Disclaimer: Everything related to Harry Potter is property of J.K Rowling, including the characters and places. I do not own anything. Everything presented here is just for fun!
Note: Please let me know if you find grammar errors or otherwise! Also, Thanks to every single beautiful person who has reviewed my story so far. I never thought I'd get so excited with each new review :)
Chapter 5
The Mandrose Treatment
Scorpius walked out of the Great Hall heading towards the inner gardens at a brisk pace. The loud chatter inside the Hall fading away with every step. That grey Sunday the main topic of conversation was, of course, poor Albus. Most of the girls were spending their morning at the Hall writing long get well letters for him, while some of the boys still argued that the match should've been suspended after his accident. Scorpius seemed to be the only one who didn't care at all about yesterday's Quidditch match around there. He turned left and continued walking down the long corridor parallel to the inner garden, when suddenly a couple of Hufflepuff boys approached him with a long parchment.
"Would you like to sign to allow the creation of a new dueling club?" they asked, extending their arms to show him the parchment with just a couple of signatures in it along with a quill.
"Get lost," Scorpius grunted, walking around them. He didn't have time to sign stupid requests or applications, or whatever the hell that was.
"Now, now, Mr. Malfoy, don't be rude." Professor Longbottom's voice came from the end of the corridor. He approached Scorpius quickly, shaking his head in disapproval, with a book tightly clutched in his left hand.
Bloody brilliant, thought Scorpius. The Gryffindor professor had to be. He turned around, looking irritated at the sight of Professor Longbottom.
"I'll take 5 points from Slytherin for being disrespectful to other students."
"Fine, whatever," hissed Scorpius. he didn't really care what they did with his points. He nodded courtly at the Professor and immediately turned around to resume his stroll, but professor Longbottom called him again.
"Just a minute, Mr. Malfoy," he added, making Scorpius stop yet again. "I was just wondering if Albus Potter was already sent back to his room."
Yes. Perfect. More Potter fans, thought Scorpius. Potter this, Potter that. His irritation increased tenfold as he asserted that there was simply no way to escape the thought of Albus Potter.
"He spent the night at the Hospital wing, professor." Scorpius replied, using the most serene tone he could muster. "Just minutes ago I heard he's still there."
"Still at the Hospital wing? How odd." Professor Longbottom looked deep in thought. "I wonder what's wrong. He should've been out by now."
"Why don't you go visit him then," Scorpius' tone came out quite sharp. "Sir."
"I wish I could, but Professor Sprout is already waiting for me at Hogsmeade. We're supposed to go to a conference just now, and I'm running quite late." Professor Longbottom sighed heavily, and then extended his arm to give Scorpius the book he was holding. "Why don't you do me a favour and give him this book on my behalf. He'll probably be very bored. I'm sure he'll enjoy this book." he added. The thick yellow book had big, worn out letters that said "Magical Herbs from Arid Lands". Scorpius raised an eyebrow, stifling a snort. Who could find that kind of book even remotely entertaining? He received it nonetheless.
"Give him my regards, will you?" said Professor Longbottom in good spirits, and with that he turned around and walked hastily down the corridor.
Scorpius stood there, wondered if he should go visit Albus now. Sparks of excitement already building in his stomach. He knew Albus didn't like visitors, so he had refrained from bothering him, but this was a pretty good excuse to pay him a quick visit.
He sighed heavily, and making up his mind, headed to the Hospital Wing.
When Scorpius crossed the Hospital door, he noticed there were only two used beds, and one of them had a girl standing next to it, with bushy, long red hair. Scorpius recognized her immediately as Rose Weasley, Albus' cousin. He walked slowly towards the bed.
"Hey, Potter," he greeted casually, making both Albus and Rose immediately stare at him. "Uh, Professor Longbottom asked me to give you this, he thought it might cheer you up." he added, trying to sound as serious as possible.
Albus' gaze shifted from Scorpius to the book several times, scowling.
"Why would that cheer me up?"
"Dunno. But Apparently even the Professors are big fans, since they also send you presents."
"He's my godfather." Albus explained dryly.
"Oh. I see," Scorpius shifted uncomfortably, "Anyway, I assumed you'd be fine by now, what happened?" he asked, walking closer to put the book over the bedside table, next to the many "get well" cards from other students.
"It's none of your business." Albus snapped immediately, almost like a reflex.
"Alright, whatever," said Scorpius, as he turned around and started walking towards the door.
"Al!" Rose hissed under her breath, sounding almost like her mother.
"Malfoy wait!" Albus called, trying to sit on the bed, but a strong sting of pain in his ribs made him collapse on his back, "Ouch!"
Scorpius turned around, half amused but also worried about Albus' current state. There was something wrong with him if they still couldn't fix his broken ribs.
"I'm sorry, I...I didn't mean to be rude." Albus said quickly. Scorpius just snorted.
"I'm not upset, Potter. You don't wanna tell me, it's fine. Honestly, Potter, It's a wonder you didn't end up in Gryffindor with that chivalrous spirit of yours." he said as he walked towards the bed again.
"Thanks for the book, I guess." Albus muttered halfheartedly. Scorpius shrugged. Albus stared back at Rose, determined to get back to the conversation he was previously having with her. "Pomfrey said I might be having a...what was it called?" he frowned, trying to remember Madame Pomfrey's words. "Was it, E.D.D or something like that?–" he sounded quite unsure. But Rose immediately froze; her face suddenly tense and worried.
"You don't mean, E.D.E, right?" asked Rose.
"That's it!" cried Albus, "E.D.E!"
"E.D.E?! Holy shit, Potter, that's really serious!" said Scorpius at once.
"It is?" Albus' expression became quite alarmed. His gaze shifting from Rose to Scorpius, waiting for one of them to provide an explanation. "Madame Pomfrey said I had it, but had to check some stuff before telling me how severe it was..." he trailed off. Then Rose spoke.
"Well, You know that magic comes from the magical core of humans, that we call Ether, right?" Albus nodded. Rose continued, "but in order to activate it, your brain must send signals to that core, telling it to release the magic within. An Ether Disconnection Episode, or E.D.E, happens normally when you hit your head, and your brain gets all...fuzzy, so it fails to deliver certain messages to your body, and therefore you can virtually use no magic. At least until the episode ends. That's probably why the Skele-Gro Potion didn't work. The potion needs your magic to work properly." Rose finished, looking worried. Her lips were pursed as she stared absently at the side of the bed, probably deep in her own thoughts.
"So...I'm basically a Squib now?" asked Albus, with a look of horror in his face.
"No, of course not. It's very unlikely that the episode lasts more than a couple of months. Your body usually heals itself after one or two months. But during that time your magic will be rubbish, if you can even do magic at all." replied Rose, crossing her arms. "We still need to wait for Madame Pomfrey though, she'll tell us how severe it is, and we'll see what to do from there."
Albus buried his head in his hands, muttering something that sounded like "I'm screwed".
The three of them remained in silence for two whole minutes, until Madame Pomfrey reappeared with a piece of parchment in her hand.
"Alright, Potter. Apparently the Episode is not very severe, so you should be healed by Christmas. But you must rest, and not force your magic. It will eventually come back soon enough." she said, staring at the piece of paper.
"And can't you give me something to make it faster? The pain is killing me." said Albus, pointing at his ribs with his finger.
"Oh, heavens, no. It's very dangerous to use potions to cure E.D.E. You could increase the blood flow too much, resulting in a permanent damage of the brain. You'll be perfectly fine in about a month. And meanwhile we can give you something for the pain that will work great." she said, and turned around, disappearing inside her office again.
Rose looked relieved, knowing that Albus would be fine in a month, but then she looked at Albus, who had an expression of absolute horror in his face.
"Al, what's wrong?, you should be relieved! Besides, you probably won't be having homework 'till Christmas."
"Lance," muttered Albus, in nothing more than a whisper.
"Lance? Who is–"
"Lance, Lance Feder, Rose, Slytherin's Quidditch team captain!" exploded Albus, with his hands open and looking at her in exasperation.
"What about him?" asked Rose.
"He came here earlier. Told me that if I'm not back at the training sessions by the end of November, he'll have to find another Chaser..." he said, sounding as if he was about to cry. "I've gotta do something, or else I'll be out of the team by next month." He lay back down on his bed, looking directly at the ceiling.
Rose didn't say anything, her eyes shining with sympathy.
"You could...you know, if you're that desperate, you could try the—" Scorpius couldn't finish as Rose immediately turned around and gave him a dangerous glare. He pressed on, "I mean, He's saying that he's desperate, right?".
"What! Malfoy, What!" Albus sat back, now paying undivided attention to Scorpius.
"I'm saying you could try the—"
"Malfoy!" Rose cried.
"—The Mandrose Treatment." Scorpius finished, shrugging lightly.
"Albus, No!" Rose' face had gone immediately red, and her index finger was raised threateningly, making it clear that Scorpius' suggestion was vetoed from the get-go. Then she pointed it at Scorpius, looking furious. "Are you mental? How can you even suggest such a thing! Do you want him dead?" she bellowed, looking defiantly at him.
"I'm just saying that if he's so eager to heal before December..." offered Scorpius, sounding totally unconcerned.
"Will anyone please tell me what you're talking about?" exclaimed Albus, looking expectantly from Rose to Scorpius and back.
"The Mandrose Treatment is an experimental treatment for E.D.E, and it supposedly increases the healing process a lot." said Scorpius, still looking at Rose.
"Yes, but it's not approved by the International Wizard Healing Association. Therefore it can be very dangerous and unpredictable." replied Rose, looking directly at Scorpius.
"I don't care Rose, if it will heal me, then I want to try it." said Albus, hope blooming inside him.
"Albus, no way. If your father finds out he will go men-tal, and they'll probably blame me too." replied Rose, looking redder by the minute, like she always did when having an argument.
"He doesn't have to know. The treatment is not very popular, we can just tell them that he healed incredibly fast. Call it,—I don't know—good genes or whatever." Scorpius commented airily.
"Your dad may not find it suspicious, but he will tell my mom, what are you gonna do then?" Rose bellowed, which made Albus' face fall.
"What, she won't believe he just has good genes?" Scorpius suggested.
Rose and Albus looked at him in silence with an amused look.
"Aunt Hermione?" Albus let out a hollow sigh. "No, no. Risky business to try to outsmart her. There's no chance in hell that she'll fall for it. Not for a bloody second."
"Exactly, she will find out, and if she tells your dad, you know that he'll flip out on you. And ok, let's pretend that they don't find out. Let's pretend that James keeps his mouth shut this time. You would still need someone very talented at Potions who can do the brewing, and no teacher will be willing to help you."
"Well, I'll...I'll talk to James about it, and about the Potions...you can brew them, Rose." said Albus, giving her his best smile, hoping against hope that she would agree. But she looked completely infuriated.
"Oh! I can't even deal with you, Al! Just forget it. I think this is mounting up to be the worst idea you've ever had, and you've had some particularly bad ideas in your day. I don't have time for this. Besides, the effects happen during nighttime, and last time I checked, I'm neither a boy nor a bloody Slytherin to be sneaking into your dormitory, shoveling potions down your throat every night. So it ain't happening sweetheart!" she exploded, with her arms crossed over her chest and a look of exasperation.
Albus thought about his possibilities for a second, and then he smiled.
"Oh! He...he...He can do it!" he said, pointing at Scorpius, and then turning around to talk to him. "Scorpius! You're my roommate! And you're genius at potions!, I've seen you, you've got the best grades since first year."
"You're not going to give up, are you?" said Rose, shaking her head, finally accepting Albus' stubbornness.
Albus shook his head with a smile on his face. Rose gave up and looked at Scorpius, waiting for his answer.
"Umm...me? uhh...well I, I've never done it before but..." Scorpius stayed silent for a moment, thinking about it. "What will I get in exchange?" he asked, loyal to the Slytherin code.
Albus' smile slowly faded, and he looked worried. "I...I don't know, whatever you want." he shrugged. "Just say yes, please! I'll give you whatever you want." he pleaded.
Scorpius thought about it for a minute, but he knew, deep in his heart, that he was extremely excited about the idea.
"Fine, I'll do it." he said finally.
"Yes!" exclaimed Albus, punching the air, but then gasping at the sting of pain in his ribs. "Oh thank you Malfoy, I'm so excited I could kiss you right now!" he finished, rubbing below his arm, but still with a smile on his face.
The words made Scorpius freeze and go a bit dizzy. He felt as though Albus had just punched him in his stomach, making all the air leave his body.
"Yeah well, haha" he stammered, "well don't—don't get too excited." he managed to say weakly. "Just find a way to get out of the hospital by today, and I'll go check the library to see if I can find something useful." And with that he turned around and walked towards the exit. Noticing a mixture of excitement and worry in Rose' expression.
"I still think it's a terrible idea, Al." he heard her say before closing the door behind him.
When Albus finally left the hospital wing that afternoon, the first person he encountered was James. He was going to the hospital to find out about Albus' progress. James still didn't know about the E.D.E because he hadn't been around all day, so Albus decided that the best thing to do was to pretend that the Skele-Gro Potion had worked perfectly fine, and that he was now completely healthy again.
"Nice to see you out of the Hospital, little bro." he said, approaching Albus with a smile.
"Yeah, everything went fine, you know. Stayed a bit longer to make sure everything was fine, but I'm going back to the common room now." Albus replied, not looking at him in the eye because he knew he was a terrible liar.
James raised his thumbs in a positive gesture, and then punched the side of Albus's stomach, right in the wounded ribs in a playful manner. "Hope these don't break again during the next match, eh, Al?" he said in good spirits.
Albus felt the swollen area burn his body like never before. His eyes filled with tears and his smile grew wider than ever, clenching his teeth to stifle a yelp.
"Mhhmm..." was all he managed to say, trying not to howl in pain. His teeth clamped together so tightly that he thought they would break too.
"Alright, good to see you back" James said, ruffling his brother's hair affectionately, and walking back to the corridor where he came from.
Albus stood paralyzed for a couple of seconds, trying to recover his breath. He finally sighed heavily and started limping slowly back to the Slytherin common room.
The first problem they encountered when arriving at the Common Room was the fact that Albus' bed was the farthest away from Scorpius', and since Scorpius was the one offering to help, they decided that it was only fair that he'd stay in his own bed and Albus moved to Henric's bed. The tricky part was asking him to change beds without telling him why, because they had agreed to keep this Treatment as confidential as possible.
"Hey, Henric, I need to, uh—I need to ask you a favour," said Albus, sitting on Henric's bed while he studied a book with a frown.
"What" he asked absently, still looking at the book.
"I wanna sleep here. For a couple of days," said Albus, patting the bed he was sitting on with both hands, looking expectantly.
"You want to...sleep with me?" asked Henric, raising an eyebrow.
"No, you idiot. I want to switch beds with you, just for a couple of days, two weeks tops." said Albus, a pleading tone to his voice. Henric looked at him sideways.
"Why?"
"That's none of your business, mate. Yes or no?"
"Well, what will you give me in exchange?" he asked, always the Slytherin politic.
"What do you want?" replied Albus.
Henric thought about it for a minute, and then said, "A date."
"Blimey, Henric! I mean, I'm flattered! But I'm afraid I—"
"Not with you, wanker. Your cousin, Rose Weasley. I want a date with her." replied Henric, still looking serious.
"Why don't you just ask her yourself?" asked Albus, shrugging.
"Do you want the bed or not?" drawled Henric, the book he was reading closed in his lap. He extended his arm.
Albus took it and they shook hands. "Deal. I'll have this bed for two weeks and I'll set you up with Rose." he said, inwardly thinking about the amount of troubles this idea was causing him. He could already see Rose screaming at him for using her as a trading coin.
That night Albus sat comfortably on his new bed with his legs crossed, and Scorpius in front of him, terribly uncomfortable for having Albus so close. The curtains of the four-poster closed so no one could see them.
"So, here's the deal. The Treatment consists of two potions–" Scorpius said, holding two flasks in his hands. "–And a cream." he finished, putting the two flasks down and raising a third flask containing a pale-yellow, viscous substance inside that looked more like an ointment than a cream.
"Mandrose stands for Mandrake and Rosemary Treatment. The Rosemary will increase the blood flow in your brain, making it more active, reducing the time it takes to recover, and the Mandrake will keep the blood flow controlled, using it's magic to keep you stable, and allowing you to sleep at night. And the cream, made of Salvafare, Mandrake roots, and oil of Dittany, must be applied to some parts of the head to heal the external wounds that could be causing the Disconnection Episodes. Questions?" Scorpius finished, looking less secure than he should, but still maintaining his serious expression.
"Uh, no. Just get on with it." said Albus, now completely resigned to the fact that they'd go through with this.
"Okay, first you must drink the reddish potion, that's the Rosemary. And about a minute later you drink the pale green one. That's the Mandrake potion." said Scorpius, handing him both potions. Albus grabbed them and opened the first one, smelling it cautiously, and then drinking it in one efficient gulp.
"Oh...actually, It's not that bad." he said, closing the flask. Scorpius nodded and opened the flask containing the cream. He held it in one hand and with the other he flicked through the pages of a book laying next to him.
"Alright, here it says that the treatment has proved to be more effective when the cream is rubbed gently on the temples and between the eyes..." he trailed off; his voice dying slowly as he suddenly came to realise what those words implied. Until this very moment he hadn't thought about the fact that he'd have to touch Albus, and caress his skin. His throat became suddenly dry and his hands started sweating generously. He nervously poured some cream on his fingers and then distributed it evenly on both hands.
"Ready?" he asked
"Is it really necessary that you do it?" said Albus, an unreadable expression covering his face. He probably didn't want anyone touching him.
"Well, yes...at least until you know how to apply it correctly," replied Scorpius, almost apologising.
"Alright, get on with it then." said Albus, shrugging.
Scorpius leaned forwards and put his hands on both of Albus' temples, slowly massaging them in a circular motion. The contact with Albus' soft skin made the air suddenly disappear from his lungs. He had never been this close to another person, and he didn't want to look at Albus in the eyes because he knew he wouldn't be able to look away once he did. He noticed that Albus also looked at every possible direction, refusing to let their eyes meet.
"Should I...drink it now?" asked Albus.
"What?" Scorpius felt like he came out of a trance. "Oh...Oh yes, yes. Now," he quickly replied. He had forgotten about the second potion, feeling Albus' skin beneath his fingertips. Once the cream was completely absorbed he opened the flask again and poured a little bit more on his finger, this time to rub it on Albus' front, just between his eyes. He waited for Albus to drink the potion and reached gently forward. He tried keeping his breathing to a minimum; there was only a short distance separating them, and Scorpius had never seen Albus so close, he could see the shine of his bright green eyes looking up nervously. If he were to lean forward just a little bit their lips would touch.
What the hell is wrong with you, he said to himself. He had never understood the attraction he felt towards Albus, but now it was more real and palpable than ever. His body slightly shaking and his mouth drier than ever. It frightened him infinitely. He finished hastily and removed his hands from Albus' head, trying to regain his cool.
"Are you done?" Albus asked.
Scorpius nodded, still having a hard time regaining his voice. "D—do you—do you feel any different?" he whispered.
Albus looked to the side for a moment, trying to register any difference.
"I just feel a bit sleepy" he said, yawing. that was probably because of the Potion, but Scorpius noticed that Albus was also starting to get a bit flushed.
"It's getting kinda hot in here, though," Albus said after a moment, moving his shirt rapidly.
"That's all part of the Treatment. Your body is starting to accelerate the blood flow, so you'll feel more hot." Scorpius said. "I'll let you sleep, you'll probably fall asleep anyway in a minute. I suggest you take your shirt off before going to sleep, or you'll wake up drenched in sweat." he finished, moving the curtains and stepping out of the four-poster bed. As he closed the curtains behind him, he registered Albus taking off his shirt while letting his head fall onto the pillow.
A minute later Albus was already asleep. Scorpius stood still in front of Albus' curtains. He felt confused and scared and incredibly aroused. He wasn't so sure he could do this for two whole weeks anymore.