Chapter Twenty five

Kris had his ancient ruins class first the next day. He went to the class to find that Rose was sitting there in class. She smiled at him but she wore the same expression that Scorpius had worn yesterday. He sat next to her.

"Hey Rose," He smiled but he felt unsettled. "I made…friend yesterday."
"That's great!" Rose said but her voice was a tad flat in tone.

Kris raised a brow. "What's wrong?"

Rose shook her head hesitantly and Kris sighed softly before opening his book and waiting silently for the teacher to begin the lesson. At the end of the lesson, he dashed out of the classroom without Rose. When he reached the Dungeons, he bumped into Orion coming up.

Orion looked startled for a second then smiled when he noticed it was Kris.

"Hello, Kris," Orion said. "You seem troubled. Or are you just in a hurry to get to potions class?"

"I'm fine, Orion," Kris said looking down at the floor.

"How about we talk about it at lunch?" Orion asked and then rushed up to the entrance hall out of sight.

Kris sighed softly and entered the potions classroom where he saw Albus sitting on one side of the classroom and Scorpius on the other. Conflicted, he chose not to sit with either of them. Instead, he sat next to a boy in their dorm named Greggory Linder.

Professor McBain entered the classroom and looked over all of their faces.

"Welcome to potions three, third years," He didn't sound very welcoming but Professor McBain never sounded welcoming.

He began the lesson by writing on the board their assignment. Kris got right to work noticing that Albus was staring at him from across the classroom. He cut up a few beetles and chopped some roots adding them to the cauldron in front of him and stirring it thrice.

Professor McBain silently took attendance.

…

Last night before the sorting

Scorpius took Rose into the shadows and made sure that no one was around before he began to speak. His tone was a whisper but it seemed louder in the air of the night.

"Rose," He began. "I know what happened on the train."

"What?" She asked curiously even though she still had her suspicions about her cousin.

"You know how there used to be Death Eaters when The Dark Lord was in power?"

Rose nodded. Most people their age had heard the stories about the war and their savior, Rose's Uncle Harry. It was common knowledge by now.

"Well," Scorpius continued. "I've heard talk about a new Dark Lord, someone who has incredible powers and is using them for evil purposes. They already have followers in number and their targets are set."

"Who are the targets?" Rose asked softly.

Scorpius took a deep breath. "The Potter Family, The Shacklebolt family, The Longbottom family, aurors, ministry members, and even your family."

Rose felt a wave of fear wash over her but she pushed it aside.

"Does the ministry know of this?" She asked.

"As far as I know, you, me, my father, we're the only outsiders who know about it."

"How did you find out about it?"

"I over heard my father talking about it with Daniel Black, his cousin."

Rose's eyes narrowed slightly. "Tell me your family is not involved with this!" She demanded.

"Of course not!" Scorpius said. "Never in a million years would we be. My father is a good guy. He praises Harry Potter, your uncle. He is loyal to the ministry."

Rose nodded and sighed. "What are we going to do? We have to tell someone!"

"Who's going to believe two thirteen year old kids when they say that a secret group of dark wizards blew up the train to the school?"

It was true. Nobody would believe them if they claimed that. They were only children. Their knowledge would be looked down upon and, sadly, the truth would never come out.

"I have an idea," Rose said suddenly. "My Uncle!"

Scorpius looked at her and shook his head. "What would he do?"

Rose took a deep breath. "He is an auror and he took on the Darkest Wizard of his time! He would understand things better than anyone, right?"

Scorpius shrugged. "I have no idea if he would. I'm afraid that it wouldn't work."

"There is no harm in trying."

Rose took off to the great hall thinking about what she and Scorpius had just spoken about. Hopefully, Uncle Harry would be able to do something to help her. She planned on speaking to him the first chance she got.

…

Orion and Kris met up outside for lunch. Orion seemed chipper until he saw how somber Kris was. Kris felt hurt because he knew that Rose and Scorpius were hiding something from him and he wanted so badly to know what it was they are keeping.

Orion patted his shoulder trying to be comforting. He suggested that maybe they were only trying to make sure that he was happy. Good friends do that, right? Kris knew that he was right but he wanted to know still. He was so curious it hurt!

"Maybe you should talk to them," Orion said with a shrug. "Assure them that you can handle it. I did that to my mother when she tried hiding from me that fact that my father had left us."

Kris nodded and almost as if they world were answering his prayers, Scorpius came down the field with Louis and Hugo who stopped caring that their family would see them with a Malfoy. Besides, Teddy had left Hogwarts and James spent his time in the Gryffindor common room or training with the quidditch team.

Scorpius looked at Kris and then at Orion unsure about whether or not he should approach but Hugo saw no problem in it and went right over to him.

"Hey Kris!" He said with a grin.

Hugo wore his tie undone and his trousers were way to long on him.

"Hello, Hugo, Louis, Scorp," Kris said with a curt nod.

Hugo took that as an invitation to sit down with them.

"Who's your friend?" Louis asked sitting next to Hugo and folding his legs neatly in.

"I'm Orion," Orion said with a smile. "I'm a Ravenclaw fourth year."

Louis smiled. "Pleasure to meet you then."

His tone was clearly polite. That was just the way that he seemed to be.

Scorpius stared at Orion for a few moments. He seemed to have a startled reaction and he showed the expression of familiarity towards him.

"Orion?" He said with a glance at him and saw that the boy's attention was on him. "Have we met before?"

Orion shook his head. "I've never seen you in my life."

"Are you sure? What's your last name?"

"Black," Orion replied. "I'm Orion Black. Ravenclaw. Fouth Year."

Scorpius paused for a second then looked at Kris. Something had changed in Scorp's facial epression. He seemed to be putting together pieces of some unknown puzzle.

"Excuse me," He said softly and then walked towards the castle.

"That was odd," Hugo said and then looked at Orion. "I'm Hugo Weasley. My sister is in the same house as you."

"I may have seen her around," Orion said.

Hugo nodded and held out a hand to Orion who took it and shook it and smiled. Louis introduced himself and also shook Orion's hand. Orion seemed quite happy to be in their company.

…

Orion Black

Orion Black

Orion Black

Scorpius repeated the name to himself over and over again. A Black? At Hogwarts? This was turning out to be fantastic…He sighed to himself. How could his day get any better? Suddenly, he felt a force crash into him as he walked down the corridor.

"Watch where you're going, Malfoy," He heard the voice of the eldest Potter boy: James Sirius

When he looked up, James stood towering at least a foot above him. He wore a deadpan expression plastered onto his face and his eyes seemed to force their way into Scorpius's soul.

"I'm sorry, Potter," Scorpius said softly. "I wasn't watching, as you said. I should have been."

James seemed quite bemused by the words that fell from Scorpius Malfoy's mouth. He gaped at him for a second and then shook his head.

"You just better make sure it doesn't happen again!"

He stormed off down the corridor and Scorpius sighed in relief. He looked up the corridor and saw that nobody was coming from that direction so he headed on until he came to the library. The need for a peaceful place to sit urged him inside.

The library was pretty much empty with most of the students down in the great hall reuniting with their friends for lunch or making new friends. He sat down at one of the tables but froze. Laying asleep across the room was Albus Potter.

Scorpius looked over at him and saw a letter on the table he had been working on. Curiousity got the better of him and he made his way over there and read the letter that he probably wasn't meant to read.

Brat spawn of Potter,

You couldn't have forgotten what I said to you, have you? Think of what I could do to your little friends. That letter you wrote to Isabella was in vain! She'll never get it now that I have it. I told you that I would be watching you and if you told anyone anything, I would make sure that your little friend paid the price. It's a good thing I intercepted this letter.

You know what I said, Potter! Keep this hush hush or your buddy gets it!

Sincerely, D.B.

Scorpius stared at the letter in amazement. Someone was threatening Albus. Maybe he deserved it but what did he mean by "your buddy gets it"? Who was Albus protecting and what from? It seemed very odd.

D.B.? Could this be Daniel Black? Could he be referring to Kris?

Scorpius stepped away from the table and tripped landing face first on the ground. Albus shot awake.

"Are you okay?" He asked and then realized who it was. "Nevermind! I don't care!"

Scorpius pushed himself up. "I bet you don't. But I know you care about Kris."

Albus looked at him and then realized that the letter was out on the table. He glared sharply at Scorpius.

"Of course I do," He said. "Now leave me alone and if you read this, then just try and forget about it!"

He folded up the letter and put it in his robes before standing up and pushing in his chair to leave.

"Wait, Albus," Scorpius said. "D.B.? Does that stand for Daniel Black?"

Albus gaped at him for less than a moment but his expression changed to anger. "Of course not! It stands for David Brittman!"

And with that, Albus stormed out of the library leaving Scorpius alone to his thoughts just as he wanted.

…

Albus rushed to the Slytherin dorm and, once in his bed with the curtain wrapped around, he began to cry into his pillow. His anger was turning into sorrow and pouring right out of his eyes. The letter from Daniel Black sat at the end of his bed and he lay where he was without a care to it anymore.

How had Scorpius known who Daniel Black was? Why was Scorpius being nice to him? Why couldn't he just bother some other student?

Albus sighed and tried to suck up his tears. He had to be strong! He couldn't seem weak now even though he simply knew that he was. He couldn't protect his cousin from Scorpius. He couldn't protect his best friend from a dangerous group of people.

What could he possibly do?

He shivered where he lay and turned to face the curtain to his left side. He had to do something. Maybe his only hope was to talk to Scorpius to figure out who Daniel Black is. Damn it! He thought to himself. How could Scorpius be his only hope? He had to find another way. There had to be one.

…

AN: Wow! So, Daniel Black has been really affecting the lives of Scorpius, Rose, and Albus. Now arises Scorpius and a suspicion about Kris's new friend, Orion Black. What will happen next? Hopefully we all will know by tomorrow. I'm going to take a break with writing this until Saturday night because I just spent three days slacking on my homework.

I hope you guys enjoyed this twenty fifth chapter. I have Therapy in a half hour (fun stuff). Enjoy your Thursday evenings, nights, and Friday mornings! This is the longest chapter I have written since chapter two.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it. Leave a review! Thank you soooo much!

~ Ted Theodore Logan (Rahxas)