A/N: Oh my gosh! I hadn't realized that I last updated a week ago! Well, here it is! I realized I told some of you that something sad would happen soon, but this isn't it. I didn't plan for this to happen! But the aforementioned sad thing happen! I swear! Also, one more announcement, I will not be updating for the majority of July! I'm going off to a summer camp for three weeks with no access to internet. However, I will try to write a few chapters of this, if I'm still working on it! This author's note is getting long, so I'll sign off here! Love ya! ~Em :)
"Here comes the sun!"
"Highway to hell!"
"Here comes the sun!"
"Highway to hell!"
"So what are you guys arguing about?" Rose said, falling into step with Dusty and Scorpius as they walked down the bank of the Black Lake.
"Which song we'll play to start our awesome concert at your family's Christmas party," Dusty replied matter-of-factly.
"I didn't know know you guys were performing!" Rose exclaimed happy, bouncing on her toes.
"Yeah, we don't know either," Scorp said, and Dusty giggled.
"We haven't asked yet," she chuckled, laughing at the irony.
"So you're already planning it but you haven't asked yet?" Rose repeated, shaking her head. "I can ask for you, if you'd like."
"No, I think we should write a letter ourselves," Scorp said, smiling softly at Rose.
And they did.
Dear Weasleys and Potters,
It's me, Dusty McKay, and my friend Scorpius Malfoy. I know I don't write often, and Scorpius not at all, but we have a proposal for you. We know you host a Christmas party every year, and we also know that you have a band every year. That is where we come in. We are writing to ask you if we can be the music at your gathering. We know you haven't heard us sing, but we assure you we aren't terrible. If you want we can do a mini performance for the Weasleys and Potters at Hogwarts, who can owl you their thoughts. You don't have to worry about instruments or microphones or anything like that (if you know what a microphone is). We are wizards, aren't we?
Please confer with the others in your family and reply as soon as possible!
Thank you for your consideration,
Dusty and Scorpius
"There! All done!" Dusty said enthusiastically as she sent Scorpius' owl off into the sky and watched its red and brown figure retreat into the distance. "Now all we have to do is wait for them to reply and maybe sing for a few people!" Scorpius nodded, looking a bit out of it.
"Are you alright?" Dusty asked worriedly.
"I guess I'm a bit nervous. I've never performed in front of other people before, and I also don't want to get murdered. I have a feeling that might happen."
"Well, neither have I," Dusty whispered in his ear, making Scorpius shudder, and Dusty grin.
"Walk you to dinner?" he asked, changing the subject. Dusty laughed at Scorp's awkwardness and nodded.
"Love to." Dusty grabbed Scorpius' hand and they walked to the Great Hall.
"So, are you dating yet?" Rose asked, eating her pork chops.
"Yep, and I also got a troll on my potions exam," replied Dusty sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
"So what did my family say?" Rose said to change the topic.
Dusty shrugged. "Haven't replied yet. We offered to perform a mini concert for your Hogwarts family and let you guys write your parents about what you thought. I think that'd be ideal."
"That would be amazing! Al, James, Hugo, Lily, Dusty and Scorpius are performing a concert just for us! Consider yourself special!" And with that she returned to her food, not noticing that both James and Lily weren't in the Great Hall. Dusty, however, noticed, and also noticed when Lily burst through the doors, crying. Dusty immediately went over to the poor girl and asked her what happened.
"J-James is in th-the Hospital W-Wing!" Lily cried, capturing the attention of Rose, Al, and Hugo.
"Wha- is he alright?" Rose asked hurriedly, but Dusty shushed her.
"Let's go for ourselves," she suggested, worrying. What had James done? She hoped it was something like he fell off a broom or got in a fight with some Slytherins. Nothing too bad. But it takes a lot to make Lily Potter cry. Dusty was so engaged in her thoughts she didn't realize where they were until they were there. Madam Patil was leaned over a cot, tipping a potion of sorts into a boy with messy black hair.
James' messy black hair.
Dusty, Rose, Lily, Albus, and Hugo ran over to James' bed, exclaiming in worry before bombarding Madam Patil with questions.
"Children, children, please, one at a time," she said chidingly. "I'm sure the first of your questions is 'What happened?'-"
"I'm terribly sorry to interrupt, Madam Patil, but I'm rather more worried about whether he's going to be okay or not," Dusty said politely, brows furrowed in anxiety as the others nodded their agreement.
"Ah, yes, Miss McKay," the healer said understandingly, "he lost a lot of blood, but he'll be fine thanks to Professor Watson and her magnificent potion skills. He'll just have to stay here for a week, on bedrest."
"Alright, now I'm wondering what happened," Rose said impatiently, but obviously relieved.
"It seems to be excessive blood loss through assumed self-inflicted lacerations on his wrist," Madam Patil said soberly, motioning to where James had bandages around his hands.
"English, please?" Albus asked, clearly confused.
"He," Dusty started, choking back a sob with tears in her eyes, "he cut himself. James tried to kill himself," she whispered, unable to prevent the tears from falling. Al's face was somber, as was Rose's, but Lily and Hugo didn't even try to keep the tears from flowing. It was too much; Dusty couldn't take it anymore. She ran out of the hospital wing, past Jamie and Scorpius and into her safe spot.
She'd found it in second year when Jamie went through a phase where he thought sisters were uncool and annoying. Dusty was heartbroken, because her twin was her safehaven. He was the one person she could go to tell her problems to who wouldn't judge her, and then he acted as if she didn't exist. So as Dusty ran through the halls, she ducked behind a tapestry into a small passageway that led to the roof of the Ravenclaw tower. It was the tallest tower at Hogwarts and sat facing the Black Lake. The top was pointed, but there was a little three-foot-wide porch that stretched around the base of the point, with an iron fence to keep one from falling off. She just sat there, crying, and ended up falling asleep.
She woke up to a blinding bright light.
"Merlin, it's morning!" she exclaimed, jumping up and running to the Great Hall to see how late it was. Everyone was there, luckily, so Dusty ran up and sat down beside Rose.
"Where have you been?" Rose asked worriedly, putting her hands on Dusty's cheeks. "We've been so worried!"
"What? It's only morning," Dusty said warily, and Rose and Albus laughed halfheartedly.
"It's lunchtime," Rose snorted, causing Dusty to gasp.
"You mean I- I missed three classes?" she exclaimed wide-eyed. "I've never missed a single class! And then, all of the sudden, I miss three?" The corner of Rose's mouth turned up a little, which made Dusty angrier.
"It's not funny!" she shrieked, and Rose and Albus burst out laughing.
"It totally is! You're freaking out because you missed a few classes! It's absolutely hilarious!" Dusty only humphed and turned away, but quickly turned back around.
"Is James alright?" she asked gently.
"Madam Patil said he should wake up today out tomorrow, but he went be able to leave for another week or so start he wakes up."
"Oh. Okay."