Chapter Eighteen: Larimar

Larimar, a combination of a love between a parent and child, and also for the beauty of the sea.

On Sunday, after a successful week of classes and getting fully caught up on all of her work, Savannah heads down to the forest. She would take no chances of missing this particular meeting, after Aslan's threat against the castle should she miss it.

Lunch had been enjoyable, when Lionel had, after much encouragement from Peregrine and herself, asked Rose to Hogsmeade the next weekend. Savannah, with some quick thinking, asked Albus if he would go with Peregrine and her, to do some Christmas shopping, though it was only the first week of November. He agreed happily and Savannah couldn't wait to tell him he would have to go with Peregrine alone since she would have a tutoring session that day.

"Aslan?" She calls, stopping on the edge of the trees. She waits a few minutes before rustling is heard and Aslan pokes his great head through the foliage.

You came! He cries joyfully, prancing over to her and nuzzling her side. She ran her fingers through his feathers and scratched behind his left ear where an itch was always bound to be.

"Of course I came! Ready to go flying? I was thinking we could see Ottery St. Catchpole today. Rose wants me to deliver a package for her mum." Savannah pats the wrapped item in her cloak.

Sounds delightful. Hop on, Savvy. She chuckles and jumps to his back, tucking her legs beneath his wings and gripping the long feathers at his mid-neck for reigns.

"I almost made a Hiccupping Solution on Friday. Professor Slughorn has raised me to Acceptable, after a few of the teachers commented that I was making the potions flawlessly until the last step, and my knowledge of ingredients and recipes shows that I'm certainly capable of making advanced potions. There's just a slight block with my magic or something."

Personally, I think potions is silly. Your magic wasn't meant for it. Create spells, experiment with others, but potions? What a waste.

"I love Potions, mixing everything together to get a wonderful use from the concoction? It's amazing." Aslan only sniffs contemptuously and stays silent, both of them enjoying the wind through their hair, or feathers, and the icy prick of the clouds as they fly through them.

When they were almost there, Aslan pricked up his ears and banked a bit to the left. Savannah tightens her grip and looks around, sensing the way Aslan tensed.

"What is it?" She whispers.

We're being followed. Savannah stretches her neck around; turning her body as far as was safe. Through the fog, she could see a figure on a broomstick.

"Go straight up, we'll drop down on whoever it is." Aslan angles his body upwards, flapping his great wings and bringing them straight up with ease. They level out right above the figure, noticing how they slowed down and hesitated, looking around as if puzzled.

"Now" Savannah whispers. Aslan's wings are folded and they shoot like a bullet towards the unsuspecting culprit. Aslan snatches the broom from the follower with his back legs, diving down farther to snag the person falling through the air with his talons. The stranger stops his yelling, but continues to struggle.

"Land on that hill over there. I'll put up cloaking spells." Savannah instructs, sitting up straight on him and weaving her hands in a complicated pattern, nearly invisible smoke rings of brilliant silver dancing from her finger tips and bringing the fog in closer around them as they land. The figure and the broom are thrown before them, Savannah jumping off and jerking her fingers at the figure as they attempt to stand. With a yell, they are thrown upside down into the air, dangling with legs together and arms clamped invisibly to their side. Aslan rears, roaring to show anger.

"Who are you and why are you following us?" Savannah demands, coming cautiously forward.

"Why the hell am I upside down?" His voice was furious and arrogant, causing Savannah to drop her hands in shock.

"Scorpius?"

"Savannah?" Scorpius stops struggling to stare at her. His white blonde hair is arranged weirdly, the clipped curls sticking up like a mohawk and his regularly pale face red from the blood rushing to his head.

"Why were you following me?" She demands.

"Why did you attack me?" He retorts. She glares and turns her finger in a circle, righting Scorpius but keeping him tied.

"Because someone was following us. We don't usually tolerate people doing that. Why were you following us?" He averts his eyes and clears his throat.

"I wanted to talk to you and when I saw you heading out of the castle, I just jumped on my broom and followed you."

"Your mother is going to kill you." She sighs and pets Aslan's beak to calm him down. "So, talk then." She gestures to him, after a few minutes of silence. He colours and clears his throat again.

"I-I'm sorry fo-for being such a-a twit." He stammers out, his palms sweaty and his heart beating faster than a hummingbird's wings. Savannah raises a brow.

"Care to explain why?" He glares at her, more angry at himself for being so befuddled.

"Because I was upset about-" He breaks off.

"Upset about what?"

"I didn't like Jonathon. I thought he was only trying to use you." He said quickly.

"Seriously? That's it? Why didn't you just talk to me about it? If you had spent some time with him, you would have found him to be a pretty decent person."

"I know that now. I was being a git and a wanker and everything foul under the moon." He says apologetically. Savannah snorts and nods.

"I get that, but I don't understand why you didn't stop by to see me at least once while I was in the Hospital Wing." She admits. Scorpius' mouth drops.

"I did! I was there every day when you were unconscious." He defends.

"No one mentioned that." Savannah replies. Aslan settles onto the ground.

"I don't know why they didn't." Scorpius admits.

"Okay, so you visited me while I was out. Why not when I was awake? I would have loved the company. And I wouldn't have had the strength to hex you then." She gestures to his still bound body. He chuckles and smirks at her.

"I don't do things half-assed. I didn't think you'd want to see me while you were recovering."

"Well you got that wrong. Next time, just confront me about it. I hate when people aren't forward about things." She scrunches up her face.

"Okay, okay I promise. Can you unhex me now?"

"Nah"

"Savannah!" She laughs and waves her hand at him, causing him to fall the ground as he's freed. He grumbles as he gets to his feet, wiping nonexistent dirt from his robes.

"I'm heading to the Burrow. I have to deliver a package. Want to come?" Scorpius smiles and straddles his broom once more, watching as Savannah hopped back onto Aslan's back.

Annoying urchin. He comments to Savannah. She smothers her laughter and merely takes off into the sky, keeping the cloaking spell on them since they were so close to muggles. She extended it to Scorpius, and they flew silently towards the great house, expanded since the days of the war to accommodate all of the grandchildren, and future great grandchildren.

"This is it." Scorpius comments as they land in the garden. Savannah smiles, loving it instantly. Before they can take a few steps, the back door opens and a plump elderly witch appears, wooden spoon in hand and her white hair showing only hints of red, flaming hair.

"If you're here to see any of the 'golden trio', you can clear out! This is a private home and I won't have fanatics at my house." Mrs. Weasley scolds before stopping as she sees Scorpius.

"Oh, Scorpius dear. I'm sorry, I couldn't see you clearly." She envelopes her grandson in her arms. He wasn't related by blood, but his mother was practically Molly's second daughter, and as such made him as close as family.

"Hey grandmum. This is Savannah Merlin." He steps aside and Savannah waves away the rest of the cloaking charms.

"It's a pleasure ma'am." She holds out her hand. Molly stares at her for a bewildered second before enveloping her into a hug as well.

"Welcome, welcome! Come inside, it's far too cold." Molly looks at the griffin.

"He'll have to stay outside I'm afraid. He won't fit through the door." She says regretfully. Savannah smiles and nods.

"That's fine. Aslan, I'll be out soon." She circles her hand about his head and an orange glow encompasses him.

"Warming spell." She explains at Scorpius and Molly's confused looks. Molly beams and ushers them inside.

"Percy dear, we have visitors." Molly announces as she sits the children down at the large, old wooden table. A middle-aged man, with curly red hair and glasses perched seriously upon his nose, looks up from his newspaper. Surprisingly, he smiles.

"Hello again, Scorpius. And Miss Merlin, delightful to see you again." Savannah and Scorpius murmur replies as Molly sets steaming cups of tea before them and sits next to them, asking for news of the other grandchildren. They exchange the latest gossip, even letting Rose's date slip (cough, Savannah, cough cough).

"Splendid! I can't wait to tell Ronald. He'll be so pleased." At this, Percy gave a slight snort, making Molly scowl at him.

"He'll hamstring the kid, mum. You know that. I know you remember how he reacted when Rose and Scorpius here were found kissing." At this, Scorpius splutters into his tea and ducks under the table with the pretense of picking up a dropped fork.

Savannah looks gobsmacked, a pretty blush on her cheeks and a sparkle in her eyes.

"Really? When was this?" She inquires. She keeps in her yelp as the tines of a fork dig into her calf.

"Oh, such a long time ago. I believe they were twelve. It was the cutest thing, Scorpius was trying to be debonair and act like his father did for his mother on Valentine's Day. Got flowers and chocolates and sat with Rose out on the tree swing for the whole day, being his usual charming self." Molly remembers fondly. Savannah bites her lip, forcing back laughter.

"Then Ron went to go fetch them for dinner, three hours early because he was paranoid, and found them. Luckily, Draco's fast with his wand, lifting Scorpius out of the way of a sure black eye. Ron wouldn't look at them for a few months, but he got over it." Percy finishes. Savannah clamps an arm around her stomach, breathing jaggedly.

"And no one beat him up?" She sounds disappointed. A distinct growl was heard from beneath the table, but the three chose to ignore it.

"Oh, for sure Hugo and Albus got their hands on him, and I know for certain that Fred and Roxxanne pranked him mercilessly until Ron told George to have them stop." Percy replies. Molly chuckles, taking a sip of her tea and reminiscing. Scorpius finally emerges from the floor, his face beet red and his curls in disarray. He clutched his fork with crushing force, looking murderously at Savannah.

"Quite the charmer, aren't you?" Savannah chokes out, both hands on her mouth in attempt to stop the impending mirth. Before he can get a sound out of his furious mouth, she bends over into the table, laughing loud enough to wake the dead. Giggles and snorts explode from her lips, her eyes crinkled with hilarity and her shoulders shaking merrily.

"I'm sure you never did anything of the sort!" Scorpius says heatedly. Savannah shakes her head, wiping away tears and sucking in gulps of air between laughs. Percy and Molly watch with amusement.

"Not as bad as that. I was in the Amazon at the time, and there was a boy my age there, the chief's son of the village I was staying at, and he told me he liked me, said he would build a hut for us in a few years and I could cook and clean and he could hunt for our food." Savannah snorts with remembered amusement.

"I told him that he could take his cooking and cleaning and do it himself. I would be the one hunting. Of course, we got into a huge row and it resulted in me giving him a bloody nose and me with a black eye." She finishes with a giggle, touching her eye. Scorpius stares at her in disbelief.

"You hit him?" Molly gasps. Savannah shrugs.

"He started it! He thought I would clean! He hadn't taken a bath in three years; there was no way I was cleaning up after him. Smelly brute." She sniffs.

"Sounds like an amazing experience, living in the Amazon. Did you encounter any snuff-louted gargoyles there?" Percy breaks in.

"Yes, a rather rude crowd of them." Scorpius gets up and helps Molly as she cleans up the last of the lunch dishes.

"She's very pretty, isn't she Scorpius?" Molly asks slyly. Scorpius shrugs, scrubbing a dish.

"I suppose so. She's not ugly." Molly rolls her eyes.

"She got many boyfriends, then? Lots of admirers?" Scorpius rubs ferociously at his next plate.

"Admirers aplenty. No boyfriends. Why do you ask, Grandmum?" He hopes she'll get to the point soon. Behind them, Percy is inquiring about all sorts of strange-named creatures to which Savannah answered with in-depth facts and tales.

"You seem to like her, is all. When are you going to ask her out?"

"Grandmum!" Scorpius protests, feeling his cheeks heat up again. "I don't like her like that. We're just friends." He says firmly. Molly nods vaguely, recognizing a closed topic.

"How are Hermione and Harry doing, then?" She changes the subject. Scorpius replies with relief.

~~~

"You must stop by again! And tell Rose I said thanks for the lavender seeds. My own bushes died off and Lavender was rather sad about it." Molly bids farewell to the pair, Percy nodding briefly from the doorway. As the girl slips onto the back of her Griffin and Scorpius mounts his broomstick, son looks to mother.

"They're falling together like flies." Molly nods tearfully, thinking of all her future great-grandchildren.

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HAPPY NEW YEARS!!! My lovelies, I hope this new year is full of promise and magic for you all <3 Your support on my stories has been greatly appreciated an d welcomed. I hope you all liked this chapter!