A/N: Welcome to 'All Roads', a slightly darker, more serious, more angsty ScoRose story. I've toyed with this plot-line for years, never quite getting round to writing anything. But having recently got back in the saddle with 'The Rumour Mill' (now complete) and remembering what a brilliant distraction writing can be, especially at times such as these, it seemed now was finally the time.

This won't be as long as TRM - I expect it to turn out at roughly 4 chapters, and the rating is likely to change as we progress (consider this your ScoRose smut warning!).

As always, it would be lovely to hear your thoughts as we go along, or just hear how you're coping in these world-gone-mad times. I try to respond to any comment left by a logged in username. Enjoy!

Usual disclaimers apply.

All Roads - Chapter 1

There'd been something in her voice that evening, something so desperate and vulnerable and helpless in the way she'd asked – no, begged, for his help. Cheeks stained with mascara, twisting at the delicate silver engagement ring on her finger, and just the faintest hint of a fertile swell beneath her blouse that he was far too diplomatic to mention. That was exactly the sort of thing that he was skilled in: seeing what others were trying to hide. And that, after all, was exactly why she was here, pleading with him to take the case.

It was against his usual policy. Never take on a job if it involved people you had any prior connection with. It clouded your judgement, impaired your objectivity, and made it harder to spot the little white lies or subtle suggestions of wrong doing. But there really was something in her voice, and something about her in general – a damsel in distress quality – that meant Scorpius knew he was going to accept almost as soon as she'd walked into the shabby, second-floor alcove he called an office. Besides, he imagined someone like Victoire Weasley was fairly used to getting exactly what she wanted in life. Who was he to disappoint her now?

The task was a simple enough one on paper. A standard missing persons case, if it weren't for the individuals involved. Ted Remus Lupin – Teddy to his friends and family – had apparently gone missing three weeks after proposing to his girlfriend, Victoire. His last known sighting was at 12 Grimmauld Place (the Potter family residence), where he had attended the weekly Sunday luncheon with his godfather and relatives. That evening, though he had cheerily said his goodbye's as he floo-ed out of the London townhouse, he had not returned to the flat that he shared with Victoire. And, since that day – almost two weeks ago now – he had not shown up for work at St Mungo's, nor had he made contact with any of his extended family or responded to their increasingly frantic howlers and owls.

"I know that Uncle Harry is doing everything he can," Victoire sniffed and pulled at the handkerchief she had clasped between trembling fingers, "and he's managed to keep it out of all the papers, which I'm so grateful for… It's just, I need to feel as though I'm doing something to help find Teddy."

Scorpius nodded and slid her the box of tissues that he kept on his desk for just such occasions. His job involved far too many grieving widows and cuckolded spouses to ever do without ply.

"I have to ask," he chose his words delicately, "was everything fine between the two of you? No recent disagreements, problems at home, that sort of thing?"

Victoire gave a quiet little sob but shook her head firmly. "Nothing. I've been wracking my mind, trying to think of anything like that but we were happy. We are happy, I mean. Everything was wonderful and then…"

Scorpius tactfully glanced away as a fresh set of tears spilled over her damp cheeks. He was never any good at this part of the job. Sometimes the emotion and vulnerability of his clients could make him feel uncomfortable, as if he had too much power, too much insight into their private lives. He preferred a swindled businessman, an angry dispute over someone's last will and testament – something that called for stern professionalism rather than a shoulder to cry on.

He cleared his throat and pressed on, "And how did he feel about the pregnancy?"

Victoire's breath hitched and she blinked up at him, startled. "He -, he doesn't even know. No one knows. It's still so early, I hadn't told... How did you even -?"

Rising swiftly from his chair, Scorpius extended an unwavering hand. "I'd be happy to take the case, Ms Weasley. And I can assure you of my absolute discretion for the duration of my investigation. I will, however, need to ask your permission to approach the other members of your family for any further information I might require?"

Still staring up at him in a stunned, open-mouthed silence, Victoire nodded. "Of course, I can… erm, get you a list?"

"Thank you," Scorpius guided her swiftly but gently over to the office door. "I'll be in touch with anything I might find and details of my advance fee. In the meantime, I'd be grateful if you could let your family know I'm looking into the matter. I imagine some of your cousins might be a little… apprehensiveabout speaking with me."

Victoire offered him a half smile as she stepped out into the dimly lit corridor. "Oh, I doubt James will mind. I'm sure all that schoolyard Quidditch nonsense is behind you both these days."

He smiled, tightly, and bid her goodnight, watching her disappear down the narrow staircase and out into the street below. He stood for a moment in the open doorway, listening to the muffled chatter from the cauldron shop on the floor beneath, before leaning back against the frosted glass of his office door with a sigh.

If it were only James Potter and old Hogwarts team rivalries he had to worry about, he'd be almost ecstatic to work such a high-profile case. It wasn't that he needed the money, the business was going from strength to strength, always a suspicious spouse or feuding family desperate to enlist his analytical and deductive skills. But with this case, he'd be working for arguably one of the most famous families in Wizarding Britain. That kind of clientele could open some serious doors.

If only all members of that family would be happy to hear he was involved, he thought, ruefully.

Turning to head back to his desk, he glanced at the words etched across the frosted glass. The black lettering needed replacing – the 'p' and 'v' had almost completely faded, declaring to the outside world that Scor ius Malfoy; Private In estigator could be found within. He grimaced; he'd have to rectify that before his mother's next visit. She was desperate for him to move to more 'reputable' premises, even offering to buy him an entire apartment block of office space on one occasion – "to use as a headquarters,"as she put it. What in Salazar's name a one-man firm like his would do with a headquarters he really didn't know. Besides, he rather liked his poky little office, with its shabby plaid carpet and sloping ceiling, situated right at the corner of Diagon and Knockturn Alley. He found it poetic that he should be holed up here, on the verge of such seediness, just like so many of his marks turned out to be.

Sinking back into the worn leather desk chair – the one that used to reside in his father's study – he loosened his tie and opened the first few buttons on his white Oxford. He would try and treat this case as he would do any other, and that meant doing his homework like the good little Ravenclaw he'd always been.

O

It was the flickering of his brass desk lamp that finally drew Scorpius' attention away from his work. Glancing over at the clock balanced precariously on the overpacked bookshelf, he discovered that he'd managed to work through almost the whole night. His stomach rumbled and his back ached awfully, but – he thought, as he looked across the pile of papers now littering his desk – he'd found out all he needed to know before going out into the field.

Hogwarts a History: Volume II had filled in any gaps in his knowledge of Lupin's parents and their tragic deaths at the Battle of Hogwarts. Childhood summer holidays spent with the Weasley-Potter families were documented in surprising detail in a number of Daily Prophet articles, as was his relationship with Victoire. From their teenage dates in Hogsmeade, to the double page spread in Witch Weekly covering their engagement announcement, their romance was chronicled at almost every stage, and it certainly seemed a happy one for all intents and purposes. He found, from the annual Ministry census, that Teddy was listed as a Metamorphagus, and that his usual appearance consisted of turquoise hair and bright, golden eyes (which in turn led Scorpius to believe that he was a bit of a show off). A search of his school record placed him in Hufflepuff, with the accolade of Head Boy to boot. And, finally, a call to his contact at St Mungo's hospital revealed that a patient under the name of Ted Lupin had been receiving monthly medical tests in a private Lycanthropy clinic since the age of sixteen which, so far, had shown no trace of his father's affliction.

So, one thing at least was for certain: wherever Teddy Lupin may be and whatever he was doing, he wasn't viciously slaughtering villagers beneath the light of a full moon.

By the time he'd showered and shaved in the tiny office bathroom and pulled on the spare clean shirt he kept folded in a desk drawer, Victoire's owl containing a list of family members and their addresses had arrived and was tapping persistently against the dirty window.

He cast an eye down the neatly written scroll, marvelling – as he often had done during his school days – at just how many members of the Weasley-Potter clan there actually were. At Hogwarts it had sometimes felt as if there was one lurking around every corner. They had spanned all houses, all quidditch teams and all social spheres. As an only child, particularly one who liked to keep himself to himself, they had always been an alien entity; this large, loving brood who couldn't help but attract attention to itself in all sorts of ways. They had something of a seductive quality about them, as Scorpius had eventually discovered in more ways than one.

He paused over one particular name, noting with surprise that she still lived at the same address as he remembered. She did love that flat, he supposed, even though the rent alone had cost her almost her entire month's wages back when they had been –

Scorpius clenched his jaw and blinked away the rising memory. Best to start elsewhere, he concluded quickly. He glanced back at the list, mentally re-organising it in the order of those he was most likely to get talking, and quickly. Two names immediately jumped out at him, in almost perfect synchrony: Hugo and Fred Weasley. And he already knew exactly where he could find them.

O

Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes hadn't changed all that much over the years though it had grown considerably larger, buying up the premises of both next-door businesses and even expanding upwards, so that it was now one of the tallest buildings on Diagon Alley. Scorpius could see it from his office window if he craned his neck just so, although he couldn't remember the last time he'd actually stepped foot inside.

The two youngest members of the Weasley family had taken over the reins of the business almost a year ago now. Scorpius had seen the front-page article in the Prophet marking the occasion, complete with colour photo of the two men and their respective fathers. And it certainly seemed like things were going well for the new management. That morning, the place was heaving with animated children and their families, whistles and bangs echoing from every corner, whilst various gadgets whizzed overhead before disappearing or transforming into something else entirely and taking off again.

Scorpius had been right in his estimation; when he finally found Hugo – who was busy demonstrating their newest product (a quill that seemed to exclusively write swear words) to a horde of mesmerised students – and explained why he was there, the two young entrepreneurs were more than happy to accompany him somewhere quieter to talk, leaving their empire in the capable hands of their numerous staff.

'Somewhere quieter' turned out to be the Leaky Cauldron, at Fred's rather quick suggestion. Scorpius imagined this had more to do with the free round he was now carrying back over to their booth, than any sort of privacy the cramped little watering-hole provided. Unfortunately for him, their readiness to talk didn't necessarily equate to them actually knowing anything worth talking about.

"Sorry, mate," Hugo muttered, oblivious to the line of butterbeer foam now resting on his top lip, "but I don't know how much help we can be. The last time we saw Teddy was at his and Vic's 'unofficial' engagement party. And everything seemed fine. He was great, happy, y'know?"

Fred nodded his agreement, "Yeah, that was the night before he went missing. Nobody had a clue."

Scorpius tapped his quill thoughtfully on his rather empty notebook. "Where exactly was this party?"

"At Rosie's, she threw it for them as a surprise. It was just us lot, no parents allowed, that sort of thing. Chance to blow off a bit of steam," Hugo grinned.

Scorpius nodded as if in understanding. In reality, he couldn't remember the last time he blew off anything.

He glanced between the two men. If he didn't know any better he'd have thought they were twins; the original Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes reincarnated. Fred's hair was a shade darker, he supposed; Hugo's nose a touch longer. Uncanny though, all the same.

"And nothing out of the ordinary happened that evening?" Scorpius pressed. "Nothing even the slightest bit strange or different to usual?"

Hugo shrugged, apologetically.

Fred took a long swig of his pint. "Sorry, Malfoy. Except…" he paused, and scrunched up his nose in a way that Scorpius supposed indicated he was thinking, "There was a half hour, right before the end, no one could find Rose or Teddy anywhere. They even missed Molly's first ever attempt at karaoke."

"Which we're all hoping will also be her last," Hugo grimaced.

Scorpius frowned, quill poised. "Rose and Teddy disappeared together?"

"Oh, only for like twenty minutes or something and that isn't unusual," Hugo waved off his interest. "They're always off doing stuff together; they've been really close these last couple of years. Probably just planning some last minute, goofy surprise for Vic."

"And Victoire doesn't mind that?"

"Nah, she loves surprises."

Fred rolled his eyes. "He meant them hanging out, you twit. But no, she couldn't care less. Honestly, Vic and Teddy are like soulmates or whatever rubbish Lily calls it. Never had eyes for anyone but each other. It's enough to make you feel sick, sometimes."

"So, there's never been any suggestion that Rose and Teddy could be, er, anything more than just friends?" Scorpius found he couldn't quite bring himself to write that down.

Fred and Hugo just stared at him. "Eurgh, Malfoy. Now you're the one making us feel sick."

O

He didn't have far to go to find the next cousin. Just down the road at Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, Lily Potter was just stepping out on her lunch break as Scorpius approached her through the bustling shopping crowd. Just as happy to talk as Hugo and Fred, she eagerly linked her arm through his and pulled him along beside her as she made her way to one of the numerous little cafes down a quieter side street.

"I'm just working there for the summer," she explained, animatedly, pouring them both a steaming cup of some flowery herbal tea that looked as if it had been brewed in a high school potions class. "I really wanted the internship with Witch Weekly's fashion department but Mia Longbottom got that one. Still, it's great experience, really hands on you know."

Scorpius nodded and tried to remember when he'd actually asked. He took a swig of his tea: it tasted of aniseed and made his nose tickle unpleasantly.

"I even made a set of bridal robes the other week. I was going to see if Victoire would let me help with hers but then given the circumstances, well, it didn't seem the right time to ask," she frowned at the inconvenience of it all.

Scorpius arched a slim eyebrow. "No, perhaps not. Now, Miss Potter -,"

"Lily," she beamed at him.

He blinked. "Lily, right. Look, I know your father has his best employees out looking for Mr Lupin, and I'm sure he's already spoken to you and your cousins, but in my experience, there's usually a few things that people don't particularly like to share with their parents. Is there anything, perhaps, that you might not have felt comfortable telling him, that might help me find out what's happened to Mr Lupin?"

Lily didn't miss a beat. "Well," she lowered her voice, leaning over the table towards him conspiratorially. "I'd never say this to Dad, especially not if Uncle Ron was around, but if Rose doesn't have something to do with Teddy going missing then I'm a roasted flobberworm!"

Scorpius frowned, slightly. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, they're best friends, Teddy and Rose. Hasn't anyone told you that already?"

"I've heard they're close. How, er, how long have they been such good friends?" he affected a semi-plausible nonchalance. Luckily Lily didn't have cause to notice.

"Probably the last two or three years. It was strange, really. They'd always got along, like we all did, but then Rosie went… well, a bit weird all of a sudden. She stopped coming to family lunches and parties, that sort of thing. It was like she didn't want to see any of us, Merlin knows why, and she was awfully miserable all the time, too. Anyway, it was Teddy of all people who finally brought her round and they've been thick as thieves ever since," she waved her hands in a gesture of general bewilderment.

"Did you ever find out what had happened? Why Rose was like that?" his voice felt oddly thick in his throat. Judging by the timeline, he could certainly hazard a guess.

Lily shook her head, her brown eyes wide. "She never told anyone but Teddy. And no one else ever dared to ask. It's like we all just pretended it never happened. Like I said: weird."

O

That evening, Scorpius sat nursing a measure of Ogden's over ice and thumbing through his scrawled notes from the day's interviews. Lily had had plenty more to say over the rest of their lunch date, most of which he hadn't even bothered to write down. One of her many theories involved Teddy joining an undercover Muggle intelligence operation for her Uncle Percy, another had him engaged in secret werewolf research somewhere in a Slovenian forest. The girl and her imagination were truly wasted in fashion, he thought, wryly.

All in all, he hadn't got very much from the three younger cousins but what he did have, he didn't much like. It was becoming fairly obvious that he was going to have to speak to a certain other Weasley before too long – a prospect he had been hoping to avoid for a long as possible, if not entirely.

Scorpius wasn't sure how she'd react to even seeing him again. He'd imagined that particular scenario a few hundred times over the previous years, never with a happy outcome. He'd wager he'd be lucky to make it out alive with all four limbs still attached.

Glancing at the clock, he drained the last of his drink and sent off a few more owls – one to a friend in the Ministry Transport office and one to Albus Potter's secretary asking for an appointment – before calling it a night, bundling his jacket into a makeshift pillow and stretching his long legs out on the shabby office sofa.

O

Despite the dreary weather, Dominique Weasley had insisted in meeting outdoors in the Hogsmeade memorial gardens. Scorpius found her huddled beneath her black umbrella on a damp bench on the south west corner, already half way through a pack of Marlboro lights and gazing out over the muddy flowerbeds.

"Victoire's a mess," she muttered before he'd even had chance to take a seat. Dominique had never been one for small talk. "She isn't eating, says it makes her feel sick. I'm sure it's the stress of all this."

Scorpius pulled his jacket collar a little higher around his neck but didn't say anything.

She sighed and tucked a length of poker straight blonde hair behind one ear. "All she does is sleep all the time. I suppose I would too if my fiancé ran away."

Scorpius quirked an eyebrow. "You think Lupin ran away?"

She gave a funny little snort which seemed uncharacteristically inelegant of her. "Don't you?"

"I'm more interested in what you think," he watched her carefully as she stubbed out her cigarette beneath a well-heeled shoe.

"Look, I love Teddy," she muttered, fumbling in her purse for mints. "I've known him for as long as I can remember, but it's the oldest story in the book. Boy proposes to girl. Boy realises the gravity of the situation and does a runner. It doesn't take a private investigator to work this mystery out."

Scorpius couldn't help but let out a chuckle. "Guess I'll have to give your sister that advance fee back, then. Bollocks."

"Don't be a smart arse, Malfoy," Dominique glared at him, though her lips twitched around the edges. "Remind me again who it was that helped you solve that riddle after you'd been locked out of the common room for the best part of a week?"

He rolled his eyes. "I still think a question on the metaphysics of transfiguration was asking a bit much of a first year, especially on only his second day of school. But, yes, you have my undying gratitude and always will."

They shared a nostalgic smirk. Dominique had been a few years ahead of him at Hogwarts, but had kept something of a guardian eye over Scorpius as they both navigated life in the Ravenclaw Tower. She always told him it was because he reminded her of her younger brother. Scorpius had figured she meant the hair.

"Let's say you're right and Lupin has just run away, where do you think he would go?"

Dominique pursed her lips. "Ordinarily I'd say he'd be hiding out at Rose's, but she claims she hasn't seen or heard from him either."

Scorpius glanced at her shrewdly, "But you don't believe her."

She appeared to think for a moment, before giving an almost imperceptible shrug. "I'm not sure. Which is a rarity for me, as you know. I just don't see why she would lie; she can see how upset this is making Victoire. She'd have to have a bloody good reason to keep putting her through all this if she knew where Teddy was all along. Have you spoken to her yet?"

"I'll get to Rose, eventually," he frowned, automatically defensive. "I don't know if you've noticed but there's actually quite a lot of you to track down."

Dominique merely rolled her eyes.

"So, there's no animosity between Rose and Victoire?" he quickly changed the subject. "Only I can imagine it could be difficult: your younger, female cousin being so close with your fiancé?"

"Oh, come on, Malfoy," Dominique threw him a disparaging look, lighting up another cigarette. "I know what you're implying and you're smarter than that. I think Vic could see that Rose had needed someone – someone from outside the family – when she'd had her... episode."

Scorpius shifted, uncomfortably. "Lily mentioned that, actually. 'Said she went a bit 'weird' a few years ago."

Dominique chuckled, dryly. "Lily's just as insightful as always, I see. Rosie wasn't just weird, she was changed somehow. She lost her spark, lost all that life in her. I could tell what it was the minute I saw her, not that she'd ever speak to anyone about it. No one except Teddy, I mean."

"And, er, what was it, do you think, that changed her?" Scorpius had a fair idea he already knew what her answer would be.

She let out a long sigh, the wisps of cigarette smoke swirling up into the overcast sky as she exhaled, before turning to look him straight in the eye with a sad sort of smile. "Heartbreak," she said.

O

"Scorpius! Good to see you."

It took Scorpius a few seconds to recognise the man striding purposefully towards him, with his warm, open grin and outstretched hand.

"Albus," Scorpius smiled in amusement and took the proffered handshake, slightly taken aback by the strength of its owner's grip.

It was as if someone had taken the Albus Potter that Scorpius remembered from school days and reassembled him into a fully-fledged adult. This was not the boy who lazed at the back of classrooms and out on the sunny castle lawns, hair perpetually uncombed and shirt untucked, charming the girls and horsing about with his classmates. This was Albus Potter: Senior Undersecretary to Minister Granger, Head of International Wizarding Relations and a surprising member of the men's loafers fan club. Merlin, the man was even wearing a tie of his own volition – and not one wrapped around his forehead.

"My office is just along here, shall we?"

Scorpius followed him down a long, marble-floored corridor, passing by a rather heavily made-up, middle-aged witch – whom Albus called Romilda and instructed to bring them some coffee – and inside to one of the roomiest office spaces that Scorpius had ever seen. He thought of his own little room perched above the busy cauldron shop and wondered, not for the first time, why he didn't take his father's advice and go after a desk job at the Ministry. It was clearly paying dividends for one Mr Potter.

Scorpius took a seat and surveyed the other man's desk space. Even that was bigger, and more organised, than his own. A shiny, golden name plate sat beside a collection of photos. Teddy Lupin appeared in quite a few, the flare of turquoise hair giving him away each time. Scorpius' eyes came to rest on one in particular, however: a group shot of everyone at some kind of occasion. There was Albus and his siblings, along with Rose and Hugo. Rose and Lily wore matching blue dresses. The colour made Rose's eyes shine beneath her auburn fringe.

Scorpius glanced away quickly, but not before Albus noticed his interest.

"That was at my folks' anniversary party. They renewed their vows after thirty years of marriage, the daft sops," he grinned that easy grin of his and leant back in his chair. "Anyway, how can I help? Vic said you're looking into Teddy's disappearance for her, any leads so far?"

"I've got a few different lines of enquiry at the moment, nothing concrete," Scorpius admitted. "I'm sorry to bother you at work, I've been trying to canvass as many of your cousins as possible. I find that when someone goes missing, those closest to them often know more than they might realise. Something they think of as insignificant can turn out to be the key to solving the whole case."

Albus nodded. "Gotcha, gotcha. Although, I'm afraid I'm about as useful as a deflated Quaffle on this one. I'm as baffled as anyone."

Scorpius pulled his notebook from his jacket pocket. "Did Teddy have any enemies that you know of? Anyone who might've had cause to do him harm?"

"Blimey," Albus eyes widened. "Not at all. Teddy was... well, Teddy! Everybody loved him. The man's got more friends than I've had hot meals. And he was doing great at work, won some kind of award thing last month, even: Healer of the Year or something like that. There was a whole drinks reception and everything."

Scorpius nodded. "You seem to be doing pretty well for yourself, as well. If you don't mind me saying?"

Albus just laughed, but Scorpius detected the faintest hint of colour in his cheeks. "Yeah, well, turns out I actually quite like being a pencil-pusher. Plus, it doesn't exactly hurt when your aunt's the boss, y'know?"

Albus grinned cheerfully and Scorpius was again reminded of that easy teenage charm he had once – and apparently still – had. More well-known and more popular than almost every other boy at that school, but humble enough to be friendly to all – even the quiet Ravenclaw he'd been paired with in Charms. He had a knack for making people feel at ease. He could make you feel as if you'd been best friends for years within five minutes of meeting. Scorpius had envied him awfully for it.

"If Teddy had left of his own volition, any ideas where he might go?"

Albus sighed and leant back in his chair again, "Well, Teddy's favourite places are Shell Cottage and The Burrow. And I reckon someone might have noticed if he was hiding out there. Sorry, Scorpius, told you I'd be useless."

Scorpius looked back at the family photo. "Your brother, James, I've been trying to get hold of him, too -,"

"Ah, sorry. You'll be out of luck there as well, I'm afraid: pre-season training with the Falcons. Though you wouldn't think they did a day of training in their lives, if last season's league performance was anything to go by. Don't tell him I said that, mind you."

"Any chance Teddy could have gone to stay with him?"

Albus scratched his chin, thoughtfully. "I doubt it. Their summer training venue is always a pretty closely guarded secret. James says their coach is a paranoid nutter, always scared some other team is going to get wind of their new tactics. Even James doesn't know where he's going until the portkey arrives."

Scorpius left Albus in his office, just as Romilda returned with a tray of coffee, cream and sugar. He could've sworn she gave him a predatory once over from behind her bejewelled spectacles as he headed back down the corridor.

Stepping through the gilded elevator doors, he selected his floor and waited as the fluttering paper memos zoomed in and out overhead, till he reached Level 6 – Department of Magical Transport. He found Adrian Creevey sitting gloomily behind a stack of apparition license applications in a poorly lit corner of the busy bull-pen; a stark contrast from Albus' airy, private office. Adrian, who he had owled earlier that week, slipped an envelope from under the stack of files, passing it discreetly to Scorpius who fished the man's payment – a pair of tickets – from his coat pocket.

Why anyone in their right mind would want to attend the National Gobstone Championships was a mystery that Scorpius would never solve. But he was more than happy to procure the two all-access passes if it got him the information he needed in return.

He waited till he made it back to his office to open the envelope that Adrian had procured for him. Inside was the information he had requested: on the night of his disappearance, no portkeys had been booked under the name of Teddy Lupin.

There was one, however, booked under the name of a Miss Rose Weasley.

Scorpius grimaced, instinctively reaching for his bottle of Ogden's Finest. He could avoid it no longer, it seemed. It was time to pay a visit to his ex-girlfriend.

Thanks for joining us for Chapter 1! I hope to keep up a posting timetable of roughly every 2 weeks (possibly more frequently if isolation continues indefinitely!).

ET