please help (vir)us

a/n: so this is dedicated to my fav, celia. yes... i had to do it. i'm sorry. a coronavirus spinoff. wow! who would've even thought? this is already 7k & counting, which is why it'll be a separate fic instead of a part of the 'to be continued' collection. but in all seriousness please please please do your part to prevent the spread and stay as safe as possible! i love you all!

(ch1: and it all starts)

(March 13, 2020.)

"Hey, do you think Lukie liked the eighteenth birthday gift we sent over?" asked Lina, turning to Draco. "The WWW pranking kit, and -"

But her husband's eyes were currently still glued to the news, which was once again highlighting the impact of some new virus called the Coronavirus. She had no idea why it was named that. At first, she thought it had to do with beer and was utterly confused.

"Will you stop being paranoid over the thing? We're fine, and we're supposed to be thinking about Luke on his birthday!" hissed Lina. Just yesterday, Annabeth had called to ask about how she and her family were doing, and she, confused by the paranoia, told her that the Malfoys were doing perfectly fine.

"The thing is more serious than you'd think, flower," insisted Draco. "Come listen to this!"

Sighing, she went over to listen to it. "Over a thousand people in the United Kingdom have been confirmed positive for the Coronavirus case, though the number is most likely much higher as those are only the people that were able to receive a test. Over fifty people have died."

Lina's face paled. "That's terrible! But surely...surely...that's the old people? We'll be fine, and the kids will definitely be fine."

"My mother, flower. Plus, even if we don't die, it's still pretty serious and we could still pass it on to them," explained Draco.

"We could...cut back on visiting her until it's over? And be more careful when talking to people on the streets?" asked Lina. "The kids are all safe in Hogwarts, so -"

Just then, an owl came, waiting for entrance by their window. Lina went over to fetch the owl, leaving her husband to stew in his paranoia. She looked at the Hogwarts seal...dear gods what had Luke done this time?

Putting on her reading glasses, the letter read,

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy,

We are writing to inform you and all the other parents that tomorrow, Saturday March 14th, will be the students' last day at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for a while due to the spread of the recent Coronavirus. Sometime around Sunday afternoon (March 15th), all the students will be sent home via floo powder.

You may be wondering why we are taking such drastic measures, as something like this has not happened for over a century (1918). With a school such as Hogwarts, the students are often in close proximity to each other, and many students do not know as of yet the serious consequences that could result by spreading the virus to each other and the serious consequences of the Coronavirus itself.

Just like with the flu, magic will not cure this disease (that, unlike flu, does not have a vaccination), so we are affected just as much as the Muggles are. We are bound to have someone contract it eventually, and one of our Professors is currently undergoing a test.

There are some students who have toxic home environments. We will deal with those students accordingly, but your household and parenting has been determined 'comfortably safe.' Therefore, it is best that your three students go home and stay under your care. Do not encourage them to gather with large groups of friends.

We will give you more notice on how to handle this unexpected turn of events, how OWLS and NEWTS will work, and whether the students are able to return shortly.

Best wishes and please stay well,

Headmistress McGonagall.

"What does the letter say, flower?" asked Draco, and she looked up.

"They're closing Hogwarts," replied Lina, taking a sharp breath. "They're all coming home. The two of us will be a family of five by Sunday. Even when Death Eaters were everywhere in sixth year, they still kept us at school! I didn't think it was that serious."

"Well, I'm glad, said Draco. "Flower, in sixth year school was the safest place to be, as there were no Death Eaters inside. But this virus is much easier to smuggle into the school than a Death Eater is, and easier to spread around."

They gave each other a meaningful look as they remembered the horrific events of sixth year at its finest.

"So...let's get drunk as this is the second-to-last night we have together alone?" asked Lina.

"Let's," replied Draco in agreement. "But we're doing everything inside!"

(March 14, 2020).

"SILENCE!" The Headmistress called in the Great Hall that morning using breakfast.

A group of seventh year boys from the Gryffindor table looked up, wondering in curiosity why their conversations were being interrupted. Their names were Henry Michaelson, Anthony Boot, Miles Francis, Edward "Eddie" Reser, and last but not least, Luke Malfoy.

"What do you reckon she's going to talk about?" whispered Miles to Henry.

"Maybe that rumor that went around yesterday about school being shut down during some virus. Corona, I think they called it," snickered Henry. "Like the beer!"

"Imagine shutting school because of a virus!" exclaimed Eddie incredulously. "I don't want to be home with my mum...she'd just keep nagging me to do things 24/7."

"We could plan something…" whispered Anthony, his voice trailing off. "But I don't know what...Luke, mate, what're you thinking?"

"Merlin, he's making googly eyes at the Hufflepuff table again, with Elsie Zhang," shuddered Eddie.

"Oi, mate!" said Miles, snapping fingers at Luke's face, who jumped from staring at his girlfriend.

"What?" demanded Luke, annoyed at the interruption.

"Any ideas for what to do when school shuts -"

But they were interrupted by the Headmistress once more. "SILENCE!" she yelled again, this time using a Sonorous charm. The Hall immediately went to silence. "As you all might have heard, Hogwarts will indeed be shut down starting tomorrow afternoon. You all will return to your homes. You are encouraged to remain safe and socially distance yourself as much as possible when you do so. This new Coronavirus is something that you all need to take seriously."

Some people looked happy, but a lot of people groaned loudly.

"What does she mean by socially distance yourself?" wondered Anthony, shuddering as he imagined a scenario involving everyone being forced to be in cubicles.

"I don't know, but I'm not scared of some virus named after beer," scoffed Luke. "Coronavirus! We're probably all immune anyways...remember that one party? You have the right idea, we're planning something over break."

"Oh definitely," said Eddie, the boys agreeing.

"Everything will, I regret to say, be cancelled. This includes exams - we will work out what to do with the OWL and NEWT students - as well as Quidditch matches," continued the Headmistress. "Safety is our number one priority amongst the students."

"Quidditch matches!" they looked at each other in horror, ignoring the whole exam part.

"I'm going to be at home with my nagging mum again instead of out and about," groaned Eddie once more.

"We're going to make the best of this," said Luke, an easy grin on his face as he slipped a casual arm around Eddie. "...How about we all go on vacation?"

"Where would we go, though?" asked Henry curiously.

"Let's think…"

"Here!" called out Miles, on their very last night in the dormitories. It still hasn't sunk into any of their heads that it might be their last night here, walking together in these halls after the five boys met, found out they were sharing the same dormitory, and became best friends; Luke had told them firmly that he was certain this would blow over in two weeks, tops. None of them hit reality yet; they were in full vacation planning mode. "Mates! It's here, I've found it!" He pulled out a globe from his luggage.

They all whooped and cheered.

"Go on, Luke! Spin it! Where're we going for our coronacation, eh?"

"Spin it! Spin it! Spin it!" they all chanted as a grinning Luke walked over to the globe. He gave it a good spin, and they intently watched the globe spin rapidly until it finally slowed down, landing on a set of islands.

"Damn, you got us a good place," whistled Eddie, as they looked at it.

"Looks like it's the Bahamas!" announced Luke, and they all chuckled in delight. "I'm definitely taking Elsie now that I know we picked something decent."

"We are not taking Elsie with us!" argued Miles hotly. "She's still sixteen, she's not even of age anyways, she'd never get away with anything! Guys vacation only."

"...You know that you guys can take your girlfriends too, right?" said Luke, and Miles and Eddie had grins on their faces."Bachelors, we're still young and we're in this together, mate," said Henry sympathetically, clapping Anthony on the back in solidarity.

(March 15, 2020).

"Oh, this is ridiculous!" groaned Thalia, kicking a rock into the water anger. They were hanging out by the Black Lake one last time, before they'd be sent home soon.

"I've literally never even heard of a Corona," frowned Lily.

"I think it's a type of beer," said Thalia, deep in thought. "Remember earlier this year, when I forced Luke to pay me fifty galleons in order to not tell Neville on him and his friends sneaking Corona beer in the Gryffindor common room? It was either that or let us have some."

The girls laughed heartily. He was with Elsie at the time, and they still remembered the horrified expression on the elder girl's face when the group of first-year girls innocently said 'can we have some?'

"Ah, yes, the way you get half your money!" commented Daniela, another Gryffindor first year girl.

"We can probably still hang out," suggested Maddie, the last of the group. "We just won't be at school...and they haven't said anything about our homework, soooo…"

There was a silence among them, before their devastated expressions turned into happy ones.

"I didn't think of it like that," grinned Thalia.

"Basically it'll be like an extra break!" exclaimed Lily in delight. "C'mon, we should probably get going!"

"Well, the letter said the kids should be coming in the afternoon, so any moment now," said Lina breathlessly, sitting on the couch. "Now, they probably don't know much as to what's going on with the virus yet, and I don't want you scaring them with your ridiculous paranoia. We'll do a family meeting tomorrow about how we are going to tackle this, and you need to be reasonable."

"Reasonable?" exclaimed Draco. "I am indeed being reasonable, the hospital is already having more patients than usual, flower!"

They were interrupted by the floo turning green. "I wonder who's first," said Lina cheerfully, heading towards the fireplace.

Scorpius was the first one, his trunk and owl in tow. "Scorp!" exclaimed Lina in delight.

"Mum!" he said happily, and the two hugged tightly. Then he moved to hug Draco. "First one here? Just me?" asked Scorpius, looking around at the house.

"Yes," said Lina, nodding. She looked around furtively, before she said, "It's so peaceful here right now. Okay. We need some wood, a hammer, and nails. We might be able to block Luke and Thalia-"

Scorpius and Draco laughed, before Scorpius decided to go upstairs to his room.

Just then, the floo turned green again, and it was Luke that walked through. "Lukie!" exclaimed Lina, hugging him, and then Draco hugged him as well.

"Right, so, now that we're on break, I'm going to go plan my coronacation to the Bahamas," he gave them a mischievous sort of grin, before he ran up the stairs.

"To where?"

"...To the Bahamas," he repeated more slowly, before he continued going up the stairs and into his room.

Lina had to physically restrain Draco from walking after him asking him why the hell he was planning a vacation. "No - not yet - Draco, no, it was his birthday yesterday - let him have today - for Merlin's sake!"

"He can't be going to the bloody Bahamas in the middle of a pandemic, flower! You know sometimes I question Luke's sanity, and then I remember who gave birth to him," retorted Draco.

The floo then turned green again, and Thalia skipped through it. "Hey!" she said cheerily. She hugged both her mum and her dad, before she took a step back. "So...break, huh? Because of beer?"

"No, no, Thals," said Draco quickly. "Coronavirus is actually a virus causing illness symptoms, and it has nothing to do with Corona beer."

"Oh, I thought it had to do with beer ever since I saw Luke sneaking in Corona beer," said Thalia innocently.

"He what?" asked Draco, an edge to his voice.

"He what?" repeated Thalia innocently, giving him a little giggle, before she went up the stairs. She started lugging her trunk up with difficulty. Lina went to assist her to her room, before she went back down.

"I can't believe he snuck Corona beer!" exclaimed Draco.

"I can't believe we're going to have to deal with the Luke-Thalia rivalry after months of a break," deadpanned Lina.

a/n: ...idk what goes on in my brain anymore? pls pls stay safe & hope this was somewhat enjoyable during the quarantine!

please r&r :)

-ana