ass_tea | [LOG] Flashback: Mother and Son

Where: The Malfoy/Yang household, Zhongnan Mountain, China
When: Mid-July 2021 (between fourth and fifth year)

It was a warm night that Ora Malfoy found herself sitting outside the entrance of her house, seated on one of a cluster of flat, weathered stones, her mother's old guqin in her lap. The moon was just a sliver of crescent, and the sky was cloudless so the stars shone through. Cicadas chirped in nearby trees, a pleasant accompaniment to the the sound of her instrument, her fingers gracefully rising and falling as she plucked the strings. Her husband, Draco, was still out on a business dinner in Huashan, the Chinese wizarding captial, with some representatives from the British Ministry of Magic. School in China didn't let out for summer holiday until early August, which meant that it would be another couple of weeks before her daughter, Delphina, would return from her studies at the Mount Emei Girls Academy. Ora was playing an old song her mother had taught her, a simple, lyrical piece called 'Plum Blossoms in Summer' when she heard a shuffling behind her, the sound of footsteps on grass, coming from the direction of her home.

She silenced the music, placing her fingers gently over the strings to still them. Ora looked up as her son, Scorpius, approached, his blond hair a bit tousled, as if he'd tried to go to sleep, failed, and decided to stay up and walk about for another few hours.

Ora put the guqin on the ground and patted the rock beside her. Scorpius took a seat, looking as if he needed to discuss a very important matter with his mother.

"Can't sleep?"

Scorpius shrugged. "Not really sleepy."

"Something on your mind?"

Scorpius stared at the grass, at the instrument lying at his mother's feet.

"I'll take that as a 'yes' then," Ora said after a moment. She smoothed the wrinkles out of her dress. "I'm ready to listen," she said simply.

Mother and son sat silently for a few minutes, listening to the wind blowing through the trees and the song of the cicadas. Finally, Scorpius heaved a sigh.

"Mum," he began, "I think there's someone that I like."

Ora smiled and nodded knowingly. "Go on," she urged gently, knowing that her son's troubles must run deeper than just having a crush on anyone, or else he wouldn't have such a worried look on his face.

There was another period of silence, and Scorpius tried to put into words what he'd been thinking about all summer. Scorpius grimaced.

"I think it's my best mate, Mum."

Ora nodded again. There were no exclamations of surprise, she had been suspecting for a couple of years already that Scorpius might not be interested in girls--he certainly never talked about them--though she may not have guessed that he had a crush on his best friend.

"You mean Albus Potter?"

Scorpius nodded silently.

Ora smiled and ruffled her son's hair, tidying it a bit. "And?"

Scorpius pressed his lips together in a frown. He knew his mum was all about talking and communication being the key to a healthy family relationship, but it should be obvious what was bothering him, so why did she have to make him say it out loud? Scorpius let out a breath, frustrated already.

"Well, he's my best mate, Mum. Obviously he doesn't like me back that way," Scorpius said, finishing that last bit with a touch of bitterness. "Not to mention he's a bloke."

Ora smiled. "Well, you know it's all right for you to like boys, right?"

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Yeah, Mum, you've been trying to tell me for the past two years."

"So then we're all okay on that front, aren't we?"

Scorpius shrugged. "I don't know, Dad doesn't seem to be particularly open to the idea."

"He actually is, even if he tries not to show it." Ora put her hand on her's sons, which were clenched in his lap. "Xiaorui," she said gently, "you know that your father and I will support you no matter what or who you choose to do."

Scorpius winced. He wished his Mum wouldn't use turn of phrases like that sometimes, it was just downright embarassing. He was really glad it was the middle of the night in their own home, and not somewhere else where any old stranger could hear.

"I know, Mum," he said impatiently. Frustrated, he adjusted his glasses and ran his fingers through his hair, a habit he had when there was something difficult that was bothering him. "Look, Mum, Alby is my best mate. And well...I think I like him. I can't stop thinking about him. And I know he doesn't like me back. So what am I supposed to do?"

Scorpius could feel himself tearing up a bit, so he took a few deep breaths to calm himself so he wouldn't cry in front of his mum. He was fifteen, he was supposed to be too old to cry, but here he was, about to break down because his best mate was straight and didn't like him. He couldn't believe he was still such a baby. Scorpius looked at his mother, really wanting a hug.

Ora patted the grass at her feet, moving her guqin to the side and Scorpius slid down onto the grass, resting his head in his mother's lap.

"What am I supposed to do, Mum?"

Ora rested a hand on her son's shoulders. "Well, you can keep being his best friend, because you care about him more than anything else, right?"

Scorpius nodded.

"And you never know, darling, maybe he does like you back too, and he's just too scared to say it too. Have you told him yet?"

Scorpius rolled his eyes, as if the answer was obvious. "No."

"Then maybe you should."

Scorpius jerked his head upward to look at his mother. "Mum!" he protested. "Alby will think I've gone mental! We've been best mates since first year! Besides, I know he doesn't like me because he's dated a couple of girls before." Scorpius put his head back in his mother's lap, squezzing his eyes shut in misery. He felt his mother pat him on the shoulder and it made him feel better, if only marginally.

"Sometimes it happens that the person you like just doesn't like you back," Ora said with a sigh, knowing that those words were small comfort to her son.

"I know," Scorpius said miserably, "I hate it."

In the absence of anything to say, Ora bent down and hugged her son close, kissing him on the top of his hair.

"The most you can do is still be his best friend, honey. I know he means a lot to you, but there's nothing you can do to make him like you, unless you let him know you like him first."

"And then?"

Ora sighed. "And then you hope you're very lucky."

"Great," Scorpius said, his arms flopped hopelessly.

Ora smoothed her son's hair gently. They sat there like that in silence for a long time, Ora humming one of the lullabies she used to sing to her children when they were young, and Scorpius trying to figure out exactly how it was that he was supposed to go about being friends with Alby and trying to act normally when it was so painfully obvious, even to him sometimes, how hard he was really crushing on his best friend.

Over the summer, Scoprius had been trying to think of when exactly, he'd started liking Albus that way. After long sleepless nights and silent afternoons, he came to the conclusion that he'd always liked Albus, maybe even since that first day they met on the train. There wasn't one moment or event that he could pinpoint as being the moment that he'd fallen in love with Alby, he just supposed those feelings were always there, and that he'd never realized what they were until that bloody portrait made them kiss to gain entrance to the Chamber of Snogs. Since then, he hadn't been able to get that kiss out of his mind. It would creep up on him when he was least awares, in the middle of studying for a test or worse, in the middle of an exam even, and then he'd remember the feel of Alby's lips, the feel of Alby's tongue, the feel of Alby's fingers digging into his shirt and pulling him close. It was a miracle he had managed to pull top marks on all his exams, every time he had studied with Alby since then there would be long moments where he'd just get distracted and think of their snog. Not even going to sleep helped, because he would often have the most vivid dreams of being Alby's boyfriend, of snogging Alby in the Slytherin common room or in the school corridors, and then he'd wake up disappointed and horny. It had been driving him mental all summer. How was he supposed to go back to school and pretend that everything was the way it used to be when it clearly wasn't?

"Everything will work out in the end," Ora said, breaking the silence softly. "If you're meant to be together, then I'm sure you will be."

Scorpius rolled his eyes cynically. "Thanks Mum, that's real reassuring." Heaving a sigh, Scorpius climbed up from his mum's lap, dusting off his clothes and the seat of his pants, which had gotten rather damp. His mother rose along with him, and Scorpius noticed how small and short she was. He figured he must be having another growth spurt, his mother had never seemed so tiny before, the top of her head coming up just barely past his chin. Nevertheless, her hug was as large and as comforting as it ever had been, and despite the fact the was taller than her now, he still felt like a child in his mother's embrace.

"Thanks Mum," Scorpius said. "I think I feel a little better now."

"A little?" His mother asked, gazing at him from over the tops of her glasses.

"Okay, okay, more than a little. A lot." Scorpius cracked a smile and his mother laughed and hugged him again.

"You won't tell Dad, will you?"

Ora shook her head. "That's your job, Xiaorui."

"But you'll make sure he doesn't go completely mental when I tell him?"

"I will try to prepare your father for the news."

Scorpius grinned. "Thanks Mum, you're the best."

Ora and her son walked back into the house, where she heated up some milk for him and sent him off to bed. She tucked him in the way she used to do when he was a child, and kissed him on the cheek.

"Goodnight, dear," she said.

"G'night, Mum." Scorpius replied, yawning. He suddenly felt tired, and ready for some--hopefully dreamless--sleep.

"I hope everything works out between you and Albus."

"Thanks."

Ora closed the door to her son's room quietly, dimming the lights of the hallway with a flick of her wand. She went back outside and picked up her guqin, once more sitting herself down and beginning to play. She had barely gotten halfway through a song when she heard footsteps again, this time coming from further down the mountain. A few seconds later Draco appeared, walking up the dirt footpath to his home and dropping his briefcase in the grass to sit beside his wife as he waited for her to finish 'Flowing Water.'

"Did the Ministry give you any trouble?" Ora asked when the song ended and she silenced the strings.

Draco bent down for a kiss before answering. "No, just the usual business. Where's Scorpius?"

"Asleep," Ora replied as she rose, slinging her instrument under her arm.

"He looks distracted these days," Draco said, picking up his briefcase. He took his wife's hand and they walked into their house together. "Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

Ora laughed and shook her head. "I think you should save that for the Father-Son talk later."

"Oh?"

They dropped their things on the table in the kitchen before making their way further into their home. Draco raised an eyebrow, pushing open the door to their bedroom.

"I don't even get a hint?"

Grinning cheekily, Ora paused and seemed to consider it. "Maybe," she said hesitantly.

"Maybe?" Draco laughed, shrugging off his tie and shirt. "Well, you better tell me quickly, or else."

"Or else, what?" Ora asked, still smiling.

"Naughty things," replied Draco in a whisper, a wolfish grin on his face as he swept up his wife in his arms and carried her to the bed.