Author's Note:
Sorry I didn't get a chapter up last week, but my internet was down for a few days so I couldn't email the chapter to my beta with enough time for her to edit it and get it back to me. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the new chapter; I tried to get some more dialogue and character interaction in this one.
~ThaniMag
Chapter 13: New Friends
Zoë walked into her Charms class, took a look around, and threw herself into her normal seat in a corner at the far back of the room.
Zoë had returned from the incident in America just three days ago. Hermione had Disapparated them from Rasputin's house straight back to the International Floo Network where the others where waiting for them. Together they had traveled back to London. Bill had gone home, Hermione, Ginny, and Draco had rushed off to the Ministry, and the rest of them had been sent back to Hogwarts.
To Zoë's immense surprise Hermione had allowed her to keep Slytherin's dagger. She had thought it would be rushed off to the Ministry for inspection, or taken away simply because it had belonged to the Founders. But Hermione had simply tried some quick charms to see if there was any dark magic on it, and, satisfied, had returned it to her. When Zoë asked why she was being allowed to keep the weapon, Hermione had merely given her a vague answer and waved her away.
Zoë had wrapped the knife carefully in the folds of some cloth and stowed it in her trunk for safekeeping.
Zoë was startled out of her reverie when someone threw themselves into the seat next to her. No one had sat in that seat since the start of the year, so Zoë was rather taken aback. "Hallo, Zoë." Zoë glanced over at the cheerful, grinning face of Scorpius Malfoy.
"Good morning Malfoy," she replied politely, still shocked that someone had sat next to her.
"Malfoy?" Scorpius frowned. "Why don't you just call me Scorpius?"
Zoë hesitated. "Okay Scorpius."
Suddenly the seat in front of Zoë was occupied too, by blonde girl with long swinging plaits. The blonde girl twisted around in her seat and stuck out her hand towards Zoë. "Hallo Zoë, I'm Stephanie Bones. You can call me Stephanie, or Steph, or really whatever you wish." Stephanie's face split into a broad grin.
"Scorpius told me all about you," continued Stephanie, shooting a wink at Scorpius.
Scorpius looked a little sheepish, "Well more like all of what little I learned about you from our short, err… trip in America."
Zoë was somewhat overwhelmed by this sudden onslaught of two friendly smiling people. They seem determined to make up for not noticing her all these years.
"Nice to meet you, Stephanie," said Zoë with a rather shy smile, taking Stephanie's hand.
"You know, I think we're going to be good friends." Stephanie slipped Zoë a quick wink and laughed suddenly. It was a very mellifluous sound. Kind of like a stream bubbling through a brook, thought Zoë.
"Okay class, time to settle down." Luna's dreamy voice seemed to float through the classroom.
Stephanie threw Zoë another quick smile before turning around in her seat to face forward once more.
Luna began her lecture, and Zoë was given time to think about these two new friends of hers. They seemed quirky, but in a good way. They were also very friendly, and Zoë wasn't about to turn down friendship at this point; she was far too lonely.
She looked at Scorpius out of the corner of her eye, hoping he wouldn't notice. His blonde silky hair framed a happy, content face. His bright, honest blue eyes were fixed on Luna. Zoë wondered if there was an ounce of evil in him; he seemed so honest and good.
He caught her looking at him and flashed her an encouraging smile. She quickly looked down, blushing slightly.
The rest of the class flew by. Zoë kept her eyes fixed on Luna, determined not to get caught staring at Scorpius again.
The class ended. Lunch time, thought Zoë glumly as she rose to her feet and threw her bag over her shoulder.
All of a sudden her arm was interlocked with another person's, and she looked down to see Stephanie grinning up at her. "Not so fast. You're going to eat lunch with Scorpius and me."
Zoë quirked an eyebrow, "What if I said I've got prior engagements?"
"I'd say you were lying to us," said Scorpius with a smirk. "You can't get out of eating with us that easily."
"What if I want some introvert time?" asked Zoë, secretly hoping they would again see through her falsehood.
"From what Scorpius has told me you get plenty of introvert time already." Stephanie was not put off by Zoë's seeming attempts to get rid of them.
Zoë's face split into a rare smile. "You guys got me. I'd actually be glad to have lunch with you."
"Score!" cried Stephanie, throwing her fist in the air. It was such a child-like gesture that Zoë couldn't help but let out a slight laugh.
Scorpius grinned at her.
They walked to the Great Hall, talking and laughing together. Scorpius and Stephanie grabbed a couple of seats at the Hufflepuff house table. Zoë hesitated for a second, and then followed them.
The Hufflepuffs around them whispered among themselves and stared curiously at Zoë's presence in their midst. A fourth year, Edward Smith, rose to his feet to object. "What is a Slytherin doing at our table?"
Zoë immediately looked down in embarrassment.
"I think she was about to eat with us." Scorpius stood up, glowering down at the younger boy. "If anybody has a problem with that, I'd be glad to give them a good dunking in the lake."
Edward immediately sat down in the face of the angry, bigger teenager.
"I don't want to cause trouble—" began Zoë hastily.
"No, there's no trouble at all," replied Scorpius, glaring at Edward as if daring the Irish wizard to challenge him.
"These are really good turkey sandwiches." said Stephanie, who was already halfway through her second.
Zoë gawked at her, "How did you—?"
"She's a fast eater, and she really likes her food." Scorpius was now holding a drumstick and looked as if nothing at all had happened to bother him.
Zoë slowly sat down and reached for one of the turkey sandwiches and some pumpkin juice.
"So why did Rasputin keep you and Potter's Aunt for a few extra minutes?" Scorpius looked at her curiously as he munched on a hunk of chicken.
Zoë took a bite out of her turkey sandwich, then looked at it as she chewed slowly. "He wanted to give me Slytherin's dagger."
The piece of half chewed chicken in Scorpius mouth fell into his lap as his jaw dropped down in astonishment. "No way…" He barely gasped the words.
Stephanie just stared at Zoë in disbelief.
Scorpius finally overcame his surprise. He hastily scooped the chicken off his lap and shoved it in his mouth, swallowing quickly. "But Potter's Aunt probably took it from you to take to the Ministry, right?"
Zoë shook her head. "That's what I'd thought she'd do, but no, she let me keep it, surprisingly."
"Wicked…" said Stephanie who had obviously been filled in on all that had happened in America.
"So you have it, here at school?" asked Scorpius excitedly.
"Yes," answered Zoë warily. She was eager to please her new friends since she was far to lonely to turn down friendship, but she was bit protective of Slytherin's weapon. "I'm keeping it safe in my dormitories though." She said the last word as if she knew what Scorpius was about to ask.
"Could I see it again, maybe touch it?"
"I don't think that would be such a good idea Scorpius. I think it would best just to leave it where it is."
"She's right, Scorpius. Such an object of power shouldn't be handled lightly." Stephanie chipped in, though she herself didn't seem too happy at her own advice. Zoë couldn't blame her though, who wouldn't want to see a weapon belonging to one of the Founders?
Scorpius looked a little disappointed, but seemed to see the wisdom in their words. "You guys are probably right. Whatever, I'll survive somehow." He smiled again, immediately brightening up. Zoë wondered if anything could keep him down for long.
Scorpius finished off his drumstick and hastily reached for another. Stephanie was now on her fifth turkey sandwich. Zoë couldn't believe the way she packed them down.
After they had finished eating, Scorpius rose to his feet. "Do you have a class now?"
"Nah, I'm free for a few hours," replied Zoë curiously.
"So are we. You want to take a walk by the lake with us?" asked Stephanie excitedly.
"Sure," replied Zoë, eager to spend some more time with them.
They left the Great Hall and proceeded through the Entrance Hall and out onto the grounds.
The three teenagers walked slowly towards the lake, enjoying the beautiful fall weather. "Isn't the sunshine amazing?" cried Stephanie, holding her arms out as if trying to catch some of it and hold it close to her.
Scorpius grinned at Stephanie. "Yep, it sure is beautiful." He turned to look at the lake, and something caught his attention. A figure was lying beside it. He had his arms behind his head, pillowing it as he rested there. He seemed to be gazing out across the lake.
"Well if it isn't Albus Potter," Scorpius said, pointing him out by the lakeside. Zoë and Stephanie followed his outstretched hand until they saw the dark haired boy.
"So, Scorpius? Who cares? Just let him be," said Stephanie, looking at Scorpius with a little bit of worry.
"No way," said Scorpius with a wicked grin. "I've got a plan."
Stephanie looked over at Zoë and rolled her eyes, "Oh boy. Well, I gotta see this."
***
Albus sighed as his eyes roamed the skies. He wasn't sure exactly why he was back at Hogwarts after having left only a few days before. He wasn't sure about anything anymore.
The headmaster had accepted him back immediately, completely forgiving him for all the terrible things he had said and done as he left. Nobody seemed actually mad at him for some reason, and this confused him. His mom just seemed disappointed in herself, and Scorpius's dad wasn't interested in him at all, just the wellbeing of Scorpius. Nobody seemed to really be paying attention to him or even to care that much.
Suddenly the air was completely knocked out of Albus as somebody landed on top of him. He managed to shove whoever it was off as he gasped for air.
He barely managed to suck in a breath before his assailant was back on him, trying to pin Albus beneath him.
Yelling in anger, Albus gave a hard push and sent his attacker flying over backward, rolling down the slight incline toward the lake.
Albus scrambled to his feet at the same time as his attacker. The silky blonde hair and daring blue eyes were all too familiar. "Malfoy? For crying out loud—"
He was interrupted mid sentence as the blonde boy threw himself once more on Albus, bearing him to the ground.
They rolled around on the ground. Albus was using some colorful language as he attempted to get rid of the determined Scorpius.
Once more Albus shoved Scorpius off of him and staggered to his feet. Scorpius was up in an instant though, and gave Albus a good hard punch in the nose. Albus fell over backward, but managed to grab the front of Scorpius's robes before he did so. Together the two teenagers toppled into the lake.
They resurfaced at the same time. As Scorpius tried to shake the water out of his eyes, Albus put one hand on the back of Scorpius's neck to give him support, then kicked him as hard as he could in the stomach. Scorpius peeled over and disappeared beneath the water once more.
"Now THAT was satisfying," said Albus with distinct satisfaction. He looked up to see Zoë and Stephanie standing on the bank of the lake, watching intently. "Did you lot put him up to this?" he asked incredulously.
Zoë shook her head fervently in a decisive denial.
"No, he saw you lying there, and said he had some brilliant plan, so I just came to watch. Scorpius's brilliant plans are always a sight to see," said Stephanie, looking as if she was finding it hard not to laugh.
Scorpius finally resurfaced, spluttering and sending water flying in all directions.
"If this is one of your brilliant plans, God help the person who's around when you launch one of your ordinary plans, Malfoy." Albus said it, surprisingly, without rancor. "What do you think you were doing?"
Albus stood with his wet robes hanging heavily on his body. His black bangs swirled in curly, wet tendrils down his forehead. His eyes were blazing, bright specks in contrast with his dark locks.
Scorpius looked at Albus steadily. Piercing emerald eyes locked with honest sapphire ones. Scorpius shrugged innocently. "I was trying to connect with you. I thought having a good brawl might be your love language, you know what I mean? I was hoping we could maybe be friends."
Albus gawked at Scorpius. Zoë was surprised; she didn't think that someone as reserved and controlled as Albus would ever show his astonishment by gawking.
"Are you completely bonkers?" Albus stared with utter disbelief at Scorpius. "I mean, I always knew you were a weird one, but this… this is just bizarre."
Scorpius looked confused. "I'm confused," said Scorpius.
"Please don't tell me you honestly thought my love language was a good brawl, and you tackled me just now to try and connect with me. You don't really think that, do you?"
"Um…yeah I do. Why would I have said it otherwise?"
Albus looked as if he thought the world was ending. He sighed with exasperation and slowly made his way to the bank of the lake, pushing through the water.
Scorpius struggled as fast as he could after Albus. He reached the shore, clambered up, and rushed at Albus. Albus heard him coming, stepped nimbly to the side, grabbed the back of his robes, swung him around, and threw him back into the lake.
Albus rolled his eyes at the sky. "When will this nonsense end?"
"Nice move," said Scorpius grudgingly from his kneeling position in the shallows.
"Why thank you, but of course all my moves are nice; it just comes with being me."
Scorpius let out a growl as he made his way to get out of the lake. "That's right. Return someone's compliment by acting all smug and self-loving. That's a great way to make people compliment you more."
Albus looked complacently over his shoulder at Scorpius. "It doesn't matter how I act, people will compliment me anyway. I'm just that good. They can't help but compliment me."
Scorpius spluttered angrily. "You're pretty good at pissing me off, aren't you?"
Albus waved his comment away. "I'm pretty good at pissing anyone off; don't flatter yourself."
By now Scorpius had clambered onto the bank. He stood, streams of water running off his robes in floods. He glared at Albus's back furiously.
Meanwhile, Albus had stopped walking, and was staring intently at the Forbidden Forest.
"Did you guys see that?" asked Albus as he peered at the looming forest which was only twenty feet away.
"I didn't see anything," Zoë brushed his question away.
"See what?" asked Stephanie curiously, following Albus's gaze.
"There it is again! Holy crap, I think it's a centaur!" With that Albus went sprinting toward the forest. Stephanie ran after him, followed by Zoë.
Scorpius grumbled something about how the girls shouldn't go chasing Albus because he might get ideas, but he grudgingly jogged after them, sending water flying in all directions.
Albus passed the outer ring of trees and rushed about fifteen feet into the forest before freezing in his tracks.
Two centaurs stood with their backs to them. One looked really old. He was completely white and silver, with a silver beard and gray hair. The second one was reddish brown and young looking, with no beard. The younger one wore a quiver of arrows and a bow slung onto his back.
Both centaurs were muttering to each other in a series of grunts and horse sounding noises. Albus guessed it must be the language that centaurs used with each other.
The centaurs' ears perked up as Stephanie, followed by Zoë and Scorpius, came skidding up behind Albus, sending leaves and twigs flying. The centaurs turned, saw the teenagers, and a look of alarm crossed the younger one's features. Anger was the only emotion on the older centaur's face.
The older centaur made a grunt to the younger centaur, and the two of them turned and bolted toward the center of the forest.
Albus —who being so bored with life took any chance at excitement— tore after the centaurs through the trees, he was followed by the other three teenagers. Branches clutched at his face, but he pushed them aside as he ran, not caring that they cut up his face and arms.
Albus was fast, but the centaurs were faster. He pushed himself to his fastest sprint. Chasing after a flying hoof he caught sight of between trees, tearing after a tail that whipped over a bush.
Left, right, left, right—the centaurs didn't seem to have a set direction, they didn't seem to care where they ended up as long as they lost their pursuers.
Albus didn't know how long he had been running when he finally lost all sight of the centaurs. He slowed to a gasping halt, leaned over and put his hands on his knees, breathing hard.
Suddenly something crashed into him from behind, sending him sprawling on his face. It seemed to be a body, and it was now lying on top of him. Albus's face was being mashed into the damp, muddy leaves of the forest floor.
"Oops, sorry Potter." The ever increasingly familiar voice of Scorpius came from above the black-haired wizard.
"Gerrroofoffmeeeyouuumoron!" came the muffled voice of Albus from out of the leaves.
"What did you say?" asked Scorpius of the back of Albus's head.
Albus struggled to get his head a little off the ground, clearing his mouth of leaves. "I said, GET OFF OF ME YOU MORON!"
Scorpius scrambled off of him and to his feet, looking slightly sheepish. "Sorry, you know I couldn't quite hear you."
Albus rose to his feet indignantly and spun to face Scorpius. "Well genius, maybe that was because you were SITTING HALF ON MY HEAD!" bellowed Albus none too kindly in Scorpius's face.
"Well sorry," said Scorpius as he brushed some leaves off his sleeves. "No need to yell so loudly."
Albus rolled his eyes to the heavens and turned to spit some grit out of his mouth. After he'd finished clearing his teeth of dirt, Albus looked around. "Where are we?"
"In the Forbidden Forest," said Scorpius confidently.
"I can't get over how brilliant you are, Scorpius," said Albus scathingly.
Scorpius's blue eyes flared angrily. "I was just answering your question."
"You weren't helping the situation at all."
"Sorry. Geez, it seems like that's the only word I say anymore."
Albus's gaze rove from left to right, up and down, surveying their surroundings. It was dark on the forest floor. The trees surrounded them on all sides and towered above them, their canopies shutting out almost all the sunlight that fought to trickle down to where the two boys stood. Albus couldn't see anything between the trees on either sides, except more trees, and more darkness.
"Well this is just great…Where are Zoë and Stephanie?" Albus asked of sore-looking Scorpius.
"I don't know. I think they fell behind near the beginning of the chase. They couldn't keep up with us."
"Well I can't say I'm surprised. Honestly, I'm astonished you kept up with me. I guess you've learned how to use those long legs to their fullest potential," said Albus, looking Scorpius up and down. "There aren't many people who could keep up with me for a run like that."
"Thanks…I guess," said Scorpius, looking as if an unexpected present had dropped from the sky and landed in his lap and he wasn't quite sure what to do with it.
"So, what do we do now?" Albus asked the trees.
Scorpius took it upon himself to answer. "I don't know. I just got caught up in the excitement of things and was following you."
Albus turned to look at the blonde boy. "You don't have to respond to everything I say. You know there is such a thing as a Rhetorical question—I don't know if you've ever heard of one of those, though."
Scorpius turned a little red, but didn't respond.
"Well anyway, the answer is I don't know, 'cause I'm completely and hopelessly lost," said Albus cheerily as he drew his wand and set off into the trees.