There's so much crying for a teenage boy. Violet has never seen a boy her age cry this much, especially in front of friends. They may all be in a secluded into Violet's bedroom after locking out Genevieve with a spell but still, this is a lot of crying. However, she knows how this feels, not that it's close to what happened to her but it's just the same.

"Scorp –" Cressida runs her hand up and down Scorpius' back as he cries into his shirt. "– that stupid writer has absolutely no life so why do you shed precious tears over dumb words."

Jean turns around and snaps his fingers at Thomas, signaling for another tissue for Scorpius. Thomas looks around frantically and Violet huffs as she takes a tissue from behind him and hands it to Jean.

"I get first hand how betrayed you must feel." Violet sighs as she walks towards Scorpius and takes his teared-up face into her hands. "But you need to know that none of this is your fault. You're not responsible for any of this, you are higher than all of this bullshit!"

Scorpius squeezes his eyes shut, letting more tears drop down his cheeks and onto Violets hands. He raises his hands and wraps them around her wrists, sinking his face into her palms and letting everything out. He really likes Violet, in so many ways but her doing this right now is all he can ask for and all he needs.

"Look at me." Violet commands and shakes his head. "You need to look at me and get up! You're stronger than this and you need to lift you chin up and show all those assholes out there that their whispers and stares don't phase you! Scorpius you're a Malfoy for Merlin's sake! They should fear you and respect you!"

"Thank you." He cries and looks around at everyone else who's surrounding him with worried eyes. "All of you, thank you."

Thomas takes a seat next to Scorpius on Violet's bed and he rubs his shoulder. "That's what we're here for man. Since we were in womb, friends forever."

"And now Vi is with us." Cressida laughs with tears and she places a kiss on Scorpius' head. "We're all here for you till we die."

There's another louder knock at the door and Jean angrily stands up, thinking it's Genevieve again. He curses while open in the door and he stops talking immediately. "Professor Malfoy, Hi."

Violet turns to the door and sees Draco standing at the door with Astoria behind him and worried looks on both of their faces. Astoria runs in first and carelessly pushes Violet aside to grab Scorpius. Violet scoffs and steps back, feeling her back hit Draco's chest with a hard thud.

"Sorry." She whispers and feels his hand wrap around the side of her waist and pull her back against his chest. "What are you doing?" Her voice is over shouted by Astoria's sobbing and loud apologies.

"Thank you for taking care of Scorpius." He whispers and pushes her hair back so his lips can graze against the top of her ear. "You're amazing you know that?"

What is she like his step mom now?

"Yeah of course." She whispers back and pulls her face away. "Just as amazing as your wife who's like four feet away from us?"

Violet walks away from him and goes to sit next to Thomas who's sitting on Genevieve's bed with his feet extended out and his head leaning against the wall. The rooms quite small for seven people, especially tall people who are crying and shouting. Violet curls up next Thomas and her pulls her in by throwing his arm around her shoulder and leaning his chin on her head.

From the opposite side of the room, Violet can feel Draco staring at them with these raging eyes. He's jealous of someone that's twenty years younger than him while his wife is holding his hand.  Violet has no intention in getting into things with Thomas and she's not doing this to get Draco jealous; she's doing this because Thomas actually gives good hugs and she's trying not to give angry faces to Astoria, at least not in front of her face.

"So, I was thinking –" Thomas strokes Violets hair and whispers quietly into her ear, making Draco wonder what he's saying. "– Cressida told me your birthday is in October and I'm thinking since you have your own flat now, we can throw a costume party."

Violet laughs and turns to face him so she can whisper too, without being heard. "I haven't even seen the flat myself and you're already planning a party?" 

"You're already planning a party?" Thomas mocks in Violets voice and pushes her head down into a pillow, both of them laughing but Draco doesn't find it funny.

Draco storms towards them and grabs Thomas' wrist with aggression. "That's enough fucking around!" He shouts and yanks Thomas up from the bed, causing everyone to turn to them. "Go sit over there and don't talk."

Thomas laughs behind Draco's back and takes a seat next to Cressida, taking candy out of the pocket of her robe. Astoria turns around and snaps Draco to sit next to her, causing Draco to turn red and obey his wife's orders.

Violet turns and picks up the Daily Prophet on Genevieve's bed and starts reading the first page where the large N and the 'ott' that follows it. Her eyes widen and she gets up, folding the paper in her hand and pulling Thomas out of the room with her.

"What the fuck is going on with people attacking our groups families." She growls lowly and smacks the paper onto Thomas' hand and he starts reading it, making the same face Violet did. "Do we tell her?"

He shakes his head quickly and crumbles the paper, tossing it aside on the ground. Sometimes secrets aren't fun or things people would die to hear and share. Sometimes those secrets that you beg for no one to find out are the ones that will kill you faster that the ones that are so fun to share. Or the ones where girls giggle about and say 'but don't tell her I told you'.

"We have to tell Adrian." Theo sighs and takes his phone out of his pocket as he starts dialing. "He'll be able to help us sooth the news to our parents."

He puts the phone to his ear and Violet rubs her temples, frustrated about all these things that have been happening. Someone really has it out for their entire group if every day it's article after article. Somehow, this article is the worst. Possibly because it's in the Daily Prophet but also because this is not a parents secret but a kids.

"Adrian hey –" Thomas puts the phone on speaker and Violet leans in to listen. "– I need you to come to Hogwarts in like less than five minutes. It's an emergency and you need to find out and help us before my mom finds out. Please."

There's a small pause and a couple heavy breathing and then there's finally an answer. "I'll be there in two."

The phone hangs up and Thomas takes Violets hands, leading her out of the Hufflepuff common room and going towards the castle doors. The Daily Prophet was distributed only an hour ago and yet Thomas is getting so many stares while they have a paper in hand. It's not even his secret and he's getting heat for it, imagine when she comes out of the room.

Both of them continue to walk hand in hand and Violet scolds people along the way that give Thomas dirty looks. In Beauxbatons if these things happened, the girls there would be super supportive and wouldn't think twice before cursing whoever started it all.

"So, who's Adrian?" Violet asks breathlessly as she runs with Thomas. "Is he like an older brother?"

"He's like a step-father." Thomas replies and pulls her harder as they leave the castle. "Don't freak when you see him, he's like famous. I'm sure Cressida told you that because she practically brags about it."

Violet scoffs at that comment and they both stop walking when they reach the gates and see someone standing outside of it. Thomas pulls his wand out and waves it in front of the gate, causing it open up for Adrian. When he walks in, Violet groans and rolls her eyes when she realizes that he's also fucken cute. What is it with all these attractive parents?! She thought two were enough and now there are three of them and Merlin knows how many more are going to show up. Like Jeans dad or something.

"What's the news?" Adrian asks as he walks in and takes his gloves off, handing them to Thomas who gets confused on what to do with them. "I have practice in thirty minutes but I can cancel it if this is super important."

"Someone outed Cressida in the Daily Prophet and our parents don't know." Thomas blurts out, taking a deep breath and concentrating so he can help his sister. "We need someone to take the paper down or at least find out who the source was."

"Fuck!" Adrian runs his hands through his hair and he takes his phone out, putting his finger up so he can talk. "Hello, I need to cancel my practice today. Yes, tomorrow is fine I am having family problems right now."

Thomas turns to Violet and she sees tears in his eyes. He's actually worried for his sister. She pulls him into a hug and he starts sobbing into her shoulder while she rubs his back. "She's going to kill herself Violet." He cries and grips her arm, causing her to freak out. "I'm serious; she said if it ever happened, she would do it and I can't lose her. She's my other half and I need to protect her. She can't die."

"She won't die Thomas." Violet comforts him and strokes his hair gently. "I promise. We'll both protect her from all of this. It's what we're here for."