Chapter Ten: Scorpius's Story
Scorpius fell onto the ground, writhing and twitching. He was floating in and out of consciousness; every part of his body ached and hurt. The eleven-year-old felt tears stream down his eyes as his grandfather approached him. Scorpius squinted one eye open and saw that Lucius was pointing a wand at him. "Again?" Lucius murmured.
"I-I won't associate myself with blood-traitors," gasped Scorpius, desperate for the torture to stop. The pain was too much; Scorpius was at the point where he had to lie in order to escape the awful curse. Where's my father? Where's my mum? Did everyone leave me here with this awful person? "I'll spy on them to receive information... t-to tell you..."
"Good," Lucius smiled. "I'm glad we understand each other." His footsteps receded and Scorpius held his breath. Did Lucius finally stop torturing him? But then, there was another mutter from the other side of the room and Scorpius's heart stopped. "However... I'd like the message to sink in... Crucio!"
Scorpius screamed and sobbed as pain whipped and lashed his body; his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he opened his mouth, begging for Lucius to stop...
"Stop right there! Expelliarmus!" The door burst open and Scorpius heard two sets of feet charge into the room. One voice which Scorpius didn't recognize had cast the Disarming Spell; the other footsteps had run over his way. Scorpius felt a large figure kneel over him and shake him slightly.
"Scorpius? Scorpius, are you all right?" It was his father. Draco had come to save him!
"D-dad!" sobbed Scorpius, clinging onto his father. He was still twitching in pain; the piercing knives had not yet left his body. However, Scorpius was mainly inflicted with physical pain; his mind, although slightly scarred by the torture he had just received, was not permanently maimed.
"Scorpius, are you okay? Do I need to take you to St. Mungo's?" Scorpius's father propped him up against a chair and for the first time Scorpius fully opened his eyes.
Harry Potter - or Mr. Potter as Scorpius was supposed to refer to him by - was confronting Lucius Malfoy. Harry was holding Draco's wand in his left hand and his own wand in his right. While he was doing this, he was waving his wand and muttering an incantation that Scorpius was unable to hear. Suddenly, ropes appeared out of thin air and coiled around Lucius's arms and legs. Scorpius's grandfather was glaring at Mr. Potter with utmost hatred.
"Lucius Malfoy, you will be taken to Azkaban for a lifetime sentence due to the fact that you used an Unforgivable Curse. You will be charged even harsher because you have done the disgusting act of performing this curse on a minor - " Lucius muttered something under his breath, " - and you will most likely lose all of your possessions," Mr. Potter glanced over to Draco, who was still caring for Scorpius. "Draco, can you guard your father while I talk to Scorpius?"
Draco nodded and stood up, giving Scorpius a reassuring pat on the back. He then turned to Mr. Potter, a cold look of hatred in his eyes. When Draco spoke, Scorpius realized that this hatred wasn't directed to Mr. Potter, but to Lucius. "Yes, Harry - but do not refer to him as my father. After tonight, Lucius Malfoy isn't my father anymore." Mr. Potter nodded and passed Draco's wand to Scorpius's father as Mr. Potter walked over to Scorpius.
Mr. Potter bent down to talk to Scorpius; his bright green eyes met Scorpius's icy gray. "How're you doing, Scorpius?" Mr. Potter asked, a new warmth in his eyes. Funny, you were just glaring at me with Mr. Ron Weasley at King's Cross before this whole incident, Scorpius thought bitterly.
"Fine," Scorpius said shortly. "I don't need to go to St. Mungo's. I'm not ill or anything."
"I wasn't going to send you to St. Mungo's," Mr. Potter said softly. "I just need to ask you a few things, because I'm sure your grandfather won't tell the truth and he probably knows how to resist Veritaserum. Can you do that for me?"
Scorpius looked down at the ground for a moment. The pain still hadn't quite left him, but he didn't want to show a sign of weakness in front of Albus and James's dad. "Yes," Scorpius answered.
"Can you tell me everything that happened tonight?" Mr. Potter asked quietly. "I want to know how exactly your grandfather came here and why he performed the Cruciatus Curse on you."
Scorpius took a deep breath and began his story. He noticed that Draco was listening intently, while Lucius appeared to be passed out. "I received a letter from my father about my grandfather coming over for Christmas," Scorpius explained. "I think Lucius was allowed to visit our house since he didn't have a wand and I'm sure that the Ministry was tracking him to make sure he didn't leave when he was here. Anyway, when I came home from King's Cross - " There was a flicker of guilt in Harry's eyes, " - he was waiting here in this room. I sat down and Lucius asked my father to leave. As my dad was leaving, his wand fell out of his back pocket and onto the rug. The rug's soft, so my dad didn't hear the sound of his wand dropping as he left the room. I suppose Lucius picked it up, because the next thing I knew, he was holding it.
"He started to question me about your family and the Weasley family. He wasn't prying; he was just wondering why I was hanging around with them when I could be friends with Death-Eater grandchildren like Macnair, Wren Dolohov and Thor Rowle. My grandfather told me I was spitting on my pureblood lineage by befriending blood traitors and half-bloods, and I said to him that I didn't care about being a pureblood - " Again, a guilty shadow crossed Mr. Potter's face for a moment, " - and he said that my father had made a respectful pureblood marriage and I was stomping on that, too. He blamed me for being a Gryffindor and how I was a disgrace or whatever. I repeated that I didn't care about being a pureblood and that's when his eyes got all wild and he used the Cruciatus Curse the first time on me - "
Draco looked as if he was seeing a boggart, while Mr. Potter's expression was absolutely disgusted. Mr. Potter cut in to interrupt Scorpius's story. " - One moment before you continue, Scorpius - do you remember exactly how many times Mr. Malfoy used the Cruciatus Curse on you?"
Scorpius thought for a moment; however, he could not come to a sure answer. It was definitely more than five times; to Scorpius, the torture had all seemed to blur together after awhile. "At least five," Scorpius murmured. Draco swayed; Scorpius thought he was going to faint for a moment until he recovered, clutching the nearest chair. Mr. Potter nodded gravely and asked for Scorpius to continue.
" - and after that, my grandfather started saying stuff to me," Scorpius said. "Stuff like, 'you will not associate yourself with the Potters or the Weasleys' and 'you will listen to my orders'. And I told him that I wasn't going to ruin everything I've worked for just for the title of being a pureblood..."
"What do you mean, 'everything you've worked for'?" Mr. Potter asked, he didn't seem suspicious but genuinely curious.
Scorpius smiled wryly. "That's what he asked, too," Scorpius said, pointing at an unstirring Lucius. "And I'm going to tell you the same thing I told him, Mr. Potter. Ever since I arrived at Hogwarts, I've been stared at and judged. People read the papers; the Daily Prophet still does reports on old Death Eaters and the Malfoys are always listed as the only ones who escaped imprisonment..."
Draco looked immensely guilty; his eyes were trained onto his shoes. Ignoring this, Scorpius continued: "On the train, I tried to befriend Albus and Rose, but they didn't want anything to do with me. And then, the Sorting Hat put me in Gryffindor. I thought everything would be better, I thought that people would finally realize that I'm nothing like Lucius. But everything became worse. Fred, Louis and James bullied me everyday, even when I was put on the Quidditch team. I was one of the most hated kids in Gryffindor. But then, the vampire incident happened, and your sons, nephews and nieces finally looked at me as a friend. It's funny how you have to do something incredible like that to finally earn people's respect. I had endured months of bullying, teasing and torture; but to me, it was all worth it. I love my new friends, my Quidditch team, and my House. I wasn't going to sacrifice becoming someone who I promised myself I'd never be just for my stuck-up grandfather."
Mr. Potter was looking at Scorpius; he seemed very interested. He nodded, impressed, to Draco, who was looking incredibly proud of Scorpius, yet there was still a guilty expression in his father's eyes. Scorpius knew that Draco had probably undergone torture like Scorpius in his life; not physical torture, but mental torture. Draco had no choice in becoming a Death Eater; his family's choices made him become one.
After a moment of silence, Scorpius decided to push on with his story. Scorpius expected that telling his story would be painful, but it was immensely liberating to tell someone the pain he had gone through the last few months and today. "Lucius told me I was pathetic, and did the curse on me again. It only lasted for a few seconds, though; my dad walked in and yelled at Lucius. He tried to get his wand back, but Lucius did some spell that exploded him backwards. Dad immediately got up and put himself in front of me, but Grandfather threatened to hurt him.
"Dad knew that there was no point in sacrificing himself when either way we would both be hurt, so he ran to get help. But before he left, he told me to lie and listen to my grandfather so I didn't get tortured. I listened to him, but only because I realized that if I lied, I might be able to get more information on my grandfather's motives. I figured there had to be a reason why he was so intent on torturing me after I had mentioned the Weasleys. I figured out that he wanted me to spy on the your family, Mr. Potter, and the Weasleys. He told me that I would have to contact Damien Macnair, a boy in Slytherin in my year, about an object that he was searching for at Hogwarts. I don't remember what it was, though, Mr. Potter. I'm really sorry. And then, right when he was torturing me again, you and my dad walked in and saved me."
Draco was shooting mutinous, disgusted glares at Lucius while Mr. Potter was looking thoroughly impressed. "You have a sharp mind, Scorpius. It's no wonder I hear from Ron that you're giving his daughter, Rose, a run for her Galleons in the classroom. It was very clever of you to use Lucius's torturing for information, but everything that happened to you tonight is much too heavy for an eleven-year-old to handle..." Scorpius noticed that Mr. Potter had been looking slightly concerned ever since Scorpius confessed that Lucius had been trying to get Scorpius to spy on his family.
"I want you to get some rest, Scorpius," Mr. Potter said at last, resting a hand on Scorpius's arm. "You've had a very long, tough night. I've contacted a Healer from St. Mungo's and she will be here tomorrow to attend to your wounds - no, I do not think you're going mad - but you just endured at least five Cruciatus Curses. That's enough to make some people to go mad..." Mr. Potter suddenly looked haunted, but a moment later his calm visage returned.
As he was opening his mouth to speak, four wizards entered the room, their wands drawn. Scorpius recognized one of the wizards as Ron Weasley, who glanced at Scorpius and Draco with a look of sadness and extreme guilt. The other wizard, who struck Scorpius as slightly pompous, immediately pointed his wand at Lucius while the other two, who were very muscular and burly, picked up Lucius by his underarms and began to drag him out of the room.
"Ernie," Mr. Potter pointed to the two men pulling Lucius out of the door. "Go with those two wizards and make sure that they arrive to Azkaban safely. Then, go to the Ministry and give this - " Harry pulled out a long, silvery strand out of his head and flasked it. " - to Hermione Granger. She'll know what to do. Remind her that this is only to be used as court testimony since I don't think it's right for Scorpius to face his grandfather again..." Ernie nodded, grabbed the flask and sprinted out of the room.
"Ron, I want you to take Scorpius to the Burrow," When Mr. Ron Weasley looked doubtful, Mr. Potter gave him a hard stare. "After all Scorpius has been through, he needs to be around friends right now. I'm sure that there will be room for him in Albus, James, Fred, Hugo and Louis's bunkroom. Draco will soon join him - " When Draco began to protest, Mr. Potter gave an angry shake of his head. "The Department of Magical Law Enforcement will need to investigate and close off the house for a few days, anyway, Draco. You need to be with your son, as well - but you won't be going with him right now, I need you to help me."
Mr. Potter fixed his bright green eyes on Scorpius. "You'll be safe at the Burrow," Mr. Potter promised, motioning to Mr. Ron Weasley. "Go with Mr. Weasley; he'll Apparate you safely to the Burrow. I trust you have your wand?" Scorpius nodded. "Alright, then. Thanks for your strength Scorpius, I'm sure I'll see you soon. Ron, can you help Scorpius? He's a little shaky - "
" - I'm fine," Scorpius interrupted, not wanting to show weakness to the skeptical Mr. Ron Weasley. It hurt like hell to stand up, and Scorpius's knees were shaking madly, but Scorpius was able to make his way over to his father and hug him. Draco gripped him tightly and for the first time, Scorpius noticed that there were tears pouring down his father's face.
"Don't be sad," Scorpius willed his father, staring up at him. "I'm alright, Dad; you saved me. Everything's alright." Except for mom...
Draco looked highly doubtful, and Scorpius knew that he was sharing Scorpius's thoughts about Astoria. "I'm just glad you're safe," Draco said. "Now, Scorp, go with Weas - uh, Ron - he'll bring you to his parents' house. I'll be there soon."
"Okay," Scorpius said, letting go of his father and staggering over to Mr. Ron Weasley. Mr. Ron Weasley gave him an encouraging, half-sort of smile; Scorpius recognized this expression as pity. He didn't want Mr. Ron Weasley, who Scorpius always saw glaring at him, to pity Scorpius. Scorpius turned away from Mr. Ron Weasley and looked at Mr. Potter. He had the same pitying visage on his face which made Scorpius a little annoyed. However, Scorpius still had the courtesy nod respectfully to his savior. "Thank you, Mr. Potter."
"See you soon," Mr. Potter said as Scorpius gripped Mr. Ron Weasley's arm in preparation for Side-Along Apparition. There was a sudden intake of breath from Mr. Ron Weasley, and Scorpius felt the familiar feeling of suffocation and the sensation of being shoved through a tiny tube. The last thing Scorpius saw was the bright green of Mr. Potter's eyes, staring straight at him, and then everything went black.
Scorpius loved the Burrow, even though it appeared to be very small. Mr. Ron Weasley had told Scorpius that it had to be expanded with an Enlargement Charm due to the arrival of new cousins; but to Scorpius, it looked like the perfect home. His mansion was so material and stiff; this house was cozy and friendly-looking. Mr. Ron Weasley told Scorpius that none of the cousins lived here, but the house had to be extended because all of the cousins spent time here during the summer, Christmas and Easter breaks.
When they entered the Burrow, Mr. Ron Weasley had snuck upstairs to alert his parents about what had happened and the new guests that would be arriving soon. As Scorpius waited for Mr. Ron Weasley to return from upstairs, he wandered into a warm-looking living room and found that a red-headed girl was passed out on the couch. Virtually all of the female Weasley cousins had the same shade of red hair, except for Roxanne, so Scorpius wasn't quite sure who it was. As he approached the Weasley, he was able to discern the girl's sloped nose and younger, softer features; Scorpius recognized the girl as Rose Weasley.
Smiling with glee, Scorpius shakily sat down next to her and tapped her shoulder until she stirred. Her eyes opened blearily as she looked around for the source of the tapping. When her eyes locked on Scorpius, she gave a terrified little jump as if she had just seen a ghost. "Scorpius?" she asked doubtfully, peering closer and poking Scorpius to make sure she wasn't dreaming, "What're you doing here?"
"Long story," Scorpius said. "But I have to stay here for the night, or maybe a few; I don't have anywhere else to go. But the real question is, what are you doing sprawled out on this couch at one o'clock in the morning?"
"I-I dunno," Rose admitted, sounding slightly confused. Her eyes traveled to the floor, where a large book lay. Scorpius peered at the title; it was called: Brilliant Witches from Ancient to Modern History. It looked terribly boring to Scorpius. Rose looked a little embarrassed as Scorpius examined the book. "I must've fallen asleep while reading a book. It happens a lot."
"Huh," Scorpius said, placing the book on a stray table and peering around the room. It was decorated for Christmas; there was a beautifully decorated Christmas tree with lights flickering around it. Holly and pine garlands were draped around the fireplace, walls and windows. Handknit stockings hung from the fireplace and glittering lights twinkled on the ceiling. Scorpius had never seen such festive decorations at any house before; his family had never ordered a Christmas tree. His Christmases consisted of just gift-giving; there was never any warm or cozy memories affiliated with the holiday. "This house is beautiful," Scorpius breathed in awe.
"It's nice, isn't it?" said Rose fondly. "I love coming here during the holidays. We had to really expand the house as more and more kids starting coming. We put an Enlargement Charm on most of the bedrooms, so they're bunkrooms now. Speaking of bed, what are you doing down here? Do you want me to take you upstairs to show you where all of the boys are sleeping?"
"Sure," Scorpius said, yawning. He was so tired and sore from the awful night he had just experienced. "Is there any room in there for me?"
"I think so," Rose said, standing up. Scorpius stood up as well and followed her out of the living room. "How many boys are there? Hm... there's Louis, Fred, James, Albus, Hugo and Teddy - " She glanced at Scorpius's confused expression and explained, "Teddy Lupin is Uncle Harry's godson. He's also dating my cousin Victoire, and he always comes for the holidays with his grandmother, Andromeda. Anyway, there's four bunkbeds and six boys, so there's definitely room for you."
She led him through the kitchen and towards the closed, wooden staircase branching off of the kitchen. The stairs looked very old; Rose and Scorpius had to creep quietly up the stairs so that they didn't step on a creaky stair and wake up the entire house. As they ascended the stairs, Scorpius saw a shadow move and Mr. Ron Weasley emerged. "Hi, Rosie," he said, smiling at his daughter. He looked past his daughter to Scorpius. "Showing our guest his room, then?"
"Yes, Dad," Rose responded.
"Okay," Mr. Ron Weasley replied. He cast a suspicious glance at Scorpius; Scorpius had the feeling that Mr. Ron Weasley was extremely protective over his only daughter. I'm only eleven, you idiot. Scorpius wanted to say aloud. However, Scorpius was tired, he was still shaking from the pain, he wanted to go to bed, and he really couldn't take Mr. Ron Weasley's glares right now. Bumping into Rose to signal her to hurry up, they said good-night to Mr. Ron Weasley and continued to climb up the stairs. Rose stopped once they reached the second landing.
"Follow me," she whispered, casting a nervous glance down the stairs towards her father, who had just exited at the first landing. Scorpius followed Rose down a narrow corridor; doors lined the left side of the hallway. Scorpius scanned the names of the rooms as he passed by them.
The first door was labeled "Bill"; the second, "Charlie"; the third, "Ginny"; and the fourth, "Boys". Rose quietly opened the door labeled "Boys" and motioned for Scorpius to use the "Lumos!" spell. Whispering the incantation, Scorpius crept into the room, Rose following behind him. Scorpius glanced around the room and saw that three of the four bunks were completely filled. A scruffy, older-looking blonde-haired boy was occupying the bottom bunk of the first bunk while James snored on the top one; Scorpius guessed that the blonde-haired boy was Teddy. He passed the second bunk to find that Louis and Fred were bunkmates. The third bunk had an unrecognizable, small red-haired boy sleeping soundlessly in it; he kind of resembled Rose. Scorpius assumed this was Hugo. He caught a glimpse of Albus's black, messy hair on the top bunk.
"You can choose whichever bunk you want," whispered Rose, pointing to the fourth and final bunk bed in the rows of bunks. Scorpius, figuring that his father would probably crash on the bottom bunk when he arrived, chose to sleep on the top bunk. He said good-bye and thank-you to Rose as he climbed on top of the bunk and whispered, "Nox." to estinguish the wandlight.
It took him only two minutes to fall asleep; the shaky, twitching boy was beyond exhausted. The incident with Lucius seemed weeks away even though it had happened only hours before. Scorpius's last thought before he drifted into darkness was the wonderful coziness and sense of family that Scorpius immediately loved about the Burrow; he had already felt at home and hadn't even been at the house for an hour.
I've decided to try continuing the story for now. Thanks for the reviews, keep them up! :) x