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Here's chapter two!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters


Twelve Hours Earlier

Albus laid in the grass by the lake, quietly staring up at the stars. He found shapes and patterns and watched the moon move across the sky as it got later or more so as it got earlier. It was just past one am but he couldn't sleep, thoughts whirling through his head much to quickly.

He had always been lonely, never really good at making friends. When he had been sorted into Slytherin his family had promised that they would still stay close but one by one they all pulled away. Rose and James barely spoke to him when they were at school and even at home they all had little in common. He thought that starting this…relationship with Scorpius would somehow help, make him feel less lonely but it only did the opposite. He had known from the beginning that it was only physical, true he had wished for more but he was sixteen and had urges of his own. So when the Scorpius Malfoy came up to him one evening after Astronomy and proposed their little arrangement he readily agreed.

Who could say no to such beautiful silver eyes anyways?

But the relationship had turned out to be more toxic than he ever could have imagined. It didn't take him long to fall head over heels for the blonde with the Devil May Care attitude. The sex was fantastic too, for those few hours every other night he, for the first time in his life, felt whole. Like he was right where he belonged. But once those few hours were over Scorpius would just pull his pants back on and sneak back into his own bed without even a goodnight kiss. At first it didn't bother him so much but as his feelings grew so did the resentment.

He wondered what was so wrong with him that Scorpius could care so little. At the same time he was angry that he gave so much and Scorpius gave so little in return. But he never once tried to stop the relationship, he had thought about calling an end to it several times but he knew, as soon as those beautiful grey eyes looked his way, that he was trapped. He could never tell Scorpius no, his heart just wouldn't let him.

So as the nights went on he loathed himself even more. He began to wonder when he lost so much respect for himself that he'd let himself become a sex toy. No longer did their nights make him feel complete, now they made him feel empty. But he still actively participated, thinking that maybe if he could just make Scorpius moan in that way enough times it would make him fall in love too. That, of corse, never happened. It was always the same and it killed him a little bit more each time.

He never thought love could be so painful, though he should have known better. His parents' fights were legendary by now and it had gotten dramatically worse in the past year or so. He had been dreading going home for Christmas Vacation next week, having resigned himself to another holiday spent at the Burrow with Gramma Molly because he had no friends to stay over with like James and Lily did and he couldn't stand being cooped up in his room, hearing the screaming through the floorboards. So now he was laying outside in the cold, with a broken heart and knowing there was no solace or comfort, even back at his own home.

He sighed, looking at the stars a bit more, trying to memorize each one. Once he was sure he got each star in his mind as well as he possible could, he took his wand out of his pocket. He wasn't sure if it would work, he wasn't really thinking much at all though. All that was playing through his head were images of himself and Scorpius, tangled up in sheets, his parents fighting, Scorpius leaving night after night, his family all heading out to Hogsmede while not even inviting him. And finally, he kept on remembering the story he had once overhead his dad and Uncle Ron talking about. About their sixth year when his father got into a fight with Scorpius' dad in a bathroom. He wasn't thinking so much about the fight but about the spell his father had used.

He took out his wand and pointed it at himself.

"Sectumsempra" he whispered but dropped his wand again as the first slices cut his body. He bit his bottom lip, trying not to cry out. It hurt like nothing else had ever hurt before but he refused to close his eyes. He stared up at the stars, even as the grass beneath him became soaked with his own blood. After what seemed like hours but must have been only a few seconds the stars began to fade and then everything went black.

End Flashback

Back To Present

"What do you mean you did it to yourself?" Ginny asked horrified, everyone except for Scorpius and Harry looked shocked.

"I lifted my wand and cast the curse on myself." Albus said with a sigh.

"Why would you do something like that, you have no reason to want and hurt yourself! You have a great life, you're Harry Potter's son, everyone loves you, we have a nice house and are a lot better off than most people." Ginny insisted, he knew that she was just confused but that didn't make her words any less aggravating.

"You don't think I know that mom?" He snapped and everyone looked at him surprised. He was normally the quiet one; none of them had ever heard him raise his voice before. "You don't think I feel guilty for being so miserable when I know that there are so many people out there that are worse off than I am? I can't help the way I feel, if I could stop feeling this way I would and god knows I've tried. I just couldn't take it anymore,"

"Take what anymore?" Harry spoke up; his voice was calm and soft just like always. He at least seemed to want to understand instead of judge.

"It's stupid." Albus shook his head with a sigh.

"James, Lily can you give your mother and I some time alone with Al?" Harry looked up at James and Lily who looked like they wanted to protest but Headmistress McGonagall swept them out.

"You know where I'll be if you need anything Mr. Potter."

"Thank you Prof-Headmistress." Harry corrected himself with a polite smile.

"I should go too." Scorpius said as McGonagall and the others left.

"Not yet. I have some questions." Harry shook his head,

"Dad, he had nothing to do with it. Really." Albus sighed defeated.

"I know that Al. I just wanted to know how he found you and what happened after that."

"Oh" Scorpius said as if surprised he was finally done being accused of things. "Well Al didn't show up to our…appointment…we study together sometimes you see. He's never late so I went looking, I saw him by the lake and as I walked over there was a flash of light." he frowned a bit, as if the memory was a painful one. Interesting. "I ran over and I saw him laying there…once, a few years back, I asked my dad about where he got his scars and he told me the story about the fight you two got in. How you used a spell that sliced him open, he didn't tell me what the curse was but I saw those scars often enough to get a pretty good image in my head. When I saw Albus I put two and two together and since you and my dad were the only ones who knew about the spell I figured Al must have heard it from you and…used it on himself…I called for help, people came and that was that…"

"Do you know why he did it?" Ginny asked, eyes still dark with accusation.

"Mom stop it. If you have questions ask me, don't harass him." Albus said annoyed, he really wished everyone would just go away.

"I'm still not convinced he didn't have something to do with this. We can't trust his kind, especially not now." She glared at Scorpius who stiffened up.

"Ginny stop, you know that Scorpius' father is someone who has been helping me to try and stop the attacks." Harry said exasperated, he looked back to Scorpius. "We can't thank you enough for helping Al, he'd probably be dead now if you hadn't found him. Give your mother and father my best."

The dismissal was polite but clear, Scorpius nodded and walked over. He gave the Potters an awkward glance before resting a hand on Albus' shoulder. "I'll visit you later and we'll talk alright." he said but it wasn't a question and suddenly explaining all this to his parents wasn't what worried him the most anymore.

"See you then." He said a bit hoarsely and watched as Scorpius left. He swallowed heavily, he had to remind himself that no matter how much Scorpius seemed to care now he was just a fuck buddy in the long run. And that was all Scorpius thought of him as, no matter how kind he seemed to be acting now. Albus was only brought back to reality by his mothers disapproving huff.

"Of all the kids you could choose to become your friend you had to choose him. You know what his family's like." She said icily.

"When did you become so bigoted?" Harry asked, narrowing his eyes at his wife.

"It's not bigoted when you're right! I can't believe you're taking their side again! It was bad enough that you spared them from Azkaban after the war but now you're actually working with them!"

"Of corse I am. The laws that were passed after the war are outdated and discriminatory, they should have never been passed in the first place and they definitely should not still be enforced now. How can we expect everyone to move on when we have these ridiculous restrictions on Pureblooded families!"

Albus sighed, this was an argument he had heard plenty of times before.

After the war there had been a push for laws restricting the rights of certain pureblooded families and other creatures who had followed or was even suspected of following Lord Voldemort. The Ministry was left no choice but to give into the public outcry. The laws had never been well received by the Pureblood families but in recent years there had been more of a push to get them repealed. Especially when the laws began to affect the younger generation who hadn't even been born when the second Wizarding War happened.

Some sought change through advancement in the ministry, something that was now very difficult for a Pureblood to accomplish but a few, including Draco Malfoy had achieved the feat and were trying to change the laws legally. Others however took more violent approaches, there had been several attacks on stores and restaurants that were known to be Anti-Pure. There was a movement growing, one side was Anti-Pure and the other side was for Equality. His mother was on one side and his father was on another. And this political dispute did nothing to help their already failing marriage.

"Can you two stop arguing for once! I almost killed myself, isn't that enough of a reason for you two to put a sock in it for a bit?" He couldn't help but snap at his parents and they both looked at him startled. Just like always they seemed to forget that anyone else was around when they were arguing.

"I'm sorry Al." Harry said gently, walking over and ruffling Albus' hair gently. "I know your mom and I have been fighting a lot lately…is that why you um…"

"No that's not why." he reassured his father gently but then admitted, "It didn't help though."

"Will you tell us what did set you off?"

"I-I can't"

"Because there isn't a reason." Ginny muttered and Albus couldn't help but feel hurt at that. He knew she was just trying to justify things, make herself believe it wasn't her fault but that didn't change the way her words made him feel insignificant.

Harry glared at his wife before looking back to him "Look, I know sometimes things seem hopeless. I felt like that a lot during the war to say the least. And I'd be lying if I said that jumping off the edge of a cliff or just giving myself up to Voldemort didn't often seem like the best option. But now, looking back, I'm glad I didn't."

"It's different dad. You were Harry Potter; you had the whole world depending on you. I'm just me, if I died there would be a ripple for a bit but after a few days or a week things would just go back to normal. I'm not important…"

"Yes you are and I'm sorry if I ever made you feel like you weren't. You are one of the most important things in my life; you and your brother and sister are my world. If I lost you…especially like this, I don't know what I'd do." Harry sounded so sincere, Albus wanted more than anything to believe him. "Madam Pomfrey said that your mother and I can take you home with us tomorrow. Since the Hols are coming up you shouldn't miss much school but I have to tell you that I don't know what will happen after that. When I casted that spell I was lucky that Snape was nearby to heal Malfoy up but even with that quick response he, to this day has scars. I don't know how to heal you completely, at this point it looks like it'll have to heal the muggle way and even then I don't know if there will be any long lasting pain…you used a very dark curse on yourself Al."

"I know Dad, that was sort of the point." He couldn't help but point out.

Harry sighed, "We'll leave you some time alone now but you are still on a suicide watch. Madam Pomfrey has confiscated your wand until you are deemed mentally fit and she's made sure there's nothing around here you could use to harm yourself. She'll also be keeping a close eye on you."

"I understand." Albus nodded with a sigh, things were still a bit surreal for him at this point. He didn't know what he'd do now, his feelings towards life hadn't changed but he knew it'd be near impossible for him to find another opportunity to end it.

"We'll come get you tomorrow. And remember, I love you Al. So does your mom and your siblings and Scorpius Malfoy seems to be fond of you as well."

Harry smiled at him like he knew some sort of grand secret. His mother just frowned deeper at that statement. "Sleep well." His father kissed his forehead and his mother kissed his cheek and gave him a hug before they both left.

Albus sighed, looking back up at the ceiling. He wished that things had just gone as planned last night, if they had he would be in a state of blissful nothingness by now instead of on a suicide watch. He didn't want to think about it anymore, if he couldn't have the luxury of death he could still go to sleep, eight hours of unconsciousness was something at least. He closed his eyes but just before sleep overtook him he heard footsteps approach his bed and something light was placed on his stomach.

He opened one eye and saw Scorpius standing at his bedside and on his stomach sat Scorpius' wand.

"What…?" Albus asked confused, wondering if he was seeing straight or if maybe he was dreaming.

Scorpius clenched his fists but answered anyways, "Madam Pomfrey just went to the loo, she should be back in a minute. If killing yourself is what you really want then do it and make it quick."


Well there it is! Please take a second to leave a review!

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