Chapter 11 - Wrong Decision
Chapter 11 - Wrong Decision
Preparations for the OWLs are about to begin. The students' tension can be seen from afar, everyone is trying to do their best.
Easier for some, not so much for others.
"I'm fed up," Zabini throws his book on the ground, the four of them sit together on the lawn. The tree stretches out behind them, there's a lot going on. Today is one of the warmer days, and the students are, of course, taking advantage of this.
"But you have to do it," replies Nott, taking Zabini's book in his hands and placing it in his lap. "Study."
Albus and Scorpius exchange a glance; it's always funny to see how Nott and Zabini almost always start their discussion the same way.
Although the four of them don't have to take any OWls yet, the professors still give the third and fourth year students tests to prepare them for their Owls. It's a bit annoying.
Albus recognizes James' voice, which is a little too loud for his liking. His head flies up and he tries to find James, which turns out not to be so difficult.
The majority of the students have fallen silent and their attention is on James and the boy in front of him. Rosier.
Oh no.
Albus gives Scorpius a worried look, which Scorpius immediately returns, Nott and Zabini have also become quiet and are paying attention to the two older students.
The two are arguing about something, Albus can only hear the word 'girl'.
"Please, it's obvious that you're a Death Eater! Why don't you just show us your left arm?" James' voice is sharp and there is an angry undertone in his voice.
Rosier begins to grin - a grin that sends shivers down your spine.
In an instant, he draws his wand, points it at James, and fixes his gaze on him. In a second, James reacts and draws his own wand.
Albus is quick on his feet. If it came to a duel, he wouldn't let James fight alone.
Even if that means turning against his own house.
James is still his brother.
Albus can feel Scorpius, Nott and Zabini moving to stand next to him. They don't have their wands in their hands, but their hands are close to them.
And Albus realizes at that moment that he doesn't know if the three would fight against him or with him.
"Stop!" Rose suddenly appears next to James and looks at him angrily. Then she turns to Rosier. "Have you two lost your minds?!" she snaps, gripping her books tighter, which she hadn't dropped when she went to James.
"Does Potter seriously need help from a Weasley?" A guy next to Rosier starts to grin involuntarily. "That's embarrassing."
Albus can see Lily in a corner, visibly afraid for James, but at the same time damn angry at Rosier and his people.
"Wouldn't you rather have your little brother help you?" Rosier raises his eyebrows, visibly waiting for James' answer.
James glances at Albus before focusing fully on Rosier again. "You want to fight someone from your own house?" James counters and Rosier closes his eyes for a moment, his fingers tightening their grip on his wand.
James is about to give in - which is not at all in keeping with his attitude - and is about to put his wand away, but Rosier mutters something to himself before a beam of light shoots out of his wand.
James is able to react in time and blocks the spell while Albus disarms Rosier in return.
Now Lily is also in the middle of the duel because she ran to James’ side.
"Stop!" McGonagall appears, an angry expression on her face, her hands on her hips. "You two," she points to James and Albus. "To my office, now!" James wants to object, but McGonagall waves him away.
Slughorn steps next to Rosier and Avery, saying something to them before the two roll their eyes and are pulled away by Slughorn.
"I defended myself!" James says to Albus, his tone hinting at annoyance. "These idiots can do anything!"
"James, there's no point in this now," Albus interjects, but James shakes his head.
There is an uncomfortable tension between them all in McGonagall's office, and Albus is about to ask what exactly the three of them are waiting for before the office door opens. Albus immediately recognizes who it is from the footsteps.
"Good day, Harry and Ginny. Thank you for coming so quickly." A smile appears on McGonagall's face, James is also apparently pleased to see his parents and Albus just wants to sink into the ground. He really doesn't need his parents at the moment.
"What exactly happened?" Harry asks, and the concern is clearly evident in his voice. Ginny steps forward and places a hand on each of her two sons.
Even though Albus is not happy that his parents are here, he still feels relaxed when he feels Ginny's hand.
"There was an argument between James and Mr. Rosier," McGonagall begins and Harry is about to say something, but McGonagall continues. "Spells were exchanged, but no one was hurt. James used "Protego" and Albus disarmed Rosier in the next second. But I'd rather not know what would have happened if I hadn't passed by at that moment. I just think it's important that you know about it, even if no one was hurt."
Then there is a silence so deafening that Albus begins to consider whether he should just set everything on fire.
Ginny's grip tightened the more McGonagall spoke. "I don't want my two sons to get into trouble. James defended himself, no punishment is necessary."
McGonagall nods and there is something understanding in her eyes. "I understand that. But we are here now to find out why this argument took place in the first place. So, James? You are the only one of us who really knows what happened before." McGonagall's eyes are serious and her voice sounds bold, in contrast to before.
Harry looks at his eldest son, who shakes his head. "I don't want to talk about it."
"James," Harry says sternly, taking a few steps closer to James. "It's important."
"Why should it matter? Rosier is a fucking Slytherin! It's obvious I didn't start it." James' voice immediately breaks off when he notices Albus' expression changing.
The next second, Albus crosses his arms and James looks desperate.
"I didn't mean it like that. Not because he's a Slytherin. But because he's a Rosier." James tries desperately to explain and at that moment, Albus has to laugh a little for the first time.
But it is not a happy laugh.
The other four watch him, not knowing how to react or even what to think of it.
"You always say that."
"Please, Albus. We've only just made up." James' voice trembles a little.
"Yes, exactly. And apparently things still come out of your mouth that you claim you didn't mean. So why do you keep saying them?"
Disappointment floods through Albus. Somehow he knows that James may not really mean it and is simply expressing it wrong, but Albus can't hear it anymore.
"Albus," Ginny says seriously. "We can't have an argument between you right now," she continues, gently brushing Albus' hair from his forehead. "James is just confused. He doesn't mean what he says."
Albus takes a breath and clenches his jaw. There is so much more he wants to say, but he knows that would be the wrong thing to say at the moment.
So he decides on something completely different.
He stands up from his chair and pushes it back into place. He meets McGonagall's gaze for a moment, and she nods at him almost insincerely.
"I don't think I'm needed here anymore," comes out of Albus' mouth, then he moves towards the door and something inside him hopes that someone would say his name and tell him to stay. But this don't happen.
So he leaves McGonagall's office.
He wanders alone down the corridors, faces everywhere looking at him appraisingly. Most of them are from his own house. And then it occurs to him. He had disarmed Rosier and thus turned against his own house. He takes a deep breath as the thought makes his blood run cold. He hadn't thought that far when he defended James.
Without warning, he is thrown against a cold, hard wall, pain shoots through his back and the impact robs the breath from his lungs.
He tries to breathe in air, which sounds more like a trembling.
The pain draws downwards, he can lean his back a little away from the wall, but he can't breathe. He keeps his eyes closed for a moment when a voice starts to speak.
"You should have thought before disarming someone else from your house." The voice is cold, relentless, and Albus detects a smell - musty, rotten. He clenches his jaw, then slowly opens his eyes.
Avery.
He is a distant relative of the Avery family, but he still got the name. And it suits him.
Albus swallows the lump in his throat as Avery pushes him hard against the wall. The cruel, sinister grin on Avery's face sends a shiver down Albus' spine and he tries to create an escape route in his head, but he can't find one.
Goosebumps cover his body, he tries to push himself away, but Avery only tightens his grip and he can feel his breath on his cheek. Albus wants to throw up.
"It's not so funny now, is it?" Avery's rough, cold, scary voice bounces off Albus' cheek, he turns his head away and Avery puts distance between their heads.
"He's my brother." That's all Albus can say. He can fill his lungs with air again and it's such an intoxicating feeling that he almost forgets who's holding him here.
His throat tightens again and a panic rises within him, constricting his chest and lungs.
"A brother who sees you as scum?" Avery's voice cut through the terrible, uncomfortable tension that was present at that moment.
Albus swallows. "He doesn't see me as scum."
Avery puts a big grin on his face and Albus tries to run away again - but Avery is faster and throws him against the wall again, causing Albus to gasp and hiss loudly.
"If I were you, I'd be careful, Potter ," Avery whispers, his voice sounding even more threatening than before.
"Let me go," Albus says, and his voice is loud. His heart is pounding in his chest, so loud that he can hear it in his ears and they are starting to hurt. But he is trying everything - he is fighting to keep up the facade that he has worked so hard to create over the last few years. He will not allow Avery to break through it.
He would rather die.
"It's pathetic of you to think that I'm afraid, Avery," There is no audible fear in Albus' voice, no trembling, no anger. There is nothing in it that Avery could in any way exploit for his own benefit.
And Albus is damn proud of himself for that.
Avery sets his jaw, and Albus can see the muscles there twitching. He knows now that he has made Avery angry by not showing him fear.
"You're a disgrace," escapes Avery's mouth, but Albus just smiles.
"So what? As if I didn't already know that."
It hurts, damn it, to be told that. But Albus has to play along if he wants to get out of here unscathed.
"Levicorpus!"
The next second, Avery is floating in the air, trying to somehow get his wand, but to no avail.
Albus takes a deep breath and leans against the wall when Scorpius appears next to him and carefully places his hands on Albus' shoulders.
Nott points his wand at Avery and he was the one who fired the spell. Zabini stands next to him, ready to deliver another attack.
"Hey, is everything okay, Al?" Unlike Avery's voice, Scorpius' voice is a mixture of home and comfort. Albus feels a wave of relief when he meets Scorpius' eyes and this time his chest tightens too, but not out of fear.
"It's just that my back hurts. It's okay," Albus answers hesitantly at first, not knowing whether he should tell a complete lie or not. But then he decided that lies wouldn't help him here.
"What the hell is your problem?" Nott snaps and lets Avery fall up and then down again. Alternating over and over again.
"Potter is a half-blood, Malfoy is a blood traitor, and apparently you two, Nott and Zabini, have become one too. That's our problem!" Avery screams and is then thrown to the ground. He gasps for air, as his back collide with the hard, dirty ground under him.
"Really? It's idiotic to hurt someone like that!" Zabini steps forward, keeps his eyes on Avery and doesn't take his eyes off him for a second. "Don't you dare call us blood traitors, Avery," Zabini hisses, narrowing his eyes.
Avery laughs bitterly. "But you are. Even if you don't want to admit it. You only proved it by protecting Potter." Avery spits out the last words like the worst scum.
"He defended his brother. That's not so bad," Nott says.
Scorpius is still standing close to Albus, which he is really grateful for. Scorpius gives him emotional support that he cannot feel from anyone else.
Slughorn's voice echoes in the corridor, Avery is quickly back on his feet. "You won't get away that easily," he explains before disappearing as quickly as possible.
Unfortunately, the other four are not so lucky and are stopped by Professor Slughorn.
"Off to your class, come on!"
The four of them have never been in class so quickly before.
》♡《
Albus doesn't show up for class for the remaining two days before the weekend. He said he was ill. But he really isn't. He just doesn't want to meet anyone from his family or his house - basically all of Hogwarts. So Scorpius brought him food from the Great Hall for two days - McGonagall allowed this, because she knew full well that Albus wasn't ill. But she said nothing.
Now it's Saturday and Scorpius takes Albus to the library. "You have to catch up on your school work." Was Scorpius's speech.
So now the two of them are sitting in some corner of the library while Scorpius teaches him the new school material.
Albus and Scorpius both jump when a bag is thrown onto the chair in front of them. Albus is the first to see red curls, and knows immediately that it is Rose. Rose, near Scorpius? Voluntarily?
"Okay, what's going on between you and James again?" She sounds annoyed by this topic and honestly, Albus can't blame her.
"Nothing. We just need our time," Albus sighs, leaning against the shelf behind him. Rose tilts her head, raises her eyebrows, as if she doesn't believe Albus at all. She probably doesn't.
"Fine, if you don't want to talk about it," says Rose, shrugging her shoulders before looking at the assignments lying around on the table. "Why don't I think you were sick?"
Albus has to suppress a smile. "Maybe because i i wasn't."
A smile forms on Rose's face. "Hah!" She points at Albus. "I knew it!" She grins and Albus is more than just relieved that she is currently in her pleasant manner and not her exhausting one, which Albus can no longer cope with at all.
"Honestly, Malfoy. How do you get along with him?" Rose asks playfully, looking Scorpius in the face for the first time. Before that, it had only been fleeting glances.
"That hurt," Albus replies, but his tone reveals that he doesn't mean it like that.
Albus meets Scorpius' eyes for a moment, then Albus focuses back on Rose. "Have you spoken to James since the incident?"
A few seconds pass before Rose tucks a few strands of hair behind her ear. She looks kind of sad. "No. I wanted to, but I didn't find the time. I feel guilty about it," she explains calmly and the two boys in front of her listen carefully.
"He'll get over it, you'll be able to talk to him," Albus replies, worried about James.
Rose nods slowly. There is pity in her eyes and that makes Albus begin to doubt her statement. Had she perhaps spoken to James after all? Was that why she wanted to go to him? Is that why she sat down next to him in the library even though Scorpius was nearby?
Judging by Scorpius's look, he thinks so too.
Then Rose taps the table. "Now I have to go." She stands up, takes her bag and waves to the two Slytherins before heading to the library exit.
Albus and Scorpius watch her go to make sure she is out of earshot before turning to each other.
"Do you think she's lying?" asks Scorpius and Albus takes a moment to answer. "I think so. She's probably spoken to James, but for some reason she doesn't want to admit it," Albus says, Scorpius nods.
"Do you want to continue learning?"
Albus grins. "Do I have a choice with you?"
Scorpius laughs. "Not really, Al."