Chapter 7
The corridor was dark as Scorpius walked down towards the single door at the end, his black school robes floating behind him, the spine of the jacket digging into his back and keeping his shoulders straight. In his hand was clutched the summons to this dark office.
He reached the door and knocked. Slowly, it opened and he stepped inside into the gloom, a window high up on the wall the only light in the large chamber.
Taking a few steps inside, Scorpius stopped and waiting as the door closed behind him.
“Scorpius Malfoy.” A voice whispered from above him. Scorpius looked up as something black glided from the ceiling. Swallowing hard, Scorpius forced himself to look into the black eyes of the woman, her silver and blue hair framing her pale face.
In front of him, Delphini Riddle smiled as her feet touched the ground, the Augurey herself, tall and proud, radiating power and darkness.
“Hello little cousin.” She greeted, stepping closer. Her smile was cold as her eyes as she looked him up and down. “My, you have grown.”
Scorpius inclined his head and didn’t speak. If he did, he was scared he was going to scream.
Walking to stand before him, Delphi raised a hand to touch his face, her eyes burning into his. He was taller than her now, physically stronger and yet, he knew she was the more powerful witch. She could beat him without even trying.
Delphi stared at him for a long moment before letting go of his face and turning away, her black feathered robes shifting at the movement.
“So grown up and yet, to them we are still but children.” Delphi continued. There was a strange tone in her voice. For a second, Scorpius couldn’t figure it out but then he realised, it was bitterness.
She turned again to look at him.
“I can feel it little cousin, the resentment. Your father is so grand. Your grandfather a legend and look at you. So much more powerful than either of them and yet, you are in their shadows. King of Hogwarts, undisputed ruler of our generation but to them, you are but a baby bird in a gilded cage. They will never let you fly.”
Scorpius found the words forced out without his consent.
“What is your point?” He snapped.
Delphi turned to look at him in surprise for a moment, eyebrow raised before she burst out laughing.
“You know, this is what I like about you little cousin. Everyone else is all ‘Please Augurey, have mercy.’ ‘Please don’t hurt me Augurey.’ ‘Please stop torturing me, I will do everything you say Augurey.’ But you, you speak you mind, damned the consequences.”
She drew out her wand, the tip glowing threateningly a hairs breath from Scorpius chin.
“Now, I could be upset at you for not displaying the proper respect. I could Cruciatus you a few times to get you in line.”
She lowered her wand again.
“But I think you wouldn’t care. Because you and I are the same, aren’t we? We are the children of the new age. And yet, our families will never see us as such.”
She put her wand away. On her shoulders, the feathers seemed to move, rearranging themselves along her back.
“My father is weakening. As the years go by, he is losing his power, wasting away into nothing. The Americans and their allies keep pushing back against the New Order and he is becoming a liability. Even the Dark Lord himself cannot rule forever, despite his curses and Horcrux’s. And in his old age, he has made mistakes. He has trusted those he should not trust.”
She motioned towards a table in the corner, shrouded in darkness. As her hand moved, the table became illuminated. There were several items on the table. Scorpius could only call them items, all of them twisted and broken. In the dim, Scorpius could see a burnt part of a small book, the shattered chains of what might have been a necklace with a large pendent, two small pieces of metal which, connected together, might have been a ring, a small gold cup, melted and twisted beyond use and an assortment of blue and silver gems in a melted circlet.
“There is only one left before the Dark Lord is no more. He and all his followers will fall. Even now they are growing weak and fading away into nothing. But us, we are growing more powerful. It is through us that the New Age will shine.”
She gestured towards Scorpius. Against his will, he found himself moving closer to the table and Delphi. He shuddered as she reached up and placed a hand on his shoulder, positioning herself against his back as he stood before the table. He looked down again at the broken Horcrux’s, the symbol of Voldemort’s power.
“You could be the leader of the next generation. They follow you, the Scorpion King. You have it in you to be the next great wizard, not like Lord Voldemort who only rules Europe but like Grindelwald, ruling the whole wizarding world. Those fools in America and their allies would fall before you. Grindelwald reborn. I want to see it happen, to see the whole world bow down before us. But the older generation, they are scared. They will push us down, keep us caged away for fear of what you and I will become.”
She leant closer, her breath against his face as she whispered in his ear.
“It will come a moment, not too far away, when you and I will both have to decide what we are going to do. Are we going to live under our families rule? Or are we going to rise up to take our destinies for ourselves?”
She reached up and gripped his chin, forcing him to look away from the twisted items on the table. Again, he was forced to look into her black eyes.
“The question is, little cousin, will you and I stand together or apart?”
------
Scorpius gasped awake, struggling against the blanket wrapped around him, his eyes flying open to look around wildly.
For a moment, he didn’t recognise his surroundings, struggling to fight against the accidental restraints.
He grunted as his body slipped painfully to the floor before he finally managed to get his arm free. Pulled the blanket away, Scorpius managed to finally wiggle out, gasping for breath. He reached up to his face.
He could still feel the ghost of Delphi’s hard grip on his chin, her other hand gripping his shoulder hard.
He shuddered in memory of the dream, the very real dread from the Dream Delphi’s plan. He didn’t know why this was happening now, why these dreams were plaguing him.
Rubbing his hand along his face, Scorpius sighed before the memories of the day before returned.
Scorpius shuddered as the memories washed over him, of the Death Eaters on campus.
Fighting the instinct to curl into a ball and hope that he would be swallowed up, Scorpius looked around, more memories returning. He was in the small living room of the apartment he and Albus shared. He and Albus had stayed out here last night, Scorpius not wanting to move until he felt safe again and Albus not forcing him to leave his little bubble. Instead, Albus had wrapped his arms around Scorpius and not let go.
Looking down, Scorpius found he was gripping wand. Not his old wand, which had been destroyed by Delphi but his new one, as he still called it. The familiar polished blackwood with jade inlaid in the handle. A far more powerful wand then his old one, as Ollivander had said when Scorpius had gone to him to purchase it. And yet, sadly neglected.
He and Albus had promised to give their wands up when they had left the wizarding world but Scorpius couldn’t deny he felt safer with it in his hands. He doubted Albus would be mad, after what happened.
Albus…
Forcing himself to his feet, Scorpius looked around for his boyfriend. Albus was nowhere in sight. Blinking, Scorpius forced himself into the bedroom, to see if Albus was in there. He wasn’t.
On the floor of the bedroom was the open box they had kept their wands in. It was empty. Apart from that, nothing in the room was amiss.
On the bed was a green sweater, Albus’ sweater. Scorpius recognised it because it was Slytherin Green. Scorpius didn’t tend to wear green. He didn’t dislike the colour but always felt more comfortable wearing blues and greys if he could choose. Albus on the other hand, looked fantastic in green, Scorpius always thought. It matched his eyes.
Grabbing the sweater, Scorpius buried his face in the soft wool for a moment before lowering it. It brought him comfort to hold it close.
He looked around.
“Albus?” He called.
There was no reply. The apartment was silent.
“Albus?” Scorpius tried again, leaving the bedroom. His eyes fell on the door. It was unlocked.
They didn’t live in a dangerous neighbourhood but both Albus and Scorpius had a habit of locking the door. Suddenly, Scorpius felt worried.
Shoving his wand into his pocket as best he could (His clothes were muggle clothes and did not feature a wand pocket) he quickly shoved the sweater over his head.
He reached to the door and pushed it experimentally. It opened.
Peeking around the door, he could see the empty hallway. Slowly, he stepped out of the apartment, his grey eyes scanning his surroundings.
“Al?” he asked. He jumped as the door closed behind him.
“Scott? Is that you dear?” A voice asked.
Scorpius turned to see one of the other apartment doors open and Mrs Newman peek out into the hall. She smiled on seeing him and opened the door further.
“Ah. It is so good to see you are alright, dear.” She said, striding out into the hallway. Without warning, she reached up and gave Scorpius a quick hug before releasing him. “I was so worried when I heard about what happened. And Alan was too. I could tell.”
“Have you seen him?” Scorpius asked, detangling himself from the old woman’s grip.
“Oh yes dear. He left about twenty minutes ago.” She said, still smiling. Scorpius could see the relief on her face.
“Twenty minutes?!” Scorpius asked, surprised. “To go where?”
“I don’t know dear. He seemed like he was in a hurry. But I wouldn’t worry. He probably just down to Walgreen.” She said.
A strange look crossed her face, as if she was studying Scorpius intently. Unnerved, Scorpius turned to look down the hallway where Albus must have gone.
“I wouldn’t worry.” She said again, more pointedly. “In fact, I would go home, if I were you, Scorpius Malfoy.”
Scorpius turned, wide eyed.
The woman was gone, her door closed as if it had never opened. A shiver ran down Scorpius’ spin as he reached for his wand, drawing out of the ill fitted pocket. He turned back to his apartment door.
Behind the closed door of his apartment, he heard movement. Someone was inside. It couldn’t be Albus. Scorpius knew in his bones that it had to be someone or something sinister.
For a moment, Scorpius wanted to flee, to run from here but another part of him held him still.
Albus had always called him brave, even when Scorpius protested the fact. Albus had always been the brave one of the pair but he wasn’t here. Like in the Voldemort reality that was plaguing his nightmares, Scorpius was alone.
Slowly, as quietly as he could, Scorpius made his way back to the door. He lent forward, pressing his ear against the door. It was silent.
He reached down to the handle and raised his wand, holding it at the ready.
Suddenly, the door exploded outwards. Automatically, Scorpius tried to step backwards but his feet felt like they were anchored to the ground. His body on the other hand, started to fall.
For a few seconds, Scorpius was in free fall before he hit the ground with a painful thud, the back of his head colliding with the hard floor. Scorpius couldn’t stop the shout of surprise and pain as suddenly, his arms were by his side, ropes wrapped tightly around his body.
Coming back to himself, Scorpius tried to angle his wrist to bring his wand up to the ropes, a spell already on his lips.
Suddenly his wand was pulled from his grip, leaving him helpless as a figure appeared in view, a booted foot coming to rest on his chest. Scorpius looked up into the silver Death Eaters mask on the figure above him, a wand pointed at his throat.
“Tsk, tsk.” The Death Eater said, free hand lowered to wave a finger disapprovingly in front of Scorpius face. The weight on Scorpius’ chest increased, causing him to groan, the breath being forced out of him.
“Theodore.” A deep voice said from inside the apartment. “Enough.”
The figure lifted his boot from Scorpius chest, allowing him to breath again. Suddenly, Scorpius felt his body drag along the ground, into the apartment. There were several figures, all dressed as Death Eaters. They moved to surround Scorpius, still bound on the floor. One of them reached up, pushing aside the black hood and removing its mask. Scorpius saw long white hair fall down to frame the face, a face he immediately recognised from his nightmares.
“Hello Grandson.” Lucius Malfoy greeted, smiling.
------
Draco was standing with President Quahog as Graves arrived at his office, Harry hot on her heels.
“Well Director, it seems the British are invading.” He said humorously as he spied his Head Auror. Graves did not respond to him, looking past him at Draco. The President seemed to realise his joke had fallen flat.
“Mr Malfoy.” She greeted in a neutral tone.
“Director Graves.” He replied. He glanced over her shoulder at Harry.
“Draco, what is going on?” Harry asked, walking closer to stand by Graves side.
“I know Lucius’ plan.” Draco stated. Harry blinked. He hadn’t expected that. “And I know where they are going to strike next.” He drew a piece of parchment from his pocket and held it out to Harry.
Harry took it and opened it, recognising Hermione’s handwriting. Over his shoulder, Graves peered, reading the note. Harry glanced down to read what his friend, boss and sister in law had written but Draco’s next words stopped him in his tracks, his head shooting up to meet Draco’s own horrified look.
“Harry, he is going after our sons.”
Harry froze, his green eyes meeting Draco’s grey ones. Harry knew Draco’s look of horror was mirrored in his own as Draco’s words sank in.
Graves, who was still reading over Harry shoulder suddenly reached over and snatched the parchment out of his hand. She scanned it quickly, looking faint before lowering the note and looking straight at Draco.
“We have to move now. I need your sons address.” She turned to the President. “Samuel, I need every available Auror to mobilise now.”
“What danger level are we looking at here Gwen?” The President asked, for the first time since Harry met him, the man was serious, his tone hard and his face set in a grim expression.
Graves swallowed, looking pale.
“Grindelwald.” She replied.
------
“Alice! Sam!” Albus shouted as he raced towards the door of the small apartment his friends occupied.
Reaching for his wand, the wizards prepared to spell open the door. He was beaten to it as the door opened, Alice peering out.
“Alan?” She asked, looking confused. “What’s wrong?”
“Is he gone? Are you ok?” Albus asked desperately, pushing past her and entering the apartment.
“Who’s gone? What are you talking about?” Alice asked, closing the door and following Albus to the living room. “Al, what are you talking about?”
“The man! The man in black. You called me just 20 minutes ago.” Albus asked desperately.
“Al, I haven’t called you since last night.” Alice stated. She was starting to look annoyed now.
“Baby, who is it?” A voice called from the direction of the bedroom. Albus swung around, ready to fight when Sam appeared at the door, rubbing her eyes.
“Alan.” She greeted, walking to Alice’s side. Alice wrapped an arm around her shoulder in comfort. “Are you ok? Is Scott ok?” She asked. She looked stressed and her eyes were red like she had been crying.
“Enough!” Albus shouted. “Where is the man?”
Sam looked at him, a hint of fear on her face.
“What man?” She asked, voice growing tense.
“The man Alice called me about 20 minutes ago.”
“Alan, I never called you.” Alice insisted, taking Sam’s hand in her own. She turned to Sam. “Go back to bed Babe, I think I know what is happening.”
Reluctantly, Sam turned and left the room. Alice turned to face Albus again.
“Al, I need you to calm down.” She stated. “There is no man. I didn’t call you. I think you were having a nightmare.”
“I wasn’t.” Albus protested. “You called me. You were scared.”
“Last time I called you, I was scared. Because I thought Scott could have been killed.” She said, grabbing his hand.
Albus pulled away.
“I know you called me.” He protested. Alice sighed.
“Al.” She said. “Look at your phone.”
Albus did.
“Look at the incoming calls. I can guarantee you, I never called you.”
Albus opened his phone records. There was no call listed.
“But how?” Albus asked, looking up at Alice.
“A dream.” Alice reached up and hugged Albus. “It was just a bad dream. You are safe. We are safe and Scott is safe.”
She released him, both her hands on his shoulders.
“Alan, are you going to be ok.” She asked.
Wordlessly, Albus nodded. He paused.
“Albus.” He whispered.
“What?” Alice asked, looking at him.
“In the call, you called me Albus. But no one but Scorp would call me that. No one else would know. Unless….”
There was a moment of silence as Albus tried to figure out that was going on. He couldn’t have been dreaming that call. He couldn’t have. It was too real. He could remember Scorpius asleep in his arms, the familiar warm weight of him, the phones shrill ring from where he had left it. The cold as Albus extracted himself from Scorpius grip. Suddenly he remembered Mr Malfoy, telling them to stay indoors, telling him not to leave Scorpius alone. The fear in Mr Malfoys voice, as if he knew what was coming.
“Alan? What’s going on?” Alice asked.
“Death Eaters on campus and this call…. They wanted us separated. They wanted us alone.” He fought down the rising panic. “I left him.”
“Alan?” Alice shouted but Albus was already running out the door.
------
Harry strode purposefully between Graves and Draco, several MACUSA Aurors following behind. All of them had their wands drawn as they walked to the apparition point.
Graves had called up all available Aurors, tasking most to go back to the collage and search and her best dualers to come with them to the apartment. No one could say if the Death Eaters had already discovered the address and if they were there or not so everyone was prepared to fight.
Harry found himself gripping tightly to his wand. He needed to get to Albus before Lucius got to him. If Draco’s theory was correct, Lucius would not hesitate to harm or even kill Albus and do worse to Scorpius.
Once more, their children’s lives were on the line and unlike with the Delphi incident, Harry wouldn’t have to sit and wait for Albus to give him the answers.
Glancing over at Draco, Harry could guess his old foes thoughts were the same as his, fear for both of their sons turning them once again into allies and equals.
Sighing, Harry tried to mentally prepare himself. What was he going to say when he saw Albus again? 4 years was a long time to brood on past hurts. Would Albus forgive him for the idiotic things he had said and done. Harry had crossed the line and, in his heart, he knew even if Albus did forgive him, he didn’t deserve it.
And who was to say Albus hadn’t changed in those 4 years. Albus had been surviving on his own for all that time now. He wouldn’t be the little boy Harry still remembered him as, who used to run up to him when he got home with a cry of ‘Daddy’, his unruly mop of dark hair and bright green eyes so like his fathers, or the angry teenager he had been, trying to forge his own path with the weight of his parent’s legacy on his shoulders. No, he would be a grown man who had made his own decisions, had lived his own life.
And he had been living as a Muggle. Harry knew that it was a different world in the Muggle World. Would Albus have completely abandoned his heritage? Harry didn’t even know that Albus had been studying. He knew that Albus had chosen to attend a Muggle University, the same one that had been attacked. Most young witches and wizards chose to take on apprenticeship after they graduated from Hogwarts, learning some form of magical trade. Universities were almost unheard of and the few young witches or wizards who did continue to study, generally had to go to Muggle institutions, despite Hermione’s attempts to set up some sort of wizard university early in her career.
Would Albus have changed much, living and studying among Muggles?
And what of Scorpius?
It was a marvel that a Malfoy, from a family so dependent on magic, could even contemplate living in the Muggle World, and yet, it looked like Scorpius had.
And successfully, since neither seemed to have surfaced in the American Wizarding World. The Wizarding community in the United States was not big and it would have been impossible to hide themselves if they had made contact with the American Witches and Wizards. MACUSA kept a tight record on foreign Magic users in their country and two English Wizards would not have escaped unnoticed.
Almost nervously, Harry found himself tugging at his blue work robes as they arrived at the spot, the Aurors fanning out around them, wands raised and ready to fight.
Beside Harry, both Draco and Graves shifted their grips on their wands.
“We apparate in 3.” Graves ordered. “2”
Harry took a deep breath, gripping his wand tighter.
“1”
The group disappeared in a puff of smoke.
A few seconds later, they appeared in the middle of the street outside an old building. Harry quickly scanned the surroundings. The street was empty, eerily so.
“Follow me.” Draco said, already stepping out of the protective circle of Aurors and running towards the building. He pushed his way through the doors, Harry hot on his heels.
A few of the Aurors followed, the rest turning to fan out and search the area for danger.
Once inside, Harry followed Draco to a staircase, the two running as fast as they could.
They were halfway up the stairs when they heard the scream.
------
“Scorpius!” Albus shouted, making his way into the apartment building and racing up the stairs to the second floor.
Rushing out of the stairwell and into the hallway, Albus immediately saw the damage. The door to their apartment was smashed open, pieces of wood scattered over the ground.
“No!” Albus shouted, rushing to the door and into the apartment.
The curse hit him in the chest, sending him flying backwards and pinning him against the wall, his glasses, which he had forgotten he was wearing, tumbled off his face and cracked on the ground.
“Well, well, well. A Potter. And so very much like your father.” A voice said.
Albus blinked through his now fuzzy vision. A figure in dark robes was approaching.
“Not the one I wanted but you will do.” The figure continued.
Albus blinked again at the figure as it drew near. The figures face was bare, showing him as a man, his pale features ravished by time. The man’s eyes flashed with an insane gleam as he approached until he was standing in front of Albus. He could feel the tip of the wand now touching his chest.
“Scorpius!” Albus gasped, trying to move his hands from where they were pinned to the wall.
The man laughed.
“Idiot boy. You thought to take our lord from us.” He hissed.
“Lord? What?” Albus found himself asking. He had no idea what the man was talking about.
“Don’t play dumb with me boy. You have been the one stopping our Lord from rising and preventing us from rising with him. It is all because of you. It will be a pleasure to kill you.”
“I don’t know what you are talking about.” Albus tried again.
“Of course you do. Dumbledore reborn. But this time, you will not be around to stop us old man.”
The wand flashed as the man made a slashing movement and Albus couldn’t stop the scream as an invisible force cut into his chest. Blood started seeping through his shirt, following the wands path.
The wand withdrew from his chest, the pain receding slightly but the blood still trickled from the cut.
“Oh, it will be a pleasure to cut you to pieces boy.” The man spat. He raised the wand again.
“Expelliarmus.” A voice cried. The mans wand shot from his hand. The man was suddenly flung away from Albus.
No longer pinned to the wall, Albus fell forward, hitting the ground with a painful thud. Desperately, he tried to raise to his knees and draw his wand.
“Albus.” A voice shouted.
Albus turned, finally managing to get his wand out of his pocket and pointed it shakenly towards the voice. He looked into green eyes and a face so familiar, so like his own.
“Dad?” He asked, voice quivering, wand still raised as his free hand went to protect his chest and the injury.
He suddenly felt his wand pushed aside as Harry grabbed him and crushed him to his chest.
Harry didn’t even notice the hiss of pain from Albus as he brushed against the open cut, too determined to hug his son close.
In shock, Albus didn’t know how to react to his fathers presence. He looked around wildly, trying to make sense of what had just happened when, over his fathers shoulder, he met the familiar grey eyes of Mr Malfoy.
Draco was standing over the figure, wand out and holding the man in place even as he looked over at the two Potters.
“Albus.” Draco asked. “Where is Scorpius?”