Chapter 1 - Back To Normal
Albus
Well, it certainly was an eventful few days. When we all arrived back at Hogwarts in Professor McGonagall's office, there was a mix of startled and relieved on her face. And then her mouth went into a thin line and she rose slowly, quivering with anger. Delphi was struggling against the bonds that held her tight and cursing us all under her breath - god knows the damage she would have done if Hermione's magic-stopping binds hadn't actually stop the magic - while the rest of us were trying not to look each other in the eyes. My dad had just witnessed one of the hardest things he would ever have to see, and that's saying something, considering he's Harry Potter. The rest of the night was a blur; aurors arrived to take Delphi away to Azkaban, Hermione rushed off at once to address what had happened and to assure the public that the child of Voldemort had been arrested, Ron went to see Rose before heading home, Professor McGonagall destroyed the last remaining time-turner and Scorpius spent the evening with his dad, giving me a short, sympathetic smile before rushing off.
Mum and dad were speechless for a while - she held onto his hand and wiped her tears away silently while dad stared at the ground, mostly. They spent the night at Hogwarts with James, Lily and I. We stayed in the room of requirement, which had turned itself into a big but cosy bedroom with one double bed, a triple-tiered bunk bed and a curtain to separate the two sections. House elves brought us up leftovers from the amazing feast laid out for the first night of term, and accepted mum's tip gratefully. We ate in silence, dad barely touching anything, James scoffing it down despite already having eaten it earlier, and Lily delicately biting at a roast chicken sandwich. We spent the night talking and reminiscing about Hogwarts, friends and family, and eventually dad joined in the conversations.
When they left in the morning, hugging us goodbye and telling us to behave ourselves, I actually didn't want dad to leave - I knew I would miss him. But leave they had to, and we watched as they stepped into the green flames of Professor McGonagall's fireplace and disappeared back home. Lily and James went back to the Gryffindor common room, and I descended further, to the Slytherin common room. For definitely not the first time, I wished I wasn't at Hogwarts.
It was a Sunday morning, and familiar faces were sat everywhere, as well as some new ones. A first-year with black hair turned to the boy next to her and whispered "that's Harry Potter's son." Great, I thought. I've only just turned up. Scorpius was sat at a chess table, looking at something in his hand, when he heard the girl speak and looked up to see me. He instantly got up and rushed over to me, holding whatever it was in his hand tight.
"Shall we go for a walk?" he asked.
"Alright," I replied.
"How's your dad?" Scorpius asked, looking up at me through worried eyes.
"He's… he's okay, I think. He wasn't, at first, but he seemed to feel better towards the end of last night. He seemed okay this morning, anyway."
"It was really hard, last night. I can't imagine what he's feeling. Or any of you, really. They were your grandparents, too."
"I am aware of that, Scorpius." I replied, perhaps a little too bluntly because his face immediately falls.
"I'm really sorry Al, I didn't mean to upset you. I was only - "
"It's fine. I know you didn't mean anything by it." It had been very hard to hear my grandparents screaming for their lives and having them cut short so abruptly. And watching my dad in tears was no easy task, either, no matter how difficult our relationship was. The strangest moment was when Voldemort's spell hit the baby - there was the bright green flash I had come to recognise that night as the Avada Kedavra curse hitting its target, but there was also a loud, unearthly screaming noise, and what appeared to be some kind of apparition fleeing the house. We all knew it was the shred of Voldemort that had survived, without even speaking about it.
Scorpius and I walked the grounds for a bit, waved hello to Hagrid (who was tending to some blast-ended-skrewts, a lesson we were not looking forward to taking after hearing our parents accounts of it), antagonised the Whomping Willow and then headed back to the castle in time for Professor McGonagall's speech to all the students. The events of last night were spreading all around the school already, and especially the fact that a student had died. We took our seats at the Slytherin table and sat silently, while everyone around us was chattering away excitedly. The headmaster rose from the teachers table and all conversation ceased at once - she did have an incredibly powerful presence.
"Students, as you are all aware by now, last night was no ordinary first night of term. And the rumours you have been hearing are sadly true; one of our own has died. Craig Bowker, a hard-working young man from Slytherin in his fourth year at Hogwarts. His love of books was unparalleled, and he shall be dearly missed. This tragedy was no accident, however. Craig was murdered, by someone we did not know existed - the child of Voldemort." There were numerous gasps around the room and people everywhere were looking around in terror, as if they were going to be attacked any moment. McGonagall raised a hand to silence the students, and continued. "She has been captured and was taken to Azkaban immediately last night by the ministry's top aurors, and as such, presents no threat to us. Lessons will not begin until after this coming week, to give you all a chance to come to terms with what has happened. After all, as a great man once said, numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it. Please find comfort in each other and know that you are all safe - but remember Craig Bowker, who was taken before his time." Every student raised their glass to Craig, and I stole a glimpse at Scorpius to see tears running down his cheeks. I realised there were tears on mine, too. It wasn't the start of year that any of us expected. I hoped that the rest of the year would be much more mundane, happy and boring. But it was another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry - could it ever be boring?
Of course not.