Chapter Twenty-Four

"You look miserable there, mate, you alright?"

Slowly picking his head up from a cold, wooden tabletop, Al Potter blinked hopelessly and indifferently at the different pair of eyes staring at him expectantly; like they were waiting for him to burst into tears or talk about his feelings or just combust. "Huh?" He mumbled, raising an eyebrow.

"You've been moping around for the past three days, Potter." Angelo explained, looking more curious at his fellow Slytherin than the others.

"It's true." Lana McLaggen commented, nodding carefully at the scowl that was starting to appear on Al's face. "Well...it is." She added quickly, looking down in a slight embarrassment at his expression.

Not having an opinion or comment to share about the middle Potter's obvious depression, Scorpius narrowed his eyes uninterested in the subject as he patted his girlfriend's hand in comfort. He had seen the sudden downfall of his best friend, but asking about it would imply that Scorpius actually cared - or wanted to hear about it. And although he did care, Al knew better than to try and talk to him about any thing related with feelings and all that touchy-stuff.

There was no moving-conversations allowed in the Slytherin headquarters; there was a contract signed with blood by everyone.

"I'm...just tired." Al responded, running a hand into his untamed dark hair as Lana blinked her vision back up at him. Expecting him to say something. (Best friend's girlfriend, most attractive Slytherin or not, Al wished Lana would disappear at that moment. Like he needed a girl around at the time, humph.) "They're preparing us for the final exams already, and the professors are going mental on the work." He rubbed his eyes, stretching his arms after for display.

"Ha." Angelo snorted, looking back at Lana and Scorpius with a bit of a leer stretching on his tanned-face. "Is that what it is?" He snorted again, this time trying to repress a chuckle from coming out. "I thought your mood had to do with what my girlfriend told us a couple of days ago."

Al frowned instantly, his green-eyes narrowing with anger. "First of all, Zabini, Dominique is not your girlfriend- -"Angelo scoffed at that comment. "Secondly, shut it."

"What did Weasley say?" And despite his lack of desire to get into the subject, Malfoy sat taller on his chair as he looked at his two oldest friends. A slight anger and suspicion rising inside of him as he noticed the instant vow of silence among Al and Angelo. "Potter, what did your demented cousin say?"

"...Nothing." Al murmured, lowering his head back down on the tabletop. "Right, Zabini?"

Silence took over the four Slytherins as Scorpius turned his silver-eyes to Zabini; giving him that look of determination and twisted-emotion that make most people at Hogwarts back down from a glaring-battle with him. (He was skilled in the department of breaking people down, and they all knew it.)

Fidgeting in his seat, Angelo pulled his goblet of Pumpkin Juice closer to him. His finger wiping off some of the drops tracing down the glass cup as Scorpius continued to stare at him. He could feel the boring holes that the Fifth Year Slytherin was giving him, and he was sure that was the most excruciating feeling of pressure he had ever felt. (Not even the time when Dominique had him and three other Fourth Years lined on the grass of the Quidditch pitch, a beaters bat in hand, and demanding an answer of who stole her favorite lacy knickers compared to it.)

"How could this happen to me- -"

"- -Or to me."

But right before Zabini could be crushed under the peering pressure and break Al's promise, he looked up to see a few familiar figures enter the shabby pub they were in. "...Saved by the weasels." He muttered to himself, feeling his soul come back into his body. "Well, mate- -" He looked at Scorpius, nudging him towards the entrance door of the Three Broomsticks. "There's your answer."

Knowing that he was going to regret ever caring about Potter's depression or dirty secret, Scorpius felt an instant spark of fire fuel the always-present flame he had inside his chest. A rage seeping in with high fuel at the sight of Fred and Louis Weasley making disgusted faces at two people snogging by the door.

"- -Thanks for waiting for us, idiots." Roxy came in through the door, pushing her blonde cousin from her path as she dragged in Savanna Zabini from the outside. "Oh, gross. They're doing it again."

"This is not how I wanted to spend my day at Hogsmeade." Savanna snapped, rolling up the sleeves of her purple v-neck and proceeding to separate the couple. "Will you quit it?" She hissed at the boy who looked dazed after his witch was removed from his mouth.

James Potter and Ariana Malfoy - the disgust.

"Oi, settle down, Sav, darling." James laughed, throwing an arm around the Third Year Ravenclaw as she continued to scowl. "There's plenty of James Sirius to go around if you want a snog. I'm sure Ana wouldn't mind."

"Troll." Savanna glared at the boy, turning to give Ariana - who raised an eyebrow at the two - an uncomfortable stare. "Handle your animal, Ariana."

"That's what Dominique told you- -"Lana asked, her jaw a little dropped as she turned to face Al's annoyed gaze. "...But I thought your brother and Ariana were already an item?"

"No, they weren't." Angelo responded after frowning at the oldest of the Potter sons. (Why in Salazar's-legacy, did Potter always have to bring his sister into his bizarre moments?) "James was just courting her, but apparently they've snogged and made it official."

"...Shut it." Al mumbled again, looking intently into the wood of the table.

Looking away from his best friend, Scorpius frowned at James Potter. His blood thickening and his anger ticking inside of him like a clock - letting him know that he was about to go into a rage and possibly murder the Chosen One's oldest son. (Don't take it the wrong way, Scorpius could care less about the Ariana-of-it-all. What mattered to him was that Potter was now walking around like he was better because he snagged his sister and that automatically made him king of the castle.)

"- -Ariana doesn't look too happy."Lana interjected, glancing back and forth from Al and her boyfriend. And once she got the attention from all three Slytherin boys, she cleared her throat and continued. "Most girls would typically be attached by the wand with their boyfriends, and Ariana always remains a few steps ahead of James. At school, you don't see them together unless he goes and looks for her." The boys blinked at her. "...Her actions make it appear that she's not that into James as it seems."

Al raised his head a few centimeters from the tabletop; looking quizzically at the usually-slow Slytherin witch. Hope running in his veins.

"Well, I bet a few snogging sessions with Potter will change her mind." Angelo commented, nodding towards the familiar group ahead; spotting Savanna and the others scowl at the kiss James was giving Ariana once again.

Al dropped his head again. (Hope was never his friend.)

Lana gave Scorpius's hand a squeeze as he continued to frown. "Kissing someone doesn't mean a thing sometimes." Her voice came out soft, very innocent-like that her house-mates gave her their attention once again. "You can kiss a random stranger or a friend, and maybe feel fireworks...or maybe not feel anything at all." She took a low-key inhale, her fingers slowly slipping from Scorpius's underneath the table. "Same things applies with relationships...Sometimes we hold on to one, knowing that there's nothing there, but refuse to let go for selfish reasons..."

Malfoy let his frown fade, a confusion taking over him. Deciding to ignore the message on Lana's face, he reached over for her hand; lacing his fingers through hers. But Lana didn't squeeze back, Scorpius did the holding-on in their relationship.

"...What do you suggest for that then?" Al questioned, crossing his arms underneath his chin as he looked at the power-couple. "How do you make someone see that they don't have to hold on?"

Lana smiled with radiance. "The truth."

"Truth?" Al repeated with uncertainty, like the girl had just suggested they all go out for a murder spree. "What truth?"

The McLaggen girl winked at the Slytherin, shrugging at the same time as her facial expression went back to looking clueless. "Our own truth."

Zabini's mouth formed into a small 'o' shape, a mocking gaze appearing on his tanned-face as Al's eyes widened. "Oh, oh, oh. She got you, Potter."

"So- -" Al took a ragged breath, looking in overload. "You're saying...that if a person is in love with someone...they should tell them?" Lana nodded, the question not requiring a verbal answer. "Okay...But what if there was obstacles? Like...people who would be completely against that...love to form?"

Reaching for her goblet of Pumpkin Juice, Lana smiled at the Third and Fifth Year Slytherins; at the two best friends. "The truth always sets you free."

Al and Scorpius shared a look instantly - like Lana McLaggen had forced them to stare at each other with their own truths playing in their different colored eyes. Something Scorpius was always dreading. (Bloody hell, he should have just stayed at Hogwarts and let Potter and Zabini get lost for hours without him.)

Turning to look behind his shoulder, Al noticed Ariana stand a few inches away from her alleged boyfriend; looking annoyed as he made a joke and the others laughed at the crude remark. "Malfoy?" He called, turning his head again to the blonde sitting across from him.

"Ooh." Zabini scooted his chair closer to the table, a daft smile appearing on his face as his emerald-eyes glittered excitedly. "I've been waiting for this since his Second Year." He whispered secretly to Lana; both ready for what was about to come.

"You...erm...You know that...Well, we've known each other for ages, right?" Al began uncomfortably, clearing his throat every two seconds. "We've been friends...best mates since you punched James in the face for locking me in my Granddad Arthur's shed when I was six with that angry gnome..."

"Quit talking, Potter." Scorpius snapped, taking the moment that the younger Slytherin took to pause in his babbling. "I was there, I remember. Now, shut it."

Al cleared his throat instinctively, and looked back down at the wood of the table. (Oh, why did he have to convince Malfoy to join them?)

"What I remember from that day, Potter- -" Scorpius continued, surprising the other Slytherins around him. "Is that you have a debt to me, and that we agreed I would call in for you to repay me whenever I wished."

Angelo kept his mouth in that 'o' shape, looking more intrigued by the interaction between his friends. (He was so glad he was there at the moment, best Hogsmeade trip all term.)

"Remember, Potter?" Malfoy pressed.

Feeling a sinking sensation in his chest, Al nodded at his best friend. Something inside of him feeling defeated - he had been so close. "Yeah...I remember."

"Well, then, we are even now." Scorpius said seriously, squeezing Lana's hand with a little more force as he leaned back on his chair. "Go and wipe that stupid look off your brother's face, it's pissing me off."

Angelo's jaw-dropped lower and Lana bit her lip to keep from smiling at her boyfriend.

"W-What?" Al gaped.

Malfoy grunted, rolling his eyes in frustration. "...If...If anyone's going to sport that bloody look of victory, I rather it be you." He cleared his throat, frowning at the emotion circling their side of the Three Broomsticks. "I hate your brother."

"Go, mate, go!" Zabini exclaimed, pulling Al by the hood of his sweater as he could no longer take the seconds of silence Potter went into. "Before he changes his mind and he beats your ass!"

Scrambling on the old floor of the pub, Al headed towards the group that held his heart and blood. "Oi, Ariana! We need to talk!" He yelled as he pushed James away from his target. "Now."

Looking perplexed, Ariana struggled with Al as he pushed her out the door. "Let go of me, Potter, or I'll murder you without hesitation!" Was the last anyone heard as the door closed.

"He's not the smartest bloke when it comes to girls, eh?" Zabini spoke, turning to face Lana and Scorpius with a chuckle. "He finally got your blessing and he's about to die. Just brilliant."

"I'm a little shock, Scorpius." Lana whispered to the blonde Slytherin, leaning closer to him as Dominique Weasley entered the Three Broomsticks with her group and Angelo disappeared before the door closed behind the curvy redhead. "You do love her."

And as Zabini headed for his redhead, Scorpius frowned with deep hate as he spotted the redhead from his nightmares. "Love who?" He asked a bit roughly, sending daggers at the back of the witch's head as she greeted the Weasleys.

"Your sister." Lana said, smiling.

"I'm not an animal-loving type of bloke, Lana- -" He looked at his girlfriend, wanting to glare at her until her smile disappeared. "Hence, I don't love my beast-of-a-sister."

"Really?" She asked with a small giggle and a little sarcasm.

"Yes." He said, his heart warming slightly as her cheeks turned a rosy color from the round of giggles she was trying to suppress. "...I love him - Al."

At his proximity, Lana settled the rate of her heart as Scorpius began to lean towards her with his silver-eyes closing. "Yeah, him too." She whispered, her eyes closing as well as she pressed her mouth onto Malfoy's.

Neither of them aware that a redhead was looking at them as they kissed; her bright-eyes filling with a glistening at the beautifully perfected love they feigned.

"- -Are you going to order anything, Rose?"

At the smile that passed between the Slytherin couple after they separated, the redhead looked toward her expecting cousin. "...A miracle."

X

She was standing there - watching him ramble on and on, without ever getting to the point. Just babbling about random crap that she did not care about, saying incoherent sentences that annoyed her, and a hold on her arm that forbade her to leave.

(Which pretty much explained why she looked ready to murder him as she shivered in the cold winter-wind that still had not evolved into a spring breeze.)

"- -And you would assume that Lana is a total idiot, but she gets it, you know?"Al looked up from the spot on the ground he was concentrating on to face the girl he was holding on to. "Do you know what I mean?"

Trying to tug on her arm, Ariana scowled at the youngest Potter son as his fingers held on tighter. (Why was it that those damn Potter boys did not get the meaning of personal space?)

"Do you, Ana?"

"No." She snapped, finally reaching her melting-point. "I do not get anything you have been saying for the past half-hour, Potter. All I do know, is that you savagely pushed me out the door and that you are wasting my time." She threw a vicious glare at him. "And unless you specifically tell me why I am out here, I will curse you back three years, Potter."

Al swallowed. (He did always fancy a girl with a flare.) "I...erm." He coughed, panicking slightly. "Well..it's like I've been...erm...that thing...I...You and my brother...It's just...um."

"Oh, forget it." Ariana huffed, tugging her arm once again. "Let go of me, I'm done here."

Shutting his eyes tightly in frustration - because what the hell was going on with him - Al shook his head and gripped tighter. "How could you do it?" He blurted quickly; slightly surprised that the words came out clear.

Ariana stopped on her fight with the Slytherin for a few seconds, her eyebrow raising high at the odd emotion in his emerald-colored eyes. "Do what?" She asked stiffly in response.

"...Be with James." Al muttered simply, but he felt the pang of pain in his chest. A pain that was caused by every whisper, every sighting, every memory he saw of the two together. "He's my brother, 'Ri."

The girl shot her eyes open instantly, a flood of many mixed feelings pouring into her chest at his comment and at what he called her - Ri.

It had been so long since she had heard him say that; a year to be exact. It was a nickname that he had accidentally given her during their time together their First Year at Hogwarts; back when they were inseparable and he didn't act like a damn moron all the time. Before he focused all of his attention on hurting her, on following after his friends and tearing her down whenever his Master would. Back when a strange bond was forming between the two; when they needed one another like a human lives off oxygen.

Ri - a secret kept silenced between the two; an unimportant nickname that meant so much more than the two letters it held.

"- -Do you honestly care?" Ariana shot back with a look of bubbling fury, not letting him take the time to see how shaken he had made her with the slap of memory he had given her.

"He's my brother!" Al exclaimed a little too loudly, causing a few people to turn as they passed on by. "You're his...girlfriend. You've snogged him." He continued with a low hiss. "He is a complete idiot, Ariana, how can you fancy him out of all people? What could have possibly attracted you to James?"

And as the boy was focusing on hissing at her, Ariana managed to pull her arm away from his hold. "I don't know." She replied truthfully but indifferently.

"He's not sincerely interested, you know." Al said in a tone that was a bit harsh for his usually lovable essence. "That's not who James is - that person that only exists when he is around you is not who he is."

Frowning deeper at the Slytherin, Ariana took a step back from the boy. "It's not who you were either, is it, Albus?"

There was silence.

"...Of course it wasn't." She said after another second of silence between the two. "Goodbye, Potter."

"I told Scorpius- -" Al interjected quickly, his heart racing with an intense panic as the girl turned on her heels. And just as she halted on her walk, Al took a deep breath and swallowed all of his fears. "He knows...About how I feel for you."

Hesitantly turning towards him, Ariana crossed her arms as her beautiful face pulled on a blank expression. She waited - staring at him with those guarded silver-eyes that Al was always so familiar with.

"I'm absolute rubbish at this, Ariana, and you know it- -"The boy continued, clearing his throat and praying to Merlin, his Grandad James, or whoever was up in the heavens looking after him that he could say everything he needed to say without the witch walking away from him. "I've never been good at anything when it comes to you."He breathed, blood rushing. "I can deal with everything else, but you, Ariana Malfoy, drive me mental."

Ariana's arms slowly started loosening around her chest; her wall slowly sinking down as she desperately wanted to take a glance from behind it. To see him; to let his words cause the complete butterfly effect.

"I-I...I don't know where any of this will go or what's going to happen, but what I do know...it's that everything that you do amazes me." A little smile crept on Al's face. "It's been two years that I've noticed how much you shine...And I love your light, Ana."

The Gryffindor witch pressed her lips into a tight line, still not saying anything.

"...Your brother's my best mate, and he always will be...But when you're out there without me, that loyalty that I have for Scorpius means nothing because I'm miserable...I want you to be happy...but with me."

With a small ragged exhale, Ariana let her arms fall to her side. There was nothing left to fight with, her wall was already crumbled down by the sincerity in Al's eyes. And as much as she thrived on being cold and sometimes cruel, she could never truly be coldhearted with him.

After all, he was her heart.

"I care about James, Albus." She spoke for the first time in a while, taking a step towards the Slytherin. "And perhaps us being together is strange and unnatural, but I care for him." She stretched her hand out to the boy before he could let the hurt in his eyes take over. "But he'll never be you."

A smile appeared on her face, adding as a motive for him to reach for her hand. Their fingers intertwining together; a warmth seeping into the pores of their skin as their eyes locked in a too intense emotion that was new for a pair of fourteen year-olds.

"...I love you, 'Ri."

Just like her grandfather used to say that she was not as common as the rest, Ariana settled on a dazzling smile in response. The dominate genetic in her body refused to let her say it - say what came so natural to others. But she knew that one day she would be able to; be able to say those three words that Al knew she did mean without saying.

But for the moment, she just let him put his arms around her as she muttered, "I know."

Nervousness invaded the Gryffindor and Slytherin as their eyes kept that lock between each other. That silver connected with that emerald in a way that was rather hard to comprehend because it was something so pure that neither of them had ever felt before. It was intense that it sent bolts of lightening in their blood; true bliss circling in their blood vessels as their hearts banged against their chest with a rapid speed.

And as that connection was still burning bright, Al moved one of his hands to a loose caramel-colored wave; taking it in his fingers and smiling at her as her eyes glittered beautifully. And at the sight, he couldn't help himself. He let the strand of hair slip away from his fingers, and he proceeded to move his hand to the side of her face. An action that she responded by closing her eyes as he began to lean into her.

The world was spinning out of control outside of their bubble. Everything outside covered in the brightest lights, fireworks lighting up the sky as their lips moved together in the softest of manners. In a way that made their bodies go numb, their souls flutter inside their body at the heavenly experience.

The first kiss of the first love.

"Brilliant." Al whispered gently as the two separated, his head rushing with dizziness.

A sweep of pink took over Ariana's cheeks. "Thank you." She said with a little cockiness as his hand reached for hers.

"- -That was adorable!"

Turning, the two Third Years found Angelo Zabini gaping like he was just hit on the hit with a beaters bat as he stood outside the Three Broomsticks with a couple standing behind him.A dramatic excitement radiating off his persona. "Can you do that again?"

"Shove off, Zabini." Al replied with a grin.

"Hello, Ariana." Lana waved at the girl next to her fellow Slytherin. "Enjoying your visit?"

Ariana narrowed her eyes at the Fifth Year and gave her a dim smile. Trying her hardest not to look at her brother. (Who looked like he was about to explode in angry sparks of fire as his matching silver-eyes yelled out that he was uncomfortable with what he had stumbled upon as he exited the shabby pub.)

"- -Oi, get a move on." Poking his head from the back of the forming crowd, Fred Weasley aimed a shove at Zabini. "You're causing a blockade here, Zabini, and we're going to be late for the train."

"And if I get detention, you prat, I'm hanging you by your knickers in a goal post!" Dominique threatened somewhere behind the students trying to get out of the Three Broomsticks.

But right before Angelo could throw a quirky remark at the redhead he was madly in love with - or before the others noticed that Al and Ariana were holding hands - a giant BOOM echoed down the main road of the village.

It came out of nowhere - the shatters of glass and the bright flashes of lights taking over Hogsmeade as people began to run. Hooded figures appeared from thin air, leaving behind trails of black smoke as everything started playing in slow motion; the explosions and shouts deafening the others who were in momentarily shock.

Looking back in a panic, Ariana noticed Scorpius whip out his wand instantly as the people behind him started pushing their way out forcefully.

An attacker started heading their way, his wand out and shooting out red flashes from his wand that sent a couple of unlucky people flying back into unconsciousness. And before he got to Al, Scorpius intersected the hooded-figure by throwing a hard kick to the man's stomach. Blocking him for a few seconds as he pointed his wand at the man's face; a stream of his own spell exploding at the man and diverging him from his attack.

Scorpius shouted a command at the people he had known for years; something that could not be heard in the motion of things. But all Ariana saw was everyone pulling out their wands as the riot was still going on all around them.

Another figure came charging, but this time James made himself noticed as he shoved the blonde Slytherin behind him. A rage taking up inside him as he blocked a green burst of light from hitting anyone in the group.

Everything was happening so excruciatingly fast in their heads, all the noises and spells making their blood pump in top speed. There were screams, people falling, friends fighting - they were under attack and no one knew why.

And as a deranged-looking woman knocked Savanna and Roxy on their backs, Ariana slipped away from Al's protective hold and ran towards her friends. There was an adrenaline rush taking over her body as she pointed her wand at the woman; her face twisting up in a flash of anger as she shouted a stunning spell at the attacker.

But even as they all started defending everyone around them, trying to pay close attention to the things exploding and the unknown people charging at them, Ariana did not notice when Rose started running towards her and the two fallen girls - or the man that looked at them from a hidden corner; making his way silently towards them as distraction grew.

"- -Stupefy!" As the spell flew with a rush of noise, Scorpius managed to get Lana from her bind with an attacker. He turned quickly only to find his body submerged into a hysteric state. "Ariana!" He shouted with a strength he had never had for his sister.

And turning with his yell, all those familiar people watched with horror as a cloaked man gripped Ariana by her hair; dragging her away from the three girls looking petrified at the sight.

"Try it and she dies!" The man roared at the wand Louis had pointed at him; as he was the closest and his threat halted the run Scorpius and Al were about to take. "Girly, you're a Weasley, aren't you?" He said casually at the redhead who was standing in front of Savanna and Roxy in protection.

Rose scowled, her heart thumping as her fingers twitched to point her wand at the man.

"Of course you are." The man spat with distaste. "- -Imperio!"He shouted, removing his wand-point from Ariana's neck and pointing it at the redhead. "Come here, girly, we're off for an adventure."

As Rose moved in a robotic-way towards the man, a crack was heard clearly through the hectic noise still bombarding the village of Hogsmeade. The sound of apparation that instantly stopped the other hooded-figures and ordered them to disapparate and leave their damage without a second look.

"...Rose." Scorpius muttered in a chocked tone, his body slowly slumming down on the pavement of the street as Al raced towards the corner where the man disappeared with Ariana and his cousin. Looking like he was hoping that he could disapparate in the traces of fog the man left behind.

AN: D.U.N. D.U.N. D.U.N.