Lily's stomach dropped. She felt as though she were being sucked into a dark, ice-cold whirlpool. The falling sensation continued as she plummeted through what looked to be jet-black cloud, until suddenly everything went still and she found herself standing back in Raleigh's office.
Lily's skin prickled with nerves. This office was the last place that she wanted to be; if possible she had never wanted to set foot in here again.
'You don't understand Sir- that wasn't me! That wasn't what I intended to do. None of it was!' Albus's distraught voice sounded from beside Lily causing her to jolt in surprise.
He was sitting in the same armchair which she had seen him sit in that morning. Except that this Albus appeared to be younger. His hair was somewhat shorter, in the same style he had kept it during Lily's second year at Hogwarts.
'What are you suggesting Albus?'
Lily felt a shiver go down her spine at the sound of Raleigh's voice. He sat at his desk, in his royal red robes, staring at Albus with a distinct look of displeasure.
'I'm saying someone made me do it, Sir. I would never hurt my sister like that-' Albus's voice rose urgently.
'It seemed to me like you did though didn't you?' Raleigh responded with eery calm. 'I understand Albus, it was an high stakes duel. Should you have won, you would have been allowed you to go on to represent Hogwarts at the inter school dueling championship. Things got out of hand-'
'No, no, no' Albus put his head in his hands. 'You're not listening to me. That wasn't me! Someone made me do that. Someone must have used the imperius curse on me-'
Raleigh chuckled. He put a hand over his mouth as though he had been trying to hold back his mirth but now it had escaped him. Albus fell silent and looked up at him with confusion.
'Sir?'
'I do admire your innocence Albus, your loyalty…' the Professor said, picking up his wand and getting up out of his chair. He was still grinning.
'What do you mean Sir?' Albus asked, his expression now twitching nervously.
Without a word, Raleigh sent a spell out of his wand directly at Albus's chest. It was the same white jet of sparkling light that he had used on Scorpius, and just as Scorpius had, Albus went limp. His eyes closed and he slumped back in the chair, unmoving.
'I meant that it's nice that you seem unable to suspect that I would ever do such a thing' Raleigh muttered as he closed in on Albus. He pointed his wand to his temple and began to extract memories from him, humming along as he did so.
Lily clenched her jaw. She wanted to walk over and scream at the man. To hurt him for hurting her brother. But she knew it would have no affect. It was too late. This had all already happened.
Once again, just as he had that morning, Raleigh took out a vial of black potion and placed one of the memories inside. He swirled the vial three times before retrieving the silvery thread and returning it to it's jar. Then he levitated the black potion through the air sending into Albus's temple.
It was a false memory, Lily thought glumly. The black potion must have been used to manufacture a new memory of Albus's experience during their duel in second year. That was why he had never thought to apologize to her; the way he remembered it he had never done anything wrong.
Suddenly the room before Lily began to swirl and fade. She found herself falling once again through the great dark cloud.
'What have you made me do? What is this Sir?' Albus could be hear yelling from somewhere below.
Then suddenly everything was light again and she had regained her balance. Albus was standing at the centre of a very elaborately decorated bedroom, holding out a small velvet jewelry bag. Lily recognized the furnishings as being similar to those of the room she had stayed in during the dueling tournament at Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. Looking quickly around she saw that Raleigh's trunk had been placed at the end of a large bed. This must be the chambers that had been assigned to him.
The Professor himself stood facing Albus at the other end of the room.
'What you've done for me Albus is something that will benefit all of witch and wizard kind' Raleigh responded with glee. 'I'd love to explain it all to you one day, the reason why the Anguis require this stone, but you see, it would be a waste of time considering what I'm about to do next…'
'S-Stealing from the Head of the International Confederation of Wizards- I'll be sent to Azkaban Sir! I'll never be an Auror, I'll never be anything!' Albus's face contorted into an expression of utter panic and distress.
'Come now, no one needs to know about this- least of all you' Raleigh already had his wand out and pointed at Albus. Lily couldn't watch. She knew what was coming.
As Lily turned her back on the scene in front of her, the great swirl of black cloud swept into the room and everything fell into darkness again.
Then, within a few moments, the cloud dissipated and she found herself in another Bauxbatons' room; this time one that she recognized. It was the red and gold, silk lined room that Albus and Scorpius had stayed in during the tournament.
Lily caught sight of Scorpius's white blond hair over by the large four-poster bed at the centre of the room. She felt an instinctive desire to run over and hug him, to ask him if he was okay. But she knew that would be silly. This wasn't the Scorpius who had been attacked by Raleigh that morning. This was simply Albus's memory of a younger Scorpius, and he wouldn't be able to see or respond to her.
The Scorpius of Albus's memory was kneeled on the marble ground, bent over an open trunk at the end of Albus's bed. He was hurriedly pushing objects inside it around in search of something.
Then all of a sudden Scorpius's arm stopped moving and he stared down in confusion. Lifting his hand slowly up, he tried to get a closer look at whatever it was that had startled him.
Lily walked forward. Looking over Scorpius's shoulder, she could see that his fingers held the corner of what appeared to be a page torn from a quidditch magazine.
She felt her face morph into the same surprised expression that he had on his.
The moving photograph splashed across the page depicted a shirtless quidditch player, dabbing at his sweat covered body with a towel. Lily recognized the player as Ireland's seeker, Aidan Lynch. Albus had mentioned Lynch on more than one occasion as an example of a player who he admired, but Lily had always felt that this was odd considering Lynch was a rather average player who often crashed his broom.
'What do you think you're doing Malfoy?' an angry voice sounded from the doorway. Lily whipped around in surprise to see Albus crossing the room with urgent strides, his face pale and hard.
Walking straight through Lily, he snatched the magazine page from Scorpius's grip before scrunching it up and tossing it back into the trunk. Scorpius took a step back, looking sincerely apologetic as Albus reached past him and slammed the trunk shut.
'I was looking for my pocket watch- it's sort of valuable and I've lost it' Scorpius explained hurriedly. 'I thought maybe I'd left it inside those robes you lent me for the ball…'
There was a tense silence as Albus stood with his back to Scorpius, breathing heavily, his hands curled into fists by his side.
'You're not to tell anyone about this' Albus's furious voice broke a little as he spoke.
Scorpius opened his mouth and closed it again as though unsure of how to respond. His eyes were darting from side to side as though trying to process what had just happened.
'There's nothing to tell anyone about… and even if there were I wouldn't' Scorpius responded carefully.
Albus let out a sigh and put a hand to his forehead. He still had his back to Scorpius, who was shuffling his feet forward and back as though unsure of whether he should leave.
Eventually Scorpius seemed to decide that he had more to say to Albus. He took a step towards him and reached a hand out as though he wanted to put it on Albus's shoulder in comfort. Instead Scorpius let his hand remain outstretched for a moment before quickly retracting it. Then he cleared his throat hesitantly.
'There's nothing to be ashamed of you know-' Scorpius said quietly.
'JUST LEAVE ME ALONE MALFOY!' Albus roared. He turned his head slightly to shoot a dark look at Scorpius. Lily could see that despite the resentment in his eyes his cheeks were flushed in embarrassment.
'Okay… sorry' Scorpius put his palms up to signal he didn't want a fight. Then he took a deep breath and turned to leave. But as he reached the door he turned around again.
'You might think you're the only one like that at Hogwarts but you aren't. I just thought you should know' Scorpius told him gently before disappearing.
Albus turned around just as the door clicked shut. His features softened and he blinked a few times in surprise.
Lily let out the breath she had been holding. She knew that Scorpius was referring to Lysander, but wasn't so sure that that was how Albus had interpreted his words.
'Wait, Malfoy-' Albus called out through the closed door.
It opened up and Scorpius stepped inside again, watching Albus's expression carefully.
'Look-' Albus crossed his arms awkwardly, 'I'm sorry about what I said this morning about your father. That was, that was really out of line and I'm sorry'
Scorpius nodded, still watching Albus closely.
'I'm sorry I went through your trunk without asking…' he said with an embarrassed grimace.
Albus snorted and looked at the ceiling for a moment as he considered how to respond.
'Yeah okay' he said eventually, still sounding a little peeved. Then he turned around to open up his trunk again. 'Just hold on a sec'
Scorpius let out a sigh and stuck his hands into his pockets as Albus retrieved the robes he had lent Scorpius. He stuck his hands into all the pockets in search of Scorpius's pocket watch, but came up with nothing.
'Yeah it's not here…' Albus confirmed, turning back to Scorpius. 'Maybe you dropped it in the tent down at the amphitheater…'
'Right. Thanks, I'll have a look down there later' Scorpius responded, shuffling his feet awkwardly.
There was another long silence as Albus folded and returned the robes to his trunk and Scorpius fidgeted about.
'So you… you haven't told anyone?' Scorpius asked quietly, watching Albus for signs of annoyance. 'Not even your family?'
Rather than getting defensive again, Albus's shoulders slackened.
'Nope. Not my family, not Thomas, not anyone' he muttered, looking at the ground in front of him.
'It's just, you know, your sister seems pretty er… nice and all that. She seems like an accepting kind of person so…' Scorpius said self-consciously.
'What would your family say if you told them something like that?' Albus wanted to know. He turned to look up at Scorpius's face.
'Ah well my grandfather would probably blast my name off the family tree' Scorpius winced apologetically. 'And I don't know what my father would do… probably pretend I hadn't said anything I don't know…'
Albus snorted and shook his head. Scorpius looked relieved to see his face break into a smile.
'But I get the feeling that your family is kind of different from mine, so I just thought…' Scorpius went on hesitantly.
Albus shook his head and shot Scorpius a resolute expression.
'I just don't want anyone to know okay?' he said firmly.
Scorpius quickly nodded.
'Okay'
The dark cloud once again swirled around Lily obscuring her vision. Suddenly the red and gold room was gone and she was falling again.
When she landed, this time she found herself standing in a much darker room. The sound of sobbing reverberated off tiled walls. Albus stood with his hands clasping a sink in front of him, his head lowered. Lily could see that his shoulders, which were shaking, were broader than the younger Albus from the previous memory, and he looked to have grown a few inches taller.
His fringe was dripping as though he had splashed his face with water. Slowly, he raised his face to peer at his reflection in the mirror before him. Lily could now see why he had attempted to cool his face with cold water; his eyes were puffy and red, his cheeks tear-stained and flushed. Lily felt her heart clench painfully. She had never seen Albus like this.
'Albus?' Scorpius's hesitant voice sounded from behind Lily. She turned around to see him standing behind her, looking at Albus's reflection in the mirror with concern.
Albus lowered his face again and his shoulders began to shake even more violently than before. Great, heart-wrenching sobs escaped his throat and he seemed to loose himself completely in his misery.
Scorpius strode quickly across the room and put a hand on his shoulder.
'Albus?' He spoked more firmly now. 'Albus, what's wrong? What's happened?'
Very slowly, Lily's brother turned around to face Scorpius, his face still lowered.
'I don't know…' he whispered between sobs.
'What do you mean you don't know?' Scorpius asked. His tone was gentle but Lily could see the urgency in his eyes.
'I just get like this sometimes…' Albus breathed. He turned away from Scorpius and walked towards the tiled wall behind him as though embarrassed by his own pitiful state. Scorpius followed him, putting his hand on his shoulder again.
'I just get this sudden feeling that something awful has happened, even though it hasn't' Albus gasped. He lent his forehead against one of the tiles and continued to sob into the wall. 'I don't know what's wrong with me'
Scorpius let out a deep breath, his eyes were darting around as he tried to think of what to do. Albus didn't appear to be waiting for an answer; he continued to curl himself up against the wall, getting smaller and smaller.
'There's nothing wrong with you' Scorpius said quietly.
Albus froze. Then he turned suddenly around. He lifted his head slightly to look through his wet fringe at Scorpius. His sobs had subsided but tears still trickled down his cheeks. He looked into Scorpius's eyes as though trying to read him before he broke down again and his face crumpled into an expression of anguish. His entire body lurched forwards as though he were about to feint.
Without hesitating Scorpius put his arms around Albus, encircling him in a hug. He patted him on the back, repeating 'you're alright, you're alright' as though it were a mantra for several long minutes as Albus heaved sobs into his shoulder.
Even when Albus's throat grew hoarse and he began to quieten, Scorpius's voice could still be heard clearly echoing around the room; 'It's alright, you're alright…'
Then it happened, Albus silently lifted his head to look into Scorpius's amber eyes. Scorpius's voice trailed off as he stared back. His eyebrows furrowed into a puzzled expression just as Albus lent forward. Albus eyes closed as he pushed his lips firmly against Scorpius's in a fervent kiss and he lifted his hands to cup Scorpius's face. But before his fingertips could reach his jawline, the blonde haired boy had jerked his head backwards in surprise.
Albus froze. Scorpius dropped his arms and took a few steps backwards, his face white.
'I'm sorry' Scorpius said quickly. 'I can't- it's not you, it's just that I don't-'
Albus still didn't move an inch. His face had lost all semblance of emotion, sad or otherwise, and he just stood staring blankly at Scorpius.
'I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong impression' Scorpius continued in a fluster. 'But I don't… I'm not… I mean- I'm in love with a witch so…'
'But you said you were like me' Albus swallowed, his emerald eyes clouding over.
'What? When did I…?' Scorpius looked agitated as he tried to brush his fringe out of his eyes.
'You said I wasn't the only one at Hogwarts like me, so I thought that you…' Albus took a step backwards. He couldn't meet Scorpius's eyes.
Scorpius's eyes widened with realization and he looked as though he wanted to hit himself.
'Merlin, I'm so sorry, I can see now how it probably sounded that way but I was talking about a friend of mine…' the words tumbled out of his mouth with urgency.
'But you don't have any friends' Albus said without the slightest hint of mockery or malice. He seemed genuinely confused.
Scorpius shut his eyes and let out a sigh.
'Yes it does appear that way but-'
'So then you weren't talking about me…' Albus cut across him. He put a hand to his forehead and turned around to face the wall again. 'I'm such an idiot…'
'Talking about you when?' Scorpius asked with dread.
Albus took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling. He looked as though he wished he could disapparate away.
'That time at the Three Broomsticks with Celeste… you said you didn't want the person you liked getting the wrong impression, so I thought… Merlin, I actually thought…'
Scorpius put his face in his hands and sighed. Then he looked back up at Albus apologetically.
'Yes I can see now how you would think that's what I meant…'
Albus was looking at the ground. He had his arms folded and was tapping his foot on the tiles in an agitated manner as though he couldn't quite figure out what to do next.
'I'm sorry Albus' Scorpius repeated. He took a step towards the dark haired boy, but Albus dodged him and headed for the door.
'Let's just- let's just forget about this okay?' He turned to say before throwing his hands into his pockets and storming clumsily away.
'Albus, wait-' Scorpius called out.
'Later. I'm not in the right frame of mind for this' Albus muttered as he closed the door behind him.
Lily stood next to Scorpius, her face just as pale as his, her heart beating just as hard, as the black fog crept into the room and everything began to fade.
A/N: This chapter was so hard to write... I hope I did it justice... Also I feel like I'm going to make so many Scorbus fans sad with this lol (I like Scorbus too just not so much as Scorily...). Anyways, comments, feedback is much appreciated! xox
