A/N: Hello, everyone! Like I said in the summary, this fic is very AU. I got inspired by the fact that if you had celebrity parents, but never matched up to their expectations AND none of your family members support you, it'll affect you deeply. I also got inspired by the show Euphoria. Please enjoy!

Trigger Warning: Drug Abuse, Family Trauma

Disclaimer: I don't claim to own Harry Potter. All rights belong to JK Rowling.

Chapter 1: The Black Sheep

The castle stood in its grandeur, considered magnificent by most but a looming cage by others. While the school aimed to foster a learning environment for its students, that aim was lost by the near smothering of the children with boundaries all around the grounds. Paranoia was to blame because nothing truly remained the same after the summer of '98. Nothing remained the same, especially in Slytherin house.

The house did not have the best reputation from its inception, but the prejudice against it had grown significantly worse. The brightest students could come out of the house, make a difference in wizarding society, but the Daily Prophet's inclusion of their origins in every, single, printed article deterred others from ever praising the Slytherin alums. And then, there was Albus's dilemma. If his house was so bad, but his father was the Boy-Who-Lived, then where did he stand? Was a he soon-to-be criminal like the Slytherin stereotype or was he a hero in the making because of his 'good genes?' Whatever may be the case, it wouldn't help him pass his Potions test.

Boomslang skin… Where did he see this before? Think… think… But, Albus's quill stood, raised slightly above the parchment, not a drop of ink placed on the page. Defeatedly, he put his quill down, looking down at his watch noting that he had only five minutes left on the test. The question was worth a quarter of the test, and if he factored in the questions where his answers may not have been the best, the best grade he could get is an Acceptable. Then, that would do nothing to bring up his grade from a Poor.

Albus leaned back into his chair, sighing softly. Lifting up the parchment to scan it again, he shook his head and got up from his seat. Reluctantly, he handed the paper to his professor and walked out of the classroom.

As soon as he found himself in front of the Great Hall, he spotted Scorpius who had his head buried in a textbook. "Careful there, Scorp. The book could suck you in," Albus joked, walking up to his friend. "Ancient Runes test?"

"Yes!" Scorpius snapped. Albus raised his hands in surrender, and Scorpius sighed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to shout. I'm just irritated at the fact that five of my classes - five - have tests today, and I've had only yesterday to study for them."

"Yeah, it was pretty terrible of them to do it after a long weekend."

"I know. How'd you feel about that Potions test? I know that you were saying you needed at least an Exceeds Expectations on it to bring up your grade."

"Yeah, well, I can forget about passing that class. This whole school system is out to get me."

Scorpius chuckled as he shut his textbook. "Spoken like a true rebel. Come on, let's grab some lunch. I'm not going to absorb any more information without food in my stomach."

"Not to mention you have practice today, don't you?"

Scorpius let out a quiet scream and replied, "I totally forgot! I promised Rose that we'd have a study date. We have an Arithmancy test next Monday!" The two took their seats at the table and began piling food onto their plates.

"I think you're stretching yourself a bit thin," Albus stated, scooping mashed potatoes onto his plate. "Good grades, Quidditch player, and a responsible boyfriend… I could never."

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "I may be complaining, but I like what I do in life. You would have all those things too if you just-"

"If I just what?" Albus interrupted, slight irritation in his voice.

"If you just applied yourself."

"Spoken like my father there, old man." Albus chuckled before continuing. "He nearly kicked me out when I went home this weekend. James had been saying all sorts of things to him."

"Like what?"

"Like I had been taking 'potions,'" Albus said, rolling his eyes. "The old man didn't even bother to ask me before he started railing on me, saying that I am a stain on the good family name."

"Merlin. Why'd your brother have to bring up all that?"

"Because I was stealing from his vault, apparently. He thought I was using his money to buy the 'good stuff'. Arsehole doesn't even know that his gold digging girlfriend's the one stealing the money." Albus stabbed a piece of chicken with his fork and kept it there. He pushed the plate away, using the space to bury his head in his hands.

"You're not actually using, are you?" Scorpius asked, furrowing his brows. "Because, you really shouldn't cope like that-"

"Scorp, I'm fine," Albus said, cutting him off. "I said that I take potions as a joke to James because he asked why I was such a waste of space. Didn't think he'd take it seriously." Albus often wondered why anybody took anything seriously anymore. Everything seemed to be one elaborate joke, at least according to him. This past summer when he told James off by saying he was too high to deal with him, he really hadn't imagined his idiot brother would run off to Patriarch Potter. Albus's relationship with his father was already strained, and it honestly seemed to Albus that James relished the fact that the black sheep of the family was finally being cut out.

"Well, time for me to leave," Scorpius announced, breaking Albus out of his thoughts. "Do something productive, please."

"Yes, mother," Albus replied with a smirk. He slowly got up from his seat and made his way up to the library. Going past all of the bookcases, he found himself in a small corner blocked off by three bookcases. A person had to slip through the crack to get in, and that's why he loved it. It was his spot; no one else bothered to study here.

That's not to say he didn't share the hangout space. Usually, Scorpius would come join him, but ever since he started dating Rose, he stopped coming by. But, that wasn't to say Albus was expecting him to come. He was waiting for someone else.

Realizing he was the first one there, Albus took a seat and pulled out one of his textbooks. After absentmindedly flipping through it for a few minutes, a quiet 'hi' made him look up. "Sorry I'm late," the newcomer added. "Pince was looking at me funny and asked to inspect my bag."

"Can you blame her, Alice? It's not like we're here for reputable activities," Albus said, reaching for Alice's backpack. "Now, reverse the charm. That Potions test made me antsy."

Alice was then tying up her bright pink hair and raised a hand to signal for him to wait. Then, she grabbed her wand and muttered the counterspell. The bag enlarged significantly, and vials of multicolored potions finally came into view. Not wasting any time, Albus frantically grabbed one and uncorked it. "Hey wait!" Alice yelled quietly, stopping Albus from tipping the potion back. "You can't drink that one. My supplier's saying that all the new shit coming out requires intake the muggle way." She reached into her backpack and took out a transparent bag of needles? Albus was confused, considering that he knew little to nothing about the muggle world.

"I'm not sticking a sharp object in me for a quick fix!" Albus complained.

"Take it or leave it, Al. None of the stuff I've got today is edible." Alice brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear and opened the plastic bag. She then took out a battered quill and transfigured it into a syringe, and Albus became transfixed on how she inserted the needle into the fat plastic pump.

"So, now what?" he asked, swallowing audibly. Taking the syringe out the girl's hand, Albus inserted the needle into the vial. After a couple of tries, the syringe finally filled with the fluorescent blue liquid. "Do I just stick it into my arm?"

Alice rolled her eyes. "Roll up the sleeve on your other arm," she commanded. "Alright, good. Now, take off your tie and transfigure it into a thick rubber string." Albus did as she instructed and looked at her, confused. "Now, tie it around your bicep, right above your elbow. Make sure it's tight!" Again, Albus did as he was told but his eyes had widened significantly.

"Am I good to go now?" he asked, tentatively bringing the syringe closer to his arm.

"Yeah, but just so you know, it'll hurt like a bitch. And, the fall is fucking hard. Just know what you're getting into."

"Can't be worse than me actually drinking poison," Albus replied darkly. Taking a short breath, Albus plunged the needle in, hissing at the pain and then injected the potion into him. "What do I do with this thing?" he asked, waving around the syringe.

"Keep it. I transfigured an old quill for a reason. Just make sure to clean it. God knows how many diseases muggles have caught from unhygienic injections," Alice said, gagging. Then, she began packing up her things. "That'll be 20 galleons. This shit isn't cheap anymore, Al. Can't skive off your payments." The boy nodded and fished out his coin bag, handing the girl the exact amount. "Pleasure doing business." She saluted him before slipping through the shelves.

Albus slouched in his seat, waiting… And, there it was. The nothingness. He felt on top of the world, not feeling all of the anxiety and misery that plagued him. He slowly got up from his seat, only to quickly sink back down. "Fuck, that really is something." Whatever got pumped into his veins was stronger than anything he had ever taken, and he wasn't complaining. Anything to make his feelings disappear more.

It was almost curfew, and Albus still hadn't sobered up, so he made the executive decision to attempt to make his way down to the dungeons. He tried walking normally as he crossed Madam Pince, but the facade fell as soon as he exited the library. Holding onto the walls for dear life, Albus watched as the room spun and chuckled at the sight. But, he keenly noticed the other students walking about and stood up straight.

Miraculously, he found himself in the comforting atmosphere of the Slytherin common room. Most of the students had gone off to bed aside from a few lingering studiers. Surprisingly, Scorpius wasn't one of them, but Albus paid that no mind as he walked to his dormitory, feeling like he was gliding across the floor.

He took off his clothes haphazardly, sinking into the mattress of his bed only in his boxers. "Finally made it back, I see," a voice said right next to Albus. Albus turned his head to see that it was Scorpius. "You look tired."

"Busy studying," Albus slurred, but it could've just meant that he was tired.

"For what?"

"Everything, mom."

"Okay, okay, I won't pry. Go to sleep, you need it." Albus nodded before turning his head away from Scorpius's reading light. Sleep came to him fast, and it was the best sleep he had had in a very long time.

The next morning found Albus with a raging headache. He slapped some oatmeal into his bowl and ate it aggressively, the stomach pangs making his appetite increase tenfold.

"You didn't get much sleep last night, did you?" Scorpius asked, concerned by his friend's irritated state. Albus sent a piercing glare along his way and in response, Scorpius shut his mouth and went back to his food.

Albus hated this, feeling things. All of his stress came back roaring when he opened his eyes this morning. The white haze was there for a split second before everything came back with a bang, and Albus wanted to bash his head into the cobblestone. "Grades for History of Magic are coming out today, aren't they?" he asked, clenching his fists.

"Yeah, but didn't you say you thought it went well?"

"That doesn't mean anything!" In all honesty, Albus realized how over dramatic he was, but the stress was overbearing. "I'm gonna go."

"You barely touched your food, mate!" But, it was too late; Albus had left the dining hall to go to the boy's lavatory to "use the facilities." There were a few other boys in there, so he went into one of the stalls and shut the door forcefully.

He unzipped his rucksack haphazardly, tugging on the zipper repeatedly until it was open. Frantically taking out the vial, Albus whimpered at the sight of the nearly empty bottle. He set the vial down carefully as he dug into his bag for the syringe. Wiping it off inefficiently, he plunged the needle into the vial and sucked up the remaining liquid. Doing the same process as yesterday, Albus shot up the last drop. He sat on the toilet, dazed out of his mind, the sound of the bell muffled by the haze around his senses; however, Albus had enough awareness to know he needed to go to class.

Stumbling his way out the lavatory, he walked slowly to the Charms classroom. His legs felt heavy, as if made of lead. Some students were eyeing him suspiciously, but Albus paid them no mind as he took his seat next to Scorpius.

His friend looked at him with furrowed brows. "Where have you been? You disappeared for a half hour," Scorpius whispered. "And, you look terrible. Are you sick?"

"I'm perfectly fine. Stop worrying," Albus replied slowly. Luckily, the professor began lecturing before Scorpius could continue interrogating him because he didn't have any straight answers to give his friend.

Struggling to keep his eyes open, Albus took notes all over the place. His usual straight lines of words were sloping up to the right. He noticed Scorpius looking at his parchment, but thankful that they couldn't talk.

When class was dismissed, Albus walked out of the room as quickly as he could. He heard Scorpius calling out his name twice before the voice faded as he descended the stairs. Taking out a fake galleon and a quill, he scratched in a message: "Meet me in Moaning Myrtle's lavatory."

Albus then ran to the location sluggishly. The room spun as he did so, and he wanted to puke. But, with nothing in his stomach, he tried to ignore the feeling. The lavatory was empty as always, but Albus was thankful that the perverted ghost wasn't around. Last time he came here, Myrtle asked him to strip since she heard him bragging to Scorpius he got abs over the summer.

Pacing fast around the sinks, Albus began chewing on his thumb. Where is she? He was growing impatient by the minute, feeling the effects of the drug leaving him. And, the nausea was escalating as well, causing him to sink to the floor as he clenched one of the sinks.

"Dear Merlin."

Albus looked up to see Alice standing at the entranceway. "What took you so long?!" Albus shouted.

"I have class, you moron. Speaking of, don't you need to be at Defence right now?"

"Fuck it; I need more, Alice." Albus wiped the sweat off his forehead and tried standing up.

"I fucking warned you," she said, going to him to help him up.

"Yeah, I'll definitely listen to a dealer."

"No, but you should listen to a friend," she gritted out. "I don't wanna give you more, Al. Clearly, you can't handle it."

"Fuck you, yes I can. I'm gonna buy all you got right now," he stated, standing up straighter.

"Al…"

"You heard me? Give me all of it," he commanded, sticking out his open rucksack.

"It's 200 galleons, Albus."

"I have it. You can pay for your dad's hospital bills with this kind of money. That's why you're doing all of this, aren't you? I'm making your job easier for you."

Alice looked down at her bag, then nodded. She handed over the whole pouch of vials, and stuck out her hand for the money. And, Albus gave it all, but the money felt too heavy in her hand; nonetheless, she took it. "Have fun killing yourself," she said morosely before leaving the lavatory.

Please tell me what you all think. Again, please don't read this if you are triggered by the material. It only gets darker from here...