LAST CHAPTER! I hope you like it.

Scorpius went through his pockets, which was incredibly difficult given the ropes that bound him. He glanced over at the woman who had taken to sitting on a rock and simply watching him.

He wished he had thought to bring something like a knife, or anything else which would have cut through the ropes.

"There's no point." She told him. Even though it wasn't quite time for the transformation, her eyes already looked wolfish, as though she was picturing how tasty he would be.

"If you really hate Death Eaters so much," Scorpius said to her, mainly to distract her from his frantic search for some sharp object than anything, "Then why do you use the same tactics as them?" She didn't answer him. "Going after the children of people you believe wronged you? How does that make you any different than them?"

"They owe me the life of my father. They will pay with your life."

Suddenly, he felt a thin piece of wood touch his arm. When the woman had put him in a body bind, his wand must have slipped back up his sleeve. But could he get it out in time?

"My family has turned their life around, now." Scorpius said. "They're respectable members of society, now. They try and help people, they paid for some of the memorials of the war. I think that's why Harry Potter let them and the others go, to give them a second chance." Scorpius shook his arm, trying to get his wand to fall into his hand.

"Well," The woman said, "His mistake."

With one movement, his wand fell down his sleeve and he caught it in his hand. There was no way he could cut through the ropes without her noticing and stopping him. Perhaps, while she transformed, he could cut himself free and run for it. How long did it take for a werewolf to transform? He hoped it would be long enough for him to get away.

He didn't know how long he hung on the tree, waiting, but all too soon, the woman groaned in pain and fell on the ground.

Quietly, Scorpius whispered, "Diffindo," and the ropes began to cut away. Once the last rope was cut, he fell to the ground, tearing his robes. He looked up at the woman, whose face had already started lengthening into a snout, and her arms began to resemble paws.

He stared horrified for a moment, but then got up as fast as he could, stumbling quite a bit over his robes, and ran for it.

He must have been running for less than a minute before he heard the sound of something large chasing him. There was no way he would be able to outrun a werewolf, but he had to try. He ran like he never had before, but he knew it wouldn't be enough.

A pain like nothing he had ever felt shot through his leg. Some part of him knew he had been bitten by the werewolf, but most of him just screamed in unending agony.

He couldn't think. He couldn't breath, he just lay there screaming.

Suddenly, the pressure was gone from his leg as he felt the wolf release him. His leg was still, however, in agony, so he just lay there.

I'm going to die he thought as he lay there, even though he thought he heard voices above him, I'm going to die.

Scorpius woke up from his restless sleep in St. Mungos. His parents had come to see him every day, his mother sobbing and his father looking stunned, as thought this couldn't be happening.

The healers had told him the others had made it out all right, and that Harry Potter and the other Aurors had arrived just in time to save his life, but it was too late, because the werewolf had already bitten him and there was nothing they could do about it.

He had said he didn't want any visitors except his parents. Truth be told, he didn't want his parents there either, but there was no helping that. He couldn't bear the looks of sorrow and pity. He had heard the healers call him a hero, but he knew they were wrong. He wasn't a hero. He was an idiot.

Why did he volunteer to go help? To save Rose, he answered himself, but why didn't he just let them all run in, stunners flying, and take the werewolf and her brother by surprise? Because he hadn't thought of it, he told himself, because the plan he thought up seemed more foolproof, at least at the time.

At least his parents had managed to get him his own room at St. Mungos, but in the lonely hours of the night like this, it only made him feel more frightened.

In the dark, he thought he saw the door twitch open. He stared at it to see who would come through and why, but nobody did. It just opened slowly and then closed.

But then, out of thin air it seemed, Rose Weasley appeared beside his bed.

Scorpius gasped in surprise, but Rose quickly put her hand over his mouth to stop him from making any noise. "I'm not supposed to be here," She whispered.

"I'll say," said Scopius, "How did you get in here?"

She lifted up a piece of silky material, but he couldn't see what it was in the dark, "Uncle Harry let me borrow his invisibility cloak. Why didn't you let me come and see you during visiting hours?" she asked.

Scorpius turned away from her. "I didn't want you to see my like this." He had seen himself in the mirror. His pale hair was streaked with gray, and his face was sickly and practically white.

Rose shook her head. "James and Albus said you were a hero. They said you gave yourself up for Lily and Hugo."

Scorpius shook his head. "I was lying. I was just distracting them. There was nothing-brave-about it."

Rose shook her head. "You should have been a Gryffindor." She told him.

"Ouch, low blow." He said to her. He gave her a half smile which she returned.

"They're talking about giving you all sorts of awards. Special services to the school, Order of Merlin first class,"

"I don't want any of that," He said quickly.

She didn't say anything for a moment, apparently deciding to switch tactics. "You know, everyone's blaming themselves. Professors Longbottom and Wallace both think they should have made sure you didn't hear about the kidnapping, Professor Jameson thinks he should have made sure you got back to your common room, Uncle Harry says he should have gotten there faster, James thinks he shouldn't have let you come with us, Albus thinks they should have helped you get away, and I-"

"I wanted you to run," Scorpius interrupted her, "I didn't want anything to happen to you." He looked her in the eyes, he could see them slowly filling with tears. He started talking about something else to distract her.

"Did your Uncle mention who those lunatics were? I never really caught their names."

She blinked away her tears and nodded. "Nemsis and Adolfa Cresswell. Apparently, their father, Dirk Cresswell, was a convicted muggleborn during the second wizard war. Uncle Harry said someone at the ministry had to fake his family tree to convict him, but he had to go into hiding, until he was killed. The ministry put pressure on his wife to tell them where he was hiding, until Fenrir Greyback went after the younger girl, Adolfa. She was only eight years old."

"Don't expect me to feel sorry for her," He said. He could still feel his leg hurt, no matter how many potions the healers gave him for the pain.

"No, of course not," she said, "Well, anyway, the two of them decided that it was all the ministry's fault, and when those people in the ministry weren't arrested, well, you saw. They went a little-"

"Crazy?" He supplied.

"That about sums it up. Well, Uncle Harry caught both of them. They're going to trial. My mom's taking the prosecution herself." Scorpius nodded. If her mom was anything like Rose, the Cresswells were as good as in Azkaban.

"You know," she continued, "She and Dad practically worship the ground you walk on now. Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny too. I don't think any of them thought they would owe a life to a Malfoy."

"Well, first time for everything." He smiled at her. He tried to get her to return his smile, but he could see the tears building up behind her eyes. "Rose, Rose please don't cry! You—ow! Rose, that hurt!"

She had once again punched him on the arm. "That," her voice broke, "Is for lying to me. I would have wanted to help. You remember that next time we're in a life threatening situation." Scorpius nodded, but she had punched him again, although considerably lighter. "That is for not letting anyone come and see you. Even Albus and James think highly of you now, and Lily and Hugo wanted to thank you, and I just plain wanted to make sure you were okay!"

"Fine! Sorry!" Scorpius said, "Honestly, I was attacked by a werewolf and you start punching me? Really?" he swallowed. It was the first time he had admitted out loud that he, in fact, was a werewolf. His insides felt like they had collapsed on themselves.

She seemed to sense this, so she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, "That is for saving my brother and cousin. This," she kissed his other cheek, "is for coming back alive, and this is just for being you, Scorpius Malfoy," and so she kissed him full on the mouth. He held her there going through her hair with his hand, until he broke away from her suddenly.

"No," he said, "No we can't do this."

"Why?" She leaned toward him again.

"Because I'm a werewolf." He said trying not to look at her. "You deserve someone who isn't a werewolf."

She shook her head and pulled his chin so he looked directly into his eyes. "Scorpius, even if somehow, you became a werewolf in some completely unrelated incident, and hadn't risked your life to save my brother and cousin, I would still be here, because-" she paused for a moment, and finished, "Because, I think I love you."

Scorpius swallowed. "I love you too Rose." She smiled at him and brushed hair out of his face with her hand. "Rose?" He asked in a strained voice he didn't even recognize, "I don't want to be a werewolf!" and then, as if he had been holding them in ever since the night of the attack, he started sobbing like a lost child. He told her everything about how he was scared for his first transformation, and how he didn't want to tell his parents because they were upset enough, and how he was scared that no one in school would be friends with him now, because he wasn't sure he could hide the fact now that he looked so different, and would soon gain a multitude of scars that he couldn't explain.

She held him tightly like he actually was a child, and gave some words of encouragement, how she would always be his friend, how his real friends wouldn't care how he looked, and how James was even now making sure everyone stopped making fun of him. She reinforced her words with a kiss every once in a while, and kept repeating, "Don't worry. I will be there for you, no matter what."