In the compartment, Marigold sat between James and Scorpius, facing Rose, Hugo, Lily and Albus.

 “Are you two excited?” Rose asked Hugo and Lily.

 “I sure am,” Hugo replied.

 “Me too,” Lily added. “I’ve always wanted to go to Hogwarts.”

 “You two are gonna be in Gryffindor,” James said.

 “The best house,” Marigold added, which made Albus frown.

 “By the way, Scorpius, how come your mum didn’t come this time?” he asked, trying to change the subject.

 Scorpius started to tear up.

 “She passed away a few weeks ago,” he replied.

 “What?!”

 Marigold remembered Astoria looking sickly when she visited the Malfoys, but she never would’ve imagined Astoria had something deadly.

 “No way!” James added.

 “There’s a blood curse in my mum’s side of the family,” Scorpius sniffed. “I feel like this is all my fault.”

 “How is that your fault?” Lily asked sympathetically.

 “Because my mum’s health got worse since she gave birth to me,” Scorpius was crying harder now. “If I wasn’t born, then she would still be alive.”

 “Scorpius,” Albus said softly, grabbing his hand. “It’s not your fault at all,”

 Marigold felt a tear trickle down her cheek. Even Rose, who generally viewed Scorpius with disdain, seemed to feel bad for him this time.

 “Scorpius, you know that we’ll always be there for you, right?” Marigold said, sniffling.

 Scorpius looked around at each of his friends; his heart suddenly flowed with gratitude and affection towards them.

* * *

 A few weeks later, Clover and Fiona came flying over the Gryffindor table. Each owl had a letter tied to its leg.

 Marigold untied her letter from Clover and Andrew untied his from Fiona.

 “Who’s it from?” Albus asked.

 “We’ll see,” Andrew replied, opening the letter as the others gathered around.

Dear Andrew, Marigold and James,

 I hope you’ve all been well. I’m getting used to living here in America, but I still miss you all so much.

 Ilvermorny’s great. I made some friends here at Horned Serpent and in other houses also. And not to brag, but I have the top scores in the year. Potions is still my favourite, of course.

 I have some great news to share. Do you still remember Madison, one of the exchange students from Ilvermorny who stayed at Hogwarts in our second year? Well, we started going out a few days ago. Can you believe it?

 Tell the others I said hi, and that I miss them too. I can’t wait to return to Britain and see all of you again.

P.S. Marigold, tell Teddy I told him congratulations on getting married. I wish I could tell him how happy I am for him.

David

 “That’s great,” Marigold smiled. “Madison was quite nice, I’m glad that she and David started going out.”

 “Yeah,” Andrew didn’t seem as happy about the news.

 “Anyways, let’s read Marigold’s letter now,” Albus said.

 When Marigold unfolded the letter, she noticed that it looked as though it was stained with tears.

 “I don’t have a good feeling about this,” Scorpius said.

Dear Marigold,

 We just received some terrible news. I understand this will come as a great shock, and there’s no easy way to explain this.

 We just found out that Moony got deported. I’m not surprised that Delphini is targeting werewolves, but it was still quite devastating for me and Andy, and I’m sure you’re shocked as well.

 I sent Archimedes to deliver a letter to Monsieur and Madame Delacour asking them if Moony can live with them in France until it’s safe for him to return to England. Since their granddaughter is our family now, I’m sure they’ll agree. I’ll let you know what they say as soon as I get a response.

 I know how difficult this is for you and for all of us, but I want you to remember that Andy and I will be here for you no matter what. Please write to us whenever you feel like talking.

P.S. Don’t worry about telling Teddy. Andy already sent him an owl explaining everything to him.

Love,

Paddy

 “This can’t be real,” Marigold dropped the letter on the table; she turned pale.

 “I can’t believe Uncle Moony got deported,” Lily said, just as surprised.

 Marigold ran out of the Great Hall, covering her face.

 “Goldie!” James ran after her.

 “Marigold!” Scorpius followed.

 Marigold leaned against the wall as she broke down crying; she wished it was all just an awful nightmare.

 “Goldie?” James asked hesitantly.

 “Yeah?” she wiped her tears.

 “We’re so sorry to hear what happened,” Scorpius said.

 Marigold looked at Scorpius, who had just lost his mother due to death, yet expressed sympathy for her. Unlike Remus, who was going to return once it was safe again, Astoria could never come back.

 “It’s fine,” Marigold sniffed. “I know he’ll come back after all of this is over.”

 James hugged Marigold tightly, which made her cry harder.

 “I can’t believe Delphini took my dad away from me,” Marigold said to James, softly so that Scorpius couldn’t hear her.

 “I can’t imagine what that must be like,” James replied; he felt so sorry for her. “I’m so sorry you have to go through this.”

 James let Marigold cry in his arms for a little while.

 “I’m alright,” she turned around to Scorpius. “I can still write to him while he’s away, right?”

 “And you still have us,” Scorpius said. “We can’t replace your dad but we’ll always be here for you,”

 Marigold hugged both of them.

 “Thank you,” she said. “I better go up to the common room to write him an owl.”