Chapter 35- Side-effects
Ruby was holding Scorpius' hand, her head on the bed next to him, looking up towards his unresponsive face. Mrs Malfoy had gone downstairs to have something to eat, and wait for her husband to return.
"Please wake up, please wake up, please wake up Scorpius." She whispered, tears leaking out of the sides of her eyes.
The door opened behind Ruby and she heard her mother's voice.
"I've bought you some tea, and some waffles." She said, placing the plate and mug on the bedside table.
"Thanks Mum." Ruby replied, not taking her eyes off Scorpius' face. "How's Uncle Harry getting on?" She continued.
"I don't know." Ruby looked at her mother in confusion.
"What do you mean you don't know?" She asked, it was hard to keep the anger out of her voice. Her mother had a twin bond with Harry, she could easily find out the situation. Her mother stepped back slightly, looking uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry, Ruby." She walked out of the room before her daughter could reply.
After a few minutes of Ruby staring at the door it opened and her father walked in.
"Dad, what's…"
"They're at the Manor Ruby, your mother's not going back there, not even through the bond." Ruby's voice seemed to die in her throat and she turned away from her father, shame bubbling up inside of her.
"I'm sorry." She muttered, looking back at Scorpius' face. Her father walked up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders.
"How's he doing?"
"No change, I just…" A sob tore from Ruby's mouth and she put up her hand to contain it.
"It'll be okay, Poppet." Ruby nodded.
"Tell Mom I'm sorry."
"She understands, don't worry."
"What happened to her there, Dad?" She asked, wondering why she wanted to know.
"I don't know, it must have been… She went back to Azkaban but she swears she'll never set foot in that Manor so…"
"So it must have been horrific."
"Yep."
"Could you send Vic an owl, let her know I won't be moving in tonight?"
"Sure, eat your Waffles." Ruby nodded and her father left the room.
The daylight faded, the waffles remained untouched and the tea grew cold but still Scorpius remained asleep. Penny came in a few times and checked his condition, his mother sat silently next to Ruby and then returned to the kitchen, and then someone else came in but Ruby didn't turn to see who it was.
"I'm sorry, Ruby." It was Uncle Ron. Ruby nodded but didn't reply. He came and sat next to her but she kept her eyes on Scorpius.
"I was being unreasonable and childish." He said.
"That sounds like Aunt Hermione talking." Ruby replied.
"Yeah well, some of it's bound to rub off on me." Ruby almost smiled but her face was still turned away from Ron so he couldn't tell.
"Can you forgive me, Ruby?" He asked, she turned to look at him and nodded.
"You'll give him a chance?" She asked, Ron looked at Scorpius and nodded.
"I'll give him as much of a chance as I give Rosie's boyfriends, and Hugo's I suppose." Ruby laughed and allowed her Uncle to pull her into a hug.
"I'm sorry I didn't prank you, or get you a birthday present." She said, into his shoulder, he laughed.
"I'll get over it." He smiled, kissing her forehead.
As they broke apart the door burst open.
"Ruby, your mom needs you." Said Uncle Charlie, out-of-breath. Ruby stood up and looked between Scorpius and Charlie.
"Can you stay with him?" She asked her godfather, he nodded and she grabbed her wand and rushed out of the room with Ron behind her.
When they arrived in the kitchen Penny was standing over her mother who was cowered in the corner by the fireplace, her eyes wild.
"…listen to me, you need to focus Eliza!" The healer said, looking terrified.
Her mother was shaking from head to foot, she was sat on the floor with her legs drawn up to her chest, her eyes were wide and her hands were clapped over her ears.
"What happened?" Ruby asked, rushing over. The only other people in the room were Aunt Minnie, Aunt Hermione and her father. The rest must have been pushed out.
"We're not sure, she was fine and then she…she just freaked out!" Her father said, leaning on the kitchen side.
"Eliza, concentrate, you're at the Burrow!" Penny said firmly. The sentence had no effect on Eliza, Ruby doubted she could her anything, except what was happening in her own head.
"Should we stun her?" Ruby asked.
"Only if we…" Suddenly Eliza's wand flew from the table to her and Aunt Minnie stood up and withdrew her wand.
"Stupefy!" She cried, the spell reached close to Eliza but did not penetrate a barrier that seemed to have formed around her.
"Help me, she could bring down the house!" Aunt Minnie said, they all pulled out their wands, except Ruby's father, and the combination of four spells succeeded and Ruby's mother collapsed into a heap, the air around her crackled. Penny made to step forwards but Aunt Minnie moved quickly and held the Healer back.
"Wait! The magic needs to fade." She said, pointing out the sparks still floating in the air around Eliza.
The Floo alarm rang out and Uncle Harry tumbled through, Ron caught him before he fell.
"Where is she?" He asked, Ron pointed towards Eliza.
"Wait Harry, the magic is still raw."
"Are James and Malfoy okay?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, they'll…" The Floo alarm rang out again and Harry and Ron moved aside as the two men came through. All three men had small cuts and bruises on their faces.
"Are you alright?" Ruby asked.
"Fine, how's Scorpius?" Mr Malfoy asked.
"Still out of it." Ruby replied, Aunt Minnie shot a non-verbal spell at Eliza and it reached her, leaving no mark. The former Headmistress let go of Penny and she rushed forwards, Ruby followed.
Ruby watched Penny check her mother, she reached for her mother's hand and found it almost hot enough to burn.
"She's hot." She said to Penny, who nodded.
"It's the magic. We'll get her upstairs and cool her down."
"I'll carry her." Penny looked like she was going to deny Fred his request but didn't have the heart to.
"Careful Fred, she's burning." Her father nodded and carried his wife up the stairs, he was followed by Penny, Ruby, Harry and Aunt Minnie.
They entered Fred's former bedroom and he placed her lightly on bed and then turned to Harry.
"What happened?" He asked, Harry sat down on the other bed and looked over at his sister.
"I found where they kept her, it must have got through the bond." He said quietly.
Ruby and Penny worked quickly to bring down Eliza's temperature and then Ruby left the room to go and check on Scorpius.
His father was sitting next to him and looked around when Ruby entered.
"I just wanted to check on him." She said, he nodded and she moved forwards.
"How's your mother?" He asked.
"She'll be okay, as soon as we get her temperature down."
"Does she have…attacks like that, often?"
"Not that bad, usually she just gets quiet or starts crying but my Dad takes her for a walk and she's fine. What happened with your father?"
"Potter arrested him. My mother confirmed that he attacked Scorpius."
"I'm sorry." Ruby said, unsure of how to respond.
"She did nothing to help him, history repeating itself." He said quietly. Before Ruby could respond Scorpius opened his eyes and looked around the room in clear confusion.
"Son, how are you feeling?"
"Dad? Rubes? What…Where am I?"
"The Burrow. Are you in pain?" Ruby asked.
"Not much, side aches a bit."
"I've got some ointment for it." Ruby said, moving to the dresser. Mr Malfoy stood up and muttered about finding his wife. Ruby walked back over and lifted up Scorpius' shirt.
"Ruby?"
"Yes." She replied, not looking at him.
"Ruby, look at me." He said, his voice cracking. She let her eyes find his. "You okay?" He asked, looking worried.
"Me? Me?" She asked, her voice slightly higher than usual. "Scorpius, I… I thought…"
"Hey, I'm fine."
"You're not fine! You could have…" The door opened and Scorpius' mother rushed in, Ruby stepped back to let her see him.
As Mrs Malfoy sobbed over Scorpius, Ruby slipped out of the room and returned to her father's bedroom.
"Scorpius is awake." She said, closing the door behind her.
"Good, that's good." Said Uncle Harry, running his hands through his thick hair. "I better go down and see Gin before she files for divorce." He left the room leaving just Ruby, her parents and Aunt Minnie.
"Penny's popped to the hospital to get some Potions, she said she'll tell Kyle you won't be in."
"Oh yeah, I completely forgot." Ruby replied, sitting on Uncle George's bed. "I've got to feed Pox." She continued, standing up.
"Ask Al or Rosie, they're downstairs." Her father said, Ruby nodded and went downstairs.
When she entered the living room it was almost full, Ruby searched for Rosie and her cousin followed her wordlessly from the room.
"How are they?" She asked, as they entered the kitchen.
"Scorpius is awake, Mom's still out of it but she will be for a while probably. Can you pop to my flat and feed…actually can you just bring Pox here?"
"Sure, shall I grab you some clothes?" Ruby nodded and Rosie Floo-ed out of the room leaving Ruby alone.
She sat at the kitchen table, staring at an empty tea-pot thinking and worrying. She glanced down at the wall by the fireplace, where her mother had been panicking. The event had left its marks. She stood up and knelt down to examine the dents in the wall.
She touched one and it seem to send a jolt of electricity through her.
"Ouch!" She cursed, pulling her hand away. The finger was shaking and had a burn mark on it.
"Ruby, you alright?" Asked Uncle Charlie, entering the room with an empty tray of tea.
"Yeah, make sure no one touches any of these marks though, they're still hot." Her Uncle put the tray down on the table and then pulled out his wand and sectioned off the area.
"Done. Shouldn't you be upstairs?"
"Yeah, I…" She turned when she heard footsteps on the stairs, Mrs Malfoy smiled at her.
"He's asking for you Ruby." She said softly. Ruby nodded and walked up the stairs. Mr Malfoy was walking out of Scorpius' room.
"We're going to head home, could you owl or Floo-call us if there are any problems?"
"Of course, Mr Malfoy." She said, he nodded.
"Thank you Ruby, you saved his life."
"I wouldn't go that far…"
"Ruby, none of this is your fault. Don't blame yourself, or Scorpius. It's not your fight." Before Ruby could respond Mr Malfoy walked past her and down the stairs.
She took a deep, steadying breath and opened the door. Scorpius was sat up in the bed, peeling back the bandage, he jumped when he heard her.
"Are you peeling away my excellent bandage work?" She asked, shutting the door and walking over to him.
"No, I'm peeking." He replied, she picked up the ointment and waved her wand, removing them fabric entirely. Scorpius hissed in pain.
"Sorry, this will help though." She said, sitting on the chair and unscrewing the lid.
"How's your mom?" He asked, Ruby dipped two fingers into the ointment and started to spread it on his wound. He tensed and then relaxed.
"Still out of it." Ruby replied, concentrating on her work. Scorpius lifted his right hand and played with a loose strand of her hair, twisting it around his finger and then tucking it behind her ear.
"Aren't you going to ask what happened?"
"Not yet, you're my patient, not my boyfriend." She said, keeping her eyes on his side.
"How long is this going to last?" He asked, running his hand over her head and then down her neck. Ruby tried to suppress a shiver but it grew into a shudder, which quickly become sobs.
"Oh, blimey that wasn't long. Come here." Scorpius said, holding out his arms. Ruby shook her head and tried to contain herself.
"No, I've got to finish this and bandage it back up, otherwise you'll get an infection. And drink these Potions." She said, trying to be strong. Scorpius obeyed her and drank the trio of Potions and then remained silent and let her work. When she tucked in the last section of bandage she put the lid back on the ointment.
She allowed herself to look at Scorpius' face, noticing that someone had removed the dried blood from his nose, and saw that he was looking at her intently.
"Why did you go back to the Manor?" She asked, reaching up and stroking his face.
"He sent me a letter, told me Grandmama wanted to see me, I got there and…she didn't want to see me, she just sat there, like a statue while he…I was lucky to get away, I have no doubt that he was going to kill me." Ruby gasped and stood up, expanded the bed, and lay next to him.
They lay there in silence for a few minutes before the door opened, Penny walked in with a sad smile.
"It's nice to see you awake, Scorpius. How are you feeling?" She asked, waving his wand over him, Ruby moved out of the way and sat back on the chair.
"Okay, thank you Healer Shacklebolt. How's Mrs Weasley?" He asked, Ruby looked up at Penny.
"Well, I wanted to talk to Ruby about that, I've had an idea."
"An idea?"
"Yes, Eliza's going to be unconscious for at least a week, usually it would be two but Poppy Pomfrey said she has a habit of waking up too early, anyway…I bumped into Colin Spanswick at the hospital, he's had a cancellation. He's happy to do the surgery tomorrow and then transfer her to Hogwarts to recover. What do you think?" Ruby was startled.
"Oh…what about consent?"
"I think if Fred and Harry consent we could get it past the board, under the circumstances. It will mean that she could recover quicker, and she wouldn't have chance to get worried about the surgery."
"I guess, have you asked Dad yet?"
"No, I thought we could approach him together." Ruby nodded and Scorpius squeezed her hand.
"It's worth a shot, Rubes." He said, Ruby smiled and kissed him on the hand before following Penny from the room.
Later that night Ruby was lying next to Scorpius, he was sleeping peacefully and she was watching his face, wishing she could join him.
After a long discussion it had been decided that her mother would have the surgery. Ruby would be accompanying her to the hospital the following day and then staying by her side for the whole operation.
Ruby closed her eyes and tried to shut off her brain but she couldn't, there was too much spinning around. She sat up and made to move off the bed but Scorpius woke up.
"Ruby, where you going?" He asked, running his hand down her back.
"I can't sleep, my brain won't shut up." She said, turning around. Scorpius sat up, stifling any sign of pain, and kissed her shoulder.
"Too busy worrying?" He asked, she nodded. "Let me take your mind off things." He said softly.
"You can't." She replied.
"Challenge accepted." Ruby felt his mouth suck lightly on her neck.
"Scorpius you're injured." She hissed, locking the door with her wand and adding a silencing charm for good measure.
"And you're not, lie down, let me make you forget." Ruby was going to refuse but he reached around and slipped his hand under her T-shirt and lowered her to the bed.
"You're supposed to be resting." She whispered.
"Ruby, list the side effects of Potion G14 for me, I've forgotten."
"G14, umm pain relief, occasional dizziness, euphoria and a…" Scorpius's hand had found her breast and he cupped it gently causing her to lose her train of thought.
"And a need to please." Scorpius finished, kissing her on the nose.
"But…you need to…" Scorpius silence her with a kiss and she opened her mouth as he ran his tongue along her bottom lip.
"What if you…hurt yourself?" Ruby asked, as he pulled away to run kisses along her collarbone.
"Sshh, we'll be careful, now take off your T-shirt so the euphoria…yeah, that's it." Scorpius' eyes had dilated with pleasure. Ruby picked up her wand and cast a cushioning spell on Scorpius' side, he leaned forwards and ran his tongue over her nipple, her wand tumbled out of her hand.
"Scorpius…"
"No thinking, no thinking." He said, pushing his hardness against her thigh. "It's all about you." Whatever thin resolve Ruby had tumbled away and she pulled his mouth to hers.
He massaged her breasts and then ran his hand lower, usually he would tease her but she was surprised, and pleased, when his fingers dipped straight under the fabric.
"Look at me, Rubes." He whispered, she opened her eyes and looked into his, he held her gaze for a moment and then plunged two fingers into her causing her to groan loudly. His thumb found her centre and he rubbed it in a circular motion, she came within seconds but he gave her little time to recover.
He used his wand to remove her trousers and knickers and then shuffled down the bed. He waited less than a minute and then she felt his tongue enter her. She reached for the headboard and gripped it tightly as he licked her.
A finger entered her and stroked whilst his tongue ran up to her centre. He licked and then sucked under she exploded beneath him once more.
He rushed up and kissed her hard, his tongue delving into her mouth, she was still coming down from the powerful orgasm. He removed his trousers and then entered her hard
"Scorpius! Oh…"
"Look at me, Ruby, look at me!" He said, pushing into her again, she opened her eyes with great difficult and then she felt his fingers on her centre again and her hips were moving with him. Her eyes must have closed because he asked her to look at him again and she did.
She ran her hand up through his hair as he entered her again and again, his finger still teasing her. When she thought he was close she kissed him and sucked his tongue, he sped up and then as he came he squeezed her centre and she came with him.
For the rest of the night she slept soundly.
A/N So Scorpius lives, yay! What did you think about this chapter?
Next chapter; Eliza has the surgery and Ruby gets her exam results.
xXMizz Alec VolturiXx- Thanks!
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