Deflection

Rose came home after a lovely evening with her family. She understood that Scorpius did not always want to come to family gatherings, but he had really missed a fine evening. She called out to Scorpius. When he met her in the entrée, he had a weird expression on his face.

"Hello dear. Did you have a nice evening?" Before she could reply, he went on. "We have a visitor. I think you have seen him before."

Scorpius grabbed her around the shoulders and led her towards the living room. He was very tense. Who was it that would come to visit at such a late hour?

Then she saw the man on the couch. She gasped when she recognised him. Crabbe! What was he doing here? And what was Scorpius doing? She tried to back out of the room, but Scorpius held on tight.

"I don't think you were ever properly introduced, but I understand you heard the happy news?" Scorpius says to Crabbe. "Allow me to introduce my lovely wife, Rose Malfoy."

"We were married by the Dark Lord, but you sadly missed the wedding."

"Scorpius, what's going on here?" Rose asked, with a little fear in her voice.

"Crabbe was just about to tell me that." Scorpius replied, setting them both down on the couch opposite Crabbe. "How about you start with how you got out of Azkaban, and how many of you got away."

"Nice to meet you Mrs. Malfoy," Crabbe said with a sneer. "Good to see that at least some good came out of the situation. As for how we got out, we're not going to reveal that. Suffice to say, it won't be a problem if we need to do it again. The Ministry probably doesn't even know we are gone, and we want to keep it that way."

"I suppose that is fair. I am just surprised. My own experience with a magical prison was not pleasant, but maybe the security is less in Azkaban."

"If you spend enough time there, you get to learn its secrets. Without dementors, Azkaban is not as terrible as it is rumoured to be."

"Now, now, don't downplay it Crabbe. It is not at all a pleasant place to be." A voice said behind them. Scorpius quickly got on his feet, startled. Goyle stood there behind them. "There is a reason we left, after all."

Rose had also gotten to her feet. This time, she took her wand out. But a silent spell from Crabbe behind her had her Disarmed in a moment. Scorpius did not take out his own wand. He knew they would not get out of this with force. The fact that Goyle was here openly and so soon after Crabbe had arrived, meant there were probably others lurking nearby as well.

"You shouldn't sneak up on people like that, Goyle." Scorpius said, trying to keep his voice steady. "Especially not in other people's houses."

"You asked what we wanted." Crabbe said from the couch. "I thought that would be obvious to a smart man like you. I came here to see where your loyalties are. Whether you and Potter worked together, or if he fooled you too. Naturally I didn't come alone. I am surprised though. You let me in without a moment's hesitation. Did you expect us?"

"No, I didn't expect you. Not so quickly anyway. It hasn't even been a year. I am grateful that you at least came and talked to me, instead of just assuming that I was in on Albus' treachery. I should have known better. He was just copying what I did. When he was asked to kill someone, he just pretended. Why didn't any of you at least check the body? He had us all fooled." Scorpius hated throwing Albus under the bus like that, but he had little choice. Rose squeezed his hand hard, either a sign of disapproval or reassurance. He couldn't risk looking at her right now. His priority was to get Rose away from these people. Albus would probably be fine. Wouldn't he?

"Yes, we underestimated him. We never believed a Slytherin would do us in like that, even if his last name was Potter."

Then everything went dark. Rose gasped in shock and held on tighter. Then, without warning, she was down on the floor. Scorpius tried to help her up, but she resisted him. What was she doing? She must have seen that Crabbe had tossed her wand in a corner. She was moving frantically.

He didn't have time to think about it, as he was knocked unconscious.

***

When Scorpius regained consciousness, it was dark around him. Wherever it was, it was not his house. He was not bound or restrained, which was a pleasant surprise. He didn't feel Rose next to him though. He hoped she was okay. Had she managed to escape in the darkness? He didn't really believe that, but it was a distant hope.

"Well, look who finally decided to join us" a voice said behind him. Lestrange. Scorpius resisted the urge to scream. He sat up. Several torches were lit, but there were no windows in the room.

"Was that really necessary? I would have gone with you. Now I just have a blasting headache. And where is my wife? Did she get away from you in the darkness?" he said in an accusatory tone.

"Sorry, I meant to hit her, not you. It was a bit hard to see in the dark. And don't worry, your wife is right here. She's still out though." Crabbe said.

Scorpius groaned and stood up. He noticed Rose on a couch in a corner. So, she hadn't gotten away.

She was also not bound, but two Death Eaters stood right next to her, as if guarding her. Scorpius went over to her, checking her pulse. She seemed fine. In fact, he suspected she was not unconscious at all, just pretending to be. Had she been awake the whole time? Well, this might be easier if the others didn't know she could hear them. He looked around at the gathered crowd.

"So, is this all of you? Just 10? You just left most of the new recruits behind? That's cold."

"There may be a few more joining us later. Mostly those who did not snitch or try to deny who they are." Scorpius refused to rise to that bait.

"I don't see Brutus. He isn't here?"

"No, Brutus was useless after he lost his manor. He is no good to anyone now. That was cold of you. Burning our best hideout."

Scorpius snorted derisively. "Best? It was hardly the best. From what I heard we were found almost instantly when we went there. Even before we attempted to kill the Minister, they knew we were there. I hope this place, wherever it is, is better hidden than that."

"Oh, it is hidden. And probably in the last place anyone would think to look. But don't worry about that just now. We have another problem," Lestrange said, indicating towards Rose. "What do we do about her? Will she remain loyal to you, or will we need to restrain her?"

Scorpius hesitated. He rubbed his head to give himself some time to think. He doubted very much that Rose would make a promise not to try to escape. And if she did, she wouldn't keep that promise. He didn't want her to, in truth. But he couldn't allow her to be chained up again. She still occasionally woke up in the middle of the night, screaming about those chains. He could not let that happen; she would never forgive him. What to do?

"I'd say both actually." he ended up saying. "I doubt she will openly defy us or attack us. She is smarter than that. But she would probably try to run away to warn the Ministry if she can. If I may suggest it, she could be free to walk around this hideout, as long as one of you can make the Dark Mark barrier again? She won't be able to escape then, right under our noses."

"Yes, that can easily be erected, but probably only on the door. It is kind of noticeable, which is probably why they found us so easily a year ago." Goyle chimed in. "Of course, we don't need to tell her that it is not fully covered."

"Doors and windows will be enough," Scorpius agreed. "How else would she get out?"

"We got a room with a double bed over there." Crabbe said with a grin. "Why don't you get your wife into bed? We can talk more in the morning, when your head may feel a bit better."

"That sounds like a good idea, thank you." Scorpius said. He was sceptical about this arrangement, but he couldn't really refuse. He would be sure to check for listening holes before speaking. He lifted Rose gently into his arms. Then he carried her into the room and closed the door, ignoring the smirks from the other Death Eaters.

"You can open your eyes now," he whispered. "But be quiet until I can make sure they are not listening." Rose's eyes shot open at once. She glared at him but remained quiet. So, she had been faking unconsciousness. Had she not been knocked out at all? Maybe she knew where they were then, because he had no idea. He hoped she was not too mad at him. The room they had been sent to was not large and had barely any furniture. He didn't see any listening holes but then, they didn't need to be visible.

"Muffliato" he whispered on the door. A very useful spell he had learned from Harry.

"There," he said, smiling at Rose. "We should be clear now"

Rose just glared at him. "What are you doing? Why did you go back with them?"

"I was knocked out, so I wasn't really given a choice. I'm still not sure if they really believe me or are just stringing me along. I suspect we will learn that tomorrow. As for what I am doing, I am doing the same I did a few months ago. Trying to stay alive. I admit, I should probably not have let Crabbe in the door, but I suspected he would not be alone, and I didn't want to have to fight several unseen foes. I was hoping to get them away, with or without me before you came home. I'm sorry."

"Have you lost your mind? Did it never occur to you that we could have just run? When you came out into the hallway, we could have just Apparated away and warned the rest of the family! There was no need for this! What are we going to do now?" Rose almost shouted but then seemed to remember to keep her voice down. Her quiet shout was almost as terrifying. He had hoped he would never see this angry and scared expression on her face again.

"I'm sorry! I know I messed up. They caught me completely off-guard, I panicked. But for now, can we just focus on the situation we are in, rather than what I should have done, or not done? Assigning blame isn't helping." Scorpius almost cried saying it. Rose seemed to mellow slightly.

"Fine. There is no use discussing the past. Let's focus on the present for now. What are we going to do, and how do we get out of here?"

"I don't know yet. And I don't have the mind to think about it tonight, I still have a blasting headache. I don't know what they hit me with. Aren't you ill too? Or did you fake unconsciousness the whole time?"

"No, I was knocked out the same as you, but they can't have hit me as hard. When I woke up, I heard them talking about that, that it was strange that you were still out. Though one said something about you still adjusting. I don't know what that means. And, before you ask, I have no idea where we are. Go to bed Scorpius. We will figure this all out in the morning."

Scorpius lay down on the bed, Rose next to him, hugging him tightly. He was worried about tomorrow, but for now he took comfort in Rose being there, right next to him, as she had been for the last year. He just hoped that they would continue to be together, whatever happened next.