Disclaimer: Not mine. Only the plotline and personalities.
Note: Thank you for the your reviews and favorites and follows, I'm so happy you guys like my story so far :D Sorry for the wait and I hope this chapter helps you not kill me for keeping you waiting so long.
Special thanks to alessa-vulturu, Olympia5000, and Painting Politics and Poland for your reviews of the last chapter ^-^.
Chapter 10:
Scorpius didn't return until Monday morning. He had just enough time to take a bath before the rest of his dorm mates got up to get ready for the day. As quietly as he could, Scorpius went to his trunk and fished out a fresh pair of school robes, then he headed into the bathroom. His muscles relaxed as soon as the click sounded on the lock. He really didn't feel up to talking to anybody just yet.
"I really don't feel up to this…" Scorpius groaned softly as he undressed and got into the water. He washed and rinsed as fast as he could then got out. When he passed the mirror, he did a double take and cursed almost too loud. There were about three big bruises on his body, and several little cuts and bruises all over. The one Scorpius couldn't take his eyes off of was the huge purple and green bruise on his face. "Bloody… Louis will notice that for sure…"
Scorpius grimaced, then shook his hair onto his face and looked in the mirror to see how that looked. Surprisingly, the messy hair was kind of… sexy. He turned his face this way and that, trying to look from every angle. He smiled a humorless smile and walked away. His hair looked good, plus it covered the discoloration on his cheek. Maybe nobody would notice now.
A noise from the dorm made him freeze for a second before he threw his clothes on and stepped out the door before the dorm mate that had moved fully woke up. He immediately regretted opening the door. Albus was walking from his bed and towards the bathroom door.
Albus blinked in shock and surprise. "Wh-"
Scorpius practically dashed to the door leading to the hall. He bolted out of it without listening the rest of Albus's sentence. He really didn't want to hear it either. Albus's words would only hurt him more, he was sure of it.
His appetite nonexistent, Scorpius decided go to his Ancient Runes class and wait for classes to start. It seemed like it was still too early for anyone else. The classroom door was locked and no amount of pulling on the door handle made a difference. "…. I guess it's the floor then… Bloody damn, my books!" Scorpius moaned and banged his forehead against the door repeatedly. "I'll just get detention if it comes to it. I'm definitely not going back for them… Oh, I'm just stupid today. A bloody idiot. Really, how do you forget you can do magic? Honestly, get your head on straight, and you call yourself a Malfoy?"
Banging his head on the door a few more times made his headache worse but he didn't care. Scorpius summoned his things with a flick of his wrist. It took a few minutes but he saw his bag zooming towards him. He caught it before it crashed into the wall and looked though it to see if it had everything. His things accounted for, Scorpius closed his eyes. He felt so weak. Scorpius plunked himself down one the floor with a wince. His legs and back hurt more then he thought could be possible. He'd been running since Saturday night until just this morning. Stopping for a break had been out of the question. Moving was the only thing that had helped him forget. When he remembered what had caused him to run in the first place, he'd ended up smashing into trees or rocks when the images of Albus hit him. That was the reason his body looked so beat up. He was lucky he didn't break any bones on his little exploit into the Forbidden Forest. He'd have had to go see Madam Pomfrey for sure.
As his thoughts slowed a little, his mind finally went dark and he forgot about the world for a little while.
When the bell rang out of nowhere, Scorpius sat up with a start. He'd fallen asleep… on the floor no less. It also seemed that the Runes professor was staring down at him with concern.
"Mr. Malfoy, are you alright?" Professor Liam's voice asked from above him.
Scorpius jumped to his feet with a wince of pain. Blinking a lot, trying to make his vision clear was of little help. Rubbing the grit out with his hand helped more, but he looked like a little kid doing that. Almost to late he remembered the bruise. Quickly, he leaned his head forward and shook his hair onto his face. "Er, yes Professor. I just fell asleep. Too much studying late this weekend."
Professor Liam tried to look into his eyes. "Are you sure?"
Scorpius nodded his head. Not having any evidence to the contrary, Professor Liam unlocked his door and let Scorpius go through it first.
Scorpius turned to the farthest corner possible and sat down. To deter his professor from coming closer, he spread out his books and pretended to read. Feeling immensely relieved when the professor left him alone, Scorpius waited for class to start.
The first person that walked though the open door happened to be Louis. As soon as he was spotted, Louis headed immediately towards him. Before Scorpius could open his mouth to say good morning, Louis started fretting.
"Where were you yesterday? I couldn't find you at all! You had me worried Scorpius!" Louis practically wailed, with tears in his eyes. "You really shouldn't disappear like that… I almost told Professor Trev that you were gone!"
Scorpius sank down in his seat and felt a little guilty about making his best friend worry so much about him. "I'm sorry Louis. I just had to be alone… I'm sorry I made you worry about me."
Louis kneeled down next to him, and reached out with his hand to make Scorpius turn his face towards him. As his hand brushed Scorpius's blond hair away from his check, he gasped in shock and the purple bruise was reveled. "What the… Scorpius, what happened to you? Who did this?"
Scorpius turned his face away, his cheeks turning bright red in embarrassment. "It's nothing, Louis."
"Nothing? What do you mean its nothing?! Are you bloody mad?" Louis lashed out, his eyes smoldering with rage. Scorpius jumped at him before the other boy could turn towards the professor.
"Its ok. I… I just ran into a tree… Please sit down?" Scorpius pleaded, his hold on Louis not lessoning one bit.
Louis spun back towards him, his eyes wide, not believing what he had heard. "You… you ran into a tree? Scorp, where did you go?"
Scorpius loosened his iron grip on Louis's arm and sank into his chair again. He felt sure that Louis wouldn't go to the professor. "I went into the Forbidden Forest… I just needed to get away. I really needed too." Scorpius couldn't help the tears that gathered in the corners of his eyes. They slowly leaked down his cheek. As he felt the warm liquid drip down his face, Scorpius hung his head low. He really didn't want Louis to see his tears.
"You went into the Forbidden Forest by yourself? Are you crazy Scorpius?" Louis was horrified. "What if you'd been hurt even worse and couldn't move? What would you do then?"
Scorpius stayed silent for a moment before answering. "I don't know. I didn't really care."
Louis couldn't believe his ears. Scorpius wasn't acting like himself. Then his eyes narrowed as he thought of the only thing that could make Scorpius feel like he had to get away. "What did he do? What did he say?"
Scorpius froze as Albus's face popped into his mind. Slowly he forced the words out. "… He thinks that I'm in love with you. I told him I didn't love you, but he called me a liar. I think he hates me.."
Louis tried to catch Scorpius's eye, his heart hurt when Scorpius said he didn't love him. Resolution then flashed though his body. Louis would show Scorpius that even though Albus wasn't worth it, he was. Because Louis cared for Scorpius, Louis cared for him with all of his heart. He'd do anything to make Scorpius love him back. Anything. With that in mind, Louis wrapped his arms around Scorpius's body and held him tight. "Don't be sad, Scorpius. Please, I hate seeing you hurt like this. If he hates you, which I don't think he does he's just changing, then just forget about him. Albus's going towards his own path, if he doesn't want it to be with us, there's nothing that we can do to stop him."
Scorpius buried his face into Louis's neck, his body shuddering. He was loosing the battle to hold back his whimpers. "But I love him. I love him." He said his voice breaking with the pain.
Louis rubbed Scorpius's back in soothing circles, trying to calm him down. "Shhh, its alright. If you want, we can go to Madam Pomfrey for a soothing potion. That should help a little bit. And to heal those bruises. They must hurt a lot."
Scorpius shook his head in the negative and pulled away from Louis's arms. He buried the pain as deep as he could before saying. "I'm alright, I'm sorry I cried all over you, Louis."
Louis smiled gently at him. "Don't worry about it. I'm always going to be here for you. When you need a shoulder to cry on I'm there too. Don't be afraid to talk to me if you need it."
As Scorpius nodded, then he saw Albus out of the corner of his eye. The pain rushed back and he turned away.
It seemed that Albus was determined to speak to Scorpius. He walked towards them and stood besides Louis.
Louis hadn't noticed Albus until he stopped next to him. He glared at him but Albus didn't seem to notice at all.
Albus was trying to get Scorpius to turn towards him. "Scorpius?" He reached out to touch Scorpius's wrist.
Scorpius hid his arms under the desk and pretended that Albus wasn't there. He really didn't want to start bawling again. Especially with the classroom full with the rest of his classmates. Scorpius didn't need to give them another thing to use against him.
"Scorpius, please look at me. I… I didn't mean to yell at you…"
"He doesn't want to talk to you Albus. Just leave him alone." Louis said trying to protect Scorpius.
"You keep out of this. If I want to talk to Scorpius I can." Albus retorted angrily.
"Oh yeah, now you want to talk to him. After ignoring Scorpius for ten months, you suddenly decide to start talking to him again? You really are something Albus! Leave him alone!" Louis said through gritted teeth.
Albus turned white then flushed in shame. "…"
"What? Did you forget you did that? Albus doesn't want to talk to his best friend. Oh, its alright because its Albus. Now Albus want to talk to his best friend again like he didn't ignore him for ten months. Oh, its ok because its Albus! Albus can do whatever he wants, no matter who he hurts in the process! Some friend you are! Just leave him alone. You had no trouble doing that before so why not keep doing in and save us all the heartache." Louis said pushing Albus away.
Albus looked back at them before going to a seat and sinking down onto it.
Louis turned back to Scorpius, ignoring the rest of the students that were staring at them. "Scorpius…"
"I'm fine Louis. Class is about to start." Scorpius murmured. For the rest of the morning, Louis and Scorpius stayed quiet. Louis stuck to Scorpius's side like glue, giving the death glare at anyone that tried getting close to them.
When the bell to signal lunch rang in transfiguration, Louis and Scorpius stayed behind. Once the classroom was empty, they got up and headed towards the kitchen.
"I have to go talk to Professor Liam. I'll meet you in the kitchen, alright?" Louis asked and headed in the opposite direction as soon as Scorpius nodded yes. The halls were mostly deserted and Scorpius got to the painting of the fruit in next to no time. Scorpius tickled the pear and walked in as soon as the portrait swung open.
Scorpius froze, Albus was sitting at the table. Albus looked like he had been waiting for Scorpius to get there.
Scorpius immediately turned to go, but Albus reached out, and pulled him around to face him. "Please don't go. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you. I was just being a stupid idiot. And I'm really sorry for ignoring you and Louis. I just thought… something, and I couldn't take it… I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you…"
Scorpius felt tears well up, then shook his head. He couldn't speak, and he swallowed hard trying to make his mouth work.
Just then, Albus saw something that made him brush the other boys hair away from his cheek. As soon as he saw the bruise, Albus's eyes grew round in shock. "What the hell happened to you?! Who did this to you?"
Scorpius tried to hid his face from Albus, but the other teen wouldn't let him. His finger touched the bruise gently.
"What happened? Please, tell me." Albus murmured softly.
"Its nothing, I just ran into… something." Scorpius muttered, trying not to meet Albus's gaze otherwise he'd start crying his eyes out. He really didn't want to break down in front of Albus.
"You ran into something? What did you run into? And where were you yesterday? I didn't see you at all. I was worried, and I wanted to apologize, but I couldn't find you anywhere."
Scorpius blinked to try to get rid of the tears that had started welling up. He couldn't believe that Albus was apologizing for ignoring him, for yelling at him. The only thing that crossed his mind was to say what Albus didn't believe the other day. "I don't love Louis. I know you think that I'm lying, but I'm not. I don't love Louis. He's my best friend, a very good friend, but I don't love him."
Albus looked surprised, his eyes growing wide. "You don't? Really? But every time you were with him, you had this look, like you were so happy to be with him."
Scorpius shook his head, the tears falling unexpectedly down his face. "I don't love Louis. I was with both of you until you stopped being with us."
Albus looked at him, noticed the tears falling. "But you do love someone? All your daydreaming, you were thinking about someone, right?"
Scorpius nodded slowly, finally glancing lifting up his head to gaze at Albus. "Yes I was daydreaming about someone, I do love someone… I love you."
A/N: Thank you for reading and I hope you liked it ^-^ reviews are always appreciated :D My next chapter might take up to 15 days. I'm going to enter a short story fiction contest (minimum 50000 words) and I have to send my manuscript by the 1st of October, so I'll be working on that too. That's mostly why it'll take me up to 15 days. Oh, another thing is my other fan-fictions that I'm currently writing. O.o wow I'm writing a lot this month, now that I think about it.