Chapter 4: An Old Friend
Albus stared at the glass in front of him, his mind elsewhere, the drink forgotten.
Thoughts raced through his head, as he tried to wrap his head around the idea of Scorpius being a vampire lord—if it was, in fact, Scorpius the vampires were talking about.
Why would Scorpius want to rule a German clan of vampires? What made him willing to take the risk of fighting the previous vampire lord? Had it in fact been a risk at all? It seemed to be, if the vampires' words were anything to go by—they apparently had been informed that it had been quite a battle. It was true that Scorpius was a very bright and powerful wizard (he had soared through his O.W.L.s and then his N.E.W.T.s as well), but strong enough to take on a vampire in single combat? Of course, the description seemed to fit his description; on the other hand, it was also true that there were doubtless plenty of other blonde wizards with gray eyes.
Albus wasn't allowed to muse long, for a voice he knew as well as his own cut through his revere, snapping him out of it and back into reality with a force he really could have done without. It was a voice that his body ached to hear, but that he would have done anything to avoid if he had the choice.
"Your drink seems to be getting cold. You know a Turtle's Scum is no good once it loses its heat," the voice was neutral, with just a hint of amusement.
Albus had squeezed his eyes shut as soon as the voice spoke, and he kept them like that, not saying anything, simply willing the voice to disappear.
"It's no good pretending I'm not here. Now that I've found you I'm not going away." The person was closer now, sitting in what must have been an empty stool next to Albus.
Slowly, Albus peeled his eyes open, staring in front of him for a moment, before flicking them to his right, to observe his unwelcome companion.
Elsa Brandwock looked flashy, like she always did. She wore tight black jeans, with knee-high black leather boots. A deep blue shirt with a neckline that swooped low was underneath her very fit leather jacket—which was black, to match her boots. A small golden dragon pendant with sapphires for eyes glittered at her creamy throat on a thin golden chain. Her long, glossy, raven colored hair hung like a silken sheet, framing those eyes that never failed to make him catch his breath.
"Hallo, Albus," said Elsa, with a quirk of the mouth. "Good to know you still know how to look at me."
Albus let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Hey, Elsa."
Someone from across the counter asked Elsa what she wanted to drink.
"I'll have a Turtle's Scum. And while you're at it, get a new one for my friend here. Thank you." Elsa flashed a brilliant smile, and the young man seemed to lose his balance as he stumbled off to fulfill her order. "I'll show you how you're really supposed to drink one of those."
"How did you find me?" asked Albus hollowly. An inner war was going on within him. He hadn't seen Elsa for over two years, and that had been rough. She had always been one of his best friends, and he had missed her more than he could ever let her know. And yet, it had been him that had been avoiding her, not the other way around. It had seemed the best thing to do at the time, and even though he had doubted himself many times, he had stuck to his original decision, not knowing what else to do.
Elsa snorted, and pointed to Albus' left hand.
Albus looked down in surprise at the ring that adorned his middle finger. It was a simple silver band, with a small stone made of jade set into a swirling design. He, Scorpius, and Elsa had made it, along with two other identical ones, while at school. While you wore it, you could tell where the other two wearers were—to a degree. It worked for most of England, but if you went beyond that distance, the magic tended to fail.
Albus noticed, now without any form of shock, that a twin of his ring rode in the same spot on Elsa's left hand.
"Damn," he said glumly. He hadn't worn the ring since he had left Hogwarts, but he had put it on in with the slim hope of finding Scorpius with it—which hadn't worked. He was surprised he hadn't noticed when Elsa had put it on. But maybe it wasn't so surprising if he really thought about it. He had been trying to block her from his mind for so long that it shouldn't really jolt him that his semiconscious seemed to have just brushed over her presence on the other side of the ring connection.
"Uh-huh," said Elsa. The young man showed up with their drinks, and then disappeared again after giving Elsa a sheepish smile and sending a glare in Albus' direction. Albus just ignored him. "For more than two years I've respected that you haven't wanted to see me," said Elsa, "and I haven't tried to contact you. But now—it seemed—it seemed like it was time. I was surprised when the ring worked, but it didn't really matter in any case. I would have found you. One way or another."
One side of Albus longed to tell her how badly he had wanted to see her—to tell her how many nights he had dreamed of her. But the other side knew what the consequences to that would be. Knew that it would send them back to where they were almost three years ago.
Albus grabbed his new drink, and threw a good mouthful of it back, welcoming the burn as slid down his throat. The kick that raced through his whole body.
"Do you know where he is?" asked Elsa, not taking her gaze off of Albus' face.
Of course, this was the reason she had sought him out, thought Albus. It was for the best, he guessed. He mentally slapped himself.
"I may know his general whereabouts," said Albus not looking at her, keeping his gaze fixed on the blue liquid in his glass.
"I want to come with you," said Elsa.
"Not happening," said Albus, shaking his head.
"Who are you to tell me if I can or can't look for my friend?" asked Elsa, anger coloring her voice.
"The person who actually knows where he is," said Albus, irritation flooding his voice, to counter Elsa's own.
"I'm not going to let you go without taking me," snapped Elsa.
"Good luck with that," said Albus, rising from his stool and swinging towards the door. He froze, only half up from his chair, and it wasn't because Elsa had grabbed him by the elbow.
Seamus Finnegan, Auror, stood just inside the pub door. His gaze swung around the room, and slowly came and landed on the unmoving Albus, his mouth slowly widening in surprise as he saw the young wizard.
Seamus went for his wand, but Albus was faster. Grabbing his drink from the counter, he whipped it across the heads of the mixture of magical beings and witches and wizards with deadly accuracy. He barely registered Seamus diving out of the way to avoid the projectile, as he was already throwing himself to the floor, drawing his own wand out in a blur of movement.
A pair of goblins was in the middle of a roaring argument nearby, looking like they were on the verge of exchanging blows. Albus took careful aim from his position, prostrate on the floor, and fired off a spell. It hit one of the goblins' drink, shattering the glass and sending the liquid flying over both of them. As if it was the most logical reaction, the goblin whose drink it was immediately punched the other in the face.
The punched goblin reeled back, staggering into one of the wizards who seemed of giant descent, consequently spilling his drink. The part-giant grabbed the goblin by the throat in anger and tossed him like a sack onto the table in the corner that held the werewolves. It took the werewolves only an instant to fly out of their booth, snarling in rage.
In a matter of moments the whole interior of the pub was complete chaos as a storming bar fight broke out.
Albus pulled himself into a crouch, sliding to the side as a wizard fell heavily nearby, blood streaming from a broken nose.
Albus rose to his feet, grabbing the Invisibility Cloak out of his pocket and throwing it over himself in one fluid motion. He struggled through the whirling mess of people, shoving them left and right. One woman he pushed turned in anger, bringing her wand with her, but froze, blinking in confusion as she didn't see anyone in her near vicinity. Albus couldn't help but chuckle, as he moved onwards.
Finally he broke from the worst of the turmoil and ran the last couple of strides that would get him away. Just as he reached the door, his hands going out to shove it open and outwards, someone crashed into him from behind.
They flew out of the pub, hitting the rough ground of the alley and rolling in opposite directions. The Invisibility Cloak slipped off Albus, his wand flying out of his hand and skidding across the cobblestones.
Ignoring his scraped up palms and knees, Albus drew himself up just enough to dive after his wand. Right before his hand closed over the familiar, slender piece of wood, a voice yelled out, "Expelliarmus!" And the wand went flying up and away, Albus watching it go in despair.
Albus turned slowly, fear rising in him, knowing it would be Seamus Finnegan. Knowing he was done for. Knowing he was going to Azkaban.
To his surprise, it was only Elsa, standing over him, holding his wand, with a look of self-satisfied triumph on her face.
"You really think you could get away from me that easily?" she asked, disapproval in her voice.
"I guess I figured I might as well try," said Albus dryly, hiding the relief that was thrumming through his body.
He got quickly to his feet, scooping up the Invisibility Cloak and putting it in his pocket once more as he did so.
"Can we get out of here?" he asked, looking with apprehension at the pub door, and the sounds that were protruding from behind it. "Like, now?"
"As long as I come with you to find Scorpius," said Elsa, that quirk of the mouth that was so her appearing at the corner of her lips.
"Whatever. It's not like I have much choice in the matter, in any case," said Albus quickly, sending a glance at his wand that Elsa was holding, pointing at him, alongside her own. "Let's just go." He reached out, grabbing one of her hands. He then turned and took off running down the alley, towing Elsa behind him, as he rounded the corner and headed out into the late London night.