Sorry for the super long wait. This chapter is a rather long one, and very exciting if I do say so myself. I know that doesn't make up for me keeping you guys hanging, but . . .
Hedgi: Thanks, I'm glad you like the story. I won't spoil the ending, but I do plan to make it satisfying enough.
Lia: Haha, yep!
Master_of_bugs_123: Thank you so much!
Idizzle_22: Thanks!
Day 2:
21: 07
"Get away from them!" Albus cried, pushing his cousin away and rushing towards his friend, or rushing as much as he could on his bad ankle. He shook him. "Scorpius? Scorpius! Are you alright, mate!"
Malfoy blinked and Albus sighed in relief.
"How are you feeling, buddy?"
" . . . F-Father?" he whispered.
Rose laughed. "Look at that, he's already delusional! Yep, it won't be long now."
"Shut up!" he hissed. "Scorpius Malfoy, can you hear me?"
The boy responded in a once that sounded tired and somewhat hoarse. Still, he babbled on, having an imaginary conversation, even pausing for several seconds for a response. "Calista, what are you still doing up? I don't care about the genealogy book. Yes, I've seen the page. Tell Foo-Foo to wash the dishes and then go to bed. I mean it, it's late. Otherwise I'm telling Mum and Dad that you're still awake. What am I doing up? I don't need to explain my life to you. I'm still awake because I'm older than you. Wait a few years and you can stay up late, too. I don't give a rat's arse how unfair it is. The world is not fair, Calista, get used to it!"
Albus was close to tears at this point. "Lily?" he whispered, turning to make her that her sister was okay.
"What's going on?" the little girl whimpered. "What's wrong with Rose? A-And Scorpius."
Albus did not bother trying to be brave. "I don't know," he said honestly.
"Albus, I'm scared," Lily whispered.
The older boy hugged her close to his chest. "Me too, Lily. Me too."
"Home?" Rose giggled as if she had just heard the funniest joke in the world. "Yeah, that's likely. Do you really think that we're going home at this point? Exactly how stupid are you? We're never leaving this place! Never!"
The cave echoed with Rose's manic laughter. Lily began to cry, and her brother soon joined her.
Day 3:
13: 42
"Why do they keep staring at us?" Draco demanded. "Go on, woman, don't you have things to do?" he shouted at some poor muggle woman who had given him an odd look. It didn't matter where Malfoy went, muggle or wizard, people would always stare at him as walked by.
"Maybe because your dressed like someone from the Renaissance," Astoria muttered. "I told you not to bring the cloak!"
"Do you want me to go to the Ministry of Magic in rags? Then they'll never take me seriously."
"I can't take you seriously when you kick little girls in the street!"
"She was laughing at me!" Malfoy pouted slightly and continued walking. "Look, there's the entrance. Come on." The two entered the phone booth, pressing 62442 (which, ironically, would spell "magic" on a phone.)
"You know," said Astoria conversationally. "Emma Dobbs thinks that people should replace the entrance to the Ministry because it will start to look suspicious, seeing as nobody in the muggle world uses pay phones anymore." It seemed as if the only way to keep her from grieving was by distracting herself with pointless chitchatter. On a normal day, Malfoy would have probably humored his wife. But that day he was just as, if not more stressed out than she was.
When they entered the Ministry, they were greeted by a woman sitting at a desk. (Using the term "greeted" rather lightly.) She was about twenty-five to thirty-five years old, although it was rather difficult to tell her exact age with her blocked by a large copy of Witches Weekly. She sat with her feet up and seemed to take no notice to the Malfoy's entrance.
Astoria scowled at the woman's unprofessional manner. If she had done that during work hours they would have sacked her in seconds! Still, trying her best to be polite, the former Greengrass coughed to get the woman's attention.
There was still no response, so her husband took it up a notch. "Excuse me," he said quietly, using every last bit of his willpower not to shout at the woman.
When they continued to be ignored, Astoria, at the edge of her patience, shouted rather rudely, "Hey, lady! We're talking to you!"
This time she looked up. "That was uncalled for," she mumbled, still not putting down the magazine. "So . . . what do you want?"
"We're meeting Miss Tracey Davis. You know, tall, blond, slightly murderous look in her eyes?" Astoria was only half-joking.
"No . . . I can't say I'm familiar with her. Perhaps you are at the wrong place . . . ?"
"Nope. She explicitly told us to meet her here. The matter is rather urgent. Why isn't she here?"
"Oh. Tracey Davis! I know her. In fact . . ." she put down the magazine. "I am her." She grinned. "Got you, didn't I?"
Malfoy rolled his eyes. "Real mature," he muttered.
"Hey, this job is boring. I need to have a little fun, don't I?"
"There is nothing fun about my son being murdered. Did you schedule a hearing?" she nodded. "Good. When is it?"
Tracey checked her watch. "Right now."
Day 3
15: 32
Hugo sat in his cousin's lap, nervously bouncing up and down.
"You're getting way too old for this," James moaned, trying to keep his tone lighthearted. He did not fool his cousin for a moment.
For a ten-year-old, Hugo, contrary to what his name may have suggested, was extremely small. A sufferer of mild muscular atrophy, (a condition similar too, although not quite as severe as muscular dystrophy,) his growth was stunted and he lacked muscle mass. Most people who did not know Hugo would have thought him to be six or seven-year-old at the oldest. He drank a special potion three times a day to allow the condition from progressing and was expected to live a normal life expectancy.
Hugo's small, slender frame, long delicate eyelashes, and a mini afro of curly red hair gave him a slightly feminine appearance, earning him the nickname "princess", which he absolutely detested.
For the most part, he was his sister's polar opposite. Hugo was a quiet well-manered child who usually kept to himself, spending hours each day devouring book after book. He was doing just that at that very moment as he sat in James's lap. His book of choice? Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens. Quite a feat for a boy of his age!
James had been dropped off at his Aunt and Uncle's house for the afternoon, while his parents went to court for some reason. They had refused to give further detail about what they were doing, and no matter how much he tried, he couldn't get Ron or Hermione to further elaborate for him.
Hugo had taken great comfort in his cousin's visit, and promptly made himself comfortable on the boy's lap. James protested, but only half-heartedly.
For over an hour, the two sat in silence. Hugo with his book, James with his guilty conscience. Despite what his parents told him, he kept thinking the same thing over and over again: it's all my fault.
why had he been so stupid? He'd abandoned his family when they needed him, and now if they were dead he would be the one responsible. How would he ever be able to live with himself?
"Are you crying?" Hugo asked, upon seeing the tears in his eyes. James shook his head. "Yes, you are crying," he decided. "Here," Hugo pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to his cousin. He returned to the book.
James sniffled silently for several minutes, being rather embarrassed. He didn't like crying in front of other people. He had a reputation to keep, after all. He was glad Hugo didn't press the matter.
"It's not your fault, you know," he whispered.
Spoke too soon.
"What isn't?"
"What happened on the trip . . . there was nothing you could have done. 'We should regret our mistakes and learn from them never carry them into the future with us'," the little boy said solemnly. "L.M. Montgomery said that."
Hugo's wisdom never ceased to amaze James, even if it was another person's words. How had he known what he was thinking? He nodded, and forced himself not to cry again.
"It was kind of obvious," replied Hugo, once again reading his cousin's mind. "When something bad and tragic happens that someone had something to do with, but managed to get out of relatively unscathed, they immediately feel a large burden of guilt. This because they think it should have been them instead."
"Wow. Who said that?"
He smirked. "I did."
Day 3
17: 41
Every minute that passed only seemed to drag Albus and Lily further and further down into hell. Rose had long passed the point of caring and had resorted to repeatedly running into the snow walls, hoping to break them free. She had actually resorted to taking OFF some of her layers, claiming that she was too hot. Scorpius looked blankly at his friends in his semi-conscious state and batted the air with his hands, as if catching invisible butterflies, muttering something about his grandfather and purple bananas. Later that night he fell asleep, and no matter how many times Albus and Lily shook him, their friend would not wake. The fact that he was still breathing was little comfort, for they knew if Malfoy did not get medical help soon, he was as good as dead.
It was then, Lily had her epiphany. "Wait a minute," she said. "I forgot!" She opened one of the inside pockets to her jacket and grinned, pulling out a rectangular bar. "It's a breakfast bar. I brought it in case I'd get hungry."
Rose jerked her head towards her cousin. The girl's nostrils twitched like a bloodhound on a trail. "FOOD!" she exclaimed.
Albus, too, had a similar reaction, and tried to drag himself towards his sister. He knew it was wrong, but he just couldn't help it. HE WAS SO DAMN HUNGRY!
Even Scorpius seemed to smile in his sleep, and reached his hand out at nothing in particular.
Lily hunched over and tried to shield her food. "No!" she shouted. "You can't have it! It's MINE!" She began unwrapping the snack as quickly as her little fingers could manage, and attempted to shove the entire thing into her mouth.
Before she could, however, Rose pounced on the girl, and snatched the breakfast bar out of her hand. Lily started to cry and Rose laughed.
"G-give it back!" She pleaded. "We could . . . we could share."
"We cowld shawre," Rose repeated in a mocking voice.
Albus, despited the burning sensation in his ankle, kicked his cousin, causing the bar to fly out of her hands. The three children watched as their only source of food (seemingly in slow motion) fell inside of an ice crack.
"NO!" Rose screamed.
There was no warning, no gradual build up, nothing. In a split second, the cave which had once been there icy prison was on fire! Albus could feel the heat, but the ice would not melt. Instinctively, he ran for his cousin, grabbing a handful of snow and throwing in into the flames, hoping to dull them. He heard Rose laugh, and realized with horror that his cousin was on the other side of the fire.
"Rose!" He squinted, trying to see through the smoke and struggled to breathe. To his horror, not only was Rose in the fire, she was causing it! The flames erupted from the girl's hands, not appearing to cause her any pain whatsoever. Albus didn't know much about wantless magic, but this had to be a pretty powerful spell.
"Are you mad?" he shouted, trying not to gag as he inhaled the poison fumes. "You'll kill us all!"
Lily shrieked as a fireball was thrown in her direction, but managed to duck just in time. The fire hit the ice wall and disappeared.
"Scorpius!" Albus cried, seeing his friend, slumped on the ground and not moving. Without thinking, he ran over and grabbed the boy's hand, pulling him out of the flames and into safety, at least for the time being.
Al was finding it harder and harder to breathe. He felt his head grow heavy as he struggled to stay alert. But the idea of joining Scorpius was so tempting . . .
No, he had to stay focused.
". . . Rose, please," he begged. " . . . please . . . ."
He didn't know if the desperation in his voice awoke something in the girl, or perhaps she merely became overwhelmed by the spell and completely drained, but suddenly, to flames began to shrink. They continued to do so until only a small ball of fire circled Rose's left hand, only her immunity to the flames seemed to vanish.
Albus would never forget the scream his cousin let out. Blood curtailing and painful to listen to, Rose let out at least a dozen to them.
The sight was horrible but Albus could not bring himself to look away as the flames ate away at his cousin's flesh. Her hand turned red and blistery, then black, then white, then black again and the skin began to whither away, rendering it terribly mutilated.
It should have come as obvious, but it was not until Rose's hand had suffered third and fourth degree burns when he screamed. "The snow, Rose! The SNOW!"
Rose nodded and threw her hand not the snow. The fire vanished, but her hand was still smoking. Al could smell the stench of burning flesh in the air.
Tentatively, for he was still a bit worried about her sanity, he crawled over to her. The look in Rose's eyes was no longer one of a madwoman. Instead they were filled with tremendous pain, pain that Albus could not even begin to imagine.
"Well," Rose said, chuckling slightly. "At least I'm right-handed." And with that, she fell to the ground, out-cold.
Albus checked her pulse, relieved that she was still alive, but he knew this would not be the case for long. "Lily," he said, turning to his terrified sister, "nobody's coming to get us." Albus had known this to be the case for a while, and in all likelihood, so had Lily. But now that he had actually said the words they seemed to hold a gravity that they didn't when merely sitting in his head. Albus choked back tears as he said the next words, but knew in his heart that it was the only way. "The hole's gotten bigger," he said, his voice hoarse. "I need you to climb out of it and go get help. I'll stay stay here with Rose and Scorpius. Find anybody and bring them back here. Do you understand, Lily?"
"But . . . but . . . I don't know where to go! I can't leave Al, I'm . . . I'm scared! You go!"
"I can't, my ankle's broken, or at least sprained. Lily, I need you to be brave, just pretend this is a game. Lily . . . Lily, look at me."
She met her brother's eyes, both of which were filled with tears. Lily's lower lip trembled, but a silent understanding seemed to pass between them. They had grown a lot in the past few days, and both knew that it was the only way.
"I'll be back with help," she promised. Lily ran over and gave her brother a quick hug before exiting through the hole. She got stuck halfway and had to have Albus push her through.
He watched as his sister limped away into the distance, knowing that the chances of her finding anyone were slim. He almost called out to ask her to come back. But he didn't. Instead, Albus watched silently until Lily was no longer in sight. He took a deep breath. Had he made a mistake? What if somebody came back and Lily wasn't there? How would they know to find them? What if Lily got lost on her way back?
No. No, he couldn't afford to think that way. Everything would work out for the best. Everything had to.
Albus knew that if his sister did not return he would never forgive himself.
Wow, I'm twisted.
Anyway, this is probably the second or third to last chapter, so things will be wrapping up pretty soon.
But that does not, by any means, give you guys an excuse not to review!
. . . Please?