Let Me Break The Ice
Albus Severus Potter slammed open the front door and stormed out, not paying attention to where the hell he was going. All he knew was that he had to get outside the castle that was known as Hogwarts.
It was early December, which meant the first year Gryffindor had been at the school for just over three months, and yet no matter how hard he tried, the middle Potter was finding it to be nothing more than a nuisance.
His father had warned him, 'Son, don't be alarmed if the other students treat you a little differently, you do your own thing.'
'A little?' Albus thought to himself, incredulously. To be perfectly honest, it had been a nightmare.
Albus knew that since he first set foot inside the school, people had been constantly trying to get to him. James got similar treatment, but it was obvious to Albus that his bloody attention-seeking brother loved every minute of it. Not Albus, shy little Albus.
At first it had been kind of flattering. He had quickly become popular; all the guys were talking to him, being so friendly and making him feel welcome. All the girls were offering to walk him to classes and help him with his homework. For the first few weeks or so, this was fine with Albus, helpful really, but as time started to pass and Albus found himself with absolutely no privacy whatsoever, it began to grate on his nerves.
And it only got worse, too. It soon became obvious that all these friendly people were only interested in him for his name.
It was the antics of what Albus could only guess was a Potter/Weasley fan club made up mostly of noisy girls and some guys that had pushed the boy into fleeing from the castle. He had been on his way to a late dinner when he was practically jumped by a large group of them. It was from the use of his trusty Marauder's Map that he evaded them, and was now tearing away from the castle in a last ditch effort to be alone for two seconds.
Albus sighed, knowing he would most likely get in trouble for being out this time of night. Then he would be let off from punishment, all because of his last name. Most people would be happy for the special treatment, but all Albus ever wanted was to be normal.
He still wasn't paying attention to where he was going; it didn't really matter at that moment. He noticed that a thick layer of snow had fallen which he could feel soaking the bottoms of his jeans, but that didn't matter either.
Albus was deep in his own thoughts, thinking about his parents, his family, his name.
He had nearly reached the Forbidden Forest, when a sudden yell brought him out of his reverie.
"Hey, kid! Get away from there!"
Albus jumped and looked around looking for the source of the shout. He stepped a few more times to search farther, not hearing the cracking that was muffled beneath the fallen snow.
"Hey!" Came the shout again, louder this time, "Get away from there, you're on the lake! Get away!"
Albus spun again and finally caught sight of a figure running towards him from out of the forest. His first thought was a professor because students weren't permitted in the Forest, but that was definitely not an adult voice. He just noticed a head of very blonde hair before a loud crack beneath him made him freeze. In only a few seconds, what he thought was stable ground gave way beneath him and a harsh cry left him as he plunged feet first into the coldest water he had ever felt.
Oh Merlin, the cold. Albus could only guess at the temperature, but he felt it biting at his skin without mercy. He had managed to throw his arms out and grip the edge of the broken ice he had just fallen through, thankfully keeping his head above and away from the freezing water. Even so, Albus felt fear trickle through him. His legs had gone numb in seconds, his lower body was following and whatever strength he had in his arms was fading fast.
"Oh Merlin," Albus heard the voice from the shore.
Looking up blurrily from where he was desperately clinging, Albus made out a boy with blonde hair and grey eyes, a boy he recognised but didn't have the effort to try and place. His arms gave way an inch or two, as Albus tried everything he could not to panic. If his head fell beneath the ice, he knew he wouldn't be able to swim back up, he couldn't feel anything from his chest down.
Looking up again, he watched the boy on the shore remove his jacket, scarf and shirt.
"Listen!" The boy was saying, "I'm coming to reach you! Just hang on alright?"
Albus tried to say that he couldn't for long, but his tongue felt too big for his mouth. Instead his arms slipped another inch.
Albus knew the other boy was working as fast as he could. He used a simple spell to wipe away the snow that had settled on the ice and had camouflaged the lake. He then placed his wand down and got down on his knees.
As quickly as he dared, the boy began to crawl across the ice. Albus was just thankful he had fallen not too far from the edge and not in the middle.
Once he deemed he was close enough the boy laid himself out on his stomach, shivering madly at the cold on his bare skin. Albus vaguely knew he was doing his best not to crack the ice further, but his brain was really becoming fuzzy now. He felt his eyes slip, but they snapped back open when he felt hands wrap around his wrists.
"Alright!" The boy shouted unnecessarily, Albus could tell he was trying not to panic also, "I got you. Come on, help me out here."
Albus' head swam. He hadn't felt his legs for a good minute he reckoned. He tried to kick them anyway, but he wasn't sure if anything was happening.
"Yeah, that's it!" The boy was saying, so Albus had to assume it had worked a little. He felt his body lift a few more inches out of the water as the boy tugged hard on his wrists.
"Almost got you!" The boy shouted again, "Nearly there!"
Albus nodded slightly, but then there was a noise, which made them both gasp. Another loud crack reached their ears and the next thing Albus new, his whole body fell beneath the frozen water, and next to him, so did the boy's.
'Oh Merlin, this was it' Albus didn't have any more strength. The water was beating down on him, biting him. His arms were as dead as his legs. And now he couldn't breathe…
Suddenly, he noticed a pressure wrap around his waist. It hauled him up through the ice-cold water and his head hit the surface again with a splash. He gulped the air, coughing and spluttering grossly. The pressure hadn't loosened, and somehow through the haze in his head he knew not to fight it.
He heard gasping next to him, looking over his shoulder he watched amazed as the blonde boy swam one-armed to the edge and pulled himself out of the lake and onto the snow covered side. All the while his other arm didn't lose his grip on Albus.
Once he was firmly on land, the boy turned to grab Albus with both arms and with one last effort hauled him out and onto the edge next to him.
Albus couldn't hear over the sound of his own breathing, his heart pounded in his chest. His eyes shut again and his head dropped forward onto the ground.
"Hey, kid..?" Albus heard the boy speak next to him, but like everything else it was fuzzy. Only a few seconds later and Albus passed out in the snow.
"…a..l…s…..al..us…..Albus?"
Albus snapped his eyes open and then cringed at the blinding whiteness of the room he was in. Opening his eyes again much slower this time, Albus looked around him at what slightly resembled a hospital. He also realised he was lying down on a comfortable bed.
"Oh, Albus, thank God. You scared the hell out of me! How are you feeling?"
Albus looked up into the face of his cousin and fellow first year, Rose Weasley. She smiled at him as he carefully lifted himself up to a sitting position. He felt pretty much like himself, no aching, no numbness, and definitely no cold.
"Wh…what happened?" Albus asked, his voice sounded a bit hoarse.
Rose leant back against the chair she was sitting in, "You were found half frozen outside Hagrid's door, he brought you up here, you're in the hospital wing."
Albus frowned as he tried to make sense of what his cousin was saying.
"Hagrid's?" Albus asked.
"Yea, Hagrid found you there and brought you up here. What on Earth happened, Al? Everyone's been worried."
Albus didn't answer right away. All he could think was how did he get to Hagrid's hut? All he could remember was passing out next to the lake with…
"That kid." Albus whispered out loud.
Rose frowned, "Hmm? What kid? Albus, come on, I'm dying here! What happened? Why were you even out there?"
"I just needed some time to myself, I wasn't paying attention and I..kinda fell through the ice down by the lake." Albus braced himself.
"What? Albus! That was really foolish of you! At this temperature you were lucky to get out!...How did you manage it?"
Albus grinned, as usual Rose's curiosity won over her anger.
"I don't think I would have…" Albus answered truthfully, "A kid saw me fall in. He pulled me out, even though he fell in too at one point. What happened to him?"
"What do you mean, Albus?" Rose asked, puzzled, "You were the only one there."
Albus frowned at this new information. 'If I was at Hagrid's' he thought to himself, 'Then that kid must have dragged me there. I wonder what happened to him, I wonder who he was…'
The next day, Albus was released from the hospital wing after spending the night and some of the day under Madam Marley's orders. To be honest he was happy for the rest. After being bombarded by visits from his many relatives, including a worrying Harry and Ginny Potter, the last thing he had wanted to do was to go back to his common room to be no doubt smothered by more students than ever.
When he was finally given the okay that there was no lasting damage from his little swimming trip, Albus only headed to his common room to fetch his Potions books before heading off to the dungeons for the double period. Meeting up with Rose on the way, they headed there together, and of course, Rose wouldn't be Rose if she was not nosy.
"Any idea who the boy could have been yet?" She had asked him eagerly, to which Albus just shook his head.
"I told you before," and he had, many times the previous night, "My eyes were kinda fuzzy, I just couldn't make him out too well, who knows."
Rose sighed. "I wonder why he hasn't come forward…"
Albus nodded, he'd been wondering the same thing.
They both headed into the dungeons and took their usual seats together along with the other students. Professor Hawker entered the room and as usual began his lesson without hesitation. Though not his favourite teacher, Albus was always glad to know he could count on Hawker to treat him normally and not like some sort of celebrity.
Twenty minutes into the lesson, the class heard a gentle knock at the dungeon door.
Professor Hawker looked up, "Enter" he said simply.
Upon the Professor's call, the door slid open, revealing another first year student, donning a head of bright blonde hair.
Albus' eyebrows shot up as he caught sight of him. He knew that hair. And he knew that student.
"You are late, Mr. Malfoy." Professor Hawker drawled, sounding bored.
"My apologies, Sir," Scorpius Malfoy all but whispered, his voice was quite croaky. "Won't happen again."
Professor Hawker nodded, "Very well, to your seat Mr. Malfoy." He turned back to his writing board without another look.
Albus watched, momentarily stunned at his realisation as Scorpius walked slowly off to his seat in the corner of the room. As he was much closer to Albus now, he also noticed Scorpius' grey eyes, the grey eyes he had seen last night.
'How did I not realise sooner!' Albus all but yelled in his head. 'But why on Earth would Scorpius Malfoy help me, a Potter?'
"Gosh, he's not looking very well, is he?" Rose whispered to her cousin.
Albus looked at her confused for a moment, before looking back and understanding what she had meant.
Before he had been caught up in that he had finally realised who had helped him from the lake, but now he could see that Scorpius Malfoy definitely wasn't looking too good. In fact, he was looking quite ill.
Dark circles shadowed under his eyes and his cheeks flushed red, but the rest of his skin was pale white. He had wrapped himself in at least three layers but he seemed to be shivering. Albus could see he was trying to mask a cough every now and then.
"He hasn't been looking well all day, but none of the Professors seem to be noticing." Rose whispered again.
Albus suddenly felt very worried for the boy across from him. If Albus was right and it had been Scorpius that pulled him from the lake, then he hadn't gone to the hospital wing like Albus had. What if something was wrong with him?
The next hour passed slowly, Rose went back to paying attention to her work, but Albus couldn't keep himself from wandering. From the corner of his eye he could see that Scorpius' shivering was worsening and his eyelids drooping. Albus became more and more convinced that after he had been saved, Scorpius had not tended to himself properly.
Out of nowhere, Scorpius' head hit the desk in front of him, Albus' heart froze, he had fallen unconscious.
"Professor!" Albus called, wrenching himself to his feet, startling some of the students.
Professor Hawker, who was very rarely startled, turned smoothly to face the first year.
"Mr. Potter?" He asked.
"Professor, please, something is wrong with Scor… Malfoy." Albus called. Looking over to the blonde boy, he saw that he hadn't moved.
Professor Hawker glanced at Scorpius and was over to his desk in a second. Carefully he pressed his fingers to the boy's neck, checking his pulse.
Standing upright again, he called to his class; "All of you will remain here while I escort Mr. Malfoy to the Hospital Wing. Take out your books and read from chapter three for the remainder of the session."
Without another word, Hawker flicked his wand while muttering a spell. The class watched mesmerised as the unconscious boy was lifted into a horizontal position and was easily floated through the classroom and out the door.
The door shut with a click, to which the whole class burst into chatter and gossip about what had just happened.
Albus dropped back down into his seat; his eyes hadn't left the door.
Rose looked worriedly at him, "Albus?" She called.
Albus didn't answer her, or anyone else for the rest of the day.
"Hello, Mr. Potter, I thought I might have a visit from you soon enough."
Albus greeted Madam Marley as he entered the Hospital Wing for the second time in two days. It was late and he expected to be told off but Albus couldn't help coming to find out what had happened to Scorpius after he had been taken away during Potions. Especially since it may be due to an illness that very well could be his fault.
"How…how is he doing…?" The young Potter asked hesitantly.
Madam Marley looked up from where she had been making one of the beds, "I assume you are referring to Mr. Malfoy? He is much better, Mr. Potter. Professor Hawker tells me you were the one to notice his condition, and it's lucky you did or it could have been a lot worse. He is asleep at the moment but you may sit with your friend a few minutes if you like."
Albus hesitated, "We're not really… er…yes thank you."
Madam Marley went away to her office, leaving Albus alone. Summoning up any Gryffindor courage he had, Albus walked over to the only occupied bed in the Wing. He noticed with a jolt it was the same one he had been placed in last night.
Scorpius Malfoy was lying still on the cot; there was no movement apart from his breathing. Albus was glad to see he definitely looked better already.
Albus suddenly felt quite foolish for coming to visit. He didn't know this boy. They had never talked, never interacted in any way. The one and only time had been when…when the boy in front of him had practically saved his life the other night.
All Albus had ever known about Scorpius was that he was just a Malfoy. He knew the blonde boy was very much like Albus in that he was judged by his name, but it had a very opposite effect for him than it did Albus. Albus knew Scorpius was not popular at all, and couldn't help wondering if his illness that day had been so ignored due to his name…
"Thank you," Albus whispered gently, not wanting to wake the boy. Without another thought, Albus left the Wing.
A week went by and it seemed Scorpius made a speedy recovery. He was back in lessons, at the back of the class like he always was. Albus would watch him, trying to pluck up the strength to give him a true thank you but he had chickened out so far. The only reason he could think of that Scorpius had not admitted saving him was because he was not proud of it. Albus had also found that he didn't let on to Rose or anyone else in his family that he had figured out who had been the one to help him from the lake, some how he knew that Scorpius had kept it quiet for a reason. He also knew he'd never feel good about himself if he didn't thank the blonde properly. He would have to wait for the right moment.
His opportunity came along the very next night. Scorpius very rarely went to dinner, for what reason Albus wasn't sure, but tonight he had decided to, sitting at the table not far from Albus. Scorpius Malfoy was indeed a Gryffindor, a fact that had shocked the whole school. But that didn't mean Albus saw a lot of him, which really was quite odd. Considering they shared the same dorms.
Scorpius sat at the table, but didn't look like he would be staying. Albus watched as he proceeded to pile an amount of food into a prepared bag. Not long after, he zipped the bag up, pulled it onto his shoulder and made to leave the hall.
"Rose," Albus said to his cousin who had been next to him during dinner, "I'll catch you later okay?" He said as he quickly got to his feet.
"What?" Rose called after him, "Where are you off to?"
"Talk later." Albus called back without turning around.
Albus exited the Great Hall just in time to see the mysterious Malfoy head towards the front entrance. Being as quick but as silent as he could, Albus followed the boy up to the door and then through it and into the still snowy outside.
Albus wasn't really dressed for the weather, but nevertheless he continued shadowing the blonde, wondering just where they were off too.
It wasn't long before Scorpius led them only a few metres away from the lake, but didn't go any closer. Shivering Albus gave it a wide berth as he passed it.
It seemed wherever Scorpius was going it was where or near where he may have been the day Albus had fallen through the ice on the lake, his quick and sure movements told the Potter that he made this journey often. Albus almost hesitated when he realised that the other was leading him directly into the Forbidden Forest.
Luckily for Albus, Scorpius didn't go in very far. He stopped only a few metres into the trees, in quite a quaint little clearing. Albus hid quickly behind a nearby tree. Looking around the part of the forest he could spy many footprints, which obviously belonged to Scorpius, indicating to him that the Malfoy really did come here quite often, even in the cold weather.
Scorpius hadn't seemed to notice his follower. He dropped his bag on the floor next to a fallen tree, sitting down onto the bark. Carefully, he opened up the bag he prepared, pulling out a piece of bread that he ate quickly and silently. Albus continued to watch, confused as the boy chucked a small part of it onto the ground in front of him.
This seemed to be some sort of routine, the blonde carried on eating parts of the food he had brought, while other parts were chucked to the floor of the clearing. Albus stretched further out from behind the tree to observe.
It was then that Albus saw the extra footprints, footprints that were being made into the snow as if by themselves. He watched, as the parts of the food on the floor seem to vanish into nothing. The whole thing made him gasp loudly.
Too loudly. The blonde boy's head snapped up at the sound, catching Albus as he stood halfway from his hiding place. Albus' eyes widened at the realisation that he had been caught.
The two boys seemed only to stare at each other for a moment or too, Albus was certain the other was bound to yell or attack him for following and spying on him, yet he was reluctant to try and leave before it could happen.
After what felt like a long time, Scorpius rose to his feet. He made a motion as if to pat the air before making his way over to where Albus stood, bringing his backpack with him. Albus shifted back a little, although from a closer distance he could see that Scorpius didn't really look angry at the intrusion.
In fact, he seemed quite friendly. Scorpius finally reached him holding out his bag with food still resting inside of it.
"Here," Scorpius spoke for the first time, and Albus knew immediately it was the voice from the boy who had saved him, "Do you want to feed them?"
Albus stared at the bag in minor shock, then back up to the bag's owner, "W-what?"
Scorpius chuckled a little, "I said do you want to feed the thestrals?"
"Thestrals? What?" Albus only became more and more confused.
"Yeah, the thestrals, you probably can't see them, most people can't, but they are there trust me. Here."
Scorpius reached into the bag and pulled out a piece of pork. Handing it to Albus he pointed over to the clearing.
"Just chuck it on the ground there, they love most kinds of food."
Albus stared for a few more seconds before deciding to go along with it. Breaking the piece into two smaller sized pieces, he threw a piece into the middle of the clearing. He watched, transfixed as the meat disappeared, presumably eaten up by what he now knew to be a thestral. He did the same with the other piece and it vanished also.
"Cool," Albus whispered.
Scorpius chuckled again, "Yeah, they are pretty cool, most people think they are a bit frightening. You just got to know how to handle them."
Scorpius walked back into the clearing and sat back down on the log with his bag, taking out more food. Looking back over his shoulder at Albus he called to him.
"Are you coming over, or standing there all day?" he asked, with a smile.
Albus smiled a little himself before walking over slowly and sitting down on the bark next to the other first year. Reaching over, he took another piece of food, chucking it over to the middle of the clearing again, just as Scorpius did the same.
"So," The blonde boy started, "Any particular reason you followed me way out here?"
Albus chose he next words carefully, "I hadn't meant to spy on you. I came to say thanks. You know, for what you did the other week. It was you right?"
Scorpius looked up, "If you are referring to me pulling you out of the lake, then you'd be right."
"Yeah, that." Albus sighed, "I…I'm sorry too. If you hadn't of helped me, you wouldn't have gotten so sick…"
Scorpius threw some more meat into the clearing, "Hey, that was my fault. I should have gone to the Hospital Wing sooner. I just didn't want anyone to think I had anything to do with you and the lake."
Albus frowned at this; maybe he was more Malfoy than he first appeared "Oh, I see. Didn't want people finding out you saved a Potter, is that right? Ashamed of it are you?" He winced, he hadn't meant to sound so harsh, but that's what it looked like to him.
Scorpius didn't seem to appreciate it either, "I thought you were a Potter. Albus right? Well, actually Albus, I chose to stay out of it because I didn't want anyone in the castle to start thinking I may have pushed you into the lake in the first place. I don't need to be getting into big trouble like that."
Albus was startled by this, "Why would they think that? Besides I would have told them you saved me."
Scorpius shook his head at this, "Of course they would think that. And if you stood up for me they would just think I had cursed you or threatened you or something. You're a Potter and I'm a Malfoy, they wouldn't have had any second thoughts about it at all."
Albus opened his mouth to argue, but he knew the other boy was right, that was exactly how the situation would seem to everyone back at the castle. And here he was, sitting there and suggesting that Scorpius had been ashamed of saving him, simply because he thought him a Malfoy.
"I'm sorry…again." Was all Albus managed to say.
Scorpius appeared to cheer up a little, "Ah, forget it. I appreciate the thanks, really. You were just lucky I spend a lot of time at home swimming in our local lake or I probably would have frozen like you did. What the hell were you doing out on the lake anyway?"
Albus remembered how he had been attempting to run from his so-called fan club and it made him laugh to think of it now, "I just had to get away for a while."
"I know what you mean," Scorpius sighed, "I did the same thing about a month into term. I came running out here but of course I could actually see the lake. I ended up finding this little hideaway and I met the thestrals and I've been coming here most days ever since. No one seems to come here apart from Professor Hagrid every now and then, but I usually hear him coming and hide. I hope you don't mind I left you with him after getting you out of the lake, I couldn't really manage getting you all the way up to the castle."
Albus smiled, surprised but happy the boy was speaking so much and without any false tones, "Not at all, Hagrid is a friend of the family's and you already did enough for me. Hang on, you didn't say why you were away from the castle."
Scorpius gave him a sad smile, before he answered quietly, " Because out here, I don't annoy anyone…no one tells me to go away…no one…hates me here…"
Albus didn't know what to say to that. He had always known that Scorpius, like himself, had a famous last name, but for very opposite reasons. He hadn't realised it was as bad as this, driving the blonde boy to actually leave what would be his home for most of the year.
Scorpius' smiled widened a bit, "It's okay you know. I'll show them one day. One day I'll stand up to them and they'll know I'm not what they think I am. I am a Gryffindor after all." He said as his smile turned into a cheeky grin.
Albus grinned along with him. "You're definitely not what I expected." He told the blonde, honestly.
"Coming from a Potter, that means a lot," Scorpius laughed and Albus joined in fervently.
The boys ended up talking and laughing together for the next few hours. Albus was honestly surprised to find that all the chatter he had ever heard about Scorpius Malfoy was apparently false. The boy in front of him didn't have a bad bone in his body, he was sure of it. It was then he realised it had gotten pretty dark, and the food for the thestrals had run out.
"Well, it's getting kind of late and because of the lake incident my family are keeping eyes on me," Albus chuckled, as he got to his feet, "Thanks again, you know, for saving me."
"Of course," Scorpius answered warmly.
Albus made to leave the clearing, before turning again, "Aren't you coming up?"
"I'll head back in a while, once everyone has gone…once it's less busy," Scorpius answered, changing his words at the last second, "But hey, I come here most days…you can join me if you like?"
Albus didn't have to think about it, "Sure thing, so tomorrow, after dinner?"
"Awesome, see you then Albus."
"Okay, goodbye…Scorpius." Albus grinned.
With that said Albus left the clearing, as Scorpius went back to patting the invisible thestrals. Albus smiled silently to himself, already looking forward to the following evening.
'Hmm' he thought to himself, 'Maybe I have made a friend in this place after all?' and then because he couldn't help himself, 'I wonder what Dad and Uncle Ron would think?'
Yay! My take on the meeting of Albus and Scorpius ^^. Please review x