The Sky Is Falling

Chapter 2

Sunlit Skies

It's coming down

These clouds could never save us

From such a juggernaut of weight

Your dance and jingle cabaret

She rushed back to the castle as fast as her broom could carry her as the sun fully made it's presence known. Thanks to qudditch, the Weasley girl was brilliant on a broom.

"I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good."

She went through the secret passage way quickly but carefully enough not to get caught. Breakfast was starting already, followed by her Transfiguration class. The last thing she needed to do was skip another class, but if it had to be done, she will not hesitate. Once she got into the castle passageway - hopefully undetected - she had no choice to go to her dormitory first: if the teachers saw that she was not in uniform, it would cause problems.

When she gave the password to the fat lady and entered the Gryffindor common room, her fellow Gryffindors - including her cousins and brother - all asked why she had just gotten back. She quickly told them not to worry about it: she wanted to tell them what she had saw, but if she did, she knew she would be drowning in more questions.

She got dressed as quickly as she could; she put on her stockings so quickly, she might have ripped them. She grabbed her robe to leave, but before she did, she took the wand out from her brown jacket and almost stormed out of the dorm and the common room.

She ran passed countless of students, professors, and ghosts in attempts to get to the dining hall as soon as possible. It was just then she had realized that she was in such a rush that she had forgotten her red and gold tie. It would have to wait, she silently decided.

She was approaching the threshold to the dining hall when it hit her.

"It's Tuesday," she whispered to herself.

She quickly turned around and ran, nearly collided with a few Hufflepuffs in the process.

It was Tuesday. Every Tuesday Al tutored a 4th or maybe 5th year D.A. club member. She thought his name was Ronnie, but she couldn't remember fully. It was by way of punishment - Professor Longbottom often volunteers Al for jobs such as these after the neo-Death Eater incident; however, it was one of the more lenient punishments he had the pleasure of receiving.

When she got to the D.A. practice room, she almost blasted the door open, startling the two students occupying the room: a Slytherin and a Ravenclaw.

"Rose, what the hell?" Al asked before his cousin could get a word in.

"Can we speak?" she asked immediately in between breaths.

"Can this wait?" Al asked as he glanced over to the short light-brown haired Ravenclaw.

"No," she said to him. "It can't."

"God," Al breathed as younger student looked on puzzled. "I skipped out on this too many times already. If Longbottom see's that I've-"

"I saw him."

Al's brilliant green eyes widened. He didn't believe her at first, but the completely serious look on her face was convincing enough.

"You…" he exhaled, probably involuntarily.

She nodded her head softly.

Al felt his heartbeat race. They had been back at the castle less than 24 hours, and suddenly Rose found him? This had to be checked out, he thought; however he knew after his first class starts, he wouldn't be able to see Rose until dinner. It had to be done right then.

"Robby," Al said turning to the younger Ravenclaw. "Listen, I know I promised you that I'd help you but…" he trailed off after taking a look at his cousin, as if to ask if she was sure. She nodded once again. "This is an emergency. A big one."

Robby seemed a little intimidated by Al's comment, but all he did was nod his head.

"Just keep practicing against the dummies," Al instructed "When you see the red light get stronger, you'll know it's working."

"Okay," he said as Al made his way to the door.

"Oh, and Robby," Al called once again as he stopped just before the threshold.

"I won't tell," Robby said without even being asked.

Al thanked him and followed Rose out of the room.

I'm going to be strong enough

And not let my fear decide my fate

Surrounded by dream goers

I don't want any part of this

"Okay," said Al as the two sat down at a desk. They decided that since it was breakfast, hardly any people would be at the library at that time. The last thing they needed was someone overhearing. "Nowwhatthebloodyhellhappened?"

Al had a tendency to mumble in moments of intensity. In fact, had it been anyone other than Rose or Scorpius, his words would not have been hearable.

"I went to the tower last night," Rose told her cousin quickly in a half-whisper.

"What?" he asked. "Why?"

"I couldn't sleep," she explained. "And…I don't know. Something just…" She trailed off for a second. "I just felt like going over there. Maybe I thought it would help me deal with the whole thing…I don't know."

"And he was there?" he asked, getting straight to the point.

She nodded.

"Thenwherethebloodyhellishenow?" he questioned in a mumble that Rose almost didn't make out.

"I don't know," she admitted.

"You don't know?"

"He just…" she trailed off once more. "Disappeared."

"What? Disapparated?" Once Al asked, he realized it was a stupid question. He knew Scorpius didn't know how to apparate; at least he didn't the last time he spoke to him.

"No," she answered. "Well, at least I don't think so."

There was a silence. Al placed his elbow on his desk and put his hand to his head. He felt his body franticly shivering over the shock of the news. He looked at the clock on the wall of the library, confirming that they still have a little time.

"Just tell me the whole story," he told Rose. "From the very beginning."

Rose did just that. She told him about her urge to visit the bell tower. She told him that Scorpius came in the room without saying a word. She left out the part where they kissed, but she finally told him about the part where he started acting very strangely: especially when he said: "I'm doing everything I can to keep it tamed…"

"Tamed?" inquired Al with a raised eyebrow. "Keep what tamed?"

"I don't know," Rose admitted once more, burying her face in her hands. She had been beating herself over that question for the last few hours. "But he looked so scared…as if something was out to get him."

Al thought for a moment. He focused his green eyes on the top of the desk, probing his own mind for something the Scorpius could have possibly done to make him so scared.

"Could a be a magical creature, or something?" Rose asked, causing Al's eyes to focus on her. "Something that wanted to hunt him down, for some reason?"

"That doesn't sound right," Al dismissed immediately. "Scorpius loves that subject, but he wouldn't go meddling around with creatures without Hagrid. Besides, even if he did, he'd have enough D.A. training to know how to handle himself."

"It's a possibility, though?" asked Rose.

Even during the night they discovered blood in the tower, Al noticed that Rose wasn't one for detective work. She's always been the one to right answers right away, which dangerously includes jumping to conclusions. However, Al decided it may be best to give her a little leeway.

"Yeah," he said to her, though he didn't fully believe it. "I suppose it is."

The red-head rested her cheeks on her first and focused her eyes on the desk as well. Al looked toward the ceiling as he continued to probe his mind.

"Whatever was happening," began Rose without lifting her head. "It did sound extremely urgent. I just don't understand why the sun coming up was such a big deal."

Al focused on his cousin once more.

"What?" he asked her.

"What?" she repeated as she lifted her head..

"What about the sun?" he rephrased his question.

"Oh, did I forget to mention it?" she asked as she leaned back in her wooden chair, making it more comfortable. "Before he disappeared, he mentioned that the sun was rising soon…as if he had to get somewhere before then."

Al's eyes widened yet again, catching the attention of his cousin once more.

He focused his attention once more to the desk, this time with an alarmed face.

"Al?" she said.

His focus came back to her for a second, and then started franticly looking around the room. Something was on his mind, and from the look on his face, it wasn't good.

"You're scaring me," Rose informed him, sounding alarmed. "What is it?"

"It can't be," he whispered to himself.

"What can't?" Rose asked as her fear rose to another level.

He quickly got up from his chair and began searching the library's bookshelf. He was in such a rush that he accidentally caused a few books to fall on the floor. He did not bother picking them up.

"Al, talk to me," his cousin demanded. "What are you looking for?"

"He said he tried to tame it?" Al asked as he continued to search the bookshelf. He quickly withdrew a book - it had seemed he found what he was looking for - and began to turn the pages violently. "Said he had to leave before sunrise?"

"Well, he never said he had to," she informed him as she heard a few pages in the book Al was looking through tear due to his violent page-turning. "But he insinuated it…what are you doing?"

After a few more page turns, it appeared that he finally found what he was looking for. He turned the book towards his cousin and planted it firmly on the desk so Rose could see it. The first thing she noticed on the page was a humanoid face drawing, only the forehead looked - to Rose - demonic. It also sported razor sharp-looking teeth complete with noticeably long fangs, but it wasn't until she saw the title of the beast that Rose began her disbelief.

"The Vampire"

"You must be joking?" was the first thing she said upon reading that ghastly word.

"Why would I joke?" Al asked her in all serious.

She took a quick look at the page again, then focused her attention back on her cousin; she looked furious.

"Oh this is so like you…" she said under her breathe as she quickly shot up from her chair.

"What?" asked Al, for he did not expect that comment, but by the time the words left his mouth, she was already in the process of storming out of the library. "Rose!" he called after her, but she didn't listen.

She walked with a quick pace out of the library and into the halls of the castle, doing her very best not to scream at the top of her lungs. She heard rapid footsteps from behind and decided to quicken her pace.

"Rose, stop!" called her cousin from behind rather loudly. "Rose!"

"Albus!" she almost shouted before turning around. "You are not doing this now!"

"Doing what!?" he asked with a raised voice of his one.

"Oh, you know bloody well what!" her voice became louder. "Every time something happens, you always insists that it's some dark magic…or creature…or whatever!"

Al grew frustrated. This wasn't the first time she accused him of this.

"Are you saying it's impossible?" he asked, with an attempt to lower the voices.

"Yes, Al!" she shouted even louder, proving Al's attempt useless. "I am!"

"How?" he asked sharply. "How could it be impossible?"

"Scorpius is not a vampi-"

"Shh!"

After Al shushed her, Rose noticed mixture of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students passing them by. She then decided that a lower voice would be the best course.

"Scorpius is not a vampire just because he had to leave before sunrise!" she whispered with authority.

"How do you know for sure?" he asked her quickly. "Did you touch him?"

"I…I…" she stammered. She seemed taken aback by the question. "Why?"

"Was he cold?" he continued to interrogate. "Did he have a pulse? A heartbeat? Was he even breathi-"

"Stop!" Rose shouted once more. "Just stop!"

The two did not speak; Al realized that this was just too much for the Gryffindor to handle in such a short time. He gave her time to catch her breath and digest the whole thing. The evidence - as little as there might have been - was once again right in front of her, and no matter how hard she tried, there was just not way to see around it.

"Okay," she exhaled softly "Alright, let's just say…" She trailed off, making it clear that she would much rather not be thinking about it. "…for the sake of argument…that he is a…you know…"

"Vampire," Al finished the sentence for her.

"Right," she said with a very annoyed tone. "If he is one, why didn't he bite me?"

"Well-"

"They're soulless beings, aren't they?" she continued to make her case. "It wouldn't have mattered who I was, he would have…"

She trailed off once again. She did not want to entertain the thought of Scorpius attacking her for a single second. In fact, the only thing making sure she doesn't panic was the mere fact that he didn't.

"Yes, but their not immediately evil bastards," Al decided to speak up, not exactly sure if his words would sooth his cousin. "I've read that most vampires hated the thought of-"

"He said I..." Rose interrupted, but stopped in mid-sentence in a failed attempt to fight back tears. "He said I...smelled good..."

Al lifted his eyebrows in curiosity and remained quite for a few moments, as did she. The cousin's heart's were beating faster than both of them would have liked. They both knew that their first class was approaching soon, but who could sit in a room with other students listening to a professor talk at a time like this?

"Maybe... he has a soul?" he asked rhetorically.

Rose rolled her eyes.

"How could he have a soul?" she inquired viciously, not even realizing that she was starting to believe Al's claim. "They're soulless beings, remember?"

"Vampire's have been acquiring their lost souls for years," the Slytherin informed his unknowing cousin. "A while ago, a law was passed stating if a vampire is captured he is to be ensouled immediately."

"How?" Rose asked immediately

"Some ensoulment ritual," Al explained rather vaguely. "I'm not sure exactly how it works, but-"

"I thought bringing back the dead was strictly forbidden?" she interrupted. "If not, impossible…"

"Vampire's aren't exactly dead," Al continued to educate her. "Their undead, there's actually a difference. Besides, just because they have a soul doesn't mean their still not undead."

"Oh well, of course, you'd know all this bullshit," she patronized under her breath.

"God damn it, Rose!" Al snapped, startling his Gryffindor cousin a bit. "Would you just stop antagonizing me and admit that I could be right about this?"

She was so aggravated that should could kill him; but that didn't change the fact that he was right. She had just realized that she'd been nothing but difficult ever since this whole thing began. She knew Al wasn't trying to start a row. Scorpius is his best friend, and she knew that he was doing the best that he can to get to the bottom of this situation.

What makes things worse - in her mind - she was starting to believe him. Sure, there are a million and a half possible other reasons for his disappearance, but the evidence is uncanny. This is the first time she actually believe in - or even paid attention to - one of Al's dark magic theories, and she would much rather have it be anything else.

"So you're saying," she broke the silence. "That not only is it possible that Scorpius became a vampire, but it's also possible that someone ensouled him?"

"I guess so," Al stated.

"And you know how ridiculous this sounds?"

Al couldn't help but laugh; he saw that Rose was beginning to believe him. She was just trying to make an attempt to seem like it was all rubbish. Now, they both knew that it wasn't.

"God, I can't even believe I'm entertaining the idea…" she spoke softly after running her hands through her messy red hair.

Classes were starting very soon, they both realized. They knew they had to wrap this up.

"Okay," Rose exhaled. "Now what do you want to do about this?"

"It would be a good idea to do more research on vampires," Al said as a matter of fact. "I mean, you know…just in case…"

"Do you want to get that book from the library you just had?" Rose asked.

"Nah," Al waived off the idea. "I got a better one in my room."

"Of course," she whispered, for she expected that answer. "But researching vampires won't tell us how to find him."

"The forest!" he said immediately, and rather loudly. "If Scor is not feeding on humans, then he must be feeding on animals."

Rose cringed at the idea of Scorpius "feeding" on anything, but she decided that was definitely something to think about. However, there was a problem with Al's theory, she discovered.

"You think he, of all people, would feed on animals!?"

"Not magical animals," Al responded rather quickly, as if he previously foresaw the question. "There are muggle-animals in the forest too."

"And you want us to check ourselves?" she asked.

"You have a better idea?" he asked her back.

Of course, she didn't.

"Well, it is a big forest…" she stated.

"The Centaurs," Al spoke, as if she was meant to know what that means.

"What about them?" she asked. She knew what centaurs were, but hardly understood why they had anything to do with this.

"They're the guardians of the Great Forest," Al reminded his cousin. "If any vampire, soul or not, has been feeding their, they'd know about it."

Great, Rose couldn't help but think. First vampires, now centaurs.

"That is," Rose corrected. "If he even is a vampire."

"Right," he exhaled.

The clock was ticking. Normally, she wouldn't have given in to Al's crazy ideas - if she did at all - without pondering it for longer than 20 seconds. However, time was running out.

"After dinner?" she asked quickly, as the two began to walk to their respective classes.

"Better do it during," he told her. "We'd be able to sneak pass a lot easier."

"And now, I have a class," she muttered mostly to herself. "School is getting harder by the second…"

"You have the map?" Al asked ignoring her statement.

"Yeah," she told him.

"Good. See you at dinner."

They stormed in opposite directions just a second after their first conversation in ages. However, niether of them were focusing on their relationship with eachother. They both have other pressing matters to deal with.