Parts (44-46)

VI

Chapter 11

Righting Wrongs

Part 1: Fighting For

Scorpius led his team down to the locker rooms, they were soaked through and their feet hadn't even left the ground yet. His team sat there twiddling their thumbs and looking at him somewhat expectantly for some reason, he straightened up abruptly as he recalled again that he was the Captain now. He cleared his throat.

"Today is our next match. Against Hufflepuff," Scorpius began awkwardly and noticed Michael slapping his hand to his face, "As you probably already knew. We won our first match against Slytherin in spite of the fact I didn't catch the Snitch, I think that goes to show that we have a strong team, that in spite of what some people might think there's more to Quidditch then just who catches it. If we could win then, we can win now!"

"But it's raining," Montague pointed out with a nod in the direction of the exit where rain could still be heard beating down on them, "Do we really have to play in the rain?"

"Of course we play in the bloody rain!" Kemen spoke up as if it were obvious, "Duty is not effected by the weather, my Dad says so and he's an Auror, one of the few trusted to guard the Shadow Master because he's that good."

"No way your Dad guards the Shadow Master," Rufus scoffed, "And besides, Calderon isn't even the Shadow Master. The guy's still out there destroying India."

"Israel," Albus corrected and the Keeper rolled his eyes.

"Whatever country it is this time. The point is he can't be the Shadow Master when there's another on the loose, clearly this Voldemort guy had more than one kid."

"There's more than one Shadow Master, obviously," Montague spoke up again, "He has others trained with this Scepter to make himself look innocent, Calderon's a mad genius."

"I-"

"Hey!" Scorpius snapped in frustration, first Maurice and now his team, "We need to focus on the match not the war right now, okay?!"

"Okay," the team collectively muttered like abashed children, looking once again nervous.

There was no time for another speech though as they were called onto the pitch, Scorpius led his team out and was rewarded by the rain whipping him as they walked across the slushy grass. The rain was affecting the Hufflepuffs too though, they were soaked through as well and he could see the water dripping down from Orous' frosty white hair as he shook hands with his friend amicably.

"Good luck," Orous whispered barely audibly over the heavy rain fall.

"You too," Scorpius added before they stepped back to their respective teams.

They mounted their brooms and waited, Scorpius blinking droplets of rain out of his eyes before Krum tossed the Quaffle and that match began. Michael dived in and grabbed it first, darting away with the slippery ball. He aimed for a quick goal to start them off but Vern darted in the way and batted it away with his broom first, saving the first shot of the match. It was far from the last and of all the positions, Keepers weren't faring as badly as others. Beaters had to peer through the rain to bat at fast moving balls, Seekers had to scan through it for the Snitch and Chasers had to toss around a ball slick from the rain. It was affecting them all, there were more missed swings and fumbling of the Quaffle then usual due to the heavy downpour on both sides while Scorpius and Orous both struggled to find the Snitch.

It was surprisingly actually Albus who scored the first goal of the match, even if it was done by accident when he missed a throw to Michael by several feet. It was equalized – intentionally – a few minutes later when one of the female Hufflepuff Chasers, something Smith, slipped one by Rufus and got in another not long after that. Michael finally seemed to find his stride after that, pummeling three goals past Vern within fifteen minutes. The only male Hufflepuff Chaser threw one in just after, putting the score half an hour in at forty to thirty in Gryffindor's favor. Still no sign of the Snitch, not from him or Orous much to the crowd's displeasure. It was cold and wet and they'd much rather the match be over with faster, Scorpius was in agreement as he was soaked so thoroughly his bones were shivering.

No luck though. The bats kept swinging and the balls kept flying, still with no sign of a glimmer of gold. He wasn't sure about Orous but Scorpius' eyes felt raw from the stinging rain, he flew high above the pitch so when he did see the Snitch he'd be less likely to lose sight of it when not flying into the rain directly. Orous seemed to have a similar idea as he too flew up high, Scorpius was about to say as much to him when he actually saw a golden glint. He shifted his eyes a fraction of an inch to gauge Orous' reaction, seeing the crimson casting a gaze in the correct direction. They both bolted, practically throwing themselves down through the sky with their brooms in their eagerness to end the match. It was neck and neck, Scorpius was taller and had a longer arm span but Orous had a faster broom then he did which evened out the difference. They were gaining on it, a wild Bludger – the wind and rain were too deafening to hear who had hit it – split them up but both managed to weave their way back in for the Snitch. Scorpius stretched as far as his arm wound reach and-

"HUFFLEPUFF WINS!" the shrill voice of the commentator managed to scream over the weather, she sounded rather excited, "Knox catches the Snitch, earning Hufflepuff a victory of 230 to 90."

"Good game, Orous," Scorpius sighed as they both landed, forcing a smile over his disappointment.

He was happy for Orous after all, clearly his friend had done a good job as Captain. Scorpius' own team had done well too, really the only person Scorpius could be disappointed in was himself. He'd failed. And if he couldn't win a simple Quidditch match, how did he expect to save Antonius?

Carver was in such a bad mood at being ditched back in the school by his mum that for once he didn't even care he was in a different class to Ethan, he didn't care he was learning to resist torture by being tortured, he didn't care about the idiots in his class making fun of him. He didn't care. He too upset to care, too angry. How could his mum just send him away? Again. He wasn't a yo-yo, he was her son, her only son. Didn't that matter to her? Shouldn't it matter? Why would both his parents rather dump him in school then be with him?! What was wrong with him? What was wrong with them?

"Hey Carver, want to hear a funny joke?" Patton taunted him with a smirk while they were out exercising, hanging back to speak to him, "What's fat and-"

Carver didn't want to hear the punchline, he made his own by striking the mean boy as hard as he could. To Carver's surprise, Patton was knocked flat on his back and he found his fist now hurt. He shook it to try get rid of the pain and looked down at the stunned boy who touched his cheek gingerly, somehow it had never occurred to Carver before that his superior size was actually superior.

"I'm going to tell-" Patton started to say but Carver angrily grabbed the front of his robes and hauled the boy to his feet, he slammed him into a nearby tree roughly.

"You're not going to tell anyone anything!" Carver snapped at him, "I'm fed up of you being mean to me, I never anything to you and all you do is be mean! You know what you are? A… A… meanie… face!"

"That's not-"

"Shut up!" Carver barked at him, "And leave me alone or I'm going to tell my Father, Master Xerxes Seneca, and have you tortured until your mind is so scrambled we could use it for soup! Do you understand?! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"Okay," Patton agreed quietly, looking almost afraid and Carver pushed him roughly away.

"And tell everyone else the same goes for anyone else who is mean to me! If I'm going to be stuck here for the rest of my life then people are going to be nicer to me."

Patton nodded before scrambling away, Carver just watched him go in surprise. Was that really all it took to get his classmates to stop saying mean things to him? Was that all he'd had to do? He just had to be mean instead of nice? Well, that wasn't so hard. If he had to be bad to be left alone then fine, Patton deserved to be punched anyway because he'd punched Carver before just with words. It still hurt. It seemed to work, his classmates left him alone and if they made fun of him then it was so far behind his back he didn't hear it.

His seventh birthday arrived and he was angry to get a card from his mum, as if that made up for sending him away. If she really wanted him to have a happy birthday then she could've let him stay or even visited him but no, a piece of paper was supposed to make things better. Well it didn't. Although tearing the card up into little pieces and stomping on them did help a little until he felt bad for it, he scooped up all the pieces and kept them in his pillowcase. He didn't know if his mum would ever want to see him again after all, it may be the last thing she'd ever write to him. He was furious her but… she was still his mum. Turning seven put him back in class with Ethan again, easing his boredom in class and letting him vent his frustrations properly. However he was immensely disappointed in his brother's reaction to hitting Patton.

"You hit Patton? That's horrible!" Ethan protested, much to Carver's confusion.

"Ethan, he was mean to me," Carver pointed out, had Ethan not listened to him when he talked about Patton being mean to him before, "He deserved it, he's bad."

"Two wrongs don't make a right," Ethan insisted, "And do you even know why he was mean to you?"

"Because he's bad, obviously."

"No," Ethan stated quite firmly and Carver scowled irritably, he couldn't believe his own brother was siding against him, "It's because he's jealous. They all are. You have something that none of them have, a family who love you. They don't get their own dad to tuck them in, they have an older student to make sure they're in bed on time, they don't hugged, they don't get kissed, they don't get to write in ink not blood, they don't get to play with toys when their dad is spending time with them, they don't get their mum to take them away. They're jealous, Carver, they don't want to be stuck anymore then we do. We get some bad and some good, they just get all bad."

"So that makes it okay to be mean to me?!"

"No, it just means they don't deserve to be punched," Ethan said and Carver folded his arms crossly, not seeing the point, "You don't think they're mean to me too? You don't think it's hard for me as well when I'm alone in this class? But I don't punch them, I try to be nice to them."

"That's just stupid," Carver pointed out, not seeing the point in letting people be mean to you when you could stop it, "Being nice to people doesn't make them nice."

"Neither does punching them in the face, that'll just make them hate you more even if they leave you alone. There has to be a better way."

"Don't be so soft, it's not very soldier like."

"Well maybe I don't want to be a soldier, okay?!" Ethan snapped at him and Carver laughed at the ludicrously of the statement.

"Look at where we are, Ethan, we're already soldiers," Carver pointed out what they'd been told, "There's no choice."

"Well maybe there should be," Ethan muttered to himself and continued on with his work.

In the aftermath of his spectacular first loss as Captain and another failed apparation lesson the next day, it completely slipped Scorpius' mind that he was supposed to talk to Martha. Maurice nagged him half the week before it also seemed to slip his mind, or at least was buried beneath schoolwork. Scorpius actually latched onto the distraction of difficult work, if anything he felt like he had even more homework despite taking even fewer subjects and Professor Ashain wasn't even giving homework. He'd work them like dogs during lessons but gave no homework, he still looked a complete wreck with bagged bloodshot eyes, an unusually gaunt face and frazzled unkempt hair. Scorpius was actually starting to feel a bit concerned for the professor's health, he picked at his food at meals and Cassia confirmed he was barely sleeping.

The next apparation lesson turned out to also be no good, Rose managed to splinch herself but still nothing for Scorpius. February gave way into a brighter March, it also sharply reminded Maurice of how he wanted to talk to Martha as New Zealand fell just after February. He started nagging him once more about talking to her, Scorpius was trying to find time amidst work and assured him he'd talk this weekend. Israel fell before the week was up, only reminding them they did not have all of time. That was also the week of the next full moon – why the Quidditch games had been switched to accommodate Michael – and Scorpius planned to spend it with Michael as an animagus, he'd just wait under the invisibility cloak until Marigold went to be then transform and be with Michael. As usual with things lately, it failed. Apparently Marigold stayed up with the werewolves all night.

"Come on, let's talk to now," Maurice urged him that Saturday as they waited in the stands of the Quidditch pitch for the Ravenclaw versus Slytherin match, sure for them the weather was all clear skies and sunshine.

"No way, we need to support Sequoia!" Abby protested immediately.

"It would just be me and Scor, I have to go and watch her anyway to make sure she doesn't try anything on Lorcan. If anything this makes it even easier for Sequoia since his match has less chance of sabotage with Martha gone completely."

"I kind of wanted to watch the match," Scorpius muttered.

"Oh just go, shut him up," Rose insisted with a note of finality and shooed them off.

Scorpius sighed as he rose to go off with Maurice, naturally he already seemed to know where the Hufflepuff girl was. She was sitting with the professor's daughter, Auriga Koray amidst a sea of support for Ravenclaw. Apparently the poor girl didn't know her 'friend' was actually just using her, that had to be the only reason Martha was friends with her. That's what Xerxes' children did, like Viola with Lily and Carver with James, who he'd managed to corrupt completely. He was still mad at her.

"Hey Martha, can I talk to you?" Scorpius asked as he tapped the redhead on the shoulder, she turned to him I surprise and it didn't go unnoticed her hand had gone for her wand protectively before she saw it was him.

"We're kind of going to watch the match," Martha pointed out, gesturing to the pitch and looking quite eager for the match to start. Maybe she had been planning something, "We're supporting Auri's house, go eagles. You could sit with us if you want."

"No, I need to talk to you in private," Scorpius insisted and Martha flicked her gaze to a surprised looking Auriga as if in askance if it was alright.

"It's okay, I don't mind," Auriga brushed it off and ushered her friend to go with a smile and wink, clearly still believing Martha had a crush on him, "Go on."

"Come on," Scorpius said as he led them all the way back to Hogwarts, Martha looking increasingly nervous as they walked with no word of what they wanted.

"What do you want?" Martha questioned finally.

"To talk," Scorpius stated truthfully but likely unhelpful, she kept her gaze on him though and their gray eyes met. He noticed a presence in his mind abruptly and slammed up his walls, shoving her out and knocking her back while the deaf boy ahead remained oblivious, "What the hell are you playing at?! Did you just try to read my mind?!"

"Well you're right, your answer wasn't helpful. Forgive me for wanting to know why two people who likely want to kill me are leading me to an empty Hogwarts."

"We're not going to ki- Wait, how did you know that I thought that?!" Scorpius demanded, changing his sentence mid-way through.

"I got a glimpse of your thoughts before you noticed me," Martha admitted as if it were obvious, giving a slight shrug.

"But-But I know Occlumency."

"Not very well though, did you teach yourself it?"

"No."

"Well did whoever teach you teach themselves it or have an incomplete education?" Martha asked and Scorpius opened his mouth to fervently deny this before changing his mind, Varanian admitted his grandfather had died before he mastered and Maurice had taught it to himself, "I can teach you if you want, my Dad was highly skilled at both Occlumency and Legilimency. You're good but you could be better."

"No, I'm not learning from you," Scorpius scoffed and picked up the pace as they reached Hogwarts, Martha hung her head slightly, "You want to kill me, remember? Come on."

"Here will do," Maurice commented and led them into an empty classroom on the ground floor, the castle was pretty deserted. He closed the door behind them and finally put a hand to his translator necklace to be able to understand.

"Are you going to tell me what you want with me now?" Martha questioned, her eyes flicking between them and hand twitching for a wand.

"Information. We want to know if you know anything of value about the Inferi army, this Stephan or Cyrus," Maurice questioned bluntly and Scorpius nodded in agreement, "If you tell us willingly then we won't have to torture it out of you."

"Maurice!" Scorpius hissed but his friend didn't look to regret his words, Martha glanced between them again thoughtfully before sighing.

"Okay, I'll tell you," Martha agreed after a moment with a nod in Scorpius' direction, "I want the war to end and for your side to win too, I don't know a lot though."

"We're listening," Maurice stated.

"No, not you," Martha said with a shake of her head, "Just Scorpius."

"No, both of us. Whatever you tell him, he'll just tell me anyway."

"Well then he can after I tell him alone," Martha insisted firmly, "If you want my information then get out, you'll get nothing if you try torture it out of me."

"I-"

"Maurice, just go," Scorpius commanded and Maurice threw him an incredulous look, "Look, I just want this to be done with and this gets it done faster so get out."

"Fine but I'll be right outside in case she tries anything," Maurice said quite testily, probably offended at being kicked out. The second the door shut, Martha had her wand waving at the door to presumably put up enchantments again. Scorpius was starting to rethink his position, this was kind of suspicious.

"What is it that you don't want Maurice to know?"

"Nothing really but its personal and I don't know how he'll react so I figure it's better to tell you alone," Martha told him readily as she lowered her wand and turned back to him.

"What's personal?" Scorpius asked in confusion as he folded his arms, Alzay was dead so he wasn't sure what else personal and Shadow-related it could be.

"You want to know who Cyrus is?" Martha questioned and Scorpius nodded, "He's a seven year old blind boy who survived the destruction of Athens, he's fluent in Arabic, Greek and English so Stephan figured he was useful to use a translator. He's also Maurice's half-brother."

"What?!" Scorpius burst out in shock, risking a glance to the door as he half expected Maurice to barge in and demand more information but apparently they were alone.

"Apparently Roman Rivers had a relationship with an Egyptian woman named Leila Akram, Cyrus Akram is their son. He's never met his father and has no desire to but Roman is still his father like Maurice and Orous, making them brothers. He's my brother's friend so I know him a bit, he seems like a good kid and isn't doing this willingly," Martha explained and Scorpius' gaze drifted absent-mindedly out of the window, he wondered if Roman knew or if Cyrus knew his mother was dead, "And since we're on the subject, do you know why Uncle Pyrrhus defected?"

"Something to do with his son apparently."

"Did you know his son's name is Oathan Loren?" Martha asked and Scorpius' head shot back to her in recognition.

"Alzay had another son as well?" Scorpius wondered in shock.

"No, she had two."

"Two!?"

"Vathan by Rabastan Lestrange, Oathan by Uncle Pyrrhus, I think they're five and four now. Dad said was she was kind of slut," Martha told him and Scorpius shook his head at it, pitying the children already, "Vathan is a ward of Brutus Ashain now his parents are dead, Brutus very much wants Oathan returned to his brother safe and sound."

"Okay," Scorpius nodded, taking a deep breath and actually quite glad Maurice wasn't there. He wasn't sure how he'd react either to the news, he'd started Hogwarts an only child and now he had four brothers. Three of whom were at the mercy of bad people, "Anything else?"

"I don't know much about the Inferi army I'm afraid, just that they use the bodies of the people who didn't survive being conquered. And erm… I know who Stephan is."

"Who?" Scorpius questioned and Martha shifted uncomfortably, staring at her feet for a minute, "Martha, who is he?"

"He's my brother," Martha admitted finally, "Stephan Hunter, he's twenty-two and the oldest of my father's children and one of the first to receive a full education at the Training Tower. His mother was a Shadow too, I think she'd been grooming him to lead all his life. He's leading the Inferi, he wants to take Rabastan's place I think."

"How many kids did your father have?" Scorpius wondered incredulously, "How any more of you people will out of the woodwork?"

"He had nine, he died with another girl pregnant but I'm out of the loop so I don't know what became of it," Martha told him and looked rather sad but sounded determined, "Stephan's the eldest, then Ethan, then Carver, then Viola, then me, then Andreas, then Davin, then Rocio and then baby Xerxes. But we're not bad kids, you know?

"Ethan's suicidal because he doesn't want to be a soldier, they have him locked up in the Training Tower to stop him dying because he'd rather die then serve. They'd have killed him if not for Dad's insistence because that's what they do, Scorpius, if you don't live up to their expectations or do what you want then you die. Andreas just wants to be a normal kid, he's so happy and excited to start Hogwarts next year. Davin stood up for Cyrus when he's treated terribly because of his blindness, his instinct was to help the weak not destroy them. Rocio's so young she still believes in Santa, she'd rather play with dolls then learn the best places to slash someone with Acuta when you want them to die. Xerxes is a baby, last time I saw him sitting up was an exciting new thing for him.

"They're why I'm doing this, that's what I'm fighting for, that's why I agreed to help Uncle Pyrrhus," Martha concluded and swallowed, her eyes looking watery, "He has a plan for the war to end, for the Shadows to be gone. That's what I want. I want my younger siblings to be able to grow up as people not soldiers, to have free will and a life, I want Ethan to be able to see there's a world of light outside of the Shadows and that he doesn't have to die to get to it. They deserve better."

"They do," Scorpius quietly agreed, assuming she was telling the truth anyway. She seemed sincere.

"I know I'll die, I know they'll kill me, the only reason I'm still living is because they're not certain I'm the one they want. I want to do as much as I can for as long as I can so my family can have a better life and if that means…" Martha started to say but trailed off tearfully, hastily wiping at her eyes, "I don't want to kill you and the Scamanders but if I really have to then I will. I'd rather find another way to sever the connection where everyone gets to live, please help me do that."

Part 2: Unscarred

Carver's disagreement with his brother put him in an even worse mood and he used it to throw himself into his classes, they were starting to get more active anyway where they said the spells they wanted while an older student did as bid. It was in preparation for turning eight, the age they could finally get wands and start doing proper spells themselves. Carver quite liked these tasks, or at least he liked it when he won. It felt good to win, to know he was better than someone else, to know he was more powerful than those mean kids.

At least he did like it, until a horrible day in autumn when his teachers pitted him against his own brother. Carver didn't know what to do, he had argued with Ethan but he still love his brother and had no desire to hurt him. Ethan seemed in the same mind as nothing was happening even after a few minutes of the older kids staring between them all expectantly, starting to get annoyed at the lack of progress.

"Well?" Master Wolfe demanded expectantly, "Your objective is to duel the other into submission and torture the keyword out of them not stand around staring at each other."

"I'm not hurting my brother," Ethan spoke up bravely and the teacher narrowed his eyes darkly.

"N-Neither am I," Carver added, feeling more confident since Ethan was doing it too. They couldn't force them to fight.

"Is that so?" Master Wolfe stated icily and the pair nodded while he folded his arms, "It doesn't matter if you're brothers, if you have to stand against family for the greater good of the Soul Eaters then you will."

"We're not doing it," Ethan decided stubbornly and Carver nodded along in agreement.

"How about this then, if you don't comply and complete the task then I'll duel down the both of you and torture you both myself. And do not think I am going to go easy on you."

"Our father-"

"Your father's not here, is he?" Master Wolfe interrupted Carver immediately, "He's too busy screwing half the female population right now. So either you two are going to fight or you're going to pay, really what's the point in both of you suffering?"

"Do your worst, I'm not hurting my brother," Ethan announced, a flicker of fear in his eyes but nonetheless he seemed unwavering in his decision.

Unlike Carver, his heart curled up fearfully at the thought of being punished by probably the most terrifying teacher they had. He swallowed in terror and Master Wolfe raised his wand, he was basically right. Was there any point in both of them suffering?

"Expelliarmus," Carver muttered and waved his stick correctly, his older student disarmed Ethan's, "What's the word?"

"Red apple," Ethan told him immediately, looking slightly disappointed.

"Look, we did it," Carver blurted out desperately, "I fought him and he gave him me the word, we completed the exercise and both did our part. We shouldn't get tortured."

"That was a pitiful effort, Edwards but you did something so you can go," Master Wolfe decided disapprovingly before turning back to Ethan as he raised his wand, "But you, Seneca…"

"No!" Carver snapped angrily and jumped forward, "Ethan said the word, he took part. He shouldn't be tortured either."

"Well I'm going to and I'm the teacher, be grateful I don't punish you too for your insolence."

"If you hurt him then I'll-"

"Then you'll what?" Master Wolfe scoffed in interruption, his lips twisting into a cruel sneer, "What are you going to do? You're just a fat little boy."

"Well you're just a mean old man!" Carver yelled, his resolve bolstered by his rage at the insult and he snatched the wand from the older boy to aim at Master Wolfe.

"Just go, Carver," Ethan snapped with a scowl at him, "He's right, you're just a fat little boy who can't do anything. Go away."

Carver was so hurt by his brother's words he dropped the wand, Ethan didn't look the slightest bit apologetic. He felt tears filling his eyes, feeling as if he'd taken a knife to the gut from the person he trusted the most. He turned on his heel and fled in tears.

Scorpius told Maurice what Martha had said or at least most of it, he left out the part about Maurice having three half-brothers. How did you even tell someone that? Maurice had initially reacted pretty badly to being told about Orous. The match was over by the time they got back to the pitch, Slytherin had won 150 to 130. Ravenclaw had slaughtered but Lorcan had caught the Snitch, securing a win albeit by a much smaller margin then Grozda had probably hoped for. The next day was apparation lesson again where Scorpius failed to make progress much to his immense frustration.

"Would you rather be splinching yourself and in pain?" Michael wondered of him when he said as much.

"Yes," Scorpius insisted stubbornly, "At least that is better than nothing, it's some progress, it's something."

Against his better judgement, he also found himself seriously considering Martha's words. He wasn't sure what exactly Florian's plan entailed but severing the connection to the Shadow Master made sense, even if he was opposed to any plan that involved Florian. He had no idea how to do that though, Calderon had sealed it but he was sure he would've at least how to sever it if he knew. And if Calderon didn't know a way then he wasn't sure there was one, although he supposed Calderon wasn't all-knowing. He also now knew that Calderon wasn't always truthful so there was also that, still Scorpius didn't even know where to start except to ask Maurice but Maurice was fiercely opposed to the idea.

"We shouldn't sever the connections," Maurice said firmly, "Sure, the Shadow Master can access my magic but I can also access his. If I can master it then I can use it against him."

"Then why do Martha and Florian think it needs to be severed to stop the Shadow Master?" Scorpius questioned determinedly.

"Martha's a dumb child and Florian's a lunatic, you shouldn't put too much stock in what they think."

And so Scorpius had no idea where to even start looking, he wasn't even sure the correct terminology for it unless it was actually called some wrist scar connecting magic thing. So he didn't know what he was looking for or if he'd even recognize it if he found it. He supposed he should really ask Martha but despite wanting to look into the plan, he still hadn't forgiven her for what she did to Michael or Hugo or trying to kill them and all. Which she still seemed willing to do incidentally.

His friends actually seemed inclined to agree with Maurice on this so wouldn't even help him research it, only Michael would help but his Dyslexia meant he wasn't the ideal research partner. Plus it cut into his time for homework, Scorpius was pretty good at staying on top of it but it was a slower process for Michael even with extra time he was allowed. Scorpius really didn't want to be the reason Michael failed his NEWTs, considering his struggle with alcohol especially he didn't think it would help him to fail. Scorpius still tried, that week he tore into trying to research the connection to break it.

"That book's no use, you know?" a girl's voice said to him halfway through the week as he poured over a book, Scorpius jumped in surprise and turned to see Martha, "If you're trying to find a way to sever the connection, I've already tried it. If you want I can show you my list of which ones I've already done."

"I'd rather do my own research, thanks," Scorpius stated icily, still distrustful. Martha looked the slightest touch hurt but seemed to understand as she nodded and left him alone.

Scorpius had had no luck finding anything of value by the end of the week, magical connections apparently didn't commonly allow you to gain access to the other's magic. That weekend his streak of failure continued, they were now halfway through the twelve-week apparation course but Scorpius still made no progress. He was so frustrated, he didn't know why he was failing. He never failed with magic, spells came as naturally as breathing and he was one of the most talented in all his classes with non-verbal magic. So why was he failing?! Maurice had managed to splinch himself the time he snuck in to try it, he'd had some progress and that had been before any of his older classmates.

While he was failing, the Shadow Master was right on the ball. He made his next strike, taking down Mexico City and starting the conquest of Mexico causing a rippling uproar again. The Shadow Master just kept winning and Scorpius just kept failing, if he couldn't undo a simply wrist connection or apparate then how was he supposed to undo the damage the Shadow Master was doing? Or save Antonius? Or do anything at all of worth or relevance. He wanted to be doing something of value, he wanted to be succeeding at something in his life not failing. He was sick of failing. He was still having no luck, he poured over books until his tired eyes were raw but he could bash his head in for all the good it did.

He didn't even know why he cared so much, maybe it was just because he could actually try. It was more than he could say for most of the things bothering him. He felt drained by Friday and was not looking forward to hitting the books again, as usual Alchemy was the last class of the week and he stayed behind to help Rojer pack up the things. He'd been dropping the ball a bit with that lately in favor of getting in a bit of extra time for research, he felt like he was just dropping everything right now.

"I'm sorry," Scorpius apologized guiltily as he helped Rojer carry the equipment over to the sink, "I know I haven't stayed after every class to help you recently."

"I did not notice," Rojer commented disinterestedly, "And I do not care. And you realize that you do not have to do this?"

"I realize," Scorpius admitted and rubbed his eyes tiredly, he still wanted to help though.

"If you are tiring then rest, it is the end of the week."

"I can't rest, I have to find a way to break a stupid magical connection unless you have any idea how to do that."

"What kind of a magical connection?" Rojer questioned and Scorpius froze in surprise, glancing at the Alchemist who watched him expectantly as if waiting for an answer.

"Can Alchemy really do that?"

"Alchemy is a powerful branch of magic, you take magic properties from the world and infuse with your own magic so you get the powerful results. More than other magical kinds," Rojer explained before continuing carrying things over to the sink and shrugging it off, "You will need to give more details then this though."

"O-Okay, I can do that," Scorpius said and rushed to get the stuff cleaned up faster, it was worth a shot, "Can I trust you though?"

"This is your choice who to trust, I do not know your mind. Trust me or don't trust me, I do not really care."

"You really don't care about much, do you?" Scorpius commented thoughtfully and Rojer paused momentarily in his cleaning as if to consider this.

"No, I really don't," Rojer admitted as he finished off the dishes and limped back over to his seat to sit down, "So did you want to still know or what?"

"I'll tell you," Scorpius agreed and pulled up a chair beside him, "You've heard of the Shadow Master, right?"

"Yes, Rayan tells me this."

"Well, two weeks before my tenth birthday I was kidnapped by the Shadows and the Shadow Master gave me this," Scorpius explained and yanked down his left sleeve to show Rojer the scars, the Alchemist eyed it slightly interestedly, "It means we're connected… somehow and can tap into each other's magic but Calderon sealed it. There are four more of us with the same scars, we're connected to each other as well and I want to break the connection without killing us. It may be important to stopping the Shadow Master."

"You want to stop the Shadow Master?" Rojer wondered, a flicker of amusement breaking his usually grim expression.

"Yes, I'm already a part of this and I have to end it. Don't you want him to be stopped and the war to end?"

"I do not care, it does not have much effect on me," Rojer admitted with a dismissive shrug, Scorpius gaped at him.

"It will when if they succeed in taking over the world."

"So what is the worst that can happen? They may lose and nothing changes or they win and it does, if they kill me then I am dead so it is no worry to me and if I live then I live. They cannot do worse to me then what has already happened."

"I can't believe you can think that," Scorpius exclaimed in shock, "Your father-"

"I am not my father, Scorpius," Rojer interrupted in a darker tone, "He was a great man, a hero who would have always fight the darkness away from the world. But he is not me, he is dead and I am a cripple who does not care for the world. I just want to do my Alchemy alone. May I?"

"What? Oh yeah, go ahead," Scorpius muttered distractedly as Rojer gestured to Scorpius' wrist abruptly, reminding him of what he was talking to him about in the first place. Rojer withdrew his wand and lifted Scorpius' wrist for a better look as he examined it, the alchemist looked interested as he waved his wand over the scar which had it twinge slightly, "Well?"

"Is a deep connection, powerful because of it links to the souls since magic comes from the souls."

"So you don't think it can be broken?" Scorpius asked, feeling somewhat disappointed but really had expected it.

"No, I don't think it can be broken, I know it can," Rojer told him with a note of certainty as he looked up to him with a confident smirk, "So do you want to help make this or should I go alone?"

He didn't see Ethan for a few weeks after that, Master Wolfe's punishment sent him to the Hospital Wing and by the time he got out he'd had his eighth birthday so was in a different class. Carver was bitterly glad, he was hurt by what Ethan had said. Maybe it was just better if he was alone, then no one could be mean to him.

Time ticked on and Stephan passed his test much to his dad's delight that winter. Carver celebrated his eighth birthday, he was eager to get his wand but his mum wanted him back again. He thought he'd be happy to see her but when his dad dropped him off and she opened her arms, expecting him to just be pleased and act like she'd never abandoned him multiple times… He was just enraged. He folded his arms stubbornly and refused to hug her, he was done trying to make her like him.

And he stayed true to it. He didn't to make her happy, he didn't behave and be good like he had in the past. What was the point after all? She hadn't cared he'd been good, she'd still sent him away. Why should be bother trying? He shouldn't that was why. So he wasn't good, he didn't do as he was told, he deliberately did things to annoy her and be screamed at for it. Only this time, he had no problem screaming back.

She got tired of him after a few months, sent him back just like he'd expected. He knew it, he knew she didn't love him, he knew she didn't care. And if she didn't care about him then why should he care about her?

Carver was actually happier than usual to be back at any rate as the first thing they did was measure him for a wand, he couldn't wait to see how he'd do with spells. A few days later, he was presented with his wand. Fourteen inches, Hawthorn with a Troll Whisker core. He thought it was pretty cool, it felt good to have a wand.

He discovered he wasn't half bad with it either, he excelled at combative spells especially while Transfiguration he found easier than most if he put the effort in. It could be a bit tedious and wasn't as fun as fighting spells but he could still do it, unlike some of his fellow classmates who seemed to find it harder. Who was the stupid one now?

Carver found himself rather busier with it, caring much more about his spellwork then he did learning boring stuff like history or language. It was a good thing he was focusing on it too because he was all but ignoring Ethan, he was still upset with his brother for what he'd said and ignored attempts at conversation with him.

He was celebrating his ninth birthday before he knew it and continued engrossing himself in spellwork, despite being chastised for ignoring aspects of his education. His classmates didn't screw him with anymore though, not when he had a wand now.

That winter though he was rather surprised to hear from his mother, he was sure she wouldn't speak to him again after how he'd been like before. She wanted him back though, he found himself rolling his eyes when his dad brought him back again as he wondered how long before he'd be back in the Training Tower.

"Yes!" Scorpius burst out enthusiastically, he couldn't believe it. Was it really possible the answer had been under his nose all this time?

"It is difficult to do but can be done, it must be done precise and will take most of or all of the weekend and this day to do," Rojer told him, already on his feet and waving his wand to summon ingredients and equipment, "So do what I say to you."

"I got it," Scorpius nodded as Rojer conjured some flames.

And they got to work. He wasn't sure if Rojer was making up it as they went or just recalling the process from memory, either way it was quite impressive because there seemed a lot to do. It was a good thing there was the two of them because Scorpius was doing one thing while Rojer juggled two more, he made it look rather easy as he moved fluidly between things with perfect timing. Regardless, Scorpius was impressed with how much he was able to do and remember. He hadn't even known what half these processes were at the start of the year.

They only briefly stopped when Rojer went to get them some food at a point when they could leave the various ingredients to simmer while another part of their substance could cool, they continued on late into the night until Rojer said it would need to brew for several hours so they could get some sleep.

"Where the hell have you been?!" Michael demanded of him when he walked into the dormitory, sending Albus jolting up sleepily while the other two roommates remained asleep, "We're been worried sick!"

"With Rojer," Scorpius told him excitedly, "We're making an elixir that will sever the wrist connection."

"What?! Are you serious?" Albus blurted out in shock and Scorpius clambered onto his bed eagerly as he nodded.

"I sure hope so."

Scorpius fell into an easy sleep for the first time recently in what felt like forever, he woke early and couldn't get back to sleep in his excitement to rid himself of the scar. He insisted Orous – and by extension Vern – sit with them at the Gryffindor table at breakfast so he could pass on the good news.

"This is a mistake," Maurice insisted determined and crossed his arms stubbornly, "And I refuse to do it, I think the connection is better kept intact."

"Well I think it's great," Orous countered eagerly, seemingly sharing in Scorpius' enthusiasm, "To be finally be rid of this connection to the supreme Shadow Master of darkness? I can't see how it would be a bad thing."

"It's a two way street, it's going to backfire I swear."

"Well swear all you want but I'm in, I'll even go first. Please can I go first?" Orous volunteered and looked down at his scarred wrist, "You may not care Maurice, but it's a reminder of bad times for me, for us. If not for this then my soul would be intact. I want it gone."

"Yeah," Scorpius agreed, he could relate to that while Maurice only continued to scowl in disapproval, "I'll call you when its ready and you can go first."

After breakfast, he abandoned thoughts of homework in favor of helping Rojer. He was surprisingly awake when Scorpius returned, he didn't look as if he'd actually gotten to bed. He was making a tower out of sugar cubes while he waited for it to finish simmering, they didn't have to wait long though and they were back to the grind.

For the whole day it was literally all he did, heating this and mixing that, boiling this and transfiguring that. They only took breaks when the elixir demanded it, like when they needed to leave it simmer again. Scorpius was feeling quite confident, Rojer seemed unwavering in his knowledge of what to do. By the end of the day, they'd moved from three separate mixtures to two which Scorpius thought was a good sign.

Rojer dismissed him just before dinner since it would need another long time to cool and heat respectively, Scorpius left him to join his friends for food before going to bed. He was so eager to be working on the elixir he had trouble getting to sleep, morning couldn't come soon enough. He went back to Rojer who was already working it, the cooling period had ended in the early hours of the morning after all.

Scorpius was extremely tempted to skip his apparation lesson to work on it but ultimately decided against it since he was struggling and Rojer had it covered regardless, it was another fruitless lesson for him but his buzz from the elixir made his failure have much less impact. He also noticed Martha in passing on his way back up to Rojer after, he pulled her to one side to tell her.

"I may have found a way to sever the connection," Scorpius blurted out and her cloudy eyes widened in surprise.

"Really?" Martha wondered and he nodded, she gave him a relieved smile, "That's great. Where was it?"

"Alchemy. Before tomorrow, we should have the connection severed," Scorpius told her before letting her go.

He had to resist the urge to run back to Rojer, he was just mixing the two main components when he arrived which he took to sign things were nearing fruition. Rojer taking painstaking attention to detail, everything was very precise and Scorpius had less to do. Finally Rojer set the mixture aside and traced a symbol onto the palm of his hand, he then he held his palm over the elixir and pressed his wand against the back of his hand. There was a burst of light from the traced symbol into the mixture, the deep brown color seemed to fade until it was a clear surface like a liquid mirror. Rojer moved his hand away.

"Get your friends, this is ready," Rojer told him finally.

Scorpius scampered away, using the map to track down the Scamanders, Orous and Maurice who wanted to be there. He took them to the Alchemy Tower where Rojer remained, the shadows beneath his dark chestnut eyes evidence how much effort he'd put into it. Scorpius supposed they were about to see whether it would pay off or not.

"Who is the first?" Rojer questioned and Orous tentatively raised his hand, Rojer jerked his head at an empty seat, "Sit and roll up your sleeve."

"Okay," Orous agreed with a deep breath as he did as bit while Rojer retrieved the beaker of elixir.

"I should of warn you that this will hurt, do you still wish to do this?"

"Yes," Orous stated without hesitation while Lysander quailed fearfully, inching closer to the door.

"Please don't do this," Maurice pleaded but Orous didn't waver.

Rojer took Orous' hand gently with his free one and started to slowly pour the elixir onto the scarred wrist with his other, Orous screamed as the liquid touched him. It was like acid eating away it his flesh but localized only to the scars, the scarred skin sizzled and black smoke rose from the wrist while Orous continued to scream. Scorpius gasped as he felt a tug on his own wrist, Maurice and the Scamanders seemed to feel the same.

And then it was gone. Scorpius didn't know how he knew but he knew it had worked, he wasn't connected to Orous anymore. The albino stopped screaming as the smoke dissipated, the remaining liquid rolled off his now smooth, unscarred flesh as harmlessly as water. Rojer let go of Orous' wrist and the boy examined it as he stood in amazement, the scars were completely gone. Rojer whipped out his wand and waved it over Orous briefly as if to check that it had worked, he must've been satisfied as he tucked it back away. Orous smiled.

Part 3: Alchemical Cures

"Me next," Lorcan agreed eagerly and practically threw himself in the chair, yanking his sleeve up, "Get rid of it, professor."

"Rojer. I am not a professor, I am a alchemist," Rojer corrected slightly testily.

"Lorc, I-I agree with Maurice," Lysander stammered out as he inched closer to the door, "I don't think this is a good idea to get rid of these."

"Thank you," Maurice said in exasperation, "Finally someone who sees sense."

"I'm down with it, Rojer, descar me," Lorcan insisted and waved his arm impatiently at the alchemist.

Rojer took Lorcan's hand oblivious to the danger, the boy tensed but nothing devastating happened. Rojer repeated the process, Lorcan gritted his teeth through the pain and watched the scar melt away with his amber eyes unblinking. Scorpius felt the same tug and knew Lorcan was severed as well, Rojer waved his wand over his wrist as well and seemed satisfied as he let him go. Lorcan skipped away with a rare ghost of a smile on his face.

"Thank you," Lorcan offered gratefully to Rojer before turning to his twin, jerking his thumb at the seat, "Okay, Lys, you're up."

"I-I don't want to," Lysander whined and clutched his wrist protectively to his chest, Rojer rolled his eyes.

"Why not?"

"W-Well f-for starters it looks painful."

"So what? You're a Gryffindor, grow a pair," Lorcan growled at his brother, his voice noticeably gruffer and deeper than his twin, "The connection has to go. You'll feel better after, like a burden's been lifted."

"He shouldn't have to if he doesn't want to," Maurice complained and Lorcan gave him a brief scowl.

"For once I disagree with you, shut up," Lorcan barked at him dismissively before turning back to his brother who was actually cowering slightly as he clutched his wrist, "Lys, get on the chair."

"I don't want my scar erased," Lysander insisted desperately, continue to protectively cradle his wrist, "It's part of who I am now. It may be bad reminder for you but for me it's a sign of something I should remember. You don't know what it's like to forget a majorly important event in your life, to be in the dark. I was so horrible to you, Lorc, I don't… I don't want to be like again."

"Well you have to get rid of it so that girl will stop trying to kill you."

"I'm not afraid of some pathetic little girl," Lysander spat venomously, his eyes glinting darkly for a minute much to all – except Rojer, who seemed to have lost interest in their conversation and was idly drumming his fingers on the desk seemingly trying to recreate a song – of their surprise.

"I can handle her," Maurice brushed it off dismissively.

"You're not helping," Scorpius complained at his friend, Maurice shrugged.

"I'm helping my cause."

"You may be able to but my brother isn't an all-powerful god like you," Lorcan insisted determinedly, "And we're the ones wanted dead not you anyway."

"I still don't want to," Lysander reaffirmed.

"Lysander Xenophilius Scamander, if you care about me at all then get your butt on that chair right now!" Lorcan yelled at his brother and Lysander seemed to give in as he shakily went to sit down.

"Please, I don't want to," Lysander whimpered as Lorcan pulled up his sleeve, "Don't make me, Lorcan."

"It's for the best. Do it, Rojer."

"Are you sure you do not wish to waste more of the time arguing?" Rojer wondered testily, dark chestnut eyes swiveling between them disapprovingly.

Lorcan held out Lysander's wrist readily, the Gryffindor of the twins trembling with terror. Rojer picked up the next vial and Lysander jolted in fear before he'd even moved the vial, the alchemist hesitated for a fraction of a second while Lysander bite his lip and looked at him with wide pleading eyes before Rojer poured it over his arm. Lysander screamed as if he was dying, flailing and sobbing but Lorcan held him firmly in place. Scorpius felt the same tug at his scar and knew it worker, Rojer again seemed to check with his wand before giving a nod of satisfaction and Lorcan led his still crying twin away.

"That hu-hu-hurt," Lysander wailed, clutching at his unscarred wrist.

"Oh grow up," Lorcan muttered on the way out the door.

"Okay, next," Rojer clapped his hands together, both Scorpius and Orous looked to Maurice who gave a snort of disapproval.

"Look, if you really want then sever your connections but mark my words, it'll come back to bite you in the ass," Maurice told them pointedly, "But I'm not doing it. I still feel like it's important and I'm not burning this bridge willingly, you're putting too much in the word of a little girl who got her information from an insane person. It'll take more than the likes of you two to make me to subdue me if you intend to force me."

"Maurice, don't be difficult," Orous sighed heavily, "Please, just get it done. The only one who's going to get bitten in the ass is you."

"I don't think so," Maurice scoffed and stalked off without another word, Orous sighed again.

"Oh brother."

"Well, who didn't see that coming?" Scorpius commented unsurprised to his friend who inclined his head in agreement as he went to sit by Rojer.

"I'll try to talk to him for all the good it'll do," Orous offered as he left after Maurice while Scorpius sat.

"You have the most strangest of lives," Rojer pointed out as Scorpius pulled up his sleeve.

"You don't know the half of it," Scorpius sighed himself as he offered his hand to the alchemist.

Rojer took his hand and a vial of elixir with the other, Scorpius tensed to try brace himself against the expected pain before the liquid was poured. Scorpius let himself scream in pain, he was forcibly reminded of when he'd gotten it. It was agony, like his wrist was on fire and then it felt oddly as if it was shattering. And then the pain was gone, Scorpius felt oddly as if a weight he hadn't realized was there had been lifted off his mind.

He looked down at his wrist in amazement, the scars that had plagued him for years were gone. He turned his wrist over and ran his fingers disbelievingly over the smooth flesh, all the way around they were no more as if they'd never been there at all. He still had the rune scar and his other hand was still scarred badly from the fire but he could live with that. Rojer ran his wand over his wrist like he had with the others, unlike the others though he scowled.

"What?" Scorpius wondered worriedly, "Didn't it work?"

"Yes, it did but… It did. No, it is definitely gone. That connection is very broken," Rojer muttered distractedly under his breath and moved his wand further from the wrist, resting it over his palm scarred with the Tiwaz rune, "How did you get to have this?"

"It's a long story."

"What a shame that I am too busy with all of the nothing I have to do listen to it then," Rojer quipped sarcastically as he stood to start carrying away the equipment to wash it.

"Do you really want to know?" Scorpius wondered and Rojer looked thoughtful for a minute.

"This is more of a mild curios but that's about as interested as I have in things, more of a background of the connection might be a interest to you."

"Alright," Scorpius said wondering where to start, he suppressed a yawn and remembered it was getting late as well as how Rojer was likely tired, "But not right now, its late."

"As you wish," Rojer shrugged disinterestedly as he continued cleaning up while Scorpius stood.

"Thank you by the way," Scorpius offered with sincere gratitude but Rojer brushed it off, "You know for all of this."

"It is alright, I missed doing the more complex of alchemy anyway. See you tomorrow, Scorpius. Buh-bye."

"Night."

"Come on, Carver, have you put on your dress robes yet?" his mum chided him as she entered his room the day after he'd been brought back, Carver rolled his eyes and threw down the toy he'd been playing with ready for the angry screeching, "CARVER, DO WHAT I SAY! YOU ARE GOING TO BE MEETING SOMEONE VERY SPECIAL TO ME AND I WANT YOU TO LOOK YOUR BEST!"

"I don't see why, you'll just ditch me soon anyway," Carver pointed out acidly but nonetheless started to get changed.

"No, I won't," his mum scoffed, "Pegasus doesn't think I should let you be raised away from my… what was that word? Oh yeah, influence. And if we have children then it's not the proper behavior to have your other child sent away, Pegasus thinks we should be a family. Pegasus is so smart like that, he knows lots of stuff and long words."

"Isn't Pegasus a horse's name?"

"NO! PEGASUS IS A BEAUTIFUL NAME! DON'T YOU DARE INSULT MY BOYFRIEND!" his mum screamed at him and Carver just rolled his eyes as he finished getting changed, she immediately started combing back his hair before stepping back to look at him as if to see if he looked satisfactory, "Well I guess that's the best we can do, try not to look so fat an come with me to wait downstairs."

Carver rolled his eyes and went to go wait downstairs to wait, lounging around in boredom. He didn't have his wand, his mum had taken it off him until he was older. His mum joined him a few minutes later and snorted with laughter, she'd put so much makeup on she looked like one of Viola's dolls. She opened her mouth to yell at him but he was thankfully spared by the doorbell, her face lit up like a Lumos spell and she stroked her hair nervously.

"That must be him! Wait right here," his mum said eagerly and rushed off to get the door, at least now Pegasus was here they could finally eat dinner. He was starving, "Pegasus, this is my little boy, Carver. Carver, this is my boyfriend, Pegasus Golden Reed."

Carver got up to meet this guy with a stupid name, he was very tall but thin like a stiff board. He had quite a long face with dark eyes and slicked back black hair, his nose was very big and pointed. He was dressed very smartly and was much younger then Carver expected, he was younger than his mum at any rate. Pegasus scowled disapprovingly at him, eyeing him up and down.

"Don't slouch, boy," Pegasus told him immediately and Carver stood up straighter while the man glanced at his mum who had started stroking her hair nervously again as she smiled at him saccharinely, "You're right, he's so rude."

"I stopped slouching!" Carver insisted.

"Doesn't apologize for disobedience, talks rudely to his elders, doesn't use his inside voice when inside," Pegasus counted off Carver's apparent flaws, "You should never have let him out of your influence, Mary."

"Oh, actually it's Maeghan," his mum corrected him.

"I know but I like the name Mary better," Pegasus shrugged it off and narrowed his eyes at her, "You do want me to like you, don't you Mary?"

"Of-Of course," his mum stammered out, looking horrified at the thought of him disliking her while Carver was just shocked, "Mary is a lovely name. Maryanne is my middle name so… so it's a bit like that."

"Her name is Maeghan not Mary, she shouldn't have to change it just because you say so," Carver protested in defense of his mum, immediately taking a dislike to this man, "If you really like her then her name shouldn't matter."

"I erm… yeah, that sounds… right."

"So you don't like me?" Pegasus demanded of her in mock hurt, "Here I am thinking we have something special, that we have a future together but you'd rather throw it away over a name?"

"No! No, of course not!" his mum burst out desperately, throwing herself at him and looking on the verge of tears, "I love you, Pegasus! Don't leave me!"

"And after all I do for you, buying you nice things and taking you on dates, going out with you even though you had an ugly fat bastard child out of wedlock and are no longer a pure maiden. You won't do this one thing for me?"

"No! I will! I will! You can call me whatever you want, just don't leave me! Pegasus, please!" his mum cried, bursting into tears and making her makeup smudge.

Carver silently wished Pegasus would go, he'd known him less than five minutes and already hated him. Pegasus pried her gently off him and made her look him in the eye, he pretended to look thoughtful before sighing.

"Alright, Mary, I have decided to forgive you because I love you and I'm too good a person to not to," Pegasus lied to her and caressed her cheek gently, she sniffed and relaxed slightly, "Now why don't you continue with that dinner while I get to know your bastard?"

"Y-Yes, Pegasus. Thank you, I promise I won't let you down," his mum agreed and wiped her eyes, "I made chicken."

"Oh, Mary, I really fancied fish tonight," Pegasus said, faking looking disappointed.

"I-I can make fish," his mum blurted out immediately, seemingly eager to please him, "It will take a bit longer though since I have to start from scratch."

"Well alright, I suppose I can live with that."

"For Merlin's sake!" Carver snapped angrily, "Maeghan just spent hours making chicken for you, be grateful she made food at all! If you don't like it then tough!"

"Mary, you have the rudest child," Pegasus told her with an expression of mock hurt again, "His behavior is really rather making this evening unpleasant, he needs a lot of work."

"CARVER, BEHAVE!" his mum yelled at him furiously before turning back to Pegasus, looking upset, "I-I'm sorry, I only just got him back. I'll make it up to you, I promise. I'll try harder to make him good."

"I'm sure you will. And I'll help you with the boy, we're in this relationship together," Pegasus assured her and squeezed her hands comfortingly, she smiled once more before he pointed her in the direction of the kitchen, "Now that fish…"

"I'm on it!" his mum insisted and scampered away to cook, Carver could not believe his eyes.

"Alright, boy, just you and me," Pegasus told him, his tone darkening.

"My name's Carver and I'm not changing it to boy for you, you manipulating… jerk," Carver spat out at him, Pegasus gave him an amused smile as he shook his head.

"Boy is not your name, it's the absence of a name because only people who have my respect get to be called by a name. You're just an ugly, stupid blob of fat that not even your own parents want," Pegasus said harshly and Carver tried not to feel the stab of hurt in his heart while Pegasus took off his belt, folded it up and smacked it against his palm, "Alright now, drop your pants and bend over."

"What?!"

"Were you really so stupid to think you'd get away with being so rude to me?" Pegasus questioned in a patronizing tone, "You're not. Now drop your pants and bend over, your attitude indicates you're far overdue a spanking."

"I'm not doing that," Carver scoffed and folded his arms crossly, Pegasus raised an eyebrow.

"Boy, if I have to get my wand out and make you then I will. And if I get my wand out then I'm making sure the buckle hits you every time, and for those in the room with the intelligence of your bimbo-brained mother, that hurts more."

"Don't talk about my mum like that."

"I can talk about my woman any way I blood well please now for the last time, boy, drop your pants and bend over," Pegasus stated firmly and Carver glared at him but nonetheless complied with his demands, only for Pegasus to burst out laughing.

"What? What is it?"

"What? Nothing, it's just did you really think it was normal to look that…" Pegasus started to say but trailed off, shaking his head with a smile while Carver started to feel rather insecure, "Never mind."

"I want to-" Carver began to say but was cut off as he gasped in pain as Pegasus struck his bare buttocks with his belt violently hard, the leather bit into his skin painfully.

"Now, how many lashes should you get? How many times have you been mean to me again? Ten? Twenty?"

"I haven't even known you twenty minutes!" Carver protested and was struck again.

"Well, there you go speaking out of turn again so we can add it to the list…"

Scorpius was feeling a much better mood then usual when he woke up on Monday morning, he glanced at his wrist just to check that it was still unscarred and he hadn't dreamed the whole thing or that it had returned or something. He was relieved to see it hadn't been a dream and his fears were proved incorrect, his wrist was still unscathed. Despite the multitude of things he still needed to do, he felt as if something at least had been accomplished for once.

Spending the weekend with Rojer had severely cut into his homework time, forcing him to spend the rest of the week and most of the next scrambling to catch up and Maurice was opting not to help since he was rather irked about them getting their connections severed. At any rate, it was only two and a half weeks until the Easter break so he wouldn't have to worry much about classes for a bit, instead he hoped to spend the week with Varanian and hopefully making some progress with finding Antonius. He was also hoping to speak to Martha about that.

The apparation class that Sunday went as badly as usual, Scorpius was really not sure what he was doing wrong. He was hoping maybe Varanian would have some pointers, considering Annie and Austin had learned it so quickly he was clearly a superior teacher of apparation to Cistro. The next week was the last full week before the break though but the first week of April, as well as the last Hogsmeade trip before it. Scorpius worried what to do about Michael for it considering his drinking when brought with and left behind, however it also coincided with the next full moon so Michael would be in the Hospital Wing and to wiped to worry about it.

"Oh no," Michael groaned at breakfast the day before when an owl dropped an envelope for him.

"What?" Scorpius wondered as Michael ran a hand through his hair.

"Crystal's handwriting," Michael explained as he tore open the envelope, "I bet this is a letter saying I was right, John's abusing her and the little ones just like I feared and now my family is fucked all over again."

"Didn't you use to be more optimistic?" Albus said to him through a mouthful of cereal.

"Bite me. And don't talk with your mouth full!" Michael chastised as he unfolded his letter, Albus stuck his tongue out while Michael was reading and just ended up dripping cereal all over himself, "Happy now, Albus?"

"Dunno what you're talking about," Albus muttered as he cleaned it up, his face flushing red in embarrassment while Michael scowled at the letter.

"So is it as you feared?" Scorpius wondered curiously but Michael shook his head.

"No, it's just to tell me that John is picking me up from the platform," Michael told him and screwed up the letter in disapproval, "Also to ask my Alchemy teacher about cures for the Festering Curse, she thinks it could be linked to that. John's still milking this fake dying thing apparently."

"How do you know it's fake?"

"Why would he be able to pick me up if he was really as ill as he claims?"

"I agree with Michael, he's a former Death Eater so he's obviously a horrible person," Rose spoke up in agreement.

"Hey, my father was a Death Eater," Scorpius said in defense of his father, the redhead just raised an eyebrow though.

"And you have such a great relationship with him?"

"My grandfather was one too and he sacrificed his soul to save me so there's still hope," Scorpius insisted, hoping his cheeks didn't go as red as they felt. He didn't consider his father a horrible person despite whatever issues he had with him.

"I'm with Scor," Maurice pointed out, "John is good, Lenore said so and I trust her judgement. She knew him better then all of us combined. And he did save your sister."

"And Bob gave us a roof over our heads, it didn't stop him pummeling us," Michael stated testily as he went back to gnawing at his breakfast.

They finished their food more quietly before scattering for classes as usual, Michael in a rather unhappier mood then usual as well as tired from the full moon. Scorpius also made a mental note to speak to Annie over Easter for advice on how to get Michael sober because he was worried being unhappy would worsen it, if she could do it then surely she'd know how to help her nephew. Michael was dead on his feet by the end of the day but he still stayed back after Alchemy to speak to their alchemist.

"Hey Rojer, can I ask you something?" Michael offered as they started clearing away the equipment.

"No one is stopping you," Rojer pointed out.

"Well, it's a shot in the dark but do you know of a curse for the Festering Curse?"

"Yes."

"Really?" Scorpius wondered in surprise while Michael sighed as if in disappointment, "Just flat out, yes?"

"That is what yes means unless you have knowledge I do not."

"Can we make some?" Michael asked and Rojer fished inside his robes before tossing him a vial of the silvery liquid he'd used on Scorpius twice before.

"That's the cure?" Scorpius asked in confusion.

"Do you not remember what I tell you that it has other uses?" Rojer countered with his own question, "Festering Curse falls under the purging the body of bad things use. You just have to apply it to the wound then use the wand to guide it through the body like what I have had you practiced, the tricky part is just to have make sure you get all of the bad and you have need to have a general knowledge of the circulation blood stream because if you move it the wrong way you can burst a blood vessel."

"Well thanks, Rojer," Michael commented before leaving while Scorpius glanced back to the alchemist.

"You're not even going to ask?" Scorpius wondered curiously.

"No," Rojer shrugged it off disinterestedly, "I do not really care. You and your friends do have the most strangest of the requests and questions though."