Chapter Eight
A/N – So I apologize for the previous chapter being so very short. It didn't even exceed one thousand words, for which I am sorry. But I did update twice last week, so I hope that makes up for it. I will try to boost the word count up this week, but as it is unplanned, I have no way of knowing how long it will end up being…
A big thank you to You're All So Vacant, Bicky Monster and Lizzy0308 for reviewing the last chapter. I love you. And thank you to everyone else for reading.
So without further ado, here we go.
Albus and Rosie relaxed on the grass, listening to the gentle lap of the lake in the breeze and to the birds whistling away in the trees and to the beautiful silence of everything else. Many students were outside, but they were far off in the distance, closer to the school.
They were content outside with the sun warming their bodies, with nothing to worry about; Nothing but Scorpius or NEWTs or parents. But even here, in the warm shadows of Hogwarts, they felt inexplicably safer than they would anywhere else. Voldemort was gone, the Death Eaters were gone, and there was nothing to fear. Nothing, it seemed, but fear itself.
But the two friends had no reason to fear, not for themselves. They feared for Scorpius, though. He had been acting rather oddly of late. Hell, he'd been acting strange all year. He would not explain why, though. He still hadn't told Albus, let alone anyone else. No one knew what was wrong, not really, which was the most troubling thing of all. Bottling everything up inside one's self was the worst way to deal with things. But it's hard to get someone to talk when they simply refuse to acknowledge their problems.
So they let him go back into the castle. How could they have known?
...
…
It was getting late, and rather chilly, when Rosie sat up, joints popping, and looked around. It wasn't dark yet, but the light was definitely fading. 'Hey, Al? Do you think Scorpius is okay?'
Al sat up too, stomach growling loudly. On any normal day, this would have made him chuckle. But he just ignored it, his face creased with worry. 'No, I don't,' he said simply.
'Well, don't sugar-coat it. I think we should go an check on him.'
Al smiled ruefully. 'Yeah, sounds like a good idea. Can we stop at the Great Hall first and pick something up to eat? I, uh, I'm kind of starving.' Even as he said it, his face turned into a look of horror. 'Shit. I mean… Um, can we?' He had forgotten – momentarily, of course – that Scorpius was the one who was starving; starving himself. Rosie just nodded and stood up, offering a hand to Albus, of which he took, and pulled him up.
As they walked into the Great Hall – which was full of students - they immediately saw Scorpius wasn't there, of which they suspected. They heard Caleb call them over, but shook their heads, indicating they were going to see Score. Caleb just nodded, turning back to his other friends and his plate of food. They wrapped some food in napkins, and then left.
The walk down to the Dungeons was silent, deafeningly so. Neither of them knew what to say, so they didn't say a thing. It was awkward, but they were too wrapped up in their worry to care all that much. They reached the entrance to the Common Room, muttered the password and stepping in, expecting to see Scorpius.
He wasn't there.
'Lazy git's probably gone upstairs to sleep,' Al said, a touch of unease in his voice. 'I'll go up and check on him.'
Rosie nodded, sitting on the edge of one of the sofas. 'I'll just wait here, then.'
Climbing the stairs to the dorm, Al's stomach was doing somersaults. He knew Score would be okay, but it didn't mean he wasn't anxious. Last time Score had been alone, he'd cut himself into ribbons.
Albus was flooded with relief to see Al on his bed, seemingly asleep. He walked over to him, and presses a kiss to his temple. 'Come on, Scorpius. Get up, you lazy so-and-so.' There was no response. He shook him by the shoulder gently, and then with more vigour. 'Score? Come on, you git. Wake up. You need to eat.'
He then noticed the empty bottle of pills. His blood turned to ice and he was filled with dread. He dropped the wrapped food and checked for a pulse. He couldn't fine one – perhaps he wasn't looking in the right place.
He put his ear against Score's mouth; he was breathing! - But barely.
'Rosie!' he screamed. 'ROSE! Help!' In three seconds flat she was next to Al, face wide with fear.
'What has he done?' she shrieked. 'We need to take him to Madame Pomfrey! Now, Albus!' She shouted, not waiting for a reply.
Nodding, confused and disorientated, they managed to carry to unconscious Malfoy to the Hospital Wing.
…
…
'Is he going to be all right?' Scorpius heard someone whisper a little too loudly. Albus? He couldn't tell; everything sounded like he was under water.
'Of course he will be; he's Scorpius. He's made of strong stuff.' Someone else whispered; a voice he didn't recognize.
'Yeah, of course he will be. Y' know what he's like. He's just like his dad; attracting all the trouble in the world. He'll be peachy keen when he wake up, just y' wait and see.' That was definitely Caleb.
Someone muttered something, but it was too quiet for Scorpius to hear. He tried moving, but it was futile. He was back in this situation; he couldn't move, and he couldn't see. He doesn't know where he is, or how he got there. His mind was hazy, and it was annoying him to no end. All he remembers is going up to the dorm room and … then nothing.
What have I done?
'I would like to run some more tests on Mister Malfoy, so I must ask you to leave,' someone said, presumably Madame Pomfrey, in a very business-like manner, or so Scorpius thought; he was still under water.
'But it's been four days! What more could you possible do?' someone protested.
'Mister Potter,' Albus, then, 'Symptoms and injuries may occur after a time, not instantly. I need to constantly monitor Mister Malfoy's condition to be one hundred per cent sure he … pulls through.'
'Oh, right, sure, don't bloody sugar-coat it,' said the voice who must have been Albus.
'Albus!' another voice said, sounding outraged, confirming Score's suspicions. That was Rosie; no one ever spoke like that, unless it was Rosie.
'Please, Mister Potter. I shall inform you as soon as you are allowed to visit. Miss Weasley and Mister Adair, too. Now please, I must insist you leave. I am sorry.'
With a few huffs and profanities later, Scorpius assumed everyone must have left, for he heard the Mediwitch mutter, 'Now, then, Mister Potter…' and he was hit with a Calming Draught and a sleeping charm, which would have confused him – he was already asleep, was he not? Was this not all a dream? – but his mind had already succumbed.
…
…
Six days after overdosing, Scorpius opened his eyes. He laid on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, heart pounding, covered in a cold sweat, just like after any nightmare. But this wasn't just any night mare. Sure, everything happened the same, in the right order, but he couldn't escape. He took comfort in the fact that he could wake up when things got to a certain point, but not tonight – or this morning, which ever. The point was this time, he couldn't wake up, couldn't come back to the land of the living; something had been holding him back.
So when he finally opened his eyes, breathing quick and shallow, relief flooded through him. He was out, he wasn't trapped; he could-
He couldn't move. He was still dreaming.
His pulse picked its pace back up, and he opened his mouth to scream, but nothing happened. His lips stayed firmly closed. He tried to thrash around, to defy whatever force was holding him down, to get away – he couldn't watch that again, he couldn't face his mother or his father or his friends, not like that, not looking like that – but it was futile. He simply could not move. And it was terrifying.
Then he heard it; that give-away noise he heard every time; the sounding of an alarm in the distance, the signal, the sign that danger was closing in. He laid deathly still. He tried to slow his breathing and calm his heart.
I can't be found, he thought, if I'm found, I'll be dragged back. I don't know how I got here, wherever here is, but they'll find me and they'll drag me back!
He was frantic. He was too busy freaking out to hear Madame Pomfrey, flanked by Albus and Rosie, running into the ward, varying degrees of worry and despair on their faces.
'Scorpius!' Al shouted, heavy footfalls echoing in the room. When the trio had reached Scorpius' bed, Al turned on Mediwitch. 'What's wrong with him? You said! You said you'd help him! You said you just needed to 'run a few scans', so why the fuck are all the charms going off? Why is he so unresponsive? Why? You said… you fucking said you'd help him you lying-'
'Albus! Would you be quiet? Let Madame Pomfrey work, for Merlin's sake,' Rosie berated.
'Oh, sure, because she's certainly been working to fix Score recently, hasn't she?' he retorted acrimoniously.
'Albus!' she hissed, before apologizing to the witch on his behalf. Madame Pomfrey just shook her head as if to dispel the remarks.
'I know it must be hard on the pair of you especially; anger is only to be expected. I do not take offence. However, I must assure you that I am doing everything in my power to bring Mister Malfoy back to full health. You see he is already awake, though perhaps not consciously,' she worked as she explained, pausing every now and then to check parchments and scans. 'I needed to bind him fully so he would not further harm himself whilst sleeping. Internal Healing charms require a lot of bed rest for the recipient to work to their full and highest standard. If he were to awaken still poisoned with the pills he had taken, the hallucinations he would have endured could have been fatal.'
'So why does he look so panicked?'
'Would you not be scared if you work up seemingly paralyzed?'
Albus just huffed and took the blond's hand, ignoring the older woman's shocked expression.
A few minutes later, after a vast amount of scans, the binding charms were lifted. There were a few seconds of deathly silence, and then a piercing scream filled the Hospital Ward. A scream filled with extraordinary terror; a scream that only lasted a few seconds, but turned the blood of every person present to ice.
Mumbling and whimpering, it took a few moments for Scorpius to realize he hadn't been dreaming at all; his mother wasn't wielding some sort of sharp Muggle instrument – she wasn't there at all. Albus was alive, Rosie didn't have two faces, and Madame Pomfrey was… well, she hadn't even appeared in his nightmares, so maybe it was that that had tipped him off, and brought him back to the real world.
'Al?' came the hoarse croak, barely above a whisper. 'Rosie? Ma-Madame Pomfrey?'
'Mister Malfoy, you are in the Hospital Wing. Can you remember how you got here?' the witch asked soothingly, though it was how she spoke to every patient who had been seriously injured or comatose.
'I, uh… I… no,' Scorpius said weakly.
Al inhaled sharply. Madame Pomfrey had explained that memory loss would likely occur, as it did in many overdose victims, but it didn't make it any easier to accept. He even saw Rosie tense.
'You overdosed on medication. You are lucky your friends found you when they did or…' she trailed away, obviously realizing she had said too much, before carrying on on a slightly lighter note. 'You are well on the way to recovery, though your memory will be hazy. It will take time to fully recover, and I strongly suggest you take it easy. Though if you are anything like your father, I doubt you will heed my advice. Though,' she said, looking pointedly at Albus, 'you don't seem as much like your father as I first thought. Maybe you take after your mother-'
'No!' Scorpius said, so much venom in his weak voice, Rosie squeaked in shock, and Madame Pomfrey's eyes widened; Albus nearly jumped out of his skin altogether. 'I'm nothing like her.'
'Okay, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you, Mister Malfoy. Now, I shall need to monitor you over the next few days – just precautionary, I assure you – and you will be under supervision when you are able to leave. I will also refer you to a Mind Healer. I am sorry to tell you this, but I need also to tell your father. As your main guardian, he needs to know.'
'No, you can't! Please! Please, don't tell him!' Scorpius cried, voice cracking and wavering. Albus rubbed his thumb over the back of his hand.
'I am sorry, Scorpius,' said the nurse, using the Malfoy's given name now it had turned personal, 'but he needs to know.' There was a long pause; Rosie and Al tried their hardest to calm their friend down and as the Mediwitch sorted parchments.
A few minutes later she returned with a phial of Calming Draught. He grimaced, not wanting to take it. He didn't want to be here. He hated that he was alive. He wasn't supposed to be. He didn't want to be. Regardless, he took the potion and zoned out as Rosie and Al made small talk, and he pretended to listen.
A/N – This was a hard chapter to write. I have a very limited knowledge base in regards with comas and such, and this is probably unrealistic, but let's just pretend it's because this is the Wizarding World and everyone is magical and they kick ass. Hah.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it.
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