Thanks to: Colin Creevey, percyjackson42, Cal and ChakraKitty for reviewing!

Questions:

Why does he (Sly) want to be a Shadow?
Because he hates the world, he was extremely unhappy in his old life and siding with the Shadows gives him a chance of things to be better

Where did he (Cyrus) become the world class jerk?
Cyrus has daddy issues, he's got a lot of anger and resentment for Roman and he doesn't like the Shadows, four years of this and it's just really weighing on him manifesting more as frustration, he's fed up of being the tortured victim he wants out

Michael is bashing Maximus too? I mean, Scorpius I understand but Maximus too? Is there anyone Michael is NOT angry at?
Michael is just on a short fuse right now, he's a bubbling cauldron of pain and rage with no outlet so it's easy for anyone to set him off

Is Hermione still Law Enforcement Head?
Yes

Does she (Hermione) have- any contact with Alaric?
Yes

Is something wrong with her (Maurene)? Or was she just acting like a fan of her dad?
No she's fine and in fact is a lot better off mentally then a lot of the other child characters, Scorpius was concerned by the grim imagery but she was doing it out of admiration/love for her dad and it helps her cope

Is Heather gonna be ok emotionally?
Probably not in the near future

Why does Cyrus hate Maurice and orous?
He doesn't, he hates Roman and as they're Roman's children he just doesn't want anything to with them

Won't he (Cyrus) have to deal when he finds out mommy's dead?
Yep but remember he doesn't know that yet

Why do Ron and hermionie dislike score?
They don't exactly dislike him but they don't really like him either, Rose died in Hogwarts so they're devastated. For Ron its more that Scorpius just reminds him of the whole thing, he's very glad Molly (who is his niece and he blames himself for his capture as she was saving him at the time) is okay but is very hurt about Rose. For Hermione she's just trying to distract herself from her personal problems by throwing herself into this with intense focus, she didn't treat Scorpius any differently to how she is with almost everyone right now

Scorpius went to bed in a better mood then he had in weeks, it might not have gone perfectly but everyone had still gotten out of Hogwarts and even though some were still not out of the woods it could've gone a lot worse, and then of course he was happy Molly was up and about now. Small victories maybe but it was still more victory then they'd had the past few weeks.

The next day was much calmer, Varanian – who Scorpius was starting to get a little concerned about - was still sleeping so Scorpius just relaxed in the house with Molly and Maurene who they were watching since Leebin was dealing with the werewolves while Hogan bounced between there and the Embrys as Oathan needed some kind of healing attention at some point but otherwise the Hogwarts survivors needed it more. He and Molly – who insisted on helping to some degree – also did all the housework, cooking, cleaning, tending to Hogan's owl - the creatively named 'Owl' - and tutoring Maurene. He assumed the next day would be more of the same, he was proven wrong when making breakfast.

"Hey," Varanian greeted him and Scorpius spun so quickly he almost dropped the pan in shock, seeing Varanian wandering in casually and quickly shoved it back on the stove out of the way. He was looking healthier, his eyes were still one gray and on blue but they were no longer bloodshot or shadowed with dark rings of exhaustion. His scruffy tawny hair had an unusual amount of gray in it still and his scars were still visible though, he still looked older too.

"Hey, how… um… how are you feeling?" Scorpius asked him somewhat nervously as Varanian leaned on the counter, no longer seeming unsteady or close to collapsing. Though up close, Scorpius noticed he could smell better.

"Physically better, I guess," Varanian told him, definitely sounding more with it, "I don't feel tired anymore."

"You still look different."

"Well this is what I look like, I still can't change my appearance," Varanian said a little more irritably before he sighed, "So how long was I out? I was thinking they might change the security around Hogwarts for the full moon since they have that werewolf kid and all so it could give us an opening to act."

"Oh," Scorpius muttered awkwardly, scratching at the back of his head and somehow doubting Varanian was going to be pleased to learn how long he'd slept for, "Um… Well you don't have to worry about it, Wyatt escaped with everyone while you were out and they're at the Embrys right now."

"What?!"

"Don't worry, it's all good. Or mostly good," Scorpius changed his sentence midway through as he realized it wasn't all good news, Varanian was ogling him in shock and he thought the he smelled breakfast burning, "Why don't you go have a shower while I finish breakfast and then I'll fill you in on everything that happened?"

"Did I really miss that much?" Varanian wondered, scowling as he stepped back.

"Later," Scorpius assured him as he yanked the pan off the stove, waving his hand to waft aside the smoke while Varanian left passing Hogan on the way in.

"This is what you get for trying to avoid having porridge for breakfast," Hogan told him smugly.

"Shut up, Hogan," Scorpius complained at him, "And why can't Varanian change his appearance still? He was asleep for a week."

"A metamorphmagus' ability to change their appearance is on them, it's not something that can be healed its linked to their own mental state," Hogan explained, holding up his hands as if innocent, "I dealt with his exhaustion, while he was out I also dealt with his dehydration and starvation to normalize his body again. I did what I could, the rest is on him."

"Well did you deal with the werewolves?" Scorpius sighed, getting some plates out for the food and realizing he hadn't had the chance to ask with Hogan – who went over to begin making porridge - being busy.

"Forcibly changing forms is basically fraying Lamb's already damaged nerves causing intense pain, I'm going to take him to the Embrys – they have some potions I don't have here - whenever he's up for it to try ease it. And I don't know about Lysel, I've checked him thoroughly but nothing seems different to usual so I'm just keeping an eye on him but I'm suspecting it's probably just part of his condition he's always had and just didn't use until now. I'll talk to him about it when he's doing better."

"Talk to- to who?" a familiar voice wondered and Scorpius saw Lamb walking in, looking and sounding tired as he came over and sat at the counter. No doubt he wasn't completely over the full moon yet, "S- Smells g- g- good, Sc- Scorpius."

"It's burnt."

"I- I- I l- lived o- on the st- streets for a l- long time, I- I'm no- not picky and its n- nice to eat a- at all," Lamb offered with sincerity that had Hogan shake his head and mutter something Scorpius didn't quite catch but it was something along the lines of 'idiot,' "D- Do you want an- any help?"

"No!" Hogan barked at him instantly which startled Lamb so much he jumped, "If you're walking about you can come with me to work on your wrist so you need to stay rested."

"O- Okay," Lamb muttered and something occurred to him as he was dividing up the breakfast.

"Hey Ephraim, didn't you say you know Latin?" Scorpius wondered of him and Lamb nodded, his head bobbing more times than necessary as he did.

"Morning," Molly offered as she walked in, causing all thoughts of letting Lamb look at his pocket watch to evacuate his mind and he smiled again at just seeing her walking around again.

He finished and they got everyone fed while Varanian was in the shower, saving some for Varanian himself of course. After that Hogan left with Lamb and true to his word, Scorpius filled in Varanian while he ate. As expected, Varanian wasn't particularly happy to learn how long he'd been out.

"A week?!" Varanian spluttered out, trying to rage but choking on his porridge instead, "That bloody lunatic put me out for a whole week?! And you didn't think to wake me?!"

"You wouldn't have slept that much if you didn't need it," Scorpius said defensively, Varanian had continued to glower but went quiet.

Scorpius took this as his cue to continue, going on to talk about Wyatt's escape and everything he'd learned about what had gone down – all of which all would have happened regardless as to whether Varanian had been awake or not. Then talking about the aftermath, how everyone was doing and how he'd given permission for Maurice's family to join so Tabitha could help with the healing. This all had Varanian frowning by the end of it.

"Well that's great," Varanian sighed, sitting back and pushing his long empty plate away, "We've just lost our best spy."

"What?" Scorpius wondered in surprise, "I just said Wyatt is-"

"Alive, I know. But if James knows he's an animagus now he'll pass the word along and Wyatt's not going to be able to spy if they know what to be on the lookout for, assuming he even could with his eye gone," Varanian explained unhappily, idly fiddling with his empty glass, "I mean, it's good he and the others got out and all but… it's still not great. We never seem to get a victory that doesn't come with a but, with Aurelius dead and my birthright failing me we're essentially out of spies."

"Well we can survive without spies," Scorpius insisted optimistically, "We have more former Shadows then ever at our disposal right now - including a former Lieutenant! It's not like spies have the information we need most right now anyway."

"I guess," Varanian shrugged though his expression didn't change, putting the glass down and Scorpius thought the lull was good enough to inform of the final piece of information he had to share.

"Hermione wanted to see you by the way, not sure what about but she said the sooner the better."

"Oh?" Varanian wondered, his expression turning to one of bemusement, "Huh, well I guess I can go find out what that's all about."

"What? Right now?" Scorpius said in surprise as Varanian stood, flicking his wand lazily causing the utensils to fly to the sink and begin cleaning themselves.

"Yeah, why not? Are you coming?"

"Um… Sure," Scorpius agreed quickly as Varanian was already leaving, he quickly passed this information along to Molly and Maurene in the front room while Varanian just walked outside.

"We really need to work on you apparating," Varanian offered when Scorpius joined him, holding out his horribly scarred hand which Scorpius took with his own horribly scarred hand. He was then apparated them both back to the Embrys, quickly heading inside and Scorpius followed.

"Pip!" Richard Embry – who looked like he'd been coming to get the door - exclaimed, looking relieved to see Varanian and greeted him with a hug, "How are you doing?"

"Fine," Varanian brushed it off dismissively as he pulled away, "Is Hermione here? She wanted to speak to me."

"Oh yeah, she's here. Why don't you wait in the front room and I'll find her?"

"Okay, thanks Richard."

Richard went off to find Hermione while Varanian wandered into the front room, Scorpius almost made to follow but decided to spare a glace across the hall into the dining turned hospital room as the door was open. It was brimming with activity, a lot of the people had loved ones with them and the Healers were around. Including Michael. Scorpius followed Varanian into the other room before Michael could spot him, wondering if his friend had cooled off enough to talk to yet. Varanian had picked up one of the photographs from the shelf, one of himself and Ethel on their wedding day.

"You know Richard was the best man at our wedding? I really didn't have anyone else, I barely knew anyone there," Varanian said to him as he replaced the photograph solemnly and swallowed, "I… I had hoped that… I had hoped that when I married Annie it would be different, and I… I was going to ask you to be the best man. Pretty stupid, right?"

"Varanian…" Scorpius started to say, his heart going out to him as he tried to think of something comforting but was interrupted anyway by Richard returning with Hermione.

"Thank you for meeting with me," Hermione stated formally as she took a seat on the couch, Scorpius and Varanian remained standing.

"Of course," Varanian offered while Richard sat in the armchair closest to him, rubbing his knee and looking like he was relieved to sit rather than particularly interested in the conversation, "What it is?"

"I want to broker an alliance between the Ministry and Gray."

"An alliance?" Varanian repeated, giving a derisive snort as he plopped down in the other armchair facing Hermione. His scarred lips curled into a bitter semblance of an expression to empty to be a smile, "Why? So Potter can lock us all up and torture us now?"

"This has nothing to do with Harry," Hermione brushed it aside unconcerned by his reaction, "Harry isn't the Minister, Alaric is and he wants an alliance, if Harry doesn't like it then that's his problem."

"Uh-huh," Varanian mused, not looking even slightly convinced and exchanging a doubt-riddled look with Scorpius, "Why would they want an alliance with us anyway?"

"Information. Alaric needs the spies to be out of his hair and Gray knows their identities, or many of their identities anyway along with a spell to detect the corruption in Shadows' wands which should mark any spies we're missing."

"But we don't have proof and we found all of this through illegal means so he can't act on it, I developed that spell on stolen wands too."

"Alaric's about to declare a State of Emergency that'll give him the power to do anything he needs, such as arresting suspected Shadow spies now so they can't kill us all and worry about proof when it's safe to do so."

"Would we get anything out of it?" Varanian wondered, still looking extremely unconvinced.

"It's not about 'we' anymore, there is no us and them!" Hermine said more passionately before jabbing her finger towards the window, "The world is falling apart around us out there and we need to band together or we won't be able to stop it, not just Gray or the Ministry but all of us. The Ministry are the ones who've been evacuating, who've been giving shelter to the populace, who've been dealing with the fallout from the Shadow Master's attacks right now because they have manpower and resources that Gray doesn't have. On the other hand Gray has had as much success in holding off the Shadows as you've had because you can work outside of what they can, you've been able to access knowledge they don't then act and you haven't had the same issues holding you back. There's strengths and weaknesses in both, we need to be working together right now to consolidate our strengths and minimize our weaknesses as best we can, it doesn't benefit any of us when one is doing poorly and it only benefits us when one is succeeding. We're not opposing factions, we're two sides of the same coin."

"I-" Varanian started to say but he was cut off by loud knocking, Richard heaved a sigh and made to force himself up.

"I'll get it," Scorpius offered, making his way out of the room and Richard threw him a grateful look.

"Thank you," Richard said.

Scorpius closed the door behind him to keep the conversation more private and made his way to the front door, despite the high number of people and the fact the door was open it seemed no one in the dining turned hospital room had heard the door. Maybe they hadn't heard it exactly because it was busy in there, or maybe they just ignored it as it was Richard's house. At any rate, Scorpius opened the door readily and gasped at what he saw.

He wasn't sure what he was expecting but it was not for Professor Ashain's kids to be standing at the door, or one of them was standing. Both of them were dirty and unkempt, not just like they hadn't slept or changed since he'd last seen them weeks ago but strangely dusty like they'd rolled around in rubble. They were sporting mostly healed minor scrapes and burns too by the looks of it, their clothes were a little ragged and torn. Antonius was leaning so heavily on Cassia the only reason Scorpius knew he wasn't completely unconscious was the knowledge she wouldn't be able to support him otherwise, his leg had a filthy, poorly tied bloody bandage wrapped around it.

"Anton!" Scorpius cried when he realized the state of his leg, immediately scooping the small boy up into his arms.

Only when holding him did he notice that Antonius was trembling, gazing down at his face he also saw how unhealthily and unusually devoid of color it was. Strands of extremely dark auburn hair were plastered to his sickly pale forehead, his dark chestnut eyes were trying to flutter open weakly. He felt as if he took an icy to the stomach, forcefully feeling reminded of his father.

"I need help over here, Antonius is injured!" Scorpius called out to no one in particular as he walked into the crowded room.

"N- No, I'm fine!" Antonius stammered out weakly, struggling suddenly and pitifully in his arms to try get down before his body immediately slumped as his strength failed him, tears pricked his eyes, "I- I can be useful! D- Don't throw me out..."

"No one's throwing you out," Scorpius assured him gently while others rushed about, Wyatt got up so they could use his bed and Hogan gestured for him to place Antonius down on it so they could look at him. Scorpius laid him down but Antonius resisted, grabbing his arm frantically.

"No! No! Please! I c- can help! Let m- me make the team, I can Quidditch…"

"Calm down, we're trying to help you," Scorpius offered in complete confusion as he backed away so Hogan and Michael could look at him, thankfully Michael looked as concerned as he felt and that seemed to trump his anger at Scorpius, "Also, what?"

"He's kind of out of it," Cassia pointed out as the healers started waving their wands over him.

Scorpius glanced back to her and saw she'd followed him in along with Antonius' massive dog who tried to sniff him interestedly. He caught her eye and despite being the exact same shade as Antonius' he was reminded more of Ashylos, the insurmountable strength they had. Her expression was also very reminiscent of Varanian's current solid stoic visage, he was sure she was concerned for her brother but she didn't let it crack her exterior.

"What incompetent idiot treated his leg?" Hogan complained and Scorpius glanced back, seeing they were removing the bandage to show off and a large, jagged puss-filled wound with angry red streaks spiraling out from it.

"I did," Cassia said icily, Hogan spared her a brief look and his expression softened maybe slightly.

"What happened?" Scorpius asked of her, she folded her arms and leaned back against the doorframe.

"Shadows. When we ran away to rejoin Gray we were caught on the edge of one of the Shadow Master's attacks, Anton's leg was broken- like way worse than this, the bone was sticking out and everything," Cassia explained, sounding a little more like the child she was, "I tried to put it back in and bandage it, Anton said we should clean it so we tried that but he's just been getting worse. He has a fever and he's been getting more out of it, we think the leg's infected."

"No shit," Hogan scoffed as he started waving his wand over Antonius' leg, probably some kind of diagnostic spells.

"Why did you even run away in the first place?" Scorpius questioned with a sigh even though he already knew the answer, "You know it's not safe out there, and if you wanted to come back here there had to be a better way."

"I told Varanian I would," Cassia said coldly while Antonius' dog lay down in between them, "That bitch murdered my father, if you think I was going to sit by and do nothing while the world dies after fucking everything we've been through then you're a fool. This is my fight, this has been my whole life, take me back as much as you want but I won't stop. I'm never going to give up this fight."

"That's Varanian and his stupid fucking decisions," Michael spat darkly and Scorpius turned back to him, immediately defensive but Hogan spoke first and completely distracted him.

"Michael, shut up," Hogan stated plainly, "We're probably going to amputate his leg so if you feel like picking petty fights then go away."

"What?!" Scorpius, Michael and Cassia all exclaimed at once.

"NO! Don't take my leg!" Antonius cried and tried to push Hogan away from him, it was a pitifully weak attempt that Hogan brushed aside without effort. Antonius fell back, tears bubbling from his eyes, "Don't take my leg! Mummy, I don't want to go school…"

"Amputating the leg is completely unnecessary!" Michael turned on Hogan angrily.

"Michael, his leg is fucked," Hogan pointed out calmly, gesturing to the wounded leg, "The injury occurred weeks ago and now it's riddled with infection, we can probably salvage the leg but we won't be able to heal it completely. The damage is severe enough that no matter what we do he won't be able to use the leg properly, he'll barely be able to walk with it and will likely need a cane just for that. If we amputate then we'll be able to give him a prosthetic, he's young enough to adapt he'll have a full range of motion again-"

"You're making it out worse than it actually is!"

"I'm sorry, which one of us is a dumb bratty teen and which one of us is an experienced Healer with forty-five years of experience?" Hogan wondered incredulously and Scorpius noticed Michael's fist clench, "He'll have a better quality of life with a prosthetic that lets him do everything he could before then his own leg that'll leave him crippled."

"We can't even get magical prosthetic legs for the amputee patient we already have, cut off his leg and he'll just have no leg!" Michael shot back instead which did seem to give Hogan pause, "Not to mention the weeks it'll take before his stump is settled enough to give him a prosthetic in the first place!"

"A temporary setback. That's the only negative."

"It's basically the apocalypse outside, a temporary setback could be his death and it's not the only negative, what about cutting off an eleven year old child's leg?!"

"Clearly your personal investment is clouding your judgement."

"That doesn't mean I'm wrong!" Michael insisted while Hogan glanced around the room scowling.

"Damn it, where is Tabitha when you need her," Hogan complained distractedly while Maximus came back over with some potions, one of which Hogan immediately took and administered to Antonius, "She'd back me up on this, or that other guy."

"Hacking off a child's leg when it's not a hundred percent necessary is not okay and they'd agree with that!"

"Isn't it really something we should ask next of kin about?" Maximus wondered while Antonius' eyes fluttered shut, Scorpius thought the potion might've been a Sleeping Draught as none of the healers seemed surprised or concerned by this, "Amputation is pretty drastic, he's just a kid…"

"I'm his next of kin and I say don't chop his fucking leg off!" Cassia spoke up defensively to which Hogan rolled his eyes but kept focused on Antonius' leg, waving his wand over it in one hand and pouring another potion over the wound which Scorpius realized was cleaning out the pus.

"You're a child, I mean the parent or guardian legally responsible for the minor," Hogan stated dismissively, still focused on what he was doing.

"And since she's the closest we got, its all the more reason to not make such an irreversible life-altering decision that is no way necessary for his survival!" Michael continued defensively.

"Sometimes you have to make a call about what is in the patient's best interests."

"It's in his best interests to keep his leg!"

"What's with all the yelling?" a familiar voice wondered and Scorpius turned to see Varanian approaching, behind him Hermione – who looked like she was about to throw up - was moving away quickly with Richard in the direction of the bathroom.

"Antonius and Cassia showed up, he was injured by Shadows," Scorpius explained, gesturing vaguely to the scene in front of them while Antonius' dog got up to sniff Varanian with its tail wagging excitedly, "There's some… disagreement about how to treat him."

"How did you get here?" Varanian wondered of Cassia while batting the dog away, surprise making it through his otherwise stony expression and the dog went back to lying down in the middle of them.

"Because of your stupid decisions, how do you think?!" Michael snapped at him immediately, his eyes flashing with rage as he turned on him, "What the fuck did you expect to happen when you abandon two kids in a terrible home situation with a horrible parent who is probably glad they're gone in the middle of a war no less- of course they were going to run away! She even told you that!"

"Well I didn't think they'd really do it," Varanian admitted, his eyes drifting over the scene, "Or get very far."

"Well they did and they got caught up in the attacks and now Antonius' leg is fucked so badly Hogan wants to cut it off! Great work you did, leader!"

"He was trying to protect them," Scorpius spoke up, defensive of Varanian. Even though he didn't agree with what Varanian had done, he knew he'd at least meant well and didn't deserve Michael's crap.

"Oh yeah? Just like he protected Annie?" Michael shot out, words writhing with anger he was sure he was desperate to get out but Scorpius knew they'd be incredibly hurtful to Varanian and sure enough, Varanian flinched at the mention of her name and immediately averted his eyes. Scorpius felt his own anger rising at the low blow.

"That wasn't his fault."

"How was it not his fault?!" Michael yelled, gesturing wildly, "He had months to abandon a base he knew was potentially compromised or to at least send her a safer place but no, he kept the sick pregnant woman in the place he knew was at risk! It was also his plan that failed spectacularly, failing to account for her going into labor and having complications got her – not to mention Dom, Aurelius and Austin as well – killed! Oh yeah and it was his baby she was carrying that got her killed – in fact, add the poor baby to additional people he got killed! – in the first place, he's the one that got her into the condition of being a sick pregnant woman! He is the one who recruited her into Gray in the first place, dragged her into this whole mess away from her safe muggle life!"

"Michael, shut up!" Scorpius yelled at him, seeing Varanian's skin paling with ever sentence.

"No, I won't shut up!" Michael shot back and Scorpius noticed the one thing both he and Varanian had in common was the tears building behind their eyes, "My aunt is dead because of him! Annie was there for me in a way no one else was, she was an amazing person and she deserved better then to die a horrific death that should've been easily avoided. She had a life and a family and you took that from her, I loved her and now she's gone."

"Please stop talking about her," Varanian urged barely audibly, so quietly Scorpius wasn't entirely sure whether Michael ignored him or simply didn't hear.

"And you know what the worst part is?!" Michael continued, his anger rising again and his fists clenched once more, "You weren't even there! Not only are you responsible for fucking everything setting her up to die but when the Shadows came and she needed you the most, where were you?! You just left her to die in the hell you created! Did you think about her even once when she was being torn to shreds?! Did you care, Varanian?! Did you ever care about her?!"

"Of course I cared!"

The second Varanian spoke there was as a tremendous bang like the crash of thunder - almost drowning the words completely – as the corner of the house exploded, splinters and dust showered down over those closest. Scorpius barely had time to notice a corner of the house was now missing, it had been completely blown out before Varanian turned on his heel and with a bang so violent Scorpius feared he splinched himself, disapparated.

Chaos erupted immediately, some people were screaming in panic while others gaped in confusion at the hole in the house, the dog started barking and ran over to Antonius protectively. Scorpius wasn't confused however and was the first to whip out his wand, waving it and with effortless skill the debris flew back to repair itself. Varanian had had an outburst of uncontrolled magic, it wasn't the first time he'd seen it happen when he was upset but this was the worst.

"What the hell, Michael?!" Scorpius demanded angrily of his friend, Michael looked back to him with his mouth hanging open but quickly recovered.

"What? You're blaming me for this?!" Michael wondered incredulously, gesturing to the newly repaired damage while others were rushing in from other parts of the house to see what had happened.

"It's just a magical outburst, relax!" Hogan called out to probably no one in particular.

"You're the one to blame! What were you thinking going off on him like that?!" Scorpius hissed at him, causing Michael to look angry again, "You're not special, you're not the only one who loved Annie, you're not the only one who's hurting right but you're the only one being a prick about it- of course he cared that his fiancée is dead! Get over yourself."

"Oh that's rich, you telling me to get over it when you're just as guilty as he is! Rose is dead because of you! And you just want me to get over it? To just ignore what you did? Like my aunt and one of best friends were nothing to me?! Fuck you, Scorpius!" Michael yelled back and seemed to have had enough of talk as he cocked his fist back, Scorpius slipped his wand into his hand-

"Flipendo!"

At this, Michael was knocked back and slammed into the doorframe hard enough to dent the wood before his punch could connect. It wasn't Scorpius who had cast it though, it was not the spell he would've used and he favored nonverbal magic by a lot. He turned in surprise to see Cassia was the caster, Professor Ashain's wand still extended and held impressively steadily.

"My brother needs help not a fucking fight," Cassia told Michael in annoyance, Scorpius offered him a hand up but he refused it and got up himself.

"Yeah Michael," Abby spoke up in agreement, "You need to calm down, this isn't helping."

"You know what? Fine!" Michael spat, stalking past him towards the front door.

"Where are you going?!" Scorpius demanded of him, having a feeling he already knew the answer as Michael yanked the door open.

"For a drink!"

"Don't do that, you've been doing so well," Scorpius pleaded, his anger deflating due to disappointment.

"Well now I'm not! Are you coming, Lamb?" Michael shifted gears to address Lamb who was one of the ones milling about in the corridor drawn by the bang, he also had a drinking problem and-

"N- No, I- I'm good," Lamb spoke up surprisingly, shaking his head and holding up his hands, "I- I'm staying s- sober, I- I want to help."

"Fine," Michael reiterated, glaring at Lamb like he'd betrayed him before slamming the front door behind him as he left.