Notes: Translations (Done by twitter users nova_frogster thank you!)
À terre ! Tout le monde à terre ! - Get on the ground! Everyone get on the ground!
Chapter 5: Tell Them I Die an Honourable Death
"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" The boy dragging Lyra through the street kept yelling as they dodged more spells and debris falling from the building around them. Lyra was doing her best to keep up her shield and deflecting anything that was coming their way, but at this point it seemed as if they had found themselves in the middle of a fucking warzone.
Though they continued to move east, Lyra kept her eyes peeled for any signs of Vivienne with each step they took. She had faith in her best friend and her abilities, but even this was a bit more than they'd even stumbled upon. With none of the dark wizards taking note of her or her currently disillusioned companion, Lyra kept faith that Vivienne had been able to get out and get help. It was their singular rule, that if they ever were separated when trouble found them, to just keep moving and find help.
Lost in her thoughts of her friend, Lyra screamed as the boy she'd found tackled her to the ground to knock her out of the way of a crumbling archway. Lyra laid on her back, blinking as she looked straight through him and up into the sky that was flashing with the bright colours of the spells being cast around them.
"Are you fucking mental? Pay attention or we aren't getting out of this!" The boy hissed, dragging Lyra upright and began tugging her forwards again. His grip on her hand was tight and she could feel the sweat and the slight tremor, but she didn't comment on it.
"Yeah, right," Lyra muttered, erecting a shield again just before another spell crashed into it. Her body was shaking from the amount of effort she was exerting, and it was beginning to take its toll on her physically. "Is that compass still working?" She asked, looking towards where she assumed his face would be.
"Yes, we're heading east. Are you sure that's the right direction though?" He asked, his voice quivering with fear. She couldn't blame him; this was fucking insanity. If she made it out of this alive, she was sure her mother was going to kill her.
"Yes, I fucking know that's the right direction," Lyra snapped, gripping his hand as she dove out of the way of another wayward spell, sending them to the cold cobble stone ground again. Though, Lyra admittedly didn't know for sure that east was the right direction. However, if they could at least get away from the fucking mental dark wizards having it out for whatever fucking reason, then they could re-evaluate their situation.
As Lyra and the boy got back to their feet and started to move again, the loud cracking of multiple apparitions began to ring around them. And it was quite literally ringing in their ears at the mass number of newcomers joining the fight.
" À terre ! Tout le monde à terre ! Drop your wands and put your hands where we can see them! " An authoritative voice bellowed, amplified by magic.
With a sense of relief and slight horror, Lyra looked up into the sky to see the French Ministry of Magic's DMLE's insignia shining in the sky. Without a second thought, Lyra tapped her new companion to end the spell on him and then pocketed her wand and put her hands out where any Auror would be able to see them. They were saved, well…at least until her mother got her hands on her…
ooo
Scorpius was sitting in what he presumed was the cubical of a juvenile officer. The kind witch had offered them refreshments and snacks after rescuing them from the horror filled streets, both of which the two teens had taken her up on. After making sure that neither of them had sustained any injuries and were safe, they'd been left and told that someone would be back to take their statements shortly.
Since at the moment, neither Lyra (he found out that's what her name was when she'd given it to the officer that had found them) or he had a parent present, the questions were on a brief pause. With them each being fourteen, neither turning fifteen until the twenty second of July (sharing a birthday was yet another thing Scorpius found odd about them) they could not be spoken to about the incident until they had a parent or guardian.
Not wanting to call his father, Scorpius had given the officers Astoria's information, hopeful that she'd make haste to get him and get back to the villa before his grandmother or aunts noticed how long they were taking. However, as he powered up his cell, finally having service, his hopes that no one aside from his essentially worthless mother knowing where he'd been were quickly dashed.
174 missed calls … He swallowed hard, not even attempting to listen to whatever Lyra was rattling on about some cat bookshop in a mixture of English and French. The French were fucking weird.
His voice mailbox was notification was showing, along with a slew of text messages in the multitude of group chats his family had. Deciding that listening to the messages would take too long, he opted for opening the texts and seeing what they might possibly think they knew.
He cringed as he opened the one with his dads, clicking the arrow to take him to the top of his unread messages.
Daaaaddddd: Did you see that Crystal Palace had a match tonight? Does the Villa have television or are you going to have to watch it on your phone?
Popsicles: Who are they playing? I need to know who my favourite team is today.
Daaaaddddd: Aren't you supposed to be working? Stop antagonising the poor boy.
Scorpius kept scrolling through, skimming the banter that they seemed to always get engaged with when they were communicating. Though about twenty messages in when he wasn't answering or even reading it seemed that they'd taken notice.
Daaaaddddd: Scorpius, Theo has told me seven times now that I have a nice butt and you've yet to even send a vomiting emoji.
Popsicles: I'm suspecting he's blocked us.
Popsicles: Scorpius, where are you? The news just said that there's been an incident in Montmartre District. You're not there are you? Anita said you might go out shopping, but didn't give details.
Popsicles: Scorpius, answer your phone.
Daaaaddddd: Scorpius, you better answer us or we're calling the aunts.
With the threat of his aunts, Scorpius flipped over into the next group message, the one that was rarely used and it caused him to cringe even more. His eyes flickered towards the door, sending up a prayer to any deity that it please be his fucked mother walking through the door any second.
Daaaaddddd: Where is my son? Are you all out in Montmartre District? If so, you need to leave and have Scorpius call me, now.
Aunty: What are you talking about? Mum, Tori, and Scorp went to lunch. Me and Pans are just sitting on the beach.
PP: Lad, you better just answer the fucking phone before I have to tell your dad to square up.
Aunty: PANSY!
PP: What? Draco knows he can't take me. Anyway, I tried calling Scorp and it's going straight to voicemail, he might be out of service, I'll send Tori a patronus that he needs to call you.
.
Daaaaddddd: Please do and let us know asap. Theo's already talking with our travel agent trying to get an emergency portkey.
Scorpius cursed under his breath, shoving his phone back into his pocket not wanting to answer their messages until he was on his way back with Astoria. He glanced at the door again, wishing that his fucking mother would just get a cell so he could fucking call her. He tapped his foot before pulling out his cell and looked at Pansy's text once more when an idea struck him.
He turned towards Lyra who was now sitting with her head in her hands muttering to herself, but he didn't have time for her mental breakdown if his dads were on their way. "Can you send a patronus?" He hissed, shaking Lyra's arm and getting her attention fully on him.
The cold look the girl gave him had Scorpius sitting back and releasing her, but still, he was pretty fucking desperate to get back to that villa before anyone came looking for him. The silver eyes that stared back at him were so alarmingly like his own, he noted again, actually getting a good look at her in the overly bright cubicle. Even the slight almond shape to them and full lashes were the same as his. If he'd thought they looked related in the darkened alley, now he couldn't help but think they were nearly identical.
"Why?" She asked, an eyebrow raised.
"Well, if you could send a message to my mother to hurry the fuck up, I'd really appreciate it." He said, looking back towards the door as it opened, but it was just another officer walking onto the floor.
He wasn't even trying to hide his desperation at this point, because he knew the number one rule for being anywhere with Astoria was to not wander off. This was two fold, because one she wouldn't hesitate to leave him behind and two because she would only take him to magical shopping centres where he'd manage to get stuck and often without cell service.
"No, I can't. Why can't you just call her? You have a cell phone, and I can see that it's working. Oh, do you think she'd lie and say she's my mother too? I would rather not have Hermione barge in here like a wild banshee."
"Wait, didn't you give them your mum's name? Won't she be on her way regardless?" Scorpius asked, completely ignoring her questions. It was embarrassing at just what a selfish person his mother was. Astoria Malfoy didn't do favours for anyone but herself, the idea of her showing even the slightest amount of compassion was laughable.
"Are you mad? No, I gave them my aunt's information. We look more alike than me and my mum anyway, so," Lyra shrugged, looking back around. Her comment struck Scorpius as he racked his brain for more Malfoy trivial facts he'd been forced to learn until his grandfather's death.
If she looked like her aunt and not like her mum, then her mum couldn't be a Malfoy.
Which, now that Scorpius wasn't running for his life and could make a more coherent thought, made more sense. The Malfoy family was rumoured to have a curse on the bloodline that only allowed for male heirs to be born. The only possibility for a daughter was through an illegitimate pregnancy or if they were the second child. When Lyra had given her name, she'd said she was Lyra Granger and not Malfoy, meaning she most likely hadn't been born in wedlock.
Honestly, his opinion of the Malfoy family was that they were a bunch of fucking bigoted arseholes. How accepting she'd been of him being a squib was just another hint she hadn't grown up around them. His father embracing his squib status was the exception rather than the rule.
"Where is my daughter! I'm looking for Lyra Granger, fourteen years old, blonde curly hair, about this tall." A woman was yelling so loudly at the receptionist that both the teens could hear her from their secluded corner. "No, no one called me! Her fucking friend told me they'd been running around in fucking Night Alley when the attack happened. So, I'm going to need you to tell me where the fuck my kid is, now!"
The way Lyra's face turned an even paler shade than she already shocked Scorpius. He considered being a bit of a prick for a moment, but the fear that was radiating off her held his tongue.
"MY DAUGHTER, NOW!" The same female bellowed and a quick sting of explanations that Scorpius couldn't quite hear were sputtered off in French by a second and third voice, possibly someone translating. A scuffling of feet and the sounds of the officers in the building getting out of the way of Lyra's incoming mother, Scorpius almost felt bad for the girl.
However, he was curious as to what was heading his way. In a bit of a morbid way.
"If she's not even bothering to take the time to figure out how to say what she's shouting at them in French… Tell everyone I died an honourable death."
Scorpius had been trying to catch a glimpse of Lyra's mother on her way, so when he looked over to find the girl now squatting behind a houseplant, he was a bit shocked. "I'm not sure how honourable this is," he said, any thoughts or fears of his own parents dissipating. Whoever this witch that was heading their way was…well, Scorpius was intrigued.
"Unless you want to be on the end of her wand, I'd suggest you hide too. Forewarning she's the head curse breaker for the ministry, so, yeah, she can do a bit of damage. It's still an honourable death, but I'm not bloody stupid."
"LANGUAGE!" A woman Scorpius presumed was Lyra's mother shouted as she stepped into the cubicle. Scorpius fell from his seat in shock toppling to the floor and ducking behind his chair not wanting the terrifying woman to notice him. Peeking from behind his hiding place, Scorpius looked her over in complete awe of what he was seeing.
Lyra was right, if she hadn't already informed him that this was her mother, he never would have suspected. Her olive skin tone was much darker than her daughter and her rich chocolate brown hair hung long, cascading down her back. Truly the only similarities they seemed to share were the same wild curls and that they were both petite.
Though, even as small as this witch was, he was plenty scared of her. Sparks were flying off the tips of her hair and her large round brown eyes looked as if there were flames dancing in them. Frankly, the woman was as beautiful as she was scary.
"What were you thinking!? I told you, don't go in that fucking alley!" The woman shouted, not even noticing Scorpius, her entire attention on her child. "God damnit, Lyra! You're fourteen years old–"
"I'll be fifteen in four days…" Lyra murmured under her breath, but her mother still heard, her face turning even more flushed than it had been.
"Not for another four days! You asked that I trust you! You asked for me to treat you as an adult because you're growing up, and then you go and do something so fucking stupid! You took Vivienne into Night Alley and almost got the both of you fucking killed! Do you realise that you could have died?!"
"Yes, but I didn't. I'm fine, I used logic, just as you taught me and was able to come out of it with just a few scratches." Lyra said, motioning towards the bandages that had been applied after they'd been rescued. She continued to give her bullet points as to why she wasn't nearly as foolish as her mother was insisting she was, which was amusing for just another moment.
Lyra and her mother continued to bicker, but Scorpius was no longer paying attention. Just as Lyra's mother had demanded her daughter, Scorpius felt his stomach drop when he heard the two voices he'd hoped most not to hear.
"Our son was brought in after being a witness to an attack. Scorpius Malfoy, M-A-L-F-O-Y, yes. If you don't mind taking me to him. I greatly appreciate it." Scorpius glanced back at the house plant that Lyra had just been hiding in and suddenly it didn't seem like such a fool hearted idea.