Chapter Three: Closer
His brilliant green eyes met mine and ignited me from the inside. I felt cold heat course through my body and as if his eyes were a mirror, I could see mine reflected in his. My gray irises glowed in the light coming from my wand. They looked like melted silver and I wondered what he saw in them. There was no space between us in that instant. Distance didn't exist as we fussed our lips, our bodies and our gazes together. I could feel his heart stammering against his chest, as we pressed closer –if possible. I couldn't tell which heartbeat belonged to him and which was my own. That moment, we were one...
Date: September 1, 2017
Sometimes, I found myself wishing to be alone.
That very moment, sitting in a small compartment in the Hogwarts Express, surrounded by my family, I wanted that as much as I wanted air to breathe.
My family was a very big and loud one. Rose was always getting into what I called "word fights" with James mostly. But when he wasn't around, she always tried with me. It was fine though; I would pretend to be into it until I forgot that I was pretending and started enjoying our rambling. Today, her victims were Lysander and Lorcan Scamander; their mother had been Dad's friend since his school years. That wasn't even half of the noise though; James had a huge part in it. The tiny space left was filled up by his best friend and our cousin Fred. All three of them were engrossed in their conversation. From what I could hear, James still couldn't get over Teddy snogging Victoire.
I rolled my eyes, beginning to feel claustrophobic in the train compartment with six other people. Had it been like this for Dad and his friends? I doubted it. Maybe Uncle George and his twin I never met must've been this loud, with all the jokes and all, but definitely not my dad. He didn't like the crowds and attention, and definitely not the noise, something we had in common.
Unfortunately, today I was just too nervous. I clutched my stomach tightly, feeling nauseous. I would never understand why the Sorting had me acting this way. It would only decide where my dorm would be and the color of my tie and the insignia on my robes, and the next seven years of my life and practically my whole academic career. Right, yeah. No big deal.
I made up an excuse to leave, and was out of the tiny space in no time. I practically ran all the way to the back of the train, not entirely sure of where I might end up. I just wanted to be alone. Or at least feel calmness and hear only silence.
I stopped in front of a half empty compartment. There was only one other person sitting there, a thin boy with blonde almost white hair. He was staring out the window, completely lost in thought and oblivious to my presence. I slid the door open and walked in.
"You don't mind if I sit here do you?" I mustered the courage to speak. The only other sound was the humming of the train in the rails, making my voice sound loud and profane.
The boy only nodded, so I sat as far from him as I could, trying to give him privacy in exchange of his silence. I let my head fall back and closed my eyes.
I could hear my heartbeat against my ears, and practically feel the air travelling into my lungs at every breath. The quiet was so peaceful, I would be glad to share my time with the boy sitting across from me if he was always like this. Hours passed and it wasn't until the sky began to darken, that I noticed how close we were to Hogwarts.
"Hey –err, we need to put our robes on," I said to the blonde boy, it felt like talking to a statue. He had hardly moved at all this whole time.
Slowly, he turned to face me, blinking as if waking up from a dream. His hair fell over his eyes smoothly compared to my untamable hair. Even the colour was a funny contrast: wild black and silky blonde. His nose was straight and long, giving the impression of pointy features. His eyes were gray, a very peculiar shade I had never even seen before. It reminded me of something…
It was half way through spring, James would be finishing his second year of school in a couple of months while I had to play with Lily. Fortunately, Mum had gotten a hint on my mood and decided to go with Aunt Hermione and Hugo to Diagon Alley on a shopping trip. So today, I was alone.
Or at least I felt that way.
That day, around noon as I lay out in the grass, Dad came out of the house. Wordlessly, he lay next to me, staring up at the sky.
"I actually love this time of the year," I hadn't expected him to speak, but he had surprised me enough to get my attention immediately.
"Don't you think it's too dark? I mean, the sky is all gray," I asked.
He chuckled, "That is what's beautiful about it, the colour… It makes me feel closer…"
It took me a good few minutes to process what my father had said, but I didn't understand it one bit. We both lay there in silence for a while until I finally asked, "Closer to what?"
He didn't turn to look at me; his eyes were fixed at the pearly gray sky.
"Closer to my star…"
His voice sounded rough, and there was a hint of some hidden emotion in his words. I wasn't sure what he meant by that, by his star. But in that instant, as we looked at the endless sky, his eyes were staring at something that I couldn't see. He was staring at something a thousand miles away, something that he described as beautiful…
The boy blushed just a shade of pink on his pale face. I looked away immediately, feeling my cheeks getting hot. He took his trunk and opened it, taking his robes out.
"Are you not going to change as well?" he spoke for the first time, his voice was like velvet. I was so shocked by his formality that I took a bit longer to answer.
"My trunk is in another compartment. Can I –err, come back here after I've changed?"
His face turned slightly pink again, "S-sure,"
"I'll be right back then," the second I closed the door of his compartment, I broke into a run, feeling strangely giddy.
When I reached the train compartment, Rose and the Scamander twins were relieved to see me. After a quick explanation of my encounter with the blonde boy, they let me go without further questioning on their part. The same thing could not be said for James, he was positive that the boy was actually a girl.
After I had changed into my robes, I was eager to find the blonde boy again. It wasn't until Rose and my brother began questioning me that I realized I didn't know his name, and I hadn't even introduced myself either. I ran at twice the speed of last time to get to the lonely compartment, only to see that it wasn't as empty as before. This time, there were three students, at least Fred and James' age talking with the smaller boy. I'd never felt the need to hide until then, and as I pressed my back against the wall, I could hear their conversation.
"Oh, please. You need us, or did you already forget your father has the Dark Mark?" A girl said, her voice carrying out a dangerous edge.
"I told you, Goyle, I do not need bodyguards, I can handle myself." The boy spoke, his velvety voice sounded cold.
"Yeah, sure you can. Everyone in this school hates us; they only see us as the next generation of Death Eaters." A male voice spoke, and raised the hairs in the back of my neck.
"You just wait till they say your name in the Sorting Ceremony. It will only take a second after that and you'll be an enemy of the Weasley-Potter Clan," the second male said, his voice was filled with resentment, yet it wasn't as scary as the other bloke.
"We are not our parents, alright? We get to make our own mistakes, not theirs. I don't need to become a part of your club to be safe, I am done listening to you." The boy said, angrily, his voice smooth and sharp.
The girl spoke again, "Suit yourself, kid. But I'd be more careful if I were you."
There was a grunting sound and the three older students laughed. My heart began to pound loudly in my chest and I was suddenly afraid. But I didn't have a choice –or at least that's what I would tell myself later.
I slid the compartment door open, wand raised. The girl seemed to be older, her shoulders were wide despite her slim figure and she was at least two heads taller than me. Her dark brown hair was the same colour of her eyes and her features were set in an angry gesture. She was standing closest to me, and standing on her right was a bloke that looked very much like her, only his shoulders weren't so wide and he wasn't as tall. It was easy to see they were siblings.
In the left corner of my eyes, I could see the blonde boy bent over, clutching his stomach in pain. Standing in front of him was none other than Charles Flint holding his fist up, getting ready for another punch. James and Fred had warned me about him when we passed by him in Diagon Alley. Flint liked to mess with students from other Houses regardless of age and gender.
The three of them froze suddenly at the site of me. My heart pounded hard on my chest, I didn't know a decent jinx and they were bound to know more about wand fights than me.
"Well, well. Who might you be?" the girl said, using a fake sweet tone.
The blonde boy looked up, and his expression of pain and anger turned into fear when his eyes met mine. "Go! Leave -ugh!" his warning was interrupted as Flint's fist met his gut again.
"Don't touch him," they laughed at my words.
"A brave one, I see," Flint said, eyeing me from my shoes to my hair, "Judging from your robes I must guess you are a pure-blood. Who are your parents, kid?"
I rolled my eyes, not lowering my wand, "My dad's a half-blood, and Mum's a pure-blood." I stepped into the compartment, closer to them but also closer to the blonde boy.
It took all the courage in me to speak my next words in front of them, but I managed. "My name is Albus Severus Potter,"
The boy looked up at me again, fear radiating from him. The three Slytherins raised their wands simultaneously, with identical smirks on their faces. I tried to think of a good spell but I didn't even know how to do any. It took a fraction of a second for me to realize that these so-called pure-bloods probably knew little to nothing of physical fights, except for the use of excessive force.
With that thought in my mind I took a swing at the smaller looking bloke, my hand meeting his nose with a cracking sound, I pulled his wand from his grasp in the same move. His sister was suddenly charging at me, I dodged her and kicked her leg making her stumble out of the compartment. Her brother ran out to help her. I turned to face Flint, his face turned into an ugly sneer, and in that moment when his attention was on me, the blonde boy had taken his wand out.
"Stupify!" his voice had been steady and his pose was impressively good, for a first year. There was a jet of weak red light that hit Flint on the chest, sending him back against the seats.
He stood back up, unsteadily and gave us a glare before walking out of the compartment muttering something like "not so lucky next time".
The boy and I were alone now, and the silence this time was heavy and ominous.
"Thank you, err, Potter," he said after the long silence.
I shook my head, "No, call me Albus." The boy gave me a small smile, "That was a very advanced spell, not even second years can manage,"
He shrugged, "I read it in my father's old school books. I wasn't sure if I could even cast it. Well, it didn't turn up the way it was supposed to,"
I rolled my eyes, realizing that I probably did that too often, "It was brilliant! You're a first year, it shouldn't have even touched him!"
His cheeks turned pink and he looked down, "I guess so, but I doubt it will work again later tonight,"
I cringed internally, if he ended up in snake pit, the others were bound to find him, "Maybe you'll end up in a different House, I know that after that Stunner, Ravenclaw would love to have you!"
"I don't think so, I was born to be in Slytherin," He smiled sadly; I briefly noticed how he still clutched his stomach.
I looked down at my hands, noticing I still had that git's wand. How could I make sure he was safe if I ended up in a different House? "You know, my dad told me that the Sorting Hat sometimes lets you choose."
"Where else could I go? Flint and the Goyle siblings are right," he put his wand in his pocket.
I hesitated before sitting beside him, "I don't hate you, and I doubt Fred or Rose or even James will hate you, no matter who you are- who your father was,"
He raised a blonde eyebrow at me, "Oh, really?" I nodded encouragingly, "Malfoy,"
"What?" I asked.
"My name, it's Malfoy. Scropius Hyperion Malfoy," he said, sitting very still as if waiting for a dungbomb to go off.
I processed it, "Scorpius? Like the star?"
"Isn't a constellation?" He said, thoughtfully, "Ugh! Listen, my father was Draco Lucius Malfoy. Our parents' rivalry in their school years is as legendary as the rivalry of their Houses."
I was utterly shocked. In my whole life, I hadn't heard a thing of Draco Malfoy from my dad, not even his name. But Mum had often mentioned their unconventional relationship. I had asked Uncle Ron about that, but he had only said that the past was the past. Even Aunt Hermione had refused to answer, stating that if my dad wanted us to know, he would have spoken about him himself. So in the end, I honestly had no idea what exactly went on between them. My only guess is that it must've been something huge.
"I don't care," I surprised myself by saying it.
Scorpius stared at me, eyes wide. "You don't care?"
"It's not important to me," I answered, "I don't want to be treated as if I were my dad, being alike is different, but I plan on walking down my own path. Besides, everyone has their own demons,"
Scorpius let out a heavy sigh, closing his eyes and laying his head back, "You have to teach me how to hit like that,"
"Anytime, Stars," I said eyeing him carefully; his arms were crossed loosely over his stomach. After the Sorting, I would make him go to the infirmary.
"Stars?" he asked.
I chuckled, "Yeah, you don't mind?"
His eyes searched for mine and he raised a blonde eyebrow, he seemed to do that as much as I rolled my eyes, "I guess not, but don't call me that in front of other people," he closed his eyes again. This time, I could see a genuine smile in his features.
In that moment, the train began to slow down, until finally, it came to a total stop. It dawned to me just then how much closer we were to the place where our destinies awaited us...
as you can see, i finally managed to complete this chapter! id like to get some points clear:
-the first paragraph is Drarry. i had the idea of adding random pieces of future Drarry chapters into the Al/Scor ones so they would somehow match the idea of each chapter.
-Yes, there is a reason why albus starts calling scorpius 'Stars' and yes, it has something to do with what harry said to albus in his memory, no i don't believe they will ever know the similarities. I honestly dont like calling Scorpius "Scor" i personally think it sounds wierd, thats how i decided "Stars" would do the trick!
-obviously, they are too young to have any sort of feelings towards each other, but it is more about their relationship as friends for now, give them time, being gay is a big decision and we dont want them to rush into anything
-does anybody notice where i got the name Charles Flint? maybe a certain slytherin quidditch captain?
- now, i know i had mentioned that this chapter would be Drarry but i figured we needed to clear out some details that happened before the first two chapters so the story can go on
-the next chapter will be the Sorting Ceremony, i might make it on different PoVs for all the characters that will be Sorted and maybe give an insight on the thoughts of James, Fred and their best friend, who you will know more of :D
please review! any thoughts, suggestions and ideas will be warmly appreciated!
