Gray: Scorpius Malfoy and the Blood Runes

by Fiery Gray

UNDER EDITING! (I): After a trauma, the Malfoys are reluctant to send their son off to Hogwarts, especially after Scorpius gets off to an eventful start and nothing goes as planned. He finds things are wrong at Hogwarts under the rule of a dangerous headmaster who has it in for him while in the shadows lie an even greater threat than anyone could have foreseen. COMPLETE

11. Chapter 11: New Blood

Parts (52-55)

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I

Chapter 11

New Blood

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Part 1: In Sickness and In Health

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Calderon hadn't been kidding when he'd said that Scorpius would be busy soon. In the first week of December he'd been given the task of asking every pupil in the school whether they intended to stay or go home for the holidays, writing it down on a magical list that cycled through names when he tapped the edges of the page. He hadn't realized how many students there actually were in the school until he had to chronicle all of their Christmas plans, he wasn't particularly outgoing so having to talk to every last pupil really didn't appeal to him. Although it wasn't technically every pupil because Calderon was doing it as well but it was still a lot more than Scorpius liked.

The majority of people were going anyway, a handful were staying and an annoying amount said they hadn't decided yet, he had to come back to them. He felt like some kind of demented version of Santa going around with a list, checking it twice to make sure he hadn't missed any names. The first week of December wasn't fun and he knew he was in a bad mood but he couldn't help it, it was taking up almost all his free time and he didn't even like Christmas - not since Marvin had ruined it for him anyway - and it frustrated him how many people would start to excitedly tell him about their plans or brag about what gifts they were getting.

At the start of the second week he was surprised - but incredibly relieved - to find that the only names left uncheked were himself and his friends, he rushed to find his friends who were studying in the library. He couldn't wait to be done.

"Hey!" Scorpius greeted them cheerfully and Michael raised an eyebrow as he sat down with them.

"Finally finished your list, Scorpius Claus?" Albus commented sarcastically and grinned at his own joke, Scorpius was too relieved to care.

"Just need to ask you and I'm done. Although I'm guessing I already know since all other Longbottoms are going home, I assume you are too Abby?"

"Yep," Abby said with a smile, "it'll be the first Christmas in the rebuilt Leaky Cauldron, I can't wait to see what my new room is like and Dad said we're getting extra presents to make up for everything we lost in the fire."

"Okay. Albus? Guessing you and Rose are both going too as all your cousins are."

"Yeah, we are," Rose spoke up as Albus nodded but she looked slightly worried, "don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to seeing my family again and my dad especially as he didn't visit him in hospital after he regained consciousness... I turned it down because I was afraid of Varanian erasing my memory again, I really don't want to lose my memories."

"Varanian is still sick, no one knows what's wrong with him. I don't think he could erase your memory right now."

"I hope he's suffering."

"He's probably faking," Albus snorted as Scorpius wrote down that the trio were all going, he hesitated before adding he was going too, that only left Michael who he assumed was going too but he'd ask him just to be sure. His free hand instinctively went to his pocket to hold the orb, it relaxed him.

"Are you guys doing anything about him?" Michael wondered, finally sounding like himself again, "you know, assuming he doesn't recover and wipe your memories. You'll be with your families and he can't stop you from telling, are you going to? Even though he's stopped and is sick and all."

"If I have any memory left then yes!" Rose burst out determinedly, "he still committed a crime, more than one crime and he deserves to go to Azkaban for it even if he's stopped now because he's sick, not to mention it protects us or anyone else from suffering at his hands in the future."

"Okay, glad we got that sorted," Scorpius commented, feeling a bubble of hope that he might come back after Christmas and find Varanian gone, "so are you going over the holidays, Michael?"

"No," Michael answered quickly and everyone jolted in shock, "I'm staying in Hogwarts. My stepdad was pretty clear about that."

"But Christmas is utterly miserable without your family."

"Then I guess I'll just be utterly miserable."

"My dad always said Christmas at Hogwarts is great," Albus offered seeing the change of mood, "and we'll buy you loads of presents."

"It's fine," Michael brushed it with a dismissive wave and cheerful smile. Scorpius couldn't tell whether it was genuine or not as he scribbled down that Michael H. Sanford was staying.

"I'll go give this back to Calderon and then I should be done," Scorpius said, deciding it was best to not make a big deal out of it as he jogged back to the assistant.

Calderon who was still in Varanian's office going through the names on the list so he'd know who was staying over the holidays, he needed to know so he'd know how much food would be needed to accommodate them as well as how much staff they'd need. The staff also had the option of staying or going for the holidays as well but a certain number had to stay depending on how many pupils stayed, if not enough was staying for the students then Calderon had to ask for volunteers to change their plans. It was more complicated than Scorpius would have thought a few months ago, things didn't just magically happen at Hogwarts - well they did - but only because the staff were putting the effort into it.

"All done?" Calderon offered, looking up from the list on the headmaster's desk. The welt had faded from his cheek by then but his eyes were still ringed with tiredness and the rune symbol remained scarred into the palm of his left hand from the obelisk, Scorpius noticed it looked almost as livid as when he'd first gotten it when he handed Calderon the list, "okay so that's about it then, everyone is accounted for."

"What's accounted for?" Varanian's voice questioned and both Scorpius and Calderon jumped in surprise as the headmaster appeared from the entrance to his bedroom.

Scorpius hadn't seen the headmaster for around a fortnight and in truth he looked terrible, Scorpius didn't think he'd seen anyone look more exhausted in his life. Varanian made no effort to hide his scars, they looked somehow worse on such an ashen face, there was a sheen of sweat on his brow and he kept blinking as if it hurt to keep his eyes open, every time he blinked they were different colors. His hair was tawny and scruffier than every other time that Scorpius had seen his hair like that, he seemed even thinner than usual and was shaking, he had one hand to his head and another leaning on the wall for support.

Calderon jumped up immediately to allow the headmaster to take his seat back, Varanian staggered across the room and with every trembling step it seemed more likely that his legs would give way. He made it to the desk though and collapsed into it. Scorpius actually thought he'd passed out for moment but his head came back up, breathing heavily as if he'd just ran a marathon instead of staggered across a room. He held his head in his hands for a moment before looking back up determinedly, one eye black and one bloodshot gray and had seemed to be breathing more normal, he was still shaking though.

"Well?" Varanian questioned looking between them, "I'm still headmaster of this school, I want to know what's going on. What were you talking about?"

"Just the, the... err... list of people staying or going over the holidays," Calderon answered, hovering by the headmaster and looking worried, "are you feeling any better?"

"No. But I'm not an invalid, I can't just lie in bed forever and wait to get better or I'm as useless as those healers, they can't even find out what's wrong with me. I can still think and I want to know what's happening."

"Nothing much, just getting ready for the Christmas Holidays. Its covered, there's nothing for you to worry about and you hate Christmas anyway. Are you sure you don't want to rest?"

"I'm fine and hating something doesn't stop it from existing," Varanian commented and rested his head on a quivering hand, "you know this Christmas it'll be twenty years since we met?"

"I know, I remember," Calderon said quietly.

Scorpius scowled slightly, that couldn't be right. Twenty years ago had been during the Second Wizarding War, neither of them had started working at Hogwarts then, Calderon would've been a teenager and he was pretty sure that twenty years ago was when Varanian's family were being murdered by Death Eaters. They couldn't possibly have met then. Varanian must have meant ten years rather than twenty, he still didn't think Varanian had been at Hogwarts that long but he might have had a job interview or something and Calderon had met him then but Varanian wasn't hired until a few years later. That was probably it, Calderon just didn't feel like correcting a sick person.

"Why are you here again?" Varanian questioned weakly and drew Scorpius from his thoughts as he realized he was being spoken to, he had to fight the urge to put his hand in his pocket to hold the orb.

"He was helping me with the list, he was just about done actually," Calderon answered and Varanian promptly dismissed him with a wave of his still trembling scarred hand before he gave a groan of pain and clutched at his head.

"Okay," Varanian muttered as Scorpius headed to the exit, "I think I need to rest now or I'll pass out."

Scorpius was starting to wonder if Varanian was actually dying as he went back to his friends, the headmaster certainly didn't seem healthy. He lay awake that night thinking about the brief conversation, rolling the orb around in his hands to relax himself as he had taken to doing. He wouldn't go as far as saying that he wanted Varanian to die, he couldn't bring himself to be that cruel but it would solve a lot of their problems, he could finally stop worrying about what Varanian would do next and the school would be safe from him.

I told you, he won't die

"Shut up, voice," Scorpius whispered irritably as he put the orb back on his bedside table, rolling onto his side so he could watch it as he fell asleep.

The next few days were much more relaxing for Scorpius, his detentions returned to the more normal tasks that he was used to and enjoyed although he made extra effort to be done faster to spend time with his friends as he was trying to think of things to get them for Christmas and wanted to make sure he got them something they would like. They were his first friends besides Yip and he wasn't allowed to buy presents for the house-elf lest he accidentally free him, he did always let Yip have some of his inevitable candy though, the house-elf had a bit of a sweet tooth when he was allowed.

It was only nearer to the end of the week that he was shocked to come into dinner and see Varanian sitting at the headmaster's chair once more, he looked healthy, unscarred with slick jet-black hair, he didn't shake or seem weak or in pain and his hand didn't touch his head at all, he sat up straight and ate as if nothing had ever been wrong with him. He noticed Albus grumbling under his breath at this as they sat down as his friend also noticed Varanian's apparent recovery.

I told you

"And I told you to shut up," Scorpius muttered under his breath, he panicked for a second but his friends seemed to have thought he was grumbling like Albus had been.

"I guess he's recovered," Abby said with a sigh.

"Its weird, he seemed really ill a few days ago."

"Maybe he's not as better as he seems, its just his metamorphmagi ability is better at hiding it," Rose offered and Scorpius inclined his head at it being a possibility as his free hand went to hold the orb, Varanian did hide his scars that way after all, "I'll have to ask Teddy over the holidays."

Varanian didn't seem to get worse though, he did seem to have recovered from whatever had been wrong with him. Just like that he seemed better, he started attending all meals again and Calderon was no longer working so hard to keep the school running. Scorpius thought it was odd but then they had no idea what had been wrong with him in the first place so it wasn't helpful, he asked Calderon about it but he was clueless to why Varanian had suddenly recovered as the rest of them.

"He screamed for me because was having a fit," Calderon explained, "my magic had no effect so I ran to get Poppy and by the time we got there he seemed perfectly healthy, no pain, no fits, no weakness, no shaking. She can't explain it, none of the healers can."

Scorpius supposed it could be worse though, Varanian seemed to have recovered but he didn't make his friends return to the detentions with the blood runes for which all of them were relieved. They were starting to feel cautiously optimistic as their last week of school before the holidays started, his friends especially seemed to feel hopeful that they'd be able to tell their parents because soon they would be home and there was nothing Varanian could do to stop that. He could still erase their memories though.

He still felt a knot of fear in the back of his mind, after all Varanian had almost used an unforgivable curse to torture Scorpius - who was only eleven - and had almost succeeded in killing Calderon - who was the only person Varanian seemed even remotely close to. Despite everything that had happened after the events of that night, it said a lot about the lengths Varanian was willing to go to.

He's going to win in the end. Real life isn't like stories, the bad guys always win and there's no one to save you and nothing you can do

"You're cheerful today," Scorpius pointed out, once again lying on his bed holding his orb at night, everyone else seemed to be asleep.

I just want to go home. I try to sleep as much as I can because in my dreams I'm with you and your life is a lot better than mine but I always have to wake up, I always have to wake up and get hurt. I just want to go home, I just want it to stop

"Can't you just go away? I have enough to deal with without going insane right now."

Why can't you just help me? I try be nice to you and help you but you always just tell me to shut up or go away, why do you hate me so much?

"You're not real, I'm just losing my mind because... because maybe I am - slightly - damaged by what happened to me and... I don't know why but it created you but you're not real and if I just try hard enough to ignore you then my mind will give up and I'll not be crazy anymore, you'll be gone forever and my past will never bother me again, I'll be normal again and I'll be happy," Scorpius explained clutching the orb tightly, he knew it probably sounded confusing it made sense to him and that was what mattered.

Is it really so hard for you to believe that maybe we're both real and just have some kind of magical connection?

"Yes! Yes that is so hard to believe! It was muggles, no magic was involved - at all - in what happened to me. It was those filthy muggles, they're the worst kind of being imaginable and they hurt me. No one else. Nothing magical. Since no magic was involved there's no weird magical connection and so you're not real."

You don't think its hard for me to believe that everything that happened to you is real too? With the Chamber of Secrets and headmaster and everything? But somewhere deep down I know you exist and these aren't just dreams I'm having. I think you know that too

"NO!" Scorpius screamed angrily, "you're wrong!"

"Err... you okay there?" Michael's voice queried sleepily from beyond the drapes. Scorpius blanched. He hadn't meant to be so loud.

"Hmm...?" Scorpius called back, trying to sound like he'd just woken up, "was dreaming."

"Dream quieter!" Reuben's voice complained.

"I'll try," Scorpius muttered and put the orb by the bedside, rolling onto his side to watch it as he tried to fall asleep. The voice thankfully stayed silent.

In fact it stayed silent for the rest of the week but the frequency of Scorpius' dreams increased, the strange dreams of being trapped in the room in a body that he couldn't control. He would still wake himself up the second he realized his dream-body wasn't alone but a lot of the times now he was alone, his dream-self would just be crying. Scorpius would never say a word.

It was only the start of the third week that Varanian came to see them after class, Scorpius gripped the orb in his pocket and wished it was his hand around Varanian's throat as anger flooded him at the thought of the headmaster hurting his friends again. But Varanian called Scorpius over and dismissed Michael, only wanting Abby, Albus, Rose, Scorpius and Nott to come with him to his office. Despite his reservations about Varanian, Scorpius had really wanted to be wrong.

Nott gave an amused snort as they reached the gargoyle to Varanian's office, the headmaster had changed the password to 'I hate Christmas' which earned the Slytherin a dark look. Scorpius did notice with his own eyes that Varanian's health really had improved, from a distance his ability may make it easy to hide but being a metamorphmagi wouldn't make him able to hide the shaking and weakness up close. The bitterness was back in his silvery eyes though, he leaned against his desk and glared between each of them. There was an uncomfortable silence as they waited for Varanian to speak, minutes went by and Scorpius was actually considering asking him before Calderon arrived.

"There you are, Marius," Varanian stated coldly as the assistant came over to them, looking between the five first years and the headmaster with concern, "Scorpius, get out of the way over there. Marius, I want you to heal them."

"Heal them?" Calderon repeated bemusedly.

"Yes. Wouldn't want them to go back to their families with runes on their chests now, would we?"

"I... guess not."

"So heal them. That's what you wanted, isn't it?"

"Isn't that bad for your health?" Scorpius wondered worriedly but Varanian only shot him a dark look as he grabbed his arm and pulled him to one side out of the way.

Calderon looked hesitant but Scorpius knew he would do it, he tried not to worry. After all, Calderon had healed Abby and Rose before and had survived. Varanian didn't let go of his arm, it happened to be his right arm and Scorpius had a feeling it was to prevent him from grabbing his wand in case he would try to stop it. Scorpius' left hand twitched and he realized he'd instinctively put his hand in his pocket and was holding the orb, he was suddenly terrified of letting go and Varanian noticing. At least it was the opposite side to Varanian so he was less likely to notice and Calderon was too busy raising his palm to heal the others to even glance in his direction to notice he was holding something in his pocket.

Scorpius was hit by a wave of guilt, had he actually been more worried about the orb's safety than Calderon? He noticed the others' eyes widening in shock for a moment, Calderon had raised the arm with the rune on his palm. He hadn't told his friends about that. Light erupted from Calderon's palm towards the four first years, Scorpius was forced to turn his head away because it was so bright, brighter than the sun itself.

Then the light was gone. It suddenly seemed very dark. Scorpius looked back and saw Calderon's rune scar was bleeding, the assistant wavered and looked about to pass out. Scorpius tried to go to him but Varanian still had a grip on his arm, he yanked Scorpius back forcefully to whisper to him.

"Take Marius to his room, make sure he's alright."

Scorpius shot the headmaster a dark look as his arm was let go, Calderon would be alright if not for Varanian, his friends and Nott wouldn't even have needed healing if not for Varanian. He really hated Varanian. He ran over to Calderon who had gripped the desk to steady himself, he was out of breath and seemed to be fighting to keep his eyes open.

"Come on," Scorpius offered taking Calderon's free hand and trying to lead him away, he seemed reluctant and wasn't in any condition to object, Varanian also told him to go rest and he went with Scorpius.

"That was... difficult," Calderon commented weakly as the made it into the corridor, staggering and Scorpius grabbed his arm to steady him, "healing really... takes... it out of you."

"Don't try to talk," Scorpius said as Calderon's head started to loll, pulling his arm slightly to prompt the assistant to start walking again.

It was awkward getting Calderon back to his room, it would have been much easier for an adult at least to help him back but Scorpius supposed that would alert someone else to the blood runes, also probably why he had said to take Calderon to his room and not the hospital wing. He thought Varanian should have helped him instead, thinking of that started him off on a new line of worry. Why hadn't he? Why had he wanted to stay with Abby, Albus and Nott? He was hit by another wave of guilt, had he done the right thing in leaving them there? At least if he had had Calderon heal them then it was unlikely he was going to kill them. Unless it was just so they'd have clean corpses. Scorpius continued to be wracked by guilt, he hoped they'd be okay but he couldn't exactly leave Calderon and go back. He actually preferred Varanian sick.

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Part 2: The Power of the Orb

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It felt like an age before they got back to Calderon's room, the assistant practically collapsed onto his bed and closed his eyes. Scorpius almost thought he was asleep for a moment but Calderon raised his hands, pointing at the bleeding one and a bandage appeared in a flash of light and snaked its way around the injured hand, wounding itself tighter and securely around the injured hand.

"I'll be fine, Scor, I just need to sleep it off," Calderon promised letting his hands fall back down, "if he erases your friends memories then go straight to Minerva - Professor McGonagall - and tell her what he did to them and you, everything except the night with the obelisk in the Chamber of Secrets. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Scorpius said, genuinely surprised by Calderon's change of heart and from what he said next, it was almost like Calderon had read his mind.

"Its not healthy to try erase or alter people's memories at the best of times, let alone when your magic's screwy and his has been off since his recovery, memories are tricky."

"Okay."

"You can go."

Scorpius nodded and left Calderon to rest, feeling slightly more at ease and slightly more guilty. He recalled when Calderon had healed him, had he needed to rest to recover from that too? Had it really been a good idea to leave his friends alone with Varanian? Should he have tried to stop Varanian letting Calderon heal them in the first place? He hadn't known about Varanian's magic being 'off' since his recovery and he had wanted his friends to be healed. He was torn between going back to the headmaster's office to check on them or to wait for them in Gryffindor Tower, or possibly go to a bathroom first to wash his hands as they were sticky with Calderon's blood. He hoped Varanian hadn't done anything to his friends memories, he didn't want them to lose their memories and he actually didn't want to tell Professor McGonagall about any of it. He felt like it would be putting a target on her back and he didn't want her to be in danger.

He was distracted by the sounds of laughter, it seemed so out of place in the melancholy halls of his mind that he had to look. He peered out into the courtyard where the snow blanketing the ground was being utilized in a snowball fight, students of various years and houses were running around, shrieking with laughter as they hurled the lumps of snow at each other. Scorpius shook his head, they were acting like children.

"Ah, snowball fight," Professor Ashain commented and Scorpius jumped in surprise as he realized the professor had come round the bend while he'd been watching, also glancing outside to see what he'd been looking at. Scorpius became very aware of the blood on his hands and plunged his hands into his pockets, clutching the orb instinctively for comfort, "me and my brother tried that once when we were children - before either of us were old enough for Hogwarts, Brutus was clobbering me until I figured out that I could use magic to deflect them back at him, he angrily stormed off and refused to play anymore."

"A sore loser?" Scorpius guessed.

"Not in this case, at the time he just hated that his little brother could do magic better than he could. I got him to come back with the promise of showing him how to do it, I couldn't so I just started deflecting them for him and making it look like he was doing it. He was so happy he excitedly got our grandparents to come see because was out, my grandfather noticed I was doing it and not Brutus. He pointed this out to Brutus and mocked him for his failure until he ran off crying, then my grandfather punished me for trying to help my brother and for wasting their valuable time," Professor Ashain said with a sigh as he shook his head and turned away, Scorpius expected him to carry on his way but his eyes widened in shock as he glanced at Scorpius, "why is your pocket glowing?!"

It was Scorpius' turn to look shocked again and he lowered his gaze to see what in the world the professor was talking about, the pocket containing the orb was indeed glowing with a fierce crimson light. He immediately let go of the orb and pulled his hand away as if burned, it didn't stop glowing.

"What have you got in your pocket?" Professor Ashain questioned and Scorpius wished he would let it go, terrified of the professor finding the orb and trying to think of something he could say to get out of it, to explain the flow. His mouth opened and closed but he couldn't think of anything, "whatever it is, take it out. Now."

Scorpius met the professor's dark brown eyes, he looked incredibly serious and a feeling of hopeless settled on Scorpius as he drew the orb from his pocket. It continued to glow and was now the color of Calderon's blood, some of which now marred the orb's surface - transferred from Scorpius' hand - Scorpius had never seen it red before. Professor Ashain looked furious as he snatched the orb from his hand, wiping the blood off with his sleeve and the orb stopped glowing and went back to gray in the professor's hand.

Scorpius thought it was really odd, maybe the orb didn't like being touched by blood? He almost vocalized the thought before he saw the still storming fury in his favorite professor's eyes, Scorpius wasn't sure why as he was commanded to follow and led away. Scorpius wasn't sure what he'd done wrong, hadn't Professor Ashain thought it would be bad for Varanian to have an orb? Shouldn't he be pleased that Scorpius now had it? Maybe he didn't realize what it was or thought Scorpius had stolen it... Scorpius supposed that technically he might have stolen it but if it was stop Varanian from killing Calderon then how was it bad? He was extremely anxious by the time they reached Professor Ashain's office, the professor slammed the door behind them and Scorpius flinched in shock.

"What the hell are you playing at?!" Professor Ashain demanded angrily, "don't you know how dangerous it is to bind your soul to an orb?! Even more dangerous as you were doing it wrong, I'm surprised you aren't in pain from it!"

"I don't..." Scorpius started to say, extremely confused by what he was talking about, Scorpius hadn't been binding his soul to it... had he? Before he could finish his sentence the professor grabbed his bloody hands and checked them as for wounds, seeming surprised to not find any.

"Where did you cut yourself, Scorpius?"

"I didn't. It's not my blood."

"It's not your blood?!" Professor Ashain burst out looking horrified, Scorpius would have thought it would have been a good thing, "whose blood is it?! You can't bind someone else's soul to the orb! You could have killed them!"

"I didn't... what?" Scorpius wondered feeling even more confused and suddenly afraid for Calderon, "I don't understand, I don't why it did all that, I just happened to touch it with blood on my hand. Is that bad? I don't know what you're talking about."

"Okay," Professor Ashain said with a deep sigh that seemed to calm him a bit, "this is an orb that goes with that blood rune obelisk we found before, its an important part of the spell. You see, the magic can either protect against good or evil depending on who controls it and the one who binds their soul to the orb is the one who controls it. The orb recognizes the binder's soul as good or evil and protects against the opposite when the spell is activated, without the orb the protection can't be activated at all. To bind your soul to the orb you need to spill your blood, cover the orb in it completely and hold it in your hand as you say the spell that binds you. The orb... sucks in your blood and binds your soul to it, then the magic works for you alone until your death or someone else binds their soul to it, those are the only ways to break its hold over you. Its dangerous though, Scorpius, the orb is powerful but fragile and if its broken when your soul is bound to it... well the translation isn't clear exactly but it apparently destroys you. Which is why you shouldn't be trying to bind your soul to it, or anyone else's soul for that matter. Its powerful magic."

"I wasn't... I wasn't trying to do that. I didn't even know it did that," Scorpius admitted and Professor Ashain studied him intently for a long moment as if trying to decide whether he was telling the truth or not before finally seeming to accept it.

"Alright. Whose blood was it then?"

"Calderon's. He... cut himself doing something for Varanian and I tried to help him bandage it and got some blood on my hands. He went back to his room to rest and I was going to go wash my hands before I met you."

"Alright, I'll check on him shortly. I know I'm going to regret asking this but where did you get the orb from?"

"Erm... I found it," Scorpius said starting at the ground, it wasn't exactly a lie. It was just extremely vague.

"Found it in Varanian's office maybe?" Professor Ashain wondered and Scorpius did nothing to confirm or deny it, the professor sighed, "you shouldn't take things from teacher's offices, especially not from the headmaster's office."

"I know but... I couldn't leave it. Varanian already has the obelisk, the orb and all he would need are the wards before he could destroy the school's protection and kill someone to activate the magic."

"I really don't think he would take it that far, besides he's been sick lately."

"Maybe he was sick from something to do with the blood runes, like he tried to use them," Scorpius offered and looked up to gauge Professor Ashain's reaction, if he thought Varanian would use them then maybe he'd be alright with Scorpius taking it and would even give it back, the professor was scowling worriedly as he watched the gray orb in his hand, "are you going to give it back?"

"I... err..." Professor Ashain started but fell silent, he watched the orb for a long time as if lost in thought. Finally he sighed again as he closed his hand around the orb, "okay this is a very extreme unique situation, do you understand? Stealing is incredibly wrong and I'm taking ten points from you for doing that, keeping things from their rightful owner is also incredibly wrong and in any other situation I would give this back but... for now only, its probably safer to keep it away from Varanian. Just in case he does try to use it."

"I understand," Scorpius said and managed not to look as cheerful as he felt for getting the orb back as he held out his hand for it, "I'll keep it safe, I promise."

"I'm not giving it back to you!" Professor Ashain protested and Scorpius' heart sank.

"Please, I've kept it safe so far. I won't let it be destroyed or break, I'll protect it with my life."

"No, Scorpius."

"That's not fair! It's mine! I took it, I took care of it, its not fair of you to take it from me!"

"No."

"But I need it!" Scorpius screamed and the professor looked taken aback, a part of him felt the same but mostly he knew he needed the orb, it felt like it was a life or death situation, "I need it!"

"Why do you need it?"

"I don't know! But I have to have it! I need it!"

"Scorpius-"

"NO! I NEED THE ORB!"

Prof- Ashain - Scorpius decided he didn't deserve to be called professor when he was taking the orb from him just looked at him worriedly. But it couldn't be worry, if he actually cared then he would give Scorpius the orb. Didn't he realize how much he needed it? He felt like he would die without it. He was shaking and sweating just at the thought of being separated from it, how bad would it be if he lost it? He wanted to cry. Maybe that was why Varanian had been sick, from being separated from the orb. Scorpius wasn't an adult like the headmaster, he couldn't survive without it, he had to have it.

Ashain said something that sounded like 'I have to try something' but Scorpius didn't care about any words he said that weren't about giving him the orb. His hand went to his wand in his pocket as Ashain took a knife out of one of his desk drawers, Scorpius' heart thundered in panic, was he going to destroy the orb?! He couldn't do that! Ashain placed the orb on the desk and it went back to cycling between the three colors, he looked confused by this and said something else but Scorpius ignored it as his focus rested only on the knife. He gripped his wand in readiness and filled himself with readiness, he hadn't been kidding about dying for the orb, he would do anything for the orb. He didn't care what Ashain did to him but he would protect it, no matter what.

Ashain didn't bring the knife to the orb though, he brought it to his hand and sliced across the palm, cringing at the pain. Scorpius blinked in confusion but relaxed his grip on his wand, if the enemy of the orb wanted to weaken itself then he certainly wasn't going to stop it. Ashain picked up the orb with his bloody hand, the orb became red and crimson light immediately shone from it. Scorpius couldn't take his eyes off it, even though logic told him that it probably wasn't healthy to stare at such a bright red light. The blood wrapped itself around the orb and he couldn't actually tell what was blood and what was orb, vaguely he was aware of Ashain muttering something and in response the crimson melded into the suddenly gray orb and light exploded outwards.

Scorpius blinked and realized he was now lying on the ground. He scrambled to his feet and saw Professor Ashain had slumped into his chair, his eyes were flickering weakly open as he gazed at the again-gray orb on his palm. Scorpius felt immediately guilty as he pocketed the wand, had he actually been considering attacking his favorite professor to protect the stupid orb?

"Are you feeling better?" Professor Ashain questioned as he put the orb on the desk, curiously it remained gray as he conjured a bandage for his hand.

"What just happened?" Scorpius wondered worriedly, "did you just bind your soul to it? Didn't you say that was bad?"

"The orb has a kind of sentience, if its separated from its master for too long then it starts seeking out another because it wants to be used. Every time its held it sees the holder's soul, it gives it a kind of access and can influence them. The more you touch it, the more influence it has. Its subtle, first it makes you just like touching it so it'll give it more access to you then it makes you want to protect it, eventually convincing you that binding your soul to it is the only way to protect it, when you're bound it tries to convince you to use it."

"And it was doing that to me?"

"I think so."

"I don't care about protecting it now," Scorpius pointed out and the professor smiled weakly, in fact he almost wished he'd destroyed it while it was still bound to Varanian, "why did you bind your soul to it?"

"I told you, the only way to break its hold is with the binder's death or if someone else binds their soul to it. Varanian is now free from it and so are you and so is anyone else it influenced, it has to start again."

"Doesn't it mean that if it gets destroyed then something bad will happen to you though?"

"Yes. But it also means that Varanian can't use the obelisk, even if he has the wards, even if he wants to."

"Do you think the only reason Varanian's so obsessed with protecting the school is because of the orb?"

"No, definitely not. My grandfather's had his orb for a very long time, he could barely keep his hands off it last time I saw him but he has no obelisk or wards and he wanted to use it before it got the orb. Its subtle and plays on what you already want but it can't force you to do anything you wouldn't normally do in the right circumstances, Varanian's not suddenly going to stop being so paranoid, maybe it'll lessen a bit depending on how long he's had the orb but it won't drastically alter his personality."

"Okay," Scorpius nodded meekly, feeling guilty that the professor had risked his soul to break him from its influence, "so what are you going to do with it?"

"Keep it out of the way of where no one is likely to find it," Professor Ashain answered as he got up and took out his wand, waving it at a brick in the wall that floated out. He muttered another spell and an orb-sized hold was blasted into the side, he pressed the still-gray orb into the hole and magically replaced the brick in the wall, if Scorpius hadn't just seen it then he'd have no idea it was there, "there. No one's going to be ripping bricks out of this wall anytime soon so its safe from being destroyed or used and no one will touch it so no one is in danger of being influenced by it."

"Smart," Scorpius commented but Professor Ashain only shrugged and rubbed his bandaged hand, "Professor... do you know why the orb didn't change color when it was on your desk? It just stayed gray. Before whenever I didn't touch it, it would keep changing color."

"I was actually going to ask you about that, my grandfather's was always black and the only time I saw it change color was when I touched it once, it turned white and as soon as I put it down it turned black again. It was gray that time after I touched it and even when I stopped touching it after I'd bound it, I never saw it cycle through colors before and I don't know why it was gray."

"I have no idea," Scorpius admitted, he didn't know why it had been cycling although he thought it had something to do with the colors of your soul that it recognized, Professor Ashain didn't seem to know about that part of it though and he was afraid of explaining it in case he was asked who told him and how Calderon knew and everything that veered into things he wasn't supposed to say.

"Ah well, can't know everything, eh? I'm going to go check on Calderon, you can go," Professor Ashain dismissed him as they started heading for the exit, "and... try not to tell anyone. Its safer if only we know."

"Okay," Scorpius agreed and sighed heavily as they left the office and orb behind. He was really starting to wish that he didn't know all these things that he shouldn't or couldn't tell anyone.

---

Part 3: Up In Flames

---

Scorpius was feeling miserable and anxious as he returned to Gryffindor Tower, Professor Ashain had deemed Calderon alright but his worry returned to his friends. He didn't see them around the common rooms so he trudged back to the dormitory to get to the bathroom to finally wash the blood off his hands, to his surprise and relief he found his friends - minus Michael - were there.

"I'm glad you're all okay," Scorpius said thankfully as he went over to them, Rose's eyes flared with anger as she jumped up to face him and he felt a flash of panic that Varanian had erased their memories again, "you remember me, don't you?"

"Of course," Rose spat furiously, "why? Did you think that you're friend Varanian was going to make us forget everything again?"

"He's not my friend, I hate him!"

"Isn't he?! You warned him about the letter!"

"I... I didn't mean to, its not what you think," Scorpius started defensively and he realized all his friends looked somewhere between angry and disappointed, "I was trying to warn Calderon because he said that Varanian said that if he was caught then he'd take Calderon and other teachers to Azkaban with him, Varanian was with Calderon and just panicked and blurted it out."

"Oh, yes when you put it sounds like that then it sounds so much better!"

"I'm sorry! I was just trying to protect Calderon."

"You're so stupid!" Rose screamed and he almost took a step back from her, "Calderon wouldn't go to Azkaban but of course Varanian would say that he would to try scare him into staying in line!"

"I... never thought of that," Scorpius admitted glumly.

"Of course you didn't! But I could have told you that if you had bothered to tell us! If you had bothered to tell us anything!"

"Why are you mad at me?"

"You sabotaged our one chance to get Varanian!" Albus snapped angrily leaping to his cousin's defense.

"I didn't! Varanian had nothing to do with the letter going missing, the whole day he kept expecting to be arrested."

"Why should we believe you?! You don't tell us anything! You didn't tell us about warning Varanian, you didn't tell us how Calderon got the blood rune arrow on his hand, you didn't tell us what happened on the train, you don't tell us anything! You're supposed to be our friend!"

"You are my friends."

"Well you don't act like it," Abby said coldly.

"Calderon asked me not to say anything about the night he got the rune on his hand okay? That's why I didn't say anything. And I guess I didn't think it mattered about warning Varanian because he didn't try to escape or stop the letter or anything, I'm sorry."

"Of course you're sorry now," Rose growled folding her arms.

"I am! I feel horrible about telling him and what happened afterwards... I wish I hadn't said anything. But even if I hadn't then my father would still have lost the letter, Varanian had nothing to do with it. Maybe I should have told you, I just... it kinda slipped my mind with everything."

"That's the worst excuse ever," Albus complained and despite knowing on some level that he had it coming, Scorpius couldn't help but feel hurt by their reaction.

"It's the truth."

"Tell us what happened," Abby said in a calmer tone, "how Calderon got the rune on his hand, everything you're keeping from us about Varanian and the blood runes. You could at least tell us that if you expect us to forgive you."

"I... I can't, Calderon said-"

"It doesn't matter what he said! It only matters what we're saying now!" Rose yelled at him and Scorpius just stared awkwardly at the ground, feeling torn between betraying Calderon's trust and telling them or losing their friendship by not telling them.

"If you ever expect us to trust you again then you have to start by being honest with us now!" Albus shouted and Scorpius felt his insides twisting up, he wished the ground would swallow him up so he wouldn't have to choose.

"Last time... Last time I didn't do what Calderon said, it nearly cost him his life," Scorpius whispered without looking up from the ground, "please don't make me tell you."

"Don't worry, you don't need to tell us anything ever again because we're done," Rose spat as she stalked angrily past him to the exit, Albus and Abby hesitated before following.

"Wait!" Scorpius protested desperately looking after them, "ok-okay I'll tell you."

"So tell us," Abby prompted and Scorpius' mouth open and closed, he bit his lip anxiously, he really didn't want to break Calderon's trust.

"Eugh," Rose snorted in disgust as she carried on down the steps, "should have known better than to trust a Malfoy."

Scorpius turned away to try hide the hurt he felt, what was even happening? Were they really that mad about him telling Varanian even though it hadn't made any difference? What had Varanian said to them? Or done to them? He looked back just in time to see Albus and Abby walking away. He wondered if he should go after them but his legs were paralyzed, he didn't know what he could say to them to make it right anyway and telling them about the obelisk when they were furious didn't seem like the best time if he was going to say anything.

Feeling even worse than he had than he had earlier, Scorpius threw himself onto his bed and didn't even bother closing the drapes. Were his friends going to be mad at him forever? Were they his friends anymore? Did they hate him? Maybe they are better off without me, he thought hopelessly, maybe everyone is. After all it was his fault they'd gotten detentions from Varanian in the first place, it was his fault Varanian had almost killed Calderon, it was his fault that Professor Ashain had risked his soul to the stupid orb. Everything was his fault.

Maybe his soul was so tainted that he just hurt everyone around him, maybe deep down he was just evil after all. He didn't want to be evil. He didn't want to hurt anyone. He just wanted to be normal and good and innocent and sane, to not have to worry about everything. He felt like he was going to cry but tears refused to come, was he too evil to shed a single tear?

"What's up?" Michael questioned with oblivious cheerfulness as he went over to sit on his own bed, placing a book on healing magic by his bedside, it happened to be the direction Scorpius was facing, "how'd it go with Varanian? Where are the others?"

Scorpius sighed heavily and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, it was probably better to just tell Michael because he would hear it from his friends soon enough. He opened his eyes and sat up, starting on an account of Calderon healing them and helping the assistant back to his room. He left out everything that happened with Professor Ashain and the orb, continuing from when he'd returned and found the others furious at him over warning Varanian about the letter, he assumed Varanian had told them that because Calderon couldn't have but had no idea what else had happened after he left. Michael listened patiently and silently - even after Scorpius had finished speaking, his expression seeming neutral.

"Okay," Michael said finally, "you shouldn't have told Varanian about the letter and he was just lying to make Calderon obey him more."

"I know that now," Scorpius mumbled miserably hanging his head.

"But I forgive you," Michael offered and Scorpius looked up in shock, Michael seemed genuine, "I'm sure the others will too, they're just mad at you right now. Varanian probably made it sound like it was worse it was, I'll go to talk to them. Okay?"

"Okay," Scorpius said when his mouth started working again and Michael got up to leave, "thank you. For everything. You're a really great friend, you know that?"

"Its nothing, what are friends for?"

Scorpius was feeling a lot better after talking to Michael, he got out his books to work on his Transfiguration essay. He was one of his favorite subjects and the words flew onto the pages, in the end he wrote three rolls of parchment and realized he was missing dinner by the time he was finished.

How do you do it?

"What?" Scorpius questioned and resisted the urge to sigh heavily as he packed everything away, "I was just about to go to dinner."

I haven't eaten in four days, I'm so hungry

"Voices in my head don't have stomachs."

You still don't believe I'm real?

"You're not real."

Fine. I can't be bothered to argue with you right now

"Well good, bye then. I'm missing dinner."

How did you fight back with magic? Selwyn keeps telling me to use my power like the other boy did but I don't know how

"I don't know," Scorpius complained as he started heading to dinner regardless, "you just focus your power and make stuff happen. It takes a lot of practice so go do that and leave me alone."

Okay

Scorpius blinked in shock, had the voice just agreed to leave him alone? It didn't say anything else and Scorpius was in much better spirits as he reached the Great Hall, Michael alone looked relieved to see him. Abby and Albus just concentrated really hard on their food, Rose was glaring at him again. Scorpius allowed himself to sigh then as he hastily shoved some grub on his plate, glancing around briefly to check on the teachers, a now redheaded Varanian was watching him, Calderon wasn't there so he hoped the assistant was still resting and Professor Ashain's hand was still bandaged.

He went back to his food and ate quickly to make up for being late, it was really quiet around them. None of his friends said anything except Michael whose attempts to get them talking had no success, Scorpius supposed miserably that Michael talking to them hadn't helped. He at least hoped that they wouldn't turn on Michael just for defending him, Michael didn't deserve that. He did find himself wishing that Michael wouldn't defend him, it would make his friend's life a lot easier if he never stood up for him or got in the way of curses that were meant for him.

His friends still seemed mad at him the next day, they didn't talk to him at breakfast either and sat as far away from him in class. Albus called Michael over to sit with him and the mudblood looked extremely torn between who to sit with, Scorpius gestured for him to go with Albus which he reluctantly did. The next lesson Michael sat with him though, alternating between sitting with him and them for the rest of the week.

"I did try talking to them and they're still mad," Michael explained the first lesson they sat together, "but they just need some time, if you don't all come back after the holidays as friends as again then... then I'll cut my hair! Trust me, this will all blow over."

"Did you ever find out what Varanian said to them?" Scorpius wondered, deciding not to voice his doubts.

"No, they wouldn't say. Except about the letter, Varanian told them not to write another one or else and said that you'd told him about the first and implied you'd tell him about a second too."

Scorpius felt angry after hearing that, did Varanian assume just because they'd got along long enough to help Calderon that Scorpius was suddenly on his side? He wanted the headmaster to go to Azkaban, the man had almost tortured him and tried to kill Calderon! He wanted Varanian gone. One good deed didn't erase all the bad ones, Scorpius' feet still bore the scars of his abuse and Michael hadn't been healed either. He hated Varanian.

"Err... Scorpius, your parchment's on fire," Michael pointed out and Scorpius blinked in surprise as he saw that the page had caught light where the tip of his wand touched it. He quickly put it out and hoped his face wasn't as scarlet as it felt.

Apart from the tension with his friends, the final week was actually relatively calm. He had his final Quidditch practice before the holidays on Tuesday, there was little to no homework as the teachers were winding things down before the holidays. He spent his detention on Tuesday helping Calderon with the Christmas decorations, the assistant seemed no worse for wear considering.

A lot of effort went into decorating the school for Christmas, every staircase with a banister had to have everlasting icicles applied to them, every suit of armor was enchanted to sing a different carol, Calderon managed to make dry snow fall from the enchanted ceiling and in the grand staircase too. There was not one but twelve huge trees placed in the Great Hall that he had to help decorate, Calderon made steps of light appear that led up to a platform of light that they could stand on to decorate the trees, this really amazed the other students who passed by as it almost looked like they were walking on air, it amused Calderon for some reason but Scorpius was nervous about accidentally stepping off one.

Not everyone was in good spirits for Christmas though. Varanian seemed to seething with rage and eyed the decorations ever mealtime as if willing them to burst into flames, or just to die, considering the headmaster's dislike of fire. He had to spend an exhausting detention on Wednesday with the Arithimancy professor - Rivers - who did nothing but complain about the holiday, Scorpius had been extra civil to him since he'd realized he was Molly's uncle but he still found it incredibly hard to like the man.

"Its such a stupid holiday if you ask me, I mean why should I have to waste my own money on presents for other people? I'm a pure-blood for crying out loud! My family won't even spend Christmas with me, Aud always insists on spending it with her husband's family. Wouldn't you rather spend time with your brother - your twin brother - rather than crammed around a table with a swarm of redheads and drooling children?" Rivers complained as Scorpius went around dusting his office, "its not like I've found a suitable wife yet and I have no idea if our little brother is even alive, let alone where he is so she's all the family I have."

"Why don't you ask her if you can spend with her and her husband's family then?" Scorpius offered disinterestedly, Rivers expected occasional comments to ensure you were listening and if you weren't then he wouldn't let him go until he was sure that his words had been heard.

"Why would I spend Christmas crammed around a table with a swarm of redheads and drooling children? That's a stupid idea! Five points from... whatever house you're in, I forget the houses. I was home-schooled, how am I supposed to remember the houses?"

"Its Gryffindor," Calderon pointed out tiredly from the spare desk where he was grading the papers for Rivers, "I never went to Hogwarts either, is it really so hard to remember the four house names?"

"Well you've been here longer than me and you have a freakishly good memory... What's your first name again, assistant?"

"Marius."

"Marius, my good friend, how would you like to go to Hogsmeade and buy presents for my family for me? There's just the three, my twin sister and her two daughters. You know Molly and the younger one is ten, should be starting next year. Also a few cards would be nice."

"No," Calderon said, looking surprised by the request.

"Please? You can buy yourself a gift too from me to you. As long as its not expensive, no more than a Galleon - no I'm feeling generous, no more than two Galleons."

"I'm busy."

"What kind of useless assistant won't buy presents for his... erm... hmm... what do you call the person that an assistant's supposed to assist?"

"I don't know."

"Eugh, you're useless," Rivers sighed and leaned back in his chair, resting his head back on his hands, "wait, what was it you said a while ago boy? About spending Christmas with my sister's family?"

"Err... I said maybe you could spend it with her and husband's family?" Scorpius guessed, he didn't think he'd said much else before that.

"Yes! That's a fantastic idea, my gift to them will be my time. Five points for Gryffinclaw!" Rivers announced happily and Calderon actually smacked himself in the face in exasperation, Scorpius resisted the urge to do the same, "if you had a twin or siblings then you would understand."

Calderon seemed to find this hilarious for some reason, he laughed so suddenly that Rivers jumped. Calderon laughed for a lot longer than usual before finally calming down and shaking his head, returning to grading the papers which made Rivers' scowl deepened.

"Why did you laugh?" Rivers asked irritably, "it wasn't a joke."

"Let's say its because I'm mad," Calderon said with a shrug and a roll of his eyes.

"Well I would appreciate it if you could not be insane around me, I don't want to catch madness from you," Rivers complained and Scorpius actually found himself choking on laughter, Calderon rolled his eyes again.

"I'm just about done anyway. Don't keep Scor too long and enjoy your birthday."

"Keeping score of what?" Rivers wondered but Calderon just sighed as he left, Scorpius choked again to repress the laughter, "was he talking about my age?"

"Let's say its because he's mad," Scorpius offered as Rivers ran a paranoid hand through his muddy brown hair.

"I don't look forty, do I? Has my hair suddenly turned gray or white or fallen out? My father as gray as the moon by the time I was born."

"You look fine."

"You think? Ashain is slightly older than me and his hair is great," Rivers pointed out and spend the rest of the detention panicking about looking old and ugly.

The following day wasn't much better, his friends - minus Michael and Molly, or at least he hoped Molly didn't hate him for accidentally getting Rivers to spend Christmas with him but he hadn't had enough homework to warrant staying up late to work on it - were still giving him the cold shoulder and Calderon brought him to his detention with Professor Ashain who didn't seem too pleased to see him.

"I don't have anything for him to do," Professor Ashain complained, "its nearly Christmas, tell Varanian to give him a break already."

"No can do, you have to find him something to do, Ticcy," Calderon told him cheerfully before starting to walk away.

"My name isn't Ticcy, I'm not a clock and if you keep calling me that then I'll... I'll give you a stupid nickname."

"Good luck thinking of a nickname for Marius!" Calderon called back but kept going.

"Dammit, why are nicknames impossible to think of," Professor Ashain muttered after a moment of pause as if considering nicknames, "well come on then, Scor. Although I really don't have anything for you do, I was actually going to go to bed before you showed up."

"It's not late," Scorpius pointed out as he followed the professor into his office, his eyes went instinctively to the brick that held the stupid orb for a moment before back to the professor, he almost asked about it but he didn't want to make it sound like he was under its power.

"I know but I'm tired, I've been up almost all night the past week."

"Why?"

"In case she calls."

Scorpius bit back a comment on how he didn't think it was likely his wife would call in the middle of the night, Professor Ashain probably knew that and was just desperate. Especially coming up to Christmas, where families were supposed to be together, Scorpius knew what it was like to be separated from your family because of muggles. Stupid cruel muggles. They all hated magic, just because they were jealous that they hadn't been born with something special. It was wrong of them.

"I'm sorry," Scorpius offered as the professor gestured for him to sit down.

"It's alright, its my own fault. I had really hoped that seventh year was the last year I'd be stuck in Hogwarts miserable and alone though but life isn't that kind I guess," Professor Ashain sighed as he apparently scanned the room for something for Scorpius to do, "want to just play Wizard chess or something?"

"Okay."

Professor Ashain seemed to cheer up slightly at Scorpius' enthusiasm as he set up the board and they started playing, Scorpius cheered up too. It was relaxing to just focus on the game instead of worrying, they were actually fairly evenly matched as players although Scorpius thought if Professor Ashain wasn't so tired then he'd do better. At one point they had to stop playing because the professor had told the wrong piece to move and the Bishop angrily started to lecture him about it but it shut up when the professor threatened to sacrifice him to Scorpius' Queen if he didn't be silent. It made him smile slightly, he thought it must be weird for muggles to play with inanimate pieces.

He did find himself really relaxing for the first time in days as they played, it took his mind off his worries and the fact his friends hated him and he thought Professor Ashain felt the same. They talked while they played too, about trivial non-stressful things and Scorpius had almost completely forgotten that Professor Ashain had also been a Seeker when he said something about the game, the professor had barely touched on it in the train but they talked more about Quidditch then, Professor Ashain had actually been a good player by all accounts but then he had been flying since he was six apparently. Scorpius was actually incredibly disappointed when Professor Ashain said it was time for dinner, his good mood lasted until his friends continued to ignore him.

"Hey Albus, did you know that your dad and Professor Ashain almost played against each other in a match?" Scorpius pointed out trying to draw his friend into a conversation without Michael's help, "Professor Ashain's last year was your dad's first but your dad didn't play in the match against Ravenclaw. Professor Ashain caught the Snitch and Ravenclaw clobbered Gryffindor, isn't that interesting? I wonder who would've won if your dad had played."

Albus' mouth twitched as if he was about something, for a second Scorpius felt a flurry of hope that Albus would actually say something, probably to announce his dad would have thrashed Professor Ashain if he'd had half a chance but he didn't. He grunted something unintelligible and went back to his food, Scorpius went back to being miserable and picking at his own plate. He finished his food quickly and went to bed.

"Wake up!" a voice barked and he felt a stinging slap against his cheek, he flicked his eyes open and saw a clean-shaven man in his twenties, his handcuffs were removed and before he could react a wand was aimed at him, "Crucio!"

Pain immediately shot through every inch of his body, like burning knives had stabbed into last part of him. It was agony. Excruciating agony. He screamed every last breath of air from his body, it was deafening to his own ears but it still didn't feel loud enough.

"Fight back!" the man snapped moving the wand away and the pain stopped, "the master demands it!"

What is happening?!

"Help me please, voice," his lips begged with the stranger's voice in response to his own question. The man laughed.

"No one's going to help but yourself, use your magic! Crucio!"

FOCUS! He screamed in agony as the pain returned but no sound came from his mouth

"I can't!" the dream-boy cried.

"Crucio!"

Scorpius let the magic flood through him, his wrist pulsed in pain, it felt like it was on fire but it was nothing compared to the pain from the curse. He unleashed the magic and felt fire shooting out of his left hand, throwing the man backwards and setting him alight. His own pain stopped - except for his wrist - but the man's started as he writhed on the ground, screaming at the burning fire that was eating away at him. He heard another voice and a burst of magic touched the flames, extinguishing them and-

"SCORPIUS!"

Scorpius' eyes jarred open. His wrist was still burning - no, it was literally burning he saw, a circle of fire was burning around his scar and there was fire, his drapes were on fire. In a panic he scrabbled for his wand but Albus was always putting it out with a spell from his own wand, Scorpius glanced at his wrist and saw it was no longer burning or in pain. His heart threatened to burst out of his chest, it was beating so fiercely.

"What the hell just happened?" Scorpius asked of no one in particular, all the Gryffindor boys were wide awake, he could see them through the ruined drapes.

"I think you just tried to burn yourself to death," Reuben pointed out, blinking in confusion.

"Could you kill yourself when we're not here, you psychotic freak?!" Angelo yelled angrily.

"Hey," Albus snapped defensively before seeming to realize he'd just defended Scorpius, "I mean err... there's no reason we can't be civil."

"Are you alright?" Michael offered gently, he was by Scorpius' side with a worried expression. Scorpius tried to nod but he was suddenly so tired that his nod brought his head to the pillow.

"Yeah, just need to sleep," Scorpius tried to say but he already gone.

"What in the hell just happened?! He's not supposed to actually be able to injure us!" a rough voice that he was sure he'd heard before was saying, he thought it sounded Selwyn but he wasn't sure and his eyes were closed, "my best person could've died! Have the amulets stopped working?!"

"The amulets work fine, Selwyn," a second voice growled that sounded like the man with the deformed hands, it sounded different though somehow, "they can only defend against one person's magic at a time though."

"It was one freakin' ten year old!" Selwyn yelled before seeming to calm himself, "with all due respect, Master. I don't understand."

"The boys are linked through the magic I used on their wrists, an unforeseen side effect. The first channeled his power through the second, similar to how I'm speaking to you right now, the amulets aren't designed to protect against that," the second voice explained and he wanted to hear more but it was so hard to stay awake, "the connection will need to be severed, find a way to do it with murder as a last resort and..."

The next time Scorpius opened his eyes he was in the dormitory again and sunlight was streaming through the windows, Michael and Albus were sitting either side of him. Reuben and Angelo were gone. He still felt immensely tired but he wouldn't fall asleep in a second.

"What happened?" Scorpius asked glancing between them, Albus had changed into his clothes while Michael remained in his Pokemon pajamas.

"You set fire to the drapes in your sleep, then fell asleep again and didn't wake up until just now which is breakfast time," Michael explained still looking anxious and also tired, "are you alright?"

"Yeah, I guess I just used magic by accident in my sleep," Scorpius said and furiously dismissed his dream as a dream, he knew it couldn't be real, "it tired me out I think so I slept. Now I'm fine."

"Fine," Albus grunted and stalked off.

"He still hates me then."

"He doesn't hate you, he insisted on staying up all night with me to make sure you didn't accidentally burn yourself to death," Michael offered, much to Scorpius' surprise, "I told you they just need time."

---

Part 4: Corin and Maurice

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Michael asked a few more questions about whether anything like that had ever happened to him before but it hadn't and he didn't really know what to say, his friend was forced to let it drop and Scorpius went to get changed in the bathroom because his drapes were still destroyed. He would have to tell Calderon about that to get them replaced. He also took the opportunity to inspect the scars on his wrist, they looked darker and more livid at the same time, the bruising - well Scorpius knew it wasn't bruising because bruises would have healed by now - was worse than ever but oddly enough there were no burns.

He angrily tugged his sleeve over it, refusing to think about it. He struggled to not to for the rest of the day, he was shaken, the pain had felt so real and the fire very definitely had been real. He was tired though, he just wanted to go back to bed and sleep not concentrate on lessons that weren't even interesting because there was no point starting anything with the holidays about to happen and really he thought that most of the teachers just wanted the holidays to start as well.

He was relieved when the last lesson finished and he met Calderon for his last detention before the holidays, or at least he thought so anyway, the train was leaving at eleven o'clock tomorrow so he didn't think there would be time for another detention. Calderon led him outside, wearing a gray muggle jacket and he started to assume in the direction of Professor Hagrid's hut, he decided to take the opportunity to tell the assistant about setting fire to the drapes in his sleep and needing new ones.

"Is it common for people to do magic in their sleep?" Scorpius wondered as Calderon looked at him slightly concerned.

"I don't know, I don't think so," Calderon offered and Scorpius sighed worriedly, "but you're not the only one. Were you having a nightmare?"

"Err... maybe... why?"

"Because... do you know why my room has no windows?"

"Cause yer kept blowin' them up every time yer had a bad dream," Professor Hagrid answered before Scorpius could say that he hadn't a clue and Calderon inclined his head in agreement. Scorpius felt a flood of relief wash through him, if Calderon had used magic in his sleep too then he wasn't alone and it probably had nothing to do with the dream except for the fact that he'd been worked up by the nightmare, "yer haven't started doin' tha' again have yer?"

"No, Scor set fire to the drapes in his sleep."

"Ah right. Well I'm sure its nothin' to worry abou' Scorpius."

"Thanks," Scorpius offered gratefully.

He was about to ask what he was doing before he noticed something in the sky, at first glance he thought it was a plane and mentally slapped himself for thinking muggle. At second glance he thought it was a dragon and mentally slapped himself for thinking something so stupid just because he was around two people who loved dragons. At third glance it was close enough to see that it was an ostentatious pastel blue carriage pulled by two beautiful white winged-horses, Professor Hagrid beamed when he saw it and distantly Scorpius recalled that this was the day that the professor's son would be arriving from France. Was he coming by flying horse carriage?

Scorpius supposed he would find out soon enough as the carriage managed to land smoothly on the grounds nearby, the magnificent horses folded their wings back and trotted the rest of the distance to them, they were a lot bigger than normal horses. Calderon went over to the side to open the door, Scorpius had to tear his eyes from the impressive horses to see the man exiting the carriage.

It took Scorpius a moment to realize that it wasn't a man, just a tall child. The top of his head was on a level with Calderon's chin but he had a boyish child's face, his hair was dark brown but tamed and his huge black eyes glittered in the winter dusk. He was lean and dressed in blue satin robes without a hint of dirt or crinkle, he had an air of elegance about him and an almost disdainful look despite his youthful looks.

"Corin!" Professor Hagrid greeted the boy warmly and the boy - presumably Corin - rolled his eyes as his father pulled him into a hug, "look a' how big yer gettin' now! I missed yer."

"Yes, father, I know," Corin said somewhat moodily as Professor Hagrid pulled away, his voice carried a hint of a French accent but the words were cold, "its good to see you."

Professor Hagrid beamed at this, even though Corin didn't look particularly pleased. Another boy had gotten out of the carriage as they were having their exchange, he looked about ten and seemed extremely short in comparison to the people around him. This didn't seem to faze the boy though, his expression was perfectly neutral as his sea-green eyes took in all of them, eyes that seemed sharp and focused despite the fatigue ringing them. He had light brown hair with a slight wave to it and had his hair in a similar style to Corin, he wore a brown cloak as well as fingerless leather gloves that also covered every part of his wrist that Scorpius could see. He also had a strange necklace with a black tear-drop shaped gem set in a golden circle.

"Maurice," Corin addressed the boy, turning to face him completely and made a few gestures with his hand to which the boy - presumably named Maurice - placed a hand on the necklace, it immediately glowed a pale blue, "this is my father, Professor Rubeus Hagrid and the assistant I told you about, Marius Calderon. I don't know who the boy is. Everyone, this is my close friend, Maurice Rivers."

"He's called Scorpius Malfoy," Professor Hagrid introduced him and Scorpius wondered if he was any relation to Molly and the Arithimancy professor, "he's Calderon's assistant."

"I didn't realize that Hogwarts was in the habit of hiring first years."

"It's fer detentions bu' he's alright," Professor Hagrid said brightly and clapped him on the back, Scorpius felt a strange surge of pride at that even though Corin remained unimpressed and Maurice remained silent, his eyes darting around whoever was speaking, "nice t' meet yer, Maurice, welcome to Hogwarts. He does speak English, righ'?"

"Of course, he can read five languages. English, French, Greek, Latin and Runic. His father is also English," Corin answered and a slightly anxious look crossed his face for a second, "but Maurice is deaf, that necklace translates what we're seeing into words around us that he can read. He just has to be looking at you and using the necklace at the time so be aware of that."

"It's a pleasure to meet the father of my closest friend, Professor Hagrid," Maurice spoke up in surprisingly perfect English as he gave a slight bow, straightening back up and putting his hand back on the necklace that glowed blue again the moment he touched it, "thank you for having me for the Christmas Holidays."

"O' course," Professor Hagrid offered awkwardly but gave the boy a warm smile nonetheless, "are yer sure yer family don't mind not havin' yer fer Christmas?"

"Father believes education is the most important thing," Maurice answered somewhat stiffly after a moment's pause, "he would have just had me stay in Beauxbatons over the holidays to carry on with my studies anyway. I shall be attending Hogwarts next year though so he thought it was acceptable for me to visit the school now to prepare."

"Oh. Well... righ'... well let's get yer inside 'cause its freezin' ou' here," Professor Hagrid said, not seeming sure of what to say to that, "this is where yer'll be sleepin', now it'll be a bit cramped bu-"

"Father!" Corin burst out, "you can't be serious?! There's barely enough room for just the two of us with the two dogs there as well, let alone all three of us, we may as well just stay in Marius' broom closet!"

"It's not a broom closest, its my room," Calderon protested and Scorpius realized he'd been taking out the boys' things while they'd been talking, it hovered around him in readiness but Corin just ignored him.

"It's not acceptable father! We should just go back to Beauxbatons."

"Err... well... err..." Professor Hagrid stammered looking extremely hurt and unsure of what to do.

"How about we make one of the unused classrooms up into a bedroom?" Calderon offered with an incredibly neutral expression, Corin's anger seemed to fade and Professor Hagrid looked relieved, "plenty of space for both of you and you still get to spend the holidays with your dad, which is of course why you're here after all."

"Oui, that's acceptable," Corin commented calming down.

Scorpius wasn't sure what he'd been expecting but he couldn't help but take a dislike to Professor Hagrid's son, he liked the professor but his son didn't seem to take after him much. He wasn't sure what to make of Maurice, the deaf boy's eyes were just darting around them to take in the conversation but his expression remained perfectly neutral and he said nothing.

It took a few moments of discussion to decide what to do, Scorpius could tell that Professor Hagrid was dying to spend some time with his son but Corin wanted to get their rooms set up, now. The professor seemed afraid of going against his sons wishes in case Corin decided to leave so that was where they went, Professor Hagrid being forced to stay behind and see to the horses while the rest of them went to set up the room. Calderon didn't look very approving of this, red lights danced around him but he went along with it anyway. He walked beside Calderon while the two boys from France walked behind, making strange gestures with their hands to each other for some reason, Scorpius wondered it was some complicated French way of giving them the finger.

When they got to the empty classroom they started changing it up, Calderon had him moving the majority of the spare chairs and desks to the walls while he turned the others into beds. Scorpius was surprised when both Maurice and Corin whipped out wands to start moving the desks to the side with him, surprised that ten year olds could use magic like that as well the fact that they did help because he'd gotten the impression that they were the kind of stuck up children who expected things to be done for them and to always get their way.

"Surprised?" Corin wondered with a smug smirk when he noticed the look on Scorpius' face, "in Beauxbatons we start learning magic at eight, its much more effective I think."

Corin went on to brag about how amazing Beauxbatons was and how amazing his mother was as headmistress while they fixed up the room, Scorpius resisted the urge to say that it wouldn't take much to be better than Varanian and to ask why Maurice was coming to Hogwarts if Beauxbatons was so great. Calderon conjured spare bedding for them to make up the beds while the visitors looked out of the windows to see the view they would have, gesturing to each other with their hands again. He was really getting tempted to ask them about what it meant as Calderon started transfiguring the desks and chairs at the wall into drawers for the boys things, Corin and Maurice were packing their things away when Professor Hagrid returned.

"Lookin' good," Professor Hagrid offered brightly and Corin seemed to resist the desire to roll his eyes, "wan' t' come back t' me hut fer some food? Yer probably starved after such a long trip."

"Its not that far, look at a map sometime. England and France aren't too far apart," Corin muttered but the professor was still by the door and not close enough to hear it, Calderon heard though and shot the boy a warning look, Corin cleared his throat and spoke up, "actually father, we were going to give Maurice a tour of the castle and we wanted to dine in the Great Hall with Scor as we're getting along so well."

"What?!" Scorpius exclaimed, it was the first he'd heard of it and Corin gave him a pleading look before looking back to his father.

"Please father, I know it may be too much to ask to free him for his detention but it would really mean a lot to me. I don't make friends easy and if I am to come to Hogwarts next year then it would be good to have an older friend who I could turn to."

"If yer come t' Hogwarts?" Professor Hagrid repeated.

"Oui, I have been thinking about it a lot lately. I think it would be good to come here, I really don't get to see enough of you back home and Hogwarts is one of the best schools of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the world."

Professor Hagrid looked stunned for a moment before his face was split by a smile as he marched over and embraced his son, picking him up off the ground he hugged him so tightly and ruffling his hair when he put him back down, blurting out how happy he was to hear that. There was a spark of irritation in his eyes but a fake smile clung to his face as he straightened out his clothes and hair, Scorpius exchanged a look with Calderon who seemed to see through Corin's manipulation as well. Maurice's expression remained completely neutral.

"So is it alright, father? Its only for a day, we still have the whole holiday," Corin wondered and Professor Hagrid turned to Calderon as he spoke.

"Would tha' be alrigh' with you?"

"Its up to Scor," Calderon said calmly and all eyes in the room were suddenly on him.

Scorpius thought about it very hard for a moment, he'd about to say no on instinct because he didn't like Corin and they hadn't been getting along but he hesitated. Professor Hagrid looked so happy, Corin looked so desperate but his eyes found Maurice. The deaf boy was apparently capable of reading runic, the language of the blood rune book. If he went along with their lie then he could ask for a translation in return, logically it was fair even if it felt slightly shady but it was the perfect opportunity to understand it and the boys couldn't say anything about it. He just hoped that Corin hadn't been exaggerating his friend's ability.

"Yes," Scorpius said finally, "I'd like to do it."

"Fine," Calderon sighed and Corin beamed as he started to head to the exit, Calderon grabbed his arm and whispered something to him. Corin looked sulky but nodded and Calderon let him go, he said goodbye to his father before leaving with Scorpius and Maurice.

"Thank you," Corin offered gratefully when they were a few corridors away, "the last thing I want is to be cooped up in that hut getting slobbered on by the dogs and listening to my boring father, you understand?"

"Your father is a great man," Scorpius snapped defensively, "he's not boring and you should be nicer to him, you certainly shouldn't manipulate him like that."

"Eugh you sound like Marius. And its not really manipulating him, you make it sound like I just convinced him to jump off a cliff or something! I do want to come to Hogwarts, it just has nothing to do with him and I really will see him all break."

"You just want to come to stay with your friend?"

"Exactly!"

"Wait," Maurice spoke up and looked between them with his hand on his necklace again, stopping and they stopped with him, "why did go along with Corin's plan then?"

"I wanted a favor," Scorpius said and both boys immediately looked interested, "can you really read runes?"

"Of course, my father sent me to a special magical boarding school when I was two. They don't give you wands until you're seven but they teach you the languages, magical theory, magical history and things like that. Before I left to go to Beauxbatons. Want something translated, do you?"

"Look whose being manipulative now," Corin stated with a smirk and a raised eyebrow, "you know, maybe you're not so bad after all."

"Maybe I'm not so bad?" Scorpius wondered with a raised eyebrow.

"You are a Malfoy and you did get saddled with enough detentions to make you Marius' assistant. What did you do anyway?"

"I'll tell you when I get the book."

Corin seemed positively bounding with excitement at what secret rune book needed to be translated, Maurice was much more contained but his neutral expression was slightly less neutral than it had been before. They did tour the castle first to give Maurice a lay of the land, Corin had been to Hogwarts so he already knew his way around, before they stopped at the entrance to Gryffindor Tower so he could quickly retrieve the book and return to the boys, handing it to Maurice who flicked through it for a moment.

Corin suggesting that they return to the room they'd been staying in until dinner which they did, they didn't actually talk much as they walked because - as Corin pointed out - it was harder for Maurice to read moving words and it picked up on other people's conversations as they passed, it wasn't exactly a perfect substitute for hearing. That and it required Maurice's energy, magic and concentration to work. Corin also told him that the hand gestures was called 'sign language' which was talking with your hands, a muggle invention that Maurice's parents had used before he'd gotten the necklace and learned to speak properly, Corin had taken the time to learn it because it was less taxing for Maurice. Scorpius thought it was a nice thing to do for a friend, Corin couldn't be all bad despite the way he acted around his father.

Calderon had been good enough to make the remaining desks and chairs into incredibly comfortable couches and armchairs, they settled themselves around comfortably. Maurice had been flicking through the book the whole time they'd been walking and put his hand on the amulet as soon as they were seated.

"So blood runes," Maurice started and Scorpius started to regret his decision in his desperation to understand, the two ten year olds would be privy to all the information too but at least he knew that Maurice had to be able to understand runes to some degree to realize it was about that, "any particular reason you're interested?"

"Can't you just translate it without asking questions? Or telling anyone," Scorpius complained and Maurice raised an eyebrow.

"Of course but I am curious."

"Well then just be curious."

"Don't they teach you to study runes at this school?"

Scorpius started to explain about it being an elective subject for third years and up, the boys interest was immediately piqued as they questioned him about the subjects and life at Hogwarts. He told them about his lessons and what he knew about the elective subjects, OWLs, NEWTs and the teachers who taught them which fascinated them as they compared how things were different in France in England, Maurice and Corin telling him about their own lessons in Beauxbatons, teachers and the way it worked in France. It was actually a lot more interesting when Corin was speaking objectively rather than bragging, when he did exaggerate Maurice was quick to call him on it now that he was paying attention to the conversation. Scorpius was really surprised, Corin was a lot nicer than he had been earlier and Maurice was alright.

"Hey, you gonna come eat or what?" Calderon called with a whistle from the door. Scorpius was reminded of Maurice's deafness by his complete lack of reaction, he only stopped talking when Corin made some hand gestures.

"Yeah, we're coming now," Corin called and the trio headed to dinner with Calderon.

Scorpius was reminded of Corin's weird aversion to his dad when Professor Hagrid waved frantically from the teacher's table, Corin visibly cringed and his return smile was forced. He led them to the Gryffindor table where Michael waved them over, Rose was still glaring, Abby and Albus were still giving him the cold shoulder although they looked at the newcomers with interest.

"I am Corin Jean-Beau Killian Gaspard Harry Romeo Maxime-Hagrid," Corin introduced himself grandly as he sat down, "this is my close friend Maurice Rivers and my new friend Scorpius Malfoy. And you people are?"

Scorpius sat down as his friends - or former friends, as Rose was quick to point out - and Corin's look of disdain returned, Michael disagreed with her though. Rose, Abby and Albus made an effort to be nice but Corin but he didn't seem interested in them, gazing at the teacher's table instead.

"Why isn't Marius sitting down?" Corin questioned scowling, "he's just standing beside Varanian and not getting to eat."

"He always does," Scorpius pointed out with a shrug.

"Well that's kind of mean, isn't it?"

"I know right?"

"Whose the new man being bored by Rivers?"

"That's Professor Ashain, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher I told you about."

"Ah right," Corin nodded and turned back to the table, it made Scorpius think of something and he turned to Maurice who had one hand on the necklace and the other holding a fork.

"Are you any relation to Rivers? Aubrey is his first name and he has a twin sister named Audrey."

"I don't know," Maurice answered with a shrug, "my father doesn't like talking about his family. In his words, 'my siblings are deadbeats and my parents are just dead. Do not ask me about it again.'"

"What's your father's name?"

"Roman Rivers," Corin said stiffly and stabbed his chicken with enough force to crack the plate, "Maman de Merlin! Stupid breakable plates."

"Not a fan?" Michael wondered with a raised eyebrow as Maurice got out his wand, muttering a spell that fixed the plate, Rose's eyes boggled. When Corin looked back up his eyes glittering darkly.

"No."

"My father's alright," Maurice complained, "I don't hate your dad."

"I don't hate your dad either. I just think he's evil. And blood quills should be banned and burned in hell for all eternity."

"There's nothing wrong with blood quills or my father."

"Everything is wrong with blood quills! And he threatens to disown you if you fail every time there's a test coming up."

"Blood quills are barbaric!" Rose protested in agreement and Maurice looked at her darkly.

"Its motivation, Corin, I've told you. I'm deaf so he has to be harder on me or I'll fail my father, my family and myself," Maurice said with a note of finality in his voice as he turned to Scorpius, "you never told us why you got those detentions."

It was a very obvious attempt to change the subject but Scorpius obliged, he didn't like being in the middle of people arguing and the mention of blood quills got him wondering why Maurice continued to wear the fingerless gloves. Corin and Maurice looked oddly impressed as he told them about what had happened with his class, Corin grinned.

"That's awesome. Apart from the injuring people, of course. But you are seriously powerful!" Corin burst out excitedly, "I wish I could do that. Apart from the injuring people, of course. But its still cool!"

"Can I see your wand?" Maurice asked politely and Scorpius reluctantly handed it to him, "what make is it?"

"Redwood, thirteen inches with Thestral tail hair," Scorpius told him and for some reason both Albus and Rose looked stunned.

"Interesting. You know Thestrals can only be seen by people who've seen death so these wands can only be used by people who've seen death? Tell me, have you seen death?" Maurice questioned with the first smile that Scorpius had seen on him, it was a cold smile. Scorpius said nothing, "I'll take that as a yes. Do you know what happens if someone tries to use a Thestral tail hair wand if they haven't? They die."

"Professor Ashain used my wand before just fine."

"And has he ever seen someone die?"

"Well yes."

"Exactly."

"That's ridiculous and wrong," Rose complained irritably folding her arms crossly.

"Is that so?"

"Yes!"

"Have you seen death?"

"No!"

"Alright then," Maurice said and his smile widened as he offered the wand to Rose, "prove it then. Use the wand. Say a spell."

"Fine," Rose snapped as she snatched Scorpius' wand, he wondered if he should do something as she held it in her grip but no words crossed her lips. Maurice took out his own wand and aimed it at her goblet.

"Glacio," Maurice muttered and the water in her goblet to ice immediately, he pocketed his wand once more, "does the know-it-all not know any spells? Solvo will fix that, its a really simple spell. I'm curious as to whether it will work before or after you die, or just not at all."

Rose bit her lip and the wand trembled in her hand, the others were all looking with the same unsure expression that Scorpius was sure he had on his face. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to work out whether she was willing to risk her life over something she had seemed so sure about it. Sweat glistened on her forehead and finally she lowered the wand, Maurice snatched it from her in an instant and didn't hesitate as he aimed it at the goblet.

"Solvo."

They all jumped in surprise but Maurice continued breathing, they glanced back to goblet and watched a word appearing in the ice: COWARD. The ice hissed and melted back into the goblet, Rose tore her eyes from it to look back at Maurice whose expression had gone back to being neutral. She hastily left the table, leaving before desert and with some food left on her plate, Albus and Abby both rose but only Abby went after her. Maurice tossed Scorpius' wand back to him, Scorpius caught it easily and thumbed the handle gently. Wondering whether Maurice had seen death, had been lying or just had been brave enough to test the theory. Corin promptly asked him excitedly but the deaf boy just winked and gestured something with his hands, Corin grinned.

"We should go back to our room," Maurice said as the deserts appeared on the table, "deserts are for people who don't care about their health."

"Oui. Are you coming, Scor?" Corin wondered and Scorpius shook his head, "see you tomorrow then. Bonne nuit."

Scorpius said his goodbyes and the two younger boys left, signing to each other cheerfully as they walked. He couldn't help but feel awkwardly envious, they had had a disagreement but left seeming to have forgiven each other. He wished his friends were forgiving like that. He didn't feel much like eating desert though, Albus didn't seem to either and Michael was eating his ice cream very slowly. He decided he would go to bed after all, he hesitated slightly as he got up to leave.

"Oh and thanks by the way, you know for looking out for me last night, Albus. You didn't have to do that," Scorpius told him, "and I really am sorry."

"S'okay," Albus muttered as he also got up, "think I'll head to bed too."

"Ang m!" Michael said intelligibly through a mouthful of ice cream, scoffing down what was left and wincing as he jumped up to follow them, "ik cweam hegake."

"No idea what you're saying."

"Ice cream headache," Michael corrected as he finished the food and they headed back to the dormitory, Scorpius saw that his drapes had been replaced from earlier when he'd gotten the blood rune book. Michael headed to the bathroom, leaving Albus and Scorpius alone with each other. Albus sighed heavily.

"Varanian offered us a choice," Albus told him quietly, "he said he would erase our memories of the detentions if we wanted or we could just keep our mouths shut. Nott chose to lose his memory, Varanian used a spell on him and it worked completely, gave him ten points for Slytherin too. We refused because you know we were planning on telling him, he pointed out that Michael was staying over the holidays. He said that you'd warned him about the letter before that if we tried that again or told on him then he'd kill Michael, he has special wards in place so that he knows if someone enters or leaves the school grounds so he'd know if anyone was coming from him and that he'd have time to kill Michael before he was arrested. He said that you'd probably told us what he'd almost done so we should know he was capable of murder. Don't tell Michael, I don't want him to feel bad that we're not talking just to protect him."