Chapter 6 - Confrontation
Chapter 6 - Confrontation
That evening, after killing time on the terrace, Albus disappeared into his room.
The next morning everything was very tense, Albus spoke very little. James and Lily kept taking turns to give him short, quick glances. Ginny looked at Harry seriously and sternly from time to time, until Harry finally gave in.
"We need to talk in private, Albus," Harry began, slowly getting up from his chair. "Come with me."
Albus followed Harry into his office without complaining. He knew that a conversation would have to take place at some point.
Harry pointed to the door and Albus closed it. Then Albus turned fully to Harry, waiting anxiously. Harry folded his hands, cleared his throat once. "So, can you explain the situation with Draco Malfoy's son to me?" His voice was monotone and Albus couldn't tell if Harry was angry, disappointed or something else.
Albus tugged at the end of his sleeve. His gaze flew to the floor for a moment, then Albus raised his head and met Harry's eyes.
"Dad, we're in the same room. We have to talk about school things and then it just became..."Albus' voice broke off.
Harry frowned. "Became what?"
Albus swallowed. "It became a friendship, Dad. We're friends,"
"Friendship?" said Harry, not quite believing his ears. He shook his head. "Do you trust him?"
Albus tilted his head slightly. His heart was pounding in his ears. "Yes. Yes, I do." Albus took a deep breath.
Harry exhaled loudly. "Okay, I don't. I don't trust the whole family. The Malfoys... they're blood racists,"
"Scorpius is not for pure-blood supremacy," Albus interrupted Harry, but Harry didn't let that supposed fact change his mind. "You can never know for sure, son. You should stay away from him."
"I-what?" Albus' eyes widened slightly, but Harry shook his head again. "I have to go to work, Albus." Harry walked past Albus and put his hand on the doorknob. He turned his head to take another look at Albus. "I love you."
Then he opened the door and disappeared from the room - leaving Albus behind without saying a word.
***
It was unnecessary to tell that Albus didn't want to speak to his father. He was angry. He didn't understand why his father couldn't trust him. Albus knew who he was befriending. He knew he could trust Scorpius - with his heart.
Although, could he?
Inside, he felt doubts rising, which he tried to swallow.
He shook his head. Then he went to Ginny, who was doing the dishes - the Muggle way.
"Mum," was the first thing Albus said. Ginny looked at him, a gentle smile on her face.
"Yes, darling?"
"Can we go to Hogsmeade? Just the two of us?" Albus asked, and he was nervous. So nervous. He hoped he would see Scorpius there.
Ginny raised her eyebrows. "Albus, I don't know how I feel about the Malfoy thing. That's probably why you suddenly want to go to Hogsmeade with me alone."
Albus couldn't help but exhale loudly. He wanted to say something else, but Ginny cut him off. "Darling, I'm sorry. But no. We can go another time, but not after the conversation you had with your father." There was a glimmer of pity in Ginny's eyes, but that was the last thing Albus wanted at that moment.
"Okay," he said before he left and disappeared into his room. There, he locked the door, made his bed so that it looked like someone was lying inside. Then he turned to the window and opened it quietly.
He took another quick look at his room door. "Sorry."
-
It took him a long time to get to Hogsmeade. In the end, he used a floo network when he finally came up with the idea.
He strolled through the alleys, looked in the shops and bars, but he couldn't see his blonde hair anywhere.
He was about to give up the search when he was suddenly called. "Albus!"
His heart was pounding in his throat and he turned towards the voice. There he stood, Scorpius Malfoy.
In love.
"What are you doing here?" Scorpius pulled him out of his thoughts and came towards him. Albus smiled a little. "I had to get away from my family. Dad wants to forbid me from having contact with you."
"He knows we're in the same room, right?" This made Albus laugh, Scorpius just watched. Attempt at cheering him up was successful.
"And what are you doing here?" Albus asked as he looked at Scorpius more closely. Sopretty.
"Almost the same problem as you, Al," Scorpius explained and gave him a quick smile before the two of them started walking down the alley without saying anything.
They started a conversation about potions, shortly after they had to stop abruptly when Zabini and Nott suddenly stood in front of them.
Zabini put his hands on his hips. "Okay, I've had enough. Are we somehow cursed, or why do we keep running into each other?" Nott laughed a little, Albus and Scorpius exchanged a look.
It was a great coincidence that all four of them had gone to Hogsmeade alone at the same time.
Or maybe it wasn't a coincidence at all?
"Okay," said Nott and looked at his two best friends. "Did you have anything specific planned?"
"No," replied Scorpius, his tone overflowing with honesty. Albus looked at him out of the corner of his eye.
"Good," said Zabini and raised his eyebrows. "Then we can spend time together." Zabini motioned to Albus and Scorpius to follow him and Nott.
"My family must not know," Albus whispered in Scorpius' ear. Scorpius turned his face to Albus and Albus recoiled in shock when he noticed how close their faces were. Their lips.
"Of course," Scorpius said gently and then put his hand on Albus' shoulder to guide him to Nott and Zabini.
Albus thought his shoulder would burn.
》♡《
After that day, Albus felt like he was home. And he couldn't even explain why.
He quietly tried to open the front door, because unfortunately he couldn't climb through his window because it was a bit high.
When the front door was open, he slowly entered the house.
A hand grabbed the door and slammed it shut. Albus flinched, his heart pounding in his throat, his breathing became heavy.
Shit, he got caught.
"What were you thinking, Albus?!" James snapped, but he still kept his voice quiet. There was no reproach in James' eyes, just concern.
"I had to get out of here, James!" Albus whispered, frowning. He looked around, but there was no one there. Just him and James.
James rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I understand that. But imagine if Mum and Dad had found out." James looked at him. "I don't blame you, trust me. I know that feeling. But you have to decide for yourself what is best for you. Even if I and everyone else probably won't like the decision," James explained, and Albus feared that something else was coming.
"But that doesn't mean we don't care who you hang out with. Think about it, Albus. I don't want you to end up hurt because you trusted someone you shouldn't have. Slytherins are still Slytherins."
Albus gasped. "For God's sake, I'm a Slytherin!" Albus snapped. "Do you all keep forgetting that?!"
James opened his mouth, "I'm sorry, Albus." Albus turned around and started to get to his room.
Albus was hurt. So very hurt. He was in Slytherin and apparently his family forgot about this over and over again.
Didn't his family understand that this hurt him?
His bad qualities didn't come from being in Slytherin. Everyone has bad qualities - you just have to know how to deal with them and how to use them.
He ran his hands desperately over his face and then clenched his hands in his hair.
He blinked away his tears and sniffed briefly. He didn't want to cry. Not when everyone was always so inconsiderate.
Frustrated, he threw his wand on the bed, took the ends of the blanket in his hand and clenched his hands there into fists. He pressed his face into the pillow, he didn't want to feel anything anymore. It was too much for him.
Much too much.
His door opened quietly. "Albus?" Lily's voice sounded quietly and he could hear her footsteps on the floor.
"Lils, go back to sleep. It's the middle of the night," Albus ordered her, but the confident redhead didn't care.
"Exactly: the middle of the night and you're just getting home. I heard you talking to James downstairs, but I couldn't understand what it was about." Lily approached the bed. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Albus shook his head. Lily sighed.
"Do you want to talk about Scorpius Malfoy?"
Albus' heart skipped a beat.
He sat up, tired. He met Lily's worried gaze. For a second he even thought about it.
And then he decided what he would say.
"Scorpius isn't evil. His father might have been, his grandparents might have been. But he definitely isn't. Scorpius isn't a pureblood supremacist. Really not. I know him." Albus whispered and Lily listened sincerely to every word.
Then she nodded slowly. "Albus, he's your friend. Not ours. You know him best; we don't know him at all. If the others don't trust you, then let them. But I trust you, forever. I trust that you know what you're doing." She walked up to Albus and gave him a tiny kiss on the cheek.
"I love you, brother. Take care of yourself." Lily gave him a smile, then disappeared from Albus' room.
Albus looked at the ceiling for a few seconds before closing his eyes and falling asleep.
Dreamed of Scorpius that night.
-
New Year's Eve went by so quickly that Albus didn't even realize it. He found it kind of boring anyway. He felt like he didn't fit in with this family.
A snake surrounded by a group of lions.
Albus knew himself that this comparison was ridiculous. Of course. But that was the best way he could describe his feelings.
There would probably always be differences between him and his family. The only question was whether that would change the dynamic and the relationship with his family at some point.
One blink of an eye and it was the last day of the holidays.
Albus was sitting at the dining table. His hands were on the table and in his right hand he held his wand. He twirled it around for a few seconds before he felt Hermione's gaze on him, which is why he stopped immediately.
He swallowed nervously as Hermione looked at him seriously, pulled back a chair and sat down next to him.
"What's wrong, Albus?" Hermione began gently, and she took the serious expression off her face. "Talk to me."
Albus furrowed his eyebrows and began to play nervously with his hands. When Hermione noticed this, she gently took his hands in hers. She squeezed lightly.
"I'm not evil just because I'm in Slytherin," Albus said firmly, and for a few seconds he closed his eyes. Thinking of Scorpius gave him strength.
Hermione's fingers twitched for a moment. "Of course you're not." She tightened her grip on his hand. "You have a good heart. It's just that your parents - we - are just worried that a bad influence could affect you too. The people we hang out with automatically rub off on us subconsciously - even if we may not want that to happen. Enough good people have gone to the dark side because they hung out with the wrong people. Please understand that, Albus."
Hermione watched him closely, her lips pressed together in a line. Albus frowned thoughtfully. The explanation sounded logical in some ways, but then again, you couldn't expect children to be or become like their parents. The wars were long over - there was no longer the same pressure in the pure-blood wizarding world as there used to be. Most children were no longer forced to think that pure-blood was the only blood worthy of existence.
Or Albus didn't know something. Maybe Scorpius wasn't telling him everything.
Now even more worried, Albus turned his gaze to Hermione. Was Scorpius really a bad influence and he just didn't get it? Too blinded by the image he himself had created of Scorpius.
The boy who always stood for justice. Who didn't care about blood. Who was against racists. Who was against Death Eaters and the dark side.
Was he just imagining this kind of Scorpius? Did this kind of Scorpius not exist at all? Like he always thought?
"Hey," Hermione began, looking at him worriedly. "Is everything okay? You don't look good right now." Albus nodded in response. "Um, your explanation makes sense, Hermione. There is one thing, however, that makes me doubt: Would you really not notice if you changed because of other people's behavior?"
Hermione swallowed, narrowing her eyes for a moment. Albus knew immediately that Hermione was trying to read him.
But the last two years in Slytherin had taught Albus how to control his facial expressions and posture to some extent. No one could read him as well or as quickly.
Well, except for one person.
Then Hermione squeezed Albus' hands again. "You don't notice. I mean, maybe something seems different to you - yes, that could be. But you don't notice that your behavior changes straight away. And when you do notice it, it's usually too late," whispered Hermione and Albus fled from her grasp.
"Hm...thanks." came out of Albus' mouth before he stood up, took his wand and headed towards the living room. He was looking for Lily. He needed some distraction and Lily almost always made him laugh.
But as he went up the stairs - since he hadn't found Lily in the living room - he could make out his parents' voices in Harry's office. And Ron's voice.
They sounded a little worried.
"Didn't you read that in the Daily Prophet? They suspect that some group is forming at Hogwarts." Ginny whispered, he could hear Ron sighing worriedly.
"I know, darling. Me, Hermione and Ron are investigating it." he could hear his father speaking, and since Albus didn't know what it was about, he ignored the conversation and made his way to Lily's room.
If it was really something bad, then his parents would talk to him and his siblings, he thought.
》♡《
"I love you all." That was Ginny's farewell as the Hogwarts Express roared behind the teenagers. The smoke rose into the air, grabbing and clutching everything it could reach.
Finally, Harry and Albus hugged. "Please keep your distance," Harry whispered in his son's ear. His voice trembled - probably with concern.
Albus swallowed the lump in his throat. He didn't answer. But Harry didn't ask again either. "Love you, son. Have fun in the rest of the third year," Harry added, Albus nodded - you could almost see a smile on his face.
One by one, the students got on.
Albus took one last look at his family, all of whom were standing in front of the Hogwarts Express. Even Bill was here, although he had so much to do with his job as a curse breaker.
Ginny gave her middle child a loving smile that radiated so much motherly love.
She had also warned him about Scorpius. She had done it this morning, which is why Albus couldn't bring himself to return that smile.
James and Lily were already gone, so Albus walked down the long hallway alone. Scorpius was already waving at him from afar - a broad grin was on his face.
Albus' stomach turned, he tried to ignore it as best he could.
His smile was so beautiful.
Maybe you really can't trust him.
"Hey," Albus greeted and Scorpius nodded. "Is everything okay with your family?" Scorpius asked and opened the compartment door. Albus dismissed Scorpius' question. "I don't want to talk about it. At least not now."
Albus could see that Scorpius understood this. Probably more than anyone else ever could.
"How are you?" Albus asked and sat down on one of the benches. Scorpius peeked out and when he saw Nott and Zabini walking down the hall, he sat down next to Albus.
"I'm fine," Scorpius said and somehow, Albus didn't believe him. The holidays must have been the worst for Scorpius. But Albus didn't want to press any further. He knew what it was like when you didn't want to talk about something and yet someone kept asking. So he let it go.
"Hey, guys!" Zabini's voice rang out and he actually looked happy to see Albus and Scorpius. "Wanna play something?"
♡