“I won’t do it.” Scorpius spat, fighting relentlessly at the ropes tying him to the chair. It had been a whole year since Albus and Scorpius had messed with time, yet here he was, bruised and bloodied, kidnapped by Delphi.
“Why not?” She taunted, pressing her wand firmly into his neck, “We could be so powerful together. We’ve both led such hard lives, Scorpius. I’ve been shielded from the truth, people have made rumours to lead you astray from the truth. Come on, Scorpius. Instead of cowering away from people in fear, you can rise up against them. If you work with me, we can rule the world, The Augurey and The Scorpion King, united as one. You’ll be a hero.”
Scorpius shook his head vigorously, “If I worked with you I would be a villain. You’re destroying everything, Delphi! You never needed Voldemort to love you, there are so many other people in this world who can love you, if you just give them a chance!”
Delphi laughed maniacally, twisting her hair around her finger, “Maybe it’s not all about love, Scorpius. Maybe I got a taste for power, and now I can’t get enough of it. But, the only way for me to get it back is to work with you, and believe me when I say we could take down this whole world. With my power and your raw emotion, we could destroy this whole snowflake generation.”
She placed her hands on each arm of the chair and leaned over him, “This is your last chance, Scorpius. You either work with me, or you lose everything.” Scorpius swallowed his saliva down and gave her a bitter smile, “I’ll lose everything either way, so I might as well go down fighting.” Suddenly, he lurched forwards in an attempt to headbutt her, but she managed to step aside before he could make contact.
“Stupid boy.” She sneered, “If you’re not with me, then you’re against me.” Delphi drew her wand once again and pointed it at Scorpius’ head with a smirk.
Scorpius reeled back in fear, but still maintained a relatively confident image. “You don’t have to do this.” His voice shook as he spoke, pressing his back against the chair.
Delphi cackled, “It’s too late for that, Malfoy. You could’ve joined me, we could’ve been unstoppable together. But no, your love for those that surround you is too strong - it makes you weak.” She took a step closer, her smirk growing wider, “Goodbye, Scorpius Malfoy.”
He squeezed his eyes shut and braced himself, waiting for the green shot of light to engulf him. “Avada Ke-“ Delphi started, but she stopped and lowered her wand before she could finish the spell. Had someone come to save him? Had they found him?
Scorpius opened his eyes and searched the room, but there was no indication of why she had stopped the spell. He looked back at her, her expression cold. “Why’d you stop?” He asked warily. A wicked idea crossed Delphi’s mind, “Just because you won’t cooperate now doesn’t mean I can’t get you to cooperate in some other way.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Scorpius stared at her questioningly. She only stared back at him, her sick and twisted expression morphing to become more menacing. “If you won’t work with me,” She jeered, “I’ll have to make you.”
Delphi raised her wand one final time, a smirk plastered on her face. Scorpius screamed as he realised her plan, “No, please!”
But it was too late.
“Obliviate.”
***
The boy who was once Scorpius Malfoy fluttered his eyes open, confused and scared. Where was he? Who was he?
For some reason, he couldn’t remember anything. Had he been in some kind of brain damaging accident? He didn’t know. All he knew was that he was in a room, tied to a chair, a strange woman standing across from him.
“How are you feeling?” She asked, an almost too concerned look over her face. He wanted to open up to her,but something in the back of his mind prevented him from doing so. “I’m ok.” He lied, “Where am I?”
She began to untie the bindings around his wrists, freeing him of the uncomfortable position, “That’s not important. All you need to know is that you’re safe now, and I’m going to take care of you.” She took his hands in hers and pulled him up with a grunt.
“Why don’t - why don’t I remember anything?” He inquired, letting go of her. A look of fake seeming sadness crossed her as she bowed her head with a sigh. “Your father, Draco Malfoy. He wanted you to do things you didn’t want to, but you were too strong for him to control; he had to obliviate you because of it. I couldn’t stand seeing him do that to you, so I brought you here. I’m sorry if I scared you.”
He nodded solemnly, bringing a hand to her chin to lift it up so she could see him. He smiled bitterly, “It’s a pity I don’t believe you.”
He smashed his hand into her face, a satisfying crunch coming from the impact. Her head snapped back, but he didn’t waste another second. He took her legs out and she cracked against the floor, but he was too busy basking in the pride of his achievement to realise that something in her hand was flying towards his face. He felt a sharp scratch cut across his cheek, and later felt the light trickle of blood seeping from it.
“You bitch.” He stomped a foot into her rib cage, causing her to cry out in pain. He kicked the silver dagger out of her hand, crouched down beside her and held her head up by her long ponytail, “At least give me the luxury of knowing my own name.” He snarled.
“Scorpius… Malfoy…” She said between gasps. He exhaled deeply before picking up a wand he assumed was his from across the room and exiting the building.
He broke into a run the moment the cold breeze hit him.
***
Draco called out his son’s name relentlessly as he searched the grounds of Hogwarts. The moment Albus had fire called him to say that Scorpius was missing, he’d made his way to the school; after what had happened with Delphi, he couldn’t risk losing his son again.
“Scorpius!” He shouted, also hearing the numerous other muffled shouts in the distance behind him. “Scorpius!” They’d been searching for 30 minutes, but there was still no sign of him.
He heard a crunch of leaves to his left, and he whipped around to see Scorpius standing before him, blood running down the side of his face. “Scorpius, oh Merlin, I was so worried about you! What the hell did you think you were doing, leaving the grounds like that?” He took a step forwards, but soon realised something was off when his son’s cold stare bore into his own eyes.
“Scorpius?” He approached more slowly now, wary of the crazed look in his son’s eyes. Still, no visible response apart from a rageful glare. “Draco Malfoy.” Scorpius took a step closer to him, fists balled, “You have one minute to explain yourself before I kill you.”
Draco was taken aback by his son’s sudden anger, “Scorpius, what are you talking about?” There was no change in his son’s demeanour, even when Draco heard more people appear behind him.
“Scorpius, you’re here! We’ve been so-“ Draco put a hand in front of Albus to stop him going any closer. Albus looked back at him, confused, but Draco didn’t elaborate. He wanted Scorpius to give him answers and he wanted them now.
“Who are - nevermind.” Scorpius raised a hand, “I want you to explain what’s going on and why all of this is happening.” Draco swore he could see a tear forming in Scorpius’ eye, but he didn’t comment on it; his son already seemed overly enraged.
“I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about. Listen, Scorpius, you need to rest. You’re bleeding a lot, you’ve probably just got a head injury. We can talk about this later if you want, when you’re fully rested, ok?” Draco took another step closer to him, but Scorpius reeled back, a smidge of terror blanketing him.
“No, she told me - she told me you did something. I didn’t believe her, but I don’t know what to believe anymore…” Scorpius shook his head, blinking back the tears.
“Who is she? Scorpius, describe her to me.” Draco had a dreadful feeling of who ‘she’ might be, but he didn’t want to jump to conclusions.
“I don’t know. She had - silvery hair - with blue streaks - she was a little older than me? I don’t know, I really didn’t pay much attention to her given that I was strapped to a chair.” He rolls up his sleeves to showcase the red, blood dotted lines around his wrists, where there had clearly been binds.
“Delphini.” He narrowed his eyes, but looked up anxiously when he realised something he should’ve realised the second he saw the way his son glared at him, “You know who she is, Scorpius, why didn’t you just say her name?” He asked, nervous to hear the answer.
Scorpius shook his head slowly, “No, I don’t. I don’t know any of you people,” His voice rose gradually, “And if someone doesn’t explain what’s going on then I’ll kill you all!”
Draco stares back at him, horrified. Without warning, Scorpius lunges at him and before Draco can react, his son falls limp to the ground. Professor McGonnagal’s wand shakes in her hand as she slowly lowers it down, “We will find out what’s wrong with him, Draco. I promise.”
All Draco could do was stare at what was once his son’s body and think, how could I let this happen?
Albus sank down to his boyfriend, brushing a thumb over his cheek before planting a gentle kiss on it. He was whispering words of comfort that Draco couldn’t hear - that was alright with him, the words weren’t his to hear.
That was when he realised that nothing would ever be the same again.