Sometimes I Wonder (Scorpius)

[Anabelle Brienne Salvatore]

Ana had been trying to find the Hufflepuff common room, but she'd gotten lost in Hogwarts and then her legs had buckled. Damned useless things. She didn't want to admit that Marc had been right about her maybe going into a wheelchair for a little while. She'd be worse than useless in a wheelchair; both she and Marc knew that. Why on earth he had even thought to suggest it...

When she fell, and her cane skittered down the hall, though, she'd been forced to grudingly admit that she was worse than useless when not in a wheelchair, as well. It was endlessly frustrating. Luckily, the Slytherins weren't currently swarming the hallway; she would have hexed the face off of the first person to jeer at her for needing a cane to walk. Pampered little brats. A wall had fallen on her, for God's sake!

[scorp]

Scorp had been coming from Harry, erm, Prewett's office, after having a short chat about an assignment he was assigned. Thank the Lord he had Harry's class and not the Carrow's class, because he really preferred Harry, even though Harry was forced to teach them a lot of Dark Arts. He was a lot nicer about it and didn't have them torture rule breakers. The Carrows had reserved all those needing punishment for their classes. Scorp had been walking back to the common room, and was down the hall when a cane hit him lightly on the back of his feet.

Scorp turned around and picked up the cane before spotting the one who had dropped it not far down the hall. He slowly approached the young woman and smiled. "You dropped this," Scorp commented, trying to be nice, "My name is Scorpius," Scorpius recognized her from somewhere. Was it a picture his father showed him before? That was it, but which one was it? Maybe he'd know if she told him her name.

[Anabelle Brienne Salvatore]

She banged her head against a wall as she tried to stand and was rubbing it when someone offered her her cane. She smiled fleetingly as she took it back, and it briefly registered that, damn! He looked a lot like Draco. She'd probably have teased her cousin about it if he weren't being such a prat.

"I'm Ana," she replied. "Ana Salvatore. Nice to meet you, and thanks for returning my cane."

[scorp]

Scorp tried to hide his surprise when she had said that she was Ana Salvatore. That was Draco's cousin that he was told so much about! Scorp was very much in luck! First he met his Quidditch Idol, and now he was meeting the person Draco told him so much about and that Scorp regarded her as a great role model and someone he wanted to meet before she died.

"Y-You're welcome!" Scorp replied shaking off his excitement in his voice, "It's a pleasure to meet you Ana!"

[Anabelle Brienne Salvatore]

She didn't notice the surprise that registered across his face because she was entirely too busy focusing on using her cane to regain balance. She really resented this progressive leg damage stuff, but she wouldn't go into a wheelchair. She'd hit Marcus Trovatelli over the head with his damned folder of paperwork before she went into a wheelchair.

"You're a Slytherin, si?" she asked, noticing the badge on his robes. "My cousin is in that House."

[scorp]

He noticed her trying to regain her balance and felt bad for her. Draco told him about how she had to be in a wheelchair eventually due to a progressive leg damage thingy, he wasn't sure what it was called, but remembering it didn't matter. "Do you want help?" Scorp asked offering his hand to help her feel completely balanced.

"Draco, right? He's distantly related to me as well," Scorp commented, trying to keep with his cover of a distant, extremely distant, relation to his dad, so much that only their last name really was the same, though his look really didn't help with his story very well.

[Anabelle Brienne Salvatore]

She pursed her lips and stubbornly continued to attempt to regain her balance. She had to learn to do it on her own; there wouldn't always be a Marc or Scorpius around to help her get back to her feet. Ana's stubborness probably chalked up to a Malfoy family trait, but her mother was similarly stubborn. It might just be her.

"Si, Draco. Our fathers are brothers," she explained. "We're not as close as we used to be."

[scorp]

Scorp shrugged when she didn't accept his offer of help. He just wanted to be nice, because after all she was the Anabelle that Draco tried to repair fences, but it was too late, because Draco didn't manage to get in contact until Ana was already gone. Draco felt extremely bad about, despite the fact he didn't show it the,

"Ah," Scorp replied, "I don't even know out relation, besides having the same last name. It's too bad you two aren't as close as you used to be. He's not that bad of a guy, just some of his ambitions are misplaced."

[Anabelle Brienne Salvatore]

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair, wincing a little when her fingers snagged on curls. After a moment's though, she smiled wryly when she finally decided what she thought of what he'd said.
"I know that he's not such a bad person," she replied slowly. "We grew up together. We just don't agree on many things, and I don't think that he and I are likely to see eye to eye for a while."

[scorp]

And that was what made it so sad; Draco had turned against Voldemort, before she had died, but didn't manage to tell her that he had made his change over. He didn't doubt if she had heard, because the Malfoys were big inner circle Death Eaters, but he didn't know, because he was sure she had more trouble to deal with in Italy.

"I think you two would sooner than you think, it'll probably take a few years after You-Know-Who is defeated or wins for Draco to figure it out," Scorp suggested with a small smile.

[Anabelle Brienne Salvatore]

It took a lot of work to handle all of the intelligence and reports for the Curia; Ana found herself almost constantly working. Even if Draco ever found himself opposed to Voldemort, she was not likely to find out because of how much of her energy was spent monitoring the situation in Italy. She actually hadn't looked her cousin in the eye in years.

"I suppose. I am very busy these days, though," she admitted with a laugh and half of a smile. "And I don't think that he'd want to see me."

[scorp]

Scorp knew that even in this time, according to his father, Draco was somewhat against Voldemort. Draco was scared of Voldemort and scared to leave Voldemort. It was sad, really, how it all turned out. Draco finally worked up the nerve to leave, became friends with Harry Potter (which if someone told the present Draco, he'd laugh in their face and think they were crazy for even suggesting those two could ever be friends). Both were too busy. Draco was constantly on the move and protecting the Resistance, while Ana was extremely busy in Italy with Curia and the Civil War.

"You never know. Draco loves his family, and while you may disagree with somethings, he needs a good friend he can reveal things to. Just from seeing him around, I know that he's scared of Vo- You-Know-Who," he couldn't say Voldemort or he'd be in big trouble, "and could use someone he can relate to, and just hang out without the fear of being turned in for something he says, but won't try to argue with him over politics."

[Anabelle Brienne Salvatore]

"Draco loves his family." Oh, if only Scorpius knew the contradiction behind that statement. Ana had been renounced as family by Draco, though not by Lucius or Narcissa, who still held out hope that their niece would write or show up on their doorstep and put everything right with their broken family. It wouldn't happen, of course; Ana didn't want the English side of her family to see her in the state she'd been in lately, constantly tired and in danger of her legs giving out. It was humiliating, and an insult to her pride.

"The last time Draco and I spoke, we wound up dueling," she informed him. "I don't think that I'm the family he wants hear from."