The New Us
Since when had Scorp become such an adrenaline junkie? What had I missed? I had only been away for a month, and I'd come back to this "new him". Ugh, he said it like it was a good thing. I didn't like it, not at all.
He'd always loved Care of Magical Creatures, and I had always, well, not liked it so much. I figured this "new him" had begun when he started his NEWT level Care of Magical Creatures class. I had been on holiday in Germany with my family at the time, and now that I was back, I was worried.
Not just because of his new Magical Creature obsession, but due to the fact that he had now convinced me to go with him to Greece for half term in search of a Manticore. Now, I wasn't stupid. I had heard of Manticores. Horror stories. Stories that gave me the shivers. And here I was, stumbling through the caves of Greece in search of this beast with my strange, but excited boyfriend.
"Scorp," I hissed. "I don't think-"
"Shhh," he replied. Our voices echoed off the walls of the caves. It made me shudder that if there was a Manticore in this cave, it had probably heard the echo.
Manticores were rare creatures. I don't know what he expected to find.
"Babe," I whispered, too quiet to make an echo. "Please can we go back?"
"Look, Al. We've come all this way. I know I can defeat this thing."
"You said it yourself – it's highly dangerous," I reminded him, feeling my heart rate pick up as he pressed his lips to mine.
"I promise I won't let it get us."
That shut me up. I continued walking behind him in silence, following his every move. It wasn't until we were very deep into the cave that I heard sounds. I couldn't even explain the sounds. They were awful terrifying sounds. Scratching, pawing, crooning.
Then I went deadly pale. I gulped, remembering back to my third year textbook.
'Manticore skin repels almost all known charms.'
"Scorp," I said in barely a whisper. "How the hell do you plan on killing this thing?"
He didn't reply. He was frozen. I didn't want to look at what he had frozen for, but my eyes moved like magnets and my heart dropped.
Standing ten feet away from us, but still very clear in the darkness was the Manticore. I could recognise it straight away – very distinctive. With a lion's body, crouched in the attacking position and the head of a man, it bared its teeth at us. I embarrassingly whimpered.
It's long scorpion tail stuck straight up, pointed and lethal as ever. I knew that a sting from a Manticore's tail was deadly.
Before I even knew what was happening, I heard the sound of metal and I noticed Scorpius had a long silver sword in his hand. I didn't have time to wonder where he'd been hiding it the whole way before, he threw me out of the way and I watched in horror as the beast leaped over his head.
Scorpius ducked underneath, and I hated the fact that he wore an exhilarated grin on his stupid face. The tail whipped round, the face even angrier, if possible.
"Come on then!" Scorpius yelled. I wanted to scream at him to stop, but I had lost my voice. No, that's a lie. I was a coward. I didn't want the Manticore to notice me, and that was the whole truth. I was a coward – nothing like my father.
The Manticore growled and was heading for him again. It turned last minute, trying to trick him, throwing its tail in his direction. He managed to jump back out of the way. It missed him by inches.
I bit into my bottom lip. I was terrified.
"Hey Albus," Scorpius called to me. "Easy, isn't it?"
I was furious. How could he be so blasé about this all, and why would he turn the Manticore's attention to me, sitting defenceless against the wall.
It stared at me and lunged.
I didn't have enough time to close my eyes before I heard an ear-shattering screech. My eyes were open in shock as I saw Scorpius standing, sword bloody, above the motionless detached tail on the floor.
The Manticore turned around immediately and faced him. I gulped. I had been the distraction needed to cut off the deadliest part of the creature.
Scorpius ran, and the creature ran with him. He was tired, I could tell. The Manticore had almost reached him, and I was unable to do anything to help him.
Scorpius was running back my way and his grin was gone. He looked terrified now, and rightfully so. I couldn't watch him die.
He was my life.
I didn't even need to think before I jumped up and ran for the tail. I struggled to pick it up as it was heavy, and I concentrated on avoiding touching the pointy end.
It took all of my strength to lift it up, and then all of my courage to run towards the Manticore. The Manticore wasn't even looking at me, it was focused on Scorpius.
This was it, I decided. Taking a deep breath, I ran head-on towards the deadly beast.
It noticed me when it was too late. I plunged the poisoned tip right into its heart. Letting go of the tail as if burned, I leaped out of the way to prevent it making a last minute attack.
I watched in shock as the creature swayed back and forth and then fell to the stone floor with a loud crash. Instant death.
I stood for a moment, staring at the dead Manticore. It wasn't until I felt a warm hand on my shoulder that I came back to reality.
"Thank you," Scorpius said, looking exasperated. "Thanks for saving my life."
I smiled at him. "Of course. I love you."
He reached for my hands and kissed me softly on the lips. "I love you too," he whispered, leaning his forehead against mine.
"So no more crazy trips?" he said, disappointment clear in his voice.
I laughed. "You know," I said. "I actually enjoyed this. Let's hunt a dragon next time."
He grinned from ear to ear. "You. Me. Christmas. Dragons."
"Deal," I replied, and he kissed me once more. That was when I realised. I loved the "new him". In fact, I was starting to love the "new me" too.
~The End~