Chapter Eight

"Unbelievable!" Stomp. Stomp. Stomp. "Absolutely unbelievable!"

With an irritated gaze, Savanna Zabini sighed tiredly at the redhead strutting and stomping her way along the corridor hall. Watching her mumble curse words as she took her frustration out on the old marbled floor with every loud footstep.

"Unbelievable!"

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, shut up!" Having had enough, Savanna pushed her back off of the wall she was leaning on, her emerald eyes flashing with a deadly anger she'd inherited from her mother's side as she stopped the redhead from her next vicious stomp. (Because, oh, Cho Chang could be terrifying when rage took over. Someone just ask Blaise Zabini and his many bruises.) "Merlin, you're bloody annoying! You've been shouting for the past twenty minutes, Rose. Just shut it already!"

Taking a quick moment to push the fact aside that the younger girl had just outburst at her, Rose hissed back, "well, excuse me, Sav!" She returned the girl's enraged stare. "It seems to be that I am the only one who is extremely worried about Ariana's whereabouts! She's been missing for an entire day and no one gives a flying Hippogriff! Forgive me if I'm not about to lean against the wall like I'm Rowena Ravenclaw and there's no worries at the moment!"

Still frowning, Savanna aimed a shove at the redheaded Gryffindor; quickly adding a smack to her arm as she thought she heard footsteps coming from down the hall. "We are all worried," she hissed in a sharp whisper, stopping for a second to make sure those footsteps were just an imaginary sound coming from her nervous mind, "but we are not screaming it to the entire castle that Malfoy is missing, are we? So, shut up before you get us caught."

"McGonagall isn't even here," Rose whispered back harshly, throwing a smack of her own at the Ravenclaw. "And, if you want to keep those hands, Sav, I suggest you never hit me again or I'll make them disappear."

"Don't threaten me, you wench!" Smack. "I'm not scared of you, Rose Weasley. So, I suggest you keep your hands to yourself if you don't want me to transfigure you into a bloody weasel."

And then, two girls with intense gazes created a standoff. Both girls glaring at each other like if they hoped the other would combust into ashes.

But just as the air was filling up with imaginary angry-smoke injecting out of their ears, "—we got it! We got it!"

Heaving and panting, two boys came racing towards the girls; their chests racing up and down, hair scattered everywhere, robes wrinkled, and faces bright red as they tried catching as much oxygen as they could.

Rose Weasley and Savanna Zabini did not move their vicious stare from one another, their stares still pumping out rage without a halt from the newcomers.

Inhaling—very painfully, if he might say because of an aching bolt on his right side from running for the past seven minutes straight—Fred Weasley narrowed his eyes at the girls. "What's going on here?"

And without getting an answer, only the two witches still standing tall in their standoff, both of the boys groaned loudly as they still sucked in air to satisfy their lungs. And more than oxygen passed through them as irritation also tagged along as the girls remained still, with their hands slapped on their waists and looking as if they were expecting the other to crumble down by the lethal expression in their eyes still.

"Alright, alright!" Shaking his head, Al Potter gripped the arm of his cousin and began pulling her to the classroom door that was in front of them. "Enough. Filch is circling the castle, and James and Louis are trying their hardest to keep him occupied so we don't get caught."

"Roxy and Dominique are keeping Neville distracted and Peyton is confessing to Hannah that he hasn't a clue of anything she has been saying since term started. So, if you please, quit it," Fred added, grabbing Savanna's arm in the process and pulling her to the classroom too. "You two do this every bloody time. I can't even understand how you are friends."

Pulling her arm away from Albus' hold, Rose huffed, "what are you on about. We're the best of friends."

"Best friends who argue. It's what we do," Savanna said too, joining the redheaded girl at her side, both of them grinning at each other as if their argument hadn't happen and their threats weren't said.

Rolling his eyes, Al let his annoyance dissolve as his eyes traveled to the front of the empty classroom. Finding his own best friend sitting on top of the teacher's desk. His eyes focused down on a crumbled piece of parchment in his hands. Never looking up as they entered and disturbed his solitary moment.

Having had found the same thing in the sudden moment of silence, Rose took a step towards the desk. "…Malfoy?"

"I've got the information we were looking for, mate," Al muttered, grabbing Rose's arm again and pulling her back that step. He knew that the best thing was to have her as far away from his best friend as possible. "...Mate, don't you want to know?"

Looking at the wrinkled parchment, Scorpius Malfoy focused his attention even more on it. Trying to count the lines that his sister created when she crumbled the paper into a ball, letting it slip and fall to the ground as she raced away and left it for him to find.

"Scorpius?" Savanna called. "Potter knows what happened."

Feeling awkward, Fred cleared his throat to try and ease the situation as he turned to Al. "Go on now, cousin. What happened?"

Looking between his best friend and everyone else, Al sighed in defeat and decided to proceed. "She broke into the Headmistress' office. She got away by the Floo Network there. None of the paintings want to tell me who let her through, but my guess is pretty much accurate."

"Which is?" Savanna asked.

Al sighed again. " I know Snape had to let her through. He really does like her, that I'm sure he'd allow her any slip." He fidgeted with his fingers a little. " Downside is that he locked the Floo. He is not letting anyone in— but, Dumbledore did let me in about what he knows about the incident."

"And?" Rose murmured, worried and eager. "What'd the old man say?"

"Erm..."Debating with himself whether he should be the one to say something like this, rather than letting Draco or his own father break it to Scorpius, Al decided that he knew his best friend better than anyone. He knew perfectly well that what he would want the most is not to be alone; Scorpius could really drive himself mad with too much space.

"Al!" Rose groaned. "What did the old man say?" She repeated, standing in an awkward stance, not knowing whether to fully turn towards the blonde Slytherin or to rejoin Savanna feet away from him.

"Well, Dumbledore's not sure where Ana is exactly, but he told me that McGonagall had sent her Patronous to inform that she was meeting with Grandmum Molly. That both of them were headed to the Ministry to talk to Kingsley. Apparently there's a bigger link to the attacks than what they are going to let the public know. He says that they are reporting it as an attempt of a robbery and that Lucius—"

"Who the bloody hell cares where Ariana is?" Jumping off the desk, Scorpius frowned at his friends. Staring at them as if their presence and the entire conversation they were trying to get into was more of a bore than demanding and necessary. His expression looked sleepy and uninterested than eager and in the edge of a total heart attack. "This is her thing, isn't it? To runaway for show and just to get attention." Fixing his robes, the Slytherin sighed. "It's like the time she ran from the Burrow when she was seven because mum and dad were fighting. She disappeared for two days and almost killed everyone with worry."

Looking aghast from what was coming out of the boy's mouth, Rose snarled, "are you mental?" She sounded outraged. "How the hell are you even going to compare this to that? Your family was attacked, you ruddy git. Ariana left to go and find them. Merlin only knows where she is, and if she managed to find them! Don't you care about that—of course you don't!" She responded before Scorpius could get his eye-roll in.

Al tightened his lips into a line, trying to keep his mouth shut and suppress a beautifully colored curse as his own twinge of fury hit him. "She'll be back," was what he settled for, narrowing his eyes at his best friend.

"Of course," Scorpius said casually, yawning slightly as he stuffed the parchment into his pocket, moving his gaze down to the action he was doing so the others couldn't see the glisten that had pushed its way from behind his sockets.

He wasn't a stupid kid, for starters. Scorpius always knew when his disgusting emotions were going to take toll, when they were going to try and peek through his barriers to show the world what he was feeling. But that's the thing, Scorpius was not an idiot . His emotions could not try and attempt to play the commander and overtake him as master. He knew exactly what he felt all the time, and it was up to him to bury that before it got out.

It's how he managed to casually walk away from the scene in the Great Hall. How he let the others handle the mission to find Ariana—because he knew himself. Because he knew the hours that were going to come were going to drive him insane, because he already expected an entire day, possibly more, of her missing presence. He knew that worry was going to pump up through his veins, seep into his skin, and dig its way into his head and reside there.

He tried controlling that unnatural thumping to his heart because he already knew that there was a hole. That there was already damage done , a severe one at that. There was destruction already. The letter left it perfectly clear. And he was already expecting the worst of news.

But what could he do? How should he act when his sister was missing for more than twenty-four hours? How should he display himself when he knew crap of the attack his family had suffered? What was he supposed to say when no one kept him inform and that thump, thump that ticked along with every agonizing second told him that there was going to be torturing moments in days to come? What was he suppose to assume happened to his family? To his mother, to his sister, and to his grandparents if he didn't know how to start off? How was he supposed to look at his friends and show them that he was actually human and felt all that?
There is no answer, that's the thing.

He can't show and act in any other way than how he normally does. He can't express or say what exactly is going through his head when that has never been him. It was like a lump in his throat, a knot that was made up of more than feeling and pressure. It was a lock. It was a barrier that kept everything that lived in his chest from coming out; so that every time he tried to express himself that knot would stop it. It would make his sobs useless, his crying tearless—all because he's never done it.

So, then, how exactly is he supposed to say his heart is tearing with every passing minute?

"…Maybe, if I'm truly lucky, the Ministry will put out that Ariana was kidnapped by those robbers and they left her in her rightful place next to the trolls," Scorpius grinned expertly, yawning once again as he found it safe to look up at his friends. "What?"

"You're a foul git, Scorpius Malfoy," Rose glared, her expression looking disgusted with the blonde as he shrugged indifferently at their meeting eyes.

"Always so charming, Rose Weasley," the Slytherin king smirked, sarcasm and rudeness always being the perfect cover for his marshmallow side.

Rose narrowed her brown eyes at him. "I hate you so much."

"Ha," Scorpius huffed, shrugging again at the redhead's comment. "And I actually fancy you with my entire heart, Rosie, darling. I can't picture my life without you."

"You're an idiot!" The Gryffindor practically shrieked. "I don't know how Hermione could've given birth to a slimy spawn like you! How can anyone stand to be around you is beyond my understanding!"

"Stop!" Savanna snapped, pulling Rose away as she charged towards the blonde. "Can't you see the moment is serious? It's not time to act like the bloody married couple at the moment! Save your disgusting, bad-aimed attempts of flirting with one another when Ana is not missing and an attack has not taken place!"

"— Flirting?"

"—Married? To her? Ha!"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Rose glared, swinging her arms as Fred joined Savanna's hold on her. "You'd be lucky if you ever get a girl half as good as me, Malfoy!"

Trying to calm himself and get his poise back, Scorpius snorted. "Arrogance doesn't suit you, Weasley." His cool expression came back. "And, please, refrain yourself from even thinking that I could ever end up with someone lower than you. You already are far beyond the level of appealing. I can't imagine what comes beneath you."

Rose gasped; her claws retracting as she swung hopelessly at the Slytherin as the others held her back.

Savanna rolled her eyes. "Oh, come off it, Malfoy. There's nothing wrong in liking one of them."

"Excuse me?" Al and Scorpius said together, both their eyebrows risen at the tan-skinned girl.

Again, the Ravenclaw rolled her eyes as she said smoothly, "well, attraction is normal, isn't it? Everyone feels it at certain point."

Everyone raised an eyebrow at her.

She stared at them with an annoyed fashion. "Honestly," she huffed, but explained. "Well, for example, that Erik Krum is too delicious to look at. Louis is pretty good-looking for an one-eighth of a veela. James has that ragged look that can make anyone swoon. And, oh, Lorcan Thomas is cute in that naive way, you know?"

Silence grew once again, this time no one bothering to say anything as the Third Year continued on.

"Of course, then attraction turns out to be more than a psychical pull. You end up fancying the person in a deeper level, which has its ups and downs like anything." Looking back towards Scorpius, Savanna smiled confidently. "But, like I said, there really is nothing wrong in liking one of them. I fancy a Weasley/Potter and I'm perfectly fine with that. I'm not sure if my Grandfather Zabini would be, because you know his ideals and all, but, oi, he makes my heart jittery."

"...What?" Fred breathed, letting Rose fall to the ground as his grip loosened and he stared at the green-eyed witch with a perplexed expression.

Bang.

"—Oi! Oi!"

"Angelo!" Turning away from the redhead boy's quizzical expression, Savanna hissed at the person that had practically kicked the door open. "You are going to get us caught, idiot."

"I've—" inhale, "got—," exhale, "news!" Inhale.

"Where the hell have you been all this time, Zabini?" Al asked, giving his fellow Slytherin a few seconds to catch his breath as he panted.

"Owlery!" Angelo finally said without heaving, ripping out a parchment from his pocket as he looked around at the people present. "I'd figured someone should have stationed themselves there. Just to see if anyone would care to owl us if there were any news."

Grinning a little as his surprised shown, and Zabini looked insulted, Fred said, "good thinking, mate. What'd you find?"

Glaring, Angelo unfolded the parchment. Clearing his throat with a bit of smugness, the Slytherin Fourth Year took one final inhale. "My son. As you lot must know—"

"—You're hurting me!"

"— Yeah, well you kicked me! Man up!"

"—You pulled my hair!"

"— You kicked me!"

Swinging her legs back and forth, a girl was complaining and putting on a bloody good fight with a redheaded man that was carrying her into the classroom; both of them still arguing as the students gasped with ease with their sudden appearance.

And as soon as both of them came into clear view, Rose frowned in a sort of parental way as she said, "dad, did you pull Ana's hair?"

"She kicked me!" Ron Weasley defended himself, carefully lowering the girl in his arms as he the blonde Slytherin ahead began to approach them. "She's wickedly strong for someone her size. I'm surprised she didn't break my leg."

"I wouldn't have kicked you if you would have just told me what that bloody map was, Uncle Ron." Ariana Malfoy spat the last two words with feigned sweetness, letting herself be hugged by Savanna as she tried looking aggressive as the Ravenclaw squealed and clutched her. "I'm expecting a response soon, or I'll let it slip to James and make him find out for me."

Unstirred by Ariana's threat, Ron extended his hand out to his daughter. "Come, Rosie. Walk me to the Head Office," he told her, but then quickly looked up at the rest of the students. "And all of you, go find the rest of the lot and tell them the news. I'm sure the Longbottoms are about fed up with all the rubbish they are being fed."

"We don't know what you are talking about, Uncle Ron," Fred said too innocently, playing the part. "There's Quidditch practice right now."

"Go get James and Louis from the Forbidden Forest, Fred, before Filch has a heart attack," Ron replied all-knowing, snorting at his attempts to distract him. (Double-crossing him? Ron thinks not!) "Zabinis, you two go save Neville from the girls' rubbish. And Rose—"

"I'll get Peyton after I leave you," the girl mumbled to her father.

"...Ana?" As the classroom began to clear out, Scorpius took a hesitant step towards the newly-arrived girl. Staring deep into their matching eyes as his walls grew stronger around himself, not letting them crumble down at the sight of the devilishly innocent expression on his sister's face. He was not about to let her see the act of liberation her presence caused and meant to him.

Locking their silvery eyes, Ariana crossed her arms over her chest. Protecting her own walls of defense against the Slytherin in front of her. "St. Mungos," she whispered to her brother, her words soft as she didn't find it in herself to snap at him. He knew nothing after all, and he deserved the news to be broken to him more carefully than how she stumbled upon it. She would never—even if she couldn't let herself admit it—cause him that kind of pain.

"And?" Scorpius asked, tall and hard.

Ariana's eyes tried to fight the glistening battle. "Demetria's in a coma," she replied in a heartbreaking voice. "Mister Thomas is not sure what is going to happen to her." She swallowed her feelings with grand effort. "G-Grandfather is…He…"

"What?" Scorpius pressed, trying not to look desperate and concerned on the glistening of tears swimming in his sister's eyes. "What, Ariana?"

"Grandfather's dead," and she tried not to let that tear out.

Feeling like an invisible force was trying to push him down to his knees, Scorpius blinked blankly at his sister with nothing more. "Goodnight, beast."

Almost as if she was going to vomit up her feelings, Ariana kept her mouth close for fear of the mess she would create if she let her emotions drip from her mouth. She drowned them inside her lips, just giving her brother another quick glimpse as she walked broken-heartedly away from him, and past the only person that stayed behind.

"…Suppose you don't actually have the best luck out there, eh, mate?" Closing the door after the runaway exited the room, Albus Potter lowered himself onto the bench of a desk nearest to the door. "She wasn't with the trolls as you hoped."

"..Pity," Malfoy said, his legs finally giving up.

And allowing himself to fall weakly to the floor, he brought up his knees to his chest as he buried his handsome face into kneecaps. The knot in his throat burning with excruciating pain that he couldn't lash out. With those flaming feelings that were going to forever be stuck.

Inhaling a shaky breath, Al sat patiently on the furthest end of the room. Letting his best friend break himself into a silent mess, secretly giving him his entire support and companionship; with an unheard vow that he was never going to let his almost-brother suffer in loneliness.