Albus looks at his aunt Hermione and uncle Ron standing near the window, looking outside to see if Delphi is coming. Scorpius and Draco are at the door. His best friend is looking through a crack in the door, his dad is behind him. He flinches slightly as his dad puts his hand on his shoulder but then looks up at him with a smile. A smile that makes Albus' stomach flutter, a genuinely happy smile. Albus knows how hard it has been for Scorpius to communicate with his father. He has told him about his father and their relationship in the Dark Alternate Universe. Seeing them together like this, his father's hand on his shoulder and Scorpius smiling up at him, makes Albus happy. He can't imagine how happy it's making Scorpius as all he has wanted was to have a good relationship with his father, especially after losing his mother. Now they might just have the chance to make that work. After they leave Godric's Hollow.
Scorpius' eyes find Albus and he gives him a nod, followed by a smile. Albus smiles back at him before turning around to find his mother sitting on one of the church benches. She's looking down at her hands that had not stopped wringing ever since his father had left the church, looking exactly like Voldemort. He has definitely inherited that nervous trait from her. Whenever he gets nervous his hands won't stop shaking so he starts wringing them together. Trying to get his mind off whatever is making him nervous.
Albus walks over to the bench, looking down at his mother. 'It's going to be okay, you know that, Mum?'
She looks up at him, a small smile around her lips. 'I know it is. Or I hope I do. I just - don't want to see him like that. The man I love shrouded in the man I hate.'
Albus sits down beside his mother, placing his hands on hers, trying to get her to stop wringing them. She looks at him, her eyes sad and he lets out a sigh.
'I really thought I liked her, mum. Delphi. You know that?' he whispers and his eyes focus on their hands, scared to look up at his mother as he speaks. 'I thought I liked her, but honestly I think I liked the idea of doing something good. Of righting a wrong. Proving to everyone that I could do something right, that I am not as bad of a wizard and person as everyone thinks and says I am.' He pauses and his mother takes his hands in hers, kissing them. He looks up at her, catching her eyes. 'I lost myself in that feeling and she was there to help, to encourage me to do it. I think that's why I thought I liked her. Because she said she saw the potential in me and after having such a hard time at school, that was something I needed to hear from someone. I had no idea that I was walking straight into a trap. A trap that she had laid out so incredibly well.'
'That's what they're good at Albus. Catching innocents in their web,' his mother says.
She runs her hand through his hair before cupping his cheek. She smiles at him, a genuine and loving smile. He can feel his throat tighten as he's looking at his mother, the woman he loves so much. The woman he has hurt by his behavior and his stupidity.
'This is all my fault,' his voice breaks and before he knows it he's in his mother's arms, rocking back and forth.
'How funny, your dad seems to think it's all his. Strange pair, you are.'
Albus chuckles softly as he buries his face into her shoulder, drowning himself in the comfort of his mother's arms around him. For the first time in a very long time, he feels safe. He feels loved. He feels like he's home.
'That's her. That's her. She's seen him!' Scorpius voice sounds and Albus quickly jumps up, out of his mother's embrace.
His best friend comes running towards him, his father right behind him. Albus takes in a sharp breath as Scorpius holds onto his arm, squeezing it to show him that he's not alone. They are going to do this together, they'll get through this together.
'Positions. Everybody,' Hermione hurries over to the small group and she looks at them one by one. 'And remember, don't come out until he's got her in the light. We've one shot at this, we don't want to mess it up.'
Ginny grabs Albus' free hand and pulls him along with her, breaking the connection between Albus and Scorpius, who's waiting for his father to follow him.
'Hermione Granger. I'm being bossed around by Hermione Granger,' his aunt turns around towards Scorpius' father and Albus can see a smile on his face. 'And I'm mildly enjoying it.'
Scorpius grabs the sleeve of his father's jacket, pulling him along to the other room. 'Dad, come on.'
They quickly follow behind Ginny and Albus and the latter closes the door right behind them. Now they will have to wait for the right moment to attack.
Albus wakes up, rubbing his eyes as he turns himself on his back to look up at the ceiling of bed. A quiet whisper catches his attention and he sits up in his bed. He hears his name being whispered again by a familiar voice. Albus opens the curtain of his bed. Scorpius is sitting on the chair next to Albus' bed. He's smiling at him, a big and warm smile which Albus immediately answer with one of his own.
'You're up early,' Albus whispers as he dangles his feet from the bed. He looks around and all the curtains of the beds of their dorm mates are closed. His eyes find Scorpius' bed neatly made, as if Scorpius hadn't even slept in it.
'And you've already made your bed? Eager to start the day, aren't you?' Albus grins as Scorpius looks from his bed back to Albus. 'How long have you been sitting there?'
'I've been waiting for you to get up,' Scorpius says as he watches Albus stretch his arms and back, yawning as his bare feet touch the cold ground.
'Alright, let me just get ready. Then we can head down to get some breakfast, alright?' Albus grabs a big green sweater from the end of his bed. 'This isn't mine,' he mumbles and looks at Scorpius.
'It's mine, you've stolen it from me, remember?' Scorpius looks at Albus and for a moment they look at each other in silence. 'You wanted something that was mine to remember me by when I'm not around. So you stole my sweater when you got back in our dorm room, right after-' Scorpius' voice fades away as Albus shakes his head at him.
He doesn't want to talk about it. He grabs the sweater and flashes Scorpius a small smile before leaving for the bathroom to get changed. He pulls the sweater over his head and it smells just like Scorpius does. The familiar scent of his best friend. A sad smile creeps on Albus' face and he looks at himself in the mirror. At his messy hair, the thing people tease him about the most, but it was one of the things that Scorpius always said he liked the most about Albus. The way his hair was always so messy, but still looked good. His messy hair and his brown Weasley eyes. The exact same eyes as his mother. Scorpius made him feel better about himself and he'll be eternally grateful for that. He wipes his eyes with the sleeve of the sweater, confused at when he had started crying.
'Are you coming?' Scorpius pops up behind him and Albus lets out a surprised sound.
'Scor, you can't creep up on me like that!' Albus hisses at his friend as he looks back at him in the mirror.
'You look really tired,' Scorpius' voice sounds gentle, worried.
'I just haven't been sleeping very well. I keep thinking back about that night in Godric's Hollow,' Albus mumbles, he averts his eyes from Scorpius who's still looking at him in the mirror. 'It's always the first part, when we're waiting for my father to lure Delphi into the church. Then I wake up.'
Scorpius sighs and Albus looks up at him again. 'Come on, let's go get some breakfast. I think you might need some coffee to get through a full day of studying.'
Albus wants to follow Scorpius out of the bathroom, but he freezes. 'We defeated her right after that, right? Delphi? We defeated her?'
Scorpius turns back at him, his eyes searching Albus' face. He forces a smile on his face as he nods, but Albus can see it's not a genuine smile. He knows Scorpius too well. 'Yes. They defeated Delphi.'
Albus nods and he follows Scorpius down to the Great Hall, following close behind him as he's clutching his bag in his hand. He's biting his lip as he pours himself a cup of coffee.
'Didn't James and Lily tell you they would meet you this morning?' Scorpius says, catching Albus' attention again.
He nods as he stifles another yawn. 'Yes, they did. But I don't think they're awake yet.'
Scorpius flashes him a smile. 'Well, now we wait.'
'Well, now we wait,' his mother whispers to the rest of them.
He catches Scorpius' eyes as he leans his back against the wall furthest away from the door. His heart is racing, his hands are shaking and he can feel his breathing catch in his throat as he hears his father entering the church, calling out to Delphi. For her to stop following him. A chill runs down his spine as he hears her voice, Delphi's voice. The voice of the woman that has brought them back in time, trapped them here. The woman that killed Craig Bowker Jr. The woman that used the Cruciatus Curse on his best friend, his only friend. The kindest person he knows. With his eyes still on Scorpius, he can feel his knees slowly giving out. His best friend quietly rushes over towards him, catching his arm and sliding down to the floor with him. He gently takes his hand in his, squeezing it as he flashes him a smile. A smile that tells him that it's going to be okay, that they're together. That they're going to get through this together.
'We're going to be alright,' Scorpius whispers. 'Your father can do this. He's going to bring her into the light and that's where the rest of them come in. It's seven of us against her. We made it this far, we're not about to give up now, right?'
Albus nods at him. Scorpius is right. They made it this far and he can't give up now. He needs to keep his head up, he needs to do this. For Craig, for his mother, for his family. For Scorpius.
Scorpius rests his back against the wall and Albus rests his head down on his friends shoulder. 'As soon as this is over, I think I will need a vacation.' Albus chuckles as he shakes his head. 'I really could use a vacation, Al. Some place where the sun shines, with a soft breeze that blows through our hair, but doesn't make it cold because you know how cold I can get. It would be nice to not have to worry about that for once. Just lay on the beach all day long, not having to worry about a crazy witch trying to get us to travel back in time. That sounds nice, right?'
Albus smiles as he looks up at his friend. 'That does sound nice and I think we should do it. I think I'll just let you come up with all of our plans from now on, because that's the best one I've heard so far.'
'If we're going to do this, we're going to do it together. Remember?'
'Incendio!' a voice calls out from inside the church, followed by an explosion.
Albus and Scorpius look up at their parents. Scorpius' father runs towards the door, ready to open it and get into action, but it won't budge. 'The door is locked.'
Ginny runs towards the door as Scorpius' father waves for Scorpius and Albus to come his way. Scorpius takes Albus hand, helping him get up before they walk towards the door. His father is alone in the church, fighting Delphi, the daughter of Voldemort. Albus holds his breath as he hears Delphi shout another spell his father's way. Scorpius' hand in his is the only thing that's keeping him sane at the moment, keeping him from panicking.
'She's sealed the doors from your side!' His mother calls out to his father before she turns back to them. 'We can't get out. We won't be able to help Harry.'
'Albus?'
Albus jumps when someone snaps their fingers in front of his face. He bumps his knees into the wooden table and his face scrunches up in pain. Lily and James are sitting on the other side of the table and they look at Albus as he sits back down. His eyes look around the Slytherin table, looking for Scorpius. But he's nowhere to be found.
'Have you seen Scorpius leave?' Albus asks his siblings.
James and Lily look at each other before looking back at Albus, both shaking their head.
'No, we- we haven't seen him leave, Albus,' Lily turns to her plate with toast and eggs and starts eating.
He hadn't heard Scorpius leave or say anything to him, but then again he had been lost in his own thoughts all this time. Things have been flying past him all the time recently. He picks up his mug and takes a sip. He spits the coffee right back out as it has grown cold.
'Al, we have been wanting to talk to you. You keep avoiding us, wanting to be by yourself. We get that, don't get us wrong. But you've been so closed off and you've been on your own for so long, ever since what happened in Godric's Hollow,' James pauses as if he has to either find the words or the courage to keep talking. 'We're worried about you, Albus. We know you might not be ready to talk about what happened and we won't push you into doing that, but we want you to know that we're here for you.'
Albus looks at his big brother, who's hands are open on the table as if he's waiting for Albus to put his in them. As if he's trying to reach out to his little brother, desperately wanting to feel connected to him again. To Lily who is holding her cutlery so tight in her little hands that her knuckles are white. They're both frowning, their eyebrows furrowed and they look exactly like his father. The way his father had looked right after he had found Albus and Scorpius in Godric's Hollow, the concern on his face and the fear in his eyes. He had never seen anything like it in his face. Albus sighs and he runs a hand through his hair.
'I'm sorry that I have been shutting you out, I really am. But we're just really busy with catching up with all the schoolwork that we have missed because of everything that has happened and it has been really time consuming. I promise I'll try and talk to you more often,' Albus stands up.
Lily reaches over the table, grabbing onto Albus' hand as she looks up at him. Her warm and kind brown eyes into his. 'You're not alone, Albus. We're here for you. No matter what happens.'
He smiles at her and squeezes her hand briefly before breaking their connection. 'I'll see you two later.'
He sees his siblings share another one of their glances and he can see tears glistening in James' eyes as he turns away, making his way out of the Great Hall. As soon as he walks through the doors a flurry of blonde hair pops up beside him.
'Where did you go?' Albus asks Scorpius as they make their way outside to go study in the courtyard.
'James and Lily wanted to talk to you. I didn't want to intrude on that and thought I'd give you three some privacy,' Scorpius says as he sits down next to Albus in the grass. 'What did they want to talk about?'
'They said they're worried,' Albus mumbles as he starts fiddling with the hem of Scorpius' sweater. 'They said I've been closing myself off. Been spending a lot of time alone and have been hiding myself. That they won't push me into telling them what happened but that they want me to know they're here for me.' Albus looks up at the blue sky, breathing in the fresh air.
'Albus,' Scorpius voice sounds urgent and he looks back down at his friend. 'You know this can't go on like this any longer.'
'What are you talking about?' Albus looks at Scorpius, confused.
Scorpius looks at Albus' hands still nervously fiddling with his sweater. Then back up at his best friend's face. His face a mixture of sadness and worry, a small smile on his lips. 'Albus, we need to do something.'
'We need to do something,' Ginny mumbles as she's pacing around the room.
Albus looks around the room, trying to find something, anything at all. They won't be able to unlock the doors from inside and his father is trying to hold off Delphi as good as he can. Delphi, who is determined to kill his father just to make sure she gets to meet hers. So she can stop him from entering the Potter house, to prevent him from hurting himself. Albus curses loud and kicks the bench in front of him. The bench moves backwards and a grate appears.
'Mum,' Albus calls out to his mother, but she doesn't hear him. 'Mum!'
His mother looks up and he points at the grate.
'I can fit through here. I'm sure it will lead into the church,' he says but his mother is shaking her head. 'Mum, we need to help dad. Delphi is dangerous. We have seen-' his voice breaks.
Scorpius hand finds his again, giving him another reassuring squeeze. Giving him the strength to keep going. 'We have seen what she's capable off. I can crawl through it, get to the church and open the doors so you can help dad.'
His mother looks at him, tears in her eyes as she's thinking over the idea in her head.
'Mum, we lost Craig already, we saw him die. I can't stand around and not help. We need to help dad and we need to do it now. I don't want to lose anyone else. I can't lose anyone else.'
His mother kisses his forehead before smiling at him. 'My brave little boy,' she whispers. 'As soon as you get out of there, you unlock the doors so we can come out, you understand that?'
Albus nods at her. His brown Weasley eyes fiercely looking back into hers. She nods again, telling him he can go, but someone pulls him back. Scorpius looks at him, concern and worry in his eyes.
'Please be careful,' he whispers at his best friend. 'Please be careful, I'm begging you.'
'Don't worry, I will be careful. I promise you that. Nothing's going to happen to me. Before you know it we will be laying on that beach in the sun with two ice cold sodas in our hands, because we're not allowed to have alcohol.'
Both boys chuckle as Albus fiercely wraps his arms around Scorpius, pulling him close. Trying to squeeze the worry out of his tall body. Scorpius wraps his arms around Albus' shoulders, closing his eyes as he takes in a deep breath.
'We'll be together again before you know it,' Albus says as he slowly releases Scorpius from his embrace.
His mother and Scorpius father have removed the grate and Albus grabs onto the wand they had stolen from Batilda Bagshots' house. He nods at the other three before he lowers himself into the space under the ground. He coughs as dust gets stuck in his throat, but he doesn't stop. He keeps going, listening to the voices inside of the church as they come closer. He quietly pushes open the grate and climbs out.
'Avada-'
'Dad!' Albus calls out to his father.
'Albus! No!'
'Two of you?' Delphi looks down on both Potter's. 'Choices, choices. I think I'll kill the boy first. Avada Kedavra!'
Albus feels his body freeze as he sees the flash of green light, but he is thrown out of the way before it can hit him. His father's arms are around him and his eyes frantically search his son's face for any injuries before he fires a spell back at Delphi.
'You think you're stronger than me?' she asks and lets out a joyless laugh.
'No. I'm not,' Harry answers as they fire spells at each other. 'But we are.'
Albus points his wand at both doors as he calls out the unlocking charm. Delphi's eyes find Albus standing at the center of the church, her face scrunched up in anger but his eyes are focused on the door opening. His best friend bursts out, his eyes finding Albus. They were together again.
'Albus,' Albus is being pulled back to reality.
He looks behind him and sees professor Longbottom come up to him. 'Hey Albus,' he greets him and Albus smiles up at him. 'Are you free to come by my office in a few minutes? There's something I'd like to talk to you about.'
'Yeah, sure.'
'I just need to drop by professor McGonagall real quick and then I'll be in my office.'
Albus nods again and professor Longbottom leaves. He lets out a frustrated sigh as he lets himself fall back into the grass. He closes his eyes and covers his face with his arms. All he wants is to disappear right there and then. He is sick of all the worried and concerned looks he has been getting from his siblings, from his parents, from his professors, from Scorpius. He looks around, looking for his best friend but again, he's nowhere to be found. Albus scrambles up from the floor and grabs his bag. He stomps towards the entrance to the castle and as soon as he gets inside Scorpius is standing there. His shoulder leaning against one of the pillars and a soft smile on his face.
'Sorry, I didn't want to intrude on your conversation with professor Longbottom,' Albus opens his mouth but Scorpius keeps talking. 'Do you want me to walk you to his office? I can do that.'
Scorpius has already started walking before Albus can reply to him, so he quickly follows him.
'Slow down, Scorpius! You know you have longer legs than I do,' Albus groans as he runs to catch up with his best friend.
It's not until they're in front of professor Longbottom's office that Scorpius turns around to Albus. He quickly comes to a halt in front of his tall friend and looks up at him.
'Albus, don't worry so much. You will be fine,' Scorpius says, his voice gentle and soft. 'You should know that I'm always here for you, no matter what happens. Even if I'm not with you in person. I'm always going to be with you in spirit and in here,' he points at Albus' chest, at the place where his heart beats. 'Never forget that. You have shown me what real friendship is, what being loved feels like. You accepted me for who I am and I couldn't have asked for a better friend. You are my best friend. That's never going to change and I'm eternally grateful for that.'
Albus smiles up at Scorpius. His best friend. The boy that has made him smile and laugh out loud so many times. The boy that has accepted him and embraced him into his life while others looked down on him and teased him. Scorpius never does that. He is always there for him.
'And you are my best friend,' Albus says.
He reaches out to Scorpius for a hug but he holds up his hands and takes a step back.
'Go talk to professor Longbottom, Albus. But never forget,' he points at Albus' heart again. 'You will be fine. I promise you that.'
Albus feels like something is off, but he shakes it off. He will be fine, Scorpius is right. He will be fine. He smiles at Scorpius once more and then enters professor Longbottom's office.
'Hey Albus,' professor Longbottom greets him with a smile. 'Come sit with me please?'
Albus walks over to the desk and takes place oppose him. He looks down at his hands, fiddling with his fingers.
'I have been wanting to talk to you,' professor Longbottom breaks the silence and Albus looks up at him. 'Your brother and sister came to visit me. They're worried about you and they asked if I could help them. They don't know what to do anymore. You have been closing yourself off from everyone, even your siblings. They can't reach you and it scares them. That's why I called you here. We have noticed how alone you are, how you distance yourself from everyone. The teachers notice that in class, your classmates do as well, your siblings notice it every time they see you.'
Albus looks at him, a confused look on his face. Alone? He hasn't been alone, he's been with Scorpius.
'I can't imagine what you had to go through in the past couple of weeks. All the horrible things you had to see and the deaths you had to witness. It must have been hard for you. I want you to know that you can always talk to me.'
'I'm alright, professor. I will get over Craig's death eventually,' Albus says as he gets up from the chair and makes for the door. 'Somehow I will, it just takes some time but it's okay. I'm fine.'
'What about Scorpius?'
Albus freezes, his hand on the door, ready to leave the classroom. But he can't move. As much as he wants to leave the classroom, he can't.
'What about Scorpius?' Albus asks.
'You say you will be over Craig Bowkey Jr's death someday,' he says, his voice gentle and careful. 'But what about Scorpius?'
Albus' voice gets caught in his throat as he turns his back on the door again. 'What do you mean?'
'How do you deal with Scorpius' death?'
A silence falls over Albus and the professor, tension rising between them. Albus opens his mouth to say something but there's no sound coming out. His eyes are scanning the room, looking for the right words, but his eyes find someone standing in the corner. Scorpius. His tall, blonde best friend. His only friend. His grey eyes are staring into his, they're sad and Albus' breath catches in his throat as he makes to walk towards him. But Scorpius shakes his head. He silently points at Albus' chest, to the place where his heart is placed.
'I'll always be with you,' Scorpius voice sounds again. 'If it's not in person. I will be with you in spirit. I will be with you inside of your heart. Always.'
'I'm so sorry, Albus. I'm sorry,' professor Longbottom's voice sounds close and he can feel his hand on his shoulder.
Albus wants to flinch away under the touch of his godfather, but he can't. His body has turned to stone, nailed to the ground as the two best friend stare at each other. He has been talking to Scorpius all this time. He has seen him. He was there when he woke up and he was there when Albus went to sleep. The cold realization suddenly hit him. Scorpius disappearing as soon as someone else came up to talk to him. The moment earlier with James and Lily in the Great Hall. He'd been talking to Scorpius first and when Albus lost himself in his thoughts and James and Lily had joined him. The neatly made bed, which looked like no one had slept in it. Scorpius' sweater. Scorpius was gone. Scorpius.
'But Scorpius-' Albus' voice breaks, but he doesn't break eye contact with his best friend. 'Scorpius isn't gone. He can't be gone. He's right here.'
'Albus, that's not Scorpius. Not really,' professor Longbottom whispers, giving his shoulder a supportive squeeze. 'You've been suppressing your memory of what happened to Scorpius and have been holding on to him so tight that you're imaging him now. It's a trick of your mind, Albus. He's not real. You have to let him go.'
Albus shakes his head. He doesn't want to let Scorpius go. He can't let Scorpius go. He needs his best friend. He needs Scorpius. 'I can't,' Albus whispers, his voice desperate and broken. 'I can't let him go. I need him.'
Scorpius smiles at him but he can't return the smile. He nods at Albus, as if to tell him that it's okay. That it's okay to let go. To let him go. He can feel his knees buckle and professor Longbottom catches him by his elbows.
'Come sit down, Albus.'
Albus sits down on the stool and he can hear professor Longbottom's voice inside of his head, telling Albus he has been suppressing his memory of what happened to Scorpius. He has been suppressing it ever since it happened and at one point he convinced himself that nothing had happened. Scorpius was here with him and they were together. But it wasn't true and he had been lying to himself all this time. There was more to the memory of Godric's Hollow, more had happened, but he just didn't let himself think of that. Not until now.
Scorpius' eyes find Albus, but then he looks at Delphi. Delphi with her wand pointed at Albus. He wants to scream out Albus' name, but there's no sound. Albus follows his gaze, back to Delphi. His eyes grow wide as he sees the wand pointed at him. His mother calls out his name and his father fires another spell Delphi's way but with a flick of her wrist she blocks it. Albus can see her mouth move, but he doesn't hear her. All he sees is the flash of green emerging from her wand. The flash of green that's coming his way. Everything seems to slow down, Albus can't get himself to move fast enough. It's like time is still. And then two arms are around him, a body slamming into his. Shielding him. Protecting him. Albus squeezes his eyes shut as he falls back, his back slamming onto the wooden floor. As soon as he opens his eyes, everything hits him again. Spells being thrown back and forth, fire emerging from wands, screams. But not just screams. Someone is screaming a name.
'Scorpius!' he can hear Scorpius' father call out. 'Answer me!'
Albus rolls himself to his side, his eyes finding Scorpius laying next to him. He scrambles to his hands and knees as fast as he can, making his way over to his best friend. Calling out his name. He gently puts his hand on his shoulder and rolls him onto his back. Scorpius' eyes are shut, his face pale and his body still. Albus' hands flutter over Scorpius' body, not knowing what to do. Still calling out his name. Begging his best friend to wake up. But when he cups his face, his skin is cold. Too cold. He screams out his best friend's name followed by an agonizing scream. His best friend. His only friend. Scorpius had thrown himself in front of Albus, protecting him from Delphi. Someone grabs his arms, but he fights against the embrace. Flailing his arms around, trying to release himself.
'No! Don't touch me!' Albus screams. 'Help him! Help Scorpius!'
'Al, I'm so sorry,' his mother's voice.
'No!' Albus screams. 'No. No. No.' He looks at his best friend before collapsing. The fabric of Scorpius' sweater in his balled fists, his face buried into his chest as sobs take over his body. 'We were going to be together again.'
'We were going to be together again,' Albus whispers as his vision blurs. Silent tears start rolling down his cheek as he stares at his hands in front of him. He looks up at the corner where Scorpius was standing. But he's gone.
'We were going to be together again!' he screams and jumps up. He grabs the stool he was sitting on and throws it across the room. Agonizing screams escape his lips as he grabs everything in sight, throwing it across the room. Two arms wrap themselves around him and Albus screams at them to let him go. To leave him alone. But they don't let him go, they hold him even though he fights them with everything he has left inside of him.
'Albus,' the person whispers, his brother. 'Albus, it's okay!'
Albus can feel his body being drained from energy. He stops fighting his brother. There's nothing left to fight for. Scorpius is gone. His best friend is gone. James carefully lets go of him and Albus stands on his wobbly legs.
'We were going to be together again,' his voice is barely a whisper as his knees give out and he crashes to the floor. James and Lily run up to their brother. He has no idea when both of them had come in to the classroom, but they were here. They were here for their brother. The screams from earlier make way for sobs, sobs that make his chest heave and his whole body ache. They wrap him in their arms, pulling him close as he cries.
'You're okay,' James whispers. 'You're okay, little brother. We got you.'