Alice Longbottom sat outside the infirmary, her hands in her lap and her head bowed. She came to the building as soon as she heard Henry Otman had just tried to kill himself. Again. This is actually his third time in attempting suicide. Thankfully, each time a student happened to come by. The first time being Alice. Ever since, Alice was one of the only people to actually talk with Henry Otman.

Henry was closed off and very hostile towards others. He's an arse to everyone. Even to the people that are brave enough to speak to him.

"Ms. Longbottom."

Alice looked up to see Madam Pomfrey smiling kindly down at her. She always seemed to manage to be kind to everyone, even a disheartened arse like Henry. Madam Pomfrey was especially kind to Alice, since Alice always liked to come and visit, even more so just to take her weekly medicine. The old woman's hair was becoming even more grey, and her attire was the same as usual, the attire of a 1990's nurse.

"I'm afraid I can't let you see Mr. Otman today," Madam Pomfrey said. "And neither will Mr. Otman allow any visitors."

Alice understood. After Henry tried to kill himself the second time, Alice had come of her own accord to make sure he was alright. And his greeting was nothing short of belligerent. But Alice did not back down. She made it her goal to become friends with Henry, no matter what she did.

Though it wasn't so simple since Alice's boyfriend, the ever so laid back, Nick Forest did not approve of Alice's goal in her final days at Hogwarts. Alice had been dating Nick for the past year now. They were really nothing like one another. Nick was sarcastic, a trickster, and very flexible. He was the class clown and everyone loved him. Alice was quiet, shy and a whole-hearted rule follower. She was the loyal best friend everyone wanted yet abused. They were nothing like one another.

"O-okay. I'll come back later then," Alice said without any argument. It would be strange if she had.

Madam Pomfrey just nodded and wished Alice a good day before turning back into the hospital wing.

Alice sighed into the empty corridor. The clock thrummed in the distance as she stood and headed towards the stairs.

« « « « « « « « « «

"Oh, hey Julia!"

Albus spun defensively when he heard Rose call to a particular blonde. Julia Rockets, Albus Potter's crush since second year. They became friends in his first year, but his feelings towards her didn't form until a year later, when she seemed to have hit puberty and she became a lovely specimen.

Much to Albus' surprise, Julia was no where in sight and Rose heaved a laugh from beside him, as well as Scorpius on his other side.

"You are both despicable human beings and you will rot in hell," Albus said with hostile, his face bright red as he moved forward leaving the two clutching their stomachs behind him.

"Oh, come on, Albus! It was only a little joke!" Scorpius called after him.

Albus scoffed. He knew it was, even though it was a stupid one. He just liked to give the impression that he was bloody pissed off so the two would beg for forgiveness. It was always how it went.

"Does it look like I'm bloody laughing?"

Rose caught up with him and tugged on his sleeve. "Come on, Al. I'm sorry. It wasn't funny. At all." Rose tried desperately to keep a straight face, but when Scorpius broke into another fit of laughter behind them, she couldn't contain her own.

Albus shook his head and marched off down the corridor. He rounded the wall just as Scorpius and Rose caught up to him. And there was someone limply running down the hall straight for them.

"Henry?" Rose called.

The sixth year came to a stop right in front of them, breathing heavily. His wrists were wrapped in gauze from the incident of this morning. You could still see the faint marks of rope across his neck from his second incident. His hair was a brown mess and there was a tear in his pants from his thigh to his shin. To say the least, he looked awful. And he shouldn't even be out of the med wing.

Rose was the one to step forward. "Henry, are you okay? What are you doing out of –"

"There's some bloody mad man after me!" Henry yelled and clutched onto Rose's robes. Rose stumbled back into Scorpius as Albus tried to pry Henry off of the red head.

"Henry! Get ahold of yourself!" Albus struggled against Henry's strength. He was muscle while Albus was bones.

The Potter boy was finally able to rip Henry away from Rose and push him against the wall, more to Henry's defeat than Albus's newfound strength.

"What happened, Henry? Tell me what happened?" Albus asked, almost pleading.

But Henry's eyes rolled into the back of his head as he fell forward onto Albus. Now Albus was struggling to keep Henry's weight from collapsing himself. Scorpius came from beside him and helped Albus lower Henry to the ground as Rose watched silently. All signs of joking were completely abandoned by now.

"What happened?" Scorpius asked quietly.

Albus shook his head. That's what he would like to know as well. Scorpius gave Albus a worried look. Whatever happened to Henry, whoever did this to him, can't have been that far behind. Henry could be fast, but with all the injuries he is sustaining at the moment, speed was not on his side. And if there was something in the walls of Hogwarts trying to get Henry, they needed to get somewhere safe.

"Come on, help me get him up," Albus said to Scorpius as he slung one of Henry's arms across his own shoulders. Scorpius did the same with his other arm.

Rose looked down the hall in the direction Henry had come and started moving towards it.

"No, Rose! We need to get out of here," Albus called to her. She complied but hesitantly. She led the way down the corridor. The morning light streamed through the windows on their right.

Albus and Scorpius held Henry between them as they stumbled down the hall. Rose looked back every few seconds just to make sure they were still following her. This was what they get for walking around mindlessly. Rose had no sure clue of where they were.

Their footsteps echoed off the walls. Their heavy breaths mingling in the still air. It was quiet, and they hadn't run into anyone else in quite some time. It was all too strange.

"Rose, do you have any idea where you're going?" Scorpius called towards her. She didn't answer, instead concentrating hard on the floor plan she must keep in her head.

The four moved down another corridor and the walls seemed to be closing in on them. And that's when Albus heard it. The fifth slap of footsteps. The fifth heavy breath. The fifth unknown person running after them. The one Henry was running from, it must be.

Albus looked over at Scorpius who mirrored his own fear. Rose kept running. Albus and Scorpius kept following with Henry dragged between them. They rounded another bend and came to a stop when a large wall loomed in front of them. They were trapped and had no where to go. Plus, Albus was getting very tired from having to carry Henry while running simultaneously.

The four moved forward and Albus and Scorpius rested Henry against the wall. Rose stood with her wand poised. The boys did the same. Henry moaned from behind them.

The fifth foot steps slowed to a leisurely walk as they got louder and closer. Albus squinted to get a better look, but that did nothing for the tall figure that stepped out of the shadow of the corridor.

Albus had never seen him before. He was tall and lanky, wearing a suit that fit him nicely. His hair was neat and trimmed to fit his head. He wore a green tie of Slytherin. He couldn't be any older than Albus, yet the Potter has never seen him before, and he would have if he is in his house and year. The young man's hands were in the pockets of his trousers. He took a few steps forward. His eyes were still shadowed and void of any noticeable color.

Rose let out a breath from beside him.

"Who are you?" Scorpius asked, his voice unwavering. Albus was rightly glad that Scorpius was with them. He was the bravest out of the three friends, especially in times like this, which admittedly would be the first.

The man said nothing but kept walking forward, calm and composed. He reeked of suspicion.

"I'm sorry I frightened you," The man said finally, only a few feet in front of them. He eyed the three wands that were pointed at him. Rose was the first to lower hers as she stared at the man. Albus could see a frightening twinkle in his eyes. "I got lost, and was wondering if you could point me in the direction of where the Headmaster would be located."

Scorpius lowered his wand next, but kept his shoulders tense. Albus was the only one that kept his wand poised and at the ready. He would not be fooled by this man's charms. There was something about him, something dark and dangerous. Nothing was going right. But everything was strange at Hogwarts.

Albus narrowed his eyes as the man smiled fiercely.