The next few weeks passed in a blur of nervous energy for Scorpius. Once again he was expecting to get ambushed at any second, but this time, the majority of his attention was focused elsewhere. In his normal classes, he read far ahead, finishing work far ahead of everyone else. The bulk of his free time, when he couldn't get away to Ravenclaw's library, was spent studying the Compendium. When Binns, or Kimble, or one of the other teachers droned on about what he'd already covered, there the Compendium would be, in his lap, his wand flicking underneath the table in practice. When they ambushed him, he would be prepared. Oh yes, he would be prepared...
"Mr. Malfoy. Mr. Malfoy."
A sharp elbow, probably Rose's, jabbed into Scorpius's side, breaking his concentration. He blinked quickly, rubbing his eyes.
"Mr. Malfoy." Scorpius blinked again, his fuzzy eyes and mind finally focusing on Professor Kimble's disapproving stare. "Yes, Professor?"
"Since you obviously don't feel the need to pay attention, perhaps you could share with the class. What are the five ways to tell a doppelganger from an illusion?"
Ah. He'd covered that himself just last night. As he rattled off the ways, the grumpy Defense professor's expression changed from smug to surprise. Scorpius caught Rose and Albus shooting him strange looks, too.
As the lesson went on, Scorpius went back to the Compendium, but hardly understood another word. His head was starting to hurt from all the studying, as was his eyes. Perhaps it was time to stop for a while...
He closed the book, and leaned forward, resting his head on his arms. He hadn't meant to fall asleep, but he must have, for the next thing he knew, that elbow was reacquainting itself with his gut again.
He blinked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. Almost everyone else had left the room already, including Kimble. Rose and Albus stood next to him.
As he got up to gather his things, Albus blurted, "All right, Scorpius, what's going on? Tell us."
Uh oh. "What do you mean, 'what's going on', Albus?"
"You've hardly talked to anyone in weeks. You keep disappearing for hours on end. You hardly eat at mealtimes. You've always got that weird book with you, and now, just now, in class," Rose paused, biting her lip, bright eyes wide and worried. "We're not set to learn anything about doppelgangers or illusions really until after Christmas, at least..."
Scorpius shrugged, forcing a smile. "Been studying, is all. And I got bored and read ahead a bit in the textbook. It's nothing to worry about, Rose, really." And he forced himself to turn around and stroll casually out of the room, pretending not to notice the hurt looks on his best friends' faces.
...
"I mean, he'd know, right? His daddy being a Death Eater, and all."
Scorpius had supposed it would be only a matter of time before his little display in Defense the other day would make the rounds...or that Thomas would be the first to spout off about it. What he didn't expect, was Albus.
Mild, mousy Albus spun around, in the middle of Care of Magical Creatures, and snarled, "Shut up Thomas, for Merlin's sake!"
Thomas and the boy he had been (loudly) speaking to stared at him in surprise. But then Thomas's babyish face morphed into a scowl. "No, Albus. I don't think I will."
As the two stared each other down, Scorpius said, "Al. Al. Let it go, all right?" But for once, Albus wasn't listening. And Rose, who had an uncharacteristic scowl on her face, wasn't helping. The cousins stood shoulder to shoulder, on either side and in front of Scorpius. Defending him.
Scorpius loosed a soft sigh, resigned to testing out his new spells to break up a fight, when a voice boomed, "Class."
They and the rest of the class turned, to see Hagrid walking up from the direction of the lake. "This way. We're goin' ter see the merpeople today."
"Um, but Hagrid...Professor Hagrid...it's the middle of November. Isn't that dangerous?" Rose piped up.
"Yeh'll be in boats, Rose. And the lake is calm today. There's nothin' for you lot ter worry about."
Not even Albus and Rose, who knew their teacher the best, seemed reassured by the big man's words, but seeing as he was their teacher, they had no choice but to follow.
He was right, though. The lake was a sheet of liquid glass under an equally calm, if a kind of murky gray, sky. Several boats waited for them on the shore.
"All right, you lot. Two ter a boat. Oh, and leave yer books an' things on the beach. Can't have y'all droppin' things into the merpeople's home, after all."
As Scorpius dumped his bag into the sand, he caught Rose and Albus exchange a secretive glance out of the corner of his eye. Before he could call them on it, though, Albus was trotting over to Hagrid.
"Professor..." The boy sneezed loudly, and when he came out of it, he looked kind of...green, like he had the night of the Sorting. "Professor Hagrid, I'm not feeling very well..."
Hagrid's face softened. "All right, Al. Yeh stay on the beach. The rest o' you lot, in the boats."
"Can I stay with Albus, Hagrid? In case he needs to go to the Hospital Wing?" It wasn't Rose who spoke, but Thomas. Scorpius watched, confused, as he shot Albus and then Rose an apologetic look. It wasn't returned by either, but their expressions did soften a bit.
Hagrid sighed. "All right. But no one else."
Thomas and Albus obediently stayed on the beach, while the others got into the boats. Rose, to Scorpius's surprise, clambered into the boat with him without another glance at her cousin. Surprise gave way to the first prickles of suspicion as he glanced back at Albus. He looked decidedly less green now, as the little boats started off.
"Rose," he said quietly, turning to her. "aren't you worried about Al?"
When Rose looked back at him, it was obvious that she knew he suspected. She looked deadly serious as she whispered back, "I'm more worried about you."
As he opened his mouth to tell her that he was fine, and that there was really no reason to worry, Hagrid clapped his hands. "All right! Here they come!"
Mild ripples disturbed the surface of the lake, and then there they were. Six of them, three females, three males, their pale green skins glistening. Hagrid waved, and the little boats slowly gathered into a little circle around the visitors.
As Hagrid started to talk, Scorpius noticed another ripple, by their boat and near Rose. Then another merperson popped up silently, a young one, close to their own age. He stared at them with wide, algae-colored eyes.
Scorpius nudged Rose. "Rose. Rose, look!"
"What...?" Her eyes went as wide as the merchild's. He floated closer, one webbed hand reaching up out of the water toward Rose. Rose stared back, leaning toward the child and reaching out her own hand...
A thrill of alarm went through Scorpius. "Rose, don't..." He gripped her robes, tugging on them, trying in vain to get her attention. "Rose-"
There was a sudden flurry of movement in the water, and two mermen sprang up, between the boat and the merchild, jostling the tiny craft with their strong tails, making it pitch wildly.
"Rose!" Scorpius yanked hard on the girl's robes, just barely stopping her from pitching headfirst into the icy water. There was a pause, a horrible, forbidding pause, and then the water seemed to roll underneath the unbalanced boat. Scorpius heard the splash of the merpeople scattering, vaguely, before the boat tipped...In a sudden moment of clarity, Scorpius let go of Rose. She had a better grip; she would be safe, if Scorpius didn't drag her with him. Then the icy black enveloped him.
His robes twisted around his body; he flailed helplessly, unable to get his steadily numbing arms free to swim...
Just when he thought the black would claim him, two strong, slender hands caught hold of him. Then he was being dragged, whether up or down he honestly couldn't say anymore.
He couldn't see, couldn't think, couldn't breathe. It was like the entire lake was sitting on his chest, smothering him...Then his head broke the surface of the water. Light and color and air, sweet, sweet air, came back to him in a dizzying rush, and he drank it in greedily. Wait, no, too fast, too fast, he was coughing...
The hands on him boosted him up; he was suspended in the cold November air for a moment, and then he was kneeling on the rough boards of a boat, a large hand beating rhythmically on his numbed back.
As he hacked up what felt like half the lake, the colors and light righted themselves, and formed a stark white face, framed by vivid red hair. Sound came rushing back in the same second.
"Scorpius!" Rose sobbed. "Scorpius!"
"R-Rose?" His throat was scratchy and rough from coughing, as was his voice. Feeling was coming back to his skin; he could feel Rose jump forward and hug him. A heavy, rough, but deliciously warm coat was dumped on his shoulders, and a deep voice rumbled, "Keep 'im warm, Rosie. All right, you all! Back to shore!"
The ride back could have been thirty seconds or thirty minutes; Scorpius, who was too busy huddling into whatever warmth his shivering limbs could find, honestly didn't know.
When Hagrid's boat touched shore, Scorpius felt the big man scoop him up, as easily as if he weighed no more than a feather. He would have squirmed in embarrassed protest at any other time-honestly, being picked up like a baby in front of his classmates, who already had enough to ridicule him with-but he was feeling too numb and cold at the moment to care.
Hagrid tucked up part of the coat to shield his face, and ran with him. Scorpius could hear and feel the rhythmic pound of the half-giant's boots as he faded in and out, first on ground and then on stone.
Scorpius knew they'd reached the Hospital Wing, when a voice that sounded like Rose gasped, "Madame Pomfrey!"
"Lay him there." Scorpius was placed on a bed. "Pull the coat off." The second the coat was pulled away, Pomfrey's wand swished above him. Scorpius watched in vague fascination as steam rose off his skin as the lake water evaporated. He didn't have much time to marvel, however, before a firm hand tilted his head up and pressed a bottle to his lips. "Drink," Pomfrey urged.
He did. The potion tasted like peppermint...and something even more awful than the potion he took the last time he was here. He coughed again as fire swept through his body, warming up every last cell so fast it left an almost painful tingling in its wake.
Pomfrey helped him sit up, rubbing his back as he coughed a few more times. "Is he going to be okay?" asked another anxious voice. Albus.
"Mr. Malfoy, flex your fingers and toes for me, please." He did. Pomfrey nodded to herself. "Yes, Mr. Potter. Mr. Malfoy will be just fine." As Scorpius was engulfed by hugs from both of his friends, Pomfrey turned gravely to Hagrid.
"I'm sorry, Rubeus, but I have to report this to Minerva-"
"There is no need, Poppy. I already heard." McGonagall swept into the room, reminding Scorpius once again of an elegant gray and black swan.
"Hagrid, what possessed you to take first year students out on the lake-"
"This wasn't Hagrid's fault, Professor," Rose blurted. "It was-"
"It was mine," Scorpius didn't know what possessed him to suddenly take the blame-it was a very unMalfoyish thing to do, but then again, when had he actually behaved as his father kept telling him a Malfoy should? "I got too close and the merpeople misunderstood. I fell out of the boat when they...reacted."
That was only part of what happened. He remembered clearly the water rolling underneath the boat. He was willing to bet his inheritance that that had been a spell, not the merpeople. But who had cast it? He had a hunch he knew that, too...
Was it his imagination, or did McGonagall's expression soften ever so slightly? "Regardless of whose fault it is, Mr. Malfoy, it was a foolish thing to do. Hagrid, you are not to take any more classes out on the lake until the warmer months. Is that clear?"
The big man nodded, and with that, McGonagall left. Pomfrey quietly set another potion on the table next to Scorpius's bed, them bustled back to her office. In the sudden quiet, Scorpius realized he was still half tangled in Hagrid's coat. He pulled it off, and held it out to his silent rescuer. "Thank you."
Surprise flashed in those big black eyes, settling into something warmer as he accepted his coat back. "Yer welcome, Mal-eh, Scorpius."
"Um, Hagrid? The rest of the class...?" Rose pointed out quietly.
"Oh! Right!" The big man hurried off. Scorpius looked at his two friends, resigned, knowing what was coming next...
"Scorpius..." Albus dropped the Compendium on Scorpius's lap. "I looked at this, before the accident. It's got notes all through it. Very thorough notes. What's going on?"
Scorpius raised an eyebrow. "You were busy rooting through my bag while I was busy drowning? Thanks, mate." It made sense now. Rose hadn't been worried about her "sick" cousin because she'd known he wasn't really sick. It was just an excuse for him to stay behind and search Scorpius's bag. But Thomas was there, too. And he didn't stop...? Scorpius's eyes widened as the obvious figuratively walked up and slapped him in the face. Thomas didn't stop Albus, because he'd been busy casting the spell that nearly caused him and Rose to drown. But that spell was too advanced for a first year, especially one as sub par as Thomas. Someone taught him the spell. And Scorpius knew exactly who, even if he didn't know their names.
Ignoring Albus's question, Scorpius yelled, "Madame Pomfrey!" As the school nurse rushed back in the room, Scorpius pasted on his most anxious, innocent face as he lied through his teeth. "Ma'am, I think there's something wrong with Albus. He doesn't look so good."
She immediately zeroed in on the young Potter, practically dragging him to another bed. Rose followed, trying to help her cousin convince the nurse he was fine. Meanwhile, Scorpius hurried silently out of the room, the Compendium tucked under his arm.
The time for waiting and training in secret had passed. One of his friends had almost got hurt. It was time to stop this.
A/N: I love plot twists, don't you? They make writing so fun! So, what do you think?