Chapter Twenty-Six

The outlook outside the window on the right side to his desk was mockingly waving at him and hitting him with warm rays of sun as he drifted away from the lecture going around somewhere before him. It was like all of a sudden the sun decided to grace the Wizardying World, illuminating everything it could touch from the earliest hours of the morning until the disgustingly beautiful sunset that took over with a purplish hue. Making flowers blossom, trees color their leaves, the Black Lake glow with a glitter, and the sky shine like the brightest sapphire.

It was sickening - how the cold weather from days before had evaporated and spring jumped at them in the worst moment possible with a high-pitched laughter that was irritating to his ears.

"Mister Malfoy- -" Snapping him away from the inner battle of rage going on inside of him because of the damned weather, Scorpius turned away from the window to see Professor McGonagall staring at him with narrowed eyes. "Care to answer the question, or are you hoping the Whomping Willow will answer it for you?"

The Slytherin pressed his lips into a tight line for a few seconds, many retorts being swallowed down as he had to fight with himself not to snap at the elderly witch. "Excuse me, Professor." He replied as politely as he could, his own eyes narrowing as his house-mates and random Ravenclaws started chuckling at his expense. "Could you repeat the question?"

Ding. Ding. Ding.

Professor McGonagall frowned at the blonde student as the sound of the invisible-bell signaled the students of Hogwarts that it was time for them to head off to their afternoon break. "Do not forget the three-foot essay on Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration due next lesson. Resources will be required, as well as a lengthy introduction about the importance of the original laws to the modern ones."

Groans sounded around the classroom, the Slytherins looking especially irritated as the Ravenclaws smiled happily at the Headmistress. (Oh, it certainly had to be a honor that Minerva McGonagall took some special time to substitute for the regular Transfiguration teacher and teach them about the subject.)

"No complaining, Miss Fawcett." McGonagall scolded one of the Slytherin Fifth Years, eyeing her suspiciously. "Your mark in this class is barely hanging on, if you do not complete this essay with at least an Exceeds Expectation, you can be assured that you will be spending your Sixth Year stuck with this class once again. And no cheating, I'll be delighted to grade your essay for Professor Stone."

"Yes, Professor." The witch had replied with an underside of a snort, scowling roughly as she grabbed her schoolbag and headed out the door of the classroom with a stomp; following after the other students.

"- -Mister Malfoy, you stay." The Headmistress had called out before Scorpius could head out the door. (And he had been so close, he had already heard the annoying footsteps of the First Years racing each other down the corridor.) "We need to talk."

Raising his eyebrow, Scorpius turned his body away from the door, settling his bag on one of the desks near the door where some of his house-mates always fought to be seated in. "About what exactly, Professor?" He asked blankly.

"Your lack of concentration in your lessons, for one, Mister Malfoy." The elderly witch continued, standing sternly at the front of the classroom as she found her and the student alone. Taking the opportunity to be blunt. "I understand that with a mother like yours, most of this lesson was nothing more than a revision, but I do expect respect when I teach."

Scorpius rolled his eyes before he had the chance not to. "…Showing up is respect enough, isn't it, Professor?"

"Clearly, your father took the advantage on teaching you respect, right?" The old woman suggested, not rudeness in her voice as she could tell Scorpius fought to subdue a smirk. "- -Lack of concentration causes pity, Mister Malfoy." She added after a few silent seconds. "I hope you know that."

"…I don't know what that means." The Slytherin replied, frowning instantly as the professor suggested he was the cause of someone's sympathy around the castle. "But no one pities me, I can assure that."

"Does the act of being cruel and unreachable actually work?" Professor McGonagall asked, still keeping her wrinkly expression as neutral as she has always managed to. "Because some might think that you are actually pretending nowadays. It is no surprise to the children in this castle, Mister Malfoy, of the situation that occurred in Hogsmeade those days ago."

Silence reigned again between the Headmistress and the student - the two looking sternly at each other.

McGonagall had always known that Scorpius was a perfect mixture of both his parents. That he had gotten the strongest characteristics that both Draco and Hermione held; that he would always have the need to show the world that he was perfectly strong and standing on his feet despite the crumbling situations going on in the background. But also by that tough exterior that lives on the outside of him, McGonagall knew that Scorpius had a tender side to him just like his mother and the one his father had always tried to hide as well.

And for the past week, little by little, she had witness Scorpius' cruelty ignite into a raging flame as he found himself finger-pointed and secluded. His peers knew that tragedy had struck his family, and once Draco Malfoy had walked down the ancient corridors, heading to the Slytherin Common Room looking for his son, all hell had broken into fits of whispers and stares for the days after.

And then Scorpius's own version of hell had began - making the lives of those that pitied him miserable instantly.

But because McGonagall had learned to see through a person's eyes from Dumbledore, she knew that that rage of anger came from a distraught place inside of Scorpius. And that a person like him - like Draco and the hardheadedness he had inherited from Hermione too - needed to know there was always a little light of hope somewhere.

"Hogwarts has been submitted into a hushed lockdown, Mister Malfoy- -" The Headmistress broke the silence, fixing her half-moon spectacles on the bridge of her nose. "Every step that everyone takes around this castle is being carefully monitored at all times. There's Aurors stationed in towers and in the main gates. None of the students in the castle know…except for you." She said at once, knowing that Scorpius's expression wasn't going to break into one of shock or surprise at her statement. "And most of the Weasley/Potter clan, I'm positive."

The blonde inhaled through his nostrils, keeping his face twisted into a look of indifference. "You didn't expect James Potter not to go badgering Lupin for information?" He spoke to the elderly woman. "Well, now you know, Professor, who spills information from the Order of the Phoenix and the Ministry to us civilians."

"The Order has been deactivated for the past twenty years, Mister Malfoy."

"No doubt." Scorpius replied with sarcasm.

Choosing to ignore the snide remark and the information she was sure that was given to her to sack Teddy Lupin from any future meetings of importance, Professor McGonagall frowned at the student. "Because of the security measures overtaking the castle, I suggest precaution at all times, Mister Malfoy."

But before Scorpius could even throw a response to the Headmistress of how he didn't need to take care of himself and her warning was useless - and that it would have been in better use if she handed it to the Weasleys since they lacked brains most of the time - the Headmistress headed towards the door without a second glance at him.

"Next time you're out with Mister Potter's invisibility cloak, be prepared to have it removed and sealed away with a Ministry tag on it." Was the last thing she said, leaving him standing alone gritting his teeth.

(How the hell did she know about that?)

"- -I told you." Gliding in through the half-way opened door of the Transfiguration classroom, Lana McLaggen gave her boyfriend a sneaky smile. "You can't be entirely invisible in this castle."

Scorpius kept his frown, still standing straight as his girlfriend took a seat on the desk across from him. "Years of being a cat obviously comes in handy for the Headmistress."

Smiling away his comment, Lana looked up at the boy through her lashes; looking expectantly. Waiting for him to notice something…But nothing came. "This is the first time we've been alone since…."She paused for a second, noticing how his frown disappeared instantly, turning into that indifferent look he had been sporting for a few days now when someone whispered about his family's misfortune.

"…I hadn't noticed." Scorpius replied, knowing internally that perhaps it was a little too harsh to say, but he had not made it this far with the title of being cruel to others without saying the terrible things that slipped from his mouth.

Lana's smile deflated a few centimeters, but she didn't let it wither away completely. "Any news?"

"None." Scorpius almost sighed in defeat. "My mother and father said they would keep me updated every day, and so far all their letters have been nothing but rubbish." He admitted, feeling the left pocket of his robes weigh-in as he could feel the parchment squares sit there uselessly.

"You don't believe them?" The witch asked.

"Of course I do." Anger seeped into the Slytherin. "To let me know that Goyle was behind all of this….I trust my father and his judgments, especially my mother's." He confessed. "That man is responsible for my sister being comatose, and for….My parents won't give up now."

Lana stretched her arm forward - she was at the perfect distance to be able to take Scorpius's hand into hers and still remained far from him. "If there was bad news, they would have already traveled past us." She squeezed his hand. "All of this will resolve itself, you'll see."

Not being able to turn around her obvious indirect that he was worried, Scorpius settled on giving her hand a gentle squeeze back. "…I just…I…I'm sorry." He muttered awkwardly, feeling like everything that he stood for was groaning inside of him. (He had never apologized to anyone before, and it was ironic to him that it had to be Lana McLaggen out of all people.)

"For not spending any time with me this past week?" His girlfriend questioned, still looking at him with soft eyes even though the answer was completely obvious. "It's perfectly alright, Scorpius." She said sincerely, squeezing his hand once again as a look of guilt flickered by his silvery gaze for a second. "I can't expect you to want to be around anyone, or even me for that matter, when your sister is missing….Or because Rose is gone."

"What?" Malfoy practically gawked, his eyebrow raising high on his forehead.

At his sudden overwhelmed expression, Lana's smile was gone as she felt this sadness creep into her chest. Twisting her heart and blood with a wretched emotion that she hadn't felt before. "…The first day of classes, after the kidnap, Professor Slughorn accidentally called out Rose's name…I looked up at you, and you had this…this indefinable expression on your face…And even though I didn't know how to explain it…I knew what it meant."

Scorpius was fighting with himself - fighting with all his might to hold on to that nothingness on his face. For him not to show any emotion at all. But seeing all that sincerity on Lana's face, he just gave her a light head shake; it wasn't true.

"I'm not the brightest snitch on the field, Scorpius, but I always sort of knew." She whispered, a knot in her throat as she kept looking into those eyes she found so beautiful like a stormy sky. "…I suppose I always knew, but I liked you enough to pretend like it wasn't there." A smile threatened to tug on her lips. "One of the reasons my brother hates you, I'm sure." She giggled lightly, almost like a heave of air instead of a chuckle. "He never got Rose fully, just like I never got you fully either."

"Lana- -"

"No." The Slytherin witch shook her head, her voice squeaking towards the end as she halted Malfoy from taking a step towards her. "You can't make someone love you, and I know that…And I won't hold it against you either." She blinked a few tears away from her emerald-eyes.

Scorpius barely managed to grab a loose strand of her hair before the girl pushed herself back an inch; her black hair falling through his fingers. "- -Lana."

"We can still be friends." The McLaggen girl murmured, her tears still silently falling without dramatics.

Silence pierced Scorpius again, but instead of the infuriated one, it was more of a massive mixture of guilt, confusion, and hurt. And because he was who he was, he decided to take a step back from Lana, not letting that mixture of emotions show on his face as he looked down at the classroom floor.

Lana smiled kindly, standing up from her seat on top of the desk as she looked at her fellow Slytherin. "Don't be so angry with the world, Scorpius. You'll get them back - Ariana and Rose."

Stretching a little on her toes, Lana pressed her lips onto Scorpius' right cheek. Her eyelashes leaving small traces of tears on his skin as she pulled away with nothing more said; her light footsteps echoing off the floor as she headed towards the door.

"…I care about you, Lana." He whispered to himself, knowing that the girl was long gone as he glanced up to the window of the classroom. His anger coming back again as fast as it had arrived every day since the kidnap.

The sky was still annoyingly beautiful - and he didn't know how it could be. How the weather could permit the world to shine so dazzlingly if misery was following him; if he was the only one walking around with a grey cloud over his head all the time.

X

"- -Al, you're sulking again."

"And this time inside your bowl of soup."

Groaning with all the despair inside of his body, Al Potter slowly lifted himself up on his elbows to look at the two people staring at him with sympathy as he tried to concentrate on breathing in the fumes of whatever it is that the house-elves used to clean the house-tables in the Great Hall. "Ugh." He grunted, his head hanging low as he felt nothing but what he had been feeling for days - sorrow.

"Always the social one, I see." Savanna Zabini said as she and Angelo shook their heads at him. "It's sort of pathetic if you think about it."

Looking at his best friend with disturbed eyes, Angelo shook his head disapprovingly at Al once again. "Come on, mate." He practically groaned too, frustration expressing itself on his tanned-face as he no longer knew what to do with Al. "You've been doing nothing more the moping around for days, and not to mention you haven't showered in ages, and it's starting to tick me off, alright."

Savanna nodded her head furiously in agreement with her brother. "You smell like all that food you've accidentally gotten all over your school robes. It's incredibly disgusting, Al, that I'm willing to have Winky shower you by force."

"And you know she'll do it too." Angelo added. "Winky is committed to any task you give her since she stopped drinking, and I'm sure she'll be up for the challenge."

Al glared, picking his head up again. "Well, excuse me." He snapped at the two Zabini siblings. "My cousin was kidnapped by a mad man, and took my…and took Ariana along with them! As you could see, I'm not having the best week of my life, yeah. So if you ever so kindly can, piss off."

"Sorry." Angelo mumbled.

"Don't apologize, idiot." Savanna scolded her older brother, elbowing him as he lowered his head down in shame. He had been extra sensitive around Al and Scorpius, that it was starting to tick her off. Savanna understood her brother loved his friends, but a Zabini should never be ashamed about anything. (And that was something she was glad she listened to her father about.) "- -Listen here, Potter, because next time I have to repeat myself, I will curse your stupidly annoying scowl off." She threatened, raising her finger at him as she could already hear familiar voices approaching. "Ariana is my best friend, and I adore Rose with all my might, and for you to even begin to assume like none of us care because we are not wallowing in our own filth - like you are so repulsively doing - does not mean that it gives you the right to snap at any of us whenever you damn please."

And approaching the Gryffindor table just in time to catch the Ravenclaw's speech, James Potter narrowed his eyes at his brother as he deflated his frown a little bit out of fear.

"What are you lot doing here?" Fred asked, interrupting the moment as he grabbed a plate of dinner and settled it next to Savanna. "Not that we mind, it's just…there's no Gryffindor with you three."

"The Slytherins are not the most supportive lot at the moment." Angelo answered, picking at his steak. "They keep talking about speculations they have about Ariana and Rose, and it's not the loveliest things to hear when their imagination is nothing but gruesome."

Al moaned loudly at the mentioned names, dropping his head back down on the table-top and the ends of his long hair splashed into his bowl of soup again.

Pulling on a sympathetic expression on his veela-like features, Louis gently patted his younger cousin's shoulder. "Cheer up, cousin."

"- -I don't understand why you are upset, Albus." James spoke up before Louis could continue on soothing his little brother. "Last time I check, which happened to be in Hogsmeade when I was snogging her, Ana is my girlfriend. Not yours." The youngest of the Potter boys raised his head a few centimeters, peeking through the strands of his hair and a noodle to raise an eyebrow at his brother. The people around him suddenly went silent, all of them feeling the tension of what was obvious, and what had been silenced for too long.

"…And?" Al asked in a small huff.

"Did no one tell him?" Angelo murmured at his fellow Slytherin. Aiming a look between the two Potters like he was about to witness the most glorious thing since that trip to Hogsmeade. (And he did not mean the moment when they were attacked, but when Al finally grew a sack of quaffles.)

"And?" James repeated, not catching the whispering Zabini was doing. "It's pathetic, little Al, that you go sulking about over someone else's girlfriend, don't you think?"

The Slytherin rose higher on his seat, forgetting about the deep sadness inside his chest as he glared at his brother. "Why do you care all of a sudden, James? It's not like you showed any particular interest in Ana unless you were…kissing her."

"Is that your matter?" James retorted, throwing the glare back. "Because she never complained when I was snogging her."

Fred and Louis exchanged worried looks, both of them leaning towards the individual Potter they were seating next to; on edge just incase something exploded and it ended up being one of their faces.

"She isn't in love with you." Al said angrily. "She never has been."

"And she's in love with you?" James spat back. "Is that where you're getting at?"

Snapping her neck back and forth - looking somewhat amused and annoyed - Savanna sighed at the two brothers. (She didn't expect anything less from Ariana - leaving an emotional mess behind her when she avoids fixing it out of discomfort.) "- -Alright, that's enough you two." She frowned at James and Al, looking strict. "Enough, okay?"

"No." James said, reducing his anger as he looked expectantly at his brother. "I want to know where Al was going with this. I'm curious now, so please, elaborate."

Albus glared, all that he wanted to ever say to James about Ariana was pooling inside his mouth.

"James." Savanna scolded.

"Speak, Al." The Gryffindor Fifth Year ignored the witch.

"James- -" Savanna hissed, slapping him on the shoulder as she reached behind Fred's back. "Stop."

"Fine, then." James turned on his seat, staring at her. "You tell me then, Sav. You're her best friend after all. You tell me."

"James, come on, mate." Louis leaned into the table, shaking his blonde hair disapprovingly at his cousin. "You're about to make a mess over something because you didn't win."

"Win?" Angelo questioned, raising his curious eyebrow up. "What do you mean by that, Weasley?"

"- -Oh, for bloody Godric's sake!" Bam. "You lot want to know the truth here? I'll tell you the ruddy truth, maybe that way all of you will shut it and get on with your pitiable lives."

Turning their stares from James Potter, all eyes looked up to see a tiny newly-arrived redhead with her fist smacked down at the center of the group as she frowned with all of her inherited fury.

"Ariana and Al have always been in love, simple as that." Lily Luna Potter spat; her freckly face looking infuriated and dangerously annoyed. "During the Hogsmeade trip, Al confessed his love for Ariana, and it was all magical until she got snatched by those ruddy people."

James opened his mouth but his sister threw him a you-better-keep-it-shut-if-you-don't-want-me-to-murder-you look.

"And you- -"She pointed her threatening finger at her eldest brother. "You care about Ana, no doubt about that, but you were only following after her because you were bored."

James looked guiltily around the table, Al and Fred throwing him a scowl. "…That's not…entirely true."

"Of course not, how could I forget?" Lily continued, her schoolbag slouching off her small shoulder. "You were also with Ana because you were hoping that would make Savanna jealous, but that didn't really go according to plan, did it, brother?"

As Lily was spreading the truth all over the Gryffindor table-top, Angelo had been laughing hysterically at the facial expressions that James was throwing - until the littlest of the Potters decided to throw in his sister's name. "Oi - what?"

"How do you know about that?" James gaped, his cheeks flushing as Al and Fred forgot about their momentary anger and they dropped their jaws.

"Louis told me." Lily confessed, breathing heavily as her anger began to cool down. (All she wanted to do was eat, but as she skipped up to her table she had to find her family arguing like always. It was about time someone set them straight.)

"…Sorry, mate." The blonde Gryffindor muttered at his cousin, lowering his head down a centimeter. "But I promised I'd tell her what the real deal was with you and Ana if she could find out what Lana McLaggen's favorite flower was."

James glared almightily.

Louis kept lowering his head in shame. "It was Orchids, by the way."

"Y-You….You like me?" Savanna asked, no one paying attention to her as the secrets kept pouring out and she looked like she got hit by a bludger. "Why?"

"Um." James cleared his throat, looking extremely uncomfortable and upset. "Lots of reasons, actually."

"…Oh." Savanna whispered. "I'm sorry, James."

"For?" The Gryffindor asked, furrowing his brows.

"I don't feel the same way." Savanna replied, standing up from the table as her Ravenclaw tie fell over her robes. "Sorry."

"Wait, wait." James gawked at her in a slight shock. "What? I thought you said you fancied one of us, and I thought, logically, that meant me."

Savanna shook her head, her hair swaying like straight curtains around her face. "I…I meant Fred, not you." Was all that she said, walking away before Fred Weasley could look even more surprised and he had time to react over what she said.

Cheering up instantly, Al stood on his feet too as Angelo gaped after his sister. "Come on, mate. What do you say we head up to the common room? I fancy a shower, and you can tell Malfoy all about what happened here. I'm sure he'd love to hear James's new embarrassment of the month."

Zabini nodded hesitantly, elbowing Fred as he stood up from the Gryffindor table.

"As much as I want you to shower, Al, maybe you should put a hold on it." Lily spoke, taking a seat on the clearing table as she reached for Fred's plate of untouched food and a sappy smile on her face. (Finally.) " I was walking to the Great Hall when I found Lana crying in an empty corridor. Apparently, your mate and her broke up."

At the two holy words that he never thought he would hear - because he was sure Scorpius and Lana would have annoyingly beautiful babies together - Louis picked up his head from the table and ginned widely. His heart banging inside his chest.

"- -Don't." James threatened his cousin before he could even stand up from the table and follow behind the retreating Slytherins.. "You broke the code, Louis. You will be punished."

And somehow, even though he had been rejected by the girl he actually liked and his little brother won over the girl he actually liked to snog, James found a highlight to get him through that day.

"No." Louis groaned, looking terrified.

"Oh, yes." James nodded, standing up from the table as he pulled up the dazed redheaded Weasley with him. "We're going to need the invisibility cloak, two rocks of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, a roll of muggle duct-tape, a bag of raw meat, and a Hippogriff."

Yep, that would suffice him.

AN: Hey, guys!

Okay, I KNOW I promised to update as soon as I could in the last post, but seriously, NOT my fault this time.

My computer decided to crash on me, and it's been about a week and a half now where I am going over to my mom's to use hers. And during the times where I pretend like I was writing my school-paper, I actually started writing this and WALA! New Chapter.

So my advanced apologies if it's too rushed or horrible. I just NEEDED to do it.

:D