Unexpected Things
KeysCanHurt: Gotta love Hugo! :)) James too =)) Ferret babies! :D :D Yesh, randomness =)) Fine, here :P
Guess Who: Thankies. Heheh, yeah, poor Scorpy and Cookie. Here's the next chapter ;)
heartshaped-sunglasses: Yeah, poor Cookie is panicking and alone! :( But don't worry, Hagrid came in time to help her :) And Lily comes later, but that's in the next chapter ;) Lol, peace offering... maybe ;)
mimimi123: Haha, I love that little ferret too xD
I actually researched to see when the moon is full on 2019 xD The saturday here is September 14
Chapter Eleven
Saturday Night
Hugo, my boy!
That means Gryffindor, right?
That's great!
Something's bothering Rosie? Find out! And tell her to tell us!
Love,
Daddy
Dearest Hugo,
It's great to hear from you! As for your House… well you have yet to tell us specifically where you were sorted. Know this: I will love and accept you, whatever House you were sorted into.
Your father should just deal with it too.
Anyway, as for Rose… I'll send her a letter to see what's wrong.
Take care, and study hard!
I love you!
Mum
Al…
I'm sorry to hear about what happened.
Maybe you should give him some space for now. Perhaps he needs some time alone to think. He'll come back to you and your friends.
Do you remember what I told about Sirius Black?
My godfather is in some ways similar to Scorpius. Every Black in his family was in Slytherin, and they weren't good Slytherins. People didn't expect much goodness from the Blacks. The fact that he was framed by Peter Pettigrew made things worse.
A lot of people were convinced that Sirius was guilty for murdering Peter Pettigrew and a group of Muggles.
When he escaped, the only thing he wanted to do was commit the crime he was imprisoned for- to kill Pettigrew.
The night I first met him, he was a mess. I kept him from committing murder.
Then after some time, he changed.
He was less of the messed up man who suffered from prison.
So that may be what Scorpius needs- time.
Love,
Dad
James.
Girls? Why didn't you ask your mother about girls? Or Aunt Hermione?
If she's upset, I suggest listening to her and trying to understand her. Don't make the mistake of losing patience with her. If she cries, don't snap at her tears.
I'm assuming she's hurt by what happened. So be there to comfort her and listen to her if she wants to talk about it. Make her laugh, I know you have a great sense of humor. She'll need that.
Mum says you better be really nice to the girl.
-You beloved father.
Dear Jacqui,
If you really care about the boy but he wants space, maybe leave him alone for a while.
But if you try talking to him again and he really doesn't want to, I'm afraid you might have to let him go.
You'll find the right man for you some day.
Love,
Mom
Late Saturday afternoon, Al was in the Common Room, writing an essay for Professor Smith's Defense Against the Dark Arts class. As usual, the Hufflepuff-favoring teacher started the year with the facts and histories behind spells and such. Their latest essay was a little bit different- he asked them to research on a Dark creature. Al already went to the library to read up on werewolves, since they caught his interest ever since Uncle Dudley's incident. Now he was just polishing his essay.
As he was finishing up, the Quidditch team arrived. The twins went straight to Al while Scorpius went straight to the dormitory without making conversation with anyone. Mark Montague, the Keeper and Quidditch Captain was talking to some Slytherins who asked him how the tryouts went.
The rest of the team mingled with their fellow Slytherins, talking about the tryouts and the practice after it.
"How'd it go?" Al asked the twins.
"A lot of the Chasers were terrible!"
"But Terry Warrington, she's bloody brilliant!"
"Yeah, she is! She's almost like another Dara Vaisey!"
"I hope she won't be as much of a hothead though…"
"Oh, and er… about Scorpy… uh..." the twins' smiles left them.
"Sorry, mate."
"We tried, but…"
"If it's not Quidditch, he's not talking to us."
"At least you two tried." Al wrote the conclusion to his essay before looking at the twins. "Should we just… get along with life and wait for him to come back to us?"
The Higgs brothers shrugged. "What else can we do, Al?"
"Scorp really doesn't want to talk…"
"Yeah…" Al decided to think about Scorpius another time. Instead, his thoughts wandered to his findings. Werewolves. "I'm going for a walk. See you two later." Putting away his homework, Al left the Slytherin Common Room. He should find Rose or James or Lily. They'd want to hear about this.
Then Al realized he didn't know how to get into the Gryffindor Common Room. Deciding it could wait, he walked out of the castle anyway. He might as well take a walk. He could pay Hagrid a visit too.
On the way there, Al spotted two figures heading for the Forbidden Forest. He squinted, trying to see who they were. Then he recognized the tall, broad-shouldered build and blond hair- Dirk Kron, and the much smaller figure must be a first year or second year.
Al considered following them, but the thought of getting lost in the world of tall dark trees discouraged him. No way was he going in there.
Instead, he decided to sit by a tree and wait. If they would come out, he would know.
Al used the free time to think about what he just discovered about werewolves instead of thinking about what happened a week ago. Werewolves are very similar in appearance to a real wolf, but they're deadlier, capable of killing or infecting even their closest friends. When the moon is full, they have no choice but to transform into their wolf form.
Out of curiosity, Al looked up at the sky, which was starting to darken
The moon was already visible, and it was full.
"Hello, Al."
Al looked up at the sound of his name. It was a Ravenclaw girl with black hair and brown skin. "Hi…" Did he know her? Al tried to remember.
"I'm Sophia Thomas, a friend of Paula's." She added before he could figure out a way to ask without being offending.
"Oh…" Al sought out something to say. "Wanna sit with me?"
"Okay." She was sat next to him. "Paula told me what happened… with Scorpius."
"Did she?" Al wondered how it affected other people. It was news when a Potter and a Weasley befriended a Malfoy. Now that the Malfoy left the Potter and the Weasley, choosing to be alone, what crazy ideas would people come up with?
Not that it mattered.
People will think what they think.
It's just that Al tended to be interested in different opinions.
"Yes… Paula's pretty upset… Jacqui rarely talks… I've never seen her so depressed."
"Rose has been really under the weather too." This topic was upsetting, Al couldn't help thinking of it as his fault for arranging the picnic in the first place. And so far, any attempt to talk sense into Scorpius had been a failure.
Al searched for something else to talk about. "Do you know anything about werewolves?"
"Werewolves? Er… They're people who turn into wolves at the full moon."
"Yeah." Al looked up again. It was getting late. Dirk and his companion were still in the forest, weren't they? What would they be doing at this time?
"It's a full moon tonight. Are you expecting a werewolf to come out?" There was a joking tone in Sophia's voice.
Al actually laughed. In some ways, he was expecting that. He had a theory.
Wolfsbane was a potion that helped a person retain his or her sanity when in wolf form. That way, they would avoid harming anyone they care about and may just sit and wait for sunrise. It was a potion that smoked.
And what did the angry first year's potion do?
It gave off smoke!
It was crazy, but Al suspected that she was a werewolf.
At the sound of quick footsteps, Al stiffened, expecting Dirk and his companion to come charging towards them. Then he realized that instead of coming from in front of them, in the direction of the Forbidden Forest, it came from behind them.
Crouching and peeking from behind the tree, he saw a chubby boy running towards them. He staggered to a stop in front of them, panting, his blond hair messed up by the wind. "Have… you… seen… my sister?"
"Your sister?" Al stood up and approached the boy.
"Yeah… I… er… was supposed to… er…" the boy inhaled then exhaled. He ran his hand through his hair, as if trying to think of what to say. "Dad told me to keep an eye on her. She left the Common Room."
"What does she look like?" Sophia asked.
"She's… er…" the boy paused to think. "She had blond hair… and… er… OH CRAP!" The boy's eyes widened.
"What? What is it?" How wide the boy's eyes got gave Al a bad feeling in his gut. The sound of crunching leaves coming from behind him only added to the feeling. Dreading what he would see, Al gulped, then turned around.
There, standing just a yard away from them was a creature Al only just read about. It had golden-brown fur that bristled and ice-blue eyes that glared. Its teeth were bared and it's hackles were raised.
"Al… what else do you know about werewolves?" Sophia sounded scared. Al didn't blame her. He was too.
"Only that if this one didn't take Wolfsbane Potion, we can't expect to survive…" Al swallowed and tried to clear his head. Images of being torn to pieces kept flashing before his eyes. What to do? What to do? What would dad do? Al wanted to be as great as his father. Now that he had the opportunity, he was frozen in fear.
"Marigold! I'm your brother!" the Hufflepuff boy tried reasoning with the werewolf. If it really didn't take Wolfsbane, reason would be completely useless.
The werewolf's snarling continued to rumble deep in its throat. It reared up on its hindlegs, and Al randomly noticed that its dew claws were more like thumbs. Its paws were more capable of gripping objects than a normal wolf's. The possibilities that thought brought up didn't help Al's fear.
"Heel." A calm voice spoke.
The werewolf growled before falling silent and going back on all fours. It glared at them before turning around and walking towards someone Al didn't notice was there.
The boy the werewolf was going to was none other than Dirk Kron.
The werewolf sat on its haunches next to Dirk like some faithful pet. Dirk smirked at it, stroking it's head, before letting his blue eyes fall on Al. "Vell, I did not expect to see you here, Potter."
Squee! Al had to research. Y'all are way more awesome, you figured the werewolf out quicker ;)