There are lights. Large, luminescent, in-your-face lights. The kind that make you want to squint, but you end up widening your eyes just to get a better look when your pupils adjust. I had done just that, caught like a deer in front of a rapidly approaching car. I was thinking, this is stupid as hell. If I had been in my right state of mind, my ass would have been out of there faster than the Road Runner. But alas, the burning alcohol that had tasted so good an hour before had depressed my reaction time to the brink of disaster. A big disaster.

I glanced over at the figure standing about ten feet away. His mouth was open, his expression frantic. Had he been speaking? It seemed he was screaming, but I couldn't really hear him. I couldn't hear anything. My blood was pounding in my ears, deafening me to the outside world. It was similar to being in a room alone, no objects other than yourself occupying any space. Except, of course, those wildly beautiful lights.

I would have taken a step forward, but my accomplice grabbed a hold of me before I could do anything else. My head snapped towards him, looking up into those light grey eyes I had become so familiar with other the past few weeks. They were different, though. Filled with emotion I hadn't witnessed before. Panic. Why would Scorpius Malfoy ever panic? It wasn't in his nature to worry, it's part of what made him such a great thrill-seeker. A cool head and a wonderful sense of humor was the recipe for disaster. Why was he losing it now?

When the realization set it, I sobered immediately. He had perfectly good reason to panic. If for nothing else, because I hadn't been panicking. What the fuck was my problem? I had just burnt a vacant house down. If it wasn't for Scorpius, we probably would have been in the fire as well. I vaguely remembered his arms around me, practically carrying me out when he couldn't tame the flame himself. Had he used magic? I numbly hoped he hadn't, he would get in a shitload of trouble. He probably already would be, because of me.

A thin layer of sweat started to coat my face, the heat of the flames reaching me from a hundred feet away. The whole scene made my chest ache, but I couldn't rip my gaze away. Astonishment had set into my bones, and I started shaking slightly. Everything that I should have been feeling while inside the burning building was finally catching up with me, and I quickly turned to Scorp for support. His arms wound around me tightly, murmuring about fixing it all, and for me not to worry. How could I possibly not worry? This could be the end of us—our enrollment at Hogwarts, our place in the competition…the friendship we had, reluctantly, begun building.

After a few moments of reassurance, I was able to turn away. Still awestruck, we walked the opposite direction, our shadow cast by the flame falling over the frozen blades of grass. As I looked up at Scorpius again and met his gaze, I actually believed he'd take care of it. If for nothing else, than for the sake of saying that I owed him later on. When we stepped onto the sidewalk, three fire trucks sped by up, sirens roaring. The lights on top flashed blue, and I foun d myself craning my neck to follow the lights. Bright, oscillating, look-at-me lights.