[hp grandchildren] Birdcage

"I was wrong, sister! I really know I was wrong!" Hugo showed a mournful expression.Albus couldn't help chuckling when he saw the funny faces of their siblings.

Scorpius was sitting in his seat, and when he noticed Albus chuckling, the image from his dream came to mind.It's not that Albus hasn't laughed at all in the past two days, but this is the only one he can feel is a genuine smile, just like the Albus in the dream, with the same heartfelt and sincere smile.

Most of the time, Albus seemed to hide himself in the deepest place - Scorpius recalled all the details, lowered his head and stirred the black tea.The ring of Patriarch Malfoy was worn on his index finger. Under the afternoon sun, the ring shone brightly, and the metallic luster flashed, like a comet falling from the sky.He silently put down the stirring teaspoon, and put his left hand over his right.The shadow replaced the sun and favored the ring, the reflected light disappeared, and the metal was silent in the gray-black shadow.

After afternoon tea, Rose and Hugo stayed for a while.Hugo pestered Scorpius to play chess with him, while Rose quietly rolled her eyes at her younger brother.Scorpius only played one game with Hugo before he refused to play.Although he is good at chess, Hugo is much better at playing chess than him, and he can draw with Hugo at most.Scorpius simply pushed Albus, who was watching, towards Hugo, and sat in the seat where Albus was originally watching.Albus tried to ask Rose for help, but found that the bookworm girl had disappeared into the pile of books again, and had no time to answer him.He sighed resignedly, sat in Scorpius' original seat, and glanced helplessly at Scorpius' triumphant and mischievous smile.

Albus and Hugo played two games, and it happened that one game was won and the other was tied.Hugo's originally elated expression gradually became tangled, his blue eyes began to be covered with clouds of indecision, and finally in the second round he finally drew. "It's so difficult..." Hugo's face wrinkled together, "How can you always come up with some strange ideas? This is simply a difficult mode..."

"It's rare," Scorpius gloated, "I didn't expect to see you deflated at chess one day." Albus smiled confidently and gave Scorpius a high-five.At this time, he looked like an ordinary 17-year-old boy.

"Okay, okay," Rose looked at the time, put the book away, came over and knocked on the wooden table where the chess pieces were placed, "It's getting late, let's go back first, so that my parents don't worry about us."

"Next time I'm sure I'll win." Hugo made a childish face at Albus, who raised an eyebrow in response.

After sending off Rose and Hugo, Scorpius and Albus walked on the path of Malfoy Manor, the sun had covered half of the face, and the veil of thin clouds was burning red.In the afterglow, Scorpius asked, "What do you think of...the two of them?"

"Not bad." Albus chose a compromise answer.

"You look happy today." Scorpius mentioned casually.

"Is there?" Albus touched the corner of his lips lightly with his hand - when did it bring an arc that he didn't even realize?

"Maybe you didn't realize it, but it is true," Scorpius turned his gaze back from a distance, and turned his head to stare at him seriously, "and I hope you can always be this happy."

Albus looked into those gray eyes full of hope for a long time. "I will," he heard his own voice say.And so he saw the owner of the gray eyes smile contentedly—even more than a smile, and give him an abrupt hug.

He caught the hug, so warm—and so bubbling with kindness.

At this moment, Albus hated his hypocrisy in his heart.

Birdcage ([-])

5.

"Have you heard what happened to the Malfoy family recently?"

"I heard that it's about the strike, right? Oh, isn't Malfoy always the best at doing business? It seems that this generation of Malfoy boys didn't inherit the business talent of their predecessors."

Cool words played in his ears one after another.Hearing all these discussions, Scorpius inevitably frowned.He hates this kind of hypocritical face between nobles who are modest and polite on the surface, but actually like to gloat and make trouble.

He stroked the corner of the newspaper.Then he sighed deeply and shook his head.The strike was just the surface, and there was an undercurrent accumulating beneath it. The newspaper reports were just the tip of the iceberg, and what happened above was only a harbinger of the storm to come.

The world is about to change soon - the nobles are mocking him and still don't know it.Little did they know that this disaster was about to happen to them next.

He had been busy all day, and his gray eyes were tired.When he returned to the manor, the sky had darkened, and the moon was buried in the clouds.There are only a few stars in the dark night sky, and they are the only light spots in the dark night.

Scorpius walked into the manor with the faint light - Albus was leaning on the wooden door of the house.He was resting with his eyes closed, and opened them upon hearing the sound.Scorpius saw in it calm and gentle lakes, perhaps rippled with joy.

"You're back," said Albus.His voice was low, perhaps it should have sounded from the left hand side of the piano.The warm yellow light in the house flew out, dyeing half of Albus's body in a soft color.

Seeing him, all troubles were appeased.Scorpius' originally anxious heart seemed to be thrown into a furnace at this moment, and joy and tranquility were mixed in the firelight at the same time.There was a warm current in his chest, and an inexplicable impulse hit him. He stretched out his arms and hugged the green-eyed master tightly, resting his chin on the other's shoulder.At this time, there was no need to think about anything, he sniffed the breath on Albus, and his whole body relaxed.

In fact, most of Albus had the smell of Malfoy Manor itself, but Scorpius felt that it was different from the smell he was used to, and it was warmer, and he felt that there was a unique fragrance similar to herbs.

Albus was dazed for a while, but quickly wrapped his arms around Scorpius, gradually tightening this embrace full of nostalgia.It's strange, Albus thought, and he himself was inexplicably happy, with mixed emotions flowing through his body along with the blood.For a moment, he wished that his arms were a chain that could never be undone, holding Scorpius firmly in it, as if it were a golden bird that depended on him.He suppressed the weird thoughts surging in his mind, and asked with a smile: "Sco, are you acting like a baby to me?"

"...I don't know." Master Malfoy murmured vaguely.Taking off the title of Patriarch Malfoy, he is just a 17-year-old boy.Scorpius buried his head in Albus's neck and shoulders, and asked belatedly after a while, "What did you just call me, Al?"

"Sko," Albus said again, the warm air brushing against his skin and staining the tips of Scorpius' pale ears, "if you like to hear it, I can say it a few more times."

gosh.Scorpius took a deep breath.You must know how ambiguous this sentence sounds in his ears now.He let go of his hand with some embarrassment, and Albus let go of him too.The pair of bright green eyes were especially touching under the embellishment of a little light, and Scorpius inevitably fell into it.He calmed down a little, put his index finger on his lips, and pretended to clear his throat to relieve his embarrassment: "I think... I want to eat something first. Have you had dinner yet?"

"Not yet," Albus shook his head, "I want to eat with you." He got his wish and saw Master Malfoy's reddened ears.

On the dining table, Pufan has prepared all the food for them.Before starting the meal, Pu Fan handed over a few documents. "This is the latest account, young master," Pu Fan said respectfully, but there was a hint of worry in his tone, "The recent situation is not optimistic...Young master, if you need my help, I can do my best. At least I can still be regarded as something to talk about in my family."

"Thank you, Pufan," Scorpius extended a sincere smile to his housekeeper, although there was still an unconcealable exhaustion underneath, "This time the situation is a bit complicated... maybe the Malfoy family's business , I’m really going to die in my hands.”

Hearing his worried whisper, Albus put his hand on the back of Scorpius's comfortingly.Scorpius clasped his hand back and said softly, "It's okay."However, there were thousands of delusional thoughts in his heart. If Scorpius no longer has the blessing of the surname "Malfoy", does it mean——

Pu Fan saw this scene in his eyes, and he bowed again: "No matter what, I will do my best to help you, young master." This seemed to have made a promise.Albus looked across the dining table and met the butler Pufan's eyes, but they met for a moment and then staggered, as if they were just casually passing by strangers.

"God will bless you." Pufan sent his blessing to the young master of the Malfoy family.Scorpius smiled mildly.After that, Pu Fan stopped disturbing the two of them's meal, and quietly left the long table in Malfoy's restaurant.

"Al," Scorpius put down the document in his hand and said, his eyes looked empty, "if—I mean if, if something really happens to Malfoy, you—go to Rose and the others," When talking about this, Scorpius showed a