Scorpius stepped out of the fireplace, momentarily wishing that the fire would burn him to ashes. It'd been a long time since he'd felt so nervous. To be perfectly clear he wasn't entirely sure why he was nervous. His Dad was right. He did not need to impress these people. They already accepted him into their family once. Once a Weasley, well there was no escape.

This fact was confirmed when he was engulfed into a bone-crushing hug. Scorp's vision dotted with black spots, as his waist was crushed. His other senses heightened, giving him the chance to inhale the flowery perfume that danced below his nose. To feel the fresh tears fall onto his chest. To hear the sniffles that emitted themselves into his ear, as whoever was hugging him sobbed into his shoulder, clutching him tightly.

He didn't need any of that to know just who was hugging him. He knew by the familiarity and sense of comfort that washed over him that it was no other than Ginny Potter holding on tight to him.

During his time at Hogwarts, she acted like a second mother to him. Sending him sweets on Halloween. Writing him monthly letters to check-in. She hugged him so many times, his body memorized the comfort that escorted her motherly arms.

Blinking slightly, the room came back into focus. Graying red hair tainted his vision, proving what he already knew.

"Ginny you've got to let the boy breathe." Harry chuckled, patting his wife's shoulder

"He can breathe when I'm done hugging him." Ginny sniffed, swatting Harry away. Despite her words, her grip loosened slightly and all of Scorp's sense restored themselves to their former glory. His vision swirled, as his pupils settled back into focus.

Ginny's shoulders shook as she let the tears continue to cascade down her dampened cheeks. Scorp rubbed circles on her back, hoping to give her some sort of relief.

As she cried, he let his greedy eyes survey the room. Taking in all the people around him and all the little crooks and crannies of the Burrow. It hadn't changed much. It was messy with useless muggle artifacts: yarn, pots, pans, and clothes scattered around the floor. It was crowded with bulky furniture and people. Most importantly it felt like home.

Scorp didn't lend his focus too long to observing his whereabouts. Instead, they zeroed in on the eleven people within the room. People whose faces he was used to seeing regularly. Faces he once stoned into his memory and now held subtle changes.

Fred's once pimple-covered face was fresh and spotted the makings of a dark brown beard. Hugo's Weasley red hair was cropped into a buzz cut. Which was scarily different from the shaggy-haired boy that he remembered.

Roxanne's flawless face still appeared perfect, except for a tiny scar, shaped like a crescent, by her chin. Scorpius studied it for a moment, wondering the story behind the scar. He never really knew Roxanne when they were growing up. He remembered her to be a cautious person. She never did anything without thinking of the possible consequences. The scar was maybe proof that she had at least once done something a little reckless.

"I've missed you Scorpius." Ginny smiled dazzlingly at him, wiping away the few stray tears from her eyes, as she stepped back from the hug.

He shook his head, forcing his eyes away from the table and onto the women in front of him. Even in her ripening age, Ginny Potter was still gorgeous. Her forehead was aligned with wrinkles. Probably from all the times, she spent worrying about James and her other children. Her hands that clutched onto his forearms were slightly withered and adorned with the scars from her past involvement in the war, but her aging stopped there. Her brown eyes blazed with energy and her freckles shined brightly against her pale face. He brushed away the lonely tear that slithered down her cheek. "I've missed you too."

"Alright stop hogging him," Hugo ordered. "You need to share." Nudging his aunt away he gave Scorpius what could only be described as a magical bro hug. Their friendship was an underrated one, but an important one just the same.

Scorpius laughed delighted. It took time for him to win over Hugo Weasley after he and Rose began dating. Once he did, their friendship blossomed into what Rose called a bromance.

They quickly bonded over wizard chess, quidditch, and food. Rose sometimes had to compete with Hugo for Scorp's attention. She usually won that easily. All she had to do was send Scorpius a suggestive wink and he would follow her anywhere.

"What's with the hair?" Scorp asked, running his fingers over the top of Hugo's head.

Hugo shoved his hand away. "Don't touch the hair."

"Still sensitive about the hair?" Scorp raised his brows sarcastically. "Good to know at least that hasn't changed."

"Oh don't worry pal. I am the same wonderful bloke that you knew and loved. I've only just gotten more handsome."

James snorted at that, burying his head into the crook of Alice's neck, to stifle his obvious disagreement. She stirred at his action but continued snoring peacefully.

Hugo glared at James. "Shut it. You're just jealous because I am bloody gorgeous and you're stuck with that pug face."

"You're both pretty. Now knock it off. You are ruining a perfectly good reunion." Hermione snapped forcefully. Rising out of her seat, she opened her arms up to Scorpius, warmly enveloping him in a hug.

Scorp relished at the moment. Hermione Granger was known throughout the wizarding world for her alarming strength and her superior brain. What many failed to acknowledge was her kindness. It was something that went overlooked by many, but not by Scorpius. He admired her warmth and kindness and thanked Merlin more than once that Rose inherited those qualities. They were some of the things he loved most about both of them.

"Hello, Hermione."

"Hello, Scorpius." She stepped back. "It's been a long time."

"Too long." His mouth quirked in the corner, as his eyes settled on Ron's annoyed look. Ron was a jealous bloke, especially when it came to Hermione. Even a simple hug had Ron's face reddening and his nose twitching in irritation. "How have you been?"

"We've been alright. We are just glad to have you back." Hermione admitted truthfully.  It hasn't been the same since you've been gone."

Scorpius heart quicked at her overuse of the word "we." He knew Hermione well enough to know that every word she spoke was said with a purpose. She did not simply use a word to use it. It was used to embed a deeper meaning. In this case, he hoped that "we" pertained to them and Rose.

"I haven't been the same without you all in my life."

Hermione's honey-brown eyes shined as she moved to the side to allow Harry to take her place. One by one Scorpius reacquainted himself with the group. By the time he managed to get around the group his shirt was soaked in tears, his shoulder ached from where James gave him a 'friendly tap', and his mouth hurt from smiling too much.

He imagined seeing them all again so frequently that it had its own slotted time in his mind, like one of those muggle cartoons he would often watch. Every night from 8-9. Just like his meeting with Rose, his imagination did not do it justice.

When he reached Ron, Scorpius froze. Greeting everyone else was an easy feat. With them, he had a preexisting relationship, but with Mr. Weasley, all they had was hatred.

Ronald Weasley was a hero to the wizarding world, an idol to his children, and the protagonist in the stories. To Scorpius, he wasn't any of those things. He was the man that couldn't get over the past and a last name.

It bothered Rose a great deal when they were together. She detested that the two most important men in her life couldn't hold a single conversation without wanting to strangle one another.

"Sir." Scorpius nodded stiffly, feeling all eyes on his back.

Ron's faded blue eyes displayed no signs of emotions as he rose out of his seat offering Scorpius his hand.

Scorpius took it gingerly, examining Ron as he did. Mr. Weasley lost weight. Which was shocking, considering how much he used to eat. When Scorp would think about Mr. Weasley it would only be for a good laugh, when he thought about how he must look like a walrus by now. His stomach bloating and bulging out of his pants like an overstuffed casserole. His chin resembling a wattle of a hen. Him wobbling around the house, too big to even walk properly.

Much to Scorp's disappointment, Mr. Weasley did not even come close to resembling a walrus. He was tall, well over six feet, with slender shoulders. His face still held every freckle, along with a few additional wrinkles in his cheekbones. His once flaming red hair settled into a softer tone of ginger, empty of any signs of greying. He looked healthy and fit. Words, Scorpius thought he would never use to describe Rose's father.

"Welcome home," Ron replied soundly. He dropped Scorp's hand and side-stepped him, heading toward the kitchen counter where Molly was setting aside scraps of food that did not make it into the meal and still wiping away her tears.

Scorp watched him go, doing his best to ignore the surprising feeling of disappointment within him. He didn't know what to expect when it came to seeing Ron again. What he didn't anticipate was to feel upset about the lack of approval. A part of him hoped that after nearly six years, Ron would have been able to overcome his loathing of all things Malfoys and accept him. Clearly, that was not the case.

"Sit down." Molly Weasley ordered, ushering Scorpius towards the spot at the head of the table, where Arthur Weasley used to sit. Molly didn't seem to realize this as she pushed Scorp into the seat, but he did.

A cold sense of dread washed through him. He shouldn't be sitting there. That wasn't his spot. His spot was between Albus and Rose in the middle of the table. There he could only get snippets of the conversation. Now at the head, he could hear and see all. It didn't feel right. This spot wasn't his. It was Arthur Weasley's. A man he admired and missed greatly. A man he never did get to mourn properly.

Chocking down his regret, Scorp painted on a smile and thanked Gran. She grinned lovingly at him, before heading to the other end of the set table.

"Rose and Griffon should be here soon and then we can start dinner."

Albus grumbled, crossing his arms and sinking lower into his seat childishly. "I told her not to be late. I'm starving."

"You were eating a pie when I got here. You can't be that hungry." Alice countered, having woken up from her brief slumber when Scorpius leaned down to kiss her cheek.

"I wouldn't be hungry if someone hadn't stolen it from me," Albus said accusingly, pointing his empty fork at James.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you to share?" James laughed, happily shrugging his shoulders. "Oh wait! I know she did. Mum always says sharing is good for you. So stop being grumpy about it."

"I wouldn't be grumpy if I was sitting here on a full stomach!"

"I'm sure you've been asked this about a thousand times," Hermione began, taking a seat to Scorp's right, drawing his attention away from the fueling fight. "How does it feel to be home?"

"Fantastic." Scorpius twisted his fork between his fingers. "I missed everyone and everything a lot more then I anticipated. It's great to finally be back again."

"Well, we are glad to have you back." Hermione rested her arm on the table, setting her head into her hand. Her brown eyes blinked innocently at him.

"When you say we you mean-"

"I mean we." Hermione finished for him.

Scorp pushed down his smile. "How have you been? Albus has filled me in on a few things, but I want to hear it from you. You know how Al can overexaggerate."

Hermione tilted her head in agreement. "Well, what has he told you so far?"

"Just that you retired from the ministry last year and bought Flourish and Blotts."

"All true."

"How come you retired? I always thought you'd work until you couldn't anymore?"

"So did I." Hermione's eye lit up thoughtfully. She sat there for a moment, quietly contemplating her next words. She shook her head, her voice lowering. "You know after the war we were all in such a dark place." Hermione tapped her fingers against her glass, avoiding Scorp's eye. "The only thing I wanted to do was make it better. When I joined the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures I fought so hard to improve the lives of house-elves."

"You did that." Scorp reasoned, his brows scrunching in concern. He'd never seen Hermione look so defeated.

"I know. I helped better their circumstances, but it took years. When I was promoted to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement suddenly all that good I thought I did vanished. Working there I realized how much darkness was still in the wizarding world. I spent the next twenty years fighting to make this world better. It still isn't perfect, but it's better." Hermione finally raised her eyes to meet his. "I've been fighting my entire life. I started fighting the second wizarding war as soon as I met Harry. I fought to prove my place as a muggle-born in the wizarding world. Then I began fighting for elf rights and enforcing the law right after that. Then the election happened and I'm just tired of fighting." Hermione slumped back in her chair, relieving a deep sigh. "I came home one day last year, looked at Ron, and decided that I was done. I quit the ministry the next day."

"Wow." Scorp swallowed, unsure of anything else to say. His eyes skirted over to the other end of the table, where everyone watched as Albus and Hugo arm-wrestled.  He smirked, moving his attention back to Hermione. "How did Flourish and Blotts come into play?"

Hermione grinned, dropping her eyes back to the scratched-up table. "When I decided to retire, I didn't factor in all the free time I would have. Ron was still working for George at the time and with the kids off living their own lives, I was left at home alone. Within a week I was bored and looking for something to fill my time. I was reading the prophet when I saw that Flourish and Blotts was for sale."

"And you bought it." Scorp finished for her, finally putting the pieces of the puzzle together. When Albus told him about Hermione retiring, he knew there had to be more to the story. Hermione wouldn't simply quit without a reason. Now that he knew that reasoning, he understood. One could only fight for so long before they grew tired. Hermione definitely earned the right to be tired.

"I don't know why I haven't been running a book shop all along. I get to spend my day surrounded by books and on slow days all I do is read."

"Sounds like you're living the dream."

"I really am." Hermione smiled so brightly the crinkles under her eyes became increasingly defined. "Now that Ron has started working there with me, I couldn't ask for a better way to spend my days."

"I'm really glad that everything worked out for you."

"Me too." Hermione leaned back in her chair, letting go of her water glass. "And you? Your life for the last six years is as big of a mystery to me, as mine was to you. I'd like to hear about it. You know I'm not to keen on not knowing things."

Scorp bit the inside of his cheek. He has repeated his time in the muggle world a lot since he got back yesterday. Each time he had tried to put on a front about it, so nobody would know how lonely he was, but sitting there in front of Hermione he couldn't do it again. He couldn't lie when she was just so open and honest with him, but he wasn't ready to tell anyone the dark parts of his past. Putting on a smile he turned to her, "There is too much to tell. I traveled all around the world and learned just about everything there is to know about muggles."

Hermione eyed him suspiciously.

Scorpius squirmed under her firm gaze.

"Now that you're back," Hermione began, dropping her steely look back to the usual warmth they radiated. "what are your plans."

"To work in the ministry," Scorp replied, happy to actually have a truthful answer. "I've been offered a position working in the Muggle Liaison Office."

"What will you be doing there?"

"As of right now, my job is to properly inform other department members about basic muggle knowledge. Over the past ten years, there has been an increase in the number of times muggles have identified our secret. The minister feels that in order to better protect our secret, we need to be aware of muggles. Something she thinks our educations system failed to enforce." Scorp twiddled his thumbs, resting his elbows on the table. "Starting next month all new recruits for the ministry will be forced to sit through an eleven-hour-long presentation, by yours truly, about muggles."

"Wow," Hermione replied her eyes widening. "Eleven hours? That seems a bit much."

Scorp raised a single brow at her, "Says Miss. Know-it-All."

"Then it must be excessive."

"Fair point." Scorp agreed, "Even so I'm under the Minister's orders."

She patted his arm. "You'll do just fine." Hermione turned to her right to talk to Alice, who was silently snacking on a roll, leaving Scorp to his thoughts.

Scorp sighed, thankful to be done talking about his past and quite frankly his future with the ministry. He was excited about his new job but it was a lot to process. He was used to change. He practically lived out of a suitcase, ready to move to a different place every couple of months, so the change didn't bother him. What bothered him was that he wasn't sure what to expect. With every move he made, a list of details and plans came along with it. Now he was left in uncharted territories.

"I thought Mione was going to talk your ear off," Ron said solemnly, coming up behind Scorpius, twirling the contents of his drink around.

"Nothing I didn't ask to hear," Scorp said evenly. Turning so that he was facing Ron, he met his challenging gaze.

Ron's light blue eyes didn't waver as he nodded his head to the garden door, indicating for Scorpius to follow him. Taking a sip of his drink, he turned and headed toward the exit.

Scorp glanced around the table and upon seeing everyone too busy in conversation to notice, he slipped out of his chair and quietly followed Ron to the garden.

Right away, Scorp thought Ron apparated. The garden was filled with watermelon, pumpkin, squash, and more colorful assortments of fruits and vegetables. Snapdragons popped out of the ground, aligning the outskirts of the garden. The toolshed alongside the garden was starting to wear down. The white paint was chipped and peeling. The roof was missing shingles and sagged dangerously low. Scorp had a sneaking suspicion that the only reason the roof hadn't collapsed was due to magic.

The grass itself rose up past his ankles, tickling the exposed skin that his pants failed to cover. A gnome wandered past him, but he didn't attempt to grab it. His attention was dedicated to Ron who was leaning against the paint-lacking shed, easily sipping his drink.

Scorp swallowed. The last time he and Ron had a conversation one-on-one it was after he and Rose officially started dating. It wasn't the conversation Scorp expected, but it was one he would never forget.

"I assume this isn't a friendly chat," Scorp said, shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his dress pants as he approached.

Ron pushed himself off the shed and met Scorp in front of the garden. "Not necessarily."

"What is it that you have to say?" Scorp asked, his hand resting on the pocket where