Author's Note:
I wanted to shout out a big THANK YOU to everyone who responded to my begging for reviews! Each one is VERY appreciated and makes me warm and fuzzy on the inside. =D So please continue.
~ThaniMag
Chapter 6: Doubt of a Friend
When Elsa came down the stairs the next morning, Albus was already in the kitchen, fixing some breakfast.
"What are you making?" she asked.
"Something simple. Eggs and toast, with some bacon on the side," was Albus' succinct reply.
"It smells delicious," said Elsa. And it was true. The smell of frying bacon permeated the air, tantalizing Elsa's taste buds and making her mouth start to water. Albus just shrugged humbly.
"You're lucky. I didn't have any food, but James showed up with groceries this morning. Already come and gone, before you got up."
"What?" said Elsa in surprise. "But James is in Romania, working with your uncle, isn't he?"
Albus smiled to himself, as if at an inside joke. "Yes, he is."
"Huh?" Elsa said in bewilderment. "Then how—"
"Food's ready," interrupted Albus, dishing it out evenly onto two plates. He came around the counter and handed one to Elsa. "Don't let it get cold and spoil all my hard work."
Elsa took a seat on the couch. Albus sat in the armchair.
"So," began Elsa, after she had eaten a couple spoonfuls of eggs and a bite of toast, "what do you know about where Scorpius is?"
"Not much. Only a suspicion, really. But I think he might be in Germany."
"Germany? Why would he be in Germany?" asked Elsa in surprise.
Albus shrugged. "Who's to say why he would be anywhere in particular? Who knows what's going through his head." So far Elsa hadn't mentioned anything about the night before, and Albus desperately hoped it stayed that way.
"I thought, if anyone had any idea about what's going through his head, it would be you," said Elsa.
Albus was quiet, not looking at her. "The Scorpius whose mind I could practically read wouldn't have killed someone, no matter what, Elsa."
"Maybe there was some mistake, maybe it wasn't him," said Elsa desperately. But Albus shook his head.
"There's no doubt that it was him, Elsa. That point isn't in argument. The question is why did he do it, and where is he now?"
"You need to have more faith in who you know Scorpius to be, Albus. He would never doubt you, no matter what," said Elsa.
"How do you know that?" snapped Albus, glaring at her. "I let him down. I let him down more than any friend could ever let another down. I wasn't there, when he most needed me. You think he wouldn't doubt me, after that? He, more than anyone, knows my failures. He more than anyone, sees all my short comings. Of course he would doubt me. He has probably doubted me plenty of times already." His eyes were bright, but he didn't shed a tear, even though Elsa could see the emotion clear in his face.
"I don't know what it is you think you did or didn't do for Scorpius that supposedly 'let him down' so, but I know that he has never held anything against you." Elsa was on her feet now, her eyes sparking, her words ringing with authority. "And here you stand, making a speech you intend to be derogatory to yourself, not even realizing that it bashes Scorpius and the friend he is far more than it strikes against yourself. Well, if you're that kind of friend then maybe Scorpius should doubt you, even though I know he never has." She knew that perhaps it was a bit cruel and abrupt, but she thought that Albus needed to hear it.
Albus' eyes flashed and he opened his mouth as if to retort, but before any words actually came out the light died out of his startlingly green orbs and his mouth closed. He was quiet for a few moments, before finally saying simply, "Perhaps you're right."
Elsa just stared at him in surprise. The Albus she knew wouldn't usually just give so, but then again, things really were different now. She trembled at the thought that Albus might actually be right, and that there might not be any going back to how they had always been.
"What do you know about the dead vampire lord in Germany?" asked Albus, switching topics abruptly.
"Nothing, other than that he's dead," said Elsa in surprise. "What connection would Scorpius have with him?" she asked, seeing where Albus was probably taking this.
"Maybe nothing. But I overheard some vampires talking in the pub last night. One of them seemed to have a cousin in the vampire lord's clan. Anyway, they said that he had been challenged to single combat by a wizard, and that the wizard had won, evidently, because the vampire lord is dead. But the description they had of the wizard matched Scorpius."
"There are going to be plenty of people that match Scorpius' basic description, Albus," said Elsa, clearly skeptical.
"I know. Doesn't mean it isn't worth investigating. I, for one, don't have any better leads. I'm welcome to any suggestions," said Albus, clearly irritated by Elsa's lack of enthusiasm.
"True that," said Elsa. "It just doesn't seem very likely. I mean, what are the chances of Scorpius being able to kill a vampire lord in single combat?"
Albus shrugged. "I think that's more likely than him wanting anything to do with a vampire clan. Why would he want to lead one? What reason would he have?"
"Just seems more and more unlikely," mused Elsa.
"Still worth checking out," said Albus.
"I guess. How are we going to get to Germany, though? We could fly, but it would take a while, and wouldn't be very pleasant. There are the international Floo channels, I suppose. That's probably our best shot," said Elsa, twining a bit of her raven-black hair around her finger as she thought.
"Probably not," said Albus with a grimace. "I'm currently wanted for thievery and more."
"What?" Elsa's finger stopped moving in her hair, and she stared at Albus. "What do you mean? Oh…that—that thing at Hogwarts…in the paper," she said quietly, realization dawning on her face. "That wasn't you, was it?"
Wordlessly Albus got up and crossed to where his suede jacket was draped over the railing of the staircase and pulled the Sorting Hat out of the pocket, tossing it onto the coffee table.
Elsa picked up the old, worn leather hat from the table. She turned it around in her hands, inspecting it in wordless surprise. It was as if she expected to find some valuable and hidden treasure within its folds.
"But why?" she asked. "Why risk so much for a decrepit piece of sentimentality?"
A mouth opened up in the hat, and spoke in an old, gruff voice. "Who are you calling a decrepit piece of sentimentality?" it barked.
"Whoops, sorry," apologized Elsa hastily. "I didn't mean it, really."
"Right, that's what they all say," grumbled the hat, which then subsided into silence.
"Why?" mouthed Elsa at Albus.
Albus shrugged. "I think it could come in handy. It's hard to explain, because I can't say I have any definite, great reason. I had an—" he hesitated, "an impulse, to go get it. Something inside me that told me it would be needed, before the end of all this."
"'The end of all this?' Way to sound dramatic," said Elsa critically.
"Whatever, enough," said Albus. "I suppose we should go. We need to find out where exactly this vampire clan is staked out, but might as well get to Germany first before we do that. Not that that will take long."
Elsa started to ask him what he had decided on in terms of how they would, in fact, get there, but closed her mouth without actually asking. For Albus had closed his eyes, concentration evident in all the lines of his face.
It was over in a moment, but when Albus opened his eyes as a smile bloomed across his lips, Elsa felt as if something had changed. At first, she couldn't quite put her finger on it, as the room seemed to look the exact same.
Then she realized that the lighting in the apartment was different. The light that poured through the window was no longer the bright, unadulterated morning light of the open country. Rather, it was the rather dubbed down and filtered light of a city.
Not only that was different, but the engulfing silence of the English countryside was also gone, replaced by the general buzz and hum of a city—most notably the sound of Muggle traffic, a sure-fire way to destroy any sort of serenity.
"What—what just happened?" inquired Elsa, putting her plate down. She quickly rose to her feet and turned around to look out the window behind her. Sure enough, it no longer looked out on a sprawling lake surrounded by long, empty stretches of grass. Now it looked out into a rather boring and desolate alley, across from a plain brick building. She investigated what she could see out the other window, but the difference with what could be seen out the first was minimal.
"We jumped through space," said Albus with a small smile. "It's rather like Apparating. Only we just moved an entire apartment, not just ourselves."
"And that's how James was able to come and go this morning so easily," said Elsa, turning back to Albus, putting two and two together. Albus nodded; getting to his feet, he took the dishes over to the kitchen and started washing them up. "Talk about a very valuable and useful house," said Elsa, raising her eyebrows.
"That's for sure," said Albus. "Very valuable." He didn't look up from the dishes, his long hair falling down to obscure his face from Elsa.
"And you have no idea how Tragger got it?" asked Elsa, looking around at the inside of the apartment with new appreciation.
"Nope. For all I know, he could have made it himself."
Elsa snorted. "I doubt that. Tragger? Right."
At that Albus' head snapped up, a spark of anger in his eyes. "Tragger was a very powerful wizard, despite his oddities. In fact, he most likely had his oddities because he was so powerful."
"I'll take your word for it," said Elsa, unfazed. "But what now?"
"We try and figure out the exact location of this vampire clan. I did some research this morning on the Muggle computer James keeps up in his room. Whatever you say about Muggles, some of their inventions are pretty useful. Anyway, this particular vampire clan seems to be somewhere in the general vicinity of the German city of Karlsruhe. So, here we are." Albus had finished the dishes and came out from behind the kitchen counter, holding his arms out to either side, as if to encompass the city they could hear bustling around the apartment.
"So, I guess the way to do that is to go talk to some of the locals. Pleasant. Do you even know any German?" demanded Elsa of Albus.
"You doubt me?" Albus asked.
"I generally try not to, but in this particular situation—"
"I picked up some of the basics from Scorpius," interrupted Albus. "We should be able to get by. And if we don't, well, I can magic myself some fangs and put on a long cape—that should get the point across I would think. All right, we should probably go. Get yourself ready, I'll be back down in five minutes."
"Albus, I only have one set of clothes, I'm already ready," said Elsa pointedly.
"Right. Give me a minute." With that, Albus skipped up the stairs and went into one of the bedrooms.
Elsa heard some shuffling and banging around, and then he was back. He didn't wear anything too fancy, but he looked good, as he always did. He wore a plain white oxford shirt that had the sleeves rolled up, with khaki cords and heavy dragon-hide boots to complete the look. In his hand he held a deep green sweater that matched his eyes, which he quickly pulled over his head.
He paused on the stairs, as if realizing something. "I'm not going to be warm enough in this," he said. He looked at Elsa, as if realizing the same thing about her. "And you're not going to be warm enough in that," he said, taking in her shirt and simple leather jacket. He disappeared back up into the hall beyond.
When he came back this time he had a long, ankle-length black coat for himself, and a navy blue hoodie for Elsa.
Taking the sweatshirt from him, Elsa put it on under her jacket, knowing she would be glad for the extra layer out in the cold fall air.
Albus took the Sorting Hat and Invisibility Cloak out of his sued jacket and stuffed them into the large pockets of his coat. He went over to the blank wall, and glanced back at Elsa. "You ready?" he asked.
Elsa nodded and came over to stand by him.
Albus took hold of the door handle that had appeared. Looking down at Elsa, a small grin lifted up the corners of his mouth. "Let's go find us some vampires," he said.
With that, he swung out into the cold German air.