Chapter 13: Sneak
Saturday
Albus was moody. Much more than usual, which was fair. The events from Saturday were recreated in his head over and over again. Playing with Andrew, discovering Leon, losing Andrew, and then nothing.
That was what he had felt watching the small boy leave the Potter's home. Nothing. He wanted to lash out and argue about the fairness of it all, but he was at a loss for words.
He vaguely remembered his father and aunt springing into action to get Scorpius and himself ready for Monday. But Albus' mind was blank. Everything had happened so fast. A few hours after Andrew was taken to the group home, the family had gotten nowhere. Harry had tried to prepare him and Scorpius with interview questions they may have been asked, but neither of them could truly focus.
To everyone's surprise, James had suggested the couple take the rest of the day and go home to process the events of Saturday. Albus had forgotten his older brother was even in the home at the time. He must have been in shock as well. One minute he was playing with the toddler in the backyard and the next, without any explanation, the child was being taken away.
With the senior adults in agreement, Scorpius and Albus were sent home. And though this seemed like a good idea at first, walking into the now quiet house where all the toys and games had been abandoned a few hours ago made things a million times worse.
Albus saw Scorpius glance at the mess and at the empty bedroom door that once housed Andrew and without a word made his way down the hall to their bedroom.
He knew he should have followed him, but he didn't have any words of encouragement to share with his partner. Instead, Albus began to pick up all of the mess in the family room, he knew that Scorpius would appreciate that. Within five minutes of his cleaning, the fireplace lit up and his brother walked through dusting off his broad shoulders.
"Hey Al, I... well I don't know what to say, but I'm here." Albus gave his brother a nod and the two began cleaning the house in silence.
—
"Son, I hope you don't mind Albus sent me in." Scorpius looked up from his notebook and saw his father standing in the doorway to his bedroom. He was dressed in his gardening clothes, hair pulled back, and had a look of sympathy on his face.
Scorpius gathered the mess of papers on the bed and patted the space next to him. "Of course not Dad, I'm glad to see you. I almost came to the Manor after we left the Potter's, but I didn't want Albus to be alone. Is he about to leave?"
Draco took a seat on the edge of the bed looking at his son and shook his head, "Doesn't seem so, he and James are in the kitchen making food. I believe James is trying to take Albus' mind off everything. They didn't seem to be talking about anything in particular when I came in."
"Well, that's good to hear. I assume Harry asked you to come over and check on us? Me and Albus were not very cooperative after they took-" Scorpius couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence.
"No," Draco had a look of genuine surprise on his face, "actually it was James who sent an owl to the Manor. I was a bit confused but he told me to stop by and see Harry before coming here. That's who told me what was going on. I'm sorry Scorpius about how today turned out."
"Thanks, dad."
"And though I understand this is hard for you and Albus, you two must begin working on getting Andrew back."
Scorpius nodded quickly at his father, "of course! I have been taking notes down of everything that has happened in the last few months. Harry had asked me and Albus to do this at their house but we were in shock. Once I got here, I had a moment to compose myself and start preparing."
Draco looked down at the papers on the bed his son had moved when he first walked into the room. He smiled to himself once he saw all the neatly handwritten notes that were color-coded in some fashion that he knew only his son would understand. The chaos reminded him of Scorpius preparing for both his OWLs and NEWTs during his time at Hogwarts.
"Well, then you will be pleasantly surprised to find that Hermione sent you over some of her notes as well. Honestly, they look like yours, I am sure you will be able to navigate them easily. Looking back, I can honestly say I feel a little joy at thinking Ron and Harry had to deal with her excessive studying when we were younger, serves them right." Draco chuckled to himself.
Scorpius took the notes from his father and glanced at them briefly. His father was right, Hermione's organizational patterns were different than his but easy to follow.
"You know I also worked with the department of misplaced children after the war for a bit. I only stopped right around the time your mother got sick and you were born. I needed to be closer to the Manor, so I chose to do other things in my spare time. But it was something I rather enjoyed and I learned a lot. Maybe I can be of some assistance?"
Scorpius loved when his dad helped him with his studying. Not many knew this but his father was a great student during his time at school. Scorpius's mother often used this to encourage him when he was younger to take his studies seriously.
"I didn't know that. I would love it if you would help me prepare. I will share everything with Albus later."
"Great! First thing first, the night you found Andrew should be in as much detail as possible. This is where the case will begin for you and Albus. From there-" Draco's soft voice continued for the next few hours as he and his son compiled a file of events. —
A few hours later, the apartment was once again empty except for the people who resided there. Draco and James had stayed with their respective family members until Draco decided it was time to let the couple come together to talk. Once both men left, Scorpius made his way into the dining area, sat his notes down on the table, and walked into the kitchen where Albus was making two plates of food.
"I was just about to come and get you and let you know dinner was ready. I realized neither of us had eaten anything since breakfast." Albus said turning to see Scorpius still striding towards him.
Once the taller man couldn't take another step towards him, he leaned down and kissed Albus' lips. The kiss was tender and forced Albus to wrap his arms around Scorpius' waist. After a few moments Scorpius pulled back, but still held Albus' face a mere inch from his own.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
Scorpius smiled, pecked the man once more and took both plates from the counter, and brought them over to the table.
After a few minutes of sitting at the table and pushing his fork around Albus spoke. "Are you upset with me because I was able to talk to my brother before you? Because I didn't mean to leave you alone. I just-"
"No, I get it. Sometimes it's easier to talk to someone not directly affected by things. Plus you know I love when you and James bond, it took a while for you two to get back to that place and I would never come in between that."
Albus nodded his head, he was glad Scorpius seemed lighter than when they first got home. "Great, so what is all of this?" He gestured to the various files that were on the table.
"Oh! These are all the notes Hermione, me, and dad gathered for Monday. I know it seems hectic but I color-coded everything, and I figured you should be able to navigate it pretty easily, being used to my system already. You can of course add anything you need. I just followed the model your dad was trying to get us to do earlier today. I also learned that my dad used to work with the department of misplaced children, so he had a few tips and pointers as well."
Despite everything Albus laughed. He found comfort in his fiancé's old study habits. "Don't laugh at me. It was the only way I could relax."
"I know babe and I love it. Let me take a look at everything. We have exactly one day to prepare all of this and I want it all together before we go and visit Andrew on Monday."
The couple both looked at one another at the mention of the missing boy. Both their minds wondered for a brief moment, but it was Scorpius who broke them of those thoughts before they both went too far.
"After dinner. I want to just enjoy you for a moment before we have to deep dive into all of this. Merlin, I really compiled a bit here. I'm sure most of this wasn't necessary and Dad was only humoring me."
Albus shook his head, "Draco never humors anyone. I'm sure if he let you do all of this he must have believed it would truly help. But you're right, let's eat first then work on it."
—
By the time Monday had rolled around both men were exhausted. They had spent the better part of the day going over their notes and talking with either Harry, Hermione, or Draco. It proved to be productive but had worn them out.
Not to mention the fact that various members of their families were constantly checking on them and sending words of encouragement for their proceedings in a few days. Even Daphne had contacted the two and shared her simple, yet kind words. And though both men appreciated it greatly, they were more eager to see Andrew.
"I'm nervous." Scorpius blurted out in the empty conference room that he and Albus had been waiting in. "I wonder if he is going to be mad at us. I would be mad at us. I mean, we literally did the exact opposite of what we told him we would do."
"I've been thinking about that too."
"He is so young," Scorpius continued, "I know this must be hard for him to understand. Oh and Al I can't stop replaying that face he gave us right before they took him from us. It has been keeping me up at night."
The last few nights Albus and Scorpius had both been up tossing and turning in their shared bed. It seemed that if one of them fell asleep the other was up. It was a vicious cycle, and both men were glad they had this week off work.
Before Albus could respond, he heard the door behind them open up and heels clicking on the hard floor. Following close behind he heard the scuffling of little feet.
In an instant, a small figure crashed into his sitting body, and he instantly buried his head into the mess of dark curls.
"I will be back within the hour." Albus heard a woman's voice say, but the small family was too emotional to respond.
"Andy we are so happy to see you," Albus whispered to the small child. He reluctantly pulled him back to get a look at his face. Once everything seemed normal, he handed the child over to Scorpius who had a single tear streaming down his face.
"We missed you. The house is not the same without you."
"I's missed you too. Are you here to take me home now?" Andrew's eyes looked a bit tired but hopeful.
Albus figured he hadn't been sleeping well either.
"Not yet buddy. We still have an interview and meeting with the council we have to do before..." Albus knew why Scorpius had stopped talking. Just like him, he wasn't sure he could make any more empty promises. They honestly weren't sure if they would be able to have Andrew back in their home.
Pushing that thought aside, Albus reached down and picked up a small backpack, and handed it over to the child. "Look what Gabe sent over for you, love. He had Teddy spell it so the cars would move. He said you're the green and he is the red one."
"Oh, these are from our favorite movie." Andrew took a moment to look over the picture drawn by Albus' nephew. He could tell he was extremely happy to receive it.
"I bought some materials so you can draw something back for him. Me and Scor will give it to him when we see him."
The young boy smiled, and the three of them went to work drawing pictures, trying to forget that in a short hour, they would have to say their goodbyes again.
—
"He is doing fine. He seemed a bit tired and sad. But I assume that is because he is missing home. He asked us about coming home a few times." Scorpius lifted the drink to his mouth as he sat next to Albus and across from James and Jane.
Once the two had said their emotional goodbyes to Andrew, they met up with Amy and did their interview. Everything seemed to have gone well.
After that hour she informed both men that they were set to meet with the council the following day. True to her word, she had gotten a jump on everything and though the men were nervous about meeting in front of the council in the morning, they were happy they wouldn't have to wait too much longer to get an answer.
Once both men were back home, they began to feel restless. Albus sent a message to his brother and asked if he wanted to join them both for drinks at the bar near their flat. James had agreed almost immediately and within the hour the couple had walked hand in hand to the bar.
Once they entered they were surprised to see James hadn't been alone. He was with Jane. Under any other circumstances Scorpius and Albus would have been giddy to dive into their rather annoyingly private relationship, but the couple had other things on their minds and decided to hold all their questions until a later time. They silently decided that it was a good sign that James felt comfortable bringing Jane to hang with them without being asked.
"That's understandable. You two have created a home for him that he wasn't used to before." Jane smiled at the couple. "You both do so well with him and I'm sure anyone with eyes will be able to see that.
"Thanks, we hope everything works in our favor tomorrow."
"When everything works in your favor we can go out and have celebratory drinks on me. Get all the cousins together and Lils of course. How is Laurel by the way Scorp? I ran into her the other day in Diagon Alley near WWW but she was in such a hurry to get somewhere that I barely got to say hello." James asked turning the subject away from Andrew, the council, and the stress of the next day.
His younger brother was grateful for his ability to breeze over things.
"Honestly, I am not sure. I haven't seen much of her in the last month. She seems to be running in and out of the Manor whenever I've stopped by. I've been so busy with work, planning the wedding, and Andy that I haven't even asked Dad if she has been weird."
Jane smirked at the men at the table, "there are only a few reasons a girl moves that fast and isn't telling anyone."
All eyes were on her, "I think she is seeing someone."
James gasped so loud that the others couldn't help but laugh at him. "Oi! Really? You think that's what it is?"
Jane nodded, "yup. She is spending her time with someone. I doubt she is alone and if she is running around at different times of the day. She is obviously trying not to get caught. I mean, I could be wrong it's just a theory."
Albus could see the light appear in his brother's eyes as he came to some sort of conclusion, "Do you think it's Freddie?"
"Why do you say that?" Scorpius asked with a matching gleam in his eyes matching James'. Albus hated when the two of them started egging each other on with their excitement.
"When I went to go see Freddie the other day at the shop he wasn't there. Uncle Ron said he had... and get this...just stepped out for lunch. That little sneak!"
"Oo interesting" Scorpius agreed.
"Am I missing something? How is that interesting?" Jane looked confused at James, who was still mulling things over in his head.
"Oh, Jane don't you see? My brother and Scorpius are fools. That's what is interesting. It's not odd that Freddie would be out for lunch. He goes out to get lunch every day." Albus added making Jane giggle.
"But whose to say Laurel hasn't been his lunch date? He hasn't called me to get lunch with him in a while."
"Maybe because you're at work. You know training the Cannons for nearly ten hours a day since the new season started." Albus reasoned.
Jame shrugged his shoulders. "I'm going to do some digging. If he won't tell me Rox will. She spends just as much time with him as I do. I can't believe he wouldn't tell me. It doesn't seem like him."
Albus faintly heard the conversation keep up at the table, but became distracted by a glowing blue light he spotted outside the bar. He placed his hand on Scorpius' knee to get his attention, "love, do you..."
"Yes. Let's go and see what that's about. Maybe it's a message about something we need in the morning." He stood up and took Albus' hand "Will you two excuse us for a moment?"
James and Jane looked up at the couple and noticed the light outside starting to move to a more secluded spot. "Sure. Let us know if you need anything," Jane said smiling at them and James nodded.
Once outside the couple followed the blue light to a small alleyway. They were both holding hands as they realized they didn't recognize the shape of the animal the Patronus Charm had taken as it began to speak.
"Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Potter. There has been a situation with Andrew. Please meet us at St. Mungos. The Minister has been informed."
Amy's voice faded as well as did the blue light.
Albus quickly grabbed Scorpius' arm getting ready to apparate them to the hospital when Scorpius squeezed just a bit too tight.
"Al, look up."
Confused, Albus glanced over to his fiancé and followed his gaze towards the sky.
Starring back him, was a beautiful full glowing moon.
—
As always, I wanna say thanks for all of the positive feedback! Keep an eye out for the next update.
-Jazz
