Chapter 1
Scorpius honestly hadn't thought that things would lead to this. Seriously, all he had wanted to do was, to get trained on his dream job. He was a sixteen-year-old teenage boy with no friends and plenty of weekends and free evenings to spare after all. He might’ve as well used them for something productive.
But how was he supposed to know that it would bring him even more trouble than he already had in his life, in the form of Albus Regulus Potter, the infamous prankster and trouble-maker extraordinaire.
The idea had been his father's, Draco had thought of it after Scorpius had complained for the umpteenth time about not being able to learn anything practical and only being able to read things about healer-ship from books. His father had proposed the idea and then wrote to the Headmistress about it.
Minerva McGonagall hadn't needed to think all that much before approving their application. That had used to be a regular thing at Hogwarts, in the past, after all. The school healer accepting interns and training young wizards and witches to be the best healers of the century. Poppy had been one of them for crying out loud! And not to mention the number of times she had seen the young Malfoy with a disgustingly graphic book about medicine in a corner of the library. The kid read almost as much as Hermione Granger did at his age. She knew he would do great.
And Scorpius appreciated the trust, really, he did. And he loved it in the Hospital Wing too, finally being able to do more than just getting theoretical knowledge from old and dated books and being led to his dream job. It gave him a safe space in the school.
But Albus Potter was really starting to get on his nerves.
Their first encounter had been when Potter came to the Hospital Wing with an arm drenched in blood, on Scorpius' first day too. The blonde had taken one look at the dark red liquid dripping to the floor and had almost passed out. He had barely managed to call out to Madam Pomfrey before running off to puke in peace.
Later, he had returned when he was feeling better, and was tasked with bandaging Potter's newly-stitched-back-together arm up. Madam Pomfrey had checked what he was doing over his shoulder and Scorpius had been pleased to hear her approving hums.
Though Potter had messed that up too.
“Aren't you a little too effected by blood to be training for healer-ship?”
“I can't see how that is any of your business.”
“So, you do agree that you're too sensitive.”
Scorpius had glared at him. “It's my first day only. I'll get better with time.”
“Thought it wasn't any of my business.”
And it wasn't just that either. Potter had been delighted to throw him snarky remarks and mocking smirks. The dumbass. Scorpius would’ve honestly thought that Potter was being rude on purpose, was bullying him, if it wasn't for the fact that they have shared a common room for the past five years, –not a dorm room though, Scorpius hadn't had the pleasure (!) of rooming with him– even though Scorpius was rarely anywhere that wasn't his dorm, the library, or the classrooms. He knew that this was just Potter's way of speaking with people, that all the teasing and the snark was a part of his attitude. Pretty shitty attitude if you asked him.
And not to mention the wink he had thrown Scorpius' way and the casual “See you later, handsome.” before checking him out and smirking. Scorpius had not blushed at that.
The blonde really hadn't thought that Albus Potter would label him as 'interesting' and start bothering him, regularly, almost daily, at the start of this thing when he had agreed to his father's idea. His luck, honestly.
***
Scorpius had soon learned that a day without Potter in the Hospital Wing was like a jammed sandwich not falling onto the jammed side when dropped; extremely rare, practically impossible, and requires a shit ton of luck. Granted, he only worked on the weekends and Tuesday and Thursday evenings after classes, but he had gotten the memo quite fast.
The day would start, the sun would rise, the people would wake up; and somehow, until the end of it, Albus Potter would end up in the Hospital Wing, whether it be because of a prank gone wrong, a wrong magical creature to poke, or a quidditch accident.
After some time, he started coming to the Hospital Wing with stupid reasons like, “I felt lonely.” or “I wanted to see your pretty face.” or “I wanted to see what my favorite Blondie was up to.” too.
Scorpius didn't understand what was happening, didn't understand Potter. He wasn't his typical peer, he wasn't insulting him and harassing him for half-baked, stupid reasons; or ignoring and avoiding him to no end. He was listening to him, and rambling at him. Sure, he teased him often and snarked at him, but he expected Scorpius to answer his sass. It was his attitude, and he expected others to match him while talking with him. Scorpius was no exception.
It kind of felt like being friends but a) why would Albus Potter want to be his friend; and b) how would Scorpius even know what being friends felt like? He hadn't had a single friend in his life before after all. (Damn his surname and the reputation it held.)
So, even after thinking on it hard and long, all Scorpius had in his hands was still one big-ass question mark. And he didn't like it.
***
“Hey there Blondie.” A voice called from the doorway. Scorpius rolled his eyes.
“How many times do I need to tell you to not call m- Merlin's pants! What happened?!” Scorpius pounced from where he was sitting, crouched over his herbology assignment, the second he saw Al. The raven was covered in blood, way paler than usual, and barely standing up.
Scorpius rushed to Al's side and caught him before he could fall over. “Madam Pomfrey! We have a situation here! Urgent!” He barely even registered the redhead by his side as he was leading Al to one of the many empty beds.
“What is it Scorpi- Hufflepuff's puffs! What happened?!”
“He fell off his broom.” The redhead said and startled Scorpius. “We were out on an afternoon flight and he fell off his broom when he got reckless while trying to learn a new move. We were flying over the Forbidden Forest, so the trees broke his fall, but he got lots of cuts and bruises.”
Scorpius just then recognized the girl; Rose Weasley, daughter of Hermione Granger-Weasley, a veteran of the Wizarding War II and the Minister of Magic, and Ron Weasley, also a veteran of the Wizarding War II and the co-owner of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Al's cousin.
“All right people, calm down.” Al drawled from where he was laying on the bed. “It's just some blood and bruises and pain. You three all know that I've had worse days than this. Just patch me up and I'll be on my merry way.”
“No, you won't.” Scorpius surprised even himself with his tone. “I'll be giving you some potions for the pain and the blood loss, and I'll be helping Poppy stitch and patch you up, and then I'll be dressing your wounds, and you will be spending the night, and possible the next three days here in the Hospital Wing, depending on how your injuries are healing. Got it? Good.” Scorpius didn't wait for an answer, just moved to get the needed equipment. He looked like he was ready to kick Al's ass if he tried to argue with him.
The raven loved it. “Bossy huh?”
Scorpius ignored him.
He had to hand-feed the potions to Al, who did a lot more talking than swallowing. Scorpius then moved onto stitching him up. The cuts weren't all that serious, only two were deep enough to not disappear completely and require a second round of attention, appointed for tomorrow. The broken bones, however, were a completely different story.
Scorpius could see that Al's nose, left hand, and at least two of his fingers were broken, he fixed them easily enough, but the fractures that could not outright be seen would be the problem here.
He said the magic words and allowed the old spell to dance on and under Al's skin, pointing him to the direction of the damaged bones. Two of his ribs broken, and a small crack on his right leg.
They were handled in less than a minute.
With numbing and healing and blood replenishing potions in his body and his wounds tended at, Al fell asleep quite quickly.
Scorpius was busy gathering up the equipment he used when he heard the raven's sleepy groan, looked up and mistook him for an angel. A really bantered and fucked up angel maybe, but still. An angel. He couldn't help himself. He reached out and brushed away the patch of hair that had fallen over Al's eyes.
A cough from behind him woke him from his daze.
Rose Weasley stood there with her elegant aura, quirked lips and a raised eyebrow; a knowing look in her eyes. Scorpius turned beet-red. “H-How can I help you?” He stammered out, willing his ashamed blush to go away.
“I just wanted to thank you.” She said.
“For what?”
“For Al.”
“For healing him up and basically doing what I can describe as my job?”
Rose chuckled. “That too. But mostly for taking care of him. You know, he doesn’t listen to many people. Aunt Ginny, his mom; Lily, his sister; Teddy, his older brother; and Headmistress McGonagall are pretty much the only people that can get him to do what they want, when he doesn’t want to do that thing. And even they can’t manage that always. But he listened to you today.”
“What?”
“He’s still here, isn’t he? He didn’t leave, like he had been itching to do so, because you told him no. He listened to you, Scorpius. He listens to you. Maybe the most.” She mumbled the last part to herself, but Scorpius still heard her.
“I-I- W-What? Y-You-”
“Goodnight, Malfoy. Sleep tight.” And with that, Rose Weasley left the Hospital Wing, leaving behind a shell-shocked Scorpius Malfoy.
***
“Hi there Pretty Boy.”
“Don’t call me that.”
Scorpius looked up from the burns he was currently coating with salve and watched as Al strutted into the Hospital Wing and took a seat beside him. He sighed. “I can make him leave if you’re uncomfortable.” He said to the girl sitting on the bed.
“No, it’s alright.” She gave him a small smile. “How’re you Al?”
Of course they knew each other.
“Doing fine Emma, you?”
“Meh. You know, half the year is almost over, Christmas is coming, and then there will be only a couple months left before the exams. It’s going to be a tough two weeks, am I right?”
“I guess so. Though my only real concern is Astronomy. The others I deal with pretty easily.”
“Astronomy?” Scorpius couldn’t help but ask, bewildered. “It’s one of the easiest classes, how can you fail at it? And be so good at Arithmancy despite that?”
“Because it’s a class with a ton of shit to memorize and draw and calculate. And I could actually work with that if it had actually interested me in any way, even just a little bit. But it doesn’t. It’s just… Boring.”
“Yet you find Potions magnificent.” Emma drawled.
“Oi! It’s not my fault you suck at it, don’t disparage my favorite subject just because you’re bad at it.” He said. Emma stuck out her tongue.
“You should really get someone’s help at Astronomy though. Maybe a tutor or something?”
“Yeah, you’re right. Could you do it?”
“Al, I’m a year older than you. I don’t even remember a word from what they had taught me last year, let alone remember it well enough to teach it to someone else. Plus, I have my own lessons and exams to focus on and deal with. I have NEWTs at the end of the year, remember?”
“Right. Great.” Al huffed.
“I can help.” Scorpius said. “I’m good at Astronomy, I can tutor you.” Granted, he was good at all of his classes, since he didn’t really have a social life and basically lived in the library. But Al didn’t need to know that.
“You are?” Shock was clear in Al’s voice.
“Yeah.” Scorpius said slowly.
“But how? You never really listen to Sinistra at the class, always reading or drawing or doing homework during her lectures.”
Scorpius opened his mouth to defend himself but stopped abruptly. “How do you know about that? Do you watch me in class?”
Al didn’t hesitate a second. “Yes.” At Scorpius’s raised eyebrows he continued. “What? I am not allowed to seek out a friendly face during a boring lecture and focus on them?”
“That… kind of sounds like stalking.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“Yes, it does.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“Yes, it does.”
“No, it doesn’t. And are you going to answer my question or not?”
Scorpius sighed. “I’m good at Astronomy because my father used to tell me about it, as some sort of bed-time stories, before tucking me in at night. He would tell me things about the constellations and the planets and the satellites. And the myths and the fun facts of them. He stopped doing it when I was seven or eight, I think; because he was always too busy and tired, from work.
“But I still wanted my bed-time stories, so I asked for books on Astronomy. At first, they were childish and fictional. But with time, I started reading more academic books. And that’s why I’m always reading or drawing or doing work in class, I already know the stuff. And Professor Sinistra knows that I do, so she never calls me out on it.” He was silent for a moment, then, “And that’s you done Finnigan. Come back here to apply the salve again if the burns aren’t gone by the dinner time.”
“Got it.” Emma hopped off from the bed. “Thanks Malfoy. Bye, you two.” With that, she left.
Scorpius gathered up the equipment he used and cleaned them up before placing them to their respective places, all the while trying to ignore Al’s silence and his eyes burning a hole to the back of his head. In the end, he couldn’t hold on for long.
“Did you want something Al?”
“Nah. Just missed your pretty face.”
Scorpius flushed and looked away. “Well, you’ve seen it. Now leave. I have things to do.”
“Like what? Re-organizing the medicine shelves for the third time today?”
“Like homework. I’m allowed to rest and take a break or do my school work while no actively injured person that I can care to, is in need of medical attention you know. And I plan on using that time. Leave.”
“Come on Scorp.” Al tutted. “You don’t actually want me gone.”
“Yes, I do.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Yes, I do.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Uh! You’re impossible.”
“Thank you.”
“That is not a compliment.”
“From you? Totally is.”
Scorpius sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose; this boy was just too good at getting on his nerves. Though he loved it. And that was a problem.
“Do you wish your dad still told you stories?”
The blonde looked up in surprise. Al was not looking at him, his eyes solely on the ground. There was a weird look in them, and a soft tone to his voice. Scorpius knew immediately that the play-time was over.
“Well, yeah. But it’s now in the past and it’s a great memory to remember and talk about. I have grown up, he has grown older, we both have changed; it had to be left behind. And that’s why it’s such a great and important memory for me, because it’s now in the past. Because I can’t have those stories, live those moments anymore. I can only remember them. Because I have lost them, in a way.”
Scorpius looked up to see Al studying him intensely. He half expected the raven to say something like, “You’re so wise Blondie.”, crack a joke, and end the conversation.
But Al surprised him again.
“You’ve thought about that a lot. Memories and past experiences? Lost chances, maybe?” Scorpius nodded. “Why?”
The blonde waited for a long moment, gathering up his thoughts and words, before answering. “I was close with both of my parents, though in different ways. My dad was just a tad bit more distanced, and my mom was just a tad bit closer. It made her tiring; oppressive and difficult; even when she was only being caring and loving too.
“It was suffocating, the dilemma was sharp and cut into me. One part of me wanted to set boundaries and have a healthier relationship with her. The other part craved her attention and affection, no matter how exhausting.
“In the end, my mixed-up opinions doomed our relationship. I’ve had so many great memories with her growing up, but… a couple of fights were enough to erase them from my mind. She wasn’t a bad mother, or a person. But she was difficult and wasn’t good at communicating. And I was only eleven, I wasn’t much better than her.
“I still wish that I had more time with her. That I could fix our issues, forgive the past and focus on the future. But we don’t always get what we wish for, am I right?”
“Your mom...?”
“Died two and a half years ago, during my third year. A blood curse of many generations. Apparently, she had always known that she wasn’t to last a long life with my father, or see my graduation. Apparently, I had been wasting our time together. Funny right? How life works? You truly only understand something’s value after losing it. Like stupid, weird bed-time stories. Or screaming, crying, sobbing fights even.” Scorpius was unaware of the tears streaming down his cheeks until Al was reaching over and wiping them.
Then he was hugging him.
And Scorpius was sobbing.