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Unhinged 2: Til the Flame Burns Out	By : nikki13088 Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Ginny Views: 3348 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 12
- 13
- 14
A/N: I am so sorry for the late update. With working so much and the holidays it was impossible to find time to write. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!
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Draco and Harry got to work early the next day to meet up with Hermione to try and find some way to help Scorpius and James. Draco's mind was on the argument he had with Ginny yesterday after the visit to Azkaban. He was concerned for her as much as Scorpius because she was losing more control every day. The temper and rage that filled her suddenly was spilling out into their relationship and he knew it was from her suppressing her powers... well trying to anyway.
"So Beckett and the Adwells are good friends?" Harry asked.
"Yes, but don't let that mislead you. Beckett has always been a by the book kind of person, he won't break Wizarding law. However, he has been known to do whatever he feels needs or should be done that would benefit the Ministry. If we could maybe present something or find a loophole that could at least get them out of there until there's a proper hearing, then it's a start." Hermione explained.
There was a knock on the door and Ember popped her head in. "Hey, just thought I'd say hello before my shift at the diner," she said walking over and taking a seat. "Any luck?"
They were all silent.
"I see," she mumbled.
"We're trying to find something that could work to our advantage," Hermione said.
All of their attention turned to the door again when there was another knock and Jack Adwell walked in. The awkward tension was almost painful to endure until Ginny walked into the office behind him followed by three other Aurors.
"Ginny? What are you doing here? What's going on?" Draco asked.
He could tell something was wrong by the look on her face; he didn't need her honey brown eyes to reflect the emotion that filled her features.
"Good morning, gentlemen... I have something that I think you both would like to see," Mr. Adwell said.
Harry and Draco exchanged a quick look before their eyes fell on Scorpius and James, who were escorted into the room. They both made a move to go grab them into a hug before Adwell stopped them.
"Not so fast."
Draco's eyes took in his son's appearance; he couldn't help the smile that crossed his face when he saw he was ok.
"Your wife has made a deal with me for your son's release."
The smile on Draco's face faded suddenly and he locked eyes with Ginny. "What? What kind of deal?"
Ginny wiped the stray tear that slid down her cheek away.
"She has agreed to submit herself for a full in-depth evaluation at my lab."
"What? No, Ginny is that where you were yesterday, cutting a deal with this asshole?"
"Draco, I needed to do something, look at me? I'm slipping away more and more each day, it's better this way... before I really do hurt someone," she explained.
"How long will she be there, what does this evaluation include?" Draco demanded answers.
"She will stay for as long as I find a use for her. She'll be my new little guinea pig," he said with a slight smile.
Draco made a move to punch him when he felt Harry grab him by the shirt to pull him back.
He turned back to Ginny. "Please don't do this, let us figure out something else," he begged her.
He knew once Ginny's mind was made up there was no changing it.
"Mum, you don't have to do this for me... I'm the one who should deal with the consequences of my actions... not you." Scorpius said to her.
Ginny turned to him with a small smile, her eyes falling on his still bound hands before she looked back up at him. "I do have to do this."
"Ginny, think about what you're agreeing to," Hermione said, walking over to her. "Adwell could have something up his sleeve... I mean, he rather release his son's killer just to obtain you for his experiments?" she whispered to her. "Something isn't right."
Ginny just shook her head. "It doesn't matter, all that matters is that Scorpius could go home."
Hermione and Draco just stared at her.
"I'll take Ginny's place," Draco said.
"What, no," Ginny said, grabbing his arm and pulling him closer to her. "Draco, I'm more of a danger to the kids... I should go."
"I'm not letting you do this."
"Let me help you both with this." Mr. Adwell said suddenly. "You asked me for Scorpius and James' release in exchange for you Mrs. Malfoy... correct?"
She nodded.
"And I told you that I would release your son if you agreed to turn yourself over... yes?"
She nodded again.
"Precisely... I told you that I would release YOUR son in exchange for you. Another deal is going to have to be made for dear James here."
"You knew I meant both of them," Ginny said, turning angry as her fingers curled into a tight fist.
"No, no, let's not get all riled up now," he said as he waved his hand at one of the Aurors who grabbed Ginny and placed some sort of device tightly around her neck.
"What the hell is this?"
"This is going to keep those powers of yours from surfacing, every few hours a serum will be injected that will completely disable any of your magical abilities," he explained.
Just as he said the last words, Ginny let out a hiss of pain when she felt something prick her neck from the collar around her.
"Ginny?" Draco called to her as he watched her entire appearance change back to normal.
Her eyes returned to those gorgeous honey brown ones he fell in love with, her hair as red and vibrant as he remembered and her soft pale skin was free of any of those black veins that covered her body.
"So back to business now. I have Ginny, so per our agreement..." Mr. Adwell waved his wand and Scorpius' hands were released from the bind around them. "Now onto James," he said as his eyes fell on Harry. "I think you know what I want."
"Fine, I'll do anything for you to get out of that place," Harry said as he looked at his son.
"That's great and all; however, I want Draco too... all three of you."
"No, Draco, do not agree to that." Hermione intervened as she pulled him aside. "Draco, please think this through before-"
"Fine," Draco said, ignoring Hermione.
"You can't take both of our parents, what about Ava and Harper? How long do you plan on keeping them?" Ember suddenly went off.
Adwell walked over to Ember and just stared at her. "I will take whatever I want because we all know the real reason behind why my son was killed in the first place," he said to her.
Ember took a step back and looked away from him, her eyes locking with Scorpius for a moment.
"Why us though, you had our sons to test on if you really wanted to so just curious as to why we make a difference?" Draco asked with a sneer.
"Great question Mr. Malfoy, you see when it comes to the kind of work I do... I like working with the best... top quality... and we all know just how powerful you three really are."
Draco and Harry had the same collar placed around their necks before Adwell released James' bound hands.
"So Minister Beckett is aware of this ridiculous agreement and he's fine with it?" Hermione asked.
"I have convinced the Minister how this would be beneficial to the Ministry in the long run and he was hesitant at first but we eventually saw eye to eye."
"I bet you have. Harry, Draco and Ginny have children they need to go home to, they are parents or have you already forgotten what it's like to be one of those?" Hermione snapped.
Mr. Adwell took a step towards her, his expression still calm. "Every time I walk past my son's bedroom I am reminded that I am a parent without a child any longer. So no, I have not forgotten." He turned back to Ginny, Draco, and Harry. "It's quite simple and in my opinion quite beneficial to you all. The three of you in exchange for James and Scorpius to go free. It's not like you'll never see your family again, I'm not that kind of person. The first two weeks you will stay in the lab and then after you will be able to go back home until further testing is needed. Your family is also more than welcome to come see you all anytime they wish." Mr. Adwell explained. "Now, let's get this wrapped up."
He nodded for the Aurors to lead them out of the office.
Ember, Scorpius, and James just stood there in silence, unsure of what to say or think over what just happened. Ember knew how hard her parents tried to keep them from a life of being someone's guinea pig and now it was them who ended up being one.
Hermione walked alongside them as the Aurors escorted Draco, Ginny, and Harry down the hall.
"I will be by later to see you guys and I will have more information... I promise I will do everything I can to get you guys back home. There is something very wrong with this situation... it doesn't make sense."
Draco was listening to her, but right now all he cared about was that his kids didn't have him or Ginny there.
"Hermione, please tell my mum what's going, please make sure the kids are ok?" Ginny said as she was thinking the same thing Draco was.
"Of course, you know I will. I'll go right away and I'll go to Luna too," she said looking at Harry.
He gave her a thankful nod before she watched them all be escorted out of the Ministry.
Ember walked into the kitchen to give her grandmother a hand with the dinner dishes. She could see the worry in her face, but she tried to hide it from all of them.
"Grandma, you don't have to stay here for the night, Scorpius and I have watched the girls plenty of times. You should be home with Grandpa."
"No, no, I won't leave you all." she shook her head as she started drying some dishes before one slipped from her shaky hands and broke.
Molly went to bend down to clean it when Ember placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her.
"Go home Grandma, I have everything under control. Trust me," she said with a smile.
Molly gave her a tearful nod before they exchanged a quick hug and she left the Manor.
Ember gave a soft sigh before she waved her wand to fix the plate and placed it in the cabinet. The silence that filled the Manor was hard to take in. The fact that her parents weren't here and knowing that they weren't coming back anytime soon was hitting her hard right now.
"Hey."
She turned to see Scorpius walk into the kitchen.
"You need any help?" he asked her.
She shook her head before she turned to look at him. "I'm so happy you're out of there," she said.
He didn't say anything, he took a seat on the counter next to her and she pulled herself up next to him.
"I don't know if I should be happy to be out of there... I deserve to be there. Mum and Dad shouldn't be punished for something I did. I killed someone Ember... me... How could I live with myself?"
"Scorpius you are not a killer. What happened with Noah was an accident, it's not like you went there with the intention of killing him."
"I wish that was true," he said, making her snap her head up at his words, her eyes wide. "I just went there knowing I wanted to hurt him and I didn't care how badly."
"Believe me Scorpius; you didn't want to kill him... I know you," she said, taking his hand in hers. "You are a good man, I still believe that and I always will. I don't care what you've done... it was an accident and I only see you as my brother, my best friend... not as a killer."
"Ember... Scorpius? Ava is up... she's crying." Harper said as she walked into the kitchen.
Ember and Scorpius looked at each other.
"Dish or baby duty?" Ember asked him.
He slid off the counter and took the dish towel from her. "Well, I'm sure there might be a diaper change involved so I'll let you have at it."
"Gee, thanks," she said with a smirk giving him a light shove before she left the kitchen.
His eyes fought to open as a beeping sound filled his ears. When he finally managed to open them enough, he was met with this overwhelming brightness that forced him to close them again.
Draco sat up on the bed he was in and tried to remember what happened. He looked around the room to take in his surroundings. The room surrounding him was made of what appeared to be glass. There was the bed he was sitting on and then a smaller room in the corner that had a bathroom and a place to sit. It was like a tiny apartment in this small room. Even the ceiling above him was see through. He got up and stepped closer to the secured door that locked him in there and he could see that he was indeed inside some sort of lab. Outside of the room resembled a hospital except there was a lot of Muggle technology he wasn't familiar with, some of the devices he saw he wasn't even sure were Muggle or not.
He finally saw Harry in another room connected to his on the left. There was the same glass wall between them. Draco took in the clothes Harry was wearing and then looked at himself to see he was in the same outfit. They were both wearing these light gray pants and shirt and that's when Draco saw the bandage on the crook of his arm. He peeled it off to reveal a small dot where it looked like someone had taken blood from him.
"Harry? What happened?" he asked.
Harry rubbed his face and looked around to take in his surroundings. "I don't know."
Draco took in the beeping sound again and he turned to his right where Ginny's red hair caught his attention in the room on the other side of him. He ran over and banged on the wall to wake her up.
"Ginny! Hey, wake up!" he called to her.
Ginny's eyes snapped open at the sound of Draco's voice and she quickly sat up and then regretted it right away as a searing pain ran through her head. She felt wires attached to her body, some even to her head as she took in her surroundings.
"Hey, are you ok?" he called to her again.
She closed her eyes tightly at the pain. "Yeah, I think so," she said through clenched teeth. "Where the hell are we? Is this Mr. Adwell's lab?" she asked.
"I think so; it's just... a lot different than I imagined it would be," Draco said taking another look around.
"This is a Muggle lab, it must be. This is all Muggle equipment and half of this stuff I've never even seen before... it's technology I've never seen before." Harry explained as he looked around.
The beeping Draco heard earlier started picking and he turned back to Ginny where the machine was attached to her.
"Harry, any idea why this thing is beeping?" Ginny asked him.
Harry tried to read the screen from where he was but he couldn't make it out. "I'm not sure, looks like it's your heart rate picking up."
Just as Ginny turned back to look at the machine she felt the collar around her neck inject her again with another shot to suppress her powers. She let out a light hiss of pain before she heard the beeping start to slow down again.
"Are you ok?" Draco asked her.
She nodded.
"Come here," he said to her.
She walked as far over as the wires would allow her too.
"Look at me," he said softly.
She looked up at him, her amber eyes longing for him to have his arms around her.
"It's just been a while since I've seen you back to normal... I missed it," he said to her as he took in her appearance.
She gave him a small smile before they all turned their attention to the door across the room where someone walked in. It was Robert Adwell and he stopped for a moment and looked at them all before he walked over to Ginny's room and unlocked the door.
"How did we get here? The last thing I remembered was leaving the Ministry." Ginny said.
"My brother thought it wise to take what he needed from you all while you were unconscious. Those neck devices injected a sleeping-draught into your system," he explained as he started unhooking the wires from Ginny's body.
"What is all of this?" she asked, gesturing to the wires.
"Somehow your body was fighting off the serum that was injected into your body that keeps your powers under control. It was suggested we monitor it more closely until the right dosage was used and your body responded well to it. So far it has, so all of this can come off now." he said, taking the last wire off of her.
There was a silence that filled the entire lab. Mr. Adwell finally left Ginny's room and locked the door again and he turned to them all.
"It was foolish for you to agree to something like this," he said, his face held concern for them it seemed.
"Why? What's going on? Does the Minister even know about what your brother is doing?" Draco asked.
"Whatever my brother has told you I would be very cautious on what to believe and what not to believe."
"Like what?" Draco pressed on.
Mr. Adwell took a step closer to the impenetrable wall between them. "He has no plans to release you... any of you. If for some reason they allow your children in to see you I think you need to warn them."
"Warn them? Of what?" Ginny asked; her heart was racing.
Mr. Adwell looked towards the door to make sure nobody was coming before he turned back to them. "Now that you all are out of the picture and with my brother's close relationship with Minister Beckett, it will be easy for him to persuade him. I know he will eventually agree to have every single one of your children locked up in here. Scorpius and James will end up back in Azkaban regardless of your agreement. I'm telling you this because my brother and I do not share the same views."
"You need to let us out of here, now," Harry demanded.
"I can't do that. Let me make something clear to you all. Although I know this to be the plan my brother has in motion, as of right now you three being here is a direct order from the Minister of Magic and I won't go against that. I will not go against my brother either... I may not agree with him, but if you think I'm going to be your key to getting out of here... I'm afraid you're mistaken." he said before he turned to leave the lab. He stopped and turned to them once more. "I would pretend this conversation didn't take place. The more you act like you're oblivious to the information I've given you... the better."
"Good Morning Minister Beckett, we need to talk," Hermione demanded as she stormed into his office. "And no, I will not come back later, I want to talk now," she said firmly.
"As you wish Mrs. Weasley, take a seat." he gestured to a chair in front of his desk.
"What kind of ridiculous agreement did you make with Jack Adwell? I am happy to see James and Scorpius out of Azkaban, but since when are you ok with just letting something like murder go unpunished?"
"Mrs. Weasley, it is of no business of yours to know what kind of conversations I and Mr. Adwell have."
"It is when it's my family involved!" she yelled, slamming her hands on the desk.
A slight smirk crossed his face as he felt the anger she had towards the situation fill the space between them.
"Very well Mrs. Weasley, I am, after all, a compassionate man, I would be happy to shed some light on the situation for you. Mr. Adwell has convinced me that the Malfoy family is a danger to the Wizarding World and after studying their files and knowing what I already do about their past, I would have to most definitely agree, Ginevra Malfoy being the most problematic. I personally thought we should just get rid of the problem altogether by eliminating the threat, but Mr. Adwell persuaded me to let him further study her powers. He is convinced he can obtain the powers that run through each one of them. What he has planned after that is between him and me."
"Ginny is not dangerous like that, it's Jack Adwell that made her like this in the first place. He's the one who probably injected her with whatever tried to take over her body." Hermione snapped.
"I have heard enough Mrs. Weasley. You want to believe they aren't dangerous, but shall I remind you of the many incidents that have occurred these past few weeks? That Scorpius Malfoy and James Potter are looking at a life sentence in Azkaban for the murder of Noah Adwell. That your niece, Ellie almost killed an entire room full of people because she couldn't control her powers. That Mrs. Malfoy has made countless threats on the Adwell's and even physically harmed Jack Adwell out in public with her powers. Should I go on?"
"I know it seems like they are dangerous, but you have to realize-"
"ENOUGH!" he yelled. "I have heard enough Mrs. Wealsey, now leave my office."
She shot him a deadly glare as she stood up. "You are a fool if you think Jack Adwell is doing any of this because he has the best interest of the Ministry at heart," she said before she slammed the door shut and stormed off.
Scorpius walked into the kitchen the next morning and was surprised to see Ember making breakfast.
"Where's Grandma? I thought she was coming over this morning?"
"She couldn't come," she said, giving him a sad look.
"Is it Grandpa?"
She gave him a small nod.
He let out a soft sigh before he started grabbing some dishes out of the cabinet as silence filled the room.
"I just want everything to seem normal to them still... I don't want them to start freaking out because Mum and Dad aren't here right now." Ember said as she placed a few pancakes on a plate.
"Yeah, I think that's a good idea."
"Have you talked to Raven yet?"
"Pft, no and I'm not going to. I may be out of Azkaban... but I still killed a man."
"That's right, you did." snapped Aurora as she walked into the kitchen and collected the dishes and cups to bring into the dining room. "I guess now the only people you'll be able to associate with is other killers and murderers like your partner in crime James," she said as anger covered her face.
"Aurora! Stop that." Ember said.
She rolled her eyes before she stormed off into the dining room.
"Scorpius, don't listen to her, she's just angry... mostly at James for keeping something like that from her. She's mad at you for... well... the obvious. Just give her some time." Ember tried to explain.
"Some time to what exactly? Not look at me like a killer? I don't think that's going to change." he said with a sneer. "I think I'll just skip breakfast."
"Scorpius, no, wait!" Ember called after him.
After realizing he wasn't coming back, she let out an aggravated sigh before she finished making breakfast.
"What do you mean we can't see them?" Scorpius snarled. "We were told yesterday we can see them whenever we wanted, now let us in," he demanded.
The guard stood up from his chair behind the desk and walked around until he was face to face with Scorpius. "Well, you're not getting in today to see them, now turn around and go home."
Scorpius felt Ember grab his wrist and give him a light tug to back off.
Ember watched the guard's eyes travel from the two of them to over their shoulder's, making his entire demeanor change. "Kingsley, nice to see you again Sir."
"Thank you Boris, Mrs. Weasley and I are here to accompany Ember and Scorpius in to see their parents. We wanted to make sure there weren't any issues." Kingsley explained as he nodded to Hermione beside him before he looked at Ember and Scorpius. "You aren't having any issues getting in, are you?" he asked them.
Ember looked at Boris with a satisfied smirk. "Nope."
"Good, now Boris, can you lead the way?" Kingsley asked with a smile.
"Of course, Sir," Boris said. "But first, I'll need your wands."
They all turned in their wands and then Boris pulled out two silver cuffs and looked at Ember and Scorpius.
"You need to wear these if you want to go any further."
They exchanged a look before Ember looked at Hermione for approval.
She gave a small nod before Ember held out her wrist for him to put it on and then Scorpius did the same.
"It's to keep your powers from surfacing." Hermione explained when she saw they both stll looked uncertain about the device.
They all then followed Boris down a long hall and into an elevator, it was a regular Muggle elevator, nothing like the one at the Ministry. Ember was surprised when the elevator went down instead of up. She kept expecting it to stop soon, but it just kept going deeper and deeper underground, which prompted her to lock eyes with Scorpius, who seemed to be noticing the same thing.
The elevator finally came to a stop and when it opened it was like they had stepped out of the Wizarding World completely.
"Aunt Hermione, have you been here before?" Ember asked.
"I have not, neither has Kingsley," she said before she leaned closer to Ember. "But I had a feeling you two would have an issue getting in to see them, so I brought Kingsley with me because he still has some power... for now anyway," she whispered to her.
Ember just looked at her and gave her a small smile. "Thank you."
"Of course."
They kept walking and walking for a while. There were padlock doors that required either a badge to be scanned or a code to get through to the next hallway. The amount of security in this place made Ember feel quite uneasy. She felt so uncomfortable that she started rethinking her decision to come here at all.
Hermione seemed to pick up on this and took her hand. "You're fine, you both are... I came with Kingsley so we can get you in and then get you out, ok?"
They both nodded.
"I thought Adwell's Lab was part of the Ministry?" Ember stated.
"Yeah... so did I," Kingsley replied with a look of anger covering his face as he took in his surroundings.
They finally stopped and waited for the final door to open.
"Kingsley and I will wait out here for now, go ahead, you guys first," Hermione said with a smile as she nodded for Ember and Scorpius to go in first.
Ember walked into the room with her brother beside her and they both just stood there across this huge room just staring at the place their parents were in.
"Mum? Dad?" Ember called out as she walked quickly over to them with Scorpius close behind her.
Ginny and Draco snapped their heads up at the sound of their daughter's voice.
"Ember? What the hell are you two doing here? It is not safe for you guys here!" Ginny went off on a frantic rant.
Ember walked up to the glass wall between them. "It's ok, Aunt Hermione and Kingsley are out in the hall... they wanted to make sure we didn't have a problem getting in."
Once Draco heard Hermione and Kingsley were there he relaxed a bit. "How's everything at home?"
Ember just looked at Scorpius, who ignored the question.
"It's ok." she said in a small voice.
"Ember... Scorpius, listen to me." Ginny said as she motioned them over to get as close to the wall as possible. "They are going to come for you."
"What do you mean?" Scorpius asked.
"The Ministry, they wanted us out of the way so they can collect you all. You need to-"
"Ah, Ember... so nice to see you again." A voice said from the doorway.
They all turned to see Jack Adwell approaching them.
"I see you didn't have any issues getting in," he stated with a wide grin.
"Yeah, no thanks to you." Scorpius snapped.
"Are you implying that I am trying to keep you from seeing your parents? I would never do such a thing."
Ember and Scorpius just glared at him, a small beep from the bracelets they wore made them both look down at them.
"Let's not get all riled up now." Mr. Adwell said as he noticed the bracelets light up to prevent their powers from surfacing.
"Hey."
Scorpius and Ember turned back at the sound of their father's voice.
"Remember what we said." Draco locked eyes with them, an unspoken warning was exchanged between them once more.
Ember looked at her mother's face, she could tell she was scared. Not for herself, but for them, for her children and Ember felt this tremendous amount of responsibility suddenly.
"We love you guys, stay safe," Ginny said, her hand pressed against the glass.
Ember placed her hand on the other side. "We will be... I'll keep them safe... I promise."
Ember stormed out onto the Quidditch pitch and spotted Harper up in the air as usual.
"HARPER! GET YOUR ARSE DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!" she screamed.
After a few moments, she realized she was being ignored and her anger grew.
"HARPER!"
After another moment or two when she realized she wasn't coming down, she set the back of Harper's broom on fire, forcing her to make a descent to the ground.
"What the hell Ember, my broom," she growled, as she jumped off and assessed the damage.
"Relax, it's fine, I'll repair it," she said as she put the small fire out. "Besides, you knew I was calling you and you just ignored me."
"Well, what the bloody hell do you want?" Harper snapped.
"Hey, don't talk to me like that?"
"What are you going to do? Tell Mum and Dad?" Harper scoffed before walking past her.
"Harper! Get the hell inside and wash up for dinner!" Scorpius yelled out as he came walking out of the house.
Harper just glared at him and then at Ember before she threw her broom down and walked inside.
"Why does she listen to you, but not me?" Ember sighed.
"She just needs a firm hand is all."
"I was being firm." she snapped.
"Yeah, but you kind of come off as-"
"As what!" she yelled.
"Nothing."
"Say it."
"No."
"SAY IT!" she yelled at him, taking a step closer to him.
He smirked at her rising anger. "A bossy bitch."
She stormed past him and walked inside, slamming the door shut and locking it before he could follow her in.
The dinner table that night was filled with silence, Ember tried to make conversation with her sisters, but nobody had much to say.
"Where's Grandma? Why isn't she here with us?" Harper asked.
"Grandma is at home with Grandpa tonight because he isn't feeling well. Now eat your dinner." Ember snapped before she noticed Scorpius give her a look from across the table that said "I told you so." about his bossy bitch comment earlier. "Please?" she added at the end of her sentence after giving her brother a slight sneer.
Harper just gave a hard sigh and started eating her food. Ember smiled to herself when she saw Harper give in and then turned her attention to Riley, who was just pushing her food around.
"You ok, Riley?"
She nodded before she pushed her plate back and got up and went upstairs.
Ember got up to go talk to her as Ava started crying and the doorbell rang at the same time.
"You're up big bro," she said before she walked upstairs.
Scorpius picked Ava up and tried to figure out why she was crying. "Aurora, go make yourself useful and answer the door," he said.
She rolled her eyes before she got up and walked over to the door and opened it. Her eyes locked with James' and for some reason instead of an overwhelming sense of happiness overcoming her, it was anger.
"You must be here for Scorpius because I do not want to see you."
"Aurora, please let me explain-"
He was surprised when she walked towards him out onto the front porch and shut the door. "Ok, explain."
"Um-"
"There is nothing you can say that will make it ok for what you did. The fucked up part is that I'm more upset about you lying to me, letting me open up to you and thinking I can trust you and then you keep something like that from me? I thought we were best friends?"
"We are and I was ashamed, of course, I didn't tell you. I was scared and didn't want you to look at me differently."
"Well, too late for that." she snapped before she stormed back inside.
Scorpius came to the doorway to see who she was yelling at. "Oh, hey, yeah, she's mad at me too," he said as he opened the door the rest of the way for him to come inside.
James walked in and followed him into the dining room.
"Did you get to see your dad today?" Scorpius asked as he placed Ava back in her high chair and gave her a sippy cup.
"No, Mum wouldn't let me go."
Scorpius would've asked why but he knew it must have had something to do with his parents warning from earlier.
"That's probably for the best."
"What do you mean?"
Scorpius waited for the last of his sisters to leave the dining room before he took a seat and kicked out a chair for James to sit.
"My parents said something about someone coming for us. Something about now that they were out of the way that we need to be careful in case someone tries to... I don't know... capture us I guess?"
James just stared at him as his words sank in.
"About a week ago when I was in Diagon Alley with Mum... Bella went running off and Jack Adwell was the one who conveniently found her. When I went to reach for her he made a comment... sort of a warning."
"Like what?" Scorpius asked, leaning in to make sure he didn't miss a word through Ava's babbling.
"He asked if I thought she had powers... then said something about me making sure the wrong people didn't get their hands on someone like her... like me."
"So it's true then? You do have powers, like your dad?" Scorpius asked.
James just nodded.
"How long have you had them?"
James shrugged. "A couple of months."
"Hold on a second," Scorpius said as a thought crossed his mind. "That night with Noah... did you-"
"Did I almost kill you with my powers to try and stop you from killing the guy... yeah," James said, running his hand through his messy hair.
They both fell silent.
"Well, thanks." Scorpius finally said.
"For almost killing you?"
"No, you git, for stopping me... although, I guess it didn't matter in the end."
"No, I guess not," James said as they both fell silent once more. "You mind if I crash here? Mum is falling apart right now and has started to bombard me with questions about my feelings and I just can't deal with that shit right now."
"Yeah, sure. Why don't you see if you can bunk with Aurora." Scorpius said with a smirk before James threw a balled up napkin at him as they both laughed.
"Yeah, she hates me," he said, his smile fading at the reality of the situation. "Do you think she'll ever forgive me?"
"Fuck if I know, she hates my fuckin guts right now. Sorry mate, wish I had a more uplifting answer, but I'm fresh out of advice." Scorpius said as he got up and gently took a now sleeping Ava out of her high chair. "You could try talking to her again, she might just need some time."
James just nodded at his words before he looked at the still messy table in front of him and started clearing the dishes.
"Riley?" Ember called into the bedroom as she opened the door a bit and rested her eyes on her sister lying in bed.
She walked over to her and took a seat at the end of the bed when she realized she was crying.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
Riley just shook her head to indicate she didn't want to talk about it.
"Riley, please talk to me. I know I'm not Mum or Dad, but-"
"Exactly, you're not, so please stop pretending that everything is fine." she cried as she quickly sat up to face her.
Ember just stared at her for a moment as she watched fresh tears well up in her eyes again.
"Riley, I'm just trying to keep you guys from worrying. Mum and Dad will be back soon, we just need-"
"There you go again, stop it. Something isn't right... it hasn't been for a while now. Ember, please stop lying to me... tell me the truth."
Ember just stared at her again before she let out a light sigh and leaned forward to wipe her sister's tears away.
"Alright, no everything is not ok, in fact, everything kind of sucks right now. What we need to do, though, as a family, is not fall apart or turn on each other. We need to stick together while Mum and Dad are gone. I don't know how long it will be for, but I need you to stay strong... ok? Scorpius and I... even Ellie and Aurora... we are all here for you... for each other."
Riley just gave her a small nod before Ember pulled her into a tight hug.
Ember made her way back downstairs after her talk with Riley to finish clearing the table when she saw it was already done. She made her way into the kitchen where she watched James from the doorway drying the last of the dishes.
"You didn't have to do that, James," she said, walking over and started putting the dishes away.
He gave a small shrug. "It's fine, just trying to keep my mind off of things."
"And how's that going?" she asked.
"Turns out when you're alone washing dishes you tend to think even more about everything that is wrong in your life."
She gave a small laugh.
"Ember... how did your parents react when they first found out you and Scorpius had powers?"
Ember smiled at the question as she thought back to the day. "They were scared... really scared, it was almost comical."
He gave a small laugh. "How did you react? To having them?"
"I was obsessed with them... I still was until a few weeks ago. I wanted to learn everything and anything about them. I had a hard time developing them and I was so angry when Scorpius practically mastered his in less than a week." she stopped and looked at him, she could see all the questions on his face as he fell deep in thought. "What about you? How did you react?"
James thought back to the first time he found out he had powers and a smile stretched across his face. "I thought it was pretty awesome. I loved them, I loved learning how to control them and use them," he said as he handed her another dish he had just finished drying.
"And now? How do you feel about them now?" she asked as she took the plate and stacked it in the cabinet above her.
He just shrugged. "I don't know, I want to embrace them, but with everything that happened... I don't have as much control over them as I thought I did... and that scares me."
She watched him again for a moment. "So try for just a minute to forget everything that has happened over the past few weeks. Really try to not think about it at this exact moment and think of something happy."
James just scoffed at her words.
"I'm serious," she said, reaching forward and ripping the towel out of his hands and throwing it down on the counter. "Look at me."
He finally gave in and looked up at her.
"Show me." she softly said. "Clear your mind and show me."
He sighed before he looked at the silverware in front of him and picked one up to dry it. He held out the spoon for her to take and she reached up to grab it. She felt a small shock before she could wrap her fingers around it making her look up at him with some uncertainty. Her eyes traveled down to the spoon once more and this time she wrapped her fingers around the opposite end more firmly.
"I can feel it," she said as a light sensation of pins and needles spread throughout her fingers and up her arm. She watched the hairs on her arm and felt the ones on the back of her neck start to stand up. She could feel her hair start to slowly frizz as the sensation ran through her body. "Whoa." she breathed out through a wide smile. "Can you do more?"
He laughed at her question. "Pft, please... you have no idea."
She smirked at his comment and then felt a small jolt of electricity run through her and she was suddenly engulfed in flames, causing James to jump back and letting the spoon fall to the floor.
As quickly as her powers surfaced, they died down and they both just stared at each other.
"What the fuck was that?" he asked her.
"I don't know, your powers made mine surface. It must be a trigger for them... I've never felt them so powerful before." she said through her heavy breathing. "James, your powers are amazing."
"Thanks, I'm not going to lie, your powers just kind of terrified me for a second there."
They both laughed before she lightly punched his arm. "Get back to drying."
Ginny stepped out from behind the curtain that was around her in a fresh set of clothes. She gave a small shiver at how cold it was in the lab before she took a seat on her bed and wrapped the thin blanket around her shoulders.
"Would be nice to have more than a tank top to wear," she growled out in frustration.
She looked over at Draco, who was laying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling lost in thought. She got up with her blanket wrapped around her and walked over to the wall.
"What are you thinking about?"
He looked over at her before he sat up and walked over to meet her by the wall.
"I'm thinking about how to get the hell out of here. These walls are almost impenetrable... and with these neck devices, it will be impossible to conjure up our powers." he sighed.
Ginny looked around the lab, it was late at night and it was quiet. The only blinding light was the one in each of their rooms.
"I miss them," she said softly.
"I know."
She looked past Draco to Harry, who was just slowly pacing his room. "Harry?"
He looked up at the sound of his name.
"You ok? You haven't gone stir crazy yet, have you?"
He smirked at her comment. "No, just thinking," he said with a small smile.
She nodded before she looked back at Draco and walked back over to her bed to grab her pillow and joined him at the wall once more.
"Sleepover?" she asked as she tossed her pillow on the floor and wrapped herself inside the blanket before she laid on the ground.
He shook his head at her with a small smile before he grabbed his pillow and blanket and joined her along the wall.
Ginny looked over at Harry again. "Stop pacing and try to sleep Harry, it's been a long day and we are obviously nowhere near getting out of here."
He let out a hard sigh. "I guess so... I just wish I was able to talk to James before all of this."
"You can talk to him when we get out of here," Draco said, locking eyes with him. "We're getting out."
Harry just gave a small nod before he walked over and threw himself down on his bed.
Draco turned back to Ginny as they lay on the floor facing each other.
"Can I tell you something?" she asked him.
"Of course, you can tell me anything."
She bit her lip as she looked at him. "I think I'm pregnant."
He just stared at her for a second before he started laughing and soon she did too.
"Are you kidding me?" he asked her with an amused smirk.
"Just know... this is your fault, as always," she said with a smile.
"Well, I did say I wanted eight kids." he chuckled.
"Yep, except... this isn't the ideal situation to be in right now," she said, her tone becoming more serious.
He locked eyes with her. "I'm going to get us out... all of us," he said, placing the palm of his hand up against the glass.
She nodded at his words before she placed her hand up against where his was."I hope so."
A/N: What do you guys think? I know things are just getting worse and worse. I would love to have some feedback on this chapter and the story so far, so please leave a review. =D
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Unhinged 2: Til the Flame Burns Out