Friday February 15th 2020:
Albus was sitting on his bed with his fingers fixed in between his strands of messy hair. It was going to be breakfast in the Great Hall in exactly eight minutes, which meant he would soon be around loud and obnoxious groups of people.
This would usually be the moment for Scorpius to act the hero and try to lift Albus' spirits, even if he was in a gloomy mood himself. He would try everything he knew, from telling jokes, making silly faces, scribbling some things for him to be grateful for, to basic compliments. Albus was subconsciously awaiting Scorpius to come save the day, but that moment did not seem to come.
What grabbed Albus' attention was the sound of sniffled and hitched breaths.
"Scorpius?"
Instead of replying, Scorpius only wept harder, failing to keep his falling tears under control.
Albus left the warm print crease from his bed and consoled the whimpering teen.
"Scorpius, what happened?
"Nothing," Scorpius lied.
"Come on. Don't give me that," Albus said, nudging the other's arm.
Scorpius' sobbing coming out as short and unstable sounding wheezes, he tried his best to say the upcoming words properly. "T-Today is F-F-February fifteenth."
"Yeah?"
"It's — my mum's — birthday!" Scorpius broke down amidst more uncontrolled respiration, with his hands burying his moist, red face within them.
"O-Oh," Albus said, feeling guilty that he would not know that. "I'm sorry."
Scorpius' crying prolonged, and Albus gently rubbed the other's back in a gentle up and down motion.
Albus suddenly just noticed that Scorpius' hands implied to be in a concealing form like he was holding onto something. He didn't bother questioning it to make his mate's condition any worse.
The door of the dormitory swung open, and Dominic rushed in. When he recovered a book from his bedside cabinet, he was about to leave until he saw the state of Scorpius. "Hey, is he okay?"
"Does he look okay?" Albus said dryly.
"What's wrong?"
"None of your business," Albus snapped again.
"A-Albus," Scorpius said, disapproving.
"Well, hope you feel better, Scorpius," Dominic said, thankfully not arguing back with Albus.
"T-Thanks."
Dominic bowed his head and left, book in hand.
Albus continued to comfort Scorpius until his tears started to settle. The paler Slytherin's hands opened up, finally revealing what was inside them; it was a vintage music box. The exterior was painted a gleaming gold, garnished with swirls of brass
Scorpius looked down at the box, his tears dripping on top of the golden lid. He lifted the lid back, allowing the mechanical silver birds to break free, gliding and lightly bobbing up and down in slow circles.
The blond's eyes slowly closed and his breathing turned slow and steady. He was at peace, and so was Albus. The tune sounded quite lilting, blending in perfect harmony accompanied by the bird's gentle tweets.
"That's a nice music box," Albus said.
"My mum played this for me since I was a baby," Scorpius said, his eyes still closed.
"Then why do you look so happy if it involves her?"
"The memories."
"Wish I had a music box like that."
Though Albus meant it as a minor complaint — nitpick even — Scorpius was irked by him saying such a thing. What gave him the right to whine about his life when both of his parents were alive and loved him? He still had a mother who could hold him, strong and healthy. A mother who could be there to support him for years to come. Why must Albus always prattle on about himself?
Scorpius' negative mindset got pushed to the side when he glanced over at Albus. Albus was still rubbing his back, not pressuring him to talk, even though he had been silent for well over a minute now.
"If someone comes along and judges you based on rumours and chooses not to be your friend because of it, they are not worth your time. A true friend would look past what they heard about you and still want to be with you no matter what. Your friend will see you for who you truly are." That's what Scorpius' mother told him, and he knew as soon as he met Albus that he was that friend. How could he have thought such negative things about him like that?
Scorpius finally broke the glum silence. "Thanks for comforting me, Albus."
"Why wouldn't I?" Albus said, patting Scorpius' back.
Albus side-glanced down at his watch, seeing just how much time has gone by. "Come on. Let's go get some breakfast. You might need it."
Albus' hand at last departed from Scorpius' back and he made his way out of their dorm, but slowly so Scorpius would catch up.
Scorpius securely pressed his music box against his chest and absorbed the sound of the last few seconds of music playing until it was over. Remembering that Albus was waiting for him, the blond slowly closed the lid and vigilantly hid it inside one of his robes' pockets as he met up with him.
XXX
Albus repeatedly glimpsed at the time, so frequently that it was more seconds that went by for him rather than minutes. Scorpius had been outside for nearly half an hour. He normally did not go out there without Albus, but he wanted to be alone. Albus understood the reason why, and he respected his wishes, but he was feeling a pit in his stomach. He needed to check up on him.
Albus' mind was set, so he hurried out of the castle and out into the grey and gloomy outdoors.
On the way out, Dylan and Roger passed by Albus, but going in the castle's direction, struggling to get free from McGonagall's clutches at the scruffs of their necks.
That was not a good sign. Albus raced outside into the cold February rain, his boots splashing along the slushy snow as he passed. His search brought him to a beech tree on the edge of the lake, where Scorpius was being hoisted up by the most unlikely person.
"Rose? What the bloody hell are you doing?" Albus demanded. He ignored her as soon as he acknowledged her and approached Scorpius. "Scorpius! Did Roger and Dylan just do that to you?"
"It doesn't matter," Scorpius groaned, wiping the trickles of blood away from the corner of his bruised lips.
"DOESN'T MATTER?" Albus shouted.
"I was around not long after it happened. I offered to bring him to Madam Pomfrey. Professor McGonagall is finally suspending those dolts," Rose explained.
"Good, now I'd appreciate it if you'd just leave. I don't think Scorpius needs someone like you around. I can take it from here," Albus said with a low and unfriendly tone.
"Someone like me? That's a little rude. Don't you think?" Rose said, gravely.
"I'm being rude? Are you kidding me?" Albus barked.
"I'm trying to help," Rose said, surprisingly calm despite Albus' temper.
"Yeah, one out of a thousand times isn't bad," Albus retorted. "Bet you're gonna get some good points for your house from doing this."
"You honestly think I'm doing this for house points?" Rose asked incredulously, her temper finally surfacing.
"Why else would you be doing this?" Albus argued.
Rose went so red in the face, it matched her hair.
"S-Stop it, you two," Scorpius said, weakly.
Ironically, Albus realised he was ignoring Scorpius' need for attention, and so he immediately hoisted Scorpius' by his free arm.
"If you're able to manage it, I'll leave, okay?" Rose said to Albus, bitterly.
"Please do," Albus said, glaring at her.
Rose carefully released Scorpius, removed her umbrella from his head, and then stormed off without saying goodbye.
"Scorpius! You look terrible!" the brunet said, bluntly, moving on from the Rose quarrel like it never happened. "How did this happen?"
"They beat me up," Scorpius said dryly.
"Hey! That's my tone you're using, and attitude!" Albus said. "I'm serious, Scorpius."
"I was sitting here - doing nothing really - and they started to pick on me. It was really easy for them, because I didn't care."
"Because of the grief over your mum," Albus stated, sympathetically
Scorpius teared up, his tears blending in with the falling drops of cold rain.
"You can't just let them abuse you like that, mate."
Scorpius shut his eyes tightly, the raindrops dripping down his eyelids. "It's just been... so hard. More than I thought it would be."
"I know. I've been feeling overwhelmed myself. I mean, being a Potter, failing my courses, everything. It's just —"
"That's not helping," Scorpius said as politely as he could.
"Sorry."
Nothing more needed to be said after that, all Albus could do was hold onto Scorpius protectively until they reached the hospital wing.
A/N: Man, the angst levels in these chapters so far are through the roof, aren't they? Well, fear not! For the next chapter will finally be... well... less angsty! The next chapter will be their fourth year, and dealing with a lot of change.
Many of you might be wondering why I made Rose briefly stay by Scorpius' side at the end of this chapter, and the reason being is simply because Rose had literally no redeeming qualities about her in "The Cursed Child", nor chemistry with Scorpius. So what I wanted to do was give her more of a caring mother side to her, and to show that although she is not very fond of Scorpius, she still wouldn't just leave him injured and not do anything about it. I will be diving more into her character for the next two chapters.
For this chapter specifically, I really am sorry about how long this took! But you know, sometimes life can interfere. I can't say for sure when the next chapter will be up, because I don't want to make promises I don't keep, but it shouldn't take nearly as long as this one did. Don't worry! I'm not giving up on this story, and for all of those dear fans who are enjoying this fanfic so far for what it is, all I can say is: I don't get it, but thank you so much!
Oh, and I just wanted to add that I made Hugo a Hufflepuff rather than a Gryffindor because I thought it would be a nice change. I also wanted to make sure to give him some character and interactions with Albus and Scorpius. You know ... something that "The Cursed Child" completely didn't do. Just like I did with James Sirius and Lily Luna.