Scorpius stood at the bottom of the steps outside his front door as his grandfather, whose face snarled in disgust and anger as he stared at his grandson, descended the grey stone steps and positioned himself right in front of Scorpius. Scorpius gripped his wand and felt a small drip of sweat building on his forehead and he breathed in deeply,
"Lets get this over with then shall we Grandfather?" Scorpius let his breath out as his father, mother, grandmother and boyfriend gathered on the top of the steps, his mothers face was slightly wet where she had obviously started to cry, his grandmother holding a napkin to her mouth as she stared daggers at her husband, Al's face matched that of Scorpius's fathers and there was only one other time Scorpius has seen his father look so terrified and that was all them years ago in the study.
"Father this is enough! Scorpius come back inside at once!" Draco Croaked out, Scorpius and Lucius heads snapped to face Draco, Scorpius with his infamous smirk and Lucius snarl deepened before they both returned their attentions to each other,
'Sorry father this is something that is long over due do you not think?" Scorpius spat as he walked slowly backwards raising his wand above his head, just as his father had in 2nd year when Dueling Harry Potter,
"If you had of disciplined this boy properly when he was younger he would not have turned out this way, Boy, Now I guess I have to clean up another one of your messes," Lucius boomed, pulling his wand from the tip of his cane and pointing it at his grandson, "Now Scorpius it's about time you learn to respect your elders and learn the true meaning of being a Malfoy", a yellow stream of magic shot from Lucius's wand and hit Scorpius in the chest knocking him out of his stance. Albus and everyone on the steps looked away in shock and gasps,
"THAT'S ENOUGH LUCIUS, YOU'RE GOING TO HURT HIM!" Narcissa screamed and Al could tell just then, that this was the person that Scorpius got his courage from, she began to step down the steps when Scorpius jumped up and shouted,
"AQUAMENTI" a flood worth of water streamed from Scorpius's wand knocked Lucius to the grown and losing grip of his wand. Lucius could be seen feeling around on the ground around him for his wand as he tried to keep his mouth and nose covered from the flow of water. "You see grandfather I have learned a few things since we last battled," Scorpius laughed lightly to himself as his hand shook slightly, The water stopped and Scorpius relaxed only slightly to wait to see if his old grandfather would stand back up, the whole garden was silent as they waited, the water still swirling lightly around Lucius who was still sat on the ground and searching frantically for his wand. Once he had found it he stood and patted himself down, throwing his now wet blonde hair back, his eyes wide with anger as he could not believe his own blood had used a spell against him, how dare he defy his own blood for a Potter! Lucius felt his body getting hot from anger, disgust and embarrassment that he had allowed this pathetic little boy knock him off guard and then try and make a joke from it, in front of his wide and son. Lucius smirked and met the eyes of his grandson, Scorpius felt his eyes widen he was familiar with this look,
"CRUCIO!" Lucius spat and the red beam sprang from the end of his wand, just as it had done all them years ago. Albus shouted out in pain as it hit his boyfriend, who was visually fighting the urge to fall under the pain. Scorpius felt the intense pain of what felt like one thousand hot knives entering his body his legs began to tremble slightly, but he was used to this pain by now, it was going to take a bit more than that to make him give up this time. Once the curse past Scorpius let his breath out, he had no realized he had been holding it in for so long. His lungs ate at the air as it entered back in and he kept his eyes closed for some time in order to give his body time to gain back composer.
"Did you know boy that one cannot use this curse unless I wish with all my desire and heart to cause you pain, this cannot be used only out of spite or anger" Lucius bragged as he looked towards his family, Scorpius felt his heart hurt slightly, he had always known that his Grandfather was not happy he had become friends with a Potter or never did Scorpius expect him to accept him as gay, but for a small reason in Scorpius mind he believed his Grandfather had only held resentment for him, not full on hatred." That's how much you digust me, boy" Lucius spat as Scorpius steadied himself and opened his eyes, as soon as he was straight his grandfather spat the spell again, this time it hardly seemed like he was trying to sound angry, he sounded more relaxed than Scorpius had ever heard him sound.
The burning stabbed at his legs and chest as he again fought the urge to buckle to the floor, but not this time, Scorpius would not give in, he had a point to make to his Grandfather.
"It was that moment you had ruined the name of Malfoy by befriending such filth as Potter and Weasley half blood!" he continued as Scorpius tried to focus his mind, but all he could hear was the screams of his parents, Grandmother and boyfriend as they cried out for Lucius to lift the spell,
"YOU'RE GOING TO KILL HIM!" Albus shouted his voice hoarse and filled with despair,
"DON'T PLAY INTO HIM AL!" Scorpius shouted back as soon as he had the strength. Lucius wiped his wand away and the spell lifted, Scorpius bent over and held himself as his body swayed in the light breeze, his throat burned and his eyes stung with tears and he waited for his family to quite again. "I didn't blacken any name, I am proudly barring my fathers and I am going to expand it" Scorpius voice shook as he straightened back and up and he took his position again, Lucius laughed and threw his head back, his laugh filling up the air around them, "Bad move old man" Scorpius stated as he wiped his wand and shouted, "EVERTE STATUM!" and his grandfather was thrown backwards, doing a small flip over his own body by the sheer force of the spell. As his grandfather tried to gather his thoughts on what had just happened Scorpius approached him slowly, with a slight limp and stood over him and mustered the strength to smirk, "It seems like the tables have been turned, it's about time someone gave you a taste of your own medicine" Lucius eyes widened as he gripped to hold his wand and Scorpius shouted the same cruse that his Grandfather was so fond of using on him.
Lucius lay twisting and turning on the floor as the pain erupted in his body, his calls loud and echoing, the family looked away and Al even felt a tear drop down his face for what Lucius had caused Scorpius to do,
"The only person who has blackened the great Malfoy name is the you, you silly crazy old man! Holding on to ideas of the past, not even being able to protect your own family when you were needed the most!" Scorpius spat and strengthened the curse, "SIGNING YOUR OWN SON UP TO BE ONE OF YOU AND YOU BLACK HEART FRIENDS FOR A MAN THAT HAD NO CARE OR CONCERN FOR ANY OF YOU!" he shouted as he whipped his wand away and wavered backwards slightly, Narcissa and Draco gasped loudly as they looked at one another. Lucius lay silently on the ground as Scorpius looked up at his audience and smirked and began walking towards them, "It's over now" he whispered slightly as he kneeled on the bottom step and breathed, "That'll teach him to duel me again" he forced a laugh as Albus ran down to him and tired to reach him, Al stopped a few steps above him and looked in fear and Lucius arose from the ground, his face in a twisted smile and he laughed loud and crazed as he lifted his wand and shouted,
"IT SEEMS YOUR NO BETTER THAN ME BOY! USING CURSS YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND, YOU'RE AS DARK HEARTED AS THE REST OF US!" he cackled, "CARRY ON MY NAME WITH YOU PERVERED WAYS AND HAND IT TO A DIRTY BLOOD TRAITOR LIKE POTTER I THINK NOT!" Lucius lifted his wand behind his head and Scorpius felt a dark feeling fill him as he listened and turned quickly to face his grandfather with his wand at the ready, "I'LL BE HAVING NONE OF THAT WHICH IS WHY I'LL BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO END THE MALFOY NAME RIGHT HERE AND NOW, AND JUST FOR THE SAKE OF FUN I'LL TAKE OUT THE POTTER AS WELL,". Scorpius jumped to his feet, his head was fuzzy and filled with twisting and turning thought that he could not settle one, but he had to think fast, how dare his grandfather threatened all these people's lives just because he had obviously lost his own long ago. Scorpius lifted his arm above his head and set his eyes, which seemed to feel like they were glowing, on his grandfather as he opened his mouth and began to shout,
"AVADA KED-" the bright green light had begun to form on the end of his wand, Albus, his mother and grandmother covered the faces, frozen in place with the thought of what was about to happen, but before Scorpius could finish, Draco ran in between both men and yelled,
"ENOUGH! BOTH OF YOU!" His voice was shaky and scared as he looked between his son and father, Lucius stared his son out but slowly lowered his wand, Scorpius on the other hand remained in place with his wand ready to go, "Father I believe it is time for you to go, mother you can stay" Draco straightened himself and faced his father as he spoke, Lucius face became that of disgust once more and he looked to his wife who had a stern look on her face and then all eyes turned to Scorpius who lowered his wand slightly and looked at the faces around him and he let out an angry and frustrated shout as he disappeared from sight and again everyone was left in silence. Whenever Albus had felt that he had condoled the Malfoy family enough after his boyfriend's neurotic display followed by abrupt apparition out of the manner, he set off for the burrow via broom. Albus performed a spell that made all his items fit into a small backpack, which was weightless so that he could carry it, all whilst riding the broom.
He knew all to well that none of this was Scorpius's fault, he panicked endlessly about where he could be, why did anyone think it would be a good idea for him, a Potter to share a room with Lucius Malfoy who had turned completely insane during his Azkaban stay and was so filled with a vengeful poison about the past. He knew that Scorpius only wanted him to feel like part of his family as Al had welcomed him into his own, it was not fair that Scorpius was punished with such an awful grandfather, surely he only needed space to cool down Albus reckoned he would receive an owl in the morning if not in a few short hours, he had to have faith that his very reckless boyfriend who was still drunk was not doing anything reckless, but then again the duel must have sobered him up, it sure sobered everyone else up. By the time Albus arrived at the burrow it was an hour till midnight and his family were pretty drunk indeed well anyone over the age of 16 anyway. Ron gasped when he seen Albus fly through the door,
"Don't get me wrong mate I'm bloody well glad to see you, wasn't the same without you really but why are you here?" he asked, Albus sighed and explained trying to remain as strong as he possibly good "Lucius Malfoy was bang out of order there," Ron said angrily whilst Ginny embraced her son, cooing to him that it was alright.
"Yeah, that he is anyway I am sure Scor is fine knowing him he probably went to a mates house for drinks so lets not let it hold us back, on with the celebrations!" Al grinned the most convincing grin he could muster to pull across his face, everyone present cheered. His father pulled him into a hug as soon as his mother let him go.
"He will be alright you know, he's a tough kid," he whispered in his ear, Al nodded for after all all he could do was hope, hope and soothe his own mind by telling himself that Scorpius was in fact going to be alright. Albus did not let his worry show for the remainder of the evening although both Lily and Rose had mentioned on separate occasions that if he needed to talk they were there to listen no matter what, he refused both offers and stayed amongst everyone not leaving his fathers side for more than a minute.
The count down was not the same without his significant other, he watched all his aunts cuddle up with his uncles and his grandparents were the most sickening of all he and James looked at them then to each other and made gagging sounds. Albus was very pleased when the time for bed came, since no owls were received clearly Scorpius had went to sleep earlier and Al was sure to wake up to one, this was the only thing that could give him comfort. Putting on his glasses the next morning to bring everything into focus only brought a solid lump of disappointment to find no owl, clearly Al was going to have to be the one to write to him,
Dear Scor It's me Al you know your boyfriend? it would be nice to hear from you mate seeing as I'm unaware to you being alright or not. New years eve did not go as planned but that's ok you stood up for yourself finally and I am very proud of you for that! You can't imagine how proud I am even if it did go too far, I don't care about that, I just want to know that the man I love is alright and safe, you do not need to tell me where you are if you don't want to I'm trying to be understanding here I really am, just let me know your safe ok? And if you haven't sent an owl to your family I would suggest telling them your ok too, because they were very worried about you when I left, everyone loves you Scorpius your the most amazing person I ever met and we have a love that could every star in the sky, it is the most precious thing in the world to me. Speak soon, Albus Severus Potter.
Now that it was sent it was just a waiting game. Although the next few days Albus was feeling numb he managed to keep it together around his family there was still no word from his boyfriend and after receiving absolutely nothing back he even contacted the Malfoy's and received a lovely reply back from Astoria saying how much she hopes that Al is well and how she was worried sick because she had not heard from her only son but how Albus should remain calm and enjoy the rest of his holidays because she was sure he would either turn up at the burrow before it was out or he would see them on the train, as she assumed he would contact Albus before he would contact his family she made him promise he would write to her straight away even if he sent the most ridiculous owl, she just needed to know her boy was safe. He would of loved to give her the information that her son was ok or even alive at least but he could not for he didn't know.
The only thing that got him through the next few days was knowing he would see him on the train, he sent a short owl the night before saying to meet him in the cabin that they usually sat on first to third year and he added that Scorpius did not have to reply if he didn't want to he just had to be there. Sliding the door of the compartment that they always sat in gave Albus a warm feeling in his throat, he compared it to the feeling he got when he was about to vomit, after exhaling deeply he slid the door across with greater force. His green eyes scanned the compartment multiple times before he was forced to accept the fact that Scorpius was not there, it was as if someone had cast a spell on him a spell that replaced the blood in his veins with ice, he stood rooted on the spot, frozen in time. He could of went and found Rose and shared the journey back to Hogwarts with her, but he would rather be alone for this. Albus no longer felt he was connected to his body he was just a floating soul trapped somewhere between life and death, where could Scorpius be? How could he not return to school, he always rambled on about wanted to get a decent job so that he could keep up his luxurious life style and just generally do well for himself so why would he throw it all away over his grandfather? Albus threw his head into his hands and scratched at his face, this was by far the worst feeling he had ever felt in his 17 years.
Albus decided that the best thing to do was catch up on holiday studying, which he had neglected. The rest of the journey back was only interrupted with a few people opening the compartment door to say hello, before rushing back out again to find their friends to catch up before they arrived at Hogwarts. The train pulled to halt and Albus stood and sighed as he gathered his things and made his way towards floating carriages that sat waiting for the students to fill them, once filled it would immediately take off. Albus jumped into the one closest to him, regardless of who sat with him and he laid his head on the window as it took off towards the castle, he over heard a male voice, which he did not recognize explain,
"My mum say's the carriages are pulled by horse like birds that look at those their skin has been melted to their very bones," this was followed by grasps from two females and a grunt from a boy,
"Don't be silly they are pulled by magic," the boy who grunted answered back,
"No my mum has seen them and you can only see them if you have seen someone die," the girl beside Albus shivered and Al shook his head lightly, hearing this exact story from his uncle Ron many times while he was drunk. Albus held a small piece of hope in side that Scorpius was already seated and waiting for him in their usual spot at the Slytherin table, but as the doors opened his heart once again sank and he forced his eyes not to welled up and spill out over his bottom lid. He shook his head and walked towards his seat, which was directly behind that of Rose and James, who sat at their table chatting excitedly.
As soon as Rose spotted him she turned and gave a weak smile, she opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted with the headmistress rising from her chair and beginning her speech of welcoming back the students and telling them all about the exams that they would have to 'buckle down' for at the end of the year, Rose gave a sad wave that said she would speak to her cousin later and turned back to James, whispering something into his ear. James turned to his brother and smiled weakly before turning to face the headmistress.
Throughout the speech Albus found himself looking towards the great wooden doors at the back of the hall and waiting to see the white blonde, perfectly styled hair of his boyfriend to enter, it would be just like Scorpius to make an entrance at a time like this, but with each passing minute and word Albus heart grew heavier and his head fuzzier, where could Scorpius be? And why hadn't he contacted Albus. Albus rose his hands to bang them on the table in front of him when suddenly rows of sweets and hot food appeared before him grabbing him back into the real world. Everyone grabbed at the turkeys and chickens that steamed on the table and the great hall erupted into laughter and chatter of friends and family talking about what they had gotten as presents and what had happened over the holidays. Al played with a potato that lay on his plate and gulped a large drink of pumpkin juice with Rose and James appeared beside him, almost making him choke.
"Are you ok Albus?" Rose asked drinking her own juice and waiting for an answer,
"Any news or word on where he is mate?" James chimed in taken a large bite from a chicken leg. Albus felt his eyes welding up again and he looked back at his plate,
"Yeah I'm fine," he forced himself to smile as he looked at Rose and then turned to face James, "No nothing yet, knowing Scorpius he's probably going to make a big entrance to make sure everyone sees him returning," Albus tried to joke but felt a tear escape his eye. James placed a hand on his brother's arm and squeezed and Albus just forced another. Rose opened her mouth to speak again and Al felt the sudden urge to leave before he started crying, he placed his fork down and stood up, "I'm sorry guys…" he paused and climbed over his seat, "I'm just really tired right now, I'll talk to you in the morning ok?" and without waiting for an answer Albus walked quickly to the hall doors and slipped between them, he breathed deeply before taking off running at full speed towards the Dungeons.
Albus could not describe the feeling he got when he reached his dorm, no one would in here yet he had at least half an hour of peace while everyone finished their meal he thought, however he was mistaken, when he flung open the door he saw clearly a tall blonde haired boy bent over unpacking his trunk,
"Scorpius where in merlin's name have you been," he croaked. Scorpius swiftly stood up and turned round and greeted his boyfriend with a smile,
"Oh yeah sorry, as I haven't been opening any owl letters or sending them myself I am going to guess these last few days have been hard for you, you know being unaware of my location and having no contact from yours truly but after all that insanity at the manner I booked myself a room at the leaky cauldron to get away from it all," the blonde chirped, Albus face dropped and turned a paler colour than it originally was so Scorpius pressed on, "I am very sorry Albus but I contacted nobody, it wasn't just you my love, I couldn't find it in me to speak to anyone who was present I just needed to get away for a bit as I said I know it must have been hard but it was hard for me too, although I met some peculiar gentlemen and drank firewhiskey with them into the night, it was rather specular to hear all their tales," Albus walked towards his boyfriend,
"Hard? Ha-hard?" he choked, "no Scorpius the OWL exams were hard, studying for these NEWTS next year is hard, not knowing where you where that nearly killed me, what do you think it done to your family if it had that effect on me seriously Scorpius," Al was beginning to feel flustered as Scorpius smiled,
"I was thinking you all could of just put out flyers like people do for lost toads and cats, think about Albus they could of read 'missing, one breathtaking young man answers to Scorpius or hot stuff' can you imagine it" he chuckled. Albus felt like his head was about to explode due the anger that had now replaced his sadness,
"HOW CAN YOU TREAT THIS A JOKE?" Albus shouted, Scorpius places his hands on his head and sighed,
"Albus dear there is no need for this really, I'm far to hungov-" Scorpius was unable to finish his sentence when his arm was met with a painful thump, Scorpius's face grew shocked as he started at his boyfriend in mock horror, "Did you just beat me?" he asked, Albus was stunned with his reaction,
"I'll do more than just thump you if you don't start taking this seriously you had me worried sick! YOU HAD YOUR WHOLE FAMILY WORRIED SICK AND IN FACT YOU HAD MY WHOLE FAMILY WORRIED SICK!" Albus screamed as he took a step closer to Scorpius, who remained in the same spot and raised his eyebrow,
"I have been missing for four days and on what should have be a joyous reuniting you have beat me!" Scorpius continued, as if Albus hadn't said a word. Albus felt his face redden and he could feel the words boiling in his throat as he opened his mouth,
"YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED AND NO ONE WOULD HAVE KNOWN SCORPIOUS! DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU PUT US ALL THROUGH AND NOW THAT YOU HAVE COME BACK AFTER WHAT SEEMED TO BE A MORE RELAXED TIME THAN ANYMORE OF US HAVE HAD YOU EXPECT EVERYTHING TO GO BACK TO NORMAL?" Albus continued shouting as he grabbed Scorpius by the arms and stared him in the eye, Scorpius looked at each of his boyfriends hands and then to his face, "WE HAVE ALL BEEN WAITING UP AT NIGHT AND SENDING OWLS ALL OVER FOR SOMEONE TO RESPOND WITH JUST SEEING A GLIMPSE OF YOU! AND YOU WHERE GETTING DRUNK… WHICH IS A WHOLE DIFFERENT CONVERSATION FOR ANOTHER TIM-" Albus was unable to finish his sentence as Scorpius grabbed him closer and enclosed him in a hard and longing kiss, that just seemed to melt away all of Al's anger and sadness and everything, expect complete bliss.