Fic: Once was lost... by Seraphimerising

[ginger_lust]

Title: Once Was Lost...
Creator: seraphimerising
Rating: NC-17
Pairing/characters: Ron Weasley/Scorpius Malfoy
Warnings/content: Highlight to read *Cross-Gen (age disparity late forties/early twenties). Angst, angst, and more angst. Slash. AR/AU. References to violence, abuse off-screen.*
Word count: 21,000
Summary: "I once was lost but now I'm found; was blind but now I see." - Amazing Grace.
Notes: starstruck1986 - Many thanks to the best friend, and cheerleader a girl like me could ask for.
Prompt: This love which I had thought was a joke and a plaything--it is only now that I understand that it is the moulder of one's life, the most solemn and sacred of all things. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle



Once Was Lost...

Ron moved his feet as fast as he could through the crowded streets of Diagon Alley. The morning rush as people opened their stores slowed him down. He kept his large navy cloak wrapped tight around him until he finally pulled his hood up so people would stop gaping at him and trying to get him to stop and chat.

He could remember a time when he had wanted people to look at him but that had been when he was a foolish, immature boy. Now in his forties, he hated it. He hated being a member of the Golden Trio; that his best friend was Harry Potter and his ex-wife was Hermione Granger. All he wanted now was to leave work at the Ministry relatively on time, check in on the people that depended on him, and then head home to his sparsely furnished flat for a simple dinner with a pint of beer, only to fall asleep on his sofa playing himself chess. It wasn't much but it was his and it made him happy; no matter how many times his children, ex-wife, best friend, nieces, nephews, sister, brothers, or parents said otherwise. Ron loved his quiet life to such an extent that the moment he stepped into the flat, no one else could gain admittance into his sanctuary without his permission.

Nearing his turn off the main drag, he silently preformed the glamours needed, so even if his hood fell down, no one would recognise him. He couldn't risk being seen strolling purposefully down Knockturn Alley when he wasn't in his Auror robes. People and their misplaced condemnation would only keep him from the one thing that had kept him sane the last few years -- providing assistance to the youth and young adults who worked the alleys, brothels, and other nefarious places. The ones that the rest of society either forgot by choice or situation. Unfortunately, the longer he hung around them, he realised that most of the time the same friends and family who would scour the world looking for their loved ones, would never venture into the darkened crevices of Knockturn Alley.

Ron, himself, hadn't thought about the lost youth who struggled to survive day in and day out until a sordid case of a spree killer, now going on about ten years ago, exposed him to the people who needed his help and didn't care who the hell he was, expecting nothing of him. Life hadn't done many of them no favours, so whatever moments of generosity and care Ron could afford them was better than nothing.

However, the one thing he had been able to do which helped them out the most was the former boarding house he had purchased after the divorce from Hermione had been formalised years ago. An old prostitute -- Mary to him, Ms. Merrill to most, Mum to the ones that mattered -- ran the home. Together, they made sure that those who needed it had a hot meal when they were hungry, a warm place to sleep when the night's got cold in the winter, medical care when Johns got rough, and hope, once they decided for themselves they wanted off the street. A couple of them had stayed on to help Mary, who never had enough hands, whereas others Ron helped them find jobs and their own flats. The only thing he wanted, for the ones who came to them, was for them to be safe and cared for, knowing that a better life could be theirs if that was all they wanted.

Taking one last look around the bustling street, Ron ducked into Knockturn Alley. He never came here this early in the morning but within thirty minutes of arriving to the Ministry for another day of work, he received a panicked owl from Mary that the rent boy, the one the others called Angel, had been found in bad shape, and she needed Ron to come. Feigning a forgotten doctor's appointment, he signed out of the office for the day; hoping it wouldn't take that long to see to the boy's needs but preparing for, just in case, that Angel was in as bad of shape as he feared.

Angel was the one that had stuck to the alleys, seemingly going out of his way to avoid Ron and Mary. All either adult could figure out was that he showed up green a few years ago after escaping, what they believed to be, an abusive situation at the hand of one of his father's friends. When Ron asked around about the nickname 'Angel', trying to gather more information about the young man, all he ever received from those he asked was a silent look of 'duh' and a sarcastic response of 'because he looks like one'.

Over the first few months, after Angel had started making an appearance, Ron had tried to put a name with a face, but Angel had always been able to elude him. Sometime ago, Angel finally had had enough and simply sent word via another young man that he knew who Ron was and he promised to come to him if he ever got in trouble, but for now to leave him alone. Regretting it ever since, Ron had sent word back to Angel via the same young man that he would stop looking as long as Angel kept his word and since then, Ron had kept his.

Coming to the home, Ron knocked with a firm pattern before the door opened to allow him admittance. Since many of the youth and young adults were escaping some type of abuse, he had enchanted the building to have some of the strongest wards possible. When he stepped into the entry way, he stopped and stared at the collection of people standing there in silence. He couldn't remember the house ever being this full before.

"Mr. Weasley," Topher, a sprite of a youth, no more than eighteen years of age, and had been on the streets longer than Ron and Mary liked to admit, said pushing through the others milling there. He had been one of those that had come into the house and never left. Neither Ron nor Mary ever said a word, just paid him a weekly sum for the errands he ran and left it at that until the young man asked for something more than that. "Mum's upstairs with him. Jimmy found him out back of O'Andrews in bad shape." Topher continued to talk as Ron headed up the stairs leading the way, "Jimmy said he kept asking for you. Him and Birdie got him here. He's still just a mumblin' in his sleep for you. Mum's beside herself. He needs a doctor--"

"Which room Topher?" Ron interrupted the young man when they reached the top of the stairs.

"Mum's."

Topher said it so quietly that Ron wasn't sure he heard the young man right. Stopping, he spun on Topher about to snap at him, but the young man's thin face told him exactly what he needed to know. Ron took off up the next flight of stairs, skipping every other step. A million and one thoughts raced through his mind. As far as he knew no one had ever been taken up to Mary’s room; she had fiercely guarded her privacy. Ron was even pretty sure that Topher and the other two that worked for her had never crossed into her sanctuary.

Ron didn't bother to knock upon reaching her door, he just walked straight in. The room still dark from the thick drapes that covered her windows even though it was nearly eight in the morning. Turning to the bed, he saw Mary still in her dressing gown and cap, wisps of greying and light brown hair escaping it. It was clear to Ron that she had been woken unexpectedly this morning. However, he couldn't see Angel's face from where he stood now.

"Ron," the hardened woman exclaimed, tears rolling down her face. "If I had known I would've said something. But I didn't. I didn't know. No one gave a hint or a clue. Not a single one."

Confused, for that was not what he expected her greeting to be, Ron asked, "What is going on --", but when she shifted just enough for him to see Angel's face, his statement transformed into "Oh holy mother of Merlin," with his hand going first to his gaping mouth before both hands started to run through his short red hair.

There laying in Mary's bed was no other than the missing Malfoy heir -- Scorpius. The Malfoys had had the Aurors scouring every nook and cranny of Wizarding and Muggle Britain looking for him. Harry had led --hell, was still leading the investigation as to why Scorpius Malfoy simply disappeared without a trace on his seventeenth birthday with not much else from what they could tell besides the cloths he wore and his wand.

They had had a lead a few years ago, that he had been seen in Dublin. Ron had been the Auror sent on that lead; he remembered thinking it was just another wild unicorn chase. However, when he had seen for his own eyes, Scorpius tearing out of that pub; his eyes wild with panic, his face flushed oddly in a shape of a hand mark, Ron did a double take. And it was that double take that cost him precious seconds in which to bring Scorpius home to his parents. He had spent a lot of hours after that incident drowning himself in the bottle, kicking himself for being so stupid.

However, now Ron could see no trace of the youth he remembered from Rose's first years at Hogwarts, the one who had once been inseperable from his daughter and nephew. Scorpius' brilliant tow-coloured hair was now streaked with grey from dirt or stress, he couldn't be sure as to the source. The round baby face had disappeared at some point, not from maturity, but from doing without. The cuts and bruises that littered what little skin Ron could see turned his stomach. If the boy hadn't been Rosie's and Al's best friend those first years at Hogwarts, before Scorpius shut them out, Ron wouldn't have recognised the young man at all even after the encounter in Dublin.

Slowly, Ron moved over to the bed. Neither him or Mary said anything. When she stood from the bed, he replaced her, his hand immediately moving to the dingy fringe and brushing it aside. Years of working for the Aurors still didn't prepare him for seeing the true damage to the young man in the limited candle light.

"I tried to call for Owens but he wouldn't let me," she whispered, referring to the chemist that lent a hand with the medical cases as needed. "He told me to call you and you alone. Made me do a wizard's handshake before he would calm down."

Quietly, Ron's eyes and fingers taking in all the damage that had been done to him, he finally asked, "How long has he been out?"

"Five minutes at the most. Just kept repeating your name and that he was sorry."

Ron swallowed back the onslaught of emotions that suddenly filled him now as the shock of actually seeing Scorpius Malfoy alive had worn off. Then guilt started to eat at him while he tried to figure out what to do. All these years, Scorpius had been right under his nose and he had never thought, not once, that the mysterious Angel could have been him. He had been on the blasted case from the beginning, as everyone was so sure the young man had been kidnapped for nefarious reasons; he had even been the one who had taken charge of investigating every lead that took the Aurors deep into Knockturn Alley; he had been the one that let Scorpius slip through his hands in Dublin. The number of hours he spent knocking on doors, pounding the street after Dublin, hoping to get a second chance, flashed in front of his eyes.

All of that boiled down to one conclusion -he was a right shite Auror.

"Ron, he needs a Healer." Mary's grave voice sounded, bringing him back to the here and now.

Shaking his head, his eyes glued to Scorpius' face, he said in irritation, "Well call one then, I'll foot the bloody bill--"

"Ron, I can't."

"Why can't you?"

"Wizard handshake but you...you could," her voice quiet and insistent. "Ron, he doesn't belong here. You and I both know that, he's got a family that's looking for him. Take him to St. Mungo's … say you found him--"

"No," a cracking voice stopped Mary mid-stream, while Ron watched Scorpius' eyes start to flutter. "Please...just let...just let me go...take my body...to...my parents...please..."

Tears rushed into Ron's eyes, but he refused to let them fall. Gently, he caressed Scorpius' face and whispered, "I can't do that Scorpius."

"Please." Scorpius mouthed, his voice completely failing him as a tear slipped down his face, leaving a visible trail amidst the grime.

Ron wiped the tear away with his thumb tenderly, while he desperately searched his mind for the words to convince Scorpius to let him take him to his parents and St. Mungo's. However, Scorpius' voice found words before he did. Ron's chest constricted tightly upon hearing Scorpius whisper, "Please let them only remember the son I once was...Not what I became. Please."

Horrified, Ron watched as Scorpius' body started to convulse. Mary's pleas to help him ringing in his ear as Ron thought about what he would want Draco to do if it was Hugo lying before him. Muttering a string of words that could turn even the air in hell blue, he quickly got to his feet pulling the sheets away from Scorpius. Ron slid his arms under the bony body and lifted it with far more ease than he expected. Vomit rose to the back of his throat as his mind comprehended just how light the young man actually was.

After telling Mary he would keep her posted, Ron took the calculated risk of Apparating with Scorpius. He figured he couldn't do any more damage to the young man's body that Scorpius hadn't already done to himself or the John had the night before. Ron barely landed in the front room of his flat before running towards his bedroom, Scorpius' quaking body still tightly encased in his arms.

He wasn't sure how he did it but he managed to get Scorpius into the bed and covered with relative ease before rushing back to the front room where his Floo was located. Throwing in the powder, he called his destination and dropped to his knees.

"Pansy!" He yelled, hearing the fear and panic in his voice which took him back momentarily. It had been a while since he had felt either, let alone at the same time. "Pansy! I know it's before noon, but get your posh arse out of bed and find that bloody husband of yours!"

"Merlin Ron, what the bloody--"

"I'm calling them all in," he said, cutting her off as she entered in a dressing robe from the side door. "Every single one. Even fucking Madrid. I need Theo in my flat now."

"What is going--"

"Pansy will you get your bloody husband or not?" Ron yelled, fear and desperation pouring out of every pore and orifice his body contained. His need to save Scorpius as well as saving the young man from himself overwhelming him. At this moment, no one would believe that he, Ron Weasley, had ever been accused of having become too harden, too cynical; that he had been put on leave more than once, as of late, due to a lack of empathy.

He watched Pansy's eyes widened first before she nodded her head. "I'll send word," she whispered, her shock evident in her voice if it hadn't already been splashed across her face. "I'll grab his bag and be right over."

"Thank you." Ron meant to say it with gratitude, however, it didn't come out that way, it came out gruff and snappish. He did nothing to correct himself or apologise because he figured he couldn't if he tried. "I'll adjust the wards for you two. I'm blocking the Floo."

Ron didn't wait for an answer. He just pulled his head out of the green flames. With a flick of his wrist, he closed the Floo. He remained kneeling on the floor for a few moments, running his hands back and forth through his short hair, making stand on its ends but he didn't care. Sighing, he got to his feet and adjusted his wards before starting to pace --not sure what to do and scared to simply check on Scorpius only to find him dead.

He didn't pace very long though before Pansy arrived. When Ron turned to speak, she beat him to it by softly saying, "What have you gotten yourself into Weasley?"

"Nothing...well it's something...but...but you see--"

"Ron, what the hell is going on?" The concerned look on her face sent him into more babbles as well as causing his hands to gesture with every start and stop his voice made, until she grabbed his hands and whispered, "What is it?"

"It's --"

"What's happened?" Theo Nott's voice interrupted him. Ron hung his head while Pansy threw up her hands harshly, sighing, "Thanks a lot Theo."

"This stays between us for now," Ron sighed, running his hand against the back of his neck. "I already know I'm asking a lot but I need this. We are even on everything, if you just help me here."

"Even Madrid?" Theo asked, his eyes moving up and down studying Ron carefully. His concern and doubts clearly on his face as well as his body language.

"Even Madrid. Do I have your word, both of you, that you will not say anything to anyone about what you are about to see?"

Theo and Pansy looked at each other, while Ron watched them carry on a silent conversation. If anyone had told him years ago that when the time came when he really needed help, that he would run to them and not Harry or Hermione or George, he would have thought that the person had either too much to drink or hit their head too hard. However now, he was running to them because he couldn't trust Hermione not to run to her now close friends, Draco and Asteria, and he couldn't burden Harry with this knowledge as not only the lead investigator into Scorpius' disappearance but as the head of Magical Law Enforcement as well. Frankly, George would be no help in a situation like this -he was better at burying bodies than saving lives.

"Please," Ron pleaded. "I didn't ask anything about Madrid. I'm asking you to return the favour now."

Pansy broke first with a sigh and her teeth biting into her lower lip. Theo turned back to him and said, "Okay. We are even on everything, including Madrid. What do you need from us?"

"I need a Healer," he whispered, gesturing with his head. "Follow me."

"You aren't hurt are you?" Theo asked. Then a light bulb went on in his head. With a loud sigh, Theo continued, "Who did you hurt? Merlin, Weasley, I know I'm not the only who has said this job has gotten to you but this is the last straw. You need to stop being an Auror. You are just too dangerous--"

"I didn't hurt anybody," he said, cutting Theo off. "A couple of the rent boys I know down in Knockturn found him and they came to me. He wouldn't let them take him to St. Mungo's..." Ron took a deep breath, and started to open the door to his room, finishing with, "...and he wouldn't let me take him to his parents."

"Holy fuck Ron!" Theo exclaimed as Pansy simply gasped, her hands flying to her gaping mouth.

"I know," Ron replied, while Theo rushed to the bed were Scorpius looked like death. Ron found himself hoping that the young man was still alive, though he was mentally trying to prepare himself for the fact that he wasn't. When Theo's diagnostic spell showed that Scorpius' was still alive but barely, there were three relieved sighs filling the room.

Doing something he hadn't done in years, Ron started nibbling on his thumb nail as he watched Theo work with Pansy's assistance. However, it did nothing for the anxiety silently eating away at him. He started to pace within the small confines of his room; stopping every time the room forced him to turn before starting up again.

"Ron?"

"Hmmm," he mumbled as he continued to pace.

"Why don't you put some tea on?"

Staring at Theo, he realised he should've done that earlier. Distractedly he replied, "Sure. How do you want yours?"

"Pansy will come get mine in a moment."

"Okay," Ron said, stopping to take one last look at Scorpius before exiting the room to do something mildly useful.

His jumbled thoughts collided one upon another as he struggled to make a simple pot of tea. By the time, he got the leaves steeping in the pot, he had spilt his tea canister three times and managed to slosh more water over the floor than he ended up actually brewing.

"Ron, where do you keep your firewhisky?"

Ron looked up from his feet to see Pansy standing at the entrance to his small kitchen. He could tell she asked him something --hell, he heard her ask him something-- but for the life of him, his brain couldn't remember what it was, or comprehend what her request had been.

"Firewhisky?" Pansy pushed. He knew she had spoken more last time but she appeared to understand he was beyond being useful at the moment.

"Here," he responded, moving to get it for her.

Handing the bottle to her, she asked, "Glass?"

"Oh." Ron shook his head before fetching her one of those too. Grabbing two cups while he was at it, he turned to see her pulling the leaves out of the finished tea. He tried to pour himself a cup of tea, but his hands shook so badly that Pansy quickly took the pot from him and finished pouring two cups of tea as well as the glass of firewhisky.

To his surprise, Pansy handed him the firewhisky before picking up one of the two cups of tea and told him, "Why don't you owl into work and see about taking a couple days off while I take Theo his tea. We'll talk when I get back."

Ron nodded and set the firewhisky on his table. When Pansy had disappeared into his room, he Flooed into Harry's office about needing to take some personal time with the promise he'd stop by to chat with him more about it tomorrow. Ron found himself actually glad that Harry was in, for he took the sudden request well. Harry ended the conversation with saying that he thought it was a great idea for Ron to take some personal time. Ron mumbled his thanks before quickly pulling his head out of the Floo and blocking it again. Grumbling as he got to his feet, he saw that Pansy had returned with Theo in tow.

"We've decided not to accept the call in of favours," Pansy said quietly. "This is bigger than you. This is about Draco and Asteria too."

"But we do have one condition," Theo added. "We think we deserve the truth about how you found him."

"I told you, I didn't find him. He came to me."

"Well then, why did he come to you?" Theo asked, as him and Pansy both took seats on Ron's sofa.

Ron remained standing which led to him pacing again in an attempt to collect his thoughts. With every step, he tried to start an explanation but two, maybe five words in, he would become frustrated and just start rubbing his hands either through his hair or along the back of his neck. Frankly, he found himself even more on edge by Pansy and Theo's silent determination to just wait on him.

He had no idea how much time had actually passed when he heard Theo sigh and say, "I'm going to go check on Scorpius. Hopefully by the time I get back, you will have figured out how to form a sentence beyond a subject and a verb."

"Fuck," Ron muttered, before collapsing into a nearby chair. He buried his head in his hands while he continued to mutter to himself.

"You know," Pansy said quietly, interrupting his internal diatribe. "We really don't care about the how. We just want to know, why of all the people looking for him, he came to you --it doesn't make sense."

"I know but I can't answer that," Ron sighed, leaning back in the chair.

"So what can you tell us?" Theo asked, returning to the room.

Giving up, Ron softly spoke, "The youth who live on the streets in Knockturn Alley --I help them. There is a boarding house there that I financially support. There they can find a warm meal, a safe place to sleep or medical attention, if they need. And if they want out, I help them find --"

"You mean the rent boys and--"

"Well some sell their bodies," Ron simply said, knowing that Theo and Pansy had just put it together where Ron had found their gardener Philip, "but not all. Some...well, life hasn't been their friend. The woman I pay who runs the house, neither her nor I make any distinction; if one of them needs help, they know were to go."

"And Scorpius?"

Though he knew exactly what the boy had been doing, Ron didn't feel that it was his business to tell Scorpius' secrets. Instead, he just said, "That is a question for him. Like I said earlier a couple of the boys found him and brought him to the home and they sent for me."

"If that's it, why did it take you ten minutes to spit that out," Theo shrewdly asked, his eyes narrowing. It was times like these that he hated having become Theo's friend.

Ron took the closest road to honesty and replied, "Well now besides the woman who runs the home and the kids who need help, you two are the only people to know how I spend my off time and my money."

"You mean that Potter and Granger...."

"Neither one."

"Why not?"

"Didn't want the attention. Most the kids that come in for help or need it, don't want people knowing just what some of them have done or are doing to survive," Ron shrugged, feeling a huge weight being lifted off his shoulders. "So are we done now?"

"With Scorpius?" Theo asked, getting to his feet, "for now. So while Pansy keeps an eye on him, who else needs medical attention at this home of yours?"

---

Ron couldn't bring himself to look away from Scorpius' still form. The young man hadn't started to stir yet and it had been over twenty-four hours since Ron had brought him to his flat. Scorpius' stillness only added to Ron's increasing anxiety. He couldn't comprehend everything that had happened in the last day: Pansy taking up residence in his flat; Theo cancelling his other appointments just so he could focus on the youth at the house and Scorpius; Ron's meeting with Harry which somehow ended up including Hermione and the outcome of it being that he either take four weeks off voluntarily or six weeks forced with all that came with forced leave. All in all it left him with nothing to do but hang out at the flat and the home.

A part of him couldn't see that as a bad thing, he had let a few repairs go longer than he should have at the home but those ended up taking him just a couple of hours today. He wondered how long he would last though with nothing to do before he drove Pansy insane. Ron had never been good at sitting still his entire life. Hermione used to only last maybe thirty minutes when he felt like this --anxious and unsettled at having nothing to do but sit.

"You do realise you can't actually will him to wake up?"

Hearing Pansy's voice, he finally turned his eyes to something other than Scorpius. When he saw that she was leaning against the door frame, he sighed and collapsed back into the chair he had pulled into the room. Rubbing his face roughly, he asked, "How long have you been standing there?"

"From the first or the most recent time I asked if you were hungry? Seeing that dinner is ready."

"Pansy..." Ron growled, "How long?"

"Five minutes. Ten, tops," she sighed, standing back up. "Come on. Keep me company. I, unlike Scorpius at the moment, talk back."

"I think that's all you do."

Pansy laughed throwing her head back before saying, "Now there's the Weasel I know and love. Now get your arse moving, I hate eating alone and Theo had to run to St. Mungo's due to some emergency."

"What about --"

"Fine Weasley," Pansy sighed. "If I set an alarm to notify us if something changes, will you then come have dinner with me?"

He sighed and nodded. Pansy snapped an exasperated, "Thank you," while he got up and followed her into the kitchen. Taking a seat at the table, he just fiddled with the place mat. He appreciated that she didn't say anything; only sung to herself as she readied two plates. When she put one in front of him with flatware, he muttered, "Thank you."

"So are you going to explain to me why I have seen more of the Ron I became friends with years ago in the last twenty-four hours, then I have in the last few years?"

Ron didn't say anything. Mainly because he didn't know what to say to that. He had heard it all before -he had changed and not for the better. However, no matter how many times his family and friends questioned him about what was bothering him, he couldn't figure it out. All he knew was that one day everything in his life was perfect: he had a wife who adored him and he adored her; two absolutely perfect kids; the best mate that anyone could ask for; a wonderful family and a job that he actually liked. The next day though it was like something was missing. That the part that made him Ron disappeared though nothing in his life had changed; at least nothing he could tell. From there his life just continued to fall apart: Hermione and him drifted away to the point that a divorce was no long a question of if, but when; he had come to hate going into his office; he struggled to interact with anybody because no one filled that emptiness within him. He knew better than most that the emptiness had slowly devoured him; he just hadn't realised how empty he actually was until Scorpius appeared in his life.

For the first time in years, he felt that he could actually feel again. He didn't know what it meant and he wasn't sure if he was strong enough to find the answer. Or worse yet, if he even could.

"So generally how a conversation works is that I say something and you respond. And we continue that until one of us either says something funny in which we laugh, or bitchy and you storm away."

"Pansy..." he groaned, setting the fork down he had been using to move his food around on his plate.

"Ron..." she sassed him back. There were times he wondered how the hell he had become friends with her. "And I know what you are thinking...and there are times I feel the same way."

Narrowing his eyes, he glared at her as he shook his head. "I hate it when you do that."

"No you don't," she retorted as if it was the most obvious thing. "This," pointing between the two of them with her food-laden fork, "happens every time when one of us doesn't want to talk about what's really going on. The one who doesn't want to talk will pout for about ten minutes before giving in and we move on with life."

"Still doesn't tell me how we became friends?"

"Doesn't tell me anything either but here we are after ten years of...this. So what gives Weasley? Why is Scorpius' reappearance bringing this change in you?"

"I don't know," he sighed, leaning back in his chair as he rubbed his face.

"Come on, you have to know something?"

"I know that suddenly I don't feel empty anymore and now looking back on the last few years, I'm wondering just why the hell all of you put up with my arse."

Pansy gave a short laugh and replied,"That's easy...we all love you, you big dumb animal."

"Thanks." Ron snapped before sounding a long, tired sigh. "You know with a friend like you, I don't really need enemies."

"So very true Weasley. But the feeling is likewise," Pansy said with a smirk that caused him to sound a soft laugh. "So how did your meeting go with Harry today? You've been even more quiet since you got home from that."

Picking up his fork, he gathered his thoughts about the meeting that felt like an intervention on the part of his best friend and ex-wife. Ron moved the food around his plate a little more before answering her question. "I wouldn't call it a meeting."

"Then what would you call it?"

"I don't know but it felt like an intervention with Hermione being there."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, the outcome was either I take four weeks voluntarily and make an appointment to see the Healer that Hermione wants me to go to or I take six weeks involuntary with psych exams and a stay at St. Mungo's."

"That was definitely an intervention. What do you think they would have said, if they knew who you were hiding in this flat?"

"I don't even want to think about that because there would be nothing to hide by now. Draco and Asteria would have already been here and taken Scorpius whether he wanted to go or not and my arse would probably be in Azkaban at this very moment."

"Why is it a bad thing for his parents to know he's alive and here?"

Sighing, Ron said, "Pansy, something pushed him to the streets and I've got a bad feeling that the only reason he let the others bring him to me was because he thought he was dying. I would rather wait until he's awake and let him make the decision to either go back to the streets or go home to his parents."

"You'd honestly let him go back to the streets?"

"If that's what he wanted to do."

"Why?"

Ron shook his head and with a matter-of-fact tone said, "Pansy, the youth who make the streets their home, they don't leave it until they are ready and willing. If he isn't ready to come back here, then he's not going to stay. I would rather Draco and Asteria not know he's alive then for them to find out he is, only for him to disappear again. And if he disappears again, I doubt he's going to stay around London this time; he'll probably be gone for good."

"So when he wakes, we are going to convince him to stay, right?" Pansy replied. Ron could hear the hopeful tone in her voice. Though life hadn't always been easy for her, he knew that she couldn't possibly understand just how bad Scorpius must have viewed his life to even run to the streets to start.

Shaking his head, Ron sighed, "I'm not. And I'd rather you and Theo didn't try either."

"Why not? His parents have been devastated that he left without a word. Weasley, you see that for yourself every time you see them. Put yourself in Draco's shoes --"

"I already have Pansy. Why the hell do you think he's here?" Ron snapped, interrupting her. "I sat there looking at Scorpius when he asked me to just let him die, so his parents would only remember who he once was. I really thought about what I would want Draco to do if he found himself in the same situation with Hugo. So I brought him here. And I called you two. And called in favours which you two are now refusing. I'm trying to do what's right by Draco. In the hopes when --and if-- Scorpius wakes up, he will stay and let us help him but most of all, go home to Draco and Asteria!"

Pansy just looked at him aprisingly as he breathed heavily. Ron had no idea as to why or how he had gotten so worked up. Throwing his fork down to the table, he pushed his plate away and buried his head in his hands before quickly mumbling, "And I have no idea what has gotten into me."

Pansy's hand started to run through his hair gently. He could tell she was trying to soothe him and he appreciated the effort, even if he couldn't exactly say that at the moment. Ron wasn't sure how long the two of them sat there like that until she whispered, "I don't know either...But for the first time in years, I feel like you are actually here with me and I can't imagine that Harry and Hermione would feel any different, if they could see you now. I know they've missed you the most."

Lost, Ron looked up at her whispering, "Pansy, what do I do?"

"We'll figure something out," she whispered back. Pushing his food back in front of him, she retrieved his discarded fork. As she handed it back to him, she firmly told him, "Eat first. Then we can take a look at the case file I know you pilfered from Harry's office."

"Pansy I didn't--"

"Fine. I'll get it myself. Where is it?" she said, getting to her feet.

Rolling his eyes at her assumption, Ron shook his head and mumbled, "You know I seem to recall getting divorced?"

"You are. I just happen to realise you really should have been a Slytherin," Pansy chided. "Now where is Scorpius' file?"

Sighing, Ron muttered, "In my satchel."

"Now that wasn't hard, was it?"

"Forget being divorced, I thought my mum had red hair."

"She does. Like I said earlier, I know you," Pansy replied with a huff. "Though there are times, I wonder just who I screwed over in a past life to be saddled with the likes of you."

Ron just shook his head, before retorting, "You aren't the only one."

"Good, then at least we are on the same page." Pansy flopped the thick file down on the table between them. "I don't care if you look at it as long as you eat and hold a conversation with me."

"I'm surprised."

"Why?"

"I thought you wanted to see the file. I already know what's in there."

"Then why bring it home?" Pansy looked at him confused, which only caused him to laugh.

"Because I know you," Ron replied, his turn to point at her with a food-laden fork. "You only let people think you don't care about answers." She gave him her trademark put-upon look as a reward for him being spot on. "Oh, and if it turns out that the reason Scorpius ran was because someone did something unspeakable to him, you aren't allowed to Avada the person's arse."

"Oh come on Weasley. What's the point of being friends with one of the 'Golden Trio', if you can't Avada someone's arse when they deserve it?"

"Because you were stupid enough to become friends with the one who can't keep his head out of trouble these days."

"Dammit, so I could Avada someone's arse and get away with it, if I could only put up with Hermione's know-it-all means of conversation, or Harry's puppy dog looks?"

"But you captiulate every time I send you puppy dog looks."

Pansy narrowed her eyes at him. He could tell she was only playing as she teased, "So what if I said I have a thing for redheads?"

"You better not let your husband know that."

"And you honestly think he already doesn't? I'm friends with you for your...hair Weasley." The wink she gave him, sent his mind to the gutter when he realised exactly what she meant, though he couldn't understand why it did nothing for his body. That was just one more thing he didn't want to think about --the simple fact that no one had done anything sexually for him for years. His dry spell had been by his own design, seeing as his last sexual partner had been his ex-wife.

To cover up his sudden uncomfortableness not with her comment, but with his body's lack of reaction, he jammed food in his mouth before responding, "Like I said earlier, better not let Theo hear you say that."

"And I told you, he's well aware of my...shall we say, fetish."

"Pansy, I'm trying to eat here. Look at the damn file and let me eat in peace."

"Well, at least that's still the same."

"What?" he snapped, looking up at Pansy who now was idling flipping through the file.

She didn't look at him when she casually remarked, "Your obvious lack of sexual appetite."

Ron didn't say anything because he wasn't sure what he could say, or should say to that. However, Pansy clearly wasn't finished as she continued nonchalantly, "Really I don't get it. Gorgeous fellow like you could have any legal man or woman in the Wizarding or Muggle world. I know you haven't been on a date since things went to the Crups with Hermione. And I hate the thought that you haven't shagged someone or been shagged in that long. So I'm waiting for you to simply explode one day, you do realise that."

"I'm glad my sex life is that much of a concern for you. Why don't you worry about Theo and stop thinking of me and mine?"

"But I wouldn't be your friend Ron if I didn't worry about your choice to live as a monk. You Weasleys were never cut out for that, the wizarding world depends on your family's fertility."

Loosing his appetite for good this time, he sat his fork down and pushed away his half-eaten plate. He stood up as he said, "Bring me the file when you are done."

"But I'm not fin--"

"I am."

As he walked away, he heard her say, "One of these days Ron, you are going to actually have a conversation with one of us. Whatever you do, would you please do it before you snap? None of us want to clean up that mess because I don't think that even the Golden Child could help you."

He knew she was right, but he wasn't going to give her the satisfaction that he agreed with her.

---

His eyes fluttered open to find a set of pale grey ones staring back at him.

For the life of him, he couldn't think of one person who had grey eyes that would be in his flat. Pansy had bright blue eyes and Theo's were --

Then it hit him. Scorpius.

Of course Scorpius would have grey eyes like Draco's. The Malfoy heirs always scarily similar in appearance to the one that came before.

Scorpius just sat there staring at him. His head resting upon his hands on the sofa's pullout where Ron had been sleeping since bringing home. He wiped his eyes to clear the heaviness and sleep that still rested there. Turning back, he got comfortable on his side, watching Scorpius and waiting for the young man to say something.

And he waited. His eyes focused on the grey ones that were searching his face. He could see the distrust and uncertainity there, but he could see something else too. He just wasn't sure what that was, so he tucked it back for later. Instead, choosing to focus on Scorpius' obvious distrust. Something that did not surprise Ron, given that young man had been on the streets for long enough to have learned that lesson the hard way.

Ron wasn't sure how much time had passed before Scorpius finally whispered, "Why?"

"Why what?" he whispered back, completely unsure of what exactly Scorpius was asking about.

"Why didn't you let me die?"

"I couldn't."

"Why not?"

"Just couldn't." That wasn't the reason but Ron figured Scorpius wouldn't understand the truth. The father in Ron, couldn't just let another man's son die especially one he knew to be loved and adored by his parents.

He waited for Scorpius to say something, but the young man just remained quiet. Scorpius' grey eyes still studying Ron intently.

"Do my parents know?"

"Know what?"

"Are you always this frustrating to have a conversation with?"

Ron couldn't help himself and gave a short laugh before replying, "Yep. Or so I've been told."

"You aren't what I expected. In fact, you are completely different from what I remember."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

Scorpius' gave him a soft smile saying, "I'm not sure yet...So do my parents know I've been found?"

"No."

Ron watched as Scorpius' eyes widen in surprise as he sat up and back from the mattress. The young man stuttered, "But...But...why?"

"I was leaving that decision up to you," Ron said, not moving from his position on the bed. He watched Scorpius get to his feet and start pacing the short width of his sitting room. Every so often he would stop, look at him as he gestured wildly with his hands before continuing his pacing.

Ron wasn't sure how long Scorpius did that before he finally just gave up. Scorpius suddenly came to a stop, his shoulders slumping in defeat, while his hands carded through his hair. Turning towards Ron, he mouthed, "Why?"

Sitting up, he rested his back against the sofa. Looking straight ahead and not at Scorpius, he responded, "You are an adult. In fact, you were an adult when you ran. Merlin knows, if you felt that your life was so bad back then that you had no where else to turn to but the streets -- well, I'm not going to force you back into something that bad. Now that being a said, I can't figure out for the life of me what was so bad that you had to run in the first place."

"You wouldn't understand."

"Try me," Ron said simply. Turning to Scorpius, he implored, "What was so bad that you couldn't go to your parents, or Longbottom, or Potter, or me? Home, School, the Ministry -- why couldn't you come to any one of us?"

Scorpius remained silent. Ron couldn't figure out how it was possible for the young man to look even more defeated as Scorpius stared at his feet.

Patting the mattress next to him, Ron said, "You know, it really doesn't matter. If you want to go back to the streets, I won't stop you."

"But I don't want to go back." Scorpius words were so soft that if it hadn't been the still of the night, Ron would not have heard them.

"Then what do you want?"

The question from Ron's point of view was rhetorical. For he knew exactly what the young man wanted. After living on the streets for any length of time, Scorpius wanted what every other youth wanted -a home. Either the one they left behind for any one of a thousand different reasons or the one they could create for themselves. Feeling the mattress dip a bit, Ron held his position allowing Scorpius to be in control of this conversation. It wasn't long before the young man was sitting next to him. His position mirroring Ron's own before he laid his head on Ron's shoulder.

"You know everyone thought I was crazy for avoiding you," Scorpius muttered. "They all told me that you would listen, that you got it why most of us were out there, doing what we did, what we could do to survive, but I didn't believe them."

Ron didn't know what to say, so he remained quiet. He wanted Scorpius to talk and if being around the youth taught him anything is that they would all talk...eventually. The key was to remain quiet and listen. And most of all, to simply wait. That was what so many people didn't get about the youth on the streets, that the kids would always talk if one was patient enough to wait until they were ready.

"If you had to hazard a guess as to why I chose the streets, what would you guess?"

Ron didn't have to think long to come up with an answer. Most of the youth he knew had gotten there because of some abusive situation or another. They were escaping parents or step-parents, boyfriends or girlfriends, and after those two main groups, it would take at least two Gringotts goblins to keep a running total of just who abused them. Ron remembered thinking that's why Scorpius ran when he first disappeared. Hell, he even remembered mentioning it to Harry, but Harry never got very far with that theory, even when Ron pushed Harry to investigate possible abuse having seen the signs of sheer terror on Scorpius' face in Dublin --the boy had been clearly running from someone. However, Draco refused to believe, or even entertain, the thought that his son had been abused. And with no clear evidence of it, other than Ron's instincts he was forced to give up that possibility. He knew that he had only mentioned it out of experience being around teenagers who honestly believed they had nothing to left to lose.

He took his time responding, because he didn't want to frighten Scorpius away. Ron hadn't been lying to Pansy about why he was willing to let Scorpius go if he should want to return to the streets. If he waited until Scorpius was willing to come home, there was a better likelihood that Scorpius would stick to the streets of London where Ron could keep an eye on the young man and work on gaining his trust. Losing his trust translated into losing Scorpius and Ron couldn't do that. He knew he couldn't live with himself, if that happened.

"I know you have an idea," Scorpius whispered, before Ron thought it was safe to respond. "I just don't understand why you didn't respond immediately."

Carefully, Ron whispered, "Yes, I have an idea but I'm not willing to make any assumptions in case you decide to run."

"Why?"

"You run now and I'm afraid you won't stop until you are far away from London. I can't help you if you do that," he simply said. His body tired from the stress of the day. Sensing this conversation was going to take most of the night, Ron slid down the mattress to lay on his back. He folded his hands behind his head, while he kept his eyes on the ceiling, silently trying to convey that he wasn't going to hurt Scorpius, that Scorpius was safe with him.

"Why are you so worried about me?"

"I worry about every youth that works in and around Knockturn. You are no different from any one of them."

"Have you always been this way?"

"Been what way?"

"Worried about people you don't even know?"

"Someone has to be," Ron replied in a matter-of-fact tone, not really sure how else to explain why he did what he did, because he really didn't understand it himself most of the time.

"So you don't want to know, why I ran?"

"Not unless you want to tell me and talk about it."

"Will you still let me stay, if I don't?"

Ron turned his head to look at Scorpius. He hadn't expected the young man to be so willing to stay off the streets that easily. However, seeing him curled up around himself: knees tucked to his chest, arms wrapped around his legs, chin resting on his knees -Ron could understand.

"Yes," Ron whispered. "You can stay as long as you like. I would prefer it though, if you told your family that you are okay. If they may make you go home with them, which they probably will, know that you can have a place to stay here, if things get too rough."

"But what am I suppose to tell them?"

"Whatever you want. I'll back you on the story you want to tell them."

"What about Pansy and Theo?" Scorpius said quietly. "They're good friends of my parents. I seriously doubt they have ever kept a secret from them in their life."

"All they will know is what you tell them."

"You haven't..."

"Nope."

"But you have an idea."

"Scorpius, if you want to tell me what happened, then I will listen and try to help you, but if you don't want to talk about it, then we won't." Ron knew it came out sharper than he intended, but he figured it couldn't hurt, if Scorpius was already leaning towards staying. Turning to look at the young man again, who still looked nothing more thank like a scared boy, Ron did his best to soften his voice and said, "We can talk more in the morning. it's late, so why don't you go get some sleep?"

Scorpius turned his head, whispering, "Can I stay here with you?"

Ron wasn't exactly sure what Scorpius was asking, but told him yes anyway. He watched as Scorpius lay down on the bed before flipping over onto his stomach. With his eyes on Ron, he whispered, "Thank you," before closing them.

Sighing, Ron continued to stare up at the ceiling thinking about just what he was going to do with Scorpius, until sleep finally overcame him again.

---

"We need to talk...now."

Theo's harsh whisper woke Ron, though for the life of him, he couldn't figure out the warm heat he felt pressing down and into his body. Struggling to open his eyes, he tried to move his arms to help him but found that he could only move his right arm completely. His left arm seemingly pinned by whatever warm thing curled up next to him in the middle of the night.

He froze when he realised that Scorpius had. It was Scorpius' body wrapped around him, his head resting on Ron's chest fast asleep. The young man's arm and leg thrown across him, pinning Ron on his back. His mind finally putting together why Theo sounded angry so early in the morning. Carefully, Ron extracted himself from Scorpius, not wanting to disturb what looked like a peaceful sleep for the young man. His mind briefly touched on the sad thought that it may truly have been Scorpius' first in several years. Pushing that thought away, he saw Theo glaring at him and pointing down the hallway.

Rolling his eyes, Ron just shuffled towards where Theo was pointing, knowing that what was about to happen wasn't going to be good for him. He turned into his bedroom hoping that if they were going to be loud, that he could at least silence the room and let Scorpius sleep. Ron took a seat on the bed and waited for the onslaught from Theo.

His eyes never left Theo as his friend closed the door and waved his wand. Ron assumed he was casting a silencing spell. Well that's what he was hoping before Theo shouted, "What the bloody fuck?"

Not entirely sure what an appropriate response would be to that question, Ron calmly replied, "What?"

"What?...What?...What?...That's all you can say for yourself!...He's injured. He's broken. He's been through who knows what and, and, and...wait...wait one bleeding minute -that's how you found him! You twat!"

Ron sat there and waited for an actual question to be ask, because he sure as hell couldn't follow Theo's train of thought at the moment. He didn't have to wait long though before Theo swung at him. Instinctively, Ron blocked the swing and pushed Theo back into the dresser before taking a seat on the bed again. Ron watched as Theo collected himself. In the tense silence, he suddenly had an idea as to what Theo has accused him of doing. Ron took slow deep breaths waiting for Theo's next statement or question, wanting to give Theo the benefit of the doubt before he did anything rash or stupid. For he knew better than Theo as to how close he was to actually snapping. Ron was tired of people pointing out how little they trusted him. And that they didn't trust him any further than they could throw him.

"You've known where he was this entire time," Theo hissed, though wisely staying closer to the dresser and door then to Ron.

"No, I haven't. I found out where he was not even an hour before you found out."

"Bull-shite!" Theo yelled, throwing his hands up in the air while very carefully maintaining his distance. "A blind man could see something is going on between the two of you. The way Scorpius was wrapped around you! Oh god...no...please, don't tell me...Draco is going to have a fucking litter of kittens!"

Ron wasn't exactly sure what he was suppose to say to that, so he remained quiet. He chose to sit on his hands this time just for Theo's sake while Theo muttered words and sentences that appeared only to make sense to him.

Finally, Theo turned and yelled, "He ran away to be with you! That's what led to divorce with Hermione! That's why he shunned Rosie and Al. It's been you this entire time!"

He couldn't help but look at Theo like he was a idiot. Ron just shook his head with his mouth open before giving a hollow laugh and telling him, "You are kidding me right? Of all things...I mean...Really Theo?"

"It makes sense. Don't sit there and lie to me about it. Hell, it's the only thing that makes sense about him disappearing like he did."

"From the outside looking in maybe but it doesn't. He was still friends with Rosie and Al when the divorce happened. So that knocks two of your ideas out. Anyway, he ...." Ron realised what he was about to say and shut his mouth. For though he had his assumptions about what caused Scorpius to run after the conversation with him last night, he wasn't ready to admit those reasons to anyone without confirmation from Scorpius or Scorpius admitting it first.

"Anyway what?"

One of these days, Ron thought, Theo would learn not to be so shrewd and oberservant. Muttering, "Feck," he thought for a moment and said, "Anyway, he hasn't said one word to me about why he ran, so until he's willing to talk about it, I would stop making assumptions about stuff you clearly don't know or understand. I never once asked you about Madrid, can't you at least extend me the same courtesy?"

"Madrid was different."

"How?"

"It didn't involve my best friend's son!"

"And I'm not asking you to do anything illegal!" Ron yelled, getting to his feet. "I asked you to save him, so he could go back home to your best friend while keeping your mouth shut about it, until we could get him to do just that!"

Theo shut down automatically. Ron hated the way he looked at him wide-eyed before whispering, "That was your plan?"

"To get him to go home? Yes."

"And it's not because there is something going on between you?"

"Merlin, Theo," Ron sighed, sitting back on the bed. "First your wife comments on my monk status and now you are commenting on me shagging someone my daughter's age. There are times when I really wish you two were on the same page --at least when it comes to gossiping about me."

"Just promise me there is nothing going on between you two."

"There is nothing going on between the two of us. He asked to stay last night and I assumed it was at the flat. It turned out though, he wanted to stay on the foldout with me and I let him."

"And the way I found you two this morning?"

Shaking his head, Ron just sighed, "I don't know Theo. He was on his stomach next to me when I fell asleep last night."

When Theo didn't reply, Ron looked up to see Theo slinking over to him. Theo took a seat next to him on the bed before whispering, "Why do you think he ran?"

"Could be any one of a hundred reasons Theo, but until he offers up an explanation, I'm not going to make an assumption."

"Why not? It's just you and me here."

"He will only stay here as long as he trusts me. I already pushed that envelope by having you save his life. I'm not going to push my luck twice especially when in the end, does it really matter?"

"Yes," Theo replied quickly. Ron turned to look at him questioningly as Theo sighed and corrected himself, "Well I guess not. The truth just might kill Asteria and send Draco to Azkaban."

"Exactly."

"Is what he was doing on the streets as bad as I think it was from his injuries?"

Knowing he couldn't get away with a lie or a half-truth this time, Ron just nodded and quietly whispered, "Yes."

"What do you think changed?"

Ron bit his lower lip before whispering, "Theo...he only came back because he thought he was dying."

"So that's why..."

"Uh-huh."

"How are you going to get him to stay?"

He had been wondering that himself constantly since seeing Scorpius lying there in Mary's bed, what seemed like a lifetime ago but in reality was two days. Quietly, he said, "I have no fecking idea."

Silence filled the room as both men just sat there on the bed staring at their knees. Ron wasn't sure how long had passed until Theo sighed and said, "Whatever happens...Pansy and I are on your side."

Confused, Ron turned and asked, "Why the change of heart? You didn't sound like you were on my side earlier."

"Maybe it's time for me to actually just be your friend."

"Excuse me?" Ron was beyond confused at the moment. Looking at Theo to make sure, it was actually Theo sitting by him, he asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just realised I've been a shitty friend to you all these years even after Madrid." Ron watched as Theo stood up and walked to the door with a quiet, "Sorry about earlier. I just...I didn't ... I forgot what you looked like..."

"Theo?" Ron asked after Theo's voice trailed off, but he got no response as his friend open the door and walked out. Ron gave a loud sigh and stood up; he hadn't gotten to the door when Theo was back in front of him. Theo's face full of panic as he whispered, "He's gone."

---

Ron had no idea just how long he had been walking up and down Knockturn Alley looking for any sign of Scorpius. He had left Pansy and Theo back at the flat hoping that he would just turn back up. However, they hadn't seen him anymore than Ron had.

The one thing that scared him the most was that none of the youth in and around the alley had seen Angel. He had left word with Mary that he was looking for him, trying to ignore the look she was shooting at him for loosing the young man already, but he hadn't left there without exacting Mary's and the others' word that they would let him know if Angel turned up there.

He wondered what had caused the young man to run like he had. Him and Theo hadn't been gone that long, at least it hadn't felt like it had been that long. The only thing his mind kept coming back to is that he hadn't done as good of a job as he thought of extracting himself from Scorpius' sleeping form and Scorpius had assumed the worst from the get go. Ron just couldn't seem to do right by Scorpius. Every other youth that he had come across the past few years, he had managed to obtain their trust with days, hours, or even minutes. However, Scorpius, the one he had known since the young man was eleven, appeared determine not to trust him.

Tired and in deseparate need of a drink, Ron headed back to the home. Hoping that he could get a bite to eat too before starting his search all over again.

It amazed him how quiet the home was when he entered it. Then again this was the latest he had ever visited it. Most of the time, it was the centre of activity with people coming and going but now as it closed in on midnight according to the clock in the front hallway, it was deathly still. Ron's tired feet dragged him back towards the kitchen. When he swung open the door, he saw Scorpius waiting for him, perched on the table.

The shock didn't wear off, until after the door had swung back and clocked him in the face.

Muttering a string of curse words, he rubbed his head as he entered the kitchen. He took a seat on the table next to Scorpius who just remained quiet.

Ron wasn't sure what he was going to say to him after having been looking for him over twelve hours, but he bit his tongue anyway, knowing that whatever was about to come out of his mouth was going to come out badly. He knew that he would rather taste blood in his mouth then risk Scorpius running away again.

"I'm sorry." The young man whispered. It wasn't much but Ron found it oddly enough. Still not entirely sure what to say, he just sat there rubbing his fingers together as his mouth filled with a little more blood.

"Aren't you going to say something?"

Closing his eyes, trying to maintain a grip on his temper, he very carefully spoke, "What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know," Scorpius whispered so lowly that Ron barely heard him.

Ron took a deep breath and said, "I've been looking for you since eight this morning. Eight, Scorpius. This is the first break I have taken...Can I get an answer as to why you ran?"

To his frustration, Scorpius didn't say anything. Ron ground out, "Then why did you come here? You know I would have found out or at the very least found you here."

"I know. That's why I'm here."

"You wanted me to find you?" Ron asked, incredulous, his head spinning to look at the young man. "Then why the bloody hell did you run this morning?"

He watched as Scorpius just shut down again in front of his eyes: his body slouched even further as if he was trying to physically hold himself together. Sighing, Ron closed his eyes trying to still keep a lid on his boiling temper. He then quietly said, "You know what, I'm going to get something to eat. Do you want anything?"

"No."

Ron started to putter around the kitchen, pulling together a plate full of food. Looking at the full plate, Ron muttered, "Feck it," and started making a second plate for Scorpius, doubting that he had eaten all day either. He sat the plate down next to the young man and said, "Eat and I won't ask any more questions for today," before taking his original seat next to the young man.

Several bites in, he heard Scorpius mutter 'Sorry' again before actually eating. Ron kept stopping every so often, wanting to ask Scorpius so many questions. However, as always he was nothing but a man of his word. So he would mutter a string of curse words before going back to eating.

"I won't go back to the Manor," Scorpius whispered. "Not by myself. I can't. I don't want the life I had because I can't be who I'm supposed to be. I'm lost Ron... But I know...I know I would like to see my parents again."

That was something Ron hadn't expected. He barely held on to his fork as he carefully responded, "Okay."

"If I agree to see my parents, can I stay at your flat? I'll stay out of the way. You won't notice--"

"It's fine." Still trying to collect himself from Scorpius' question, he took a few deep breathes before saying, "How about we bring your parents to the flat with just Harry present? He kind of has to be due to being the lead investigator on your...um...disappearance?"

"No one else?"

"No one. Unless there is someone you would..."

"No."

The sharpness and quickness in which the young man responded caused Ron to turn his head to look at Scorpius questioning before saying, "Okay... Fine...Whatever you want...When would you like to see them?"

---

He couldn't believe he was doing this.

The absolute shite-storm this was going to cause --well, he didn't think monumental would be adequate nor would it surfice. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew this was probably going to cost him his job. It was definitely going to get him suspended with the way his luck was going at the moment. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, he was doing right by Scorpius which was what mattered in the end. In fact, he knew he would do everything in his power to keep the young man off the street where he simply didn't belong. Ron just wondered when he decided to fall on his sword for a young man he barely knew.

Taking a deep breath, he rapped his knuckles on Harry's door. Just under the name plate that screamed out, your best mate is the head of the magical law enforcement department Ron knew he was seconds from being run over by the train that was his best friend; followed by the freight one that would follow in the shape of his ex-wife.

"Come in."

Ron slowly opened the door not particularly anxious to face the firing squad he was expecting. He peaked his head in first and asked, "Do you have a minute?"

Harry's face looked at him full of surprise. Ron watched as the quill he had been holding drop from his fingers. It took Harry several moments to regain his composure before he said, "Sure. Anything for you."

"You sure this isn't a bad time," Ron asked, entering the office completely.

"Not at all. Just surprised to see you after our conversation the other day." Ron could see concern flitting through Harry's face while he spoke. His best friend appeared guarded as he pushed away from his desk. Ron, in this split second, hoped that maybe this wouldn't go so bad, that maybe his news wouldn't be the worst thing that Harry was clearly expecting. "I thought we agreed that you taking four weeks of voluntary leave to take care of yourself included, not putting in an appearance here."

Only Ron had forgotten about that part of the conversation. His mind had completely been focused on Scorpius and hoping for the best, that the details of his conversation with Harry and Hermione had been a blur.

Ron did the best to cover his blunder with, "I know but a piece of Auror business showed up on my doorstep and here I am," before taking a seat in one of the chairs in front of Harry's desk.

"How could a piece of Auror business just show up on your doorstep when you've been signed off?"

"Still trying to figure that one out." That was the truth as far as Ron could see it. He really hadn't figured out how he gained Scorpius' trust, though it was still fragile at best.

"So exactly what piece of Auror business showed up?"

Ron took a deep breath and carefully said, "Scorpius Malfoy."

He watched as the colour instantly disappeared from Harry's face. Ron was pretty sure Harry's breath had disappeared as well as silent as the room had become.

Several moments passed before Harry finally said, "Excuse me?"

"Scorpius Malfoy --"

"Just showed up on your doorstep? After all this time?" Harry's voice incredulous as he leaned forward. Ron adjusted himself in the chair as Harry's eyes narrowed. He saw Harry's reaction as confirmation that this was going to be as bad as he anticipated. Even after all these years working as an Auror, Harry could still be read like a book and Ron knew how to read that one as well as anybody. However, this was the first time he had been on this end of Harry's temper since their school days.

Trying to be casual, Ron shrugged his shoulder, "Uh-huh," before starting to just outright lie with, "Don't know much about where he's been. He's extremely skittish--"

"And he showed up at your door?"

"That's what I said."

"Of all places he turns up, he turns up at your doorstep."

"Uh-huh."

"What aren't you telling me?"

Ron mentally went through that long list while saying, "Nothing."

"So exactly how did he find your flat?"

"He didn't say. I didn't ask."

"Where is he now?"

"At my flat."

"You left him there?"

"Yes."

"Of all the stupid things you have done these days," Harry growled getting to his feet. "This is by far the stupidest. Ron, what the bloody hell were you thinking leaving him there? You should have brought him in with you. Merlin, Ron are you trying to make me fire you? Malfoy is going to have my head on a platter, if he finds out we could have returned his son to them, but no of all the Aurors his son had to come to, he had to come to the biggest dunderhead of them all."

Ron slowly got to his feet as Harry threw on his robes. He didn't have much to say, only because he couldn't think of anything that wouldn't cause Scorpius to run immediately. That thought though stopped him from actually hearing Harry's continuing rant -when did he become more concerned with Scorpius than his job? Everything he had done had been in Scorpius' best interest and not his own. He knew at this very moment wouldn't be coming back as an Auror and he realised he simply didn't care.

Accepting his fate and feeling better than he had in years, he caught the last of Harry's ranting as he stood by his open office door, "Hell why did he come to you? Do you at least know that?"

He shoved his hands into his pockets and said, "No."

"What do you know?"

Ron walked to the door and out of Harry's office as he said, "I know he's scared of whatever caused him to disappear. I know he's extremely skittish, so I have been trying to do only what he asks, so Draco and Asteria can see their son again."

"So he really just showed up on your doorstep?"

"Basically."

He felt Harry's eyes on him as they walked to the Floo network but he chose to ignore it as Harry said, "But why you? Why not go home first?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Ron said, "That's a question you will have to ask him."

"Did you get any information out of him?"

"Not much,"Ron lied. "I spent most of the morning getting him some new clothes and getting him cleaned up. Oh, he wants to see his parents but only at the flat."

Maybe he didn't have to lie, not when he kept the details vague but specific enough. Ron really didn't have much information, in his opinion though, he knew more than he imagined anyone would. Anyway, he really had spent most of the morning coaxing Scorpius into letting him purchase at least a new shirt and trousers in which to see his parents, instead of wearing clothes the young man had appropriated from Ron.

"What flat?"

Running his hand through his hair, he softly said, "My flat..."

"What?" Harry yelled, causing everyone around them to stop and stare. And if they hadn't before, because frankly Harry yelling in his Auror robes wasn't exactly a new thing at the Ministry, they were when he yelled, "You have five seconds to give me a reason not to make you redundant effective immediately!"

Sighing, his body folding in defeat, Ron whispered, "I have nothing. I'll see you in a few minutes," before stepping through the Floo and entering his flat where Scorpius bolted for him. When Scorpius wrapped his arms around him, Ron took in the peaceful happiness that enveloped him before regretfully pushing the young man away and saying, "Harry's on his way and he's not happy."

Scorpius just nodded and stepped away seconds before Harry announced his appearance with, "I want answers and I want them now Ron...Scorpius."

---

Ron could see that Scorpius was faltering fast from his vantage point. He couldn't believe that he was the only one to see it, but then again Ron expected Scorpius' parents to be blinded by the return of the son that everyone had given up for dead, after a few years and no new information. However, he did expect Harry to notice.

It didn't take a blind man to see Scorpius trying to put distance between himself and his parents. Or the way his hands had moved from his pockets, to gesturing as he talked, to gripping his pants and now the chair, he had managed to put between him and his parents at some point. Hell, there was even the way his already short answers were becoming shorter or the fact, he was simply not responding verbally anymore, when a nod or a shake of his head would suffice.

Unfortunately, Ron didn't know how to save him at the moment.

However, when he saw Scorpius reaching into the pocket Ron knew he kept his wand, he just knew he had to do something. Pushing off the wall, he had been leaning upon, he asked the room at large, "Can I get anyone something to drink?"

However, no one answered him. Scorpius though looked at him. The panic mixed with the silent pleading tore at Ron's heart. So he tried again, "Scorpius, would you like something to drink?" as he moved closer to the young man, ignoring the others who were blinded by the simple sight of the young man.

"Please," Scorpius croaked as his mum went to wrap her arms around him saying, "Oh let's get you home and I'll have Mopsy fix your favourite dinner. Your room is just like you--"

"Stop. Please stop." Scorpius jumped out of his mum's reach, his voice full of panic and terror. Ron was so taken aback by Scorpius' tone, he stopped in his tracks. Ron's eyes were only for the young man as he continued mumbling, "I can't do this, I can't. I can't," tears starting to trickle down his face.

Ron's hand automatically went to the young man, hoping that it would remind Scorpius that Ron was on his side and he was safe. That that simple action would bring the obviously traumatised young man enough comfort to bear with this situation a little longer. At least Ron could figure out how to get the other three people out of his flat so Scorpius could do what he needed to do in order not to run. Ron found himself afraid that that was exactly what Scorpius' survival instincts were telling him at the moment.

The moment his hand contacted Scorpius' arms, Ron watched -as if in slow motion- Scorpius' painfully cry out before looking in Ron's direction. Scorpius' face filled with comprehension of just who had touched him and more tears ran down his face.

Ron whispered, taking a step closer to the now shaking young man, "It's okay. Everything will be all right. I promise--"

He didn't get to finish his statement before Scorpius launched himself at Ron causing him to stumble from the shock of the action. Without thinking, he wrapped his arms around Scorpius while he caught his balance. Ron simply ignored the other three adults as he leaned his head over to murmur comforting words and sounds to Scorpius who had his head buried in Ron's chest with his fists gripping his shirt tightly.

It wasn't until Draco yelled, "Potter, what the fuck is going on?" did Ron realise how quiet his flat had become.

"Ron?" came Harry's growl.

Biting back the comment that was on his tongue, Ron looked up to find three people shooting him looks that should for all intents and purposes kill. He kept his arms wrapped around Scorpius who still appeared oblivious to the tension mounting in the room, so lost in his own pain.

"What?" he finally snapped back when his mind landed on something that could be potentially safe to say in this situation.

"That's it!" Draco yelled, "I'm going to have your arse for this Weasley. And yours too Potter while I'm at it."

When Draco reached for Scorpius, Ron pivoted Scorpius away from his father as he growled, "For one second stop being blinded by him returning, he left for a reason, he came back for a reason, and pushing him to the edge is only going to cause him to run again."

"How dare you tell me how to treat my son!"

"Actually I would hope you treat him like the adult he is!"

"He's still my son!"

"And he's still an adult!"

"Then why the bloody hell is he clinging--" Ron watched horrified as Draco's mind jumped through a multitude of wrong conclusions before screaming, "I want him arrested Potter! Do your damn job!"

"What?" Harry asked incredulous, looking at Draco like he had lost his mind. "For what?"

"Isn't it obvious Scarhead? He kidnapped my son and brainwashed him. I want him arrested."

"Harry..." Ron pleaded as he watched the cogs turn in Harry's mind. He suddenly realised he was very close to becoming a dead man. "You know I would never..."

"Ron. Shut up." Harry's voice was cold as he walked over to him. It softened though as he said, "Scorpius, let's get you home with your mum and dad. You can tell me what happened then."

Ron closed his eyes and knew he visibly winched when Scorpius sobbed, "No. I'm not going back there. Please don't make me go back there."

"But it's your home."

"No it's not. I want to stay here."

Feeling eyes on him, Ron opened his eyes only to be greeted with unadulterated hate pouring from Harry's green eyes. He didn't know how Harry managed to stare at him with so much anger while gently saying, "But this isn't your home. It's okay to leave Ron. He can't hurt you an--"

A heart piercing wail from Scorpius damn near shattered Ron's eardrums. To Ron's horror, Scorpius pushed his body away from Ron's and screamed, "Doesn't anybody ever see me?" before Apparating in front of his eyes.

Ron knew there was no way they were going to find him again as he heard Harry say, "I'm taking you in. You have a lot of explaining to do."

---

"Ron, I can't help you if don't tell me what's going on. Please talk to me."

Hermione's voice pleading with him. He couldn't bring himself to look at her. Instead, he just kept his face buried in his hands. It was easier this way. Harry's questioning of him had been brutal and he didn't think he could survive an onslaught from Hermione at the moment too.

"Ron, please talk to me."

He could hear the desperation in her voice. However, he didn't know what he could do about it. Telling the complete truth meant telling Scorpius' secrets too and Ron couldn't bring himself to do that -the young man had been through enough.

"Ron, please."

The tears he had known were coming, finally made their appearance in her voice that time. Just one more time in which he made her cry. He came to hate himself when he did it as a youth. Then he hated himself every time he had done it when they were married. And now? Now, he hated himself for doing it even more now that they were divorced. Their last fight, the one with tears and screams before they decided to just end their relationship, came roaring back in his mind. He could remember thinking how did they get here? What had gone so wrong in their relationship? He had never figured it out. Neither had she if overheard conversations could be trusted. However what he did know, is while he had been drifting alone in the past few years, she had managed to put herself together and find some happiness with Adrian Pucey.

With a heavy sigh, he leaned back away from his hands. For the first time since she had come into the interrogation room, he actually looked at her and said, "I don't know what you want me to say Hermione."

"I don't want you to say anything Ron. I want you to talk to me. I want you to tell me, what is going on?"

"I told you Hermione. Scorpius found me. He wanted to see his parents again, but only at my flat. Then I get accused of kidnapping and brainwashing him before he ran again."

"That's what we don't get Ron," Hermione said softly reaching out for him across the table. He knew she wanted to touch him but he didn't deserve her comfort. He needed to be out there looking for Scorpius, hoping that the young man hadn't disappeared into Muggle London, instead of being locked in an interrogation room with his ex-wife between visits from Harry. "Why did he come to you?"
.
"I don't know," was what he said when he really wanted to tell her that he didn't exactly come to him, he was brought to him dying but he couldn't bring himself to actually say that at the moment.

"It's doesn't make sense Ron. Please look at it from our perspective. A young man that you barely know and who barely knew you, one that has been gone how many years, suddenly reappears coming to you, looking for you for comfort and protection. It doesn't make sense."

"I know it doesn't make sense Hermione. But it doesn't mean that it isn't the truth."

He saw the frustration appear in her face as she said, with a strangled voice, "Ron, Harry and I can't help you if you don't help yourself."

For an instant, he thought about telling her about the home in Knockturn Alley. Ron just couldn't bring himself to do that though, for in his mind it was the equivalent of telling Hermione and ultimately, Harry and the Malfoys just what Scorpius had been doing the last few years to survive. And if his disappearance hadn't killed them before, he was certain that the news that the Malfoy heir had been selling his body and soul up and down the alcoves of Knockturn Alley would. If Scorpius was wanting a second chance at the life he had left, Ron thought he had a better chance of making it, the less people knew about his activities while he was gone.

"Hermione, how is not having the answers you think I have going to help me?"

"Because I don't think for a moment that you are telling me or Harry everything."

He hated when she was this astute.

"Okay then," he sighed, "what do you think I'm not telling you?"

"Why did Scorpius come to you? You have to know that."

Which was the truth --he did know that. Sort of.

"See," she said, her hands gesturing at him. "This. This is what Harry and I can see. I can tell you know the answer to that question but you aren't telling us. Why? It can't possibly be that bad unless Draco's accusations are more truth than...they aren't, are they?"

"No!" Ron snapped, slamming his hand down on the table. "Merlin, Hermione how could you think that of me? I would never and I didn't."

"Okay then, tell me why did he come to you? It's not going to be the end of the world, if the truth is out there. Tell me, so I can get you out of here. You can come and stay in the guest house while we figure this out."

Softly he said, "Hermione, it may not be the end of the world to you but it may very well be to Draco and Asteria if they found out."

"Ron, please tell me --why did Scorpius come to you?"

"If I tell you how he came to me, can I please just go back to my flat? And that what I'm about to say, doesn't get back to Draco and Asteria?"

"I can't promise that Ron."

He sat there silently drawing doodles with his fingers on the table, refusing to look at his ex-wife. After several steadily growing tense moments, he finally whispered, "Hermione, there is no answer to the why because he didn't come to me. The truth is someone found him and brought him to me. Read into that whatever you like, your assumptions are more than likely correct. But I'm not saying anymore than that."

Ron waited for a response from Hermione. When none came, he looked up to see tears welling up in her eyes. She furiously wiped at her face, "I'll get Harry to release you. Probably won't be able to leave the flat but--"

"That's fine."

---

He couldn't believe that it had taken Hermione so long to get him released from the Ministry. Granted, he had been escorted to his flat and placed under house arrest for the time being with wards that he supposedly couldn't get through, but he wasn't going to point that out to the two Aurors that had been assigned to escort him home.

Biding them a terse good night, he slammed the door in their faces as he felt his wards change. He let out a loud sigh, before resting his head on the door, trying to decide just how long to wait before sending a Patronus to Mary explaining the situation and then one to Theo and Pansy.

"I know this doesn't mean much but I'm sorry about earlier."

The sound of Scorpius' voice caused Ron to spin around. There in his sitting room, back in the pajama bottoms and Cannons shirt of Ron's that he had appropriated, stood Scorpius. His blond fringe hanging in his face, his body relaxed. Ron couldn't help but notice for the first time just how obvious it was as to what Scorpius had been doing the past few years: the eyes peaking out from the fringe, his hips jutting to one side, his arms hanging in just the right way to follow the curving lines of his lithe frame. Ron found himself swallowing hard, unexpectedly.

Leaning back against the door, Ron said, "Well, the entire Ministry is out there looking for you."

"I know."

"They think I kidnapped you."

"I know."

"And they think you are suffering from Stockholm Syndrome."

"I know."

"Do you know any other words?" Ron huffed, pushing away from the door. With his temper boiling just below the surface, he thought this was as good of time as any to walk past Scorpius and fetch himself a tall glass filled to the brim with firewhisky.

"Yes."

"That's good." He wanted to say more but at that point, he was so close to Scorpius he found that he couldn't. Ron had no idea why the young man was suddenly affecting him so much, he couldn't remember the last time someone had made such an impression on him and his body.

When long fingers wrapped around his wrist, the air in his lungs rushed out of his mouth. He felt the fingers tighten before Scorpius murmured, "Can I still stay here?"

"Why?" Ron's voice cracking like a pubescent boy. Coughing, he tried again, "Why do you want to stay here?"

"I don't know." Scorpius' voice also cracking though it wasn't as noticible as when Ron's had, for there had been hardly any sound behind the words. "Why are you letting me ruin your life?"

"I don't know." Ron's eyes moving to focus on Scorpius' death grip around his wrist. With very little sound, he whispered, "Why do you keep running back to me?"

"I don't know. Why are you being so forgiving?"

"I don't know..." Ron's words were breathless this time, before his voice failed him completely. "Scorpius..."

"Can I ask one more question?" Scorpius whispered. Ron noticed the sound was closer than it had been. Tearing his eyes away from his wrist with Scorpius' fingers wrapped around it, he looked up to find Scorpius' own face centremetres from his own, causing Ron's breathing to start to pick up it's pace.

"What?"

"What's happening to us?"

---

The morning came too early as always for Ron.

Yet this morning was different. For this morning, he didn't want to stay in bed because he had nothing better to do; this morning, he wanted to stay in bed because it felt good. Scorpius had curled up next to him again over night, Ron's chest evidently being his new favourite pillow. Ron found the young man's heat relaxing, the whole atmosphere peaceful. He could get used to this very quickly; if he hadn't already.

Ron's quiet morning wasn't to last as "Dad!" rung through the house.

Muttering a curse as Scorpius bolted up in the bed, Ron yelled, "Be there in a second!"

He pulled on a shirt, so he was now completely dressed as Scorpius went to jump in the wardrobe. Ron whispered, "Don't. I'll lock the door. You can get out; they won't be able to get in."

Scorpius nodded though he still slunk into a darken corner made by the wardrobe. Frustrated by this entire situation, because of all the well-meaning people involved, Ron quickly exited the room, locking the door behind him.

Entering the sitting room, he could see Rose's head in the Floo as she said, "So can I come over?"

"Sure," Ron replied, allowing her admittance through the Floo, knowing that if he didn't, she would run straight to Hermione or Harry --making an already bad situation even worse. When she stepped out of the Floo, Ron was immediately enveloped by his gangly daughter, her thick mane of red curls momentarily suffocating him.

And as quickly as he had been wrapped up by his daughter, she pulled away saying, "Is he really back? It's the talk of everyone that he's back. Al tried to come over late last night but he said he couldn't get through and you didn't answer. Mum said you probably wanted to be left alone, but I knew you'd let me in. So is he really back? Is he okay? Do you know why he left? Oh Merlin, Al and I should have known something was wrong. We were awful friends. I know Uncle Harry is out there looking for him, but why aren't you?...Oh that's right, Mum said they think you had something to do with his disappearance. But I know you didn't. Uncle Harry is wrong. Mum thinks so to by the way. I didn't know if you knew that but--"

Realising Rose wasn't going to shut up anytime soon, Ron interrupted her, "Rose. Please."

"Sorry. It's just that -is he really back?"

"He was back yesterday but he took off again," Ron lied, hating himself for lying to his daughter about where her former friend really was.

"So why aren't you out there looking for him?"

"House arrest Rose. Only way your Mum got me out of the Ministry yesterday."

He watched his little girl start huffing the way Hermione used to. It reminded him of a time in his life, where his life was simply easier, though he wasn't entirely sure that it was better. For the first time in a few days, a smile came on his face as he watched her bristle, "A lot of fools they are. I know Mum is still upset about me going to work for Uncle George but at least he is an honest fool. I'm making your breakfast and you can tell me what you can about Scorpius and Al and I will go out looking for him this afternoon."

"Rose you don't have to --"

"What, make sure you eat, or go look for Scorpius?"

"Both."

Ron sighed as he watched his daughter continue into the kitchen. She just called out, "Too damn bad to both. Hugo and I know you don't take care of yourself these days and you forget that Scorpius was my friend."

Hanging his head, knowing it was fruitless to fight his headstrong daughter anymore when her heels were this dug in, Ron took a seat at the table. He could hear her continue to prattle on, but all he could think about was sitting at this same table last night with Scorpius. There hadn't been much food consumed as the two remained mainly silent with intermittent looks, comments, and questions. Both trying to figure out an answer to what was happening to them.

Even in the dawn of the new day, Ron found himself still confused. Something had changed in his life with Scorpius' reappearance. For the first time, he actually believed that he could be happy; that there was hope for him; that he could finally find the peace that had escaped him for years. He just didn't understand what Scorpius had to do with it.

"So you do realise that how a conversation works is that I say something and you respond and then I respond, yada, yada, yada?"

Rose's voice finally broke through his thoughts. He shook his head in an attempt to collect himself, given that her words were eerily like Pansy's the other day. Looking at his daughter as she set an omelet in front of him, he asked, "You've been around Pansy lately, haven't you?"

"Maybe...why?"

"She said the same thing to me a couple of days ago here in this flat."

"Was that before or after Scorpius showed up on your doorstep?"

His heart skipped a beat and then plumented at the sight of his daughter's not-so-innocent expression. He had been suckered in by that face one too many times, quietly he asked, "Rose, why are you really here?"

He watched as she flushed. In that instant, he knew his life was over, Harry had sent his daughter in to set him up. The bastard had used his own daughter against him. He doubted he could ever forgive Harry for this.

"Rose, I asked you a question."

"Daddy, where is he?" Rose asked, taking a seat at the table. Her voice sounding very small. "Please tell me."

"I can't tell you what I don't know," Ron lied, pushing his breakfast away. He was disgusted with everyone who was doing everything wrong out of blind desperation. Was he the only one that had ever dealt with people who had been abused before?

"Daddy please. They said, they would go easy on you, if you would just tell us were he is."

"Even you? Do you think I would do something like that? To one of your friends?"

Ron was beyond hurt. He found himself yelling by the end. The pressure in his chest undulating as he stared at his daughter who had tears whelling up in her eyes.

"You do? You believe them don't you!" he yelled. "Get out Rose! Just get out!"

"Daddy don't do this! Please don't do this. Scorpius...Scorpius needs to go home. He needs his parents."

"He needs someone to open their eyes!"

"He can't do that unless you let him Daddy. You have to let him go."

Floored, Ron stared slackjawed at his daughter. He didn't know how many minutes passed as she sobbed and he felt himself dying a little more inside, knowing that his daughter thought him capable of hurting someone like he was being accused of doing.

Collecting himself, he straightened up and cooly said, "I told you to get out Rose."

"Daddy, please listen to--"

"OUT!" he roared.

"Daddy--"

Grabbing her by her arm, he dragged her over to the front door of his flat. Ron opened the door and pushed her out, trying to ignore the tears running down her face as she kept repeating 'Daddy'.

As soon as she was clear of the door, he slammed it in her face. Her tenacious nature refused to give up though as she started to bang on the front door. Ron rolled to rest his back against the shuddering door. Tears started to run down his face as he slid to the floor. Wrapping his arms around his legs, he wept trying to figure out when his life had gotten so bad that even his own daughter didn't believe him.

Cool fingers buried themselves in his hair. He initially fought their attempts to lift his head, but that didn't last long. The emotional turmoil of his morning had started to eat away at his physical strength. When he finally allowed them to move his head, he found himself looking into Scorpius' own tear-stained face.

In one movement, he wrapped his arms around Scorpius and pulled him into his body. Together, they held onto each other: Ron whispering apologies over and over again as Scorpius did the same -until Ron's vision went black amongst a deafening sound.

---

"Daddy! You weren't suppose to hurt him you dunderhead. You promised you wouldn't hurt him."

"Ma'am, I need you to--"

"No! I need you to get the fuck away from me and them...Daddy please...Oh Merlin...I'm so sorry."

"Ma'am --

"Get away from me!"

"Miss Weasley--"

"Mum! What did I do?"

---

Dinner was awkward and silent between them. Ron had no answers to Scorpius' question. It was the first time that he realised that there might be something more to why Scorpius kept running back to him.

Giving up on eating, he pushed away the plate that still had most of the food on it. He leaned back in his chair as Scorpius did the same. Scorpius then folded his hands and laid his head down on the table.

After several minutes, Scorpius turned his head and quietly asked, "What do you want to know?"

"Whatever you want to tell me," Ron replied softly, leaning forward.

Scorpius sighed and got to his feet. "Do you have any firewhisky?"

"Yeah. It's in that cabinet."

Ron's eyes followed Scorpius' back as he retrieved the firewhisky and two glasses. It was hard for him to keep his mouth shut as Scorpius didn't pour the firewhisky as one normally would -a finger's width in an old fashion. Instead, Scorpius filled two glasses more like a Tom Collins glasses to the brim. Suddenly, it dawned on him that Scorpius' story just might be worse than he even imagined it to be.

When Scorpius pushed the glass in front of him, Ron said, "Your story is that bad?"

A pensive look came over Scorpius face. The young man stood in his place for a moment before quickly turning on his heel and retrieving the bottle. When Scorpius took his seat, he simply said, "It's actually worse."

---

"Harry, what have we done?"

"Hermione, I'm sorry, but we had to something."

"This? This Harry James Potter is not something. This was rash and stupid. Your Auror blew in Ron's bloody front door. He could have been killed! Heaven only knows how he is even still alive. And Scorpius? Oh god. I'm surprised that Draco and Asteria haven't killed you yet. You could have cost them there son too. No, this, this was--"

"What would you have had me do Hermione? Ron knew where he was and hid him. He knowingly kept Scorpius away from his parents -that amounts to kidnapping. So what was I suppose to do?"

"You could have been his friend."

"Just like you were? You were in on this too. It was your idea to use Rose to try and get him to tell us were Scorpius was. Yesterday, you thought he was guilty and capable of this as the rest of us. Don't absolve yourself completely, Hermione. If he dies, it's on both of our heads."

"Well, I didn't think he should be in Azkaban and that's where you said he was going. You said that we could protect him, if he would just tell us where Scorpius was. Now he's in a coma, Rose is beside herself with guilt and Hugo blames the two of us. You didn't give me much options Harry. We may not be married anymore but I still love him."

"And you think I don't? Great Hermione. Just great. Blame this one all on me."

"I'm not blaming you Harry."

"Well that's exactly what it sounds like."

"But I'm not."

---

"So had bad is it?" Ron was able to ask before he sucumbed to the firewhisky by taking a large mouthful of the wonderful burn.

"What's the worst story you have ever heard from the other ones?"

"None of the stories I hear around the home, Scorpius, are good. To compare them is like comparing apples and oranges."

Scorpius softly smiled and replied, "You know it's easy to see why everyone there adores you. You see everyone as a single person and not as the collective whole."

"It's not as hard as people think it is," Ron muttered. "I'm the sixth child in a family of seven."

"Yeah, but you are somebody."

"I'm the best friend and the ex-husband of two people who are. Me? I'm...I'm...well a puppy could fill my role," Ron replied with a hollow laugh. He knew better than anybody that of his six siblings, he was definitely the afterthought, which was only made worse by being in Harry's and Hermione's shadow most of his life.

When Scorpius didn't say anything, Ron looked up from his glass to see Scorpius staring at the wall in front of him. He could have sworn, he heard him mutter, "Funny what we see in ourselves and what other people see in us," before taking a long drink of firewhisky that could have impressed even the most seasoned of drinkers.

"What do you mean?" Ron asked softly. He knew there had to be more to that statement: it was too wise, too smart for some one Scorpius' age despite what he had put himself through willingly and unwilling before he left.

"I never saw you as nobody when I was younger," Scorpius continued talking to the wall. Ron wasn't entirely sure that Scorpius had heard his own question. "You were the first one of the 'Golden Trio'," Ron wanted to laugh at the sarcastic gesture Scorpius made as he said the two words that Ron had come to hate as well, "that I actually noticed. It took a bit for me to figure out who Hermione and Harry were but you were the one I knew from the get go. You might see yourself as nobody but I always saw you as somebody."

Ron wasn't sure how to respond to that if he even could. Instead, he took a large drink as Scorpius muttered, "Me on the other hand, everyone sees the Malfoy heir and all the good and bad that comes with it. Rose and Al tried but no one's ever really seen me. No one knows my favourite colour -- red by the way, favourite Quidditch team -- the Harpies, that I chose Gryffindor not to get away from my father's 'stigma' as everyone thought but because that's what you were or that before that sick twat ruined my childhood, hopes and dreams --well, I wanted to be an Auror...like you."

"Scorpius..." Ron's voice trailed off as he realised there was nothing he could say in response to it. Slowly, he reached his hand out and took Scorpius' hand. "It's okay," he softly said, when Scorpius jumped at the contact. Ron started to pull away as he spoke, "I'm sorry I should have--"

"Don't." Scorpius said firmly grabbing his hand, though he didn't look at Ron. "Please don't..."

The seconds dragged into minutes as they sat there, holding hands on the kitchen table. Ron's eyes watching Scorpius, Scorpius eyes watching the wall until he hung his head with a sigh and whispered, "I didn't stay away from you all those years, because I was afraid you would make me go back to that slice of hell...I stayed away, because I knew you could convince me to do just that. I knew I could never say no to you."

---

"What do you mean you are not going to do anything? He kidnapped and did a binding charm on my son!'

"I'm not throwing Ron into Azkaban just because you think so Malfoy!"

"And why aren't you? He kidnapped my son, brainwashed him--"

"There is this little thing called proof, Malfoy. And until I have that, the MLE refuses to press charges, until I can prove that Ron's had him this entire time. And Scorpius is saying, quite emphatically that Ron didn't hurt him. That he hasn't been with Ron all this time. And most importantly that Ron didn't cast this binding charm that's tying them together."

"But you found him in Ron's flat. Isn't that enough proof?"

"No, it's not enough, not when your son is saying otherwise. Malfoy, think of everything you have been accused of over the years and all the evidence I have found and yet, you are still not in Azkaban."

"This isn't about me Potter. This is about about my son."

"So start being his father! Go talk to him and fucking listen.''

"I do listen."

"No, you bloody do not. If you had you would have heard what he has told everyone else over and over again."

"But he doesn't know what he's saying.

"He said it under Veritaserum even Malfoy. What do you want me to do?"

---

Ron's heart thudded at Scorpius words. His mind racing to fill in the blanks with all that he could tell the young man wasn't saying.

Gently, he pulled his hand away from Scorpius' own. Reaching up, he slowly started to run his finger's through the young man's hair whispering, "Scorpius, I want to help you."

"I know you do," the young man whispered, turning his face into Ron's hand and nuzzling him a bit. Ron's body reacted to the touch as his gentle touches descended into more firm caresses of the young man's face. "Please understand that I can't go back there."

Having been on this end of this type of conversation more than he would like to admit, Ron whispered, "Scorpius, no one has to know what you have been doing to survive these past few years --"

"It's not that," Scorpius interrupted, moving his chair closer, "I can't go back to the Manor because he is always there and he won't leave me alone. He says I belong to him."

"Scorpius, who hurt you?"

Scorpius ignored his question and continued whispering, "But I refuse to belong to him...I would rather be with you...Belong with you..."

---

"What am I suppose to do Theo? I'm his father, I know what's best for him."

"Draco, instead of calling him your son, why don't you start being his father? And stop this insanity."

"Excuse me?"

"Draco, I'm standing here as your friend. Locking him up and keeping him away from Ron isn't going to solve anything. It's only making things worse for the both of them."

"I've changed my mind. Now get out."

"No. Draco, open your bloody eyes! Look at your son. Really look at him: he's not eating, he's not sleeping, he's fecking wilting away in front of our eyes. Let him visit Ron."

"No."

"Dammit Draco, the binding spell is done. It's complete. Nothing is going to change that and keeping them apart; letting them both whither away and die because you are unhappy with it isn't going to solve a thing. It's just going to cost you your son."

"Theo listen to me as I tell you -- No. NO. NO.."

---

"Scorpius," Ron groaned, pulling his hand away. "You don't know what you are asking."

"I do," Scorpius whispered. He buried his head into his hands, muttering through his fingers, "I know exactly what I'm saying. I ran all those years ago because he said he wouldn't let me leave him. He said he was going to bind us on my birthday. That I wouldn't have a choice that the spell would be completed on that day. And I did think about staying because it wasn't like anyone would believe me but I saw you a couple days before and I knew I couldn't stay. I knew I wouldn't have much if I left but it was better, hell anything was better than what I had."

Ron's heart broke. Getting to his feet, he went to pull Scorpius to his own. Ron wrapped his arms around the young man as he took deep breaths. Taking in for the first time the smell of linen he found there. When Ron felt Scorpius wrap his arms around him --clinging to him as a lifeline-- Ron realised that maybe for the first time in a long while, his life could be complete.

"I'm not perfect Scorpius," Ron whispered into the soft blond hair. "And hell will freeze over before I even come close."

"I don't care. I'm not perfect either."

A silent tension filled the room, for the first time though Ron didn't mind. He just whispered in Scorpius' ear, "So where does that leave us?"

Scorpius didn't have to answer. When he looked up at Ron, those grey eyes that were sparkling with tears, told him everything he needed to know.

Reverently, Ron whispered Scorpius' name before leaning in as his eyes closed.

---

"No. NO. NO. Pansy, I know haven't told you that much through the course of our marriage, but I'm putting my foot down."

"Why? Because Draco has reverted to his teenage self --being a spoilt brat and not listening to common sense or reason? You know damn well the only way to save them both is to put them together. Hell, everyone knows that with the old binding spells. Why do you think the Ministry stopped using them?"

"I know that. You know that. I'm just can't do anything if Draco refuses to see or hear that."

"Then help me help him too. Please Theo. I refuse to lose the man who has become my closest friend and to have to go through Asteria losing her son again. I know you haven't forgotten what she was like when he went missing Theo, you had to sedate her for months Theo. Not days. Not hours. Months."

"You don't have to remind me of that. You know you aren't the only one to feel that way. I don't want to lose Ron anymore than you do."

"Then help me Theo. Help me get Scorpius out of the Manor and to the hospital to see Ron."

"Pansy, I just don't know what --."

"You're his doctor Theo, I'm sure there is something that he might need done that can only be done at St. Mungo's. Please Theo, please, just help me."

---

Ron had never felt such desperation. Frankly, he didn't know that this level could actually exist.

One taste, that's all he had wanted. However, when his lips pressed against Scorpius', he knew he wanted more. He had to have more. He simply needed more.

All he had wanted was to reassure the young man that maybe he did feel the same way as Scorpius implied he felt about him. Nothing in the world prepared him for this: Scorpius melting into his body, his hands clinging desperately to Ron. In Ron's entire life, he had never felt more adored, more wanted, more desired than he had in this moment.

So, he knew no one could blame him if he deepened this kiss, pressed a little harder, denied himself air a little longer. Scorpius' gasping, the young man's mouth opening to him --well, Ron couldn't deny himself that either. So he slid his tongue between Scorpius' lips. He tasted everything that Scorpius' sweet mouth could give him: he ran his tongue along his teeth; he dueled with his tongue; he ended it with a bite, a suckle, a hold on Scorpius' bottom lip.

Pulling away from the intoxication he found himself drowning in, Ron opened his eyes and took in all that Scorpius offered: the panting of his breath; the flush of colour in his cheeks; the need, the want, the desperation that lingered in Scorpius' grey eyes.

Growling, "Mine," he dove back in for a second helping. Damning himself to whatever the gods held for him, because nothing in this world could feel as good as the way Scorpius kissed him back.

---

"Scorpius, please help me."

"There's nothing you can do, they won't let me see him. I've tried Pansy. Maybe it's better this way."

"They will if you tell them the truth. Please Scorpius, just tell them who you ran from; please, I'll make sure you can see him if you do."

"I can't Pansy. You don't understand, I can't."

"Yes, you can. Whoever hurt you, we can protect you from them. But you have to tell Harry who hurt you."

"No I can't. I'm sorry but I can't."

"Scorpius, do you want to lose Ron?"

"No."

"Well you are going to, unless you tell people who hurt you."

"Pansy, I can't lose him. I can't."

"I know. Neither can I. Neither can Rose or Hugo. Please Scorpius, do this for me. If you can't do it for me or yourself, then please do it for Rose and Hugo."

"Pansy."

"Scorpius, please."

---

Ron stopped thinking the moment he felt Scorpius start to tug at his own clothing. It was one thing for him to be drowning in all the beautiful young man possessed, but to actually feel the young man being consumed by him --Ron Weasley, the proverbial puppy in comparison to his family and friends-- words couldn't express what that did to his body, mind, and soul. He would gladly drink of all that Scorpius would offer, because he knew that something like this would never be his again to have or to hold without Scorpius.

His hands furiously tugged at the clothing Scorpius wore. The same fevered action being mimicked by Scorpius. Ron had no idea if he was puling Scorpius down the hall or Scorpius was pulling him. It didn't matter though. All that mattered was the desire, want, need, and desperation coming from both of them.

Pushing Scorpius down on the bed, he took a moment to see the young man. To really look for him. Beyond the desperate eyes peaking out from the blond fringe, and the lips that sat there pouting, the body that laid there waiting. Ron took in the lines of Scorpius' body: the scars the streets had left upon it; the ones of a childhood remembered. He looked at all of that and could only want more.

Crawling onto the bed, spreading his body above Scorpius, cradling his head, holding his hip, Ron murmured, "I promise to make this worth your while."

He felt Scorpius arch into him as he whispered, "You already have."

If Ron hadn't been thinking before, he definitely wasn't now. All he could do was feel and react -taking in everything that Scorpius was giving to him and try to reciporcate the action, the feeling, the sensation. Every touch from Scorpius, he returned; just as every sound he made, Scorpius repeated.

Ron had no idea that this could be like this. That the sweat, the awkwardness could be something so wonderful.

With Scorpius sheltered in his body, Ron could finally understand the beauty in such a filthy action. For it wasn't a beautiful struggle of desperation in of itself, it was because his mind made it so. The touches, the kisses, the strokes, the murmurs, the sweat, the cries, the pleas, the desperation --all together made it what it was. In those moments of unadulterated action and reaction, Ron could understand the beauty in it. That it was Scorpius' shivers that made him ache, and his cries that sounded like the angels on high.

And when bliss filled him and he lay sated on top of Scorpius, Ron knew for the first time in so many lifetimes what peace and contentment could mean. He stole as many kisses as Scorpius would allow before rolling on his back and taking the young man with him.

So many thoughts rolled through his mind as his breaths slowed. He expected regret to be the first thing to feel for taking such pleasure from someone so vulnerable but he couldn't. There had been so much in Scorpius' reaction to everything that he did. No amount of time on the street, making one's money selling their body, could tell such lies. Ron had heard time and time again youth talk about the one that they could just be with and that they could tell because there was so hesitation on their part, only desperation and need.

Tonight with Scorpius, Ron finally understood that. He smiled as Scorpius nuzzled up into his neck, squeezing the young man tighter against his body. He rejoiced in the quiet of the early morning hours wide awake, and feeling better about himself than he had in ages. His mind went through every scenario as to how to make this work while still protecting Scorpius and though his mind couldn't find one, he thought that maybe in the dawn of the new day he could.

Gently he woke Scorpius up and quickly, they put on at least pajama trousers before crawling back into bed. With a smile, a caress, and a kiss, he curled up with the young man who held the power to make him whole and drifted off to sleep.

---

"Please Ron.

I can't do this without you. I'm trying but I can't. They say that's just the binding spell working. But I know that's not it. I don't think they understand that I don't want to be without you.

I told them everything Ron. I told them things that I couldn't tell you because I didn't want you to see me as anything less. They know about abuse. I told them his name. I actually said it out loud to someone. I know if you could have been there, you would have been proud of me. I'm sorry that I couldn't tell you but I didn't want you to think less of me, for letting it go on as long as I did. I just didn't know what to do back then. He was always around -either at the Manor or at Hogwarts. I tried to escape him several times but I couldn't.

I just didn't know who I could turn to so when he threatened me with binding me to him, I just ran. I didn't know what else to do. I didn't know where I could go. And he tracked me into Muggle London. So I ran again and he found me in Dublin. You found me that day. He cast the binding spell that day. It should have binded me to him but it didn't work. They think it had something to do with you being the first person I saw after the spell had been cast.

They told me that what was really happening to us over those few days after you rescued me -well, it was the spell taking hold. We cemented the bond that night. There's no way to remove it now, trust me, Father has tried to find a way. I hope you don't mind being stuck with me.

Hopefully, one of these days I may get to hear you tell me that you care for me. They said it's possible. But for now, I guess all we have is me telling you I have been in love with you most of my life. Years before the binding spell was cast."

...

"Please Ron, I need you to wake up. I need you to be by my side. I need you to be the first thing I see in the morning and the last thing at night...They tell me it's unnatural, but I don't believe them. I don't believe for one minute it has anything to do with the binding that somehow happened between us. I know there is something more than some silly charm between us. But I need you to wake up to prove it to them.

I need you to be on my side...I know I'm asking for everything but if you can't do it for me, then please do it for Rose.

She's beside herself. They tell me she is in worse shape than me, which I can't believe at the moment, but I know she isn't sleeping or eating. She misses you just like I do. She's blaming herself for what happened. And we can't convince her otherwise so we need you to wake up, so you can convince her.

Everyone needs you to save her...and I need you to save me...so I can save you from yourself. I have loved you since I was eleven please let me just love you for the rest of my life.

Please Ron."

---

The fog was unbearable. He could hear Scorpius talking, but he couldn't find him. Opening his eyes only made it worse, his vision completely blurred. There was a voice in the distance but it did nothing to help him to place just where Scorpius was. The beeping, the one that happened every few moments told him he wasn't in his flat anymore. He just had no idea where exactly he was now, but he knew it would be okay, if he could just find Scorpius.

Ron tried again to open his eyes to find him. Concentrating, he tried to even make out the words but he couldn't. In frustration, he turned his head toward the side and found, through the fog, the most beautiful grey eyes looking back at him.

"Ron. Ron. Oh Merlin. Ron, please. Oh Merlin." The voice's desperation was real, though Ron couldn't comprehend just exactly what the words strung together meant. He couldn't tear his foggy eyesight away from those dove-grey eyes. The ones that had started to glisten as their owner's hands went to his face.

He closed his eyes as those soft fingers touched him. Ron reveled in the gentle caresses that were so familiar; the ones he was sure he hadn't had enough of in this lifetime.

"Ron, don't you dare go to sleep." A panicky voice screamed at him. Opening his eyes, he saw the same eyes now surrounded in red as tears streamed down his face. "Oh Merlin. Don't leave me. You can't leave me. Not now."

"I'm not..." he croaked out. Ron wanted to say more to the eyes that seeped deep within his soul. However, he couldn't manage much more than what he had said.

"Good," the young man cried, his head falling on to his aching chest. "I can't lose you. I love you too much."

Ron knew he couldn't return the sentiment. So he remained quiet trying to fight the fog and wake up.

He knew it was only a matter of time before he felt the same way for the angel laying on his chest, crying for him.

---

Epilogue

The smell of bacon woke Ron up. The thought of bacon for breakfast was enough to get him moving as quickly as he could. Months after the explosion took his ability to walk, he was still adjusting to life in a wheelchair.

There were days he was glad to have Scorpius by his side. If he hadn't, Ron wasn't sure if he could have made it this far in dealing with the loss of the use of his legs. Slowly, he moved through the motions of getting up, and crawling into the wheel chair. He took a quick look in the mirror and for a moment wondered how the hell an old man like him got himself a lover as young and good-looking as Scorpius.

It was something he did every morning and this morning was no different. The moment he thought that singularly depressing thought, Scorpius' answer of "Because you love me" would ring in his ears. The answer Scorpius had given him, time and time again, in the first few weeks when his new life had thrown him for one depressing curve after another. He smiled as he thought about the first time Scorpius had actually said it though. It had been the first time he realised that he did love the young man who had torn apart the thing he had called his life and had given him something better. And though his career as an Auror was gone, he still had the home which now had more financial support than he could have ever dreamed of from his friends and family as well as Scorpius'. For when the time came for them to understand what had sent him to the streets, they quickly realised they had him back only because of the home.

Ron opened their bedroom door to the sound of laughter. He quickly rolled down the hall and into the breakfast room to find Rose and Al laughing and joking with Scorpius as he served them breakfast.

"Good morning you three," Ron called out, rolling himself up to the table.

"About time you dragged your arse out of bed."

"Yeah, Al was threatening to come and get you himself."

"And I wouldn't let them," Scorpius murmured in his ear before kissing him on the top of his head.

"Ewww," Rose shuddered, "Scorpius, I thought we had this conversation. That's my father."

"Yes it is and while you are in our flat, I will kiss him all that I want." Scorpius' playful reply that earned a laugh from Ron and a chuckle from Al before Al added:

"Give it up Rose, these two are just too pathetic for us two single losers."

Rose growled, "Still doesn't mean I have to see it."

"No offense Rose," Al continued, "Take it from me and Scorpius, this is a hell of a lot better than our experiences of walking in on our parents."

Rose's scream and tearing out of the kitchen sent the three men laughing. Ron chided Al saying, "That wasn't very nice."

"No, but I figure she can get over it. It's not like you two aren't pathetically happy," Al responded with food in his mouth and more about to be shoveled in.

Scorpius on the other hand, took a seat on Ron's lap and whispered, "I love you."

Ron couldn't help it and whispered it back before stealing a chaste kiss. Scorpius leaped back out of his lap and said, "Good you remembered."

"You can come out now. They've said 'I love you' and kissed," Al yelled, still trying to shovel more food into his mouth than should have been possible.

Ron gave a short laugh and dug into the full English breakfast Scorpius had put in front of him. He hadn't gotten far before he felt Rose wrap her arms around his neck and give him a quick peck on the cheek before whispering, "Just because I'm happy for you doesn't mean that as your daughter I want to see you snogging."



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