Parts (78-79)
I
Chapter 17
Get Away
Part 1: Gray Souls
"Scor? Scor? Are you alright?"
Scorpius was pulled from his slumber by the sound of Calderon's voice, he could feel something gently shaking his shoulder and he shoved his eyelids open. He was lying on across the steps leading up to the pedestal, still in the Chamber of Secrets. He squeezed his eyes shut for a final moment, willing it to all have been a dream and no one was dead and no one had been possessed. When he opened his eyes though, he was still in the chamber. It was so cold. So silent. So dark. But a real darkness, a gloomy darkness not a wall of Shadows.
"I think so," Scorpius whispered back as he managed to sit up, Calderon looked relieved and seemed to have crawled over to him. He looked as exhausted as Scorpius felt, "I feel like sleeping forever."
"Forever isn't long enough," Calderon said quietly and sighed, leaning against the obelisk for support, "it really takes it out of you."
"Are the Shadows gone?"
"Yes, Scor, you destroyed them, you save the school. At least the ones in the school anyway which had to be a big chunk of what the Shadow Master controls, I reckon the Shadow Master is either seething at having their plans ruined or crippled right now from being linked to them."
"Being linked to them?"
"How else do you think they control them?" Calderon wondered and Scorpius supposed that made sense.
"Do you... Do you know why they couldn't possess me?"
"They can't inhabit gray souls unless the host willingly agrees, the Shadows can't touch us unless we choose to accept it. White souls don't have a choice and black souls forsook their choice when they gave in to the darkness in their hearts."
Scorpius fell silent, he'd never thought having a tainted soul would be any way useful. He glanced down at his left wrist and was surprised to see the bruise-like pattern was no longer peeking through the sleeve, confused he lifted his arm to look at the scar and saw it looked just like it had at the start of the year. It wasn't black or bulging out of his skin and there was no trace of the bruise-like pattern being there at all, it wasn't even tender to the touch. Had he just been imaging it all year? Was he losing his mind?
He pulled his sleeve back down and realized his hand was stinging for the first time, his palm was caked in dried blood but he could still see the Tiwaz rune marked into his flesh. That was tender to touch, he realized as he traced his fingers over it. He glanced at Calderon's hands, the assistant now had a rune on both palms although one was harder to make out from the dried blood. Scorpius squeezed his hand shut
"How long we were we unconscious?" Scorpius asked and met Calderon's dark eyes.
"I don't know, I was unconscious. I only woke up a few minutes ago and went to check on you," Calderon answered and Scorpius saw a hint of anger, "what were you thinking, Scor? Risking your life like that, the obelisk could have hurt you, could've killed you, do you understand? You're a child, you can't risk yourself like that."
Scorpius practically flinched at hearing the word killed, he bit his lip as the waves of guilt crashed against him as he remembered what he'd done. He'd killed his friends, his own friends. Nott and Varanian too. And his grandfather had died to save them, worse than died, he'd lost his soul. His grandfather was dead. Because he'd died to save Scorpius. His friends were dead. Because he'd sacrificed them. He felt a familiar lump forming in his throat and tears built up behind his eyelids, only this time they poured out. He was crying.
"I'm-I'm sorry," Calderon apologized immediately looking guilty, "I was just worried about you, it wasn't your responsibility and I feel bad."
"I-It's n-not y-you," Scorpius sobbed trying to gulp down the lump in his throat to form coherent sentences, "m-my gr-grandf-father's d-dead a-and I-I k-killed m-my fr-friends a-a-and N-Nott an-and V-Varanian b-because th-the sacr-sacrif- war-wards d-die, I-I k-k-ki..."
Scorpius knew he'd stopped making sense from the confused look on Calderon's face but he couldn't help it, it was like the dam had finally burst and a year's worth of tears were flooding out. He cried for his grandfather losing his soul, for his friends dying, for Professor Ashain's life hanging in the balance, for being a killer, for everything the muggles had done to him, for everything the bullies had said to him, for everything that he'd been through that year that made him want to breakdown but had been incapable of letting out his anguish. Until then.
Calderon was trying to say comforting things but Scorpius couldn't hear the words over his own misery, he seemed to give up and patted Scorpius' shoulder as if trying to be comforting but not really knowing how. He buried his head in Calderon's shoulder and cried, Calderon hugged him awkwardly but he still couldn't stop crying. He cried until his eyes were sore and there were no tears left. He sniffed miserably, Calderon probably thought he was the weakest, most pathetic person on the planet at that point. He probably was.
"I'm sorry," Scorpius apologized ashamedly and pulled away, feeling the coldness of the room again.
"You have nothing to be sorry for," Calderon told him gently but Scorpius couldn't bring himself to raise his head.
"I killed my friends and Nott and Varanian, the obelisk-"
"I'm not dead," Varanian interrupted and Scorpius jumped in surprise at the headmaster's sudden voice, he looked up to Varanian walking over to them. His eyes were an ice blue and his short tawny hair looked incredibly scruffy, the scars on the edges of his cheeks and the bottom of his chin were visible but the rest weren't, he was holding the unwavering white orb in one unscarred hand and looked exhausted but very much alive, "just for the record, it might be relevant to your discussion. I was just knocked out. I can't speak for the others but I think if I'm not dead then they aren't either. How long was I out for anyway?"
"Well that's a relief," Calderon said with a weak smile and Scorpius felt both confused and hopeful at Varanian's survival, "and I don't know, we were unconscious too."
Scorpius still wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel about Varanian though, he'd spent the year loathing the headmsater and plotting to get him thrown in Azkaban for all eternity. But Varanian had been possessed. He had no trouble transferring his hatred to the Shadow Master, the evil coward had killed his grandfather, maybe Professor Ashain and tried to kill him - twice - but that didn't give him an answer where that left him with Varanian. None of that helped him understand why Varanian had survived either, did that mean his friends had too?
"We should get back," Varanian pointed out with as he rubbed his eyes and pocketed the orb, "the Ministry will need to be informed, the Aurors will deal with all this. We need to wake up the staff and make sure the students are okay or if they got knocked out too or what, we know what things are like until we get back."
"You two go, I'm just going to stay here and rest," Calderon sighed as he closed his eyes.
"We're not leaving you!" Scorpius burst out and Varanian nodded in agreement.
Calderon was reluctant for some reason but it was two against one, Scorpius was anxious to get out of the Chamber of Secrets and see if his friends were alright, he was afraid of having his hope crushed but was more afraid of not having so he clung to the sliver of a chance that they'd survived too. He needed some good news right then. It felt like forever before they got moving, leaving the bloody obelisk behind them. Scorpius lit up his wand and Varanian followed suite, it wasn't half as good as Calderon's light but the assistant didn't create any and they didn't ask him to.
"I feel like I should congratulate you or something, Scorpius," Varanian offered to him as they walked, "what you did was very brave, you saved the whole school and stopped the Shadow Master and you're only eleven. You're a hero."
"What my grandfather did was very brave," Scorpius said defensively and felt grief welling in his heart again, "and he was a Slytherin. And a former Death Eater. He saved the school and stopped the Shadow Master, we'd be dead and you'd be possessed if not for him."
"I... I know, I'm sorry for your loss," Varanian mumbled and they fell silent.
Something clicked in his mind as he thought of Varanian calling him a hero, he knew he wasn't a hero as all he'd done was willingly sacrificed his friends, Nott and Varanian in favor of stopping the Shadows. He'd willingly sacrificed them. He recalled the words from the translated book: '...the willingness to sacrifice is more important than the actual sacrifice itself...'Was Varanian only alive because he'd been so willing to sacrifice him? Had he been so willing to kill his friends? If he was a good friend then they'd be dead because he wouldn't have willingly sacrificed them, if he was a bad friend then they'd be alive because he would have willingly sacrificed them. He was a terrible person.
When they reached the pipe entrance, Calderon did use magic though and they were carried to the surface in a wave of light. This seemed to drain whatever strength the assistant had left as he staggered and was only kept upright by Varanian grabbing his shoulder, he had to lean against the headmaster as they carried on, Calderon insisting on them checking Varanian's office first - and going with them - to see if Duvall was alive.
The first thing Scorpius noticed was that they'd been unconscious for a long time, the dawn light was peeking through the windows they passed and the early morning sky the color of blood. The second was that the occasional students they saw would flee in terror the instant they saw them before they could say anything to them, at least their eyes weren't black.
"Happy Birthday, Marius," Varanian commented and Calderon snorted in acknowledgement with a strange expression on his face.
"Happy Birthday, Calderon," Scorpius added as a third person looked at them with wide-eyes and ran away.
"Any particular reason why everyone keeps running from us?"
"Because we look like hell?" Calderon guessed and Scorpius puzzled it over for a moment.
"They probably think Varanian is behind it all," Scorpius pointed out, they wouldn't know that the headmaster had been possessed when he attacked them, they'd know the truth soon enough. He gasped when he recognized the next student they came across, Rose's bushy red hair was unrecognizable even from behind and was so was the fact she was very much not dead, "she's alive!"
"Oh, I should reverse the Shadow Master's memory spell while I have the chance," Varanian said taking out his wand as Rose spun to face the speakers just in time to be hit by a jet of white light struck her, she squeaked and fled, "think she ran away because of me or because the spell didn't work?"
"Let's go around the base of the Astronomy Tower, avoid scaring the children," Calderon spoke up, Varanian looked somewhere between guilty and miserable as he nodded, "they've been through enough."
They were just about to go outside to follow Calderon's advice when they realized they didn't need to go back to the headmaster's office to see that Duvall had survived, apparently he was a gray soul - Scorpius seriously doubted he was a white soul if he was a Shadow - as he whistled at them. The wild-eyed man with the serious overbite jumped out from behind the entrance to the Astronomy Tower steps, he wasn't what Scorpius' eyes were on though. Duvall was holding his wand over the head of his grandfather, Lucius Malfoy's eyes were glazed over sightlessly and he jerked when Duvall moved the wand.
"Watch the dead puppet dance!" Duvall taunted as he jerked his wand.
A jet of blue light was cast from Varanian's wand at the same time as Calderon shot a pulse of light from his hand towards the man, both hit their mark or would have if Duvall hadn't shot back inside the Tower with his grandfather in tow. Anger flooded through Scorpius and gave him strength, evaporating his guilt and grief and worry. How dare Duvall desecrate his grandfather's body like that?! How dare he?! Scorpius was running before he realized what he was doing, wand in hand.
"Scorpius, wait!" Varanian called after him but Scorpius ignored it and burst into the tower.
Duvall was faster - even with having to magically make his grandfather move - and he was howling with laughter as he ran and Scorpius just bolted blindly after him. Duvall didn't stop running until he reached the top, he stood at the top of the stairs with his back to Scorpius, his grandfather's lifeless body standing with legs at impossible angles in front of the battlements. Scorpius felt his heart surge flood with sadness about his grandfather, tears pricked his eyes again but the anger for Duvall stopped them from falling.
"Let him go!" Scorpius demanded furiously aiming his wand at Duvall's back, "or I'll curse you in the back."
"Ain't very noble for a Gryffindor, is it?" Duvall commented without moving, his wand still forcing his grandfather to remain.
"The hat put me in the wrong house. And I don't care! Let him go you piece of slime!"
"As you wish."
Duvall agreed too easily and flicked his wand at his grandfather, Lucius Malfoy's body was thrown off of the tower immediately. Scorpius' heart twisted in grief as he watched him fall but his momentary distraction was enough for Duvall to turn around and shoot a spell at him, Scorpius tried to get out of the way but it was too late and the jet caught his shoulder and knocked his wand from his grip. Scorpius went to grab it but Duvall swished his wrist threateningly and Scorpius froze, Duvall backed up to where he'd just dispatched his grandfather's body to get a clearer aim out of reach of reach.
"Imagine how the Master will reward me for killin' the failed experiment who ruined our plans?" Duvall wondered as a delusional grin distorted his face.
"Imagine how the Aurors will reward you for your crimes, more like," Varanian retorted appearing beside Scorpius as he made it up the stairs.
"I don't think so," Duvall sneered and flourished his wand, "expulso!"
"Protego!" Varanian countered and a magical shield appeared in an instant only to explode immediately as Duvall's curse struck it, magic sparks flew everywhere but they were unharmed as was the Astronomy Tower, "stupefy!"
Duvall was laughing again as the jet of light hit him, the force was enough to propel him straight over the parapet behind him. There was a flicker of shock on Varanian's face as they ran in unison to where Duvall had been thrown back, they could still hear his unfaltering laughter as they raced across the room but it stopped just as they reached the edge. But to Scorpius' surprise, there was only one body.
He scowled and went to retrieve his wand, Varanian was already racing back down the stairs to investigate and Scorpius wished his legs were long enough to keep up with adults. By the time he reached the bottom, Varanian was already outside and so was Calderon - albeit on shaky legs - and they were standing over the body. Scorpius reached them, extremely confused and felt another pang as he saw his grandfather's mangled body was the one who'd landed. His glazed over eyes were staring straight at Scorpius, he turned away guiltily and tried to shove it out of his mind. Where was Duvall?
"I think it was a portkey," Calderon said as if reading his mind and from the shocked look on Varanian's face, he was wondering the same, "there was a green blanket and as soon as he touched it he vanished like a portkey vanishes."
"Was... Was he dead?" Varanian asked hesitantly.
"Only one way to tell."
Scorpius wasn't sure what Calderon meant and for a minute neither did Varanian, he saw it click in the headmaster's mind and slowly Varanian slipped his hand into his pocket. The pocket that held the orb. It clicked in Scorpius' mind too, if he was dead then Varanian's soul was tainted gray. Varanian swallowed as if nervous and drew the orb from his pocket, the dazzling white was now a smoky gray just like it had been for Scorpius and Professor Ashain. Varanian didn't seem to know how to digest this and shoved the orb at Calderon who took it carefully, the orb swirled at a new soul holding it but it remained gray.
No one said a word. Varanian held out his wand and stared at it as if he'd never seen it before, his expression betrayed nothing else. Scorpius' eyes were drawn back to his grandfather, his grandfather who had given his life to save them. He couldn't believe Lucius Malfoy was dead, he'd never again see his disproving scowl or get lectured. Scorpius wondered if he'd known he would die as words from earlier in the year came to mind:
"I love you so much, and don't you dare doubt that, no matter what else you think of me. My family is more important to me than anything, no matter what happens and you, Draco and Narcissa mean everything to me. You're the best things in my life and I'd do anything for you and... and I just want you to remember that, no matter happens, I love you."
Scorpius felt tears prick his eyes again, they leaked silently from his eyes as he fell to his knees beside his grandfather. He reached out and gently closed his grandfather's eyes, he could almost have been sleeping if you only looked at his face, he looked more peaceful in death than he ever had in life. Something caught his eye through a tear in his grandfather's sleeve and he opened it slightly, seeing the Shadows' skeletal snake symbol scarred into the flesh. Couldn't they just let his grandfather be dead in peace?
"I love you too, grandfather," Scorpius whispered as more tears fell, his eyes apparently having found a second reservoir. Why hadn't he said that to his grandfather when he was alive? He didn't even have a soul left to hear him now. It wasn't fair. Nothing was fair.
"Scor, come on, you don't need to see that," Calderon said quietly placing a hand on his shoulder.
There was a blast of magic heard that shocked Scorpius back to reality and he was on his feet in an instant, wand ready fearfully as Varanian was thrown through the air and slammed painfully against a wall. As he spun to face the attacker, starting to curse himself for not thinking the Shadow Master would have brought reinforcements but it was the teachers. Professor Longbottom was at the helm, glowering with fury with his wand held out and clearly was the source of Varanian's attack.
Scorpius was flooded with relief to see they were alive and awake, he saw Michael, Albus and Abby amongst the staff too and he smiled widely, they were alive! He kicked his guilt down for the moment, he would enjoy knowing they'd survived for more than a second and relishing that everything had to be okay for a single second. The teachers were awake, his friends were alive and the students were unpossesssed. Calderon looked too busy staving off collapse to be relieved but Varanian's expression of panic faded as he recognized the staff striding over to him, he scrambled for his wand and got to his feet.
"It's a good thing you're okay, we-"
Varanian's sentence was cut off as Professor Longbottom launched another spell at him and he was tossed back against the wall like a ragdoll, he sat against the wall cringing at whatever pain he was and scowling in confusion. He reached for his wand and Professor Longbottom coldly stomped his foot down on Varanian's hand before he could reach it, there was a loud crack and Scorpius was sure something had broken. Professor Longbottom didn't flinch at the pain he'd caused the headmaster as he snatched the wand up, he looked like he wanted to murder Varanian. For a second Scorpius thought he would.
He didn't move his wand away from Varanian's head, after a few moments though he took his foot off of Varanian's hand without lowering his wand despite Varanian not doing anything threatening. The fingers looked like they were twisted into the wrong angles, the headmaster clutched his hand to his body protectively but seemed to understand why he was being treated like that.
"Be glad its just your hand," Professor Longbottom said so quietly that Scorpius could barely hear him and so threateningly that Scorpius almost didn't think it was the good-natured Herbology professor, "after what you did to my daughter, its better than you deserve."
"I was possessed, I-"
"Don't even try to lie your way out of this," Professor Longbottom interrupted darkly, "I'm dying for a reason."
"He's not lying," Scorpius heard himself saying and couldn't believe he was defending Varanian, "he really was possessed but Calderon banished the Shadow and he's... okay now."
No one looked like they believed him, if anything they looked more angry at Varanian and cast him sympathetic looks. His friends tried to move over to him but Madam Hooch put her arm out to stop them as her eyes flicked to his grandfather's body, he glanced to Calderon who he expected to back him but the assistant's legs were buckling and he would have fallen onto the ground if not for Professor Hagrid catching him.
Before anyone could say anything more a flurry of broomstick sped through the sky and the fliers jumped gracefully off, they were Aurors and Molly. Scorpius recognized Harry potter immediately, looking as angry as Professor Longbottom as he cast a spell at Varanian, magical bonds immediately binding Varanian's wrists, ankles and gagging his mouth. Professor McGonagall was gently leading him away from his grandfather's body but his eyes were now on Varanian, he'd been fantasizing about Varanian being arrested all year but now it was actually happening, he didn't want it to. Why was no one listening to him?
"You're under arrest, Shadow Master," Harry Potter snapped to Varanian whose eyes bulged in surprise and he tried to protest he wasn't the Shadow Master from behind his gag but it only made it tighter.
"He's not the Shadow Master, he was just possessed!" Scorpius protested for him and all eyes went back to him sadly.
"I know you believe that," Professor McGonagall said gently, "he's altered your memory."
"No! No, he hasn't! He's not the Shadow Master! He was possessed!"
"He didn't look possessed," Molly pointed out as her eyes ghosted his grandfather's body fearfully and Varanian tried to say something else that tightened the gag more.
"Possessed people have black eyes," the sandy-haired Auror said coolly, "he was completely within his own mind, he's the Shadow Master, he admitted it."
"He isn't!" Scorpius yelled frantically, "you have to keep looking for the real Shadow Master so they won't get away with this! Varanian isn't the Shadow Master and he didn't touch my memory, you have it all wrong! He just helped stop the Shadow Master!"
"I know you think that," Harry Potter began, "but-"
"I don't think it! I KNOW it!" Scorpius screamed but everyone was looking at him like he'd gone mad, maybe he had but they couldn't arrest the wrong person, they'd stop looking for the Shadow Master and his grandfather wouldn't get justice. The Shadow Master deserved to pay for taking his grandfather's soul and the Shadow Master wasn't Varanian, they didn't look like they believed him, "my memory's fine! You're doing exactly what that Shadow Master wants by arresting the wrong person!"
"I think you need to calm down, you don't know what you're saying, you're not thinking straight from the trauma and memory charms," the sandy-haired Auror said and flicked his wand at Scorpius, before Scorpius could react he was asleep.
Part 2: Leaving
"Its because he's a metamorphmagus!" Calderon's voice was protesting as Scorpius was drawn back into consciousness, "the Shadows can hide his possessed eyes with his own ability."
"Nonsense!" the voice of the sandy-haired Auror snapped.
"Cel, hush. And you know this because?" Harry Potter's voice prompted.
"The Shadow Master told me," Calderon answered and Scorpius heard a snort of derision from one of the men.
"It's a possibility I suppose, we've never seen the Shadow beings-"
"The Shadow Master calls them Specters."
"We've never seen these Specters before then so we can't be sure what they are and aren't capable or their effect on a metamorphmagus and there's no way to test it-"
"Of course, because evil psychotic maniacs are always very truthful," the second voice - presumably Cel - retorted sarcastically, "let's release Varanian right away despite the overwhelming amount of evidence against him and the fact that nothing he claims has panned out."
"Cel, if you would please let me finish a sentence," Harry said warningly, "I wasn't suggesting we release him, unless there is a definitive way to prove without a shadow of doubt that Varanian was possessed then I'm not letting him go. Every student in the school saw him declare himself the Shadow Master and set those Specters on them, we can't just release him. And the evidence is against him, the last spell his wand used was the same one used to throw Lucius Malfoy off the tower and there's no evidence that anything other than the fall killed him or that he lost his soul - although again we have no way of knowing or proving that - but there is no evidence of Duvall being there at all, no one else saw him. Even those letters from 'Retsam Wodahs' weren't found, not where Varanian said nor anywhere after we tore the room apart."
"Duvall could've taken them!" Calderon protested desperately, "to frame him so you'd think exactly what you'd do now, you're doing what the actual Shadow Master wants."
"Yeah!" Scorpius called out in agreement, opening his eyes and sitting up. They were in the hospital wing, Calderon was sitting fully clothed on the bed opposite - still looking exhausted - with the two Aurors standing in between, they glanced back at Scorpius with dubious expressions when he spoke, "Duvall had plenty of time while we were unconscious in the Chamber of Secrets, I saw those letters and they do exist. It was the Shadow Master not Varanian, you have to find him not Varanian. Its the truth, why won't you believe us?!"
"Varanian's proved himself very efficient with memory charms, as hard as it is for you to believe you've almost certainly had your memories altered," Cel pointed out.
"I have a perfect memory! He couldn't do anything if he tried," Calderon snapped defensively and Cel raised an eyebrow.
"Then why so vague on what the Shadow Master allegedly said to you?"
"That's... that's different. I lost a load of blood, I was having trouble focusing. It doesn't mean there's anything wrong with my memory."
"I'm sorry," Harry apologized but looked unwaveringly determined, "but we can't let Varanian go, we will carry out a thorough investigation and if he's proven innocent then I will be the first to apologize and release him. In the meantime he will kept under maximum security as soon as we take him from Hogwarts, we can't take any chances with someone who claimed less than twenty-four hours ago to be the most wanted Dark Wizard in the world and attacked a school of children."
"But he's innocent," Scorpius pointed out pleadingly and Calderon looked extremely conflicted for moment then looked away miserably, "it's not right to put innocent people in prison and let the real Shadow Master get away, he murdered my grandfather and took his soul."
"Scorpius, I'm sorry about your grandfather but... you're just confused, you've been through a lot."
"I'm not confused! I saw it happen. I saw it. The Shadow Master was going to kill me and he got control back and saved our lives," Scorpius snapped and met the emerald eyes that Albus shared with his dad, seeing sympathy but not belief, "your sons would still be possessed if not for him. Doesn't he deserve justice? Doesn't all those people who've been killed by the Shadows deserve justice?"
"And they'll get it, Malfoy, we'll find out the truth," Cel told him as if talking to a three year old.
"Is that it? Because I'm a Malfoy I don't get believed? And my grandfather doesn't matter?"
"It's not like that," Harry Potter said quickly moving closer to him, "you stopped the Shadow Master's plan, you saved a lot of lives, including my sons, my nieces and nephews... and I won't forget that. Ever. You were very brave. But that doesn't mean Varanian didn't alter your memory, he's really good at it and its not easy to tell or reverse it, especially not on children."
"I know he's innocent, my memory's fine."
"I-"
"We're done sealing all the exits!" a new voice interrupted and two Aurors burst into the hospital wing, "did Ellisar bring the reinforcements yet? Running thin on personnel, especially if we're going to sweep the school faster."
"What?" Harry and Cel said in unison confusion as they turned to the newcomers who exchanged confused looks of their own.
"Ellisar said Varanian escaped, you sent him to get reinforcements to search the school because he can't have gone far and to tell us to seal the exits in the meantime... right?"
"No I never said..." Harry started to say but trailed off looking frustrated as did Cel, "damn."
"I don't understand."
"That wasn't Ellisar!" Cel snapped glaring between them both, "you let yourself get tricked by a metamorphmagus, he had you seal the exits while he escaped using Floo Powder under the guise of getting help. Still think he's innocent? What kind of innocent man runs?"
"One who was going to be locked up in Azkaban with Dementors for no good reason?" Calderon guessed, despite the fact there was no more Azkaban or Dementors guarding it.
"Come on," Harry motioned for the Aurors to follow as he stalked out of the room hurriedly to go deal with it, discussing plans of recapturing Varanian and worrying over the Aurors that had been guarding him.
Scorpius sighed and buried his head into the pillow. It wasn't fair, they'd just stopped the Shadow Master and saved the school, weren't things just supposed to be okay? People weren't supposed to not believe you, innocent people weren't supposed to go to jail, his grandfather wasn't supposed to die and lose his soul. Tears welled in his eyes again and he couldn't stop them from falling.
"Scorpius! You're awake!" his mother's voice jolted him back up and he saw his parents and teary grandmother emerging from the Nurse's office with Madam Pomfrey, they ran to him and threw their arms around him. He wished he had more arms to hug them more as he buried his head in someone's shoulder and sobbed, first he couldn't cry and now he couldn't stop crying, he just couldn't win.
"G-Grandfather's d-d-dead," Scorpius managed to get out as his parents rubbed his back soothingly.
"We know," his father whispered quietly.
"Have we met?" his grandmother's voice took him by surprise and he glanced up to see her looking at Calderon with an intense expression as if trying to place him, "you remind me of someone or you look familiar."
"No. We've never met, Mrs Malfoy, I'm sorry" Calderon shook his head and his grandmother seemed to reluctantly shrug it off, going back to looking like the world had just been shattered while Calderon went to get up.
"Where do you think you're going?" Madam Pomfrey told him immediately blocking the assistant's path, "you need to rest."
"I can rest in my room."
"I can't keep an eye on you there."
"So what? You don't need to keep an eye on me, your job is to take care of students and professors and I'm neither, I'm just... nothing so back off, Madam Pomfrey," Calderon snapped in a harsher tone than Scorpius had ever heard him use to a member of staff and he'd never heard him call her by anything other than 'Poppy' before either, Madam Pomfrey look surprised and Calderon looked on the verge of tears as he went past her but Professor Hagrid had arrived and blocked the assistant instead, he was holding the last puppy, "not now. I don't want to see the puppies. I want to rest."
"This won't take a second, Calderon," Professor Hagrid promised with a smile as he sat Calderon down on the nearest bed, "tis yer birthday after all. Yer didn' think I would forge' yer birthday now, did yer?"
"I don't care. If my mother had any sense then it would have also have been my deathday."
"Don' say tha' Calderon," Professor Hagrid said gently looking slightly worried as he handed the puppy to the assistant and went back to beaming, "there's yer presen'! I know yer like 'em an' all an' yer'll take good care of her now, yer like dogs. Remember when yer firs' came here an' yer stared at Fang like yer had never seen a dog before? An' one time I said go on t' pet him an' yer sat there fer the better par' of half an hour puttin' yer hand near him then pullin' it back before yer finally stroked him, dog though' yer was mad."
"Yes and then there were lights everywhere, I remember," Calderon admitted looking confused, "what about it?"
"Tha' was the firs' time I ever saw yer smile. Reckon yer could use a reason t' smile righ' now especially," Professor Hagrid pointed out as Calderon carefully stroked the puppy who nuzzled him appreciatively, lights hovered gently around them and the corners of Calderon's mouth twitched into a smile although his dark eyes still shone with unshed tears, the professor put a huge comforting hand on his shoulder, "it'll ge' better, yer'll see. Happy birthday."
"Thank you," Calderon whispered quietly but gratefully and Scorpius realized he'd stopped crying but had zoned out of what his parents had been asking him about missing a day of school for the funeral or a part day because they knew he liked school.
"I want to go home," Scorpius told them and was surprised by how much he meant it, even if they thought he was weak and pathetic, "I just want to go home."
"Okay," his father agreed hugging him tightly, "we'll take you home."
"Thank you."
Varanian sat hopelessly on the floor - the chairs had been removed as had everything else - in the disused classroom that had been turned into a cell and earlier an interrogation room, he still felt drained from the blood runes and his eyes were gritty from tiredness despite having passed out for hours earlier. He supposed things could be worse though, his hand had been healed and best of all his head no longer felt like his skull was being torn apart, which was a big plus.
He would have looked out of the windows to pass the time if they hadn't been sealed shut, that and his ankles and wrists were shackled to the ground and the chain wasn't long enough for him to stand. It was chaffing painfully but he was trying not to think about it, he'd have to get used to it as he doubted the Aurors would be letting him go very soon or that they cared about his pain, it was pretty obvious they didn't believe him about being possessed or about anything in general. Maybe he deserved to be locked up, it was his fault for letting himself get possessed in the first place and being too weak to fight it off or even realize he was possessed, he wanted to kick himself for not thinking of that. Looking back though, it actually made a lot more sense than his own theories.
The door swung open and one of the Aurors came in, Varanian thought this was odd as it was protocol for Aurors to see prisoners in pairs in case the prisoner tried something. Unless something had happened, what could've happened? Surely the Shadows couldn't have tried anything else in the space of less than a day? Shouldn't the school still be protected by the blood runes? The Auror didn't look worried though, in fact he was smiling. He had wavy iron gray hair already but only looked in his thirties, his eyes were golden and he had his wand out as he came to stand in front of Varanian. He flicked his wrist and the chains broke, the shackles clattering to the ground and freeing his limbs. Varanian scowled as the smiling Auror aimed his wand back to him.
"Get up," the Auror commanded, "or I'll make you."
"What are you doing?" Varanian asked with a bad feeling as he reluctantly got to his feet, the Auror smirked and shattered the nearest window magically.
"What you should be asking, is what are you doing," the Auror said flicking his wand and the largest shard of glass whipped through the air, slicing open Varanian's freshly healed hand painfully and the Auror's shoulder - he neither flinched or stopping smiling - before being discarded, "you used your evil powers to break free of your restraints, I valiantly rushed in to stop you and in the resulting struggle the window was broken. You attempted to stab me with a shard of glass and cut your hand in the process, you then teleported away with your powers to carry on leading the Shadows, I get hailed as a hero."
"I'm not the Shadow Master."
"Oh I know, really I'm just going to murder you and leave no trace of your body. The Aurors can waste all their efforts on tracking you down while the Master recovers and our work can continue, your tainted soul is useless to us now you see so you have to die now," the Auror informed him conversationally and tilted his head to one side with a look of disappointment, Varanian's eyes darted around looking for something he could use, "I just told you that I'm going to kill you, aren't you going to cry? I like it when people cry."
"No," Varanian snapped, the only things near were the shards of glass and the shackles chained to the ground. He couldn't reach either before the Auror cast a spell at him, he lacked Marius' skill with wandless magic. But he heard something, footsteps? An idea came to mind and he squeezed shut his eyes, focusing on the man in front of him.
"That's too bad," the Auror mused and Varanian opened his now golden eyes in time to see the man scowl as he raised his wand, "what are you doing?"
"What's going on, Ellisar?! I heard a smash and noticed you weren't outside the door," a second Auror burst out frantically as he came through the door, eyes bulging and wand out ready but Varanian reacted faster than the Auror - supposedly Ellisar.
"Quick! Stun him, its Varanian trying to escape!" Varanian exclaimed trying to mimic the traitorous Auror's voice and searched for the other Auror's name, he was sure Harry Potter had said something like 'Ellisar' and... 'Rurisk?' where their names, if they weren't then he was dead, "he got the jump on me and took my wand, switched our clothes, Rurisk!"
Varanian would have held his breath if he wasn't so sure it would have given him away but he had to have said the right name because the newcomer shot a nonverbal stunning spell at Ellisar as he started to protest, the traitor was propelled into the wall and had lost consciousness by the time he fell to the ground. Varanian snatched up the wand quickly, his heart was pounding but if they wouldn't believe him about being possessed then they certainly wouldn't believe him about an Auror working for the Shadows trying to murder him.
"Are you alright, Ellisar?" Rurisk asked with concern and Varanian remembered that was who he was pretending to be, "your hand's bleeding. What happened?"
"I heard a noise and when I came in, Varanian was breaking out of his restraints with wandless magic. I tried to stun him but he ducked and the window shattered, he hurt his shoulder and attacked me with the shard, I cut my hand and he managed to get my wand and switched our clothes," Varanian lied, it came slipped off his tongue fairly easily but Rurisk was looking at Ellisar who still obviously looked like Ellisar. Varanian gripped the wand tightly, he really didn't want to attack a seemingly uncorrupt Auror.
"Is it normal for meta-ma-thingies to stay looking like other people when they're knocked out?"
"How am I supposed to know?"
"I dunno," Rurisk shrugged before laughing abruptly.
"What's so funny?"
"He does an even uglier impression of you then you do!"
"Oh shut up, you," Varanian growled, hoping that was the appropriate response which it seemed to be as Rurisk clapped him on the shoulder in a friendly manner, he managed not to cringe.
"Best you switch clothes back and get your hand checked out, tell Potter to send more to guard him in case he tries anything like that when he wakes up. I'll get back to keeping guard," Rurisk offered turning serious again and he quickly shackled Ellisar where Varanian had been.
"Vice versa," Varanian whispered, switching their clothes quickly before being waved out of the room by Rurisk as he repaired and resealed the window, leaving the room and locking Ellisar in just as Varanian rounded the bend.
He quickly conjured a bandage for his hand as he walked, wondering what in the hell he was doing. There was no way he could keep up the charade long enough to get to Hogsmeade to apparate, no reason for 'Ellisar' to be going there or anyone else for that matter. Escaping certainly wasn't helping his cause either but then again neither was dying, dying was worse especially if it was what the Shadow Master wanted, he was sick of being an unwitting aide for the damn Shadow Master.
Gears started turning in his mind and his feet started walking in the direction of his office, he didn't know if the Floo Network was back in place in the other fireplaces but it should be active in his so he could get away. If the Aurors weren't going to believe him and go after the Shadow Master then someone had to, someone had to at least try and it wasn't like he had anything better to do. Assuming he could make it out of Hogwarts without Aurors or Shadows or Shadow-Aurors - was Ellisar the only one? - killing him.
He peered round the bend and saw two Aurors standing guard outside the gargoyle, talking to McGonagall. She didn't believe him either, none of the staff did. Was he really that bad a person that everyone who knew him thought he was capable of being a mass murdering maniac who'd attacked the school? He knew he didn't have a great relationship with most of the staff - what was the point of getting close to people when all they did was die? - but he had known many of them when he was a student and had been a teacher for eight years there, he would find it hard to believe that McGonagall was the Shadow Master if their positions were reversed. Marius and Scorpius were probably the only ones who believed him, assuming they didn't believe the memory altering nonsense.
He hoped they still believed him, he had started to realize some of the insane thoughts he'd had had been from the Shadow Master - he thought so anyway - and if he was right then the Shadow Master had used Scorpius in some kind of experiment and would rather him be dead than against the Shadows. The Shadow Master seemed to know Marius' real name was 'Tommy Lestrange' - although Varanian wasn't sure if they'd got that from reading his mind or memories, he wasn't sure how being possessed by the Shadows worked exactly - and was terrified of his power, they didn't want him dead though but on their side, they wouldn't take no for an answer. He snapped his mind back to reality as McGonagall left, an idea formed on how to get the Aurors to leave too. It was either going to be brilliant or he would have ruined his chances completely.
"He's escaped! He's escaped!" Varanian called as he raced towards the Aurors who looked panicked, "Varanian escaped! He used wandless magic, got the jump on Rurisk. Potter wants you to seal the exits while I get reinforcements, we have to act fast before he has a chance to get far!"
The two nodded and hurriedly rushed off, Varanian quickly uttered the password and ran up the stairs to the empty office. The portraits of the headmasters had all been returned to face the correct way, rightfully so, although the ones who weren't pretending to be asleep were looking at him and reminding him how badly a failure he was. He pushed past it, he could beat himself up later. The rest of the office was in a state, everything had been overturned looking for the letters, everything was in disarray as no one seemed to have bothered to put it back in order.
He spotted the Floo powder easily enough though, hesitating as he noticed the photographs of his family discarded like trash across the floor. He couldn't resist grabbing any he could see, they were all he had left of them, he couldn't just leave them. The fire had destroyed everything, if Ethel hadn't had the sense to stockpile random things at her parents' house then he wouldn't have anything. He pocketed them quickly and grabbed a handful of Floo Powder, pausing again at he wondered whether he should go through with it but oddly he wasn't doubtful anymore, he was feeling determined. He was going to kill the Shadow Master. He was going to do something good and make things right if it killed him. He threw the powder into the flames and escaped into the emerald fire.
Scorpius left with his parents and grandmother before the sun had set, he didn't come back for the rest of the term and missed all his exams. He said goodbye to the staff because he knew many of them wouldn't be there come September - he wasn't sure he would be back in September - and Calderon but deliberately avoided seeing his friends, he couldn't face them right then. Varanian had escaped, the Aurors hadn't been able to catch him and he was long gone by the time they got to the office. Scorpius was glad. Even if the rest of the world didn't believe him, he knew Varanian wasn't the Shadow Master. He'd been told the Blood Rune wards - the obelisk was magically stuck - were being removed to try break the protection in case the Shadows tried to use it again and the enchantments that protected Hogwarts were being put back in place, or at least as much as they could put back in place as some was so old it was lost or beyond them.
It was the headline the following day: 'Headmaster to Shadow Master!' and a whole article about what had happened at the school, Scorpius didn't even think they'd managed to get Varanian's first name right. They did credit him and Calderon as stopping the Shadow Master's plans, his grandfather was mentioned as 'allegedly' turning against his master like he had with Voldemort. It dominated the paper for weeks after, Varanian's name was torn to shreds, spat on, kicked around and dragged through the mud, he was painted as a deranged psychotic maniac who'd murdered his own family and burned himself alive for no reason other than being 'evil' but Scorpius didn't think evil people would want to burn themselves alive anymore than good people. Every sighting of him was major news and every sighting was followed by Shadow killings in that area, everyone was looking for him and Scorpius had a feeling his metamorphmagi ability might be the main reason for his continued avoiding capture.
He, his grandfather and Calderon were all in the paper too. It was a nightmare, the St Mungo's had blabbed and they knew about Lyra, Scorpius' abuse by muggles and his grandfather's headaches - even though only his grandmother had asked about them - which was all talked about, how the stress had driven his grandfather to turn to Dark Magic again and how brave and heroic Scorpius was to overcome it all, a true Gryffindor - he knew that was lies, the hat had still made a mistake. His parents tried to keep it from him but Scorpius wanted to know what was being said so he'd know if there was any fragment of his face he could show in public ever again. One of the articles had interviewed the man who had 'saved' Scorpius from the muggles, there was a picture of a pencil thin black man with only five fingered hands. He hadn't seen his savior's face but he'd had six fingers, been muscly and white but his parents confirmed the other man was the one and dismissed the one he'd seen as an underling. Scorpius wasn't so sure. Calderon's articles were less revealing, mostly because no one could find anything from his past before Hogwarts but his lack of sanity and power were discussed, the writer's best guess was he was actually an escaped mental patient driven mad by his incredible powers which was apparently a Ministry experiment.
Scorpius would be very happy to never go out in public again but he did for his grandfather's funeral and to visit Professor Ashain in St Mungo's. Not that staying at home was much better, his grandmother had lost a lot of weight and wandered around like a ghost, his mother was upset by the articles and his father was being interrogated after every Shadow-related incident in case he was a member like Lucius Malfoy had been. Aurors watched the house and Aurors followed them when they went out. He hated it so much. If he'd saved lives and stopped the Shadow Master then why was he being punished? It wasn't fair. He didn't even read the letters from his friends, he still couldn't bring himself to deal with the guilt. He hadn't been having it easy, his nights were filled with nightmares and his eyes seemed determined to make up for not crying for a year. The papers may say he was a hero but he felt worse than ever, his grandfather's absence hurt like a knife in the heart, a knife that twisted when he remembered his grandfather wasn't just dead, he'd lost his soul. He hated the Shadow Master, Scorpius not only wanted the Shadow Master to die but he wanted to kill him. Scorpius didn't even care that that made him a bad person.
It was July before things started looking up. Professor Ashain woke up. Scorpius visited him every few days, whenever his parents allowed. It wasn't so bad, Aurelius Ashain had paid for his son to have a private room so Scorpius didn't even have to be around people unless you counted the occasional healer and the professor himself. Scorpius was studying his face, the healer's had shaved his beard for whatever reason and it made him look infinitely younger. Then he noticed eyes twitching and slowly Professor Ashain started to open his eyes before cringing in pain.
"Professor?" Scorpius wondered and Professor Ashain's eyes deep chestnut brown eyes opened to look at him, Scorpius smiled for the first time in a month, "you're awake."
"It would seem so," Professor Ashain said weakly, still looking in pain and Scorpius called for a healer.
"Are you alright?"
"A bit of pain," the professor admitted trying to sit up but gave up after his face screwed up in pain, "how many hours was I out for?"
"Um... Two months."
"Two months?! Mother of Merlin!" Professor Ashain spluttered but the healers shushed him and shooed Scorpius out as they saw to him.
Scorpius went back to visit him the next day and he was awake again, more alert although still in pain when he tried to move, he asked Scorpius what had happened after he'd passed out. Scorpius had meant to just say about immediately after but the words just started tumbling from his mouth, no one had actually asked him to recount what had happened before, bits and pieces maybe but he told the professor everything that had happened - except about his wrist, he even told him about the blood rune book and his friends losing their memories so he'd understand better what Scorpius was talking about, he even managed to admit muggles abused him to explain about his boggart. He broke down crying at that and when he got to his grandfather's death and Professor Ashain just patted his arm comfortingly but didn't interrupt or barrage him with questions, he let him finish. Scorpius felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders when he'd stopped talking, the professor seemed to notice this.
"Feel better?" Professor Ashain wondered with a kind smile.
"Yes, actually," Scorpius admitted wiping his eyes.
"Sometimes talking about things helps, bottling it up inside just makes you feel more and more pressured until it inevitably comes out or just eats you alive inside."
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For listening to me and saving my life and everything."
"Its alright, you don't need to thank me," Professor Ashain brushed it off but Scorpius still was glad to have thanked him and that he wasn't dead, he liked when people he cared about weren't dead.
"Do you... Do you believe me? About Varanian not being the Shadow Master and being possessed?" Scorpius decided to risk asking, his family wouldn't look him in the eye and would change the subject if he asked them but the professor actually met his eyes and looked thoughtful for a moment before replying.
"Yes. I believe you."
Scorpius felt even better for having told someone who'd believed him, he managed a smile and asked the professor if he wanted a game of Wizard's Chess. He knew it probably made him strange but he did enjoy the game, he'd improved a lot and it was a good challenge. It distracted him from his problems and he thought - and hoped - it distracted the professor from the pain he was in, he was allergic to the main ingredient in the pain-relieving potions so there wasn't much the healers could do to help with it. He tried to visit Professor Ashain more often then, he remembered it wasn't fun lying in bed bored all day in the hospital wing unless you were asleep and the professor claimed he was in too much pain to sleep, Scorpius didn't doubt it, Professor Ashain never complained but he couldn't mask the pain on his face whenever he moved. Scorpius did feel a twinge of guilt at that but the fact Professor Ashain was alive and - now he was conscious - was expected to most likely recover made him feel a lot better. That and it was the Shadow Master who'd injured him in the first place, another reason to loathe the man.
Professor Ashain didn't have any visitors besides Scorpius until July 22nd - Aurelius had stopped coming as soon as he knew his son was awake, he still paid for the room though - which was the professor's son's birthday. Scorpius had only just got to the hospital when he was nearly knocked off his feet by two small children in their eagerness to get to their dad, Professor Ashain looked in pain as the little ones clambered onto the bed and threw their arms around him but the children didn't notice and the professor didn't seem to mind, they both launched into overlapping conversations that were spoken so fast that Scorpius wondered how - and if - the professor could keep up. Skye interrogated the healers about why they weren't working on a cure for magic before the healers angrily found excuses to leave, finally going over to her husband and kids.
Scorpius decided it was best to give them some privacy, it must have gone well though because when he visited a few days later the healers said they'd let him go home with his family the previous day. He returned home glumly, realizing how much he'd missed having someone to talk to about things his parents only told him not to worry about if he tried to bring it up. He wondered if he'd ever be able to work up the courage to open his friends' letters or to face them again, did he even have the right to call them friends after he'd almost killed them? He still felt guilty but his parents and life had other plans.