~What Am I Feeling?~

~Chapter 54- Destiny and Promises~

Albus had been rushing his essay for the past two hours, trying to get it done before Scorpius came home. It was still left unfinished, but when it had been about an hour and a half since Scorpius left, Albus started to get worried. How long did it take to get one book? Not this long, that's for sure.

There were lots of logical explanations to it. Scorpius could have seen someone he knew and started talking to them. He could have stopped at some of the other shops, he might have even popped into Weasley Wizard Wheezes to see George again before they returned to Hogwarts. But Albus just automatically assumed the worse of course.

When Albus heard noise downstairs, he abandoned his essay and rushed down the stairs. However, it was only his parents and sister who had come back from their dinner.

Albus stood at the bottom of the stairs, swinging off the banister to glance around, "Have you seen Scorpius?"

The other three Potters shook their head before Harry said, "Have you checked upstairs?"

"Yeah, he's not back… he went to Diagon Alley to get a book…" Albus said nervously.

"Do you want us to go to Diagon Alley to look for him?" Ginny asked as she hung her coat up, her voice ridden with concern.

"It's okay, I'll go. Just gonna get my coat."

Albus ran back up the stairs and straight to his room to find his coat, knocking past Kreacher in the process, who cursed at him. The brunette charged into his room, momentarily still thinking about his coat and getting to Diagon Alley until he saw his window wide open, the curtains blowing uncontrollably. He didn't have the window open before.

Slowly, Albus stepped towards the window, poking his head out and squinting through the darkness for anything suspicious. When he deemed everything good and under control, he sharply shut his window again but noticed something in the reflection of the closed glass.

A letter lay on Albus' bed, one that wasn't there before. He stilled for a second, then lunged forward and ripped the envelope open which was addressed to him.

Young Potter,

We thought you might like to know the whereabouts of your lover, young Malfoy. You'll have to come to Anfield Park if you want to find out. Do not tell anyone, we will know and that will be the end of Malfoy. We won't hesitate to kill him. If you want to see him again, come immediately.

Albus panicked internally. He was right to be worried. Scorpius was in danger. His Scorpius… not in a million years would Albus let Scorpius be hurt. What if he had already been hurt? What if he was already… dead?

No, Scorpius couldn't be dead, he just couldn't. Scorpius was full of life as always, he had so much to give to the world. He couldn't be dead. Scorpius was alive and well and would live a long and happy life. Albus just knew it. Because he couldn't live without Scorpius... Scorpius was his everything, he would always be there with him.

His rational mind was being completely overridden and only a protective stance for his boyfriend overwhelmed him. He scrambled to get his coat on then grabbed his wand and didn't hesitate in apparating to Anfield Park with a crack.

The park was pitch black. Albus' senses rose and he felt his body start to prepare for danger. He cast a Lumos charm, breathing heavily.

The snap of a twig came behind him and with a gasp, he span around, his wand held out. A few seconds went by and Albus realised there was no danger coming at that moment. He lowered his wand cautiously.

However, Albus then felt a thin, harsh point sticking into his back. Albus' breath hitched and he raised his hands into the air in surrender.

"If you want to see your boyfriend alive, drop your wand and come with us."

~X~

Scorpius woke up with a flutter of his eyes and a horrible pounding in his head. His fingers instinctively curled, skin brushing against a cold hard surface.

Scorpius turned his head with a groan and allowed his eyes to wander. Dirty stone walls were the first thing he noticed, and the only thing, because there was nothing else to it. It was an empty, freezing room and Scorpius was alone there. There was only the door as a way out, a big wooden door with a closed metal slit.

Dark, footsteps, hands, gripping, cloth, drifting. The memories all flooded back. Scorpius' heart sped up as he realised something bad was happening. He was in danger… he had been captured and thrown into a disgusting room. His adrenaline was rushing through his veins and nerves hammered his brain.

So many questions raced through his head, the main one being what the hell he was doing here. But there was others his clever mind asked too. Who were the people who had captured him? What did they want? Why him? Who else was involved? His loved ones? …Albus…?

A certain fear swallowed him whole and he curled up. What if something happened to him? What if they hurt him? What if… they hurt Albus? Everything was so perfect! Albus was good, he was good, they were happy. It couldn't go wrong now! And more importantly, they couldn't hurt Albus. Scorpius would be devastated if something happened to Albus… He didn't know if it was an irrational fear to think Albus could be potentially involved as well, but then again he had thought that someone following him was an irrational fear but that had turned out to be real! What if his first instincts were right and Albus was at risk too?

Scorpius' eyes widened and he threw himself up off the floor. He hit the door, thumping the wood over and over. Yells ripped through his throat; screams of desperation and pleading. He beat the door over and over with his fist, sobbing.

"Please! Help me! Let me out of here! Please!" Scorpius screeched, clinging onto the door for dear life.

A few minutes went by, Scorpius' terrified screams echoing through the room. Scorpius couldn't stop crying, he couldn't help it. He was far too scared for his own life as well as Albus' to feel any dignity of that sort.

Suddenly, the slit in the door slid sharply to the side and a beam of light travelled through. A pair of dark brown, scary and cruel eyes stared at Scorpius' small form, looking him up and down.

"What's all this banging about?!" The man shouted in a rough voice.

"Please! Please! Let me out! Where am I?! Why are you doing this to me?!" Scorpius begged, tears streaming down his face with no restraint.

"We're not letting you out yet, blondie, no way. You're needed. To get to someone else. To get revenge." The man said with a malicious tone to his voice.

The slit shut with a bang and Scorpius fell to his knees.

"Who do you need to get to…?"

~X~

Albus was dragged quite calmly through the corridors of a mansion by two men, deeper and further into the heart of the building. It was a cold, eerie place, one which he could imagine Malfoy Manor to have been like before Astoria refurbished it. He didn't know who these people were, he had never seen them before in his life but they were large and intimidating. He knew he couldn't fight them off physically and they had his wand.

Although Albus tried to maintain his cool composure but it was hard when inside he was panicking. He didn't know where he was, where he was being taken, who these people were and what they wanted. Most importantly, he didn't know whether Scorpius was safe or not.

They finally reached the end of the long corridor and a great wooden door stood in the way with a shelf on the wall.

One of the men opened the door with a small Muggle key, which Albus eyed intently, trying to think of some way to steal it from him. However his mind was still too boggled and he wasn't as clever as Scorpius. He watched with even more purpose when he saw them placing his wand on the shelf and abandoning it there.

The door flung open and the first thing Albus saw was Scorpius curled on the floor, facing away from him. Albus actually ripped his way out of the men's grip and rushed forward for his boyfriend.

Scorpius snapped up as soon as he heard noise and when he saw Albus his heart broke a little bit. He had been right, Albus was in danger too and he was even more terrified than before. Nevertheless, he accepted Albus' strong embrace.

Albus held Scorpius tightly to his chest, cradling his head as his lover cried, "I was so worried about you… you have no idea how happy I am to see you… safe."

"A-Al, what are you doing here though?"

Before Scorpius' question could be answered, the door slammed behind Albus and he gasped. Pulling Scorpius off the floor with him, he slammed his hand over the door in anger.

"You said you'd let him go! You said you'd let him go you bastards!"

The slit in the door opened and those harsh eyes that Scorpius recognised from before looked evilly at them.

"You better keep it down." The man spat.

"You said you'd let him go!" Albus held his ground with pressed lips, "You said if I came, you'd let him go!"

"Just tell us why we're here, what's going on please, that's all we want. To know what's happening." Scorpius said quietly but in a firm tone.

"Revenge," The man said simply, "Revenge on Harry Potter for the destruction of our leader. We will kill one of his children right before his eyes, just so happened the middle child was the most convenient," A choke broke in Scorpius' throat and he couldn't stop the tears from pouring out. Fear overwhelmed Albus but he knew he had to be strong, for Scorpius. If he broke down, Scorpius would too. And he couldn't let them see him weak. He was going to get out of this, both he and Scorpius, no matter what it took, "Mr Malfoy here was only taken in because it was the last opportunity before your return to Hogwarts. We seemed to lose all the other opportunities. But Lucius will be happy… it means his grandson won't be led astray by his boyfriend."

Another wave of emotion hit Scorpius as he realised his grandfather was in on the whole thing. Of course he was involved, it wasn't just conveniently timed when he got out of Azkaban. Even though Scorpius didn't like his grandfather after their first and only encounter, he still couldn't help but be upset. That was his family… ordering his capture in order to kill the person he loved the most. It was evil. He was evil.

Scorpius' thoughts also drifted to whether his dad knew about the scheme. Surely not… Despite everything, he knew his father did still love him and he was a good person at heart… he would have put a stop to this. Scorpius would give him the benefit of the doubt.

The slit in the door shut and Albus and Scorpius were left alone. For a minute, they didn't know what to do or say. They just stood there, Scorpius crying with Albus' arm wrapped around him, the brunette trying to contain his own tears.

Albus looked up to the ceiling, lost. He didn't understand what he and Scorpius had done wrong. He didn't know what they had done to deserve this. They were good people, they lived good lives. They tried their best not to hurt others. And all they wanted was the freedom to love each other and live their lives out peacefully together.

But everything seemed to go wrong. It always seemed like there was this force dragging them apart. Whether it was gender, sexuality, other partners, people's opinions, family, disowning or death; there always seemed to be something wrong.

Albus suddenly remembered something Teddy had said.

"I will not tolerate anyone who says mine and George's relationship is disgusting! Because it is not! It isn't! There are people out there who are not in love with their partner, who don't even care about them! There are people who fall out of love every day! But I love George! I truly love him and he truly loves me!

"There is nothing disgusting about that! Nothing disgusting about wanting to be with someone you love so wholly! But being with someone you don't love and lying to yourself and your partner, that's disgusting!"

Teddy was right. There were people out there who didn't love each other, didn't even care about each other, and were together for whatever reason. Yet bad things didn't happen to them. Nobody stopped them from being together even though their relationships were sour.

But like George and Teddy, Albus and Scorpius loved each other wholly. They loved each other more than anyone could possibly imagine, unless they had felt love that strong. However they were the ones that seemed to fall into situations which could separate them. Why was destiny keeping them apart? It wasn't because they didn't love each other, because no matter what destiny said, Albus knew that wasn't true. Was it because they would come out stronger at the end? Because love would overcome it?

Why should love be tested like that?

Albus switched back into reality when Scorpius started to slide down to the floor. He dismissed all thoughts about destiny and such, and focussed on comforting Scorpius. If it was the last thing he did, he would keep Scorpius safe and happy.

"Sh, don't cry. Don't cry because of me." Albus whispered as he stroked Scorpius' locks.

Scorpius sobbed into Albus' chest, "How can I not, Al? What if you die? What if they really kill you? I couldn't live if you were gone-"

"Don't you dare talk like that Scor…" Albus said with a croak, "We have to think positive… they said they would kill me right before my father's eyes… well there's no way my father would let that happen. He will have already realised something is wrong and he will have all of the Aurors out and looking for us both. We'll be fine. We will," A single tear let loose, but Albus wiped it away immediately, "And anyway, as long as you're safe I'll be happy. That's all I wanted."

"Al, that's not enough!" Scorpius said in frustration, thumping his fist lightly on Albus' shoulder, "We both have to be safe. I cannot live without you. We will leave here together, or stay here together!"

"No," Albus took Scorpius' face in his hands, "I have to protect you. If I die here, I want to die knowing you will live your life even without me and you'll be happy. You have to promise me that if something ever happened to me, you would eventually move on and find someone else to look after you," Scorpius looked reluctant for a moment but Albus made him look deeper into his eyes, "You have to set up the shop with Teddy and make it really successful. You have to do all the things you want to do, never have any regrets. You have to make up with your dad. Because you couldn't waste anymore time with him."

"It just wouldn't be the same without you... Nothing would, Al…"

"I know, but you have to promise me. Please, for me."

Scorpius stared longingly into Albus' eyes before nodding slightly, "I promise. I'll love you forever though."

Albus finally let the tears run freely down his cheeks, "I'll love you forever as well."

They leaned forward, faces close but their lips hardly touched. Eyes closed, breaths mingling, it was all they needed. And it was the perfect, peaceful moment Scorpius needed to get his sharp brain kicking into gear.

"I have an idea."

~X~

A/N: Sooo I'm back to my usual routine, posting quickly! Hard chapter to write, a lot of sad bits as well as built up tension etc... Next chapter I found even harder to write because it's mostly just describing actions! Not as much emotions and dialogue which I enjoy! You'll see what I mean when I post the next one!

Thank you to AlbusPercivalWulfricDumbledo re, Full-Empty-Spirit, , esinger, Satary, Curly Wurly Me, myrddin767, Awsomazing11 and Stereotypical Emo for reviewing the last chapter!

Next chapter:: Scorpius' plan goes under action. But will it work or will something go wrong?