A/N: This chapter is named after the song 'My House' by Pvris, very aptly so as the whole thing takes place in Grimmauld Place. Wow, I managed to get this out quickly, I'm actually pretty damn proud of myself, and I love NaNoWriMo. This chapter made me sad to write for reasons that will become clear, but it was always going to happen. Enjoy! ;)
Chapter 40: My House
"Never thought that I would feel like this; such a mess when I'm in your presence"
Trying to get through to Scorpius was more difficult than Albus ever could have imagined. He might as well have been a block of marble, a cold, hard, unfeeling statue, for all the notice he seemed to pay Albus. Despite the fact that they shared a room, Albus had never actually seen him come in or out of the room, though he was always there on the infrequent occasion that Albus woke in the night. He always allowed himself a second or two to admire him, the softness of his features when not permanently set in a scowl, his chest rising and falling slowly, but never any more time than that.
Scorpius definitely had some weird kind of sixth sense for when Albus was around; but then again, his wheels squeaked wherever he went, and since it was supposedly only a temporary deal he hadn't yet bothered to fix them. He resolved to change that immediately when he got the chance, but his days were so filled up with overthinking and planning with the Order and helping out around the house and garden that by the time his head hit the pillow in the evening, he had barely registered that yet another day had passed.
Days had passed, and he was still no closer to getting through to Scorpius. He was already on the verge of giving up, yet he had barely even started. He knew he had to keep trying, knew that one day he might be able to break through the barriers that Scorpius had built up around himself to keep Albus out, but frankly he didn't know where to start, or what the right thing to say was, or if he should mention the way he felt.
Even the adults in the house had begun to notice that something was wrong. Albus was just surprised that it had taken them so long, considering that he and Scorpius sat at opposite ends of the dining table and were never to be seen in the same room during the day. In the evenings, when the family would chill out in the living room, they always sat as far away from each other as was physically possible.
One morning, when Albus was out in the garden, sitting on the grass and half-heartedly reading the philosophy book that Scorpius had given him, trying to forget that it was he who had given it to him, he was startled by his mother coming to sit down next to him.
"Morning, Albus," She said cheerily, pulling out her own book. Suspicious, Albus continued to read, glancing her way every few seconds.
"Good morning..." He replied eventually, shrugging at the oddity of the situation and returning to his futile attempts to try and understand metaphysics.
"So, Albus, we should talk." Ginny said a little while later, once Albus had once again gotten lost in the book. Hesitantly, he placed the book on the grass and turned to face her.
"We should?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes," She said sternly, her voice all motherly concern, "I just want to make sure that everything's alright with you."
"You mean, apart from being in a wheelchair?" He asked as she glared at him.
"Don't take that tone with me, young man," She warned, admonishing him before dissolving into a fit of giggles that had Albus rather taken aback, "I'm sorry, it's so rare that I get to act like a mother anymore, now you three are all so grown up."
"Right..." Albus said, frowning, "Why are you so curious about me all of a sudden? You know I'm fine, and you know I'd tell you otherwise."
"You're probably right, it's just… Is everything alright between you and Scorpius?" She asked, her forehead creased with worry. Albus had to try not to react to the jolt of nervousness that went through him at the mention of Scorpius' name. Merlin, he really was pathetic.
"Everything's fine, Mum," He said, attempting to smile a wide and probably utterly unconvincing smile.
"I might be your mother, but I'm not a complete idiot, you know," She replied, chuckling, "but even I can tell that something's up. I don't think I've seen the two of you together since we got here. What happened? You two used to be such good friends, your father and I were so happy that the two of you had managed to break away from your legacies, but now… It just seems like you were never friends at all."
"I don't want to talk about it," Albus grumbled, feeling tears inexplicably well up in the corners of his eyes, which he tried to furtively wipe away with the sleeve of his shirt. When his mother handed him a tissue and patted him on the shoulder, it was quite a struggle to keep it together.
"That's okay," His mother soothed as he wiped his eyes, feeling like an idiot, "We don't have to talk about it now, or ever, I just hate to see you upset."
"Gross," Albus said, shoving the tissue into his pocket, "And seriously, I'm fine, this was just… A temporary blip."
"I see," Ginny nodded, "And you know that if you ever have another… temporary blip… you can always come to me. Or to your father, if you get really desperate."
"Thanks mum," Albus laughed, "I appreciate it."
"You'd damn well better, Albus Potter." She said sternly, "Now, you promised you'd help around the garden, and the flowerbeds are looking terrible. Plus, it might help clear your head a little, I think that's why your Grandma Weasley enjoys it so much. Off you go."
"Fine," Albus muttered, "Being a normal mum doesn't suit you, by the way."
"That doesn't mean I can't try," She said, smiling, "Now, you let me know if Scorpius is ever mean to you, alright? I still have a trick or two up my sleeve, and that bat bogey hex of mine never gets old."
"Mum, please!" Albus snorted with laughter as Ginny got to her feet and headed back inside the house, "You're such an embarrassment!"
"I do try!" Ginny called as she disappeared into the house. Albus smiled to himself; he really did take his mum for granted sometimes. Sighing and realising that she was right, he closed his book and shuffled over to the flowerbeds, where he hoped the monotonous actions of planting and replanting and clearing and potting might help clear his mind, just for a little while.
The next morning started out like any other Monday morning in the Potter household with the Weasley-Grangers and the Malfoys, but by the end of the day things had fallen apart, and spectacularly so.
Albus was in the kitchen, a little later than usual as he had somehow managed to oversleep, brewing his coffee and trying not to fall asleep, which he was prone to doing at random intervals if he didn't get the coffee into his system soon enough.
It was then that Scorpius sauntered into the room, as if completely oblivious of Albus' presence. Humming to himself, he went to get a bowl out of the cupboard, when he spotted Albus and froze, his eyes wide, his arm half-outstretched in front of him. Albus felt his cheeks heat up and turned back around, continuing to pour the coffee and trying to act like the sight of him hadn't affected him quite so much.
"Morning," He said non-committally, not expecting any sort of response. His words were punctuated by a wide yawn at the end, which just made him blush even more.
"Morning, Al," Scorpius mumbled in response, followed by a sudden, uttered, "shit!"
Albus' heart jumped right up into his throat as he wheeled around to face him, trying to reign in his emotions as fast as he possibly could.
"You -" Albus began, grinning.
"Shut up."
"See, I was right, you can't-" Albus continued, gradually wheeling himself closer and closer to Scorpius, who had his arms crossed in front of him and was glowering fiercely as he paced around the room, looking anywhere but at Albus.
"Shut up!" He shouted.
Albus sighed and shook his head as he spoke, "All I'm saying is, you can't ignore me forever, we both know it."
"I can, and I will," Scorpius muttered, glancing up at Albus for a fleeting second, grey eyes meeting emerald, and then he was gone as quickly as he had appeared, apparently having given up on any notion of having breakfast.
Feeling rather smug, Albus turned back to drink his coffee, though he already felt more alert than he had in days.
His good mood wasn't to last, however.
After yet another pleasant morning spent reading in the garden, revelling in the solitude, his brain aching from trying to wrap his head around the topics introduced in his book, Albus headed back inside to get some food.
He was met by a rather eerie silence. Instead of the usual hustle and bustle of the house at mealtimes, when the entire household stuffed themselves into the kitchen or dining room and fought over the best food, there was no one in sight, no kitchen sink piled high with dirty dishes, no half empty fridge.
Feeling more than a little freaked out, Albus headed out into the hall, where he heard loud, angry voices coming from upstairs, which did nothing to ease the panic that was only growing more and more prominent with every passing second. Apprehensively, with his palms sweating, he headed upstairs, his wand in his hand just in case, even though he knew he would be equally capable without it.
When he reached the top of the stairs, he breathed out a sigh of relief at the sight of some familiar figures, who were for some reason crammed into his father's office and spilling out into the corridor, where Lily, Rose, Hugo and Scorpius sat, throwing a ball between themselves and wearing identical expressions of worry.
"What's going on?" Albus asked, as the shouting within the room continued. When she saw him, Lily jumped to her feet and hugged Albus, tightly.
"It's Dad… And Uncle Ron… And Mr. Malfoy… And, Professor Longbottom, they all… They..." She paused, biting her lip.
"What happened, Lily?" Albus asked gently, even though his blood had gone cold at the very mention of his father. His sister just shook her head as tears welled in her eyes.
"They went on a mission," Rose said, throwing the ball to Hugo and getting to her feet, "which, of course, they didn't tell anybody about. Ginny just found the letter your dad left us in the study and the shouted brought us all up here."
"I can't believe this," Albus said, not quite fully comprehending what he was hearing, as Lily went to sit back down next to Hugo, her expression sombre. "When did they leave? When are they getting back?"
"That's the thing..." Rose frowned, glancing over to the study where the arguments were continuing without cease, "It was just meant to be a quick, in out mission. They should have been back two and a half hours ago. They're arguing over what to do. Mum wants to check in St. Mungo's, your mum wants to go right after them, Mrs. Malfoy just wants to wait it out, and grandma and grandpa are freaking out."
"This doesn't feel real," Albus said, his mind a dull fog through which the occasional jolt of panic or worry worked its way through. He felt sick to his stomach, and he didn't realise his hands were trembling until Rose took his wand from him and placed it in his pocket before squeezing his hand in a reassuring gesture.
"I know," She agreed, "but we just have to keep faith, believe that they'll come back soon. You might've been better staying in the garden."
Albus smirked, but it wasn't sincere, it was more him trying to hold himself together with humour, a tried and tested technique. He couldn't help but admire Rose's stoicism, the way she stood tall and proud throughout it all like a ship in a storm, and how even if she did break, she didn't let it break her.
"So now we wait." Albus said, a simple statement. Rose nodded.
"And now we wait."
"Food?" Albus asked. She grinned and nodded once more.
"Wait here," She said, before hurrying off downstairs. Albus got his book back out as he waited, pointedly ignoring Scorpius, who was just ignoring everybody and looking miserable. Moments later, Rose returned, her arms piled high with food as several dishes floated along beside her, which the five of them tucked into happily.
He and Scorpius still paid each other no mind, or at least they tried to, but it was difficult and awkward when they both wanted the same bit of food and some silent, angry compromise had to be reached.
Eventually the adults caught wind of the impromptu feast happening in the hallway and came to join them, thankfully ceasing their bickering for the time being. It was a nice, if peculiar, affair, even with the weight of what was happening hanging above them all like some dark, ominous cloud.
From then on, time seemed to slow to almost a standstill. Each moment was long and agonising as Albus waited for his father to come home, waited for confirmation that he was safe and alive and that his mission was at least partly successful. Even his book couldn't keep him occupied, and so he ditched it in favour of watching an American comedy on the TV with Lily, which managed to distract him for a little while.
Sometime in the mid-afternoon, as Albus was searching through the fridge for something else to eat, he heard several loud and familiar cracks, and knew immediately that all hope was not lost. He heard several shouts and exclamations and went as quickly as he could to the entrance of the house, where the four men stood, looking a sight all bruised and bloodied. Harry's glasses were smashed, and the remaining pieces of Ron's wand were in his hands.
When Ginny saw them, she dropped the cup she had been holding, which smashed to pieces on the ground, before running over to hug her brother briefly and embrace her husband, sobbing into his chest. Hermione and Astoria reacted in much the same way, while everyone else stood around demanding to know exactly what had happened to get them into this state.
Albus could do nothing more than watch on silently as the scene unfolded before him, as Lily sobbed and went to join their parents, as James caught sight of Harry and stormed out of the hallway and into the kitchen, slamming the door shut behind him, as Scorpius clung onto both his parents, his baby sister in his arms.
"Come on, let's go sit down, you four have a lot of explaining to do," Ginny said once she had ascertained that none of their injuries needed immediate attention, herding them into the room, her tone at once stern and caring. Once they were all inside, Albus followed them, hovering hesitantly by the door.
"Is James coming back?" He asked his mum as she went to get them each a cup of tea.
"I don't know, I think he's just mad he couldn't go with them," She said, shrugging and shaking her head, "He'll come around. I just hope your father can explain himself well enough."
A little while later, once everybody was seated and had a hot drink, the four men began to explain their story, after much glowering from their wives. Albus wasn't sure he was ready to hear what had happened; at night he sometimes still had nightmares of his encounters with the Pureblood Knights, and he didn't know whether he could handle knowing even more about them and their blatant disregard for the lives of others.
"First of all," Harry began, briefly making eye contact with everybody in the room. When his eyes reached Albus, he smiled a sad smile before continuing, "I think we're all very sorry that we didn't tell you all about this. We received the information late last night, and we realised the only possible course of action was to leave as soon as possible."
He glanced towards Ron, who coughed awkwardly before picking up where Harry left off, "It was the perfect opportunity to infiltrate one of their bases, to arrest several of their lower-ranking members who would be more willing to give up information, but it was a trap. They knew we were coming."
The room fell into a hushed, shocked silence. Albus could hardly believe what he was hearing, could hardly believe it was true. Everyone eyed each other anxiously, none of them quite willing to believe.
"And?" Ginny asked, cradling her cup of tea like her life depended on it.
"And we were ambushed," Harry said, frowning. The scars on his cheek and forehead were somehow all the more prominent when paired with the mud and blood smeared across his face and robes, "It was only due to Draco's quick thinking that we got out unscathed at all."
Draco simply shrugged, like it was no big deal, but when Ginny and Hermione both sprang to their feet and hugged him, he blushed and smiled to himself. Astoria looked proud, despite the obvious worry she felt. Even Scorpius looked a little better at the prospect of his father being the hero of the day. It was about time, after all.
"What took you all so long, then?" Astoria asked, rocking the baby in her arms gently to sleep.
"We went to go arrest the guy who told us this information, but he too had backup, so we had to get ourselves out of that mess, on top of everything else," Professor Longbottom chuckled to himself, trying to make light of what was clearly a horrendous situation. Albus couldn't blame him; he probably would have done the same.
"Neville's right, things got… Pretty messy." Ron cringed and gazed longingly at the broken pieces of his wand.
"But, as you can see, we made it out alright," Harry nodded in Ron's direction and fiddled with his own shattered glasses, "and we even managed to make several arrests. Hopefully at least one of them'll be willing to talk."
"I wouldn't define any of this as 'alright'," Ginny said, waving her hands frantically in their direction, "but I'm glad you all made it home. Now, go upstairs and get cleaned up. I expect to see you all intact at the dinner table."
"Of course, of course, we're going," Harry pulled himself to his feet, far more slowly than he would otherwise have done, and pecked his wife on the cheek before limping out of the room, the three others following behind, all of them quite clearly injured in some shape or form.
"I can't believe this!" Rose muttered, pacing back and forth in front of Albus once nearly everyone else had left. In the corner of the room, Astoria was nursing Cassie and humming to herself, apparently reassured of her husband's health.
"Can't believe what?" Albus asked uncertainly, hoping his question wasn't too incendiary for her.
Thankfully she managed to stay relatively calm as she responded, "That Dad and the others would be so stupid! They're grown men, two of them are Aurors, you'd think they'd know better than to go off gallivanting to the enemy like they did when they were back at Hogwarts! One day they're going to get themselves killed, and I'm not sure how sorry I'll be!"
"Rose, please, you're overreacting," Albus grabbed her hand as she breezed past and squeezed it. She stopped and glared at him, her shoulders slumping.
"You're right, I am," She flopped down into the nearest seat, "I guess I just… Wish they'd spared a thought or two for us back here, going crazy wondering where the hell they are or, hell, if they're even alive!"
"I suspect they'll learn their lessons soon enough," Albus said, "Especially if Mum has anything to do with it."
"You're right," Rose winced, "I dread to think what your mum has up her sleeve."
Albus was going to make a scathing comment in response, but was stopped short by something flying into the window with a loud thud. He almost fell right out of his chair as Rose leapt to her feet, her wand at the ready. Glancing at Astoria to make sure that the baby was alright, she tiptoed towards the window.
"Oh, thank Merlin," She breathed once she was close enough to ascertain the source of the news, "It's only an owl, and a rather idiotic one at that.
She pulled open the window and swiftly retrieved the owl, a small but proud looking thing who regarded Rose harshly as she straightened its wings and gently pulled the letter from its leg, before nipping her on the wrist and flying right back out, neatly dodging the glass this time.
Rose frowned as she scanned the front of the letter before turning and heading towards the other side of the room, "Mrs. Malfoy, this is addressed to you and Mr. Malfoy."
"Really?" Astoria took the letter and broke open the wax seal, "We weren't expecting anything..."
As her eyes flew down the page, she seemed to turn several shades paler, and her hands began to shake, "I'm sorry, I really have to go, could you look after Cassie for a little while?"
Rose obliged and took the baby as Astoria fled the room, shouting for Draco in a shrill, high-pitched voice. She turned to glance at Albus, her eyes wide, but he could do nothing more than shrug in response.
Nobody came back to look after the baby, so Albus and Rose played with Cassie as they idly speculated what exactly the contents of the letter were. When dinner came, and there was still no sign of any of the Malfoys, Rose went to put Cassie in her cot, and they all sat down at the table.
Harry and Ron looked much better than they had done before, all signs of injury no doubt magicked away and looking refreshed even so soon after their ordeal, but Draco was notably absent, as were Astoria and Scorpius. Professor Longbottom had no doubt gone home to his own family, but his absence could far more easily be explained.
"Where's Scorpius?" Lily asked, glancing about the table as she served herself a helping of mashed potato, "And his parents?"
Harry and Ron glanced at each other, expressions sombre. It seemed that neither of them wanted to speak first, but eventually, Harry relented with a pointed glare in Ron's direction.
"I'm afraid they received some rather bad news," Harry announced as the table erupted in whispers. Rose and Albus locked eyes, and Albus couldn't help but feel guilty for all of their earlier speculation, which had grown increasingly incredulous and had resulted in a lot of giggles.
"Draco's mother, Narcissa, died at her home in Germany," Harry's voice was thick with tears as he continued, "They're all upstairs now, as I figured they would need some space, and I urge you all to do the same for the next few days. I'm rather shocked myself – if it weren't for Narcissa, I wouldn't be here right now, and Voldemort would have won the war. I'm eternally grateful for what she did, even if it was to protect her son, but I can understand that now."
The entire table was stunned into silence. Albus didn't know what to say or think. Scorpius had always spoken very fondly of his grandma, and summers spent with her in Germany. He had never mentioned his grandfather, but from the little snippet that Albus had heard over the years, that was probably for the best.
Part of him ached to go upstairs and help Scorpius through this. Albus knew how much he would be hurting, and how much he would need the support of his best friend, but they weren't best friends anymore, and Scorpius certainly wouldn't appreciate his attempts to help, which would no doubt be unhelpful anyway.
Feeling lethargic and bone-weary from the stresses of the day, Albus headed straight to bed after helping with the dishes. Rather unfortunately, Scorpius was in there, sat on the bed and staring off into space, his expression vacant as he twiddled his thumbs absently in front of him. Albus opened his mouth to say something, say anything, but nothing he could think of would have sounded sincere enough, so he got ready for bed in silence.
Once he was in bed, he found he could no longer keep quiet. Even if Scorpius hated him, even if he was intent on ignoring him, it was clear that he was in pain, and surely a friendly word, even if it was from Albus, would count for something.
"I'm sorry," He said, his voice cracking as he spoke in barely above a whisper.
Scorpius said nothing, but Albus hadn't expected anything else.
"You always spoke so fondly of her," He continued, "And I know you're not talking to me, and I know we're not friends anymore, but I hate the thought of anyone hurting in silence so… I'm here. If you need me, or whatever."
"Thank you." Scorpius murmured, so quietly that Albus had to strain just to make out those two short words, but they were all that he needed. Seconds later, Scorpius was under the covers, facing away from Albus, but he didn't mind.
It was a small step, and one that Albus wished with every part of him hadn't had to happen, but it was hopefully a small step in the right direction. Because even as Scorpius was lying facing away from him, his breathing gradually slowing, Albus couldn't help but wish he was over there with him, comforting him, helping him to feel whole again. He ached with the very need of it, but instead he turned around, his back to Scorpius, and tried his best to fall asleep. It was a long time coming, after what had been one of the most mentally draining days of his entire life.
He only hoped that when he woke up, Scorpius might just feel a little more willing to talk to him again.
A/N: Thank you so much for reading! I feel like I never mention just how much I appreciate you guys for the reviews you leave me and all the favourites and follows, but I truly do, you're all wonderful.
Next: Scorpius is still resolutely ignoring Albus, but surely something has to give?
