Content notice: kidnapping and minor violence.

Scorpius laughed, unable to keep his joy from breaking through the otherwise silent village. It was crucial that they not get caught. When Albus had first suggested spending their anniversary in Hogsmeade, Scorpius had been against it because of that very possibility, but he'd let himself be convinced otherwise.

He held onto Albus' hand, feeling warm despite the chilly air around them as they clung to each other.

Suddenly, a hooded figure appeared in the middle of the path in front of them, forcing them to come to a stop. Scorpius' grip on Albus' hand tightened, and Albus stepped half in front of Scorpius as if he meant to take any spells that came their way.

When the figure didn't speak, Albus did.

"Who are you?" he asked.

Scorpius squeezed Albus' hand in retaliation for the rude question when the stranger had yet to do anything hostile, but even he had to admit that the there was something off about the person, who showed no sign of having even heard Albus' question.

In the split second that Scorpius realized the figure was raising his wand, his hand shot into his robes for his own. He wasn't quick enough to stop the world from disappearing around him.

When Scorpius regained consciousness, the first thing he noticed was the hard and unforgiving nature of the ground he was lying on. He groaned, stretching to unsuccessfully soothe his aching muscles. He sat up slowly, trying to orient himself as he went. It wasn't until he was blinking his eyes open that he registered the loud voices echoing in the room.

Albus was nearby, leaning against one of the stone walls of the cell they'd been placed in. The unremarkable room wasn't furnished, but one wall was coated in quartz the colour of ivory. A small fire burning inside the fireplace on the far wall made light dance across the crystals. Scorpius gaped at the sight until he noticed the two figures looking in on them through a barred window on the other side of the crystals. Their features could just barely be made out over the quartz.

They were smirking at him with a satisfaction that made his stomach slosh uneasily.

"You're the Carrows," Scorpius said slowly.

They cackled at his words, but Scorpius didn't care how amusing they found him. He was still piecing together how he and Albus had gotten into this situation and why the Carrows had seen it fit to put them in a cell lined with quartz of all things.

"We are," Alecto agreed, a smirk distorting her features. "Nice to see your father has at least taught you about the few respectable people left."

She laughed harder, her brother joining in.

Albus growled and launched forward, but Scorpius' arm shot out to stop him. The Carrows weren't the kind of people you provoked. Albus deflated immediately in his grasp, but Scorpius kept his arms around him, using the touch to keep him calm.

"What have you captured us for?" Scorpius asked, eyes narrowed.

"For revenge of course," Amycus said with a shrug. "We're tired of being treated like scum. I served time that I didn't deserve while your father didn't see a day in prison despite having the same mark. We can't just forget that."

A number of possible retorts crossed Scorpius' mind, but he bit his tongue.

"Imagine our surprise when we got out of that godforsaken prison and heard that the Malfoy boy and Potter boy were the best of friends," Alecto said, pretending to gag. "Such a sorry sight, and to think your family used to be worth something. I suppose you always cared more about power than the principles the Dark Lord stood for. You were always so quick to change sides when it was advantageous to you. We never lost sight of what was important. Your family gave in, and now you've gone and dirtied yourself further by associating to the worst sort. How could we not intervene?"

"Where are we?" Scorpius asked.

He rose to his feet in the hopes of seeing something past the Carrows that would hint at their location, but there was nothing behind them except more stone.

The Carrows laughed.

"As if we'd tell you, stupid boy," Amycus said.

"Definitely not," Alecto agreed. "If we were that stupid, we wouldn't have come up with such a genius way to keep you locked in here, would we?" She reached through the bars to run one of her fingers along the nearest crystal. "There's only one way out of these crystals. Even if you had your wands, you wouldn't be getting past these. You could blast them as many times as you like, and they wouldn't so much as scratch."

"Our own invention," Amycus added. "We're very fond of them. It feels wonderful to have finally put them to good use."

They left without another word, metal sliding down to block their view of the outside. As soon as they were gone, the crystals grew to cover the entire door. The Carrows' laughter could be heard, growing more and more distant as they left.

"We're going to die," Albus whispered.

Scorpius tightened his arms around him and placed a kiss to his temple. Albus trembled in his embrace, and his eyes shone with unshed tears as he turned his face up to look at Scorpius.

"We're not," Scorpius said. "Your dad's the Head Auror. You think he's not going to come looking for us? They're already searching for us I reckon. It's only a matter of time before they track us down. We'll be fine."

Albus didn't respond. He stared into space for a few seconds before saying out of nowhere, "We may not have our wands, but maybe we could use the fire." He motioned at the crate in the far wall. "Quartz has to burn right? Everything does at a certain temperature. What if we—"

"No," Scorpius said, the strength of his voice startling Albus into silence. "That's a bad idea," he continued in a shaky voice. "Quartz expands at high temperatures. If we heat it up to the temperature of the fire, it's going to get bigger, not burn to ash. I'd bet the Carrows know that too. It wouldn't surprise me if they'd charmed it to be even more responsive to heat. That might be why they gave us a fire in the first place, as some kind of cruel joke."

They certainly hadn't been provided with anything else that could give them comfort.

Albus sunk into Scorpius' side, resting his head on his shoulder.

"I'm glad you knew that," he muttered. "Who the hell knows that quartz expands in heat?"

He shook his head, but Scorpius was too busy staring at the quartz to hear what Albus had said. The Carrows' comment about there only being one way to destroy the crystals echoed through his thoughts. The answer wouldn't be fire; the Carrows had insisted they weren't stupid.

But, there was an answer, if they could find it.

The next day, the Carrows returned with food but no water. When Albus asked about it, Alecto laughed before closing the door. Later in the same day, Amycus returned with more food but nothing to drink, again laughing when they asked for something to drink.

"How can they feed us bread and cheese but not give us anything to drink?" Albus mused as he tore off a chunk of cheddar with his teeth. "We're going to die of dehydration in here."

His voice was already raspy from dehydration. Scorpius watched him eat in silence.

"Everyone knows you die of dehydration before you do starvation," Albus continued, forcefully tearing his hunk of bread in half. "They're bloody idiots."

"Or they're not," Scorpius said, coughing when his throat protested. "They're giving us food, but they refuse us water even when we ask. There must be a reason they won't give us anything to drink."

Albus' brow furrowed.

"What would that be?" he asked. "Do they think a cup of water is going to act as a better portkey than some cheese?"

Scorpius ignored the sarcasm. His gaze was focused on the quartz. He got up and wandered over to it. They'd been avoiding touching it as if it would burn them if they did so, but it felt cool under Scorpius' palm. If it was sensitive to touch, it didn't care yet. It felt solid, just like one would expect crystal of that size to feel. Even if it had been normal quartz, there was no way they could have broken through it without their wands or another kind of tool.

"There's only one way to get past the quartz," Scorpius said mostly to himself. He spun around to face Albus, who raised an eyebrow at him. "That's what they said, right?"

"Yes," Albus confirmed, realization dawning on his face a second later. "You think it's water? That the quartz dissolves or something when it touches liquid?"

"I don't know," Scorpius said, "but it's the best guess we've got."

"Okay." Albus stood and clapped his hands together. "So, how do we get ourselves some water?"

The next time the Carrows came back, they were together. They brought food but no water.

"Please," Albus begged. "We're dehydrated. If we don't get something to drink, we're going to die, and what good are we to you then? If you wanted us dead, you'd have already killed us."

The words were emphasized by how difficult it was for Albus to speak them. Brother and sister shared a look before coming to the same conclusion.

"A small drink," Amycus said.

He conjured a small cup and used his wand to fill it with water. Scorpius entire body was drawn to the water as if by magic. He wanted to drink it, but he knew what had to be done. Albus made as if to reach for the water, and Scorpius went for it at the same time. It was a move that could have easily been seen as one of desperation, but the slight struggle over the cup was anything but an accident as it went tumbling, spilling its contents on the quartz.

The crystal dissolved immediately everywhere the water touched. In fact, it was more effective than Scorpius had imagined it being, leaving a path to the door the Carrows stood just inside of.

Albus and Scorpius rushed forward before the Carrows could process what had happened. Scorpius pushed Amycus to the ground and pinned him down as Albus did the same to Alecto. Alecto was able to fire off one spell that ricocheted dangerously off the walls before Albus and Scorpius were in possession of both Carrows' wands.

"What did you tell them?" Amycus yelled at his sister.

"Nothin'," Alecto said, struggling underneath Scorpius. "All I said was that there was one way to get passed it. I didn't give them any clues!"

"Did you tell the world?" Amycus said. "That was supposed to be a secret!"

"No, it wasn't. I just said there was one way past it."

Scorpius pointed the Amycus' own wand at his chest and shouted, "Stupefy."

Scorpius struggled to swallow as he stared at the shocked face of Harry Potter. Despite the way he hovered over Albus' chair protectively, Harry was in official Auror mode as he asked them question after question about what had happened. Not once during their story did Draco let go of Scorpius' shoulder.

"How did you know that about quartz?" Harry asked Scorpius, shaking his head in disbelief.

Scorpius lowered his gaze to his lap.

"I used to grow crystals as a kid," he said. "There weren't other kids to play with, and I liked the way they sparkled. They're pretty. I'd make different kinds and experiment with the colours. Sometimes I'd put charms on them too, but nothing like what the Carrows did."

Silence met his words, and when he looked back up, both Potters were gaping at him as if they couldn't believe what he'd said. Albus' surprise quickly morphed into a smile.

"That sounds wicked," he said.

If it had come from anyone else, Scorpius would have been sure they were mocking him, but Albus' voice was nothing but genuine. Scorpius smiled back, his cheeks a little warm as he fiddled with his robes. The crystals weren't something he'd ever shared with Albus, despite having a few stored away in his trunk.

"It's whatever," Scorpius said with a shrug.

Draco's grip on his shoulder tightened.

"Don't say that. Your hobby saved your life. And Albus'."

Scorpius smiled at his dad before being ambushed by Albus, who nearly knocked over his chair in his haste to wrap his arms around Scorpius.

"He's right," Albus said a little too loudly into Scorpius' ear. "We would have died without you. Thank you."

He placed a kiss on Scorpius' cheek, and Scorpius froze. They had yet to tell their fathers they were dating, but when he glanced at them, they were both grinning at the boys. He smiled back, leaning in to press his own kiss to Albus' cheek.

"As if I could have let you die."

Prompts:

Hogwarts Challenges and Assignments

Seasonal - Winter Prompts: (word) crystal

Seasonal - Days of the Year: Trivia Day - Write about someone knowing something seemingly useless that is very helpful.

Seasonal - Colour Prompts: ivory

Seasonal - Birthstones: Garnet - (dialogue) "Did you tell the world? That was supposed to be a secret!"

HPFC

Favourite Character Boot Camp: Scorpius Malfoy - stretch

Word count: 2,196