Author's Note:
Closer and closer!
Don't forget to drop a review.
~thanimag
Chapter 24: A Manly Heart-to-Heart
Scorpius fell through the air, his eyes clenched shut with fear of what was to come. His body shuddered with an impact, but it wasn't the one he had expected to feel when his body hit the tops of the trees. He opened his eyes to find Albus holding him.
Albus was leaning over his broomstick and had both his arms around Scorpius's midsection. Scorpius was now falling slower, but he was still falling as Albus's broom couldn't hold their combined weight.
They crashed through the top of the forest. They tumbled through a thick mass of foliage, branches cracking left and right as they fell. They bounced off a tree limb here, snapped through another one there.
Albus's arms were ripped away from Scorpius's torso and Hufflepuff's axe slipped from the blonde boy's hand.
Scorpius hit the ground with bone jarring force. He groaned and rolled over, his whole body aching with bruises and scratches. Pulling himself to his feet, he went and retrieved Hufflepuff's axe from where it had hit the earth with a soft thump.
"Hey, Albus, you okay?" Scorpius turned toward the place where Albus had landed.
Scorpius's rescuer lay among the splinters of his broom. Albus didn't respond, and was lying very still.
"Albus!" Scorpius rushed over and knelt next to the motionless figure. Putting his ear to Albus's chest, he searched for a heartbeat. It was there, strong and steady. "Whew! So you're just unconscious then." Scorpius said to the unresponsive Albus as he settled back on his haunches.
Suddenly there was a whooshing sound from above. Scorpius looked up with dismay. Flying down through the path of wrecked foliage were three Wyrms with their dwarf riders.
The dragon-like creatures landed in a triangle around Scorpius and the prone Albus, creating three points of danger.
Scorpius rose slowly to his feet, his grip on the axe shaft tightening.
"Ready to die, fool boy?" One of the dwarves leered at him.
"I don't plan on dying yet." Scorpius's eyes flicked left and right, going from one dwarf to another.
The Wyrms started slowly moving in from all sides, getting ready to strike. Scorpius swung the mighty axe around in a large circle, forcing the Wyrms to take a step back, hissing in anger.
It didn't stop them for long. One of the Wyrms made a dive for Scorpius as he swung the axe in another direction. Scorpius saw him coming out of the corner of his eye and brought the axe back around, hewing the dwarf and Wyrm straight down their centers.
The momentary diversion cost him, however, for another of the dwarves saw the opportunity his comrade's action opened up. The dwarf let fly a dagger that struck Scorpius in the back of his thigh.
Scorpius let out a cry of pain and fell to his knees. Using just his upper body, he swung his axe back and forth, attempting to hold the two remaining attackers at bay.
The two dwarves were now circling Scorpius slowly, evil grins on their faces, knowing the injured boy could only hold out for so long.
And Scorpius knew he was weakening. He could feel it as more and more blood left his body. But he was determined not to give up until his body completely shut down on him. Now yelling fiercely, with a glint in his eye, he dragged himself up and onto his good leg. He was wobbling, but at least he was standing.
Then Scorpius's heart filled with hope as Seamus Finnegan came whipping down from above. The sandy blonde Auror fired two curses, instantly taking down a dwarf and Wyrm. Landing on the run, the Auror dropped his broom and leapt into the last remaining dwarf, tackling the dwarf from his flying steed.
The Wyrm turned to help his rider. Seeing his opening, Scorpius leapt forward with his one good leg, and brought the axe down, slicing off the creature's tail.
With a roar of anger and pain, the Wyrm spun around, and, with a foreleg adorned with dangerous talons, knocked Scorpius down. The Wyrm reared back on its legs, and was about to come down for the finishing blow when it collapsed over onto its side.
Scorpius looked over in shock to see Albus standing shakily with his wand in hand and sweaty hair plastered to his forehead.
At that moment Seamus wrestled his dwarf to the ground, and, with a well aimed punch to the temple, knocked the stocky dwarf unconscious.
Seamus rose to his feet and quickly went over to where Scorpius was lying on the ground, breathing heavily.
"Roll over onto your side, quickly," said Seamus. Scorpius obeyed without hesitation.
Seamus yanked the knife out of Scorpius's thigh in one fluid movement. Scorpius let out a howl of pain. Acting quickly, Seamus pressed his wand to the wound and cast a healing spell. The pain slowly started to fade from Scorpius's body.
Scorpius sat up, and was quickly overwhelmed with dizziness. "Take it easy, Malfoy. Your injury is healed, but you've still lost a good bit of blood," said Seamus. Turning towards Albus, he asked, "Potter, you okay?"
Albus was now standing steadily, but was still a little bit pale. "Yeah, I'll be fine."
"How many more Wyrms are there?" asked Scorpius, who was still a little disoriented.
"Those were the last of them," Seamus said, as he took in their surroundings.
"Where are the others?"
"I saw them landing further on. Roughly a couple of miles away, I would say."
"How are we going to meet up with them? For that matter, how are we going to get all the way back home? My broom is smashed, and who knows where Scorpius's is." Albus didn't look worried, just a bit annoyed at the thought of possibly being stranded.
Seamus's brow furrowed. "That's not good. I'll see if I can summon his broom."
"Try for my wand too," Scorpius said, "I lost it in the fight."
Seamus nodded. "Accio wand! Accio broom!" A few seconds passed before Scorpius's wand came shooting through the trees and landed softly in the dirt. It was followed by some splinters and snapped pieces of what was left of Scorpius's broom.
Scorpius moaned. "That was an expensive broom."
"I'd be more worried about the fact that we're stranded until further notice," Albus's mouth twitched at the corner, as if he was fighting the urge to smile.
"This is definitely a dilemma," Seamus said. "We've got one broom between the three of us, and we need to meet up with the others as soon as possible. I would send off a signal, but there might be more dwarves searching for us. It's too risky."
"What if you go to find the others, and either bring them all back here, or borrow a couple of brooms and return for us?" Albus asked. "That way we'd at least all be together, and we could work out what to do from there."
"I like your thinking, Potter. The farther we are from here, the safer. So I'll go with plan two. You guys think you'll be okay? It should only be a few minutes." Seamus looked them both up and down.
"We'll be fine. I'm less dizzy now, just go." Scorpius assured the Auror from where he sat on the ground.
Seamus mounted his broom and was gone in an instant, leaving Scorpius and Albus in silence.
Scorpius looked up at the other boy who was standing about ten paces from him.
Albus was staring off into the trees, looking slightly lost. His green eyes were blank, as if their host was in some distant place. His clothes were in poor condition from the fight and his brief imprisonment. He was covered in a variety of scratches and gashes that oozed blood from head to foot.
"That was some amazing flying up there. And I should thank you for saving my life—so thank you."
Albus looked at Scorpius in surprise, as if he had forgotten his companion was there. "What have you done to me, Scorpius?" he asked quietly.
"What do you mean?"
"I never would have done something that stupid before. That stunt could easily have cost me my life, and there was very little hope of saving you. It was a miracle we both came out of it relatively untouched. The only reason I would have done something like that before, would be to prove I could. But that wasn't the reason I did it. I can't explain it: when I saw you fall, something kicked me into action."
Albus turned back and looked off into the forest once more. "I've never looked out for anyone, not even myself. Why would I start now? Have you changed me against all odds? When you took that beating for me in that cell . . . I don't know . . . something almost clicked. As if that was how things are supposed to be. You're supposed to have people there by your side, people who will look out for you no matter what."
Scorpius struggled to his feet, but was instantly hit by a wave of nausea. He stepped back, putting out an arm for balance, and it quickly passed. "We all have our own beliefs, Potter. And I know I often sound as if I'm morally superior or something, which I'm not. I'm just trying to figure things out myself, and the only conclusion that I've come to so far, is what you just said. People are meant to be there for each other. If we can't look out for each other, then who are we supposed to look out for? All I know is that this world is a lonely place without our friends, and I'm not about to just watch my life go by in solitude and loneliness. That's a dark world if you ask me."
Albus's gaze flicked to the side, and he watched Scorpius out of the corner of his eyes. "We're in this whole mess together to the end, aren't we?"
"Well, that's what it looks like anyway," Scorpius said with a little laugh.
Albus walked up till he stood within arm's reach of the blonde teenager. His eyes blazed with an emerald fire that shook Scorpius in surprise. "I know I never would have said anything like this just a little while ago, but of all the people to have backing me up in this, I'm glad you're the one. You're definitely one of a kind. And I'm with you, come hell or high water." Albus stuck out his hand.
Scorpius was completely taken aback, and stared at the hand, and then at Albus's face, and then back at the hand again. Then his face slowly split into a broad grin. "And it's the same for me, Potter," he grabbed Albus's hand and shook it firmly. "We'll see this through to the end."
Seamus came sweeping in from the air just then, with two broomsticks tucked under his arm. He looked slightly amused as he caught sight of Albus and Scorpius just releasing their handshake. "Ah, it's good to see that young people these days still pass the time and express their manhood by seeing who has the firmer grip."
"Well, there would be no need to test that. Everyone knows Scorpius would lose a strength competition with a cat." Scorpius could have sworn that Albus's eyes were twinkling as he said it. But he couldn't be sure, because he had never seen anything that even resembled a twinkle in Albus's eyes before.
They mounted the brooms and took to the air. Seamus leading the way. They didn't have to fly long before they were descending to the ground again.
Neville was healed and on his feet, preparing a meal over a fire. He had cast a spell to disperse the smoke in case they were still being looked for. Hugo, Lily, Zoë, and Stephanie were sitting side-by-side, talking around the fight.
At the sight of Stephanie, Scorpius felt a pang of guilt in his gut. He felt terrible about what he had said to her earlier. Knowing exactly what he needed to do, he dropped the broom and axe as soon as he landed, and strode over and threw himself down next to his best friend.
Stephanie stiffened a little, but then quickly relaxed. They had known each other too long to remain hostile towards to one another for long.
"Steph, I need to apologize for what I said earlier. I know you're every bit as qualified as me to be here. The main reason I was upset you showed up was because I was selfish. I've sort of seen this as being my quest, and I guess I got kind of overly protective of it, and didn't really want to share it."
"I know, Scorpius. I understand, there's no need to say any more. We both know each other well enough we don't need to spend time on apologies. I forgive you, of course. So let's move on."
Scorpius flashed her a wide smile. "Well then, that was some great fighting up there, and some very timely intervention."
"I bet, in the end, you're glad I came, right?" Stephanie said, playfully giving him a little shove.
"You can say that again." Scorpius leaned forward so that he could talk to Zoë around Stephanie, "That was awesome back there Zoë. Without you we never would have gotten out of there."
Zoë smiled. "Why thank you, Scorpius. It was nothing. All the work of Slytherin's dagger, really."
"Yeah, but it can't do all that on its own. It takes something to wield it, I'm sure."
Zoë smiled again, pleased by Scorpius's compliment.
There was a brief wolf whistle, and Scorpius looked up. Neville was standing looking down at Hufflepuff's axe where Scorpius had left it. "That is quite the weapon." He looked up at Scorpius. "How does it wield? Is it easy to use?"
"Oh yeah," Scorpius's whole face lit up, "it's great. You don't really have to do anything, it pretty much does all the hacking itself."
"Yay. We've got a psychotic axe with a mind of it's own that goes around leaving a trail of blood, gore, and waste in its path. That's something to be excited about," Albus said from where he sat near the fire. "How we will cheer when it slaughters each of us in our beds at night. One. By. One."
"I know, isn't it great?" Scorpius said cheerfully.
Albus shook his head as he poked a stick back and forth in the fire.
"Now the question is, how do we get back home?" Neville asked of no one in particular.
"I have an idea," said Seamus. "Thestrals." The single word held the hope of their ride home.
"Ah, good idea Seamus." Neville said, nodding thoughtfully.
"How will we attract the Thestrals?" asked Scorpius.
"Oh, that's the easy part. They'll come flocking on their own with all the Wyrm flesh lying around. We just need to go fetch one of the carcasses to drag back here. Seamus, why don't you come help me. The rest of you, stay here and rest up. As soon as the Thestrals come we want to be off right away. So make sure you have all your stuff gathered together. Scorpius and Albus, you two will ride mine and Seamus's brooms. We'll be the ones riding the Thestrals."
The two leaders of the group rushed off into the woods, running as quickly as they could. The teenagers were left with just each other for company.
"Since I'm the most talented, smartest, best looking and oldest of all of us, I'm in charge. So you all better obey my every word," said Albus with a wide, playful grin.
"Even if all of those were true, how does best looking add to reasons you would be in charge?" asked Stephanie, eyebrows raised.
"Ahem, first off, those all are true. Second, I am in charge, it's not a would be scenario. And lastly, good looks is a very important thing to have when it comes to leadership. It signifies being confidant and having authority. Not to mention irresistible charisma and charm." Albus said, flashing Stephanie a sweet smile.
Stephanie rose to her feet and came over to where Albus crouched by the fire. She leaned over so that her lips where very close to Albus's ear. She spoke in a low voice, but one that was perfectly audible to the rest of the teenagers in the quiet clearing. "Well if that's true, then you're an exception, pretty boy, because when they dished out the charisma and charm, they missed you." She gave Albus an even sweeter smile than the one he had given her. Planting a kiss firmly on the end of her fingertips, she pressed them to his cheek. "Sorry for the bad news, darling."
Stephanie rose to her full height, and strode off through the trees, leaving Albus to watch her go with annoyance, her long blonde hair flicking left and right in rhythm with her swaying hips.
As soon as Stephanie had passed out of view, the rest of the group roared with laughter, especially Lily and Hugo. "Ah, that was definitely a priceless sight. Is that the first time you've been stood up by a girl, Albus?" Lily was grinning madly at her brother.
"Oh shuttup Lily," said Albus irritably. He threw the twig he had been playing with into the fire with slightly more force then he needed to.
"Hahaha! Albus, she owned you man."
"Not as bad as I'm about to own you, you little twit." Albus scrambled to his feet and ran at Hugo who leapt to his feet and made a run for it.
Albus was faster than the younger boy and easily caught him up. Albus tackled his cousin to the ground and playfully sat on him and pummeled him lightly.
Tousling his cousin's hair, Albus rose to his feet. Hearing the sound of running water, Albus headed into the trees, searching for the source.
About twenty yards or so from the clearing, Albus found a small river, or a large brook. It wasn't wide, just about ten paces or so. The water was clear and ran musically down its course, bubbling over stones and fallen tree branches. Albus walked to the edge and stared down into the water, watching a couple of fish battling upstream against the current.
The sound of soft footsteps could be heard coming through the trees behind him, but Albus knew instinctively who it was. "She's one heck of a young woman, your friend Stephanie."
Scorpius laughed, and came to stand beside Albus. "That she is, that she is. . . . I take it it's not everyday you get trumped when it comes to flirting?" Scorpius punched Albus's shoulder lightly, playfully.
Albus almost started in surprise. He had seen Scorpius perform such comradely actions with Stephanie, and even Zoë once or twice. He had seen many other kids at school make the same simple signs of friendship. But Albus had never experienced it—never been on the receiving end, and definitely never done it himself. Is this what it's like to actually have a friend? He wondered.
"Not everyday? No, I've never been treated like that by a girl before. Not that I interact with them often—I've never really been interested in girls. The whole thing of bothering yourself over someone of another gender strikes me as painfully pointless."
Scorpius laughed briefly again. "Well, Stephanie wasn't shooting you down. If she was, she'd have done it much more plainly than that. If I know Stephanie anywhere near as much as I think I do, I'd almost say she fancies you somewhat."
Albus looked up from the water in surprise. "Surely you jest. She has a weird way of showing it."
Scorpius shrugged. "She's not like most girls. She might be testing you—testing to see how you react, probably because she's trying to get to know you better. Or then again, she could be doing it merely for her own amusement. You never know with girls. They're hard to work out."
"But she's your best friend, and it seems like most of your good friends are girls."
"I know. Which either means that I'm really stupid, or that if I don't understand them, then no one stands a chance." Scorpius laughed again. Albus was amazed at how easy it was for him to laugh. It seemed so natural, as if it just flowed out, as if he was always ready to be happy, and to show it too. "But what do you mean by saying most of my good friends are girls?"
"I was thinking of Zoë."
"Well, I'm not sure how close of friends we really are. I always feel like I'm saying or doing things that make our friendship take a couple steps backwards. She's so hard to get to know."
"I'd just give her time. Eventually she'll open up."
Scorpius laughed."Now you're giving me advice about how to deal with other people?"
"Whoa, that's weird. I guess I am."
"But you know, about what you said earlier, about relationships with girls being pointless? Well, it's obviously not for everybody. But the thing is, lots of people fool around, and that is pretty pointless: it just ends in broken hearts and messed up people. What relationships with people of the other gender should be is friendship, just like with people of the same gender. Then one day, once you have a really strong and close friendship, you might decide you want to spend the rest of your life with that person, and it grows from there.
"But hey, what am I saying? I don't really know anything about this type of thing. I'm just rambling on about random thoughts I have on the matter."
Scorpius was looking rather uncomfortable, and shifting from foot to foot. Albus fought the urge to smile. He found the whole conversation quite amusing.
"You know, this is so bizarre."
"I know. I hate it when I start to ramble about random stupid stuff."
Albus laughed. It was odd, he didn't laugh very often at all. "No, that's not what I meant. I was thinking about the fact that a day ago we were enemies of a sort, and now here we are. We're having a conversation about girls, just like any two ordinary guys might have."
"Yeah, I guess. A regular old manly heart-to-heart."
"Okay, never say that again. You ever say something as absurd as me having a heart-to-heart again and I'll beat you senseless with a spoon, and then roast you over a candle."
"A spoon?"
"Yes, it's the best thing I could think of on the spot."
"A spoon?"
"Oh shuttup Malfoy, I hate vague and non-descriptive disclaimers, okay?"
"But still, a spoon?"
"Malfoy, do you ever learn when you're just supposed to shut up?"