Chapter 4
James and his friends were casually walking around Hogsmeade on Saturday afternoon, eating various chocolates and candies that they had bought from Honeydukes.
"Here! This is the spot!" Fred exclaimed as he stopped walking and gestured to an empty field not far from the Shrieking Shack. "Dad said he's thinking about expanding and building the shop here. In a couple of years, I could be manager."
"That's amazing, babe!" Cassidy exclaimed, kissing her boyfriend on the cheek.
"Don't you think the owner of Zonko's will get pissed?" Frankie asked.
"Well, we were going to buy them out, but there's nothing wrong with some healthy competition." Freddie wrapped an arm around Cassidy's shoulders and said, "Just think - after a long day of practice with the Chudley Cannons, you could come home to me in Hogsmeade." Cassidy was Gryffindor's captain and Keeper, and the Chudley scouts had been watching her for years. Both James and Louis started making retching noises. "You two are so perfect it makes me want to puke," Louis said while handing out a sizable button to a random passerby.
"What the hell are you doing?" James asked his cousin.
"Oh, this is just some merch for my loyal fans." Louis held up a button with his face on it that flashed the words, '#1 Louis Fan!'
There was a collective eyeroll among the group. Fred said, "Mate, at least charge your stalkers for a button. That's just business 101."
Louis huffed and shook his head. "For the last time, Freddie, they are not my stalkers. You're just jealous that you could only get one girl daft enough to date you - no offense, Cass. Meanwhile, I have a plethora of amazing lovers at my beck and call."
James snorted. "Don't tell Davies that. He might get jealous, too." Louis threw a button at James' head which actually hurt a little bit. As he rubbed the side of his head, he saw in the near distance Scorpius Malfoy storming right towards them, his wand pointed at James. Uh-oh. This couldn't be good. "Hey guys," James hurriedly said, facing his friends. "Speaking of Zonko's, let's go there, like, right now."
Before he could make a run for it, he heard Scorpius yell, "I am going to fucking kill you, Potter!" James stumbled from Scorpius' hard shove, barely catching himself, and he whirled around to face the Slytherin. "We need to talk, now," Scorpius said, his wand pointed squarely between James' brown eyes.
Ever the protective best friend, Freddie shoved Scorpius away from his cousin and said, "Oi, back off, Malfoy!"
Amused by the situation that he probably had a hand in causing, Louis happily said, "Hey, Malfoy. I heard that Travers is looking for you."
Scorpius whipped around and gave Louis the meanest death glare that he could summon. Unfazed, Louis walked up to Scorpius and placed one of his buttons on the lapel of the sixth year's shirt. "Here, consider this an apology gift."
James loved his cousin, but Louis sure did enjoy escalating an already bad situation - one that James would undoubtedly bear the brunt of.
"What are you all on about?" Frankie asked, thoroughly confused. He didn't know how it was possible that his friends were already making trouble this soon into the school year.
"Eh, nothing important," James said. "Listen, Malfoy. Can whatever this is wait? We're about to go to Zonko's."
"No, actually, it can't." Scorpius roughly grabbed James' arm and tried pulling him away from the group, but the stupid burly Gryffindor didn't even budge. Fred intervened, but James waved him away and said, "It's cool, Freddie. I got this." He might as well get this confrontation over with. Technically, he was in the wrong so he couldn't very well blame Scorpius for being angry that he had told Louis his secret.
James let himself be dragged by the younger man toward the Shrieking Shack. "Oi, Malfoy, I don't know what you're into, but I don't shack up in the Shack," he joked. If looks could kill. Alright, so maybe that wasn't the best joke to make given the current situation.
"Fuck you!" Scorpius exclaimed, dropping James' arm and casting a stinging hex at the man's feet.
"Ow!" James jumped up in pain. "I'm sorry! Honestly, I didn't mean to tell anyone."
"Because of you, Marcus Travers has been following me everywhere today, and I've just now managed to shake him!"
James frowned. "Wait, what? How is that my fault?"
"Because," Scorpius said, casting another stinging hex. This time, James dodged it. "You told Hogwarts' biggest gossip queen, and now he's trying to set me up with one of his sloppy seconds."
"Wait, hold on." James wasn't sure he heard the sixth-year right. Now Travers was gay? How did he not know this stuff about people?! "Travers and Louis were together?" James made a face. "Eugh, gross." How could Louis have gotten with a Slytherin? Fucking traitor.
Scorpius was not in the mood for whatever borderline-homophobic remark James had next, and he raised his wand again. Before he could say the spell, James ran away toward the entrance of the Shrieking Shack. Scorpius ran after him, shouting, "We are not done here!"
"Then stop hexing me!" James shouted from inside the dilapidated building. "You're supposed to be a prefect!" He just knew that the moment he hexed Scorpius back, the slimy git would take points away from him. Scorpius pocketed his wand and pushed James against the wall. "Soon the whole school will find out and it'll get back to my parents and my life will be ruined." He was practically shaking with anger. Remembering the stupid fucking button that Louis had had the nerve to attach to his shirt, he removed it and forcibly threw it on the ground.
"Oh, don't be so dramatic," James said, rolling his eyes. He stood up to his full height but, annoyingly, the sixth-year was still taller than him by a couple of inches.
"I am sick and tired of you and your stupid friends thinking that you can get away with shit like this all because of - " Scorpius paused, hearing voices.
"All we need is thirty-six more hours, and the devilroot draught is yours," a gruff voice from outside said. James had heard of the devilroot draught from Teddy. Supposedly, it was an illegal substance that made wizards go mad. He was not about to be caught in the middle of a drug deal, so he started looking around for someplace to hide.
Scorpius had the same thought, and he opened a door to a broom closet for them to hide in. James quickly followed and shut the door. The broom closet was dark and very small. As he peered through the slats and watched four men enter the room, he could feel Scorpius press up against his back to see, as well. James tried really hard not to think about that.
A tall, lean man with a buzzcut and piercing dark eyes stood in front of the three other men. By his presence alone, James could tell he was the leader.
"Now you're starting to piss me off," the man said. "I've already given you an extension. You better not be playing games with me. My boss wouldn't be happy to learn that you have plans on stiffing him."
The shortest and roundest man of the group said in a nervous high-pitched tone, "We've almost brewed enough batches, but the ingredients are hard to come by. We just need a little more time."
James and Scorpius watched through the slats as the man gripped his wand and said, "Sorry. You're out of time." In one swift move, he performed a spell that slit all three men's throats. Scorpius let out an audible gasp, horrified at what he had just witnessed, before clamping a hand over his mouth.
The man's eyes darted around him, and he roughly called out, "Who's there?"
Scorpius pulled James further into the broom closet to shield both of them from the door. The tiny room became even tinier at the back, and now James was pressed up against Scorpius. He buried his head into the crook of Scorpius' neck to quiet his breathing, and his tears dropped onto Scorpius' shirt. James never cried, but he had just seen three men get brutally murdered, and he could hear them choking as they bled to death. That could very well be him and Scorpius if they were caught. Never had death felt so close, and it was terrifying.
"Come out, come out wherever you are," the man sing-songed, way too joyfully for having just killed three people. "I promise I'll make your deaths quick and painless."
Scorpius desperately clutched James' shirt as he struggled to control his breathing. He heard a loud bang, like a door exploding, and it took all he had not to jump out of his skin or cry out. He did not want to die today. A few quiet moments passed, and some of the immediate terror left Scorpius, so he began to calm down a little bit. Unfortunately, this meant his body was starting to do other things. Despite his pure hatred for Potter and despite the very real possibility that he may die at any moment, feeling James pressed against him, the man's mouth puffing out hot air against his neck, and smelling James' infuriatingly intoxicating scent, Scorpius was turned on. It took James a minute to process that what had suddenly hit the top of his thigh was Scorpius' erection. When his own body betrayed him and his jeans felt a little tighter in response, James sprung away in disgust. His back hit a shelf which caused a small cauldron to fall and shatter on the floor. Well, fuck.
Instantly, the broom closet door blasted away. Thinking fast, amidst all the dust and debris, James grabbed one of the cauldrons from behind him and threw it in the general direction of the man's face. Half a second later, Scorpius yelled, "Stupefy," and the man flew backwards. James sent another cauldron flying at the man for good measure before grabbing Scorpius' hand and booking it out of there.
He sprinted across the field to disappear among the throng of people on the cobblestone walkway, all but dragging Scorpius behind him. "D'you think he saw us?" Scorpius managed to ask in between pants, struggling to stay on his feet as they ran. "I feel like he saw me."
James didn't answer and kept running through the crowd, probably knocking people down in the process. He was too scared to care. He looked over his shoulder to see if the man were following him before running straight into someone.
"Woah, watch it!" The voice said.
James looked up and nearly cursed. He was staring right at an older version of Scorpius.
"James?" Of bloody course the man next to Mr. Malfoy was his own father. Scorpius instantly dropped James' hand when he saw his dad and bent over, hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.
"Scorpius, what are you doing?" Draco asked his son. At the same time, Harry asked them, "Why were you two running?"
"Um, we were, um," James looked to Scorpius for help, but received nothing but a blank stare. "Racing." The two men looked unconvinced and even more confused. Before either of them could say anything, James changed the subject and asked his dad, "What are you doing here? And what are you doing with him?" Scorpius gave James a pointed look which James ignored.
"We're here on official Auror business," Harry said. "It was very last minute, otherwise I would have owled you and your siblings."
"What business do you have with the Aurors?" Scorpius asked his dad. His parents did charity work and deliberately stayed away from any and all Auror business.
"It's nothing you need to worry about," Draco answered.
"Sorry I'm late." A man appeared from behind Harry - the very same man who had just murdered three people. Both James and Scorpius tried desperately not to react, but James could feel his knees go weak like he was going to pass out. "Can you believe the crowd here? Whose idea was it to meet at Hogsmeade on a weekend?"
Harry chuckled at the man before turning back to his son. "James, this is my new partner, Leo Ofstrovsky."
"Nice to meet you," James meekly said, forcing a smile as he regrettably shook the murderer's hand.
Leo peered at the two students curiously before saying, "I feel like I'm interrupting a family reunion."
Draco's gray eyes flickered between his son and James. "Yes, how strange to have literally run into both of you."
James' heart nervously skipped a beat. Thinking fast, he jovially slung an arm around Scorpius' shoulders and grinned. "Oh, you know us. Just two friends having a good time together on a beautiful day."
"Since when are you two friends?" Scorpius could feel his dad's disapproving eyes upon him. Giving James a sideways glance, he softly answered, "It's a recent development."
"You'll never believe what I found on the ground," Leo said, reaching into his robe pocket and pulling out Louis' button. Scorpius almost shit himself as he remembered throwing that very button on the floor of the Shrieking Shack.
"Let me see that," Harry said, taking it from his Auror partner. He chuckled and shook his head. "This looks like the work of my nephew, Louis. Have you seen this, James?"
"Um, yeah, he's been passing them out." James nervously scratched the back of his neck before adding, "Anyway, we should go. Nice seeing you, Dad."
"You too, Jamie. Say hi to Al and Lily for me."
Draco nodded goodbye to his son and said, "Owl your mother more, Scorpius."
Scorpius and James finished saying their goodbyes before walking away, not stopping until they were at the train station alone.
Feeling lightheaded, James sat down on a bench and placed his head in his hands, struggling to process everything they had just witnessed. Above everything, the one thought that stood out was what he blurted out. "So, um, can we talk about the thing in your pants touching me?"
Scorpius' eyes bugged out of his head. "Are you fucking joking? That's what you want to talk about? That?! We just watched a bloody Auror magically slit three people's throats, who, by the way, works with your father!"
James' head shot up and he shushed Scorpius, nervously glancing around him to make sure they were actually alone. "Maybe he's working undercover."
"OK, but Aurors don't kill people, James. Especially not like that." Scorpius hissed, "Your father is partnered with a murderer!"
"Well who's to say that they're not both working undercover?" James shot back, standing up and facing Scorpius. "Maybe they're trying to bust your dad for running a drug cartel."
Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Really? My dad plans charity fundraisers and gives toys to orphanages."
"Or maybe that's just a front for his drug cartel. He was a death eater, after all. This is the type of shit that death eaters do!"
"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Scorpius exclaimed, getting angry again. "First of all, death eaters aren't even a thing anymore - "
"You would know," James interrupted.
"And second of all," Scorpius growled, "My dad is a good man who has spent his entire adult life righting the wrongs of his past because of blithering idiots like you who won't let the past go!" Scorpius really wanted to hex James again. "Listen, I say we just forget this entire thing ever happened and get on with our lives."
"Done," James said. He so did not need this incident weighing him down on his last year at Hogwarts. "Let's agree to never speak of this - any of this - to anyone ever. No one can know what we saw."
"Agreed." This would be one more secret that they both shared together. Wonderful.