It was still raining when the carriages arrived at Hogwarts, and the students pelted through puddles to get into the Great Hall. Scorpius was soaked through by the time he and Albus reached the Slytherin Table, and Heather Morris, one of the Prefects, was bustling up and down the table and magically drying people off. Her charm didn't warm Scorpius at all, but at least his clothes were dry, and Albus looked a little refreshed afterward, though not by much.
There wasn't the usual chatter before the Sorting, and as Scorpius looked around, he saw that the tables looked far emptier than he was used to. "How many people had to stay home?" he whispered to Albus. It didn't seem like a night for speaking in anything above a whisper, and even that felt too loud. He ought to be silent and say nothing at all so that his voice didn't bother anyone.
"I don't know," Albus whispered back. "Mum wanted Lily to stay home, but Dad said she was old enough to make her own choice. Hugo only came because Lily did." He shifted nervously and toyed with his fork. "Mum wanted me to stay home, too, and I think James is only here because I am."
"Why are you here?" Scorpius asked, though his throat felt as though it was about to close and he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.
"I didn't know if you'd be here," Albus said. "If you were, I knew I couldn't just leave you alone. Ruby would be here, and I guess the two of you would be okay, but I still didn't want it to be just you and her. You look like you'd get lonely too easily." Albus glanced sideways at Scorpius as though afraid he'd offended him, but Scorpius only felt his heart sink because Albus was right. "Anyway, what about you? Would you have stayed home?" His voice shook a little, and he quickly set down the fork.
"I don't know," Scorpius said. "My father said I could if I wanted to, but I missed you and Ruby."
"I missed you, too," Albus said, his voice so low Scorpius could barely hear him. "So did Ruby." He looked up, then, a sudden sharpness in his green eyes, and he had just opened his mouth to speak when the doors to the Great Hall opened and a group of first years entered. Albus quickly closed his mouth and looked away, though he did smile and wave a little when his sister waved to him.
There were fewer first years than previous feasts, but more than Scorpius had expected. As they marched up to the Sorting Hat, Scorpius let his mind wander, and he only caught a few of the names and nothing at all of the hat's song.
"Dale, Charlotte!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
A red-haired girl scurried over to the Hufflepuff table, where she was greeted with a few hugs. She smiled nervously at everyone as she settled into her seat.
"Lewis, Arabella!"
"SLYTHERIN!"
Albus scooted over a little so a small girl could squeeze in next to him. She didn't look as apprehensive as previous Slytherins Scorpius remembered, and he couldn't tell whether that was at all a good thing or if he ought to be worried about that. Their house wasn't feared anymore, but only because there were things far worse than Slytherins in the world now.
"Potter, Lily!"
Albus tensed as his little sister walked up to the stool. She looked tough and brave, and Scorpius couldn't help thinking she would wind up in Gryffindor, like all the other Potters but one. She didn't look as nervous as the other first years had, and as she sat down, he thought he saw a small smile on her face. Then the hat dropped onto her head, sliding even past her glasses, and for a long moment, everything was silent.
Then the hat called, "RAVENCLAW!"
The Ravenclaw table at once burst into applause, and a few other students joined them. Albus looked about ready to leap out of his seat and give his sister a standing ovation, and his smile was so excited that little Arabella Lewis shied away from him, bumping into a sixth year.
"I can't believe it," Albus said once the applause had died down and Professor Zahradnik was calling out names again. "Though, I guess I can, really. Lily's always been the smart one in the family."
James didn't look all that pleased, and Scorpius suspected he had wanted his little sister to follow him into Gryffindor, though Scorpius couldn't help fearing the glare the oldest Potter sent across the Great Hall was directed at him rather than at Lily or Albus. He shrank back a little, and though it might have been just his imagination, he thought he saw a bit of satisfaction on James's face.
"Quinn, Isaac!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
Isaac Quinn was a scrawny blond boy, and he sat down next to Lily, as though the two of them – so far the only two Ravenclaw first years – were pitted against the rest of the school. For all Scorpius knew, they might be, and he felt a little sad and a little sick at the thought of the two of them having to face any sort of danger.
"Weasley, Hugo!"
Again Albus tensed, and the curly-haired boy Scorpius had seen at King's Cross walked up to the stool. He must have let his mind wander again, for there were only a few first years left, and he certainly remembered seeing a couple dozen there before. Hugo looked far more nervous than his cousin had, and not even Professor Zahradnik's reassuring smile could keep him from shaking. He looked almost on the verge of tears, and it was something of a relief when the hat slid down over his face. After that, a long silence filled the hall, and everyone leaned forward, waiting for the hat to speak.
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
Albus let out a long sigh and slumped slightly as Hugo leapt off the stool and ran to join the Hufflepuffs. "Well, that's a relief," he said after a moment. "They'll be nice to him. He's been terrified ever since Rose… well, you know. I don't think he could have lasted as a Gryffindor."
Scorpius nodded, but his mind was already wandering, and James was still glaring at him. If there was a chance for him to slip away, he would have gladly taken it, but before he knew what was happening, the Sorting was over and Professor Zahradnik was heading to her chair. Everyone in the hall perked up, no doubt ready for her to give her speech so they could eat, but for several seconds she simply stood at her table, looking out at the students. No one seemed at all impatient, and even though Scorpius could feel a hollow ache growing in his stomach, he was content to wait. He felt as though he could wait forever, and just as he was starting to realize that the thought probably wasn't the healthiest he could have had, Professor Zahradnik began to speak.
"I'm glad so many of you came back," she said, and though her voice was weary, she was able to smile, and Scorpius felt as though she truly meant what she said. "Some of you may have heard this, but others, for whatever reason, likely don't know that Hogwarts was very nearly closed over the summer. I think it would be best to be honest with you all, as even the youngest among you are old enough to have earned the right to know what is happening at Hogwarts." Her smile became a little more wry as she added, "My predecessor would have called this place a home away from home, and while I sincerely hope the castle will remain that for a good many of you, I also sincerely believe any home ought to be safe.
"I wish I could tell you that Hogwarts is perfectly safe. However, as the attack by an otherworldly creature proved, that isn't so. I'm afraid no place in this world is perfectly safe, but I will do my best to make Hogwarts as safe a place as possible. There are multiple enchantments on this place, and there will be Aurors patrolling the halls and grounds. They are good men and women, all of them, and dedicated to your safety. I assure you, they will be far safer than other measures the Ministry has suggested in the past."
A few people laughed, and even Albus managed a chuckle. "I'll explain later," he whispered as Professor Zahradnik went on.
"Tonight, however, I don't want us to look to the past and see what sort of danger we faced. If we must do that, then I would like us to draw strength from that danger. We lost many good friends last spring, but they would not have wanted us to give in to despair. This year is about new beginnings. Classes will continue as normal, and I will do my best to ensure that life at Hogwarts returns to normal. I won't lie to you and say there is nothing to fear. That would be an insult to your intelligence and to those who were hurt and killed in the attack last spring. I will say that we can move past that fear and be strong enough to overcome it. Whether you are Gryffindors or some other house, you can all be brave. Whether you are Ravenclaws or some other house, you can all be intelligent. Whether you are Hufflepuffs or some other house, you can all be loyal. And whether you are Slytherins or some other house, you can all have the ambition to make Hogwarts – and this world – a better place for us all."
With that, she sat down, and for a moment, no one moved. Then someone began to applaud, and the sound was taken up by everyone in the hall. Scorpius found there were tears in his eyes, and he quickly wiped his face on the shoulder of his robe before anyone could comment on it. The food appeared a moment later, and everyone began loading their plates with the feast, granting him another reprieve.
It wasn't enough of one, however. As Scorpius began nibbling at some lamb, Eoin Ellis, a high-voiced second year sitting across from him, asked, "Is that all you're eating?"
Scorpius glanced up and down the table and saw that everyone else's plates were piled high with food. Even Albus had about twice as much as he did, and little Eoin might wind up too stuffed to walk if he managed to finish everything. Scorpius had barely enough for a normal meal at his house, and even with that, he wasn't sure whether he wanted to eat it all. "I'm not very hungry," he mumbled, and ducked his head slightly, hoping to hide his nervousness with a dinner roll.
To his relief, Eoin didn't pursue the issue, but Albus took it up a moment later, speaking in a mercifully lower voice than Eoin had. "It isn't very much, you know. You already look like you're starving yourself." Albus looked worried, and Scorpius thought he saw pity in everyone's eyes when they glanced at him, even though he couldn't tell whether they were actually looking at him or simply happened to have their gazes in his general direction.
"I'm fine," he said, wishing he could shrink a little more. "I'm just not hungry."
"Just don't start passing out, okay?" Albus asked. "You have to take care of yourself." He took a large bite of mincemeat pie and chewed slowly before adding, "I've got to take care of myself now, so you have to, too. Okay?"
"Okay," Scorpius said quietly. Albus looked a bit more relaxed after hearing that, and while Scorpius did his best to finish everything on his plate, he only made it through about two-thirds before dinner vanished and was replaced with dessert. He did have a bit more of an appetite for that, or thought he did, but wound up losing it after only a few bites of chocolate cake. With a sigh, he got up and slipped out of the Great Hall, hoping no one would notice him leaving. No one commented on it, so he thought he had a good chance of escaping unseen.
He managed to slip away, and he made it back to the common room without anyone following him. Instead of hanging around and waiting for someone to join him, he went straight to the dormitory, changed into his pajamas, and curled up under his blankets. The dungeon was mildly cold, as usual, and he found that he couldn't fall asleep. It was because of the cold, he told himself, not because he no longer felt as though he could be at home there.
Rose wasn't there. He would have to spend a year without her, and he wasn't sure how he could manage that.
Several minutes later, he heard people arriving and quickly turned away from the door, closing his eyes. He didn't want anyone to come up to him and ask if there was anything they could do to help. He had told his father that he would be fine, and he didn't want to start falling apart on the first night back.
"I didn't actually see anything," Albus said, sounding anxious, and Scorpius's stomach clenched, sure he knew what they were talking about. "I only heard about what happened later on."
"Scorpius was there," Patrick Walmot, another fourth-year said.
"And you're not going to ask him about it," Albus snapped. "Got it? If he wants to talk about it, then he'll talk, but you don't get to bring it up first."
"Okay, fine," Patrick said. "I'm not dumb enough to just start talking about something like that around him. I just thought he might have told you, and then you could tell me." There were the faint sounds of other conversations around the room, and of trunks being opened and closed, and Scorpius tried to press his face deeper into his pillow.
"He hasn't," Albus said. "Even if he had, I wouldn't tell you unless he'd said I could."
The conversation trailed off after that, and Scorpius lay still as the other boys got into their own beds and fell asleep. He was the last one still awake, and it took nearly an hour for him to even start to doze off.
The next morning they had no classes, and when Scorpius woke, his stomach felt pinched and empty. Everyone else had already left the room, and for a long while he lay still, debating whether he ought to get out of bed and get breakfast. He knew he couldn't just lie in bed and slowly starve, but at the moment, he couldn't think of any option that sounded better. He wasn't rested, but he couldn't stay asleep any longer, and the most convincing reason he could think of for getting out of bed was because every time he tried to close his eyes they wouldn't stay closed.
Then he heard someone moving behind him and tensed, lying as still as he could. Maybe whoever was there would think he was still asleep and leave him alone, giving him a few extra minutes before he had to talk to anyone. He would have to deal with other people, he knew, but he wanted to put it off as long as possible.
"I know you're awake," Albus said, and Scorpius sighed from disappointment.
"What time is it?" he asked, not moving.
"After breakfast." The bed shifted slightly, and Scorpius supposed Albus must have sat down beside him. "Are you hungry?"
"No." He pulled himself closer to his pillow. Maybe he could still fall asleep again if he tried hard enough.
"I brought you some food anyway." A moment later, Scorpius smelled cinnamon and blueberries, and despite what he had said, his stomach growled. Then he smelled chocolate and raspberries and walnuts, and when he rolled over, he saw Albus setting up a small feast on his bed. "I wasn't sure what you might want, so I just picked out everything that looked good."
It all looked very good, from the blueberry cinnamon rolls to the toast with marmalade to what looked like fudge covered in raspberries and filled with nuts. Scorpius's stomach growled again, and he nearly reached out to grab whatever was closest. "Why did you bring all these up here?" he asked.
"Because we've got to look after each other," Albus said. He must have eaten already, but he grabbed one of the rolls and ate half in one bite. "It's what we all do, or what we would do if we'd had to before now." He swallowed the mouthful, then stuffed the rest of the roll into his mouth. "We really do have to look after each other now, though, so that's what I'm going to do. I'll look after you and Ruby, and Ruby will look after us, and you don't have to look after anyone if you don't think you can. Just make sure you eat something."
Scorpius picked up one of the rolls and took a small bite. It was still warm, so he couldn't have missed breakfast by too much, and that bite reminded him of just how hungry he was. "Did you and Ruby work all this out while I was sleeping?"
"Yeah," Albus said, setting into some of the fudge. "It's not raining anymore, so we're all going to hang out by the lake. We set that up, too." He grinned and started picking raspberries off the chocolate. He still looked tired, but he was happy, at least, so Scorpius supposed he ought to at least try to keep up with the two of them. The food did help, and he soon felt almost ready to see Ruby.
