Scorpius

"Wait Al, where are you going? We'll miss the presents."

The twit had bundled me up so tightly in winter robes and my emerald scarf that i could barely breathe.

"No we won't. We don't open presents in the morning anymore. My dad, aunt and uncle always get called into work on christmas day, so we tend to open presents in the afternoon when Whitehall signal the all clear."

"Ok... but where are we going?" I asked curiously as Al tiptoed down the stairs.

"You'll see!"

"And why, for Merlin's sake, are we dressed like wooly mammoths? This happens to be the warmest winter in the last half century and your grandparents charm the property to stay warm. So why-"

"Oh be quiet you silly serpent." He was always so weird, but this... He kept craning around the corners to see if his mother or relatives were loo...

"Are we sneaking out?"

"-Shhh!" He interrupted with a hiss. He had spun around violently to shoot me his sternest Slytherin glare before returning his attention to the living room. We were pressed closely together against the wall and I had been graced with a face-full of Al's hair. As much as he resembled his dad his hair was unmistakably a velvety chocolate brown.

When the coast was clear he bolted towards the door dragging me along in his wake. We had cleared the porch with a leap, running quickly through the warm grass around the Burrow without so much as a backwards glance. For some reason Al still wouldn't let go. Even as we crossed the spell boundary into the cool misty air beyond he held firm.

"Stop pulling on me Al, i can walk fine." I shot trying to shake out of his grip. The earth was sodden from slushy snow fall causing the mucky ground suck at my feet. It made for a wet chorus of soppy patter as we raced forward.

"Its just a little farther. Come on Scor."

"Al, wait."

He was running so quickly through the fog that i could barely keep up.

Bleak hills stretched out wildly as far as the eye could see. Barren and muddy land, this seemed a poor choice of land to settle i thought.

An enormous smile erupted on Al face the moment we'd begun to climb. We barreled heedlessly up the steep, slippery incline. It was riddled with stones and crevices where a horse might have easily stumbled or lamed itself. Twice i almost lost my footing and twice more Al had dragged me onward.

"Al let go. You're going too fast." I huffed laboredly. Suddenly running into Al as he came to an abrupt stop.

"Here we are Scor."

I finally managed to yank free of him. My arm was throbbing from the force of his grip.

"Scor... don't you trust me?" Al asked slipping his hand into mine. I tried to free myself again, but he wouldn't let go.

"You were hurting me Al." I said looking around, ignoring the twits incessant need for physical contact.

We were atop a hill, void but for a small circle of pillars that rose up from the ground to meet our shoulders. Upon each was placed a small object offered up towards the sky. The pillar closest to Al bore a glimmering blue seashell, while upon its neighbors rested an hourglass and a white brick engraved with the capital letters M & W superimposed. There was also a key, a snitch, a quill...

"Sorry if i hurt you Scor. Its just we need to be touching." What? Why did we need to be touching?

"Port Keys?"

"For a quick escape." Al returned, rubbing my arm where he'd grabbed me. I rolled my eyes internally.

"Where do they all lead?"

"Oh here and there. Some lead to my aunts and uncles houses. One to the ministry, one to Hogwarts..."

"Really?" I interrupted, turning towards him. Since the Battle for Hogwarts most of the entrances had been sealed.

"They're for convenience as much as emergency really. Come on I want to show you something."

"Wait. What? Where are we going? Are you sure we're allowed to-" before i could even finish my sentence the twit smiled his ridiculous smile and his fingers closed around a large crystal cube.

We had landed slightly off center and much to my disappointment, facing the wrong direction. It took me a while to recover from the jolt of the journey but i managed to pull us up from the thickly packed snow with little difficulty. At least we hadn't landed in the ice water.

"You good Scor?"

"Al... its amazing." He stood examining the tangled garden of crystals that formed the summit of mount Adamant. As the idiot advanced towards the cave i grabbed him from behind in wild hug, shielding his eyes from the world. He shouldn't have moved, i could already see frost forming on his robes.

"Not that way silly. The cave is for another time."

"Al. I want to see." He whined stamping his foot like a child. All around us the cold winds shrieked wildly, threatening to swallow us. The cold moved to fill every nook and crevice exposed to the open air. I looked over to the river. It rose up from deep within the mountain, pulled all the way up to its peek only to flow back down over the cliff. The caves really were spectacular, however the fall was even more so.

"Fine! What did you want to show me then? It better be good."

"Promise no matter what you won't let go."

"What? I don't-" Before he could object I spun us around and raced wand drawn off the cliff.

It is said that the first Vivian la Fae wept liquid starlight when she first laid eyes upon the Lavender Bowl. Albus had already made the jump, or more accurately the fall from the famous cliff, but his blonde companion had neither seen mount Adamant nor known to expect that his grinning friend might launch them both from its summit.

"Al! You're insane! If we survive i'm going to kill you!" The blond shouted. Each word torn away from him by the shrieking winds.

"AWOOOOO!" I returned, squeezing the snake's hand tightly. This would have been such a waste if he didn't open his eyes.

"No Al! Leave off!"

"AWOOOOO!"

"SHUT UP!"

"Only if you look!"

When his Blue eyes opened the sight overtook all thought from the little blond. What water sprayed from the sides of the fall turned to snow and crystal in the cold air. A mist of shimmering light to frame the enormous expanse of mountain range, flower fields and lake water known as the Lavender Bowl.

"Come on Scor! AWOOOOO!"

"You're mad!"

"AWOOOOO!"

"woo"

"Louder!"

"AWOOOOO!"

The two boys howled youthfully into the frozen air, tears streaming up their faces as the bitter wind flew past. Stretched out before them were the dark blue waters of Adamant Lake. The fields of purple flowers packed densely as far as the eye could see. The stark white of snow capped mountains lancing out across the horizon. The fire of the golden sun in the sky. The warmth from its rays. The landscape was divine, a painting made by the brushstrokes of a genius.

"Its Amazing!"

"I know!"

"Come off it you cheeky twit. How do we land?" I asked into the open air watching as the ends of his lips curled wickedly into a wry smile. "Al? How do we land?" I shrieked loudly as the ground came racing closer and closer. "AL!"

The twit had placed his wand to his lips and blew. The spell was similar in principle to how i conjured music but his whistle had been unlike anything i'd ever heard.

Ten seconds went by and nothing happened. Fifteen... "Al?" Twenty seconds had passed. Just when we'd fallen halfway down I heard the cry and saw it racing towards us. A beautiful alabaster white...

"Now!" Al yelled grabbing me protectively with both arms as a velvety blanket enveloped us in a shroud of white cloud.

The two boys were suddenly fog, mist, cloud and air. A comet of billowing white down, shooting towards the earth below. The mass impacted the ground in an explosive eruption off chalky powder, feathery soft and as pure as snow.

The blond lay awkwardly where he'd landed, blinking away his bewilderment at the experience as the upside down world righted itself. The mossy eyed Peverell had had a rather different time of it. The brunette had spun through his crash, rolling smoothly down the lavender hillside, laughing wildly as he spread the white powder about the air. A piercing cry rent the air as the creature bid them farewell.

"Thanks Fawkes!" Al called through cupped hands to the creature that circled over head. "You alright Scor?" The twit asked pouncing on me from behind.

"What was that beautiful bird?" I had had to push the laughing idiot off of me.

"A Phoenix of course. I should think a great and noble member of the Malfoy family might recognize a Phoenix." Of course I'd seen the legendary birds before. While this 'Fawkes' bore an unmistakable resemblance the fiery birds of legend, none exhibited the same coloration.

"No way Al, that bird was white."

"Technically he's not. You've yet to see him up close, but Fawkes's got a bunch of colors. His primaries and secondaries are silver, while his eyes-like his crest feathers-are gold. You have to meet him sometime Scor! Each feather on his train is a medley of every color imaginable. Like a painting."

"My point still stands... I've never heard of a Phoenix like that."

"Oh who cares." Al wasn't listening. He had shifted onto his back to take in the warmth of the sun. I looked out over the water and flower fields with a sigh, feeling Al's head rise and fall slowly with my chest.

"Hmph, and you wanted to open presents."

"I admit it. This was pretty amazing." I offered, softly. "How'd you find it?"

"Oh, I must have been three or four when I grabbed the port key and stumbled into the river and over the edge. They had just made the bloody thing and had set it down within reach."

"You fell off the side?"

"Fawkes saved me back then too. He stayed with me the entire time, up until the minute my parents found me. He melted away when they'd appeared." Melted away? That didn't sound right.

"How long were you out here in the cold?" I couldn't fathom a little child out in weather like this for long. Beautiful as it was, this valley felt treacherously frigid. An unforgiving place.

"The other phoenixes brought me whatever they could find from the south and kept me warm the whole time. That winter had been ten times colder than this."

"Awww little Al in a nest of Phoenixes. Wait. The whole time? So you were here for long?"

"Three days, give or take. The birds led me right to the caves behind the falls. The forest at the base of the mountain is so thick that I would never have found it without them."

"Wow. You survived on snow and tidbits for three days? Bravo Al."

"No. I ate the lavender crystals that grow in the caves. None of these are normal flowers. Some ancient duel was fought here and it changed the very landscape. Stray magic permeates every inch of this place."

"Sea turtles Al?"

"Aye sea turtles. The crystal petals turned my hair purple for months." He was playing with some of the flowers now, rolling the stems between his fingers and spinning the blooms into the air. There they drifted, sparkling in the sun like little daylight stars. "Nice muggle reference by the way Scor."

"Well I do try so hard... Hey Al."

"Hmmm"

"We are weird aren't we?"

"Why? Cause we're twelve year olds who think like twenty year olds?" He offered, turning back onto his stomach to face me.

"Yeah." I returned softly, letting the quiet breeze overtake me. The silence was beautiful. Hard to believe this could ever have been the site of a vicious battle. It was the nature of the world though i thought with a sigh, turning onto my stomach to match Al.

What was Time? My father had fought Al's father. My grandfather had sided with murderers and villains. The Malfoys had fought to destroy Hogwarts when Voldemort had come looking for Harry. Yet now, Hogwarts had been rebuilt, the ministry restructured, and the pained memories of those fallen had eased. All that was left were names and echoes.

"The world turns ever on, Huh Al?"

"Not if you're an echo. The world scars like a person, and scars never fully heal." He looked up at me then, staring directly into my eyes. A chill ran down my spine at the choice of his words. When his eyes shifted to my back i froze. It must have been a coincidence. He never had the opportunity to see my mark.

"I could go for a hot bath right about now. Don't you think Scor?" Al lay his head peacefully on my back. I couldn't tell what he had meant by any of it. I couldn't tell If he was being deliberately cruel or surreptitiously kind. Al was never cruel though.

"I'll tell you about it one day."

"I haven't the slightest what you're talking about." He said softly.

"How do we get back Al?"

"Well the return Key is disguised as a golden egg in a nest closer to the cliff face." I stared in the direction of the forest, until my eyes shifted back up the cliff towards the peak.

"Another time Scor. I'll show you the Adamant Cave I promise. You're lucky you didn't freeze. My aunt does research in there and only members of our family can get near it without... adverse effects."

He always knows what i'm thinking. "Then should we head back now. I'm eager to open presents."

"Sure Scor."

"I'd love to come back here sometime Al. So don't forget."

"I won't. I promise."

"Now lets see if we can sneak back before anyone notices we were gone."

-
This is yet another bonus chapter for those who favorite and review. I wanted to experiment with some new narrative techniques. Please let me know if you liked or disliked the difference.

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