Scorpius could hear the shouting from the sitting room he'd been ordered to stay in. He wasn't sure what his grandparents were shouting about this time because he was trying to block out the words. Needless to say, they were angry at his parents for something. They always were, especially his mum. Everything she did made his grandparents angry, and they let her know about it each and every time.

Clamping his hands over his ears, Scorpius shut his eyes and pretended to be somewhere else. It didn't work. If anything, it only made it easier to hear the shouting. He opened his eyes on the fireplace across the room from him, and a sudden idea hit him.

Even if he couldn't block out the shouting, he could still escape it. He tilted his head up to look at the pot of Floo powder resting on the mantle. It wasn't easy to reach, but he could manage it when he scooted one of the chairs towards the fire and climbed on top of it. Grabbing the pot, he carefully maneuvered back to the floor, only spilling a bit of powder in the process. Some of it drifted into the fire, turning the flames a slight green before Scorpius was ready to go.

He stared at the powder and debated where he should go. Diagon Alley sounded too crowded, and Muggle London wouldn't be connected to the Floo. He thought of Hogsmeade. His mum had taken him there the previous week, and he'd loved it. The people there were kind, and there hadn't been loads of other people like there was when they went shopping in Diagon Alley.

Scooping up a handful of powder, he threw it into the fire and hurriedly followed after it, shouting, "Hogsmeade!"

Hogsmeade was dark when Scorpius stumbled out of the fireplace of the Three Broomsticks and found it empty. He scurried through the pub and out to the street as if he'd find it brightly lit when he opened the door.

He didn't, and he was momentarily confused until he realized that of course it would get dark in Hogsmeade like it did elsewhere. He'd never been there at night, so he'd only thought of Hogsmeade as a bright place, full of happiness. That was what he'd been hoping for when he'd left Malfoy Manor.

Hurrying down the street as he didn't know what else to do, he clutched his arms around his stomach. He wanted to cry when he thought about how far away his parents were, and he didn't know if he could find the Floo powder necessary to take him back home. He'd never felt like he depended on his parents until the moment when he wasn't sure how to get back to them. Suddenly, he would have preferred to sit through the yelling than be standing on a deserted street by himself.

There was some commotion that made Scorpius cower in the shadows of a house before he made out the figure of a woman who had come out with her trash. She noticed Scorpius and froze, leaning closer to get a look.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

Her voice had an edge that made Scorpius back further away, and she seemed to realize her mistake a second later, sighing and taking a step forward with her hand outstretched as an offering of peace.

"Don't worry," she said in a gentler voice, slowly coming closer as she spoke. "I don't want to hurt you; I just want to help."

Scorpius watched with wide eyes as she approached, not sure what to do. Her own eyes widened when she got close enough to see him in the dim light.

"Scorpius Malfoy," she said softly, making Scorpius' stomach twist.

He wasn't sure if her knowing his name was good or bad. Plenty of people knew his parents when they were out and about, but many of them would scowl unpleasantly. The woman in front of him didn't look as mean as many of the others at least.

"Where are your parents?" she asked, crouching down to his level.

"At home," Scorpius said quietly. "I came to the Three Broomsticks by Floo."

The woman's frown deepened as the wind picked up. Scorpius shivered when the chilly air wrapped around him, hugging his arms around himself.

"Let's get you inside," the woman said softly, ushering him towards her house. "I'll help you get home, and in the meantime, you can have some hot chocolate."

Scorpius relaxed the second they were indoors where it was warm. The woman's house was much smaller than his family's manor, but there was a fire in the hearth that Scorpius eagerly moved towards. Unfortunately, he didn't see any Floo powder. That seemed odd when the woman had to be a witch, living in Hogsmeade as she was.

"Sit down," the woman instructed as she began moving around the kitchen to make hot chocolate. "I'll give you this and then call the Aurors. They can take you back home. There's no way I'm dropping you off to your parents myself. I'd rather not have the Malfoys accusing me of kidnapping their heir. I like to stay out of trouble."

Scorpius watched as she poured them both mugs. Now that they were in the light, he could see that her face was littered with small scars, even though none of them seemed to have come from terrible injuries. They only made him more curious about the woman who didn't appear threatening. She'd given him hot chocolate after all.

He was so enthralled with the mystery that he'd hardly paid attention to the owl she sent.

A knock sounded on the door around the time Scorpius came to the end of his hot chocolate, and the woman went to get it in the same silence she'd held since they arrived. On the other side stood a red-haired man in an Auror's uniform. His face morphed from impassive to shocked the second he saw the woman.

"Marietta Edgecombe?" he asked, squinting as if he couldn't believe his eyes. He looked past her at Scorpius. "Never would have expected you to find the lost Malfoy kid."

The woman who must have been Marietta shrugged.

"And I never would have expected Ron Weasley to be the Auror who showed up at my door."

Scorpius' eyes widened. While he'd never heard of the name Marietta Edgecombe, he did know of the Weasleys. They were a pureblood family like Scorpius' was. One of them owned a popular joke shop in Diagon Alley that Scorpius loved to visit, but only his mum would take him there. His dad and grandparents all tugged him away sharply if he asked to go inside. That had only made him more curious about the family this man apparently belonged to.

"I didn't expect to have this assignment either," Ron admitted. "But I guess we're both here. I'll take the kid off you. The Malfoys are at the Ministry yelling at everyone and causing trouble, so my boss will be happy to get rid of them."

"Go ahead," Marietta said, motioning for Scorpius to come to the door, which he did eagerly, already excited about being reunited with his parents. "I'd ask you not to tell the Malfoys that it was me who found him, but I know better than to think you'd be receptive to that."

Ron considered her request for a moment before replying.

"I won't tell them anything. No one deserves to have the Malfoys come down on them when they did nothing wrong. Some of us have a strong sense of morality."

Marietta's eyes narrowed, but she didn't say anything as Ron held his hand out to Scorpius, looking a little reluctant about doing so. Scorpius gripped it tightly, knowing he was at least as safe with an Auror as he had been the strange woman. Ron gave him a one second warning before his body felt like it was being turned inside out. Less than five minutes later, he was crying in his mother's arms.

Prompts:

Hogwarts Challenges and Assignments

Assignment 10: Health and Fitness task 1 - Write about someone reaching for the stars or running away from something

Seasonal Challenge - Ravenclaw Themed Prompts: Marietta Edgecombe

HPFC

Favourite Character Boot Camp: Scorpius Malfoy - depend

Word count: 1,346