ChickWithThePurpleGuitar: Thank you.
At last, the long-awaited chapter for my (three) readers. Enjoy!
"It's not so bad," said Albus, trying to reassure his companions. His attempts, however, were completely in vain. Still, he decided to try to be calm. Scorpius had never been on a skiing trip before - - for all he knew, this sort of thing happened all the time. And Lily was younger and got scared far too easily. He had to be brave for them. Albus could only hope that Rose would catch on.
Once again, his hopes proved to be futile. Rose stood up. She looked so angry that Albus could have sworn that he saw smoke come out of her ears. "Not so bad?" she repeated incredulously. "Not so bad? Are you insane? We're trapped in an ice cave with no way out!"
Scorpius cringed as the severity of the situation struck him. He continued to shiver. Come to think of it, Malfoy could not remember ever being so cold in his life. What really frightened him, though, was not that he was shivering, but the fact that he couldn't seem to stop. Was this normal?
The others were also shivering, he noted, although nowhere near as vigorously as him.
Rose realized this, too. She turned to Malfoy. "Are you okay?" she asked.
Scorpius seethed. Was he okay? Was he OKAY? Of course he was not okay! He was trapped in a freakin' snow cave, for crying out loud! To think he had believed Albus when he told him that this muggle sport was perfectly safe. And to make matters even worse, he'd end up having to listen his father's I-told-you-so-lecture once he got back home. And she had the nerve to ask if he was okay? "No! No, I am not okay! How could you ask me such an idiotic question? I thought you Ravenclaws were supposed to be smart!"
Rose was shocked. She should have been angry, but instead she felt hurt. Of course, she couldn't let him know that, so instead she just rolled her eyes and said, "Okay, Mr. Sunshine."
Lily giggled.
Scorpius scowled, trying to come up with a witty retort,but he had nothing. So he just did his classic Malfoy sneer at her, trying to look as intimidating as possible.
Albus, sensing the tension, tried to calm them all down. "Hey, look," he said. "I know that we're all in a living hell, but - - "
"Mummy says you're not allowed to use that word!" shouted Lily, pointing an accusing finger at her older brother.
Al rolled his eyes, "Okay, fine. I know that we're all in an H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks - -"
"What?" demanded Lily and Scorpius simultaneously, while at the same time Rose shouted, "Nobody says that anymore!"
"It's an expression for hell. Violet taught it to me," Albus explained. Ah, Violet. That was who they needed right now. Violet was a wheelchair-bound, Canadian exchange student. She had come to Hogwarts on a special program for wizard children with special needs. Violet was in Ravenclaw with Rose, and one of the few people who could match up to her intelligence. "She says it's a muggle game. It's very popular where she comes from."
"I remember," Rose said, "I just couldn't believe you would say that. No one has said that in, like, thirty years!"
"I remember, too," Scorpius added, "she explained the game to us." He shrugged. "It sounded pretty stupid to me. How about we say our own version of it? I like H-E-Double-Broomsticks!"
"No," said Rose immediately, "I mean, think about it. Hell is usually associated as being somewhere really hot, because it's believed to be in the center of the Earth - - which is physically impossible, I might add. Also, I am pretty sure the reason why they chose hockey sticks was because they look like capital Ls."
"So, fine. They'll be lower-cased then."
"But that's so stupid!" Rose cried, "it completely defeats the purpose!"
Malfoy shrugged. "So what?"
Ablus could see that Rose was about to lose her temper. Later, he would probably look back on this moment and laugh. They were fighting over something so incredibly idiotic that it was hilarious! But that was Rose, and Rose loved to argue. Albus seemed to remember a couple of years ago, Rose having actually having an argument with their Uncle George about whether they were having an argument or not! It was completely mental! Yet again, it was Uncle George. Their dad always said that George was like another kid altogether.
Lily glanced at her fingers. They had become slightly more purple and had begun to swell up a bit. She tried to put her mitten back on, when the ten-year-old came to a horrible discovery: he mitten wouldn't fit! She screamed.
"What is it?" asked Albus.
"My hand . . . I c-can't . . . feel it," Lily said, beginning to tear up. "Albus, I'm scared."
"Don't be," her brother said, "James will be back soon with help. Trust me, we'll be out within the hour."
"Are you sure this is where it happened?" Ron asked.
"Positive!" James sad, "they fell over this ledge and . . . wait, the ledge!" he ran over to the mini-cliff where he had last seen them. It was nowhere to be seen. "ALBUS?" he called, "LILY? ROSE?" now frantic, he searched the area again, as if expecting a cliff to come out of nowhere. James ran back to his parents, "They're gone!" he cried.
Everyone turned to Hermione. "What do you think?" asked Harry nervously.
Hermione took another look around the area. "Due to the lack of footprints or ski-lines, I'd say there was another avalanche a very short while ago, which would explain why the snow here is fresh." She shook her head a couple of times, willing herself not to cry. "It looks bad."
"We could try using a tracking charm," Harry suggested, "surely, if they're in this area, we'll be able to . . ."
"No," said Hermione, "it's not that simple. Unless they were wearing some sort of tracking device, there is no such spell." Hermione took a deep breath and tried to think straightly. "The best thing we can do as of now is dig while one of us calls a search party. Let's just pray that it's not too late."
Pretending not to hear the last part, Harry nodded. "Good idea, 'Mione. Ginny, you call the authorities, we'll conjure up some shovels and start digging. C'mon guys, we have no time to lose!" he looked down at the snow. "Don't worry, kids," he said, "we're coming for you."
Draco Malfoy was not a patient man. He glared at his pocket watch as if he wanted to pulverize it. Snapping it shut angrily, he cried, "That boy is nearly an hour late! Potter better have a good explanation for this!"
His wife, Astoria, rolled her eyes. "I'm sure it's nothing, dear," she said, "they probably just stopped for ice cream or something on the way."
Draco growled somewhat like a rabid dog. "Then they should have sent an owl This is unacceptable!" he pounded his fist on the table, knocking over an ink bottle, spilling the liquid all over their expensive carpet.
Astoria gave him a look, but said nothing. Draco had been particularly unpleasant lately - - even more so than usual. And Astoria knew why, though. Draco had never fully accepted his son's friendship with his former nemesis's children. He was worried that Scorpius might become one of them.
Astoria snapped her fingers, and their house elf, Foo-Foo appeared. She ordered the elf to clean up the mess, leaving her husband to mope.
Draco had been extremely reluctant to let his son go on this muggle trip. Skiing sounded rather dangerous. What kind of twisted person attached boards to their feet and slid down a mountain for fun? It was mad! And to think, some people actually did it for enjoyment. It seemed like just the stupid, risky pastime that the Potters would enjoy.
Mr. Malfoy looked over his shoulder. The door to the drawing room was slightly ajar. He knew that Calista was in there and did not want to disturb her. Slowly, Malfoy crept up to the door and peered through the crack. Sure enough, Calista was in there. The little ten-year-old sat with her feet up on the coffee table and a book of pureblood genealogy (a gift from Grandfather) in her lap. Her long, platinum-blond hair was pulled back in a large, satin ribbon. Her sea green eyes, which were inherited from her mother, sparkled with glee and anticipation as she read the page on the Malfoys.
Calista reminded Draco slightly of himself when he was in his youth. Lucius always told him that he should be proud to be the father of such a fine young lady, but Draco wasn't so sure. Did he really want his kid to go through the same childhood experience that he had been forced to endure? Their beliefs were not exactly encouraged these days, and Draco knew that Calista would get into some serious trouble if she opened up her mouth to the wrong person.
Draco would never actually admit it, but although he often pretended otherwise, he was, in a way, proud that Scorpius turned out the way he did. His friendship with the Potters had bolstered their family's reputation more than ever.
And it wasn't just the Potters. Scorpius seemed to make friends wherever he went. The boy had a certain charm to him. I don't know why I'm surprised, Draco thought, with a slight smirk forming on his lips, he is my son after all. Calista, on the other hand, was far more like the stereotypical Slytherin: cold, collected, cunning, clever - - was it just him, or did all of Slytherin's adjectives start with the letter C?
Suddenly, without any warning, there was a shriek from upstairs. "Draco, Calista," came Astoria's hoarse voice, "come up here right now."
Calista exited the Drawing Room and exchanged glances with her father. They were both thinking the same thing: this could not possibly mean anything good.
Astoria was normally a fairly calm person. She did not worry over just any little thing. Often pushed away problems with a sarcastic remark, or a roll of her eyes. It was her sardonic sense of humor that made Draco first fall for her. Looking back he knew he had made the right choice.
Running up the stairs, four at a time, with Calista trailing behind taking two steps at a time, they reached the master bedroom. Astoria's eyes were red and puffy, no doubt from crying. Astoria crying was a rare sight.
Calista immediately ran to her mother's side, abandoning her normally contemptuous (another C word) outer shell. "Mummy, what's wrong?" she whispered.
Astoria looked straight into Malfoy's eyes, and held up a letter in her hand. At once, Malfoy knew. She did not even need to say the words. "I just got an owl from the Potters," she croaked, her eyes filling up tears once more, "Scorpius is gone."
It took a really long time, I am aware of the fact. I really hope you liked it.
Please review and tell me what you think. Any suggestions would be great!