Chapter 12
"James… Potter… bloody… fucking…. Goddamn" Elle gasped, fighting her way across the main hall, which had apparently lost its integrity overnight, and was now a similar elasticity to a powerful trampoline. It was impossible to walk straight across it, especially with the dozens of students trying to make their way to breakfast, not to mention the fact that Peeves was having an especially good time zooming around and bouncing with surprising force whenever a group of students were close to finding their footing. Elle had no doubt in her mind that Albus's older brother and his pals were behind this morning's chaos, but that wasn't the reason she was trying so desperately to get his attention.
Elle finally made it to the edge of the floor, and was just about to put her foot on the blessed solid ground of the staircase. "JA-" she started again, calling out to the boy who was standing a few paces up, happily watching his handiwork come to fruition, surrounded by a group of similarly aged Gryffindors. Before Elle could get the whole name out however, Peeves landed directly behind her with a loud "WHEEEEE" and suddenly Elle was air born. "JA-AAGH" was the sound that came out of Elle's mouth, as she landed just two steps down from where the older boy was standing with a loud (and painful) thump.
Elle got up, gingerly rubbing the extremely sore section of her tailbone that had made contact with the stone staircase. "James Potter" she managed to squeak out, blinking back tears. She heard a loud snort and looked up to make eye contact with Imogen Davies. James was looking at Elle as well, but the friendly greeting she was used to in the kitchens was nowhere to be found on his face. "I… uh… need to talk to you." Elle said, blushing furiously. "What could a second year possibly have to say to you, Jamie" Imogen laughed, tossing her hair over her shoulder. James looked uncomfortable, but shrugged.
Elle was immediately incensed. "I'm trying to help you, you prat" Elle spat out, now sorry she'd even bothered. James stuck his hands deep in his pocket, slouching. "I don't think there's much you can help me with" he said, a touch of sarcasm in his voice, which was met with a few giggles from the kids around him. "Hey Daffyd?" he asked, quickly looking away from Elle, who was fighting back embarrassed tears. "do you know what I fancy right now?" "What?" the other boy asked eagerly, the ghost of a smile already playing on his lips. "Any ideas Arturo?" James prompted the boy on his left. "Haven't the faintest" the other boy replied, his voice a posh drawl. "I think I want a spot of breakfast. I think we should head out now, in case we miss the pudding." "There isn't pudding with breakfast" Imogen said confusedly. "Really?" Asked James, with a fake air of incredulity. "I could've sworn I heard there'd be some pudding."
The three boys started snickering at that, and promptly headed off towards the great hall, Imogen and the others trailing behind, still looking confused. Elle was so close to letting them go, she was so angry over the way that James had treated her, but the image in her mind, of Albus' shaking hands as he held the parchment in front of her was enough to force her to try once more. "He knows" Elle called out, and Elle saw James pause almost imperceptibly. "He knows about your gift" Elle said through gritted teeth. Elle could see the muscles in James' back tense, saw his foot hover over the next steps for just a second longer than it should've. She nodded to herself. Her message had been heard.
Elle watched as James reached the base of the stairs, and stole a look back towards her while his friends were distracted by the trampoline. Elle saw the pain in his eyes, but didn't blink to wipe the disgust out of hers. She shook her head at him before turning away, heading towards the hospital wing, limping. Her tailbone really did hurt.
It only took another forty minutes for Elle to understand James' odd statements about pudding. She had just reached the stairs back to the great hall, grateful for the pain potion Healer Henwick had given her, when the clock struck an even nine. Many of the students had started to embrace the trampoline-like floor of the great entrance, and she saw many of them bouncing around more for fun than to make their way across. As soon as the clock struck nine however, the floor of the hall had a sudden change in consistency.
From Elle's high vantage point, she saw the stone of the great hall take on a sudden sheen, and all the students that had been in the air at the time of the clock chime were suddenly landing waist deep in the stone floor with loud splats. The hall had changed from trampoline to pudding. The professors who had been standing to the sides, ordering students out of the way and trying to set the floor back to normal put their hands up in exasperation.
Elle watched as one of the older students scooped up some of the viscous floor, and lobbed it at a nearby friend. In minutes, the air was a wash of grey as there was the oddest sort of food (or floor? Elle thought, genuinely unsure) fight in full swing. Elle watched with some amusement for the next ten minutes, until a fuming Professor McGonagall arrived on scene, with an out of breath Flitwick at her heels. The two had the floor back to its normal state of matter in minutes. James, Arturo, and Daffyd followed McGonagall before she even called them to her. They seemed unperturbed by their imminent punishments, Daffyd still shaking small flecks of stone out of his sleeves, where they flew to snap back into their place with surprising speed. Elle shook her head, but caught herself before she could chuckle. The cold shoulder she'd received from James was still fresh in her mind.
She hadn't seen Albus all morning.
Albus had decided that he actually felt quite calm, all things considered. Sure, his father had given his brother a priceless gift, and hadn't so much as given Albus a heads up, but he was really quite unbothered. Yes, his brother had kept the invisibility cloak completely secret from him, and had been traipsing around the castle all year without so much as a guilty glance his way, but really it didn't matter at all. Yes, Albus decided. He was calm, cool, and collected.
Albus tried to stretch his legs out an inch from his chest, but found there was no more room, his knees grinding into solid stone. Maybe he had grown a little bit since last year, he had to begrudgingly admit. He couldn't remember being this uncomfortable when he had been staking out Scorpius and his midnight disappearances with the cursed book.
His plan was quite simple, really. He would hide out until the train to Hogsmeade departed, and then head straight to the owlery, where he would write a firm, but not emotional, letter informing his parents that he would not be returning home for Christmas, and requesting that he begin to spend his summers with Scorpius in Northern England. If his parents protested, he would explain to them simply that they had made their choice when they had given James the cloak, and that he was simply following through with the logical progression of events. He really was being very logical about it all, he thought proudly.
Albus tried to ignore the growing discomfort in his twisted spine as he crouched in the small hidey hole behind the dungeon tapestry. His stomach growled unhelpfully, reminding him that he'd skipped breakfast, having formulated his plan in the early hours of the morning and having left the Slytherin common room at dawn, Scorpius still sleeping soundly in his bed, lest he try and talk Albus out of it.
The injustice of it all arose like bile in his throat, and not for the first time this morning Albus had to bite back a shaking sob. He would not cry about this! He would swallow his pain until it could hatch and wean and grow to rage. He knew that if he let himself, he could learn to love to hate.
Albus was shaken from his brooding with a sudden flash of blinding light. He squinted, covering his eyes as familiar hands pulled him roughly out of his hiding spot. Albus unfolded like an accordion, and he couldn't help but feel his spine sigh in relief. "Are you mad!" He heard a voice cry out. Strain and panic always brought out the properness in his accent, which Albus thought ironic. He blinked rapidly, the blurry figure in front of him coming into focus as his eyes adjusted to the light. "Leave me alone Scorpius, you don't understand." Scorpius ignored Albus, pulling him to his feet. Salt eyes concernedly searched for green, who avoided his gaze.
"I know you're upset Albus, but the Hogwarts express leaves in less than fifteen minutes, and we need to be on that train." Albus shook his head vehemently. "Go, Scorpius. I'm not coming home for Christmas this year." "Do you really think that the train leaves without making sure that everyone who's supposed to be on it is? There's a charm on the car doors that takes attendance you ninny. Either you come with me now, or you explain to the Professors who find you later why you've delayed the entire train for an hour."
A sinking feeling in his chest, Albus allowed Scorpius to drag him outside, where Isidre was standing a meter in front of the last carriage, seemingly petting and whispering to thin air. Elle was hanging half out of the door, waving desperately at the two approaching figures. Albus was so embarrassed he thought his brain might shut down. He can't believe he'd considered his plan foolproof only minutes ago. Scorpius and Albus crashed into the doors and Isidre followed them seconds after, the wheels of the carriage already starting to turn.
"Bloody hell" Elle said, helping the three boys to their seats. Albus only nodded in thanks, sinking into the corner of the carriage. "Rose and the others left a few minutes ago, hopefully they can find an empty carriage on the train" Elle continued. Albus didn't acknowledge her, only crossing his arms over his chest. Scorpius answered for him "brilliant. Thank you for waiting." Elle and Isidre both nodded. "It was nothing" Elle said, and Albus could feel her eyes on his head from where he stared at the floor.
Albus successfully brooded the first half of the trip back to King's Cross, finding solace in the dingy corner of the carriage. Scorpius sat beside him, and tried his best to redirect Rose's attention from his tardiness, which he did successfully by asking Sam about the great entrance prank. The conversation was soon dominated by his older brother's newest scheme, which Albus listened to with venomous thoughts. "I can't believe you missed it all" Isidre said to Scorpius, being the last to share his perspective on the events of the morning. "Yeah, well Albus was the one to remind me of that potions essay that was overdue. If we hadn't been working on it all morning, I never would have been able to hand it in for even part marks. I'm glad I ran into Elle while we were looking for Professor Gladwell, or we never would have made the last carriage to the train." Elle nodded at this, and Albus brightened a little bit. So not everyone knew that he'd been hiding on purpose. That was something, at least.
The sun was hanging low in the sky by the time James Potter made his way to Albus's carriage, sliding the door open quietly. Elle and Ruth were sleeping, head stacked on either side of Rose's shoulders, who was also dozing, her head still bowed towards the open library book on her lap. "Can I-" James started, before Albus cut him off with a cold "No." Isidre, Sam, and Scorpius looked up from their card game. Scorpius seemed to square his shoulders, as if trying to hide Albus behind his thin frame. "Albus" James said, a hundred unsaid words dragging down each syllable. "I have nothing to say to you" Albus replied through gritted teeth.
James opened his mouth to speak again, but this time Scorpius cut him off. "You should leave." Scorpius said. James looked to the other faces in the cabin, and saw that Sam and Isidre were nodding, despite them not having a clue what any of this was about. James' shoulders slumped, and he shut the door quietly again. Albus loosened the jaw he hadn't even been aware he'd been clenching. "Want us to deal you in?" Sam asked, shuffling. "It's a muggle deck, so it won't explode and wake the girls. I'm teaching them how to play Crazy 8s" Sam said brightly. Albus wanted to say no, but he remembered how they had just backed him up a moment ago, no questions asked, and nodded instead.
Before Albus knew it, the train was slowing down as it pulled into platform nine and three quarters. Isidre placed the final card in his hand onto the pile, matching to a three, and raised his fist in triumph. The girls started to stir, and Elle stood up, stretching her back like cat, and reaching up to check on her actual cat, who was meowing loudly from its carrier. Rose rubbed her eyes sleepily, and slowly the group of students filed out of the train carriage. Albus stayed behind, and Scorpius fell back, noticing his lingering.
"Write to me as soon as you are home" Scorpius said. "If you feel like it, you can even explain to me why you were hiding behind that ratty tapestry of Yaroslav the Yodeler." "You mean Elle didn't tell you?" Albus asked, confused. "I did run into Elle while looking for you, she seemed to have an idea that you might not be going to the trains as well, but she didn't have time to give me the details. I told her to go out and stall one of the carriages before it was too late. I'd already been looking for you all morning at that point, so I had a better idea of where you definitely weren't" Scorpius said. "How" was all Albus could ask in his surprise. Scorpius just shrugged. "You were really upset when you came in last night, you were gone in the morning, well before you'd usually wake up for breakfast. I noticed, that's all." Albus nodded, unable to express his gratitude. He rested a hand on Scorpius' shoulder, hoping the gesture would convey enough. Scorpius smiled. "Come on" he said, pushing open the carriage doors. "Christmas presents are only a few days away."