Chapter 19
A brighter blue sky revealed itself the morning of the Quidditch match. It had been weeks, and what felt like months, of dreary grey skies and light, misty rain. The past weather did little to lift the spirits of the students in the castle, including myself, who were eagerly looking forward to the last few months of term and then a glorious summer vacation around the corner.
Therefore, the vast expanse of blue broken only by light clouds that hung lazily in the ceiling of the great hall was a welcome sight indeed when the Gryffindor and Slytherin Quidditch teams trooped into the hall for an early breakfast, accompanied by myself and Lily.
"Bloody fantastic Quidditch conditions." James announced happily, pounding his fist on the table and rattling his plate of eggs and toast.
"Team, I couldn't be prouder." He continued, as if the beautiful weather was the result of his own doing. "I couldn't be prouder of all of you and the hard work we've been contributing to the honorable game of Quidditch."
"Hear, hear!" Albus chimed, raising his mug of tea. At once, the rest of the Gryffindor team thrust their various glasses and mugs into the air with shouts of excitement. I glanced at Lily who was stifling giggles at her two older brothers.
"Rosie, I hope your loyalties still sit with Gryffindor today." James addressed me. A blush crept onto my cheeks.
"Of course they do. I always cheer for Gryffindor!"
James nodded nonchalantly. "Just make sure you keep the cheering for Malfoy down to a minimum. We need all the support we can get!" He had a crazed look in his eyes. I was sure if I could pry into his thoughts at the moment, I would see broomsticks and Quaffles flying by.
"Relax, Jamsie." Al said through bites of toast. "Rose would never betray us for Slytherin."
"Don't talk with your mouth full." James snapped, though he sent a smile and a wink my way.
The school had begun to wake up with a few students finding their way to early breakfasts. The house tables were vibrant with color as everyone sported either red and gold or silver and green. This match was an important one. The team that won would advance to the finals against Ravenclaw for the Quidditch cup.
James had been the Quidditch captain since his fifth year and each year, he had brought home the shiny golden trophy and honor to Gryffindor's name. This year, his last, meant it was his final chance to win again. Even though the odds were very much in Gryffindor's favor, the Slytherin team this year had proved to be strong. I knew the confident front James put up was more necessary than ever this morning, as he needed to be absolutely sure of Gryffindor's chances and his own success.
I glanced over at Scorpius, wedged between Hayden and an Asian girl with short, dark hair in green and silver robes. He was picking at his breakfast, laughing at something Hayden had just said. Almost as if he knew I was watching him, he turned his head toward me.
Raising his eyebrows, he smirked. I smiled back at him and turned back to my family. I would talk to Scorpius later, before the match. I was pretty sure I didn't want to insult James's pride by sitting with the Slytherin team only minutes before an important game.
"Lacey!" James had shouted next to me. During my silent exchange with Scorpius, Lacey Jordan had appeared next to us. Her Gryffindor scarf was wrapped tightly around her neck and golden snitch earrings sparkled through her mass of black, curly hair.
"I have money on this game today." She announced, squeezing herself next to James. "Four galleons that Gryffindor wins by a landslide."
"Did you bet on me?" James asked, wiggling his eyebrows. I had noticed a change in James around Lacey where he became even more of a big goof than he usually was.
"Let's just pray that you don't fall through the hoop again trying to do figure eights." She said, the corner of her mouth twitching up as James's face dropped slightly.
"Dammit, that was one time! And I did not fall off my broom, I only wobbled."
"Yeah," Al chimed in, now laughing. "You wobbled all the way down to the ground." One of James's eggs came in contact with Al's cheek, silencing him for the rest of breakfast.
Ten minutes later, James rounded up the team as they left the great hall to shouts and cheers from our table. The Slytherin team left not long after, pumping fists in the air as their house mates hissed and cheered. It seemed that once the teams were gone, the tensions rose dramatically. Galleons glinted in the morning light as bets were made between houses and a buzz of long awaited activity hung around us all as we finally left for the Quidditch pitch.
"Does it get confusing?' Lily asked breathlessly next to me as we fought our way to the front of the Gryffindor student section, a spot the Potter-Weasleys had owned since mine and Albus's first year.
"Does what get confusing?"
"Rooting for Scorpius. Would you be happy if Slytherin won?"
I shook my head quickly. "Happy for Scorpius, of course. But Gryffindor is my house in the end. I would never betray it."
"What are we talking about? Betray Gryffindor?" Hugo squeezed between two particularly large seventh years to join me and Lily. His face was painted half red, half gold. He had at least five Gryffindor scarves draped around him like a bizarre toga.
"Nothing, Hugo what are you wearing?" I refrained from laughing and reached out to adjust a scarf dangling off his shoulder.
"I'm supporting Gryffindor, of course! This is an important game!" He yanked his scarves around him importantly.
"That it is, Hugo." Lacey appeared on my side, unwrapping her scarf from her neck. "It's bloody hot. You can add this to your collection, if you like." Hugo took her scarf with an embarrassed smile and carefully arranged it around his shoulders.
"How're you feeling about this game?" She asked, a smile lighting up her face. She leaned against the railing eagerly.
"Pretty confident. James and Albus have been working really hard. I almost never see them in the common room anymore." I answered.
"Roxanne's never been busier." Fred commented as he sidled into our group. "Mum's been bothering me to get her to write. But there's no tearing her away from her broomstick."
"Any idea how Slytherin is feeling?" Lacey asked. I barely registered that her question was directed at me as she waited expectantly for an answer.
"Oh, um, Scorpius has been practicing a lot. But we don't talk about Quidditch much." I blushed more with every word. Lacey smirked.
"It's good you two got together. The Malfoy kid is a good bloke." She smiled warmly.
"You've met him?" I asked. I was surprised, as Lacey was a popular Gryffindor and very loyal to her house. She had also been a good family friend for years, and she knew more than anyone how deeply the Malfoy rivalry had gotten.
"I've never spoken to him. But from what I've heard, he's alright. You must like him a lot, or James would never have been okay with it." She laughed.
"James told you about him?" I asked.
"You've been seeing James?" Hugo piped up. He was sweating under the warmth of his many scarves. The paint on his face had begun to melt down his cheeks. Lacey blushed.
"Around school, yeah." She answered easily, despite the glow on her cheeks. "Does he ever talk about me?" She laughed again. Fred smirked.
"Once in a while your name comes up."
"And what does he say?"
"That you're dead good at a Bat-Bogey Hex and he wouldn't want to cross you in a bad mood." Fred winked.
"Then he's smarter than I give him credit for." Lacey shot back, now smiling. "Look the match is starting!"
Indeed, the two teams clad in red and green were huddled in the middle of the field now. The applause around us was tumultuous as James and the Slytherin captain shook hands. In seconds the teams were airborne and the fight between Gryffindor and Slytherin began.
Scorpius's POV:
Hayden hadn't shut up since breakfast began. Apparently over break, he had attended a professional Quidditch match with his parents and had picked up what he considered a few "smooth moves" from the match. Only minutes before we left the tent, he still continued to drawl about flight patterns and techniques. I couldn't have cared less and thought I had made it somewhat clear after yelling at him to bugger off twice.
Now, in the air, he was amazingly still glued to my side. I was heavily tempted to give him a good thump on the back of the head with my bat, but I was sure I would get a few nasty looks from Madame Hooch.
"Scorp, make sure you try out that shift with the currents I was telling you about. I saw Morgriffin turn corners like you wouldn't believe—"
"Hayden! Don't you have something more important to do than talk Scorpius's ear off? Handle the Quaffle for once!" Kent, our captain, streaked by on his broomstick, Quaffle under his arm, and quickly tossed it to Hayden who mercifully caught it and finally flew away.
I immediately immersed myself into the game. The pre-talk of the match had washed over me; the pep talk Kent had given us in the tent went straight through one ear and out the other. If there was anything I wasn't good at, it was listening to lectures. Rose could vouch for me.
However, once I was in the sky, my head was finally in the right spot. I flew easily to a bludger deflected off one of the Gryffindor beater's bats. It came in contact with my bat with a satisfying crunch and whizzed off to my intended target, the Gryffindor chaser. They dropped the Quaffle to avoid my bludger and it was promptly picked up by Kent, who aimed for the middle goal post.
James Potter seemed to come out of nowhere, blocking the Quaffle with his shoulder and sending it falling back to the ground where it came into possession of a Gryffindor chaser. I swore under my breath and crossed the pitch as the Gryffindor stands cheered below.
If I had wanted to, I could have easily picked out Rose. Her trademark red hair was deeper than her cousins' and brother's and she was always standing at the front of the Gryffindor stands. I knew I had to stay focused, and resisted from looking for Rose. I did spot Dominique's unmistakable blonde locks, standing next to Colin Finnegan and jumping up and down with excitiement.
"Alright, Malfoy?" Albus Potter yelled from a few feet above me. I resisted the urge to smirk.
"Just fine, Potter. And you?" I yelled back, deflecting a bludger as it came my way and smiling when it scattered the Gryffindor chasers' formation.
"Feeling great. Come to our post-match celebration, will you? He was laughing now. "Six-thirty in the Gryffindor common room!"
"Only if you'll come to ours!" I shouted back before flying off. Lately, Potter and I had kept up a mutual respect for each other harboring on what some might call a friendship. Myself being the git I was used to being found it too difficult to really call Potter a "friend" even though his company was usually more enjoyable than Hayden's; the latter of whom was now flying straight for me.
"Hayden, you do realize there's a game going on?" I shouted at him. My bat tightened in my fist.
"We're up by twenty points, we'll be fine." He waved a hand at me.
"Piss off, go handle the Quaffle or something." I muttered.
"Listen, Scorp," He started, barely listening to me. I ignored him and made to cut around his right to cover the opposite end of the pitch where my fellow Slytherin beater was trying to find a way to scatter the Gryffindor chasers again. Hayden, however, blocked me.
"I don't like that smug look on Potter's face." He grunted.
"Which one?"
"Both of them." He narrowed his eyes. "It's about time someone showed the Potters they're not in—"
"Malfoy! DeMoine! If you two don't get the hell away from each other and start playing the bloody game, you can kiss that uniform goodbye!" Kent roared from below. He dashed after the Gryffindor chasers, who were again in possession of the Quaffle and coming dangerously close to topping our lead.
I took off, leaving Hayden far behind, and aimed a bludger flying near the goal posts toward the red and gold players. I pumped my fist in the air when the Gryffindor chaser fumbled the Quaffle, leaving Kent just enough time to steal it and shoot a goal past James Potter's outstretched fingers.
"Slytherin scores again! They lead Gryffindor ninety to sixty!" The announcer, a nameless student, cheered into the magical microphone. I soared around the pitch, ready to fire the bludgers at any unsuspecting Gryffindor in my way when there was a collective gasp in the stadium. Turning my head up, I could just see our seeker, Elena, streaking after Albus Potter who had his arm outstretched. Within inches of his fingers was a small, whizzing golden ball.
I couldn't watch and swore as the crowd chanted the names of each seeker and then— a sickening thumping sound and immediate screams from the students.
Albus Potter seemed to fall in slow motion, his broom hovering uselessly above him. I only had time to register the Gryffindor chasers who shot toward him as he fell, hoping to catch him and the horrified faces of each student. In the Gryffindor section, I could see Rose, hands over her mouth and eyes wide.
And then I saw Hayden, a beaters bat in hand that didn't belong to him only a few feet above Albus's broom which was slowly drifting away. He was looking straight at me, the grin on his face growing with each second. If I hadn't slightly hated Hayden before, I did now.
The chasers had tried their best, but they couldn't catch up to Albus's momentum as he finally hit the grass hard. He was definitely unconscious but there was a flutter of movement in his hand. Unbelievably, his fist uncurled to reveal the snitch's golden wings lazily beating against his palm.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Gryffindor wins 210 points to 90 points." The announcer solemnly spoke into his microphone. It was a crushing defeat for Slytherin. We would not be advancing to the final match for the Quidditch cup, but even that didn't seem to matter to many of the students who were now in an uproar.
Gryffindors poured onto the field and I dived down to meet my team. James Potter was charging toward Hayden who was tossing the beaters bat in his hand. Potter threw a punch and they both fell to the ground, now fighting wildly. I heard the Professors running to the scene, yelling and firing sparks into the air. No one paid them any attention as everyone was milling around the younger Potter's fallen body. I pushed through the crowd blindly, knowing I had to find Rose.
Albus lay utterly still. No one wanted to touch him for fear of damaging his body further than we could already see. Blood was pouring down the right side of his face and plastering his hair to his cheek. His arm was bent at an awkward angle and his face, though unmoving, was screwed up in pain.
"Give him room!" Fred Weasley shouted. He fought his way to the center where Albus lay and quickly met my eyes. Understanding at once, I ducked down to loop an arm under Albus's right shoulder, Fred supporting his left. Slowly, we pulled him up from the ground.
He was obviously in no shape to be carrying himself, but the fight was becoming more ferocious and we had to get him to the hospital wing. I could hear voices shouting at James and Hayden to stop. A desperate cry from what I assumed was a girl's voice sounded above all others and the sounds of scuffling stopped. I ignored the fight, only focusing on my task at hand. And that was to get Albus Potter to the hospital wing before he could be further injured, and to completely destroy Hayden after.
"Scorpius!" Rose called from behind me. I turned my head to see her running after us, tears streaming freely down her cheeks.
"Go round up your family. Have them all meet us in the hospital wing. We'll get him there safely, I promise." I told her seriously. Rose was in no mental state to be accompanying us right now, and the rest of the Potter-Weasley clan needed to be by Albus's side when he woke up.
An hour had passed since Fred and I had deposited Albus in the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey, fiercer more than ever in her old age, shooed us away immediately.
"When will the teachers learn that they won't have any students left if they allow them to fly with enchanted bone-breakers!" She shrieked as she magicked Albus onto a bed and drew the screens with her wand. She seemed angered by my Quidditch uniform, as if the game was completely my idea, and I left Fred at Albus's side while Madam Pomfrey worked her magic.
I wandered over to the hardback wooden chairs by the entrance of the hospital wing and sat down, staring out the window. The sky was still a brilliant blue, completely clear of clouds. The beautiful weather seemed like an insult to the dark mood that had quickly spread over the students after the game.
Within minutes, the Gryffindor Quidditch team was pouring into the hospital wing, tracking dirt on the polished marble floor and huddling around Albus's bed. He was completely blocked from view. A few of the team members shot me dirty looks upon noticing my green and silver robes. However, Roxanne Weasley turned them away from me with a steely glare at her team members.
I felt like I almost deserved the harsh treatment, considering I was wearing Slytherin robes. And our house had definitely been shamed today all due to Hayden. I felt my blood boil as I thought of the smirk on his face, and my knuckles turned white as I coiled my hands into fists. I quickly rose from the chair and pushed the wooden doors open, hoping no one would care enough to notice I had left.
I slumped down against the stone wall across the doors from the hospital wing. My padding was too tight and I was eager to get rid of my smelly robes and jump into a shower. However, I felt like I needed to know that Potter was going to wake up before I made any other moves.
"Scorpius?" A soft voice came from my right. Without having to look, I knew it was Rose. Her voice was so familiar to me, it was almost as if I sensed her before I saw her.
I remembered once thinking Rose had never looked more beautiful than when she was crying about Robin fucking Hemming (as I preferred to call him). However, at the moment she looked like a mess. Her hair was mussed up at her roots as if she had been tugging at it and her eyes were rimmed with red, tear tracks stained on her cheeks.
"Is he…" She trailed off, sniffling. She wound her arms around her own little waist like she needed protection from any news concerning her cousin. "Is he alright?"
I stood up, crossing the hall to her quickly and pulled her against me. Her body seemed to fit into mine like I was made to hold her and she broke down immediately. I didn't care that her tears were getting all over my uniform. I only smoothed her hair flat as gently as possible and rested my chin on top of her head, glad for the significant height difference between us.
"I felt like I didn't belong in there. I was going to wait for news out here." I mumbled. She sniffed again and pulled away from my chest only slightly to look me in the eyes.
"You're the one that carried him off. You deserve to be in there." Her voice was stronger now. I smirked slightly at the light in her eyes that never died down.
"You go in. I'll come back soon, I'm going to change out of these smelly things." She bit her lip, but leaned up on her toes to kiss my cheek and slipped out of our embrace to enter the hospital wing. I barely saw her join the team around Potter's bed before the doors swung shut and I headed down the hall.
Half an hour later in fresh clothes, I found myself waiting outside the doors to the hospital again. I stared dumbly at them, my hands in my pockets.
"Doors don't open by themselves you know" a nagging voice in my head teased.
"I know." I grumbled to myself. I felt completely stupid standing in the middle of the hallway but for some reason, I felt that the hallway and the hospital wing were two very different places and I wouldn't be welcome in there.
"Know what?" Another female voice spoke up from behind me. I almost jumped and whipping around, I saw Lacey Jordan.
"Erm— nothing." I mumbled. She looked nervous as she tugged at her tight curls.
"Are you going in?" She asked pointedly. I nodded stupidly and finally pushed against the doors. She followed me as I walked inside,probably wondering why it had taken me so long to do so.
The majority of the Gryffindor team was gone, the family left behind. Rose, Fred, Lily and Roxanne were gathered on one side of Potter's bed. Dominique, Hugo, two redheads and a younger boy that looked like Dominique took up the seats on the other side. This didn't make me feel any less uncomfortable, but Rose looked up from her chair and waved me over.
"Where's James?" Lacey asked. I felt my face turn in confusion as I realized the eldest Potter was not at Albus's bedside.
"He's been over there for a while. He won't talk to anyone." Dominique answered in a hushed voice. She pointed at the corner by the medicine cabinets where James Potter sat in a chair, staring out the window.
Lacey briefly put a hand over Albus's before crossing the room to James' side. We all watched silently as she bent down in front of him and began talking in whispers.
"He'll be alright. She's good for him." Fred said with a tired voice. "She keeps him grounded." Lily nodded while hiccuping in agreement. We all turned our attention back to Albus.
There was little color in his face, though some pink was coming back to his cheeks. A helmet of bandages wrapped around his head, concealing the cut on his temple. His arm looked straight again and his face, once contorted with pain, looked relaxed. I almost wished I had seen Madame Pomfrey work her magic as the Albus on the bed now was dramatically different than the one lying broken on the field.
"When will he wake up?" The pale, blonde and freckled boy who looked like Dominique spoke up. He was leaning his face on his hand, supported by his elbow. His eyebrows were screwed together.
"We don't know, Louis." Dominique tutted.
"He'll wake up soon." Rose added. "I'm sure of it. He's strong and he's never been one for naps." A collective murmur of something like laughter rippled among the group and then died out at the sound of a cry from the corner.
James Potter was leaning against Lacey Jordan, now on her knees and supporting him like a child. She seemed to be shushing him as he breathed heavily.
"It's not your fault." She mouthed over and over again. "It's not your fault. It's not."
"…James…" A cracked, feeble voice sounded from the bed. All heads again turned to Albus. His eyes were open, though barely, and he looked confused. I didn't blame him. If I had taken a bludger to the head, I'm sure it would have felt something like wrestling through Arithmancy runes, only worse.
"Al!" Rose shrieked. She made to throw herself against him, but then thought better of it.
"Why's James…" He paused to yawn. Then he blinked and his eyes fluttered open all the way.
"Did we win?"
"Four broken ribs, a concussion and a sprained arm and you're wondering if Gryffindor won the match?" Lily Potter bellowed from her chair. For such a small person, her voice did not match. "We almost thought you were dead! Never scare us like that again!"
Albus blinked at her stupidly. "I'll make an effort not to in the future." A lazy smile found its way onto his face. "I only want to know if I dreamed catching the snitch and then celebrating with some particularly stunning veela afterward—"
"You did." I said, surprising even myself. "Catch the snitch that is. You weren't in the best shape to be partying with veela as far as I can remember." Albus looked at me like I might be joking, but I held a steady gaze. The sheets rustled against my knuckles as Rose found my hand with hers.
"Too bad. I was really getting along well with one of them." He made to sit up more, but winced and fell back against the sheets. Hands fluttered over him from his family.
"I'm fine!" He insisted as Dominique called over Madame Pomfrey. "I just got up too quickly."
"You're far from 'fine', Mr. Potter!" Madame Pomfrey shrieked from above me. "You'll be staying overnight until you have been fully rested and healed!"
"When will I be able to leave?" Albus asked incredulously.
"You heard what she said, Al." James Potter seemed to have recollected himself and was now standing at the end of Albus's bed. Lacey stood a few feet back from him, staring at him with a fierce sort of admiration I hadn't seen many people display. "You won't be leaving until Madame Pomfrey assures me that you're fit to play."
"But James! The Quidditch Cup match is in a week! We've got training!" Albus pleaded from his bed.
"I won't have my seeker and my brother playing unless he's in perfect health." James stated again. He patted Albus's leg with a softer face. "I'm positive you'll be playing. There's no better seeker in the school."
"James… you know it wasn't your fault." Albus said in a serious voice. Probably the most serious I had ever heard him. James' face was blank.
"I'm the captain. It's my job to make sure everything on the field is running smoothly."
"It's Hayden's fault." I spoke up again. "He's an arse and he's jealous. I never actually thought he would do something like that, but now I know how insane he really is."
Rose squeezed my hand slightly and the rest of the family murmured their agreement. Amazingly, none of them seemed very upset with me despite the fact that Hayden was, or used to be, my best mate. He had nearly killed Albus, and it was unforgivable.
Madame Pomfrey shooed us out of the hospital wing when the clock signaled it was dinner time and we were meant to be in the great hall. Albus watched us go with a sad, lonely look on his face. Rose assured him she would bring him dinner from the hall and we headed down the hallway together.
"I'm going to murder Hayden with my fork tonight." I grumbled.
"Scorpius, don't say that." Rose chided. I glanced at her, noticing her hair was more curly today, possibly because she had been running her hands through it in stress all afternoon. Her eyes were brighter as well.
"I'm serious. I don't know why I've put up with him when he's capable of the stupidest things."
"Isn't he your best friend?" She asked. We stopped in the hallway, alone for a moment as the rest of the school made their way to dinner.
"I'm not sure anymore." I said, staring at the wall above her head. "No. He isn't."
"I never liked him very much, but I know you two have been friends for years." She seemed to be trying very hard not to let the hatred seep into her words, but it did anyway. I didn't mind. Hayden deserved it.
"I never liked him either." I assured her, quirking a smile. She giggled and we continued down the hall.
"I love you. Thank you for helping him today." She pressed a kiss to my mouth at the doors to the Great Hall before sitting with her family at the Gryffindor table. I wished I could join them at the sight of Hayden sitting at the Slytherin table. He was, of course, sitting alone. No one on the team was congratulating him as he had probably suspected.
"You and Potter are a thing now, huh?" He asked in a snarky tone as I sat across from him.
"Rose is a Weasley, not a Potter." I replied, angered beyond belief. My fists were clenched tightly in my lap.
"I wasn't talking about her. You helped Albus Potter off the field." I glanced up at him.
"You're a demented git." I said, struggling against the urge to strangle him then and there.
"Has Weasley turned you into her bitch?" He teased. "She'll be carrying you around in a little purse next, training you to bark at anyone that touches her and her rotten family."
"You don't get to talk about Rose." I half shouted. Some of the other Slytherins were looking at me now, but I didn't care. "Or any of them, for that matter. Stay away from them, definitely stay away from her, and stay the hell away from me." I stood up and left the table, unable to even look at Hayden's stupid evil smirk.
Passing the Gryffindor table, I saw that Rose's place was empty. She must have taken food to Albus and that left me somewhat alone. I left the hall so I wouldn't look stupid, standing alone and wondering who I could talk to. The hallways were completely deserted and I shoved my hands into my pockets. The warm weather from before had passed when the sun had set. A chill crept through the windows and the torches did little to heat up the stone corridors.
Without knowing where I was going, I found myself in front of the Slytherin common room door. I muttered the password and, finding the common room empty save for a few first years doing homework, I sat down on the couch near the fire. I felt to tense to sit comfortably and it was too bloody cold in the common room itself. When Salazar Slytherin had decided to make the chambers for Slytherin students under the lake, he obviously hadn't considered the freezing temperatures that would follow.
"Scorpius Malfoy?" A squeaky voice came from my right. I jumped, facing a first year with messed up blonde hair. He held a letter out in front of me, his hand shaking slightly.
"Er, yeah that's me."
"This came for you at breakfast, but you were already gone for the match. The owl gave it to m-me so…" He thrust the letter into my hand awkwardly.
"Thanks—"
"You were really brilliant in the match today." He squeaked again. "I wish Slytherin would have won." His friends at the tables nearby were whispering to each other, probably regarding him as a superhero of some sort.
"Thanks. We probably wouldn't have deserved it if we did, but that was nice to hear." I tried to smile, but it probably came out as more of a grimace. The boy nodded quickly and ran back to his friends.
I glanced at the letter in my hands, my heart skipping a beat at the familiar, long handwriting of my father on the front. I ripped the envelope open clumsily and pulled out a short note on parchment with the Ministry of Magic symbol printed in the corner and my father's personal Malfoy stamp next to his signature. Obviously, he had written this at work.
My father had never written to me once at Hogwarts. He often sent gifts when I was younger, but those stopped coming by my fifth year. I became used to it and more excited to share with him and mum the events of the year at our dinners where things were more personal. This letter felt like the very last thing I could take on a day full of strange events.
Scorpius,
It has come to my and your mother's attention that you have been making new acquaintances at Hogwarts, one of them being a Miss Rose Weasley. We wish to convey that this relationship is inappropriate in our eyes and we will not condone it. We understand you are only sixteen Scorpius, and you will make many more foolish decisions in your youth. However, you will be becoming a man this summer and we refuse to allow any unwanted distractions to keep you from your goals as a grown wizard. Therefore, we expect the relationship to be terminated by the end of this school year. This is not a request, but a necessity. If you do not follow through, there will be consequences. We are not against sending you to Durmstrang for your final year of schooling should you continue your relationship. We do not expect a reply. We will talk more about your future and options when you return for the summer.
Signed, Draco Malfoy
Wizengamot Official
Order of Merlin, Third Class
I felt my stomach doing backflips with every word. When I had finished the letter, I crumbled it into a ball and threw it into the fire. The fire sparked and crackled around the paper, turning it black as it folded in upon itself and turned to ashes. When Rose's family had discovered the secret, I thought I had never been more scared in my life. I was wrong. My father, respected man that he was and one of my idols, was the man I was also most scared of.
There was no way to make the decision easily. I definitely didn't want to break up with Rose. She was the one thing that kept me sane and happy. She was easily the love of my life. But my father was the man who had taught me to be everything I was proud of. I buried my head in my hands as my mind whizzed back and forth, the sound of my father's letter burning ever present in my ears.
A/N: Wow! I've been gone for so long! Please believe me when I say I have been sitting down in my spare time whenever I can and writing this chapter out, which I'm pretty proud of! It's a longer one if that makes any of you less angry with me! We're so very close to the ending of this story and I'm more excited than ever to write the sequel and possibly start a new project along with the sequel that I'm dying to tell you all about! This story WILL be finished by me and me alone! I have several AP exams and tryouts for dance coming up in the next few weeks, so bear with me and we'll make it to the end! I love each and every one of my readers whether you started reading today or years ago when this story began! Please leave a review and favorite! I love reading what you guys write as well so please recommend!
Yours in eternity, Amy xoxo