Brute.

"He owes a great debt."

The ginger woman spoke, a shaky voice filling the dull room - lit by nothing but the remaining sunset outside and the candles blowing with the little breeze.

"He has own a great debt ever since he killed my father, my love." The King spoke, his voice far less shaky than his wives, Ginevra.

The Queen had stood up, her hand on her stomach and her crown sitting not so proudly on her freckle dusted face. Stumbling, she walked over to Harry - looking up to him and making eye contact.

"Nothing left but a head," Whispered Ginevra, "Nothing left but a bloody head on my little girls pillow! My little Lily, a harmless and gentle girl slaughtered in the castle grounds, Harry!"

Nothing was left to be spoken, Harry let out a sigh and went towards the wooden doors, cold when touched yet looked so warm and welcoming.

"I want to see my boys." Ginevra had continued speaking, her tone in her voice was calmer than before.

Harry nodded, returning to grip the door and leave the room.

{}

The sunset was a sign of training, sword training. Albus wasn't as good as his brother, James - who was the heir to the throne and beloved by the Kingdom.

Prince James clashed his sword against his brothers, who had blocked it from hitting him. They weren't strong enough to cut like their real swords, with sharp metal blades and deadly points that were made for damage. They were just training swords, after all.

Albus had let out a groan, trying to seek dominance over his brother in the battle. The two were strong, but it was no secret or surprise that James was indeed the more dominant and stronger one when it came to fighting. He had always won fights, physical and sword fighting. Though, he had more training than Albus and was always more determined to win little contests with his younger brother that he had made up.

"James!" Albus called out for help when he had lost the sword fight, James had pushed his brother to the ground with only the middle of his sword.

"Come on, Albus. You've won one single fight this week and we have trained for hours!" A chuckle escaped the brunet's lips as he held out a hand to his brother.

Albus was breathing heavily, dirt on his clothes and his hair was in tangles from the wind and being shoved down onto the floor all day.

"It's not fair, your sword is lighter than mine!" He complained, taking his brothers hand and being pulled up - he wasted no time walking past James and sitting down on the resting bench (which he had sat down on plenty of times today).

Albus preferred having a shield when fighting, or fighting on his horse - he never did that as often as he would like to because James would rather have a standard sword fight.

"You have to think like a man, Albus! Think that you can win and you can win, be determined."

"I'm not a man, I'm still young. You're a man and you are to be wedded soon."

"And so are you. Who are your options, Brother?" James had walked over and sat down next to his brother, even though James was in no need of rest. He had put his sword into the ground, soil holding the sword upright.

"Mother only said Veria Grantwood, but on my seventeenth birthday I get my options at the ball. However, I'm not overly fond of the idea to be wedded - to marry a woman just for the pleasure of the Kingdom, or to use her for the heritage of our family."

"I wasn't fond of the idea when I was sixteen, going onto seventeen either. But, when I saw Alice Longbottom I knew that she was the one, I knew that we were meant to be and she felt the same. At the ball there will be lots of girls willing to serve for you, it's your choice. Besides, Albus, you have time to pick the one. It's only at my age you actually need to confirm who'm you would like."

Albus let out a breathy laugh, standing up and taking James' sword out of the ground.

"We can continue training now, but I'm having your sword because clearly it has a good luck charm on it."

James rolled his eyes, standing up and grabbing the sword and getting into position. Albus was glaring at him, trying to analyse what move he would pull first.

"Ready?" James asked, smirking downwards at Albus.

Before Albus could reply, a voice stopped him right as his lips had opened,

"Boys." King Harry stood in the garden, below the shelter that was larger than the majority of the garden. Over half of the garden was covered by the shelter to hide it from rain so the boys and the knights could train despite the great British weather.

"Father." Both of the boys had spoke at the same time, the two turning to face their father with a smile on their faces.

"Your mother wants you. It's urgent."

The two exchanged looks, and Albus had a look of doubt - unlike his brother who was confused as shown in his facial expression. Albus was certainly better than his brother at feeling emotions of other people, feeling their emotions when they were close by. His fathers voice was covered in concern and grief. Albus had agreed with himself that someone had either died or his mother was in great pain, it was probably a relative that he had never met - perhaps.

"Can it not wait a few more, I'm in the zone." James has turned back to fight Albus, before being interrupted by his father again.

"James Sirius!" Harry was shouting, a sound that made James flinch. Albus and Harry weren't as close and Albus was indeed used to that sound, James wasn't. "You both go to your mother right now!"

James had gulped, nodding to his father and looking down at Albus. He took Albus' sword and put it in the bucket beside them. Letting out a sigh, James walked behind his father - Albus was walking behind James.

{}

The two had opened the cold, yet welcoming doors into the common room. Ginevra was stood at the overlarge window, paned with a beautiful pattern as it overlooked the kingdom she could call her own.

She hadn't noticed their presence, making the brothers concerned. James knew Albus well, knowing he was better at comforting than himself and so, he gently pushed his brother towards his brother. Albus got the hint and started to approach her.

He gently put a hand on her shoulder, rubbing his thumb against the cloth that was the start of a glorious dress.

"Mother..?" Albus spoke, just barely over a whisper.

Ginevra had turned to him, a soft smile on her tear stained face. She had been crying. The Queen guided her son to the red velvet couch in the middle of the room, not centred correctly. She told James to follow and the boys sat next to each other, Ginevra sat down on the single thrown like chair in front of them.

"Your sister has died."

Albus felt his stomach drop, James looked down to the floor. The younger boy started to breathe heavily, gulping at every given moment to try gain his breath back. His sister? Lily?

"How?" James had spoken, his voice shaky like he was holding in tears. Much like his mother.

"Her maid found her dead in her bedroom, no body. Just a head, no remains were found. Nor evidence." Ginevra took a deep, shaky breath. She then wiped her eyes, trying to stop the tears swelling up into her eyes.

"Who's her maid?" Albus questioned, earning a look from James that signalled that he shouldn't be asking questions.

"Delphini Sulap, my sweet boy." Surprisingly, his mother had answered - she never tended to answer Albus' questions when she was stressed or upset.

Albus didn't know that he stood up and stormed out of the room as soon as she spoke to him, but he seemed to. His sister. His baby sister murdered in the comfort of her own room. He paced down the hallways, the knights protecting the castle didn't look at him - he didn't look at them. His breathing was heavy in anger, like he was going to lose it at any moment.

After 10 minutes of walking, stressing and holding back cries - he found his way to Lily's room. Knights were surrounding it, protecting the hallway that lead to the room. The brunet walked towards the door, attempting to open it. It was locked. He tried again. Locked.

Albus looked at the knights around him and approached the closest one to him.

"You." He breathed out, looking up at the knight. "Unlock this door."

The knight seemed to be speechless, almost alarmed by the Prince who was glaring up at him. The Prince who's eyes were turning a shade of red from holding back his own tears and cries. The Knight was a blond male, who towered over Albus.

"I have no key, your highness." The knight spoke in a stern voice, his accent seemed to have a little French to it. It was nice to Albus and made the boy a little less angry.

"Princes orders, unlock this door!" Apparently it didn't make him a little less angry as he started to shout, on the mental verge of a breakdown.

"Give me the key, William." Another Knight had approached the two, they both seemed to be the same height and they were both blond.

The knight seemed to give a key to the other one, who had gave a soft smile to Albus and unlocked the door.

"Take your time, your grace." This Knight had a British accent, his grey eyes felt sorrow for Albus and yet again - he smiled.

Albus walked into the room. It was only a couple of moments before he started to break down, the sound of cries flooding the room. Leaning against the door, Albus sat down and held his knees close to him - resting his head on top of them.

The room was left untouched, Lily's hairbrush was on the vanity station and so was her book she must of started reading. The curtains were left closed, allowing no moonlight to be let into the empty room.

"This is for you," Lily stood up from her chair, her newly brushed hair blowing ever so gently with the breeze coming through the open doors that lead to a balcony that overlooked the ocean behind the castle.

She was holding a bear, a bear that Albus had seen multiple times in the bookshelf of her room, untouched.

"No offence, Lils, but I don't want a teddy bear." Albus had laughed, sitting down on his sisters bed as she rolled her eyes - putting the bear back into its original place.

"Real bear fur, well that's what mother said." She had shrugged, smiling before turning to Albus.

"Mother says anything to stop you from whining at her at dinner."

"Does not! You're just mad because I get served pudding first, and drinks!"

"When do I ever eat any pudding, Lily?" Albus laughed, standing up and walking over to his younger sister. "Sit down on your chair, the back of your hair is all knotted and tangled."

Lily had sighed and obeyed Albus, sitting down on the faded pink chair that had probably been in the castle for centuries - but Lily loved the chair and that made Albus somewhat like it. Albus stood behind her, grabbing the hairbrush she had used moments before and started to gently brush through the knots.

"I prefer it when you brush my hair, sometimes mother and Delphini are too fast with it and it hurts me."

"I got nothing better to do, I finished all of my activities for today." Albus shrugged, slowly but surely getting through the knots of her hair.

Albus gently held hair head back so it was easier for him to detangle without any pain, he obviously never struggled with his own hair as it was short and never usually got tangled, it normally just went somewhat fluffy for around 3 minutes before being back into its usual state.

"Don't tell James, but you're by far my favourite brother." Lily giggled, causing Albus to let out a soft chuckle.

"And you're my favourite sister, Lily."

"Im your only sister."

"Exactly."

The family dinner was a little more quiet than usual, everyone seemed to be sort of lifeless since the news about Lily's brutal death. No clues were given about who did it, Albus hadn't found anything even after talking to Delphini, her close friend and maid.

The whole kingdom wore black, a princess had died and it was respectful. Albus mother wore her crown almost all day, and a glamorous dress that had no other shade apart from black. Her cape was a fur cape, from a black bear (Albus had assumed it was from a black bear). She wore no other colours and had closed all of her curtains in the palace due to the grief.

Albus usually sat next to Lily during dinner, but her chair was removed and nothing but an empty gap between him and James was there. A pig was being served, plated by the waiters and nobody spoke but Albus and James, who gave their 'thank you' to the waiters.

It was quiet until there was a knock on the door, and the knights had opened it. 5 armoured knights had walked in, holding helmets in their hands and metal shields laid on their backs.

"Your majesty." One had spoke, bowing like the other knights behind him.

"Scorpius." Ginevra had stood up, walking towards the boy with a smile of relief.

"My condolences go out to your family, such a tragedy what happened." He spoke, smiling with sympathy towards her.

She nodded before turning back to the table, everyone had stopped eating and Albus and James had confused looks on their faces. It was common knowledge that nobody should interrupt the royal dinner - but Ginevra didn't seem to mind.

"Boys, these are the most trained knights in the kingdom. I have called them to guard you until we are sure that the palace and the kingdom is safe from Lord Riddle." His mother explained, "You will both be assigned one each."

James nodded and Albus had shown that he was listening, but truthfully he was so full of his own emotions he didn't want to move a single muscle in his own body. Is that was grief did to you? Make you so empty and tired..?

"Albus, my sweet boy, you will be assigned with Scorpius. He's the most trained knight I know and he's guaranteed to protect you." Albus then nodded, looking at the boy who was smiling at him. That must've been Scorpius. "James,  this is Fred Weasley. You and him can fight together if you come along any danger, my son."

James stood up immediately. Walking over to the ginger haired knight and shaking his hand, giving himself an introduction.

Albus was biting the inside of his cheeks, unsure of what to do. So, without thinking about it, he copied his older brother and walked over to Scorpius.

"Your Grace." Scorpius had spoken first, looking down at the brunet boy with a soft smile.

He was the one who gave Albus the key yesterday to Lily's room.

"You gave me the key to Lily's room?" Albus questioned, doubting himself a little. Maybe it was another Knight.

"That was me, yes."

Albus let a weak smirk dance on his lips, looking towards his brother and the Knight he was speaking to. They seemed to be talking a lot.

James was smiling happily, he was good at hiding his emotions and never usually cried. Albus knew that he took out his grief in anger and it was obvious. James was so much like Albus' father, he was such a daddy's boy. Harry favourited James and it was clear, Lily was a mummy's girl and Albus was just..

Albus.

"Alright." Harry had stood up, making everyone turn their heads towards him, "If you excuse me."

Harry had walked out of the room, not finishing the plated meal before him.

"What was that all about?" Albus looked towards his mother, who was not quite as clueless as Albus.

"King duties." She replied, clearing her throat and sitting back down at the table, smiling at the knights, "Have some, theres plenty for us all."

Albus looked up at Scorpius, who had smiled and sat down at an empty seat.

"I'm not hungry, mother." Albus remained stood, everyone else had seemed to be sat down.

She only sighed and rubbed her forehead, waving her hand toward the door to dismiss Albus. When Albus had left the dining room, which on this occasion was allowed, The Queen had also nodded towards the door for Scorpius to follow him to wherever Albus was planning to go. The blond wasted no time before bowing and leaving the room, Fred and James taking their seats.

Albus was pacing down the halls, his head turned downwards and ignoring every greeting from the maids - who'm also wore black clothing. Often it was just their regular uniform in black, or sometimes just whatever the maids could get out of their wardrobes.

Albus found his way down the stairs, gripping onto the railing as he took a deep breath. He was never one for panic attacks, so he knew that this wasn't one of them - he did feel a shortness of breath however and it was making him uneasy.

The Prince had no clue that Scorpius was following behind him, leaving a little trail however didn't let Albus out of his sight. The brunet swung open the doors to the garden in need of fresh air, taking off his black cape to reveal a black buttoned up shirt. Albus rolled up his sleeves, undoing his top button as he leaned over a beige stone fence that stood in the garden.

Their garden was truly beautiful, it went downhill - hence the stone dance . Trees scattered across the 40 acre land and flowers covered a quarter of the garden, a stone path running through the middle. There was also a bridge that laid upon a river that lead to the pond in the forest behind the palace.

It was beautiful to Albus, it made him feel at ease.

"Your Grace." Scorpius had spoken, Albus turning and seeing that he was holding his cape he had dropped recklessly onto the floor.

"Are you going to follow me everywhere I go?" Albus swiftly turned away from him, forgetting to thank him for picking up his cape. He leaned back over the stone fence, looking at the greenery from the forbidden forest in front of him.

Albus had never been into the forest and never planned to, his father had told him horrifying stories that he wish he could forget. But sometimes you can't forget them things.

"Queens orders. I have to follow you everywhere." Scorpius responded, brushing the minimal dirt off the cape.

"Well," Albus pondered for a moment, "I order you to stop following me everywhere I must go."

"Queens orders, I swore my life to protect you."

"I'm second in line to the thrown, I too can give you orders!" Albus turned to look at Scorpius, a smile placed on his lips as he gave him a snarky look.

"Queens orders overrule your orders, I'm afraid."

"Does that mean you have to sleep in my room with me?" Albus questioned, even though it seemed sarcastic - he did genuinely mean it.

He didn't want a stranger sleeping in his personal bedroom.

Scorpius let out a chuckle, shaking his head and looking down at the Prince, "We can make arrangements about that."

"Arrangements?"

"Either I sleep on the floor of your bedroom, where I can get rest and still protect you - or I could stand outside until you wake up."

Albus raised his brows, making a shocked face, "Do you not have to return to a sleeping quarters? I'll be fine sleeping."

"After what happened to the Princess your mother told me to not let you out of my sight."

"That's a bit harsh, don't you think?"

"Well during this current situation and a risk of Tom Riddle returning, I would rather keep my eyes on you than sleeping."

"Tom Riddle is returning?" Albus almost shouted, his eyebrows went even more raised than before, being covered by his hair.

Scorpius' face soon dropped, covering Albus' mouth before he started speaking again.

"You didn't know?"

Albus shook his head frantically.

Scorpius sighed, shaking his head at himself before looking at Albus in the eyes. "He didn't kill your sister, as far as we know nobody from his party did. He's a threat to you and your family and the only thing we have of him is that he has gathered people from the Kingdom to join him. That's all we have, but considering you didn't know His Majesty most likely didn't want to tell you."

Scorpius removed his hand from Albus' mouth and The Prince let out a held in breath.

"The Tom Riddle who killed James? My grandfather?"

Scorpius nodded, returning the cape onto Albus' shoulders and buttoning it together.

"Don't mention a word to anyone, Your Grace."

"Could you quit that?"

Scorpius furrowed his brows, tilting his head ever so slightly, "Quit what?"

"Calling me that, my name is Albus."

"You're so difficult, kid." Albus slapped him on his shoulder, clearly offended. This had immediately made Scorpius change his attitude and accept that he didn't like the formal names. "Fine, whatever you wish, Albus."

"Thank you."

In that dark room there were shapes in monochrome, of course the daylight could bring brilliant fuchsia or deepest scarlet, but for now it could be a scene from a black and white movie. The silhouette was already more discernible than they were only a short while before and Tom gazed from the window; any moment his own personal party would gather around the table. Tom was waiting, ominously at the head of the table - in a throne made out of swords of the men he had killed.

"The Kingdom is wearing black, I presume?" Tom had spoken when another silhouette had entered the ominous room.

"All of the people are, My Lord."

"Very good." He praised, leaning forward to the candle that lit up his face ever so lightly. "And the job is done?"

"Partly, My Lord." the person walked forwards, "The Princess is gone, The Princes are still alive and I am in deep fear the King and Queen have made greater security and Knights have heavier duties."

"We can work with that, I will do it myself if I have to. I did it with the former royal family and I can do it again. My ways have only grown stronger and that, my dear, is only the beginning. Until I get my thrown and my royal title, we will not give up."