December 15th, 2021
“Scorpius?” Albus called out, spotting a familiar blond figure hunched over on the ground. He ran closer to the figure, seeing Scorpius curled up in the snow. He hugged his legs tight and kept his head down. As Albus grew closer, he heard sniffling. He was crying.
Albus’ expression grew to worry, and he was now stood next to Scorpius whose cries had started to become somewhat subdued. The blond peeked up and then quickly cowered into himself as he noticed someone standing near him. Albus noticed, for the brief second that he could see his face, that there was blood on his cheek. He frowned.
“Scorpius, it's okay,” Albus said softly. “It's just me.”
Scorpius looked up again, relaxing slightly upon seeing Albus. He let out a shaky exhale, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. He was shivering. Of course he was. He was sat outside during a snowstorm with a sweater on. Albus sat beside him, removing his robe and gently setting it on Scorpius’ shoulders. Scorpius shrunk down, tightly holding the robe closed as if it were a blanket. He sniffled, staring down at his legs. Albus frowned as he looked at Scorpius, watching him evade eye contact. Albus reached out, cupping the boy’s face and turning his head to look at him. Scorpius recoiled slightly, but quickly relaxed into the touch.
“You're bleeding,” Albus noted, wiping away a bit of blood from a scratch on the boy's face. “What happened to you?”
“Nothing,” Scorpius pulled away, rubbing his face in the spot where Albus touched him. “I… fell. Nothing more."
“You're a horrible liar, you know that?” Albus joked lightheartedly, though his eyebrows still furrowed worriedly.
“Yeah.” Scorpius mumbled.
“Are you going to tell me what happened?”
Scorpius shook his head.
“Okay,” Albus exhaled. “Why are you sitting outside? It’s bloody bitter out here.”
Scorpius shrugged.
“You want to go inside?”
Scorpius shook his head.
Albus frowned. Clearly asking questions wasn’t getting him anywhere. Scorpius was never one to open up easily. He just had to wait until he felt comfortable. He had no clue how long it would be until then, but he knew the two of them would probably have frostbite by that time. He turned from Scorpius, letting out a chattering exhale and watching a puff of air leave his lips. If Albus was this cold and he’d just gotten out here, Scorpius must have been suffering. The blond was shaking almost violently at this point.
“Here,” Albus pulled his scarf off of his neck, wrapping it around the two of them. “If you’re gonna stay out here, I don’t want you freezing to death.
Scorpius seemed to tense up, but grew closer to Albus after a second. Albus didn’t hesitate to move closer as well, letting Scorpius rest his head on his shoulder. It was quiet.
Scorpius moved his hand closer to Albus’ and, almost fearfully, grabbed the other boy’s hand. Albus held Scorpius’ hand tightly, holding it close to him.
“Your hands are freezing,” Albus noted, rubbing Scorpius’ hand in his own to warm it up. “I'm surprised they haven't fallen off yet.” Scorpius laughed quietly, sniffling and wiping his eyes with his free hand. His face fell soon after, and he looked away from Albus, lowering his head.
“Do you want to talk yet?” Albus asked, no longer warming Scorpius’ hand and now just holding it.
“I don’t know,” Scorpius said quietly.
“I don’t know what that means,” Albus tried to laugh.
“I don’t know if I can.”
“That’s okay,” Albus replied as Scorpius curled into his body. “Take your time.”
“It-” Scorpius started, his voice shaking either from his tears or the cold or maybe both. “I just- I don’t know why people hate me so much. I don’t know how to- how to make it stop.” He paused. “I can’t go inside because they’re gonna- they’re gonna come back.”
“Who?” Albus asked, his expression softer than it was previously.
“I don’t know their names. Gryffindors. They hate me.” Scorpius’ voice lowered.
“Did they– is that why you’re bleeding?”
Scorpius didn’t answer. Albus knew the answer. There was silence, and Albus could hear Scorpius start to cry again.
“I’m scared,” He whispered, his voice broken. Albus found himself speechless. “I don’t want them to hurt me again.”
Scorpius cried harder, pulling his hand away from Albus and hiding his face in his knees. He looked so small. So scared. Albus didn’t know what he could say that would stop his pain. He couldn’t stop the bullying, he couldn’t undo the torment and sadness that was already present in Scorpius’ life.
“I’m sorry,” Albus said quietly. It was probably the least helpful thing he could say. He hugged Scorpius from the side, and the boy’s body untensed. “I- I wish I could help. Kids are fucking cruel, and it’s not your fault.”
Scorpius nodded, his eyes closed within Albus’ embrace.
“I know I’m not great with magic, but- I can try to help. If anyone tries to hurt you again, I swear-”
“Albus,” Scorpius laughed quietly, squirming to get away from the hug. Albus pulled his arms away. “You don’t have to-”
“I want to. You don’t deserve all the shit those jerks give you. You deserve so much better.”
Scorpius wiped his eyes, letting out a small giggle. “Thank you.”
“I love you, okay?” Albus looked at Scorpius, and Scorpius looked back, making eye contact.
“I love you too.” Scorpius said. Albus flicked his forehead, and Scorpius jerked back, letting out a laugh and throwing snow at Albus. Albus shoved him so that he fell backwards in the snow, and he scrambled to his feet, kicking snow at Albus.
“What is your issue?” Albus laughed loudly, balling up a bit of snow and standing up, throwing it at Scorpius. Scorpius giggled as he wiped snow off of him.
“Oh, your-” Scorpius moved to remove Albus’ scarf from his shoulders, but Albus grabbed the end of it, wrapping it around Scorpius’ neck.
“Keep it. It’s cold.”
“I have a scarf, Albus, I just didn’t-”
“I’m trying to be nice. This is hard for me, just accept the nice gesture.”
Scorpius laughed. “Well, thank you for the nice gesture.”
“Come on,” Albus chuckled, grabbing Scorpius’ arm and pulling him towards the school building. “Before we have to cut off your frozen fingers.”