All my stories have been translated from German to English. Since English is not my native language, translation errors may occur. But I hope that they are not too serious. If you notice any, feel free to tell me.
Have fun!
xXx
The wind was blowing strongly that day and the clouds were brewing into a massive thunderstorm. It was just after school and all the students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry rushed out of their classrooms.
"Come on, Rose! We still have some of our free time left! So don't dawdle!" shouted a third-year student, who was laughing as he ran down the hallway to get out of the castle as quickly as possible and breathe the fresh wind into his lungs.
"I'm just not as fast as you, Albus!" the young girl with the striking Weasley red hair reprimanded him. She propped her hands on her knees, panting, and tried to catch her breath properly again. She had to admit to herself, sports wasn't really her thing. The brain stuff suited her a lot better.
"Oh come on, you're at least as keen to try out the Patronus!" shouted Albus and ran on towards the forbidden forest. A moment ago they had Defense Against the Dark Arts and their teacher was teaching them the Patronus spell, only in theory, of course. The practice would be some time coming, which didn't mean that the students couldn't try it out anyway. After all, nothing was forbidden to them.
"Albus!" was all Rose could say in reply. And she knew it would do no good to waste her breath screaming any longer. Albus was very knowledgeable about Defense Against the Dark Arts. Like his father, he was -of course with Rose- one of the best in their class. It was his thing, and no one could fool him. Of course, it also meant that Albus had to try out every new spell he learned. And this time, Albus had chosen the whipping willow as his training ground. It was located at the edge of the forbidden forest and thus far enough away from the castle to be undisturbed.
When they finally arrived, Albus was also completely out of breath but still full of vigor. Sometimes Rose wondered about how willingly Albus crammed for this subject and totally let others slide - like Potions, for example.
"Okay, let's get started," Albus said when he had finally caught his breath and Rose had also found her seat next to him. Albus picked out his notes from the last lesson. They were probably his only notes he had. Unlike Rose, he didn't write down every single word from class.
Albus read through the notes again briefly and then positioned himself. He pulled out his wand and aimed it at the whipping willow, just in case. After all, he knew all too well that no matter how harmless a spell seemed, it could cause enormous damage with incorrect use. Anticipation flooded the boy's small body and his hand almost began to tremble, which he was still able to suppress. He closed his eyes and thought.
'A happy memory,' Albus thought. But what was a happy memory? Which one could possibly be strong enough for that?
Highly concentrated, Albus just stood there for a moment. And without opening his eyes, his body tensed and he spoke the words that summoned the Patronus.
"Expecto Patronum!" And then happened - nothing. Not even a bluish mist could be seen. Which meant he wasn't even close to summoning a Patronus. He slowly lowered his arm. This was more than disappointing to Albus. He had been so sure, after all. It had been the happiest memory he had. So why hadn't it worked?
"What were you thinking about?" asked Rose as she took a few steps towards him. She had kept a safe distance from him before and watched it all quietly.
"Of the first day at Hogwarts. The moment the talking hat brought me to Gryffindor. But I guess that wasn't enough" - Albus looked at his wand depressedly. Yet he had been so sure that it would work. It was his happiest memory. Especially because he had been so afraid of coming to Slytherin before. But what had he expected? At thirteen, it wasn't easy to already be able to define what the happiest moment was. His life was still far too short for that, and unlike his father's memories when he was his age, Albus' memories seemed insignificant. How could he even expect it to work the first time?
"Maybe you weren't focused enough?", Rose tried to cheer him up and put her hand on his shoulder. Rose decided not to try it herself for couldn't bear to make Albus even more miserable, should she succeed in front of him. She knew how much it meant to Albus. He had heard many stories about the Patronus. Many about how it had saved his father's life one time or another. And now he was totally excited for the form of his own patronus.
"Yeah, maybe," Albus said, not entirely convinced, but then took a quick breath to try again. Just as he raised his wand and aimed it at the whipping willow again, something caught his eye.
"What's that?" asked Albus, probably more to himself, since Rose hadn't been able to understand him through the distance. Albus lowered his wand again and took a few steps in the direction of the object he had just spotted.
"Albus? What's wrong?" asked Rose now, who hadn't quite understood the whole thing yet. But when she didn't get an answer, she looked for the spot her best friend was fixing with his green eyes. And then she saw it too.
"Is that a ribbon?" she asked, tilting her head, her long ponytail bobbing along and falling off her shoulder.
There, tied around the whipping willow was a ribbon. A red and green braided ribbon. And instantly Rose thought of the Gryffindor and Slytherin house colors, matching tone for tone.
That bold red with a hint of orange and that dark green that immediately made you think of the skin of a tree python.
"I'll have to check that out," Albus said already, walking on towards the willow as if pushed by some instinct.
"Albus don't! If you get too close to it, it'll-" Rose was still trying to warn the young Gryffindor, but by then it was too late. A whip of the willow, came crashing toward Albus, flinging him several feet away from it.
"-hitting around," Rose finished her sentence anyway, and ran toward her best friend.
"Did something happen to you?" she asked worriedly, immediately checking him for wounds. But Albus quickly stopped her and took her hands in his. Sometimes Rose really was far too caring.
"Rose, it's all right. I'm just a little nauseous from the impact, but I'm not hurt" - Relieved, Rose exhaled, still kneeling next to her best friend. He was lying on his back, trying to catch his breath. That had been a violent blow, he would have to recover from it first.
But he didn't have time for that. While Albus was staring up at the sky, it began to rain like cats and dogs. With a quick "Let's get out of here," he got up and dragged Rose along with him. If the girl caught a cold here, though, her father would whistle at him for letting that happen as her best friend. Even if Rose didn't need to be protected, because she was quite capable of protecting herself, his father seemed to demand it of him. As a best friend. So let's get out of here.
But no matter how much they hurried, they arrived at the castle completely soaked. There already stood janitor Filch and eyed them scowling, but said nothing.
"That guy still gives me the creeps," Rose whispered to the Gryffindor and climbed the stairs to go to their common room. They walked together into the highest tower at Hogwarts and then stopped in front of a painting. Already out of habit, Albus covered his ears and waited until the password was spoken and the painting swung open to the side. It finally did, revealing the Ravenclaw common room to them. Because nothing else was Rose. Unlike her entire family, she didn't go to Gryffindor. And still she didn't know if that should make her sad, because actually she was very happy in Ravenclaw. She wasn't the nerd here, but a normal girl who just had a very high IQ. And the talking hat had also given her a good talking to back then.
"The war is over and you are just as smart as you are brave, that should be encouraged".
With that, Rose had agreed and had walked over to the Ravenclaw table with a smile. And yes, it was true. She was in no way inferior to Albus when it came to courage, but the war was over. There was no reason for her to go to Gryffindor, and she was very much at home in Ravenclaw. Albus had been sad not to be in the same house with his best friend, but that didn't stop them from spending every free minute together. And luckily, Albus was allowed to stay in the Ravenclaws' common room.
"I think we should dry off and sit by the fireplace first," Rose suggested, already pulling out her wand to dry them both off. Then they walked towards the fireplace where they saw a very familiar person sitting on the big sofa, not to be expected otherwise with a huge tome in his hand.
"Hey Scorpius, what are you reading?" asked Albus, dropping heavily onto the sofa next to the blond.
"Gregor potion. We'll be working on that one in Potions soon," he replied, not looking up from the book. That didn't bother Albus at all, after all, he wasn't used to it from him any other way. Scorpius, as was well known, preferred to hide in Potions books. For reasons unknown to Albus, he had a strong fascination with this subject and read almost every book on it.
It was strange. Albus had always imagined a Malfoy differently, especially after the stories of his uncle Ron, who always spoke badly of the Malfoy family. Which he could somehow understand. Because if what he had told them was true, then Scorpius' grandparents were devious Death Eaters. And his father? Albus was very conflicted about that. Somehow he felt slight disgust when he thought about what this man had done. And at the same time he had listened to his own father telling him how hard Draco Malfoy actually had it. And that such people only become what their parents make them. And Harry Potter had always been of the opinion that Draco Malfoy was basically not a bad person. Thinking back, Albus had never heard his father speak badly of the Malfoys, unlike his Uncle Ron, who liked nothing better than to badmouth that family.
All in all, Scorpius didn't fit the image he previously had of a Malfoy at all. He always thought they were conceited and rich purebloods who thought everyone else was dirt, and of course they all came to Slytherin. That's why it was such a shock to everyone when the talking hat suddenly spoke the word Ravenclaw. The Great Hall had never been dominated by so much silence as it was at that moment. It was clear to everyone that he was a Malfoy, the son of a Death Eater. And that someone like that came to Ravenclaw, of all places, was very- shocking. But the talking hat had reasoned that out as well.
"It is time for changes. We shouldn't hold on to old habits. And you are the perfect first step. You are different from your ancestors."
But despite these words, Scorpius was not really welcome in Ravenclaw. No one planned to talk to him at first, because they all felt that he didn't belong with them. Of course, Scorpius didn't let on that this bothered him. He was an eleven-year-old boy trying to make friends at school. And then suddenly there had been Albus. He had just sat down next to him at dinner and brought Rose right along with him. They had become friends against all expectations. Albus had gotten to know a Malfoy from a different side and had to realize that he wasn't as mean and nasty as everyone thought.
Of course, after some time Albus had asked him if the rumors about his family were true and they were all confirmed to him. Even the fact that his father had been a real pain in the ass when he was at school. But Scorpius also stressed that it was for this very reason that his father had given him a very different upbringing than he had enjoyed. Draco Malfoy was convinced that his son could be a better wizard, a better person than he was.
And that he was more than proud of his son was proven by his reaction to Scorpius' house assignment. While Astoria was furious cursing and saying again and again that they should have sent him to Durmstrang, Draco was silent. All he did was hug his son. Never in his life had Draco been more relieved than at that moment and it showed him that his son was not like him. He was not a bad person.
And now after three years, Scorpius had finally arrived too. Times had changed. He had been able to make a few friends, but nothing beat Albus and Rose. And especially in Rose he had found a great challenge. Beating her in a test was a difficult task, even for Scorpius. He had to admit to himself, Rose was simply unbeatable.
"Oh. Then maybe I should take a look at that one too," Rose reasoned, sitting down next to Albus.
"Don't worry about that one. It' s really nothing special" - "You say that every time, so I won't worry about it and then totally crap out anyway," Albus grumbled at Scorpius' words, which only made the latter grin. But not a normal grin. It was this very special grin that Albus immediately identified as the typical Malfoy grin. It had a hint of arrogance and Albus had to admit to himself, somehow it suited Scorpius, if not this Ravenclaw-blue one did.
"Well, you suck at potions. When I say that, I'm just referring to Rose," the blond was still grinning, running his fingers through his hair, which immediately started to stick out in all directions. But they were just the right length not to make him look unkempt. It even had a really daring touch. Somehow it was really ... slytherin.
One couldn't deny that from time to time the typical Slytherin traits shone through, but that wasn't a bad thing. That was exactly what made Scorpius charm somehow.
"Oh shut up, will you? You don't know anything about Defense Against the Dark Arts for that," Albus snorted, though he wasn't really offended. He knew it was true, after all. It was a wonder he hadn't killed anyone in Potions yet.
"Well, if you say so," was all Scorpius replied. He would be careful not to tell Albus that he had a very good idea about it. After all, he had already managed the Patronus spell, but he would keep that to himself for now. Because the way Albus had entered the common room - without cheers and beaming smiles - he hadn't managed it yet. But the Gryffindor didn't seem to be fooled that easily. For instantly a hard blow hit him in the upper arm.
"You got it," Albus said resignedly, pouting. Still, he couldn't help being curious.
"What is it?" - He just had to ask. It burned his fingers to find out what shape his Patronus would take.
"An eagle" - Scorpius looked into the fireplace and the hot flames reflected in his stormy gray eyes. They danced in his bright vision and disappeared when Scorpius closed his eyes.
The Gryffindor would have been surprised if it had been anything else. Because he knew how important his freedom was to Scorpius. Especially after hearing all those stories about the war. About Azkaban and the things his family had suffered or much more likely done. He promised himself he would never be like that. And what animal would symbolize that better than a powerful and magnificent eagle.
"I envy you" - The Ravenclaw immediately believed Albus, but said nothing more in reply. It remained silent and Scorpius browsed in his book some more, while Albus put his head back in his neck and closed his eyes. Rose was about to look for a book from a shelf to do the same to Scorpius. And there were books in the Ravenclaw common room, more than enough.
And as the minutes ticked by, Albus remembered something he had planned to get to the essence of things.
"Hey Scorpius, did you ever notice that there's a ribbon tied around the whipping willow?" - Albus raised his head again and looked beside him. Scorpius again didn't look up from his book as he answered.
"Yes" - Sometimes the blond was really taciturn.
"I think we should look into it" - "What do you want to look into?" Rose interfered again, who had chosen a book in the meantime and sat down next to Albus again.
"Well, the ribbon around the whipping willow. There's something about it. I know it" - "Typical Albus. And how are you going to get to the willow? It' ll chase you right away, like it did before" - Rose had a serious tone about her, as she always did when Albus was just being silly again. And these were definitely some. Because to expose oneself to such danger for no reason was, after all, insane.
"But somehow it must have gotten there. So there must be a way to calm her down" - "There is a certain root bulb at the whipping willow, if you put pressure on it, you will make her keep still", Scorpius interfered again now and finally put his book aside. Not because he was particularly interested in this topic of conversation, but rather because he had managed to finish reading the book.
"How do you know?" - Skeptically, Albus raised an eyebrow and looked at his friend. He knew, after all, that the knowledge of the Ravenclaws was immense, but this was really very specific, you didn't just know something like that.
"When I discovered the tape, I went to the library to research it. And there I found a book about rare tree species, in it was also listed the whipping willow," the blond explained himself, shrugging his shoulders a moment later.
"So you also think there must be something about it!" - "Great! Now you're confirming his suspicions too," Rose groaned, just shaking her head. But all right, what could she do? She knew exactly that when Albus had set his mind on something, nothing would be able to dissuade him. In that point, he was just like his big brother James. They must have gotten that from their father. Very well. Then Rose would join them. The Potters had a very good sense of such things.
"And have you tried it out? Do you know what's wrong with the ribbon?" asked Albus excitedly at once, his eyes shining with delight. There was nothing the young Gryffindor liked better than uncovering secrets. After all, the apple didn't fall far from the tree.
"No. Why should I" - Scorpius shook his head briefly and then looked to the side, just not in Albus' direction. This, of course, caught his eye immediately and the Potter grinned.
"You didn't dare!" laughed Albus, which made Scorpius blush. Of course, he would never admit that he hadn't had the courage to try it, so he kept quiet. But Albus had immediately realized that he was in the right.
"That's why you didn't become a Gryffindor," Albus added with a grin before dropping the subject and returning his attention to the willow.
"Tomorrow after class we'll go back to the whipping willow and then look into it!" - Determined, Albus nodded and stood up, now heading to his own common room.
02.01.2014
