Al rose early the next morning and made his way to the Great Hall. It was still nearly dark, and only a few early risers were up. Rose Weasley was one of them, poring over some huge tome while she sipped at a glass of pumpkin juice and nibbled on toast.
She looked at him in surprise when he sat down next to her.
"Albus! You're up early."
She slid him a plate of food and he put a scone on his plate.
"Yeah. Going to practice some Quidditch moves," he said lamely.
Rose laughed. "Why? Hufflepuff has been undefeated ever since you and Score joined the team."
Al grinned. "Well, we mustn't get sloppy."
Rose went back to her book and Al slowly shredded the scone. His stomach was in knots. He had never fought with Score before, never seriously, at any rate. He kept hearing Score's voice echoing in his head. I'm not like you. Al pushed away from the table, feeling sick.
"Al? What's wrong?" Rose asked suddenly. He forced a smile and regretted sitting next to her. She had always been far too perceptive.
"Nothing. Too early to eat. Back later."
He escaped and walked down to the lake. He watched the sun rise while tossing pebbles aimlessly into the water. Al wondered if Score and Carmichael were right. Maybe he was… like that. He had never liked kissing Angelica Parkinson, but he hadn't liked kissing Eddie Carmichael, either. Al thought about kissing Scorpius, and felt a sudden rush of heat that left him gasping. Okay, that was interesting. So, he wouldn't mind kissing Score. That probably had something to do with the fact that Al loved Score. Al had always loved him.
He scooped up a handful of tiny pebbles and let them slip through his fingers. It didn't matter, anyway. Score liked girls, as he had so adamantly informed Al. Score thought it was funny when Al was attacked by a fifth-year Ravenclaw boy.
Al stood and brushed his robes off before dusting his hands together. He supposed it was past time for him to stop being Malfoy's Shadow and start being Albus Potter.
Score and Elladora were snogging outside of Charms. Al ignored them both and went to his seat. Score slipped in beside him a minute later.
"You okay?" Score asked quietly and reached out to touch Al's arm. Al pulled away, pretending to reach for his quill.
"Fine," he said evenly. He avoided Score's eyes, not trusting himself to meet that clear silver gaze. I'm not like you, Al thought.
He sensed Score's anxiety, but then Professor Flitwick entered and they all focused on performing Lightning Charms. Al was thankful that the spell took a lot of concentration. When class was finished, Al grabbed his things and bolted. He ran all the way to Potions and quickly stood next to Jackson, a Hufflepuff Beater, and animatedly talked Quidditch until Professor Harbinger entered and forced Al into his seat next to Score.
As they gathered ingredients to prepare a Silencing Potion, Score leaned close to Al.
"Look, stop avoiding me. I'm sorry, okay?"
"Okay," said Al pleasantly, and concentrated on slicing his mugwort into perfect sections. He paid little attention to Score after that, and quickly packed his bag after placing his potion on Harbinger's desk.
He meant to hurry to History of Magic, but Score caught his arm before he could escape. Al wanted to tear away, but he stood placidly, not wanting to make a scene.
"Al, come on," Score said. "I said I was sorry."
Al met the grey eyes finally, trying to keep his features immobile. He wanted nothing more than to break down and wrap himself around Score, but then he saw Elladora approach out of the corner of his eye. "Don't worry about it," he said evenly, and then he did jerk away from Score's grip. "Here comes your girlfriend. Better not let her see you talking to me. She might get the wrong idea, eh?" Al laughed coldly and walked away. He bypassed Elladora as though she did not exist and went to History of Magic, where he immediately pretended to fall asleep.
Al ate lunch at the Gryffindor table. Score did not try to talk to him in any of his afternoon classes. Al ate dinner with the Gryffindors, as well, and then accompanied Rose back to the Gryffindor common room, where he played a few games of wizard chess with Hugo, while Lily talked Al's ear off. He realized he'd been neglecting his family while spending all of his time with Scorpius. Strangely, he hadn't missed them nearly as much as he missed Score.
A week passed in much the same way. Al spent every spare moment with the Gryffindors. He barely spoke to Scorpius, who retreated into sullen silence behind a barrier of ice. Al avoided looking at Elladora completely, because the triumph in her eyes made him want to use an Unforgivable. Al stayed in the Gryffindor common room until close to curfew each night, before racing back to the Hufflepuff dorm where he went straight to bed.
Rose tried to pry information out of him, especially when a few days grew into a week with no change. Even James stopped harassing him and started to shoot him worried looks. Al thought about going elsewhere, but the Slytherin common room was out of the question, as was Ravenclaw, thanks to Carmichael. Al was stuck in the Gryffindor common room, or wandering the grounds.
One night Al found himself aimlessly roaming the corridors. James had been in a nasty mood after Hufflepuff had destroyed Gryffindor in Quidditch. Even though Al and Score were not on speaking terms, it hadn't affected their playing. Score was as ruthless as ever and although Al spent more of the game watching the Seeker through wistful eyes, he paid enough attention to stop any Quaffles sent toward the hoops. He played with almost lazy indifference.
James had evidently hoped Hufflepuff would be off their game, and as soon as Al entered the Gryffindor common room, he had started on his catalog of brotherly insults until Rose told him off. Al had decided to leave rather than cause a row.
He walked slowly down the stairs. He still had perhaps forty-five minutes until curfew, and he had no intention of going back to the Hufflepuff common room this early—no doubt Score would be in his usual place on the couch, unless he was in the Front Hall snogging the devil-girl.
Al was partway down a set of stairs when a figure emerged from the shadows at the bottom of the flight. He paused for a moment, catching sight of Ravenclaw blue, then breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't Eddie Carmichael. Al continued down, but stopped again when the boy called up to him.
"Oi, Potter." Something in the boy's face caused a curl of dread to twist itself around his gut. Al recognized him as a Fifth Year, but could not recall his name. He was a much larger, bullying sort of Ravenclaw. Normally the bullies were Slytherin, but each House seemed to have a handful of the brutish sort. Score kept the Hufflepuff muscle in line.
Al turned, deciding that flight was the better part of valor in this instance. He had taken a single step up when another Ravenclaw appeared at the top of the stairs, effectively cutting off his escape. Al pulled his wand out, but a loud "Expelliarmus!" sent the length of ash flying out of his hand, and out of sight over the stair railing. Al spun to find that a second boy had joined the bully at the bottom. His unease quickly turned to fear. He was wandless against three of them.
"What do you want?" he said, borrowing Score's best disdainful tone.
"We're just here to get a little revenge for Eddie," said Muscles. The boy next to him was also of the larger variety. They looked similar, except the new one wore a diamond earring.
"Eddie was an okay bloke until you turned him into a ponce, Potter," said Earring.
"How did you do that, Potter? Was it a spell?"
The two at the bottom advanced and Al backed toward the wall, trying to keep them all in sight. He could see no escape, except to launch himself over the railing, but he was in between the fourth and fifth floors. Without his wand, such a fall would kill him.
Al felt the metallic taste of panic grip him as they came closer.
"Or are you really a girl under all that pretty black hair, Potter?" the one above him asked. Al glanced at him nervously, trying to memorize his face, but he could only note that he had sandy hair and somewhat droopy eyes. He reached for Al, who dodged away, still limber even without a broom. Al darted around Sandy-hair and leaped up the stairs, but the boy caught the edge of Al's robe, bringing him down. Al's shin banged into a step with a lance of pain.
Someone—the big one, it felt like—was on him in an instant, forcing the air out of his lungs. A hand clenched in Al's hair and dragged his head back until his neck muscles strained in protest. A wand tip pressed into his cheek.
"Not a sound Potter, or it will go worse for you."
Worse than what? he thought wildly, but then he could breathe again as the weight left him. Al would have cried out, wand or no wand, but he heard nothing that indicated the presence of anyone that could help him, neither students nor teachers.
"We were getting tired of waiting for you, Potter. This is the first time in days you've been out early enough for us to catch you," said Earring. They marched Al up the stairs and down a long corridor, away from the well-used areas. Al did not know what they planned, but he had no intention of allowing himself to be taken somewhere private.
He twisted, ignoring the handful of hair torn out in the process, and slammed his fist—hard—into the gut of Muscles, who doubled over, retching. Al bolted, running as fast as he could, only to fly ass over teakettle when a Trip Jinx caught him. He nearly cracked his skull on the stone floor, and he screamed when pain exploded through the wrist he threw out to stop himself. The scream was cut off abruptly when a Full-body Bind hit him. Al was unable to move or speak, although pain still pulsed through him from his wrist. He was suddenly acquainted with even more pain when Muscles slammed a booted foot into his ribs.
Al would have screamed long and loud as agony coursed through him. As it was, he was unable to make a sound. Tears welled into his eyes and spilled over.
"That fucking hurt!" Muscles growled and punctuated the last word with another kick. Blackness flickered at the edges of Al's vision and the white-hot pain made him feel nauseous. He was suddenly terrified of vomiting, because he could choke to death.
"Let's see if he's really a girl under those clothes," Sandy-hair said. He knelt down and ripped Al's shirt open to expose his chest.
"Looks like a bloke to me," said Earring. Al felt a hand caress his chest and abdomen and wanted to shudder in terrified revulsion. Fingers roughly pinched his nipples, hard enough to bring new tears to Al's eyes. "If she's a girl, she doesn't have much for tits."
"Maybe we should check the other bits," Sandy-hair suggested, and Al felt the mood change from malicious to something even darker. Earring licked his lips and his eyes held something Al did not like at all. If Al could have spoken, he would have begged for mercy, anything to avoid what he feared was coming.
They would most likely kill him when it was over. Students had disappeared from Hogwarts before. It was a dangerous place. Students could wander down to the lake and drown, or get lost in forgotten passages, or walk in the forest and never come back.
As cold hands fumbled at Al's trousers, his thoughts went immediately to Score. He regretted not making up with Scorpius, and he definitely regretted that he might never see him again.
A high-pitched scream suddenly echoed in the dark corridor, freezing Al's attackers. Sandy-hair lurched to his feet and fled. Earring cursed and did the same, but Muscles face twisted with hatred as he glared down at Al.
"Fucking ponce!" he snarled and slammed a meaty fist into Al's mouth. Al thought he must be getting immune to pain, because he hardly felt it, even though he tasted blood immediately. The Ravenclaw stood and aimed a final kick at Al, this time catching him just behind the temple. Al felt no pain at all; he just saw a burst of color that almost instantly turned to blackness. He gladly surrendered to it as the shrieking went on and on.
ForgivenessAl did not want to wake up. He felt like he floated in a cloud, warm and peaceful. He dreamed of a comforting body pressed against his side, and the brush of soft lips on his. The essence of the dream was Scorpius.
Al sighed, feeling himself reluctantly pulled toward consciousness. He blinked slowly, but only darkness met his gaze. For a moment, he wondered if he had gone blind, but the calm of the dream stayed with him, and the thought did not induce panic. The sensation of a warm body remained and soft hair tickled his chin. He felt a hand upon his chest, with fingers splayed as though trying to cover the most area.
Al focused abruptly on his surroundings, shaking off the dreamlike mist. Where the hell was he? He turned his head slightly, trying not to dislodge the person sleeping against him. Dim lights dotted the room and he recognized the place instantly. The hospital wing at Hogwarts. Remembrance slammed into him, along with a savage ache in his side. He must have moved slightly in reaction, for the body next to his shifted and the soft hair brushed over his skin again. It was Score.
A rush of warmth filled Al and he looked down in wonder, but nothing was visible except the pale hand on his chest, looking disembodied. Score had nicked Al's invisibility cloak. He had sneaked in here and fallen asleep on Al's bed! Al smiled softly, thinking it was more than worth a beating to have Score next to him again.
Al raised his hand to touch the unseen cloak. He grasped the folds and pulled it back gently until Score's face was revealed. The movement awakened Score, and the pale head lifted until the grey eyes met Al's. Anguish was clearly visible on his friend's face.
"Al?" he whispered quietly.
"Last time I checked," Al joked, and was surprised when the simple act of speaking set up a dreadful pounding in his head. He vaguely recalled a booted foot slamming into his temple.
"I'm so sorry, Al," Scorpius said in a tone Al had never heard before. The hand on Al's chest moved convulsively. "If I'd been with you, this never would have happened."
"It's all right," Al said softly.
"No. It's not all right, Al. Who did this to you? When I get my hands on the fuckers that dared to lay a finger on you, they'll wish they had never come to Hogwarts!" Score's voice had changed, from soft and apologetic to rock hard with overtones of violence.
Al was surprised at his question. From the screaming when Al had gone down, he had thought the three Ravenclaw boys would have been apprehended. He hesitated.
"Tell me, Al. I'll kill them. I swear I'll kill them for this."
Though Al felt a pleasant warmth at Score's defense, he was reluctant to reveal his attackers. He thought Score might actually kill the Ravenclaws, and then Score would be in trouble.
"Did Madam Pomfrey tell you what happened?"
"No. I knew she wouldn't, so I grabbed your cloak as soon as I heard the news. I ran up here as fast as I could and I heard her talking to McGonagall. Peeves sent up the alarm when he saw someone attacking you, but by the time McGonagall got there, they were gone. You had broken ribs, a concussion, and several of your teeth had been knocked out."
Al poked his tongue nervously at his teeth, but found them all intact. He breathed a mental sigh of relief.
"Madam Pomfrey said there was internal damage, which is why they kept you here. They gave you all sorts of potions. Who did it, Al?" Score asked again.
"I should probably wait and tell Headmistress McGonagall," Al said quietly.
Score's eyes flashed.
"Don't protect them, Al."
"I'm not protecting them. I don't want you to get into trouble."
"Don't be stupid," Score snapped, but the look in his eyes softened again. "You're such an idiot. Stop worrying about me at a time like this." Al could practically see the wheels turning, and he knew Score planned to bide his time, but eventually, he would seek revenge. Sometimes Score was so Slytherin-like the yellow he wore was green-tinted. "Why did they attack you?"
Al's warm feeling dissipated. He would have drawn back from Score, if he could have moved without pain. The memory returned with all the mental anguish he had felt for days. Elladora had started it all. She had been the one to tell Eddie Carmichael that Al fancied him. She was the serpent in Al's paradise. Al dared not mention her name. Not again, not when Score was here with him. He silently vowed never to argue with Score over a girl again. He would not care if Score had a thousand girlfriends, as long as that look never left his eyes when he gazed at Al.
"It doesn't matter."
Score hissed. "It does matter, Al! Stop acting like a damned Gryffindor!"
The sharp sound of his voice roused a nearby patient, who moaned and rolled over in his bed. Scorpius glared.
"I can't tell you why they attacked me, Score. You wouldn't believe me anyway, so just let it lie. It's enough that you're here with me."
Score's eyes narrowed and he drew in a breath, probably ready to defend even an unspoken slur against his precious Elladora. Al put a finger against Score's lips.
"Shush," he said quietly. "It doesn't matter."
Score's jaw clenched, but his eyes slid away. He laid his head against Al's shoulder again and the hand stroked gently over Al's chest.
"All right, Al. You win. Try to get some sleep. I'll stay here with you until you fall asleep, and then I'll come back in the morning as soon as they admit people without borrowed invisibility cloaks."
Al shut his eyes, feeling safe once more, and did as Score suggested.
RetributionWhen Al left the hospital wing, he noticed rather quickly that things had changed. Scorpius was almost ludicrously overprotective, to the point of glaring at other Hufflepuffs that dared to speak to Al. Outside the common room, it was even stranger. Scorpius and James took turns hovering over him, and even spent time whispering together like long-time conspirators.
Al had refused to give up a Pensieve memory, but he had given descriptions of the boys under Veritaserum. All three Ravenclaws were suspended indefinitely, but rumors of a strange illness came back to Hogwarts. Stories varied, but the most common tale was of a strange, buttock-rotting disease that seemed resistant to all treatment. Al was given a very wide berth from other students after that, as most believed him responsible; him or Scorpius Malfoy.
Al's first confrontation with Elladora Greengrass after the incident was something of a surprise. Al, Score, Al's siblings, and most of Al's Weasley relatives were milling in the Front Hall after breakfast, waiting for their first class, when Elladora approached and gave Scorpius her usual possessive kiss. She smiled at Al.
"So nice to see you, Albus," she said in a tone that dripped insincerity. Al glared at her, but said nothing. He smiled at Score instead, to show his newfound resolve not to fight with Score's girlfriend. He would simply pretend she did not exist.
"Ella, you did not help to instigate the attack on Al, did you?" Scorpius asked. Two sets of shocked eyes looked at Score, who added, "Because I will be extraordinarily annoyed if I discover you did."
Elladora gaped at him. "How can you suggest such a thing? Has Albus been filling your head with lies about me, again? You know he hates me."
"Al does not lie, especially to me. Perhaps we should procure some Veritaserum and determine who is the least truthful." Score's voice was cold, and he sounded so much like the elder Malfoy that Al blinked at him for a moment. Mr. Malfoy would be so pleased.
"I can get some," James drawled from behind Al.
Elladora flushed angrily. "Honestly, Scorpius, I don't know what you're playing at, hanging around with these half-bloods and blood traitors! We are purebloods! Doesn't that mean anything to you?"
Score's eyes narrowed. "Not really, no. Some of your precious pureblood friends attacked Al. If I thought for a moment that you were involved—"
"Well, obviously you do, or you wouldn't accuse me like this!" she cried. "You had better take care, Scorpius! The day is coming when blood will tell! You'll see!"
She flounced away after producing tears that were guaranteed fake. Al had a sister, he knew when tears were real.
"What the hell was that?" Scorpius asked. Al was just as puzzled, but Rose Weasley piped up. "Some pureblood group has been causing trouble for the Ministry. It was started because of backlash from the anti-pureblood sentiment caused by the war. It's wrong that purebloods have largely been barred from Ministry positions, but it's equally wrong to go around Muggle-baiting and hurting people."
Al stared at Rose. "How do you know all that?"
She rolled her eyes. "I pay attention at home, Al. Mum is Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, remember? She's been talking about it for months. For pity's sake, who do you think it was that nearly killed your father last—" She stopped as an elbow from James caught her in the ribs. The color drained from her face.
"What do you mean 'nearly killed' dad?" Al rounded hotly on his brother. "James, did you know?"
"Thanks a lot, motormouth," James griped to Rose, who had a hand clapped to her mouth. Thankfully, Lily looked just as puzzled as Al. James sighed. "Dad didn't want to worry you two. He's fine. Teddy and Eric stopped the hex and got him help on time."
Al vowed to have a stern chinwag with his father when he returned home for the summer. He looked at James worriedly, knowing his brother speak plainly now that the truth was out. "How dangerous is this group?"
"No more dangerous than any of the other insane groups dad deals with, Al. You know it's his job."
"I wish he would get a new job," Lily said, echoing Al's sentiment. "Maybe he and mum would not fight so much."
Al was not sure a new job would salvage his father's relationship with his mother. Al was old enough to know that something was not at all right between them. Frankly, his father seemed a dozen times more relaxed and content when they were at the Malfoys. It was really too bad Score's father was not a girl.
"How does your father feel about Polyjuice?" Al asked speculatively, causing them all to look at him in confusion.
"Al, either some of the potions Pomfrey gave you have a lingering effect, or one of the blows you took gave you brain damage." Score put an arm around Al's neck and dragged him close. "Let's get to class. Try not to say anything stupid for awhile."
James barked a laugh. "Good luck with that one."