5. Visits
"Al!" The whisper came from somewhere behind the staircase. Albus turned around, a bit confused, and spotted his brother. He was alone. That was odd.
"What? I have to get back to the Library, my friends are waiting." Albus noticed how James just tucked away a piece of old parchment. Of course, the Marauders Map.
"Is Rose alone with that Malfoy?" Albus frowned. He didn't like the tone of James' voice.
"No, Selene is there too, why-?"
"Schh!" James hushed him even though there was no one else there, and motioned for him to step closer.
"I heard that that Malfoy got into your team, what is Dominique thinking?" James started pacing back and forth, mumbling to himself. Al waited. James was always slow when it came to getting to the point of something.
"Dominique thinks he's a good flyer, and so do I."
"Whatever." James stopped pacing. "Why do you think that Malfoy contacted you?" He added with an intense stare at Albus.
"Um… he never 'contacted' us… We heard him in the hallway on the train and asked him if he needed help with his trunk."
"That may just be a part of his plan. Playing innocent." James started his pacing again.
"James… I'm not sure he has a plan…"
"Nonsense, he's a Malfoy!"
"He's a Ravenclaw."
"Whatever. My point is-"
"I don't want to hear your point. Scorpius is nice, and he's not prejudiced like you are right now. Goodbye." He turned around and started his way back to the Library.
"Wait, Al!"
"What?" He whirled around and started tapping his foot while James seemed to try to figure out a way to sum whatever it was he wanted up into one sentence.
"Just… just keep an eye on him, okay?"
Albus almost rolled his eyes. "Okay."
"Good, I'm late for class now. Bye." And James hurried away upstairs. Albus shook his head once and then continued on his way.
The Library was quiet besides the scratch of quills on parchment, by following the only muffled voices that could be heard he soon found his friends by a round table.
"What took you so long?" Rose said without looking up from the potions-essay she was writing.
"James." Albus put his bag on the table and pulled out his own essay on the Hiccup-solution.
"What did he want?" Rose continued writing, but Albus had a feeling that she already knew what it was.
"The usual, he thinks Scorpius is evil."
Scorpius looked up with a worried crease between his eyebrows. "What? Why?"
"Don't worry, Scorp." Rose hurried to say. "He's always like that. According to him, anyone who isn't a Weasley or Potter, or didn't actively fight Voldemort, isn't a good person. Even when it comes to people who weren't born at the time."
Scorpius raised an eyebrow sceptically. "So, he basically judges people on their family heritage?"
"Yes." Albus and Rose said in unison.
"Wow…"
"What's 'wow'?" Selene said, it was the first time she opened her mouth other than to say 'hello' to everyone this day.
"Well… James is my cousin, his mom is born a Weasley, which should be the last pure-blooded wizarding family in the world to judge based on heritage." Rose explained. "Lots of pure-bloods were prejudiced against us Weasley's, because we apparently lacked true 'wizard pride'. James is a bit of an exception on the 'non-prejudiced' part."
Albus nodded.
"Lol…"
"What?" Albus, Rose and Scorpius said. Albus had never heard such a word before.
"Ehm… it's a muggle expression… It's short for 'laughing out loud', but it doesn't necessarily involve laughing for fun…" Selene explained.
"Why is there such an abbreviation?"
"Well, eh… Have you heard of the Internet?"
"Yes." Albus and Rose said.
"No…" Scorpius followed quietly.
"Well it's ah…" and Selene went ahead and started explaining about computers and the Internet for Scorpius, and things like instant messaging.
"We have half an hour before dinner after Herbology." Rose said as they made their way up to the common room to leave their bags after Charms. "Should we visit Hagrid?"
Selene recalled the image of the man who had taken them across the lake to Hogwarts, they hadn't visited him yet. "Sure." She wasn't sure if she was amazed or afraid of the sheer size of the man.
"Make sure you eat plenty at lunch though." Albus said when they entered the common room. "Hagrid isn't much of a cook…"
"So, Selene, you're muggleborn right?" Marcus Goldstein turned to her. It seemed he was done questioning Albus and Rose about their parents. He'd been keeping non-stop conversations about them at every possible time.
"Yes."
"So how is it growing up with muggles? I mean, there's no magic around."
"It's fine, we have a lot of things acting as substitutes for magic." Selene looked at Matt for help. She didn't want to be the only one having to answer Marcus' questions. Matt was talking to William so it seemed that she'd have to face this alone. Great. This was going straight to…
"Oh yes!" Happy over an excuse not to launch into a lecture regarding things she didn't know that much about, Selene turned to Rose, who was looking as excited as ever when reading a note an owl had just carried in, despite it being way too late for the mail to arrive.
"What is it?" Al said and leaned in to read the note.
"Quidditch-practice starts early for the Ravenclaw team." Rose almost jumped up and down where she sat. "Where's Scorpius?"
"Eh, I think he went to the bathroom…" Selene started but trailed off. He'd been gone for quite a while now…
"He's been gone for half an hour." Al said and looked worried. "D'you think something's happened to him?"
"Why would anything happen to him?" Rose asked, obviously confused.
"He's a Malfoy, Rose, do you have any idea of how many people would love to do something to a Malfoy?"
"We should go look for him." Selene said and Rose jumped up.
"Right, where should we go?"
"Um… if we're in any luck he should be in the boy's lavatory. If we're not lucky, he's probably in the Hospital Wing." Al said and seemed to think intensely in a try to come up with any other places he might be.
"Um, okay we'll split up, Al, you take the lavatories around here, me and Sel will take a look in the Hospital Wing and some of the corridors, okay? We'll meet up outside Transfiguration, okay?"
"What if we don't find him? And Sel?"
"We'll check outside too. Yes, Sel, what?" Rose said when she saw Selene's accusing glare. "Well, we have to give you a nickname!"
"Uh, Rosie, why would he be outside?"
"Sel?"
"Yes, Sel, listen we'll come up with something else later! And I don't know, Al, in case someone tried to feed him to the giant squid?"
"That's not funny."
"Whatever! C'mon people, we're looking for Scorp now, get up!" She ushered them up and out of the Great Hall impatiently, only to be caught up on by Matthew.
"Hey, what's going on?" He said and Rose sighed heavily.
"Scorpius has been missing for half an hour, now, you go with Al, and he'll explain why we think he's missing in the first place, okay? Good boy." Rose said it all very fast and then hurried upstairs.
"What's with her?" Matt asked and Selene shrugged.
"I-"
"Sel, c'mon!"
"Sel?" Matt raised an eyebrow and looked at her.
"I don't know, but I'll have to go until she turns into a dragon or something…"
"You know, that's actually happened before…" Al started but got interrupted by Rose calling on Selene again. Selene dutifully hurried after the other girl to the Hospital Wing.
"Hello, girls." A white-haired old lady greeted them with a small smile. "Are you looking for someone?"
"Well… our friend Scorpius Malfoy, he's been gone for a while and well… what with his family's history we were worried that something might have happened to him…" Rose said in a weak voice.
"Oh dear… Hmph, young boys… Well I haven't seen him, if you find him and he's in a bad condition, take him to me and I'll fix him up."
"Thank you, madam Pomfrey." Rose nodded and backed out of the Hospital Wing followed by Selene.
"How did you know her name?" Selene asked as they went down to search for Scorpius in the hallways.
"My dad told me that she still works here, she's going to get an assistant by Christmas-time though, I don't know who that is." Rose shrugged. "C'mon we'll have to find Scorpius soon." She took off into a hidden passageway behind a tapestry of some knights and almost stepped right on said person in the dark.
"Scorpius! Where have you been?"
"Here." His voice was thick.
"What is wrong with you?" Rose kneeled beside him and lit her wand by mumbling lumos. "My dad taught me that spell."
Selene looked at Scorpius, his face was covered in dry blood and his ankle seemed to be sprained.
"What happened? Who did this?"
"I don't know. All I know is that suddenly I had a nosebleed and then I was knocked out for a while, and my ankle was sprained. I heard someone say 'dirty' and something about blood…"
"Come, we'll take you to madam Pomfrey in the Hospital Wing." Rose said and grabbed his arm. Selene grabbed the other and together they helped him stand.
They walked out of the darkness and into the lit up hallway and started on their way up the stairs to the Hospital Wing when they encountered Albus and Matthew.
"There you are! Wait… what's happened?"
"Someone attacked him from behind, why aren't you looking for him?"
"We heard some older Slytherins talking about how they 'nailed' someone in the first year around here so we went to look for you."
"Well at least this saves time…"
"Hello? Person with nosebleed here?" Selene flinched and then she almost started laughing, for some reason, the look on Scorpius' face reminded her of those soap opera actors that really couldn't act at all.
"Oh right."
"Here, let us help." Matt took Selene's place and Al took Rose's, and continued on their way.
They entered the Hospital Wing and immediately madam Pomfrey shushed them all away to tend to Scorpius.
A couple of minutes later, after a thorough examination of his head, she fixed his ankle and wiped the blood away.
"There. You can go to your classes now," she glanced at the watch on her arm, "they start in about five minutes so I suggest you hurry. And Mr. Malfoy, if you remember anything more about those Slytherins who did this, I suggest you go to your Head of House."
"Will do, madam Pomfrey."
"Good. Now leave or you will all be late."
It was in a gush of smoke they exited the classroom, Rebecca Goyle had somehow managed to turn the button they were transfiguring into a nasty-smelling smoke that filled the entire room, and continued down a flight of stairs on their way to Herbology-class.
"Wait! Did you hear that?" Selene stopped the others halfway to the greenhouses.
"What?" They asked in unison.
"I… I thought it sounded like a cat…"
"Not very surprising." Al said as they continued. "There are many people here who have cats. It probably just snuck out of the common room or something."
"Well it sounded like a kitten… Who'd let a kitten out here? Aren't there dangerous animals in the forest?"
Al shrugged. "Maybe someone's just playing a trick on a friend."
"Hmph, a cruel trick if it's really a kitten."
Still with the kitten or whatever it was in mind, she took her place by an empty pot next to Albus as professor Longbottom entered the greenhouse.
"Good morning class."
"Good morning." The class echoed.
"So, today we are going to have a small quiz, just to see what you've read and remember from our previous lessons, and then I will show you the proper way of planting honking daffodils. Without having them honk you deaf that is." The professor smiled, and most of the class giggled.
Selene was paired up with Rose, who seemed somewhat disgruntled by her cousins Molly and Lucy who shared their table. Selene thought that the two of them seemed to be rather nice actually. But that was until she realized why Rose was disgruntled. Those two never stopped talking!
It wasn't until after the lesson ended Rose would take up her usual spot as the one being the most talkative while they were on their way down to Hagrid.
"… so anyway, you and Sel have to come over to the Burrow over the summer." Rose was just telling Scorpius The Many Tales of the Burrow, complete with a list of all the Weasley cousins. Selene honestly didn't know how she had managed to pass Rose's "test", and now it was Scorpius' turn. She almost felt sorry for him.
Selene was only listening with one ear when she heard the meow of the kitten again when they were close to Hagrid's hut, and this time even Scorpius heard it through the stream of words coming from Rose. The meow was heard again, and this time it seemed to be closer. Selene turned around and crouched.
A small grey bundle of fur came running from Hagrid's garden, but stopped as soon as it spotted the four students and stared.
Selene stretched out her hand and cooed at the kitten. "Come, kitty-kitty." It meowed softly and took a few hesitant steps towards her and sniffed the air.
"Come on." She cooed again and the kitten walked closer and sniffed on her hand. For a moment it looked like it didn't know what to do, but then it stroke its head on her hand and began purring as she petted it.
"Aaaw. It's so cute!" Rose smiled at the kitten and Selene picked it up and carried it over to her. At first it tried to get free but then it calmed down when she scratched it underneath it's chin.
"I wonder whose it is." Selene said and looked for a collar, but found none.
"Probably no ones." Scorpius said and stretched out his hand for it to sniff. "Maybe we could take it back to the castle and look around."
"Maybe it's Hagrids?" Selene suggested, but found it a bit hard to believe herself.
"No, he says he's allergic." Al said. "I could ask James if he knows anyone with a grey tabby kitten though."
"What if it's a Slytherin? James definitely wouldn't know that." Rose said and Selene noticed how Scorpius shifted uncomfortably.
"I could always ask. But only one person, because that's about how many people that won't try to hex me for approaching them." He said and looked down on his shoes.
"Okay, you ask him, I'll ask Victoire to ask the Hufflepuff prefects and Selene can show it to the others in our house." Rose said in a commanding tone. "Now let's knock on the door."
As she said, Rose walked over to the door in Hagrid's hut, closely followed by the others, and knocked.
Hagrid opened and grinned. "Yeh look jus' like yer mother Rosie. Only with more red in yeh hair."
"Hi Hagrid." Rose grinned. "Can we come in? Classes are just over."
"Sure! C'mon in, I'll make yeh sum tea." He stepped back and the four of them entered the cabin. Selene looked around.
A bit nauseous by the dead chickens and pheasants hanging in the ceiling, she looked over at the huge bed and saw a big old dog lying down with two puppies climbing over her. She held the kitten closer to herself and sat down on a chair by the table next to Albus. The kitten immediately tried to climb up on the table as Hagrid gave them all tea cups the size of two and poured up water from a kettle that had already been on the fire when they got there.
"So what's yer name?" Hagrid said and eyed Selene.
"Selene. Atherton." The kitten meowed and jumped up on the table when she wasn't prepared.
"That yeh cat?" He nodded at it.
"No, we just found her." Selene took the kitten back to her. It protested with a pitiful meow and tried to get a hold of the table surface with its claws and Hagrid turned to Scorpius who seemed to shrink where he sat.
"So, yer a Malfoy? How's yeh father?"
"Yes sir… He-he's fine sir." Scorpius stuttered and the giant nodded.
"Jus' makin' sure." Selene wasn't sure, but it seemed like the giant was remembering something. Something from a darker time.
Other than that, the entire visit to Hagrid went smoothly, and they left for dinner loaded with rock cakes since they had all graciously declined, saying they didn't want to be full at dinner. Al had told her and Scorpius to do so if they wanted to keep their teeth, and Rose had agreed.
I'm alive!
It's been an awfully long time since I even logged in here (shame on me) but then I remembered a fanfic that I had read and wanted to see if it was updated (which it was, it was even finished and there was a sequel xD). So I read the fanfic, and that got me into the mood for writing on this story :)
Also, great news: I HAVE A PLOT FOR YEAR ONE! WOO-HOO! Well, kinda, it's not all worked out yet...
Also, some "bad" news: School will be very, very important to me this year, so I might not be able to write much, although I'll try and see if I can finish it before the summer at least :) Shouldn't be hectic at all... no, just raising my grades (I've been absent from school a lot), fixing important tests, playing guitar/piano and singing... trying to get in at the gymnasium (a higher education in Sweden, between "basic" and university) I want to go to... And then of course, writing :)
BTW, if anyone wants a clearer image of the kitten, just type in "cute grey tabby kitten" in google or something and you should find some pictures :)