end, this situation is beneficial to that case. He had no right living there yet, and he is now facing charges for Death Eater activities."

"He took pictures," Scorpius said with gritted teeth. "While Rose was tortured. He enjoyed it. I owe him for that if nothing else. But I also made an agreement with him about the manor. He named me his heir, in return, he got to live in the manor as long as he lived."

"Who heard this agreement? Was it written down?"

"No writing. Only the two of us and the first Voldemort impostor heard it."

"It is your word against Brutus' then, if this ever becomes an issue. Most likely, he faces life in Azkaban, so it won't be a problem. Anyway, if he does get this deal officialised, you are his heir. Let's focus on your trial first. The manor is not important."

"Do you know what they are planning to do? Rose said that they would also risk going to Azkaban, if the plan backfires?"

"Yes. Though the chance of that is negligible."

"I don't want them to risk that for my sake."

"I am afraid you don't have a say in that matter. Rose is quite determined."

"It's my life on the line. They should not be dragged down with me."

"Sadly, that is not something you can forbid them. Besides, as I said, the chance is negligible. Especially for Rose."

Scorpius sighed. "There really is no stopping them, is it?"

"No. As I said, Rose is quite a stubborn young woman. Possibly only matched by her mother. And they will get to match stubbornness at your trial. I just hope we all get out without being singed." Draco smiled. He looked up as the guard entered. "Well, it looks like our time is up. Good to see you, son. Know that I am proud of you, and don't worry."

"Sadly, you cannot stop me from worrying. And not only for the trial. If I am acquitted, what then? Will I take Rose away from her family, who doesn't approve of me? Could I do that to her, if she even wants to go with me? Sometimes I even think it would be better if I were found guilty. Then at least she would be free to reunite with her family."

"Believe it or not, she has a plan for that as well. Goodbye for now, son."