Three
I sit across from my parents the next morning and both are dressed in black as if they were going to a funeral. My mother's hair is in a low bun and she's got the reddest of lipstick on. I can understand how she keeps my father attracted after all this time, but I can't figure out how she manages to put up with his alcoholism after all this time.
"You didn't really say much about the pregnancy." My mother says to me.
"I think it's great." I lie to her. I really think it's a horrible idea and that it's only going to give her more of a reason to stay with Draco in the long run. "Did you plan it?" My parents look at each other quickly and I can tell that they haven't. It makes me wonder if he's raped her or if she's cheated on him.
"Yes. I've still got plenty of mothering time and you're leaving soon anyway. The house would get incredibly boring."
"Also, I think it will be good for you to have a brother." Draco says. I look at him, trying to tell him how much of an idiot I think he is.
"I won't know him." I tell my ignorant father. "I'll have my own life by the time he's able to talk."
"With Avery?" My mother changes the subject. "She seems like such a nice girl."
"It's possible." I tell her.
"She's a Potter." Draco tells us.
"Not really."
"She lives with Harry Potter, she's a Potter." I straighten up in my chair and clear my throat, trying to make my irritation known to my father.
"She is an Elf."
"So she's immortal and she'll die as soon as you marry her."
"Not if I do it soon. If I had met her two-hundred years from now, she'd die then, sure. Otherwise…" I say, staring at him blankly. "She's got the rest of her life to live."
"She's gorgeous." Astoria tells me. "Have you been seeing her for a long time now?"
"He never brought her to the house." My father retorts.
"She was in Spain for the summer. So, yes, father, I have been seeing her for a long time now." Draco says nothing and looks down bitterly.
"Will you bring her over for break?" My mother asks. I nod.
"What were you telling her about the prophecies?" Draco looks back up and cocks a brow.
"There will be twelve young men and women in Hogwarts that will succeed in taking over the world of witchcraft."
"Unless…" I say.
"There is no 'unless.' No one will be able to stop them, not even Voldemort himself could stop him."
"Well we all know that; Harry Potter stopped him." My father tilted his head.
"Well not even Harry Potter could stop them."
"Could an Elf, do you think?"
"It's possible, but she won't try. She'll be more focused on protecting others."
"Could I?" I question. My father sits up straight and I know exactly why.
"My dear son, if Harry Potter cannot do the trick, neither can you. The prophecy is set. You're mother and I are planning on moving before the baby arrives."
"To where? You'll still be in the world of witchcraft. If it is how you say it is, you cannot run."
"Oh I assure you we can, Scorpius. It is your choice to come with or not. You can even bring Avery if you insist but I have a feeling she'll be tangled up in the lives of her family. We've already bought a house in India." I scoff.
"You never could fight back could you?" I ask my father. "You dropped the ball when it came to Harry Potter and you're going to do it again years later."
"Your child is being out of hand, Astoria."
"Scorpius…" My mother tries. I say nothing and exhale greatly. My head began to ache.
Avery has replaced the plates like she said she would. I sit in their presence and listen to them. She comes in three hours into the session and sits down next to me on the couch. She can tell I'm upset.
"Will you put them away; I can hardly hear myself think." She requests. I do so and look at her. "What's wrong?"
"You wouldn't come with if I left England, would you?" She's confused. "Before the uprising."
"No…" She says and shakes her head. "No, I wouldn't. That's cowardly."
"I thought so too." She puts her hand on my face and leans in to kiss me. She wastes no time in straddling me. I push down the arms of her robe and let it fall to the ground. Her hands quickly undo my tie and throw it to the side. Our shirts come off and I'm dying inside, dying of so many things. Her hands go to my belt and I have to stop them there. She pulls her lips away from mine and looks into my eyes.
"I can't do this with you, Avery." I say quietly.
"What?" She asks as if I'm joking. "You…you were always asking me to."
"You have no idea how much my back hurts." Her eyes soften and she puts her hands on my face as lightly as she can.
"I forgot." Her bottom lip trembles as if she's about to cry. She stands up and puts her shirt back on. She then leads me to the bathroom where she sits me on the stool she has put in there. I look at her reflection in the mirror and can tell she's horrified by the size of the gash.
"What did he do it with?"
"His wand. I had threatened to push him down the stairs before." She touched the outer ridge of it and I winced.
"I can't do anything for this except put some type of bandage over it."
"Do whatever you can."
There's a distant knocking on our door and Avery groans.
"Shit, I'll be right back." She walks out into the common room. I hear the door open and Avery greeting someone.
"I'm busy right now, can't you come back later."
"Yes, I can tell your busy, Ave. What's this mess about?" Al Potter has visited us.
"It's nothing."
"You know there's a rumor going around about you and Malfoy." He says, tauntingly. "Sam says he caught you in a classroom the other night."
"He hasn't been around, how would he have been able to catch us?"
"So you are with Malfoy then?"
"I never said that."
"Tell me the goddamn truth, Avery." I stand up and walk out into the common room. Avery has our clothes in her hands. Al looks at me and puts his hand in his pocket as if he's reaching for his wand. "No, don't. I already know the answer."
"Would you disown her if she was sleeping with me?" I ask him.
"I don't need to, I know my father would."
"That's where the apple has fallen far from the tree, Al. Harry Potter has a heart of gold. You do not." He locks his jaw and looks at Avery.
"Shirt off, on the ground next to your robe, busy…it's making sense."
"Do you know anything about alcoholism, Al?" He looks back at me, so does Avery.
"Why would I?"
"I suppose you wouldn't know, then, that my father suffers from it. And from time to time he likes to damage his own kin. My back was cut in half by his wand. Your sister was putting a bandage on it when you knocked." He looks back at Avery.
"I expect you'll be coming out tonight then." He says to her.
"If you want me to."
"I would love you to." He turned and left without a goodbye. Avery stands there and I know she's on the verge of tears. I walk towards her and turn her around. She avoids my stare and bites her bottom lip.
"I wanted to stay in with you tonight." She tells me.
"I'll be alright. You do what you have to do." She takes my hand and leads me back into the bathroom. She shits me down and covers up the gash with her wand. The pressure relieves me a bit. I turn to her and take her into my arms.
"Don't get hurt tonight." I say to her. Her heart thumps against my ear. She runs her hands through my snow white hair. I only say this because I know she won't use any of her Elvin skill if she gets into trouble. She keeps it a secret from the rest of the world, as if it would make her vulnerable to everyone else. She fears she would be used a weapon, yielded against good or evil if the right person stumbles upon her.
I spend the night reading about the sons of Durmstrang. It's nearly one in the morning when I find what I am looking for. I look around the room, as if to find someone spying on me. I look back down at the book.
The Dark Ages
In the late 19th century, The Durmstrang Academy encountered horrendous activity in the dungeons of the school. Having been closed off for hundreds of years, it was unlikely that any student of the time would have known about the dungeons. The dungeons were originally used for the keeping and breeding of dragons but were shut down due to the heinous environment.
A groundskeeper stumbled upon the 12 young men conspiring against another student-
Avery busts through the door, her hair a mess and her face dirty, her lip busted. I slam the book shut and stand up, grabbing my wand off the coffee table.
"What happened to you?" I ask gravely. Her eyes grow wide in horror.
"Why are you still awake?" She asks.
"I was waiting for you to get back. What happened to you?"
"Nothing." She walks past me to the bathroom and shuts the door, locking it. I point my wand at the knob and the lock clicks. I open the door and find her undressing herself, starting a shower. She's got bruises on her wrists, her throat.
"Who did this to you, Avery?" I ask, fearing the worst. I grab her by the wrist and turn her towards me. I want to shake her like a child.
"It doesn't matter." She tells me through her clenched teeth. She pushes me off of her and stares at me. "Don't ever touch me again." She says to me.
"It was your brother. And Sam Finnigan, wasn't it?" I ask. "Did he rape you?" She says nothing and this tells me the truth. I turn and walk into the common room. She doesn't try to stop me because she knows better now. My head has never felt like it was going to burst more.
I walk down the hallways, towards the Gryffindor tower. I can hear the snickers of others watching me, the paintings taunting me. I approach their portrait hole and give the password. Being a head boy, I am given every password to any portrait in the school, to go anywhere I please, whenever I please. I climb the Gryffindor stairs and see Sam Finnigan talking to a fifth year girl, trying his hardest to seduce her. I grab him by the collar of his shirt and throw him up against the wall. I stick my wand to his throat.
"If you ever fucking touch her again, I will have your head on a Quidditch post." He laughs and I point my wand further into his flesh. I tilt my head. "I'm not lying to you, Finnigan." I don't watch, but I can feel my wand forming into a pocketknife. "I'd slit half your throat right here and leave you to bleed to death, but that's not enough satisfaction for me."
I can hear the fifth year crying in the background and I can hear others come into the room to watch.
"I didn't touch the bitch. Al threw that girl into the lake, slapped her around a bit." My hands grow cold and I let the maggot fall to the ground. I leave the Gryffindor tower and go to Albus' head boy dorm. He's sitting on his couch, Dacia's head in between his legs. I grab Dacia by the crown of her hair and throw her aside.
I cast Al across the room and onto his stomach. His shirt is ripped off by the force I turn upon it. I take the pocketknife in my hand and run it from his shoulder to his hip. He cries out in severe agony.
"You want to know what alcoholism feels like? It feels like a cold knife ripping your back in half!" I roar as I hold him down by the back of the neck. "Who will help you now that you've thrown away the most honorable relationship you had?"
"Scorpius!" Dacia screams. I lean down and get as close to his ear as possible. He's crying.
"I am not someone to fuck with, Potter. If it weren't for your namesake, you would be dead right now." I pick his head up and then smash it against the floor. I walk out of the room, back to my own. Its times like these where I wish I would disappear, where I wish I had never met Avery because of all the trouble she has brought me. Mentally, I am not the same person I was before we started dating. Physically, I have become a beast, someone to be reckoned with, someone who has one button less to push everyday.
I go into my room and I can hear her crying in the bathroom. I clench my jaw and try so hard to control my anger. I can't though. I pick up the box spring of my bed and turn it over onto the other side of the bed, the mattress with it. I throw the frame on top of it. I take the lamp next to my bed and hurl it at the wall, the bulb shattering into a thousand pieces.
"SEE WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO ME!" I scream at her. I take the nearest book and throw it against the unbreakable window. I take a drawer from my bureau and toss it at the window, cracking it slightly. I pick it up again and bang it as hard as I can against the window, new cracks appearing every time. I drop the drawer, giving up.
I go into the bathroom and find her sitting on the edge of the bathtub in a towel. I can barely look at her without feeling the need to hurt her.
"I've never been so angry at someone as I am at you right now. For the first time I know what it's like to be my father. How dare you come back here as if it's my fault that your sick brother has hurt you. I hope you have the common sense to never talk to him again." I leave her in the bathroom and I escape to Hogsmeade, unable to cope with the atmosphere of Hogwarts. I stay at the inn. I realize there that it was Sam Finnigan's birthday that night. I have collectively decided that he is the Virgin prince of Hogwarts.
