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

14. Chapter 14: First Quarter

Parts (65-68)

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I

Chapter 14

First Quarter

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Part 1: Back to School

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Scorpius was glad to be going back to Hogwarts even more after the incident with his grandfather. Not that he'd say that. He made sure he was already changed into his uniform before they left for Platform Nine and Three Quarters, saying goodbye to his grandparents before they left. His parents went with him to the Platform to see him off, his father not comfortable hugging him in public again but he did get a pat on the back and several extra hugs from his mother to make up for it. Then he was back on the Hogwarts Express alone, he went to the staff compartment but there was only two Aurors he didn't recognize there but no Calderon.

"Lost, kid?" one of the Aurors said gruffly.

"Erm... Pardon, I was wondering where Calderon was?" Scorpius asked politely.

"Who?"

"Varanian's assistant," the other Auror answered for him, "and no, he's not here. We're taking over guarding the train, can do it far better than a lanky lunatic."

"I doubt it," Scorpius muttered irritably under his breath, how dare they underestimate Calderon, "well thanks. I'll go now."

Scorpius closed the door back feeling saddened that it was his first time on the Hogwarts Express without Calderon, he probably wouldn't get to talk to him until tomorrow. What was he supposed to do now? Did you just wonder around aimlessly trying to find an empty compartment? He went up the train and peered into the compartments, all of them seemed taken and he didn't see any of his friends or people he at least knew. He was relieved when he came to a seemingly empty one and he gratefully went in, slumping into the seat beside the window and staring out into the foggy land outside.

"Am I really that invisible?" a voice questioned and Scorpius jumped, glancing back to the compartment to see Dominique Weasley was sitting in the corner of the seat opposite him. Sitting sideways on it so she was facing the direction of the window with her feet on the seat, hugging her knees to her chest so she didn't take up a lot of space.

"I'm really sorry, I didn't notice you from that angle," Scorpius apologized and stood to leave, "sorry to bother you."

"You can stay if you want, you did let me sit with you once before," Dom shrugged disinterestedly and Scorpius hesitated, he supposed it was better to stay in case he couldn't find anywhere else and she'd changed her mind by then, hopefully it would be alright.

"Thanks," Scorpius offered as he went back to his seat, "and I'm sorry again."

"Its okay, why would anyone notice the runt of the Delacour-Weasley litter?"

"What?"

"Y'know, my brother and sister are perfect, pretty, popular and good at things. And then there's me. Dumb, Ugly, useless me."

"I'm sure you're not that bad, everyone has different talents and no one's useless. Or dumb or ugly."

"Says the pretty, smart boy who beat James to Seeker and beats Rose at half her classes."

"I'm not that great. And I'm not pretty. And any of that doesn't make what I said any less true."

"Well sure, you're going to be nice to me just because I'm letting you sit in the compartment. Why aren't you sitting with your friends anyway?"

"Couldn't find them," Scorpius offered, it wasn't a total lie as he hadn't come across them yet on the train but he'd really rather sit where he was. He could only assume Rose and Albus were still mad at him so he doubted he'd be allowed sit with them anyway, even if he did it would be awkward and Molly was probably sitting with her own age friends so he'd be out of place there too, "I've only ever sat with Calderon before on this train anyway but he's not here."

"I know. There's Aurors instead to guard the train. Molly went to see if she could ask them why."

"Molly's here?" Scorpius wondered feeling a surge of joy that maybe the journey wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Yep. You should see the look on your face when I mentioned Molly," Dom answered and tilted her head to look at him oddly but she didn't give him an explanation or a chance to ask why as she spoke again, "is Varanian still a psycho?"

"Far as I know."

"You know I tried to talk to him before the end of term when I passed him in the corridor, he called me 'Pom' then looked angry when I said that wasn't my name but not angry at me but he just looked furious."

"He's bad with names."

"He's never forgotten mine before, like I said he was my favorite teacher and Defense Against the Dark Arts is my favorite subject. But he didn't attack you again, right? I thought of saying something but I don't really want him to go to jail and I haven't seen anyone else hurt by the Acutus Curse. Except for Calderon. But I figure he can take care of himself. But I would have had to say something if he was hurting anyone else."

"He hasn't attacked me since," Scorpius lied and Dom seemed to buy it, "is the Acutus Curse what he used on me then?"

"Yep. Acuta is the incantation, pronounced uK-oot-uh. Whatever direction you slash your wand is direction that the slash happens in, its only as short or as long as your wand movement is. How strong it is also depends on how much power you put into the spell. Like this, Acuta! Acuta!" Dom said, abruptly she had her wand out in the blink of an eye and used the spell against the wall opposite, leaving a slight indentation leading upwards towards the right - the direction she'd moved her wand - but the second time she moved it the opposite direction over the first - making a cross shape - and seemed to move her wrist more forcefully, the second mark was much deeper than the first, "see? The second time I meant it more so it was worse, also notice the directionality?"

"Yeah."

"So they said- hey Scorpius," Molly changed what she was talking about when she saw him and grinned as she sat opposite him, "how are you? How was your holiday? Did I thank you for my charm bracelet yet? Its so awesome and you got the owl to be just like Hopper!"

"What did the Aurors say?" Dom interjected before he could attempt an answer.

"The short answer is from the Shadows. The long answer includes a lecture on why children shouldn't be so nosy."

"Bummer."

Molly turned to him and they talked for awhile about their holidays, he told her about his but hers apparently hadn't been good because of Rivers staying with them. He'd been driving them all mad with the exception of her sister - Lucy - who oddly adored him, Molly said that was a good thing because she could usually just leave him droning on to Lucy who hung off of his every word. She also mentioned having to console him every day after Christmas when he sobbed about being old, ugly and worthless because Dom's aunt's fiance - named Cel - had pretended he had gray hairs and looked fifty, Rivers refused to believe the guy had been dishonest instead believing them to be lying to try make him feel better. From that the conversation and everyone's mood darkened as Cel had been the captured Auror who'd managed to escape too late to warn about the Shadows trying to attack Azkaban, Dom joined the conversation then and they also talked about Azkaban just like the adults had. It only ceased when Dom said she needed the toilet and left them alone, Molly stared out the window with an anxious expression.

"I'm sure it'll be okay, Molly," Scorpius offered comfortingly, "they'll get the Shadow Master and they caught the prisoners once before, if they're not already dead then I'm sure they'll catch them again. And I'm sure Cel will be fine, he's not fatally injured or anything."

"Its not that," Molly sighed and bit her lip, "I can't talk about it in front of Dom in case she tells my parents, I wanted to sit with her though as she is my cousin and I feel bad for her sitting here all alone without any friends. My other friends would think I'm nuts."

"Then what? You can tell me anything, I won't think you're nuts," Scorpius prompted gently and for a long moment he thought she wasn't going to answer, "I mean you don't have to tell me if you don't want to but maybe you'll feel better for talking about it, I just want to help, you're my friend and friends are there for each other."

"Okay... I had... I had a dream about the attack on Azkaban."

"Its on your mind that much?"

"No, Scorpius, I had this dream before the attack on Azkaban," Molly explained worried, taking out her beautiful white wand and Scorpius' mind jumped back to the night in the hospital wing when she'd dreamed about the obelisk being in a room that sounded like the Chamber of Secrets, "it was at Christmas, I remember thinking what a weird dream for Christmas so I remember it was before. I dreamed of shadows covering everywhere and it exploding, red cracks and them boom. There was nothing left but the Shadows' symbol, giant and in fire like it is... Do you know what my wand's made of?"

"No."

"Its eleven inches, phoenix feather core and silver lime wood. Do you know what silver lime has a reputation for?"

"No."

"For being used by those skilled in Legilimency and/or Seers. There's a Seer on the Rivers' side of the family and saying I'm good at Diviniation is an understatement, I've actually deliberately tried to fail at it and I still succeed. What if I'm a Seer? What if trying to do Divination I've unlocked something inside deep inside myself, opened my Inner Eye or something?"

"Well... what if you have? Its rare and stuff, maybe its a good thing?" Scorpius offered, not sure what he was supposed to say to that.

"I don't want to be a Seer! I kind of like the future being a surprise, I don't want to know what's going to happen," Molly burst out looking upset, "and I don't want the responsibility. I keep thinking, what if I had said something about my dream? Could I have stopped it? Is it my fault?"

"I... kinda know you feel," Scorpius heard himself saying before he could stop himself, "I had a dream... before Christmas and... in my dream a boy warned me that Azkaban was in danger, there was going to be an attack and I should warn someone but be careful because there was a spy. But I didn't... I didn't say anything because it was just a dream but I still feel bad. I don't think there's anything magical about it, especially since both of us had different experiences about the same thing. We probably heard or saw something that didn't make sense at the time but our subconsciouses realized that it meant Azkaban was in danger so... our dreams tried to warn us and we both didn't realize it. That makes sense right?"

"Yeah," Molly muttered and smiled slightly, he smiled weakly back and slapped away a thought of disagreement that it didn't explain everything, "it kinda does, its logical, although I don't think subconsciouses is a word, I like that way better than the Seer thing. I wonder what could've tipped us off that we didn't realize?"

"I don't know."

"I'm back," Dom announced deadpan and sat back down beside her cousin, ending the discussion about it.

Molly's mind seemed actually put at ease by what he'd said and she suggested they play Exploding Snap to pass the time, it actually did do well to take their minds off everything. He asked about Quidditch - that always got Molly cheerful, he liked when she was happy - and Molly excitedly started talking about not being to wait to get back in the air, as well as how amazing the Cloudcutter he'd bought Albus flew as. Time flew by faster than he'd thought and he actually enjoyed the train trip back, mostly anyway, he still kept half-expecting something bad to happen like it had when he'd first come to Hogwarts and the Aurors walking by the doors occasionally seemed slightly ominous. Although he supposed he wouldn't know even if it did as he wasn't with Calderon, he was just another student out of the loop. The train came to a stop and they left the train with the rest of the rabble, it was on the windy platform that he spotted his other friends just in time before Albus threw his arms around him. Scorpius blinked in shock at the sudden hug.

"I'm sorry that I was such a jerk to you," Albus told him as he let him go, "I feel awful about it. I've been dying to apologize for most of the holiday but I wanted to do it in person, some things deserve an apology in person. Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm just... surprised," Scorpius said slowly, "did you just hug me?"

"Yes he did," Abby laughed as did Albus, Rose's expression was neutral, "I'm sorry too, like I said in my letter. And thank you so much for my presents, you're such a generous person."

"Well you're my friends and... you know... I... I care about you. Even if you're mad at me because I don't tell you everything," Scorpius told them nervously staring at the ground, "it doesn't mean I don't care."

"So all is forgiven," Dom announced and Scorpius nearly jumped again, he'd almost forgotten about Dom and Molly being with him, "now let's go to the feast before we freeze to death in this wind!"

There was no argument as the six of them shared a carriage together, Scorpius was hoping that Calderon would have been helping out the Porters with the luggage or something but he didn't see the assistant. He petted the Thestral, it nuzzled his hand appreciatively and he smiled at it as he got into the carriage last and it carried them away. It was only then he realized that his friends were looking at him like he was mad.

"What?" Scorpius wondered, "I like the Thestrals."

"Oh yeah... they pull the carriages," Albus said and glanced in the direction of the Thestrals, "I can't see them, its really just like there's nothing pulling it."

"You can't see them? It's just right there, its alive and breathing and pulling us. It nuzzled my hand, they're really quite gentle I think."

"I don't see anything, sorry."

"Can none of you see them?"

"Nope," Dom commented.

"No," Abby said.

"I can't," Rose added.

"Sorry Scorpius, I don't see them either," Molly offered.

"Its okay," Scorpius muttered with a shrug, "just when I was going, Calderon, Varanian and Michael all seemed like they could see them... probably better that you can't I guess. Its just... I like them, they're... special."

"I wish I could see them," Dom sighed.

"I don't. They're creepy," Rose said stiffly, "you can only see them if you've seen someone die. Who have you seen die then, Scorpius?"

"Erm... just some guy," Scorpius answered awkwardly, hoping she wouldn't press it.

"You just watched some random guy die?"

"Erm... yes."

"How did he die?"

"I don't know. He just dropped dead," Scorpius told them truthfully, he really wasn't sure how he'd managed to kill Marvin. Images of that flooded his mind and he gripped his scarred wrist tightly as he tried to block it out again. Please drop it Rose, he begged silently.

"He just dropped dead? That's a bit strange isn't it?"

"I don't know, he just died," Scorpius whispered and squeezed his eyes shut against the memories threatening to engulf him.

"What did he look like? What was his name? Maybe his obituary was in the paper," Rose continued pressing, either obliviously or deliberately trying to upset him, "who was he?"

"Rose!" Molly snapped, "can't you see its bothering him? Shut up! Are you okay, Scor?"

Scorpius nodded but didn't open his eyes for a minute, almost afraid that if he did the memory of Marvin's death would get out. When he did the first thing was Albus' emerald eyes as his friend was sitting opposite him, the same color as Marvin's. He shivered and shifted his head away, his eyes found the Thestrals and didn't leave them for the rest of the awkward journey, he didn't really pay attention to the sparse conversation.

They made it back to the Hogwarts and went straight to the Great Hall, familiarity was comforting and it was very not-muggle. He liked that. He spotted Michael easily, sitting alone near the end with his head resting on his hand. Dom sat down nearer the entrance end of the table, Molly's friends called her over but as he said bye she pulled him to one side first.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Molly asked gently and he met her beautiful sky blue eyes, she looked so concerned.

"Yeah," Scorpius lied.

"You can tell me anything, I won't think you're nuts," Molly told him and he realized those were his words, "you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, now might not be the best time anyway but maybe you'll feel better for talking about it if you're ready, I just want to help, you're my friend and friends are there for each other."

"Thanks," he offered, he couldn't help but smile weakly even though he could never tell her about Marvin, "just bad memories is all. I'll be fine."

"Alright," Molly said and returned the smile slightly as she patted his shoulder comfortingly, "but if you need anything then I'm here for you, okay?"

He nodded and they went their separate ways, his other friends were already sitting down at the table with Michael. Michael looked exhausted but seemed cheerful enough as he thanked the four of them repeatedly for the presents they'd gotten him, Scorpius managed to keep his smile, he was glad to see Michael again. Rose still seemed a bit weird with him though but for the most part he tried to ignore it. The feast appeared and they started to eat, Michael asked them about their holidays and Abby answered first, starting to talk about how even though they hadn't got much and had lost pretty everything in the attack, it had been kind of fun to be able to decorate her room from scratch.

Scorpius was listening as he nibbled at his food but his gaze drifted to the staff table, Varanian currently had shaggy black hair streaked with midnight blue highlights and Calderon stood beside him as usual. He noticed the fresh welt on the assistant's cheek immediately and shot a burning glare to Varanian even though the headmaster wasn't actually looking at him, Varanian was looking oddly smug though. He also noticed Calderon was wearing a necklace, he wondered if it was the one that he'd gotten him, aside from that he seemed the same although it was harder to tell from a distance. Rivers was back and was talking to - or rather at - Professor Ashain, who looked somewhere between exasperated and bored out of his mind. His arm was in a sling, Scorpius noticed, why was Professor Ashain's arm in a sling?!

"What happened to Professor Ashain?" Scorpius asked worriedly looking to Michael.

"He was attacked," Michael answered carefully, "him and Calderon, the rumors vary a lot on what actually happened though. There were Dementors involved and I think it was the Shadows too. Professor Ashain's shoulder was shattered by his attacker according to Varanian, it wouldn't heal so it has to heal the old muggle way of waiting. They fought off the attackers and got away or whatever though, Calderon seems okay now but he was really upset about it before. I'll tell you more about it in private."

Scorpius glanced back to the teacher's table worriedly, at least they seemed okay then. He was still worried, he wasn't sure if they classed as friends but he cared about Calderon and Professor Ashain, it bothered him to think that they had been attacked by people who had obliterated Azkaban while he'd been relaxing with his family. And Dementors, Calderon hated Dementors, Scorpius didn't blame him for being upset. Maybe Varanian wasn't so paranoid after all.

He was glad when they finally got to go to bed, Scorpius had pretty much lost his appetite and had only really been eating for the sake of it, he wanted to sleep so he could stop worrying and he just hoped the strange waking up for no reason would stop now that he was back at Hogwarts. They went back to the dormitory as usual, Scorpius feeling a mixture of anger at still being in the wrong house and relief for a familiar place. Angelo and Reuben were still quite cold to him but they chatted briefly to Albus as the ascended the stairs to bed.

"Just about get used to being alone and then everyone comes back!" Michael laughed as they got to their beds.

"You're okay right?" Albus asked before Scorpius could close the drapes, "no more burning things in your sleep?"

"I'm fine," Scorpius said firmly with a forced smile, "I can promise I didn't burn anything over the holidays. Not in my sleep anyway."

"Good. Goodnight then, night Michael."

Scorpius said his goodnights to his friends, glad that Albus didn't hate him anymore at least and to see Michael again. He was looking forward to the morning but unfortunately that didn't make it any easier to get to sleep though, he heard the sounds of sleeping and gentle snoring but continued to toss and turn himself. He was surprised to hear Michael's voice whisper.

"Are you still awake?"

"I am," Scorpius replied, not sure who his friend was talking to but no one else answered and a moment later he heard Michael getting out of bed and his drapes were pulled open, Michael handed him two book-shaped lumps, "what...?"

"Maurice gave me those to give to you. The blood rune book," Michael explained and Scorpius glanced down, he'd almost forgotten about them, "I thought I'd give them to you alone because you probably don't want anyone else to know."

"He really did it?"

"I guess so, I didn't read it."

"Thanks."

"No problem," Michael offered with a weak smile before he went back to his own bed, Scorpius noticed he'd closed all the drapes the same way Scorpius did.

"Are you okay?"

"Sure. I'm fine," Michael lied with a less convincing smile as he closed the final drape.

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Part 2: The Crush

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Scorpius couldn't sleep that night, instead he stayed up reading Maurice's translation of the blood rune book, some of it was interesting and some of it was just an explanation of the runes and their meaning. He was tempted to skip those parts but decided it was best to read it all, it wasn't like he was going to get it all finished in one night anyway. They went to breakfast really early on the second day when hardly anyone was around, no one was near them and Michael told them about what he'd overheard with Varanian and Calderon. Scorpius still hated Varanian - a lot - but he was glad that Calderon hadn't quit, Hogwarts wasn't the same without him. All eyes widened worriedly and turned on him when Michael added that Calderon had mentioned Varanian had tried to kill him.

"Is that related to how he got the rune on his hand?" Albus wondered looking anxious, "Varanian tried to kill him?"

"Maybe," Scorpius mumbled staring into his foul-tasting porridge, "why do you assume I know? They've known each other for twenty years, I've only known them for months so you know there's a lot of stuff I don't know about them. He could have tried to kill Calderon lots of times."

"Look," Abby said and glanced around, lowering her voice, "if Varanian tried to kill Calderon then he's capable of murder which means his threats aren't so idle, the circumstances are important so we know whether its likely he's going to start killing people... I don't want to put my dad at risk or anyone but if there's lives at stake then... then we have to do something no matter how bad the consequences will be for us."

"He won't do it again, it was... unusual circumstances. He can't do it again because he doesn't have the thing that he needs to do the killing with."

"That's so helpful," Rose snapped sarcastically.

"I don't think he'd kill unless he had good reason to. Or at least what he thinks is a good reason anyway and was desperate like he was before, usually he's more careful. I think we'll be okay as long as we don't cross him until we can think of a way to get him arrested without anyone else suffering."

They couldn't think of anything to add to that. Conversations went back to lessons, they all really had different lessons they preferred and were good at. Scorpius' favorite two subjects were Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts which he was the star pupil in both - he was also the best at Charms but didn't enjoy it after the incident, Albus had developed a real talent for potions and still loved flying - even though he wasn't particularly talented, Abby excelled at Herbology as she'd been helping her dad in the garden since she was a tot and also loved Charms, Rose liked Astronomy and History of Magic because they were all theory - although a Ravenclaw boy continued to beat her to the top spot and Michael just loved all the subjects even though he wasn't very good at the practical or the theory. Although if you talked to him he understood it, very well even but somehow it just got lost when he tried to write it down.

Scorpius liked being back in lessons, quite a few people had problems getting back into the swing of using practical magic again after not being able to use it or practice over the holidays. Scorpius didn't though, if anything not using magic had made him more fired up to use it, he hoped that was why he'd accidentally set his bed on fire with his grandfather on it anyway. Michael also didn't have the problem so in comparison to everyone else he was actually good for once, although he didn't like Defense Against the Dark Arts when Professor Ashain announced they'd be doing about treating werewolf bites.

"Would think you'd like it," Albus commented from Michael's other side, "it being slightly to do with healing at all."

"Werewolves kinda... terrify me slightly," Michael admitted and laughed nervously, "I saw a scary movie with one once when I was younger, I was terrified but my mum assured me that they didn't exist and it was all make-believe. Couldn't believe it when I found out they were actually real after all!"

"Is there any questions?" Professor Ashain added as he finished what he'd been saying about werewolf bites, surprisingly more than half the class put their hands into the air, "err... okay, Mr Nott?"

"Is it true you you and Calderon were attacked by an army of Shadows?" Nott asked and Scorpius noticed Professor Ashain visibly forcing himself not to roll his eyes.

"No its not true. Miss Pewter?"

"Is it true your arm was injured when you were attacked by an army of Dementors?"

"Not an army, no. Mr Tear?"

"Is it true that Calderon obliterated the Dementors with his magic light?"

"No, its not. Miss Wood?"

"Is it true that-"

"Alright, that's enough of that, I'm not talking about what happened to me and Calderon. Does anyone have any questions that are actually relevant to this topic?" Professor Ashain interrupted looking exasperated and all the hands went down, Nott looked thoughtful for a moment before putting his hand up, "yes, Mr Nott?"

"Were you and Calderon attacked by werewolves?" Nott questioned, Professor Ashain did roll his eyes that time.

Scorpius felt bad for Professor Ashain but it seemed to be all the other students were talking about, either that or the Azkaban. He'd been going to try ask in private for his next detention with Professor Ashain what had happened because he thought that Professor Ashain might tell him since they were close, after that lesson he decided against it though. It was probably the last thing the professor wanted to talk about and Scorpius would rather keep a good relationship with Professor Ashain by respecting his privacy than know. He'd decided to not ask Calderon either considering how upset the assistant had been, he was still dying to see him. He was more glad than usual when the last lesson of the day - History of Magic - ended so he could see him.

Calderon was leaning against the wall at the bottom of the stairs waiting for him as usual with a bunch of floating lights, aside from the welt he looked his usual worn out self and Scorpius noticed he was wearing the dragon necklace. Calderon smiled when he saw him, Scorpius returned the smile and jumped over the last few steps to get to him faster. He threw his arms around the assistant and hugged him tightly, incredibly relieved that Calderon was alright. Mostly alright anyway, Scorpius noticed he seemed a bit withdrawn like he had been after his grandfather had upset him. He certainly wasn't going to ask his grandfather's stupid question when Calderon had nearly been killed over the holidays or lost his soul to Dementors or whatever had happened.

"Thank you, Scor," Calderon said as they went to get recently delivered parchment from the stores for some of the professors, "you know, for my necklace."

"Don't mention it," Scorpius shrugged it off, "glad you like it."

"I like dragons. First gift I ever got was a picture of a dragon, Ruby gave it to me for my twentieth birthday. It was one of the pictures on the wall in his hut, I always liked looking at it when I was in there and he gave it to me. I was helping him feed the Thestrals and he said about it being one of their birthdays and I said it was mine too, he was shocked I hadn't said anything and even more shocked that I'd never gotten a birthday present before. I told him I didn't mind but he still insisted and gave me the picture because he knew I liked it. He's always been good to me, Ruby has. I was so happy I cried... and made lights and fireworks happen, not on purpose of course. I was devastated when I accidentally destroyed it a few years later."

Scorpius tried to imagine what it was like to never have gotten a birthday present before or any gift, he hadn't gotten any while he was prisoner but every other year he had for his birthdays and Christmases and Easters and just because. Calderon's Death Eater parents were really mean to not give him any presents ever, then again he supposed they were evil. Death Eaters were evil, except the few that turned good. He would definitely try to Calderon a good birthday present.

"When is your birthday anyway?" Scorpius wondered as they magically carried the parchment, he'd gotten much better at using the levitation charm while in motion from practicing in his detentions, actually he'd unwittingly picked up a lot of hints and tips about magic from his detentions.

"June 6th," Calderon answered and Scorpius recognized the date.

"That's the day I got saved from the muggles. Your birthday must be lucky," Scorpius pointed out and Calderon laughed his maniacal high-pitched laughter but didn't give an explanation on why it amused him that his birthday was lucky, "so did you hear about Azkaban?"

"Who didn't?"

"What do you think?"

"I think that its sad people died, bad there's potentially an army of Death Eaters and criminals running around at the Shadow Master's command but good riddance to such a horrible, evil place. And glad the Dementors are gone."

"There were no Dementors in Azkaban anymore," Scorpius pointed out, not for the first time and Calderon muttered that he knew, not for the first time.

Things slipped back into routine surprisingly quickly, he managed to return the Blood Rune book the first week so he only had Maurice's very neat translation. Scorpius read it every night that first week and had finished by the weekend, using the wand-lighting charm for light to read by, the closed drapes meant it didn't bother the others in the dormitory. Some of it he already knew and it didn't answer all his questions, other parts were interesting and worrying.

He couldn't find out what happened to the person the orb was bound to if the orb was destroyed - it just mentioned it was very bad - nor could he find an explanation for why the orb had kept changing colors. According to the book when no one was touching it, it went to the color of the person's soul to whom it was bound or was 'as clear as glass' when bound to no one. If the person's soul became tainted after they'd bound themselves to it then it would change to that color but would stay that way when not in contact with anyone. That was the only thing Scorpius could find about changing colors, it shouldn't have been doing that when bound to Varanian. Although as the book mentioned, the magic hadn't been used since ancient times and a lot of things about them had become lost, knowledge of how to create them or repair them was gone, that was one of the reasons why the few left were so valuable.

He did discover that there was only four wards needed, there was a spell that conjured the ones in between - if you chose to do that, the less space between the wards the stronger the magic - and they ceased to exist after they'd sank into the ground but the imprint of magic remained as long as the real wards and obelisk were still set up. If you removed the obelisk from the area inside the wards that you wanted protected then the magic would be broken, you would need to dig up the wards and set it up all over again. Same went for one of the wards, the real ones anyway, if you removed a conjured one it would cease to exist but not break the spell. The real ones had to have been filled with blood before you could conjure the others, really you could start the spell then if you wanted but gaps could be penetrated if the enemy threw enough magic at it. The enemy could not penetrate where the conjured wards had been though, not without destroying the real wards and that was near impossible to do, the more conjured wards the more powerful the real ones.

The orb however could be removed from the area or destroyed without breaking the spell, you only needed the orb at the beginning when you set it up and at the end when you activated the obelisk, you didn't even need to use the same orb for both tasks or even the same person being bound to it. You did need the orb to activate it though, it could be in place uselessly for years but not working until you got an orb. If the Spellmaster - the name it gave to whoever was bound to the orb used in the spell - was a white soul then it would protect against all creatures and beings of darkness as well as any spells of attack against the Ward-line and anyone with a black soul, if they were a black soul then it would protect against all creatures and beings of light as well as any spells of attack against the Ward-line and anyone with a white soul, if they were a gray soul then it protected against whatever or whoever they wished to be protected against. The most worrying part was what Scorpius read about activating the obelisk, which activated the magical protection:

The Spellmaster need only make sure the Orb and Obelisk are in the same room when the spell is being activated, the Orb will rise automatically to its place upon the tip of the Obelisk. If no soul is bound to the Orb then it won't rise, the Obelisk won't even draw blood, it also won't work if the one bound to the Orb tries to be the Obelisk's Sacrifice. A gray soul must be the Obelisk's Sacrifice, the spell can be used to protect against good or evil so the Sacrifice must be neutral. If the Obelisk's Sacrifice is thoroughly willing to give up everything they hold dear the the greater good of protection then the protection is the most powerful and the Wardstone sacrifices may live if not already deceased, the willingness to sacrifice is more important than the actual sacrifice itself.

The Obelisk will drain its Sacrifice's blood, they will only live until the spell is completed, although it has been recorded that if the Obelisk is already partially filled with blood then the Obelisk's Sacrifice can survive it. Once activated three pulses of light will be released from the Orb, the same color as the Spellmaster's soul, each will travel to the Ward-line and once there the second will follow, then the third. The first pulse obliterates any previous magical protection already in place, including any previous Blood Rune magic. The second pulse puts up an invisible magical dome around the area, an impenetrable shield against the enemies of the Spellmaster if done correctly that also traps any enemies of the Spellmaster inside. The third pulse destroys any enemies trapped inside, without exception. When the third pulse reaches the Ward-line the spell is complete, the Obelisk's Sacrifice will die as will the Wardstone Sacrifice(s). While its impossible for any of the Sacrifices to stop the process themselves, it is possible for others to forcibly remove the Obelisk's Sacrifice before the spell is completed or only partially completed to spare lives. The protection will last until the blood magically drains from the Obelisk, this may take hours or years depending on how strong the protection is.

If Scorpius hadn't taken Varanian's wand and stopped the obelisk from killing Calderon then it would have killed not only Calderon but mostly likely his friends as well, not to mention Nott and supposedly Varanian - who had started activating the wards himself before it stopped working for him, the only explanation for that was that his soul had changed to gray or black after he'd started which meant Varanian had killed before, although the book mentioned there being other ways aside from murder to taint your soul gray or black but didn't say what and said it was exceedingly rare. He didn't think Varanian or Calderon knew any of that though.

He was really tempted to tell his friends, they were supposed to be trying to stop Varanian together. But on the other hand he didn't want to, he didn't want to betray Professor Ashain's trust by telling them about the orb or Calderon's by telling them about what happened with the obelisk. Even if he just gave them the book - which wasn't betraying anyone's trust - then they would know he was a gray soul, that he'd killed someone because of being unable to activate the wards. Best case scenario was they just stopped being friends with him because they wouldn't want to be friends with a murderer, worst case scenario was they told their parents and he joined Varanian in... wherever they were putting criminals without Azkaban. He was afraid of being arrested, afraid of being a prisoner again except it would be forever because murder was a life sentence. Sometimes it did make him feel bad about not saying anything about what he knew about the blood runes, Michael knew he had a book on them and hadn't told his friends or even tried to read it out of respect.

"Thank you," Scorpius told him one time when they were alone in the library that Saturday while the others were visiting Professor Hagrid for tea and he'd finished with his detention, "you know, for being so good about the blood rune book. The others would probably have flipped if they knew."

"I know," Michael nodded neutrally in agreement, "you're my friend, I trust you have a good reason for not saying anything or will tell us when you're ready or think its okay to or safe to or whatever. Everyone has their secrets."

"You're a good friend."

He wished he could say the same for Rose. As the week had worn on, he was even more sure that he wasn't imagining her being so cold towards him. It made things slightly awkward in their group of friends, Scorpius kept feeling Rose's glaring eyes burning into him whenever he wasn't looking, or even when he was looking. At least Abby and Albus had forgiven him and treated him normally again. It bothered him more and more over the next few weeks, it was a giant in any room that contained both of them but no one said anything about it and every time Scorpius tried to bring up it up, Rose denied that anything was wrong.

January was a pretty uneventful month or at least danger-wise as Scorpius still had classes, detentions and Quidditch practices to keep up with. He didn't hear the voice again or have those weird dreams, he did keep waking up for no reason though but it was happening less and less. Varanian remained good on not making his friends carry on with the wards and Scorpius hoped somewhere in the headmaster's evil insane mind that he'd realized it was a bad idea to use the blood runes. There were still mail delays but Varanian didn't injure anyone else, no fresh wound appeared on Calderon's face either. Calderon was actually worried about Varanian, the headmaster's headaches had returned with force. Scorpius wasn't one to relish in someone's pain - even if it was Varanian - but he wasn't particularly worried about the headmaster, as long as Varanian didn't make someone's life difficult or hurt or kill anyone else than he was pretty indifferent to what Varanian was going through.

February was upon them really quickly and it got him thinking about Quidditch, two days before Valentine's Day was a Saturday which meant the next Quidditch match was only two weeks away. It was Ravenclaw versus Slytherin so he wouldn't play. It was a month until he had to play, he started to feel really apprehensive about his second Quidditch match against Hufflepuff. He said as much to his friends after he was done with his detention and he joined them in the Common Room, most of the students were at Hogsmeade, even more so than usual for the love bug which Scorpius thought was stupid but at least they'd gotten the really good armchairs by the fire.

"You may be nervous," Albus commented and grinned, "but I'm excited, can't wait to see the next matches. You know I'm actually going to root for Slytherin, Ravenclaw won their game so it would be better for Gryffindor if they lost so they'd have less points."

"And because my brother's in Slytherin," Abby pointed out.

"That too, of course," Albus said too quickly as he pumped his fist into the air, "go Nick!"

"Thank you. He's actually really nervous at the moment."

"He can get nervous?" Scorpius wondered, recalling Nick blowing kisses to the audience after saving his fifth goal, that didn't seem like nervous behavior to him although he supposed maybe Nick could just be putting on an act or was alright once he got in the air.

"Of course he can. He's terrified his crush will reject him."

"I thought he had a girlfriend?"

"They broke up."

"Whose his crush?" Rose asked but Scorpius had lost interest, people were stupid to let themselves get so worked up over crushes and dating and all that nonsense.

"Your cousin, Molly."

"WHAT?!" Scorpius burst out and all four of them jumped in surprise as he jumped to his feet, "your brother likes Molly?! He can't like Molly! What is wrong with him?!"

"What's wrong with him liking Molly?" Abby wondered and Scorpius started pacing, he was suddenly feeling intensely energetic and furious at Nick.

"Because he can't! He... He's all wrong for her! He's so... cocky and arrogant and he was kissing another girl a few months ago, moved on pretty quick, don't you think?!"

"I think they'd be sweet together," Rose said with a smile as Abby scowled at Scorpius' reaction.

"No they wouldn't! He's the enemy!" Scorpius yelled and tried to understand why he had the suddenly overwhelming urge to punch Nick in the face, "he's a Slytherin! And not just a Slytherin but the Slytherin Keeper, that's like... that's like the anti-Molly! He's all wrong for her! He's so... not her type."

"Scorpius, do you... do you have a crush on Molly Weasley?" Michael asked and Scorpius was sure his face turned as red as the fire that suddenly blazed.

"NO!"

"Merlin's Valentine, you do have a crush on her," Abby gasped and put her hand to her mouth, her scowl replaced by a teasing smile, "you do talk about her, a lot."

"I do not!"

"You do!" Albus laughed, "Mr I'm-Not-Bothering-With-Girls has a crush."

"What part of I do not, aren't you getting?! We're just friends! No different than how I feel about you guys."

"Then why are you blushing?"

"I'm not! I mean I know I am but only because what you people are saying is so not true that its unbelievable," Scorpius snapped and crossed his arms, he didn't have a crush on Molly.

He knew he didn't. He would know if he had a crush on her. He wasn't one of those stupid people who got crushes and wanted to kiss and hold hands - well he'd held her hand but that was different and it wasn't like he'd liked it anyway - well he had but not because he liked her - well he did like her but as a friend, he liked all his friends... he didn't want to hold their hands though. He mentally slapped himself again. He didn't have a crush on her, just because she was kind and funny and talented and smart and absolutely beautiful and - NO! I don't have a crush on her, he told himself firmly, you stupid brain, I don't!

"Did you get her anything for Valentine's Day?" Abby inquired curiously.

"Of course not because I DON'T have a crush on her!" Scorpius answered frustratedly, "now if you don't mind I'm going to go and do my detention with Calderon because he's saner than you lot and doesn't accuse me of having crushes on people!"

"Didn't you already have your detention today?" Michael called over his shoulder as Scorpius stormed off, he hesitated in the portrait hole, opening and closing his mouth for a few minutes while they watched him as he tried to think of a come back.

"No!" Scorpius said finally and stormed off, his face red again as he realized how stupid he'd probably sounded just then.

It was their fault though with their stupid accusations. He didn't have a crush on Molly. And he didn't care who she dated. She could date whoever she wanted. Except Nick. And other Slytherins. And Ravenclaws. And Hufflepuffs too, obviously he wasn't just biased against Slytherins, it was all the houses they were enemies with. And the Gryffindors because they were stupid mean jerks. Except the Quidditch team but most of the boys were Molly's cousins or Cole, who had a girlfriend. Am I going mad or just already there? he wondered as he knocked on Calderon's door. The assistant opened it a moment later and raised an eyebrow.

"Didn't you already have your detention today?" Calderon asked, he was still wearing the dragon necklace, Scorpius hadn't seen him without it since he'd gotten back.

"Err... no," Scorpius answered awkwardly and somehow Calderon actually managed to raise his eyebrow higher, "I wanted to do more, it was only a short detention because of the Quidditch practice before. Can't I please help you with something?"

"Not unless you feel like combing through job applicant-"

"Yes! Thank you!" Scorpius burst out gratefully and Calderon shook his head with a smile as he opened the door to let him in, "wait, what job applicants?"

Calderon's tiny room was buried in letters, there was a huge mound of unopened ones covering almost all the floor space except by the door. There were six neat but tall piles of opened ones at the end of Calderon's bed and discarded envelopes covered the desk. Calderon practically waded through the ones on the floor to free the chair from beneath the desk, using magic as there wasn't enough gap for it to be pulled out more than a handspan with the bed there. He magically flung some of the letters out of the way to make room for the chair beside the desk, he gestured for Scorpius to sit down which he did.

"As I was saying," Calderon offered as he sat cross-legged on his bed and gestured to the pile of letters as he spoke, "here is all the job applicants we've received, deadline was yesterday so can happily throw away any new ones because they're too late. There's eight staff leaving so we have to replace them and I'm been putting it off since the deadline opened at Christmas so... there's kind of a lot to go through."

"You're not leaving are you?" Scorpius wondered a stab of panic but Calderon shook his head.

"No. Poppy's leaving and the other two most senior nurses are so we need three healers and the rest are professors. We need new teachers for Potions, Charms, Flying, Muggle Studies and Study of Ancient Runes so I've divided the letters into six piles, one for each of the teachers and one for all healers."

"Aren't those the staff you usually just convince to stay one more year every year?"

"Yes. But I'm not doing that anymore, its not right."

"I like those teachers."

"So do I but its what they want, especially with Pippy driving anyone nuts. He wanted background checks on all of them recently, didn't go down too well."

Calderon went on to explain that they had to read through all of the letters and put them in the right pile for now, once they were all sorted then they'd start sorting the individual piles but they'd get to that later. Scorpius was starting to regret agreeing to it, finding replacements to teachers you liked was depressing, he wondered why it couldn't be Rivers who was leaving or Varanian. It didn't really take his mind off Molly as much he'd hoped, although he liked the music that Calderon had magically started playing to alleviate the silence, some of the letters he had to re-read because he was zoned out from thinking about it all and the words stopped registering in his mind. He got to a letter from someone also named Molly and groaned.

"Something on your mind, Scor?" Calderon wondered.

"I don't want to talk about it," Scorpius said quickly but started to think better of it, Calderon was an adult, he probably knew about crushes.

"Alright."

"I changed my mind, I do."

"Alright."

"Well... have you ever had a crush on someone?" Scorpius asked, deciding to ease into it but to his surprise Calderon shook his head, "really? No one?"

"Really," Calderon admitted as his face went scarlet, "insanity kind of left me... stunted on the whole... crush thing that people go through, I was actually really foggy on the whole thing until I was in my twenties anyway. Or maybe I just take after my father."

"So you've never held a girl's hand?"

"Not unless you count family."

"Or kissed a girl?"

"No."

"So you've never dated anyone?"

"Never."

"Really?"

"No, I like pretending to be the only thirty-five year old in the world whose never done any of that because its not embarrassing in the slightest," Calderon pointed out sarcastically and it was Scorpius' turn to blush.

"Sorry."

"Its okay. Probably for the best anyway, you know I'm me. I'll always try to help you out, Scor, but I'm not really probably the best person to ask for advice about a crush," Calderon brushed it off but looked slightly sad regardless.

"It's not a crush..." Scorpius started to explain but ended up telling him everything that had happened with his friends anyway, as well as about holding her hand, "but I don't have a crush on Molly. I mean, I would know if I had a crush on her, wouldn't I? What does a crush feel like? I just... I don't know how I feel, I feel weird around her sometimes but... I don't know. I was kinda mad at them for saying I had a crush on Molly but thinking about, I do feel different about her than my other friends. I don't know how I feel exactly. I mean I always thought dating was silly and kissing and holding hands kind of gross and wrong but... it doesn't seem like that if I think of Molly. But I mean does it matter if I have a crush on her? I can't do anything about it, I can't go out with her or anything, can I? What do people do? I don't know what people do in this situation or if I'm the only one. I've never felt like this before and I... just I don't know. Is there a way to stop feeling this and just be friends and be happy for her and Nick? But I don't know if I want it to stop because... I do... I don't know and I... I can't stop talking now, what is wrong with me? My mouth is broken. Does any of that make sense at least?"

"Yeah... Feelings are complicated and hard to understand like that."

"Exactly... So what... what should I do?"

"Erm..." Calderon started to say and looked more confused than Scorpius had ever seen him, "I really don't know, I'm sorry... What do you want to do?"

"Erm... I don't know either," Scorpius admitted, he felt about as clueless as Calderon looked, "I really don't."

---

Part 3: Almost Normal

---

Scorpius didn't make any progress in understanding or figuring out what to do about how he felt, or how he actually felt. He did feel a bit better for having told Calderon about it though, even though Calderon didn't know what to do. He hadn't laughed and told him that he was stupid for feeling strange things that no one understood. They did make progress getting through the job applicants though, Scorpius supposed that was a good thing although he thought that really Varanian should be the one doing it as he was the headmaster. They got through all the letters when Calderon told him he should go to dinner then, he reluctantly left the assistant and headed off to dinner with Calderon's song stuck in his mind. He just hoped his friends wouldn't say anything about Molly.

"So about Molly," Albus began and Scorpius groaned, "we're sorry for teasing you. We won't bring it up again."

"Well thank you," Scorpius said gratefully.

"Its just you're so... you, its weird you have a crush."

"What does that mean?"

"You're not... um... you know, open about your feelings and stuff," Abby offered, "or even very expressful with your facial expressions. Its not a bad thing, it just was surprising to see you so riled up about something. I'm sorry if we upset you."

"Uptight," Rose interjected stiffly, "the word you were looking for to describe Scorpius is uptight."

"I'm not uptight!" Scorpius protested.

"Are too. And for the record, you don't have a chance with our cousin. She wouldn't go out with you if her life depended on it, she's a teenager and you're just a silly little boy that she feels sorry for. That's the only reason she spends time with you at all. Pity."

"Rose!" Albus hissed but Rose didn't look the slightest bit apologetic.

"Okay that's enough," Michael interrupted with a note of finality in his voice, ever the peacekeeper, "we're all going to get along or so help me I will hex you into the middle of next week. This is not how friends treat each other so either get along or talk about what's bothering us in a rational way, understand?"

They ate in virtual silence after that, Rose insisted there was nothing wrong as usual. Scorpius couldn't help but feel hurt, either Rose was just making those things up to hurt him or Molly had said that to her so either way at least one of his friends was against him. It was much easier being friends with Yip, any argument they'd ever had had been resolved within the day. He'd never had anything happen like whatever was going on with Rose, he wished she'd just come out and say what her problem is.

He lay awake that night still trying to figure out how he felt about Molly, just about when he could convince himself that they were just friends he'd think about her dating Nick and feel angry again. On the other hand, if he thought about going out with Molly then it seemed really stupid. Other people dated, other people had crushes and girlfriends, not him. Not that he'd ever have a chance with her anyway. Not that he wanted to date her, the whole concept puzzled him slightly but... every time he thought of holding her hand he felt warm inside. He hated how confusing his emotions were, was it like that for everyone or was his brain just broken?

He still couldn't figure it out on Sunday and almost didn't go down to do his homework with her because he felt so awkward and confused, Molly seemed her usual self and oblivious to his inner turmoil. She had her own turmoil that had nothing to do with crushes, her parents had really been pressuring her about her schoolwork recently and she was struggling to stay on top of all eleven subjects or rather panicking about it and second guessing herself. She rambling as much when she was nervous as she did when she was excited, seeing her behaving so normally actually made him feel better about everything, Rose was wrong. He tried to reassure her that she'd do great, the exams were a whole four months away anyway, she was smart and he knew she could do it. She actually seemed to relax at this, she smiled and his heart did a somersault.

"Thanks. Sometimes I get worked up like that," Molly told him brushing a strand of curly red hair from her eyes, "I'm actually finished all the homework I needed done for tonight."

"You should get some sleep then, I'm practically done too," Scorpius pointed out as they started to pack up their work, her hand brushed his just as his attention was caught by giggling and he glanced to see a couple kissing on one of the couches.

He and Molly said goodnight, she went back to her dorm but he didn't leave right away. He sat there lost in his mind as he caressed his hand where Molly's had brushed it. It would be nice to hold her hand again, just hold it, he thought to himself, that's not so bad, is it?

"I do have a crush on her," he admitted so quietly that he barely even heard himself.

He had even more trouble sleeping that night, he still didn't know what to do about it. He supposed it didn't matter anyway, she'd be going out with Nick anyway. He supposed Nick wasn't that bad, he had cared about his family after all and there was no way Scorpius could ever go out with her even if what Rose had said wasn't true. If he really cared about her then it wouldn't matter who she went out with as long as she was happy, that mattered more than who she was with, whatever made her happy. He resigned himself to it but if Nick made her cry like some of the girls he'd seen around Gryffindor Tower then he really would punch him in the face.

As it turned out, she didn't agree to go out with Nick though. She felt like she couldn't keep up with a relationship with all her classes and Quidditch at that point in time - she also admitted that the idea of being in a relationship freaked her out a little bit - so they were remaining just friends. For then anyway but Nick was very decent about it apparently. Scorpius wondered if he was a bad person for feeling so happy they weren't dating and the realization he had a crush on her seemed to unlock some window in his mind, Molly's face and thoughts of them holding hands kept randomly popping up out of nowhere.

February was rather different in terms of his detentions, Calderon was obsessed about the job applicants that Varanian had left him in charge of. Calderon was taking his responsibility very seriously. There was an endless amount of combing through applications to narrow it down to a reasonable number for interviews, Calderon had asked Professor McGonagall for advice and made a list of things they should look out for based off of what she'd said. Then there were the interviews which Varanian had Calderon do in his office but didn't have the time to waste on them himself, or rather he was ill from his headaches a lot of the time. On interview days it would be Varanian who'd pick him up and take him to whomever he'd be spending his detention with. He missed Calderon.

It was the first time he'd been alone with the headmaster since he'd threatened to kill Michael if he told anyone, Varanian had always been thin but Scorpius thought he looked visibly thinner up close and more often than not he had a hand to his head as if in pain while he would wait for Scorpius' last class of the day to end. They didn't usually say much to each other. Scorpius was relieved when it was the last day of interviews, just before the Ravenclaw-Slytherin Quidditch match. Varanian was sporting wavy iron gray hair to match his eyes, he looked in a lot of pain when Scorpius went over to him and started to lead him away. Usually he said where Scorpius would be doing his detention with but this time he remained silent.

"So... where are we going?" Scorpius decided to risk prompting and Varanian shot him a dark look but paused.

Varanian stood there for a long moment as if waiting for something and then looked angry but he still didn't say anything, he opened and closed his mouth several times though. Scorpius was starting to regret asking and was wondering if Varanian had actually forgotten the name of the person, they'd probably have been there by then if Scorpius hadn't said anything.

"It doesn't matter, let's just keep walking," Scorpius offered and Varanian nodded, they hadn't walked three steps before Varanian's body jerked forward and he collapsed onto the ground, "Varanian?"

Scorpius glanced about but there was no one around and Varanian didn't get up, his hair reverted to the scruffy tawny color and his hands became scarred once more. Scorpius wasn't sure what to do, what were you supposed to do when someone collapsed? Where was Michael when you needed him? He got to his knees beside the headmaster and saw Varanian's eyes were closed but he looked like he was still breathing, Scorpius tried lamely shaking his shoulder to wake him up but it didn't work.

"I'm going to get help, okay?" Scorpius told the unconscious headmaster before he rushed off, running on the feet Varanian had scarred with a part of him wondering why he was trying to help Varanian but it was the right thing to do, you couldn't just leave someone like that. No matter who they were.

Scorpius wasn't sure what to do or where he was supposed to be doing for his detention so he just hung around with the Madam Pomfrey and the healers in the Hospital Wing while they saw to Varanian. They'd barely gotten him into one of the beds when Varanian had another seizure, his body spasmed violently and Madam Pomfrey used a spell to stop it or probably to stop him from hurting himself as Varanian still twitched rather than thrashed. He started breathing raggedly and there was a sheen of sweat on his forehead when it stopped, Varanian looked in agony as he flicked his eyes open.

"How are you feeling?" Madam Pomfrey asked before whispering something to another of the healers who hurried off.

"I'm fine... I don't want to be in the hospital wing," Varanian complained weakly as he tried to sit up but didn't seem to have the strength as he fell back and squeezed shut his eyes, clutching at his head again, "I don't like hospitals... I'm fine. I want to go."

"Alright. Get up and walk out of here then if you're so fine."

Varanian seemed to be determined to take the offer as his eyes flicked open with a determined edge. He tried to get up again, he managed to sit up properly that time but the effort seemed to aggravate whatever was wrong with his head. His face screwed up in agony again and the hand still on his head curled tightly, Scorpius was sure if he still had nails then they'd be digging into his scalp. Defeatedly Varanian fell back onto the bed again as the other healer returned with two different bottles of potion, one yellowish and one a beautiful shade of blue along with two goblets.

"Healers are useless anyway, nothing you can do helps," Varanian grumbled under his breath as his eyes fell closed again, Scorpius wondered if he'd passed out again.

"When was the last time you ate?" Madam Pomfrey questioned as she started pouring the yellow liquid into one of the goblets followed by the blue liquid in the other goblet.

"Last week."

"Varanian seriously, how much of this I can give you depends on when you last ate."

"Last week. I wanted to see what would happen if I stopped eating, I sit at meals but don't eat."

"What in Merlin's name did you think would happen!?" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed glaring at the headmaster before he screamed and started convulsing again, more violently than before but not as long but she still used the spell on him again. She waited until it was over before giving the goblet filled with the yellow potion, "this should stop those seizures."

"I bet it... won't," Varanian said so weakly that Scorpius could barely hear him but he still drank the potion, "where's Mar... Marius? I need... I need to talk to him... while I can..."

"It can wait until you're well," Madam Pomfrey stated firmly as she gave him the second goblet.

"No it can't! It has to be now," Varanian protested as he drank the second potion, "that tasted... like a sleep... sleeping drought."

"It was, you need rest."

"No! I need to stay... I need to stay awake," Varanian said desperately as Madam Pomfrey took the goblet back from him, from the way the headmaster's eyes were fluttering it seemed to be working, "you useless... useless bitch, I have to... I have stay awake. I have to stay..."

Varanian trailed off as his head lolled and he drifted into sleep, Madam Pomfrey shaking her head at being insulted. Scorpius didn't know what to make of it, he supposed it was just a weird illness for a weird person. Varanian was absent for the whole weekend for all meals and the Quidditch match but returned Monday at breakfast looking healthy, unscarred and irritable again but he did eat.

Scorpius alone of his friends cheered for Ravenclaw in the Ravenclaw versus Slytherin match, it was still Professor Ashain's house after all and he lacked the house pride that the others had in wanting Slytherin to win to up Gryffindor's chances. The Slytherin Beaters had broken Molly's arm anyway, he wasn't going to forgive them so quickly for that. Slytherin's Chasers seemed even worse from watching them, Ravenclaw flew circles around them and if not for Nick would have been very far ahead. Ravenclaw seemed to realized that and coordinated an attack against him, slamming both Bludgers at him at the same time, Nick didn't stand a chance. Ravenclaw clobbered them after that, Kyle narrowly caught the Snitch in the end but Ravenclaw still won.

February came and went and March rolled in, still no evil Varanian things, no voices, no dreams and he was down to only waking up twice a night. He was almost optimistic for once, if not for Rose being so cold to him still anyway, she really knew how to hold a grudge. He was nervous about his next Quidditch match too, he kept alternating between trying not to think about it and telling himself that if Kyle had been the best Seeker in the school then he'd already beaten the most difficult, Hufflepuff would be easier. Both had limited success. He wished Calderon would be there, he knew it was stupid but he still kept wishing that Calderon would be there.

The next match was upon him soon enough and before he realized it he was preparing to walk out onto the pitch with the rest of the team. He spared a glance at James though before they went onto the pitch, he hoped James wouldn't abuse his Beater position to attack him again. The last thing he needed was his own team attacking him as well as the opposing one.

Scorpius actually wasn't feeling as crushed with nerves as he'd been last game, maybe because the game had snuck up on him so quickly. Rain was blanketing the stadium which pretty much suited his mood. He wasn't particularly fond of being soaked through but he was better than most at spotting the Snitch through the rain so he didn't mind so much, it would probably be worse for the other Seeker. In fact it was, he noticed the Snitch and went for it only to be blocked by the Hufflepuff Beaters, the Hufflepuff Seeker had tried to go after it but from the way she went left when it had been heading right, Scorpius thought she hadn't noticed it at all.

The game was immensely frustrating like that, they seemed to have deliberately made it part of their defense strategy to block him just like they had the Ravenclaw Seeker. They'd planned for it, their own Beaters were supposed to be countering it but they'd started countering Freddie and James' aim seemed to be terrible whenever he was near Scorpius. In fact Scorpius found himself on the defense just as much from James as he was from the other team, he had to admire James' talent in making it look like he was missing accidentally and he did hear his name praised over his agility at dodging.

He needed a new tactic. Something clicked in the back of his mind as he recalled when he'd been talking Quidditch with Professor Ashain. It was worth a shot. The next time he caught sight of the Snitch, he went in the opposite direction to it but kept it in his sights out of the corner of his eye. The Hufflepuff Seeker veered off in the wrong direction, Hufflepuff tried to block him which really just sent him in the right direction and he rocketed towards it as fast he could make the broom go, the Hufflepuff Beaters weren't near enough to the Bludgers to stop him then.

He snatched the Snitch out of the sky and ended the game in Gryffindor's favor, Hufflepuff had been having terrible luck getting past Molly. He held the Snitch up for everyone to see, he just wanted it to be over at that point. To his surprise a thunderous cheer erupted from the crowd, he hoped they were cheering for Gryffindor's victory and not his efforts in catching the Snitch, Professor Ashain deserved credit for that. He'd been unconscious last time so he hadn't experienced the post-game events before, everyone else was landing back on the pitch so he did the same, the Gryffindor team - minus James - were beaming. The Captains shook hands and the Hufflepuff Seeker shook his hand, congratulating him. He liked the good sportsmanship but couldn't wait to be out of the rain and in his detention with Calderon, Rose's words still echoed in his mind about him not deserving being on the team. Everyone started heading back inside to get out of the rain - Scorpius included - and he was beset with Gryffindors congratulating him and praising him, he noticed Professor Ashain just after he got in and ran over to him.

"Professor Ashain!" Scorpius called and the professor beamed as he saw him.

"Great game, Scor," Professor Ashain offered and Scorpius managed a smile, it meant more coming from him than random people he barely knew and strangers, "very good idea with that feint to catch to catch the Snitch, not to mention your impressive dodging."

"Thanks but I couldn't have done it without you. I wanted to thank you for that."

"What did I do?" the professor wondered looking puzzled.

"You did something similar in one of the games you told me about, I got the idea from you. So thank you."

"You don't need to thank me for that and you're more than welcome anyway."

"Scorpius," Varanian barked and Scorpius jumped in surprise as the headmaster strode over to them, his hair currently streaked scarlet and gold and soaked like everyone, Professor Ashain shivered oddly, "I've changed my mind about you having that broom, first years are not allowed brooms and I'm enforcing that rule so you have to get rid of it. By tomorrow."

"That's not really fair."

"Silence Ashain, this doesn't concern you."

"Fine," Scorpius sighed, not relishing the thought of using a broom that veered randomly, that would impede his ability to dodge the Bludgers from his own team. Varanian inclined his head in acknowledgement and started to turn away.

"Wait!" Professor Ashain protested as some idea seemed to dawn on him, "are teachers allowed broomsticks?"

"Well... yes, obviously," Varanian answered slowly, "why?"

"Well err... the broom isn't Scorpius' anymore, its my birthday and he gave it to me as a gift. Didn't you?"

"Err... yes," Scorpius agreed unsurely, wondering where Professor Ashain was going with it.

"Exactly but I don't mind lending it to him for Quidditch matches and Quidditch practices. That's perfectly within the rules, isn't it? Unless I'm not allowed to use my own broom however I want?"

"Well..." Varanian began and opened and closed his mouth a few times before glowering, his hair turned black, "yes it is. Unfortunately... Are you still on probation?"

"No."

"Consider yourself back on it," Varanian snapped as he stalked away, Professor Ashain muttered some curses under his breath and sighed.

"Oh well, it was worth it to see the look on his face, I swear I've been on probation more months than not anyway. I can't decide whether I've somehow managed to become a rebel in my old age or he just has it out for me, or both," Professor Ashain pointed out with a cautious smile as he winked at Scorpius, "you do realize that's nonsense, by the way? I'm not taking your broom, I'm just using a loophole for you to keep it."

"Yeah I got that, thank you," Scorpius said as he returned the smile although he felt bad the professor had been put on probation undeservedly again, he had liked the look on Varanian's face though, "your birthday's in the summer."

"Yes but Varanian doesn't have to know that."

"You're the best."

"No, definitely not. And err... don't take this as a lesson that its okay to lie to adults, it was very, very wrong of me."

"Of course," Scorpius nodded in agreement as they started walking but still thought Professor Ashain was awesome for it, "so how's things with your family? Is Skye still talking to you?"

"Yes and no," Professor Ashain answered and scowled, "every time I speak to her she has more questions on magic, why we don't try to find a cure for our disease, if its not a disease than isn't it dangerous and why don't we find a cure for our own safety, if magic isn't a disease or dangerous then why do we keep a secret like its a bad thing, wouldn't muggles hate us more for lying if they ever found out, why do wizards think its okay to erase people's memories, why do we call them muggles as it sounds insulting, why don't we use magic to help them if its not a disease, dangerous or a bad thing, et cetera, et cetera. She doesn't like the answers or that I don't know the answers and then gets mad and doesn't talk to me for a few weeks again. I suppose its a start though, right?"

"Yeah," Scorpius offered although personally he thought any muggle who considered magic a disease wasn't worth knowing, he supposed Professor Ashain had to try since he had two children. He did wonder why the professor didn't just take the kids, he could apparate in and disaperate out with them and his wife would never know, she'd never find them if he kept them in the magical world. They'd be better off than being raised by someone who thought they were diseased by the greatest gift they'd had in the world, really it wasn't kidnapping since since it was their father taking them, was it? It didn't have to be forever, just until Skye stopped being unreasonable.

He spent the rest of the day with Calderon, naturally cleaning and getting into a discussion on muggle and magical views. Calderon admitted he dressed like a muggle so that people would assume he was muggle-born and not ask about his parentage, he hadn't actually spent a lot of time with them due to his magic having to come out and preferring to remain in the magical world so people would think him mad rather than needed to be burned at the stake - he didn't seem to realize muggles hadn't done that for years - but didn't know a lot about their views on magic beyond muggle parents of magical children who he delivered the acceptance letters to. He did mention though that some muggle parents of magical children had bad reactions to it, in extreme cases the Ministry of Magic actually had to intervene to protect the child. It didn't improve his opinions of muggles any.

His detention took a long time, as they were spring cleaning apparently although Calderon got them some food from the kitchens when Scorpius said he'd rather stay, he'd prefer to put off having to see his not-friends again. He was surprised to find the Gryffindor Common Rooms ablaze in Freddie's celebratory party when he got back, somehow he'd managed to forget about it but he wasn't interested in loud crowds so he tried to sneak up to his room. James was standing by the entrance to his dormitory with his cronies, they alone didn't seem to be celebrating.

"Not staying to roll in your glory?" James sneered glaring at him with a look of intense hatred.

"No. I don't want glory," Scorpius muttered and James somehow managed to look more angry, "what is your problem? You're on the team too, you won as well, its a team game or is there just no James Potter in team?"

"You're a psycho who cheated your way onto the team and cheated those other teams into losing, its not right. You can fool everyone else but I see you for what you are, a monster hiding behind a pretty little boy. You're dead inside. Heartless."

"You really want to talk about cheating? Don't think I don't know that you keep trying to hit me on purpose," Scorpius pointed out, hating how hurt he felt by James' words. He wanted to cry but he knew tears wouldn't fall, he hadn't cried since Marvin died, maybe it had turned him into a monster who couldn't cry and just failed at everything or even when he succeeded it wasn't good enough.

"Just trying to show the world what you are, anyone not cheating would've been hit by now."

"So what if I dodge them I'm a cheater but if I get hit then I'm incompetent?"

"Something like that," James snarled and his cronies nodded in agreement.

"You're unbelievable. The day of the tryouts I told you that you could be Seeker if you wanted, you could've had anything you wanted if you could've gotten over yourself for five seconds."

"You'd like that wouldn't you, if I owed you."

"Some people like doing nice things without getting anything in return."

"Those people aren't Malfoys."

Scorpius just stalked upstairs, he couldn't think of a comeback to that. He half expected James to stop him but he supposed James would be a fool to try with so many people around and James wasn't that foolish, not were his cronies. He trudged upstairs and stared at his feet, wondering why no wizards had figured out a spell to make the ground swallow you up. He got to his bed and closed all the drapes, he kicked off his shoes and crawled under the covers. He tried to cry but he couldn't, really it was good as it was probably weak and pathetic to cry because you were upset about things James the jerk had said. Marvin would agree, Marvin would - he shoved Marvin out of his mind again, he couldn't think about that.

Thinking about Marvin made him tempted to look at his scarred wrist, they were jet-black now and bulged out of his skin like scabs. The bruising-like pattern had spread, the blackish, purplish green covered about half of his forearm at that point. He knew it wasn't a bruise, bruises healed and scars didn't get worse. He couldn't see about it though, he'd inevitably be asked how he'd gotten it and he couldn't bring himself to talk about the muggles, it was too painful to deal with so it was easier to just shove it into the recesses of his mind where it couldn't hurt him. Having Calderon tell her was just as bad, he didn't want people to know what had happened to him. He was too ashamed, that's why his family had made sure it was out of the papers because it was shameful and it would look bad for them. He'd disappointed them enough just by letting it happen. He was scared of what Madam Pomfrey would say anyway, at the back of his mind he was terrified that she would say it was caused by magic. That would mean it wasn't muggles, magical people were just as bad. The dream-boy would've been right after all, he probably was real and Scorpius had done nothing to help him. He wasn't sure he could cope with that.

Scorpius started noticing a visible change in how the Gryffindors treated him over the final weeks of March, he didn't seem to be universally shunned anymore, Angelo and Reuben even spoke to him on a few occasions. Winning his second game seemed to have proven it wasn't just luck he'd gotten by on or something, he wasn't sure whether to be glad or to think Gryffindors were shallow for only being nicer to him because of his Quidditch ability. At least his parents were proud of him, maybe he wasn't a complete disappointment. He was looking forward to the Easter holidays, although he still felt bad for Michael staying again but Easter wasn't as major as Christmas and also wasn't as long so he hoped it wouldn't be as bad for him, Michael didn't talk about the Christmas holidays much except in gratitude over his gifts.

Molly's fourteenth birthday was just after the Easter holidays began so he gave her her gift for her to open then, the broomstick charm seemed even more appropriate considering their recent victory. Molly was ecstatic about the possibility of them winning the Quidditch Cup, he liked seeing her so happy although he was sure his heart beat a different way around her anyway. She hugged him and thanked him in advance when he gave it to her. Her hair smelled like cherries, it was beautiful. He dreamed of cherries that night, his first actual dream in months, he was in a good mood for once as he fell asleep the day before the Easter holidays. It wouldn't last.

---

Part 4: Forget Me Not

---

Scorpius woke up early on the day they were set to leave for the Easter holidays, only Michael was already awake and reading - or rather rereading - one of his books on healing magic. He said hello and they chatted while Scorpius packed up his stuff for Easter, mostly Michael enthusiastically telling him all about healing magic. The others started getting up too and having more trouble packing than Scorpius, Reuben seemed to think dumping everything into your trunk in a giant heap was going to fit everything and Michael graciously offered to help. Michael was the only one in the dormitory not going back again but he seemed to do the most packing as Angelo asked for help too, not that Michael seemed to mind but it seemed wrong to go to breakfast without him so Scorpius waited. Reuben also waited for Angelo's to be done before the pair thanked Michael and headed off the Great Hall, Albus had tried to do his himself but was having trouble fitting everything in and grumbling they needed to charm the trunks to be bigger so Michael ended up redoing it all but made it all fit perfectly, without magic.

Then they finally went to breakfast. The Great Hall was emptier than usual, most people seemed to already be halfway through their food or already finished. Abby and Rose were still there though, sitting together with nearly empty plates as the trio joined them. Both girls looked surprised.

"Erm... what are you doing?" Rose guestioned glaring at him and Michael, "can't you see we're sitting here? Go sit somewhere else."

"Rose!" Albus protested.

"What? It doesn't bother you that the Malfoy and... whatever his name is, are sitting with us?"

"Of course it doesn't! They're my friends."

"Since when?" Abby wondered looking puzzled.

"I don't know, awhile, most of the year," Albus pointed out and looked confused but Scorpius had a sinking feeling he knew what had happened, "what is up with you, Abby?"

"What's up with me? You're the one with secret friends."

"How is it a secret? You're friends with them too! And-"

"You didn't happen to see Varanian this morning, did you?" Michael interrupted and from the look on Albus' face it seemed to click in his mind too.

"Well yes," Rose said brightly, "he gave us ten points each for Gryffindor for outstanding effort in class. He's such a great headmaster to notice things like that, we must be really important and smart for him to bother with first years."

"And suddenly I'm not hungry anymore," Albus commented shoving the plate aside and a look of horror crossed his face as he glanced at Scorpius, lowering his voice, "you... you don't think he's going to try to alter our memories too?"

"I don't... I don't know," Scorpius admitted suddenly feeling terrified, "we... we should go find Calderon, Calderon doesn't agree with altering memories. Varanian can't do it as long as we're with him. We just need to avoid Varanian until we get to the train, then our memories are safe."

"Calderon, good idea, let's go," Albus nodded frantically as he started to get up.

"What about Abby and Rose?" Michael whispered.

"They wouldn't understand right now, we have to leave them. Maybe Calderon will be able to reverse it later but for now we just need to hide," Scorpius told them and glanced to the teacher's table, Calderon wasn't there but neither was Varanian, nearly half seemed to be done already.

"What are you whispering about?" Rose complained as they got up to go.

"Sorry, we have to go now," Albus commented, "see you later."

They tried to leave in a fast walk but they were running by the time they were in the corridor, terrified of Varanian appearing around every turn, every bend, every corner, every doorway. They could make it. They had to make it. As they came out into the Grand Staircase though, Scorpius spotted Varanian coming out from the corridor they needed to go down. He grabbed his friends arms and hauled them in the direction of the stairs instead, they just had to stay away from him, he couldn't threaten them if they didn't see him and he couldn't erase their memories either. They tried to keep behind the people to obscure Varanian's view of them if he looked up, as they got to the fourth floor the staircase to the next decided to move before they could get on it. Albus kicked the bannister in frustration and Scorpius risked a glance down, Varanian met his eyes and Scorpius shoved his friends into the corridor.

"What are we going to do? Do we run? Do we hide? Do we split up? Do we give up?" Albus wondered hopelessly and Scorpius was surprised to see tears in his eyes, "I don't want to lose my memory. I don't want to forget."

"Maybe we should split up, he can't go three different directions are once and we'd be faster alone," Michael offered desperately as they wracked their minds for ideas, "or I could be a decoy, since I'm staying he's probably not after me."

"Maybe we should try to get to Gryffindor Tower for the invisibility cloak?" Scorpius said, "he can't find us if he can't see us."

"Why didn't I think of that?!" Albus moaned slapping his hand to his forehead. Scorpius had a plan forming in his mind as he started checking the doors but they were all locked in preparation for the holidays, knowing time was off the essence he took out his wand.

"Alohomora," Scorpius whispered and the door opened before turning back to the others, "okay so... so here's the plan, Michael I'm sorry but if you would distract Varanian then that would be great, I don't think he's after your memories so with any luck even if he gets you then you'll be okay. Albus, one of us goes to get the cloak and the other stays here so we have some point of rendezvous. Sound good?"

"Yep," Michael nodded in agreement as did Albus, "if Albus hides then we can lock the door and Scorpius can open it again when he gets back, Varanian'll be less likely to try a locked door plus Scorpius knows the castle better."

"Good idea, both of you," Albus agreed as he started to head into the room but paused, "but one more thing, Scorpius if I do get caught and he alters my memory... keep the cloak. Don't let him get you too, we'll never find a way to stop him if he makes us all forget and that could be useful. I... I trust you. Some of us have to keep fighting. Promise me that."

"Fine I promise but it'll work," Scorpius said firmly as he shoved Albus into the room and locked it behind him, "let's go. I know a passageway off-"

It was just in time too as Varanian entered the corridor and the pair bolted round the end of it before he could say anything, he knew they'd been seen though. He opened the secret passageway and turned back to wish Michael look but his friend shoved him into it, it sealed behind him and Scorpius ran again. He didn't stop running until he was back in the Common Rooms, he searched Albus' trunk and took the cloak, threw it over himself as he hurried back under it. He was afraid to run with it on but he walked as fast as he could back to the fourth floor corridor, his heart was pounding but he was so close then they'd be safe.

"Please!" Albus was sobbing as Scorpius came out into the corridor, he could heard hear it coming from the room, "I don't want to lose my memories! I don't want to forget my friends! Varanian, please, don't do this, I won't tell anyone. I won't! I didn't over Christmas, please, please!"

"The only reason I didn't erase your memories was because I thought I might still need you to complete the wards but its finished now, I was always going to do this, I couldn't risk you all knowing forever," Varanian was saying and Scorpius took out his wand, prepared to protect his friend but he reached the door just in time to see Varanian cast the spell, "obliviate."

He was too late. A green light shot out of Varanian's wand and struck Albus, tears were streaming down his friend's face, Albus opened his mouth as if to scream but the spell hit him before he could vocalize it. An instant later Albus was standing there just looking confused, he put his hand to his cheek and seemed surprised by the wetness. His face flushed with embarrassment as he hastily wiped them away.

"Are you alright?" Varanian asked in a tone resembling concern as he put away his wand, "you're crying."

"I um... I don't know," Albus offered before laughing nervously, "just sad to be leaving Hogwarts for the holidays, I guess. I'm sorry."

"As long as you're right."

"Yeah I'm fine, thanks. I should go now, have a good Easter, Sir," Albus said as he headed for the door, Varanian wished him the same and Scorpius hastily stepped aside to let him pass.

"Three down, one to go," Varanian spoke aloud to the empty room before clutching at his head again, "when are people going to learn that its easier if you don't fight it?"

Varanian shook his head of jet-black hair and also left, not giving Scorpius a second glance or any indication that he'd seen him. Scorpius just stood there for a long time, a lump in his throat. Finally his legs started moving again, worried about Michael but he couldn't find him, no matter how much he wandered around the castle, it was a big castle so it wasn't exactly easier to find someone. Michael could be anywhere.

He had to give up when everyone started heading to the carriages to leave. Varanian was there. He seemed to have realized the same thing as Scorpius on the futility of how they were going around searching, instead he was going to wait where he knew that Scorpius had to be if he was to leave. Calderon was there, going with the last carriage as usual to make sure there were no problems.

Scorpius had an idea and just started walking the path himself, keeping to the side of road out of the way of the carriages and Thestrals, as invisible as the Thestrals were to the majority of the students. It was a sunny day, too sunny for how miserable he felt. He waited until the last carriage came along with Calderon sitting up front with the Thestrals as usual, they were faster than he was walking. He took off the cloak and stepped into the road, Calderon called the great beasts to a halt and jumped down to greet him looking immensely confused.

"Hey Scor, fancy seeing you here," Calderon commented cheerfully but looked at him in askance.

"Varanian was trying to erase my memory like he did to Rose, Abby and Albus. I had to get away without him seeing," Scorpius explained and a blaze of red lights swarmed around Calderon.

"Altering them again?"

"No. He erased Albus'. I don't think they'll get them back. I don't want to forget," Scorpius whispered and Calderon patted him on the shoulder comfortingly.

"Come on then," Calderon offered and helped him into the carriage, it was a bunch of older kids again but he recognized Hal who smiled nervously when he saw him, he squeezed by to let Scorpius sit in the already cramped carriage.

Scorpius just watched the Thestrals and tried keep the cloak out of sight under his robes - he hadn't had a chance to change with everything. Hal made awkward feeble attempts at conversation before seemed to realize that Scorpius wanted to sit in silence, he obediently went quiet and didn't say a word for the rest of the journey. They reached the platform and everyone departed the carriage, he clung to Calderon's shadow for fear of Varanian randomly appearing. He saw Abby, Albus and Rose together on the platform, the trio shot him dark looks when they noticed him watching and climbed onto the train.

"Calderon... do you think that you could give them their memories back?" Scorpius asked of the assistant cautiously but Calderon shook his head sadly.

"I'm sorry, Scor, last time I tried to mess with memories it err... didn't go so good," Calderon told him.

"What happened?"

"Well me and my err... well we were trying to erase our memories, we thought if we erased our memories then we'd be normal and be able to magic like they wanted. Stupid I know. But it backfired majorly and instead of forgetting it gave us near perfect memories, that's why I have such a good memory," Calderon explained and his grandfather's question popped back into Scorpius' mind again, "people are tricky things, their minds and their bodies. Healing is really hard and so is anything to do with your mind, if I tried to undo what Varanian's done then I'd probably make it worse. I'll talk to him, see if he'll consider reversing it... if you can do that. And to tell him to leave you alone, I won't let him take your memories."

"Thanks," Scorpius offered gratefully with a weak smile, "and could you check on Michael? I don't know if Varanian erased his mind too but I couldn't find him."

"Sure."

"And um... one more thing. My grandfather... he erm... he wanted me to tell you that he thinks he remembers you. If you were... you know... tortured. He says he thinks there were four of you in the room, him, you, Rodolphus Lestrange and a fourth person," Scorpius asked awkwardly trying to remember and hoping it wouldn't upset Calderon but he seemed okay then and he had a feeling his grandfather would be mad if he hadn't asked, he'd asked for an answer in every letter he'd sent, "the fourth person tried to kill them and you saved their lives but he didn't know it then. He wants to know if you know who the fourth person was because he can't remember well, he wants to know if you know their name or what they look like."

"No," Calderon said quietly shaking his head as a dark expression came over his face, blue lights danced around him, "he's got me confused with someone else... I'm sorry."

"Okay. Thanks. I'm sorry, he was just really desperate."

"It's alright. You better get on the train now or it'll leave without you," Calderon pointed out still looking gloomy and gestured him towards the train, hardly anyone was left on the platform then, "try have a good Easter."

"Take care," Scorpius offered and turned back to hug Calderon goodbye, Calderon hugged him back for once.

"You too."

Scorpius managed a weak smile that Calderon returned before he left the assistant to board the train, Hal was going on too and he asked if he could share a compartment with him which Hal immediately agreed to. He glanced back to Calderon who was looking at the arm that bore the scars with a melancholy expression, Scorpius regretted asking in the first place.

He got a compartment with Hal that they shared alone, Hal explaining he had stopped being friends with his friends after Scorpius went missing and never even tried to make new ones. He took his Prefect duties and his studies very seriously, he was very dedicated to that. Scorpius couldn't decide whether it was a good or bad thing, Hal was definitely a lot nicer and working hard was good but he also seemed to have lost all his confidence, he looked guilty or sad all the times Scorpius had seen him around and it was even more noticeable up close.

Scorpius wasn't sure what to make of it but he supposed it distracted him from Varanian and his friends for a long time, Hal insisted on buying Scorpius something off the trolley or rather looked on the verge of tears when Scorpius refused so he relented, it was a long journey and he hadn't eaten any breakfast after all. It alternated between equally awkward bouts of conversation and silence, Hal seemed to struggle to think of things to say whereas before he'd had trouble not saying anything. Scorpius thought it was strange how people changed, he and Hal were both different people then they'd been two years ago.

He left as quickly as he could with his parents once they arrived, still afraid of someone noticing the invisibility cloak he had. His parents were in good spirits and still glowing about his second victory on the Quidditch pitch, he tried to be happy too but it was hard when he'd just lost three or possibly four of his friends. He'd have to go back to school in a week and he just hoped Varanian would decide he could keep his memories, at least until summer then he'd have to try avoid him again. He didn't want to risk Michael and Calderon's lives by telling on him then, Varanian's secrets were safe for Easter which the evil maniac would know if he'd thought to ask instead of obliterating some of Albus' memories.

He feigned fatigue so he'd be allowed to go bed undisturbed, hiding the invisibility cloak inside his pillow. He was tempted to just sneak it back into Albus' belongings when he got back since Albus no longer remembered allowing him to have it but he might need it to get away from Varanian again. Besides he had promised Albus, Albus had made him promise... he felt the overwhelming urge to cry again as he lay down on his bed but again tears wouldn't come. A wave of guilt crashed against him, why hadn't he let Albus get the cloak? It was his after all and Albus was a faster runner or had them go together, why had he thought they were better off split up? They should've just stuck together, everyone gets to win or everyone gets to lose.

But then Varanian would win. He couldn't let Varanian determination replaced his guilt, Varanian wouldn't get away with the things he'd done. If it was the last thing Scorpius did then he would make sure Varanian got what he deserved.