Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Just my OCs :).
He felt only slightly guilty for taking James' invisibility cloak, but it was the only idea he could come up with. He felt his heart beat against his ribcage and inside his ears, and every sound he made seemed like a stampede running through the empty corridors. It wasn't the first time he navigated the school at night, but it was the first time without Albus by his side: somehow, the Potter boy gave him courage he felt like he otherwise lacked.
"You're a coward, Scorpius Malfoy." He muttered under his breath, turning a corner and stopping, straining his ears to see if he could hear voices, still half convinced it was all a prank to get him in trouble.
His hand flew towards his wand faster than he realized he had heard footsteps: soon enough, a tall boy emerged from the opposite side of the corridor, and entered one of the classrooms. Scorpius hastened his step and entered before the door was closed.
He could name a few of the boys inside the room, but most of them were strangers to him. They were all at least fourth years, most of them Slytherins, although there were two Ravenclaws he recognized, and a lone Hufflepuff.
"It's time." He could tell the voice belonged to the oldest of the boys. He looked around the room with sharp blue eyes. "Is there anyone missing?"
"Malfoy isn't here yet." Goyle announced, oblivious to the fact that Scorpius was standing right behind him.
"Who cares about the cowardly rat." Evan Sanders spat, his light brown hair obscuring his eyes.
"Shut it, Sanders." Goyle roared. "You are in no position to look down upon us, you barely belong here."
Sanders looked taken aback for a second, but regained composure right away. The oldest boy, clearly the leader of the pack, rolled his eyes before continuing.
"We all know why we're here. The Dark Lord fell ages ago, but his legacy continues to haunt us. We knew this day was coming, the day our parents told us about, the day they were warned about: the End of the Beginning is here."
Whispers started around them, and Scorpius was confused.
"They're not trying to hide anymore. The ministry can't go on pretending all these deaths aren't linked, not with the way the Malfoys were slaughtered, not with the way Goyle's father was murdered. There are six people dead so far, three by seemingly natural causes, and three by the End of the Beginning's own hands."
No one asked questions, everyone obviously in on the unspoken information. Scorpius remained sunk in his confusion, unwilling to give away his presence by voicing his doubts.
"What are we supposed to do?" a female voice asked, startling everyone around. The girl had the same sharp eyes the leader had, but her features were softened by her long honey-colored hair
"We're safe while we're at Hogwarts, Bella."
"So they're going into hiding, aren't they?" one of the Ravenclaws asked, and Scorpius recognized his raspy voice, but couldn't remember his name.
"Our parents will. Bella and I will remain at Hogwarts during breaks, and depending on what happens…"
"Do you think they'll stop them?" Goyle interrupted, his eyes full of sorrow.
"The Aurors? Unlikely. There's no stopping the End of the Beginning."
…
"This doesn't look too good." Hermione commented as they walked into an old London apartment through it's broken door. Inside, there was chaos. Harry took a step forward, waving his wand.
"There's no one here… and I don't feel traces of magic either. Keep your wands at the ready, just in case. I don't want another incident like last time…"
Ron and Hermione nodded, and followed Harry, their eyes taking the scene in, the place looking as if it had been searched.
"Conway?" Harry asked out loud, knowing no one should answer. He was the first to the small bedroom, and he gasped.
"What happened?" Ron arrived in the room first, and saw the blood spluttered across the walls immediately. "Do you think he's…"
"The blood stops right there." Hermione said, her voice slightly shaky as she wasn't used to this sort of work anymore. "He apparated away."
"Or someone took him side-along. Attacked him, dragged him and took him." Ron sighed, shaking his head. "But then, who took his things?"
"Someone looked through his belongings." Harry nodded at the open desk drawers, papers of different sizes and colors fighting their way out. "Did anyone actually see him leaving the office?"
"Not one soul. I was the one who realized his things were gone, but as I asked around, no one saw him."
"How about his team? Maybe they know where he is?" Hermione suggested, but Harry shook his head.
"He's the leader of Teddy's team, and they're all at the hospital. Conway was the only one not injured in the last attack."
"Do you reckon these End of the Beginning fellows have anything to do with him?"
"I guess we'll have to pay Hunter Stevens a visit."
…
"Scorp, you okay? You've been awfully quiet today." Albus said as he munched on his toast. Scorpius nodded, not really paying attention. "Are you even listening to me?"
"Yeah, sorry, I'm just… tired." He couldn't hold back a sigh. He hadn't been sleeping well, not since the secret meeting he had been to two days ago. He kept on eating his cereal, well aware that Albus was still staring at him. "Al, it's starting to get creepy. Stop looking at me like that."
"Cheer up. We get to jinx some Slytherins today, that's bound to make you feel better!"
"What are you even talking about?"
"Vaughn's class, remember? Duelling technique, making up spells as we go? Doesn't that sound delightful?"
"Sure does." Scorpius looked around, just noticing someone was missing in their usual spot down the Gryffindor table. "Where's Rose?"
"I don't know, she's been acting mad since Saturday. D'you reckon it's because of Anne?"
"It's most likely because of that." Scorpius chuckled. "She hates that girl."
"She's just jealous because Anne is pretty and popular, and she's—"
"—I'm what exactly, Albus?"
The black haired teenager stopped talking right away, his whole face turning a violent shade of red. His cousin sat next to him, slamming the book she was carrying on the table and getting herself some toast and pumpkin juice.
"I think what you meant to say is that I am incredibly smart, and a genuinely nice person." She said after a while, smiling smugly.
"Your modesty is appalling, baby Rose." James said, stealing the girl's toast. "Hey, ponytail."
"That's mine!" the girl protested, trying to get her breakfast back.
"What do you want, James?" Albus' good mood faded right away as he glared at his older brother.
"Just here to say hello, see how my baby brother is doing." James shrugged, sitting next to Scorpius. "Hey, Malfoy. It's actually you I wanted to talk to."
Scorpius tensed in his seat as he felt James' wand poking him on the side.
"If you dare take my things again, I will hex your into the next galaxy, am I clear?"
"What are you even talking about?" Albus raised an eyebrow.
"I found a blonde hair in my invisibility cloak—"
"Dad's invisibility cloak." Albus corrected. "That you stole."
"Inherited. Anyway, no one else in Gryffindor has that shade of pee blonde hair, Malfoy. I don't know what you're up to, but I will hex you, no hesitation. Are we clear?"
"Just piss off, James." Scorpius rolled his eyes, not knowing what else he could possibly do. James stood up and left with Fred, who was waiting for him just a few seats down.
"Why could you possibly want to take dad's cloak?" Albus laughed. "My brother is going insane. He even has a blonde-haired roommate, it could be anyone."
"Well, Scorpius sure seemed guilty when James accused him." Rose interrupted, frowning. "What are you up to, Scorp?"
"It's none of your business."
"We're your friends. You can trust us." She put her hand on top of Scorpius', hoping to instill some trust in him, but the boy didn't budge.
He barely understood what this 'End of the Beginning' thing was about, he was not about to talk about it with his friends.
Apparently, every other person in that room knew what was being talked about, and it felt like their families kept them in the know. Why would Scorpius' father keep him out of it? Did he even know what was coming?
With his father gone, he'd never know.
"AL! ROSIE! Grandma Molly sent you these." She gave each of the cousins a small box of chocolates, and then gave one to Scorpius. "There's one for you too, Scorpius."
"What for?"
"I don't know, grandma always send us stuff." Albus shrugged, letting the subject drop.
Grandma…
Of course.
His Grandmother would know. If there was someone in the family who knew everything, that would be Narcissa Malfoy.
…
"Why would they take the life of one of their own?" Ron asked, shaking his head as a team of Aurors looked around the room for any more clues. In the middle, there was a tall, blonde man laying sprawled on the floor, a trail of blood coming from the side of his mouth. If it wasn't for that little fact, it would've seemed as if he had fallen asleep.
"I don't know…" Harry sighed, confused. The only clue they had, and now it was gone.
"Sir, we found a piece of parchment with a note." An Auror alerted, giving the piece to the Head of Aurors.
"'They know'… that's all there is." Harry looked at Ron, confused. "Someone knew we were coming for Stevens. How could they possibly know?"
"Maybe they have infiltrated the Ministry of Magic." The same Auror who had found the parchment suggested. "Sir, should we take the body?"
"Yes please. I'll see you all in Headquarters in fifteen, clear?"
They all Disapparated in a swirl of cloaks, leaving the two friends standing alone.
"This is getting out of control, Ron. We need more information. We have three injured Aurors, and one of our captains has disappeared. Four people have died already."
"And no one seems to have any ideas. What the bloody hell are we going to do… is there someone we haven't spoken to?"
"With the exception of Stevens, it seems as if the fallen are ex-Death Eaters…"
"It's almost as if You-Know-Who is back to haunt us—I'm sorry, I meant to say Voldemort, it's just an old habit." Ron corrected himself immediately at Harry's frown. "Well, let's go find those Death Eaters, shall we?"
"We'll pay Teddy a visit first… I need to see how Matt and Heidi are doing as well. Could you do that for me, Ron?"
Ron nodded, and Disapparated away. Harry stood in silence, running a finger through his scar. It hadn't ached in so many years, but he could remember the pain as if it was just a few seconds ago. In his youth, it was the Death Eaters who destroyed and killed, and now they seemed to be dropping like flies. Was there someone after them? Was this some type of revenge?
The End of the Beginning…
He had to speak to the only Malfoy who could give him some answers. Andromeda would have to deal with his visit, because there was no time to waste.
…
"They think you've been kidnapped." Said one of them, hidden under the shadows of his hood. "You've been a good actor, Conway, but there was no use in wasting you with the Aurors… we need you with us."
"I've played my part perfectly, and my disappearance seemed to convince them." The blue-eyed Auror said with a slight smile.
"Leaving a trail of your own blood was a nice touch." The one standing right next to Conway said, slapping the shorter man's shoulder. "Stevens could've ruined it all, though."
"I took care of Stevens." The first one said, smiling. "Well, he took care of himself, really. It wasn't much of a hustle. He knew it had to be done."
"What a fool for letting himself be seen." Another one added in a loud voice, shaking his head. "Could've been our end…"
"Stevens was just a pawn. We're much bigger than that." A woman said, cocking his head to the side. "We are much better than that. We're unstoppable."
"There's still so many more people to get rid of. We'll rid the Wizarding World of the scum that acted as if they owned the place."
"What about Harry Potter? He'll eventually find out. He's no idiot." The woman said, frowning. "Neither are his friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley."
"I'll take care of them." Said the one standing next to Conway, smiling slightly.
"The Weasel is mine." Conway interrupted, frowning. "We already agreed to that."
"We haven't agreed to anything, Conway. We must not kill the Golden Trio unless strictly necessary. Their blood won't be shed unless they get their noses too deep into our business."
"The Weasel is a pureblood though. Doesn't that mean he gets special treatment as well?" The woman asked.
"Everyone knows the Weasleys are blood traitors." The loud one announced, shrugging. "No need to rid the world of them, they've always been supportive of our cause."
"All I'm saying, is that if it comes down to it… Ron Weasley is mine."
Well… it's been a while, hasn't it? I'm so sorry for the long wait, but I hit a wall and couldn't keep on writing for a long time. I hope you enjoy this short update, and I'm going to keep on working so I can start updating more often!
Thanks for the reviews!
-phankam.
BHS 5