A cold torrent of water is what Scorpius awoke to the next morning. He sat up quickly, shaking his white blonde hair to get out the water. After wiping his eyes, he opened them to see Albus and Tom, grinning identically from beside his bed.
–Get your lazy arse out of bed,†Tom said, laughing now. –You should see your face!†He tried to imitate Scorpius' expression, forcing him and Albus to cackle uncontrollably.
–It's not funny!†Scorpius chided, pushing himself out of bed. –Why are you dressed?â€
–Because it's time for class, dude,†Albus said, grinning. –You missed breakfast.†He pulled a piece of parchment from the folds of his robes; Scorpius' schedule. –Professor Longbottom said to give this to you. And that it might be a good idea to wake you up in an... unconventional way.â€
–Knew there was a reason I loved my dad,†Tom joked, snickering. Scorpius cursed and threw open his trunk at the base of his bed and rummaged around, looking for his clothes.
–You bloody jerks,†he muttered, extracting some clothing. –You couldn't have woken me up earlier? Has Rose gone already?â€
–Well, you just looked so peaceful sleeping!†Albus said innocently, smirking. –And yeah, she went on to Herbology a few minutes ago. We probably would've left you if she hadn't forced us to come get you.†He chuckled at the exasperated look on Scorpius' face. –Don't give me that look! You know you would've done the same!â€
–Not true!†Scorpius said resentfully, hurrying to change. –I'm not mean, like you two apparently!â€
–Whatever, Scorp,†Tom said, grinning. –Let's just get on down to the greenhouses, eh?â€
Ruefully and now fully clothed, Scorpius followed the two boys, chatting excitedly as they half ran, half walked, out of the castle and to the greenhouses.
–Almost late there, you three!†Professor Longbottom called from the front of the classroom, grinning. Tom stuck his tongue out at his dad, who did it right back, and the three boys sat next to Rose, who was watching them with shining eyes from the her seat.
–Awake finally?†she said lightly, poking Scorpius on the shoulder with a devilish smile.
–No, I'm still asleep in bed,†he said sarcastically, and she punched him softly. –Hey, hey! Kidding!â€
–Alright, alright, settle down you all...†Professor Longbottom shouted over the noise, and the voices filling the warm room quieted. –I've got a great lesson planned today!â€
~*~
The Great Hall was filled with noise as they entered it at lunchtime, after a particularly stressful Transfiguration lesson. There was a large group of people gathered in the front of the Hall, all straining to look over each others' heads. Scorpius glanced at Rose with an eyebrow raised.
–What's going on there, do you reckon?†he said curiously.
–Dunno,†she responded with a shrug. –Let's find out, shall we?†The three boys nodded, and they hurried down the center of the room towards the crowd. Albus spotted Lily and Alaina quickly and shouted for his sister, who spun around at her name. Her face was creased with worry, her skin very pale.
–Lily, what's happened?†he questioned.
–A teacher's been attacked!†she said as they reached her, and she hurried forward to hug her brother. He patted her back as she leaned onto his shoulder, shaking.
–Who was it? Not Professor McGonagall?†Thomas asked Lily in wonder. She shook her head, buried against Albus' neck.
–I-it was Professor Jamus,†Alaina said, having followed her friend to hug Thomas. –The Charms teacher.â€
–Have they got any idea who attacked him?†Scorpius piped up, standing on his tip-toes to see over people, despite how tall he already was.
–I saw it happen; it was Ian Zabini...†Lily said slowly, and Scorpius seemed to redden with anger.
–When was it?†Rose asked, setting a comforting hand on Lily's shoulder.
–It was about a minute ago,†she said shakily.
Suddenly from the doorway, a loud voice rang through the hall. –All of you, back to your houses now!†McGonagall was striding down the aisle, her wand raised. –Heads of Houses, take you students to their dormitories and have their lunches brought to them, classes for the rest of the day are cancelled. The rest of you teachers, I want you with me. Go, now!â€
The crowd of kids quickly dispersed, hurrying down the three lanes in between the house tables after their Heads. Professor Longbottom pushed his way through the quickly clearing crowd to the six of them with a group of Gryffindors in tow, and grabbed his two kids in a quick embrace.
–I'm glad you all are safe,†he said to them all at large. –Let's go, let's go now, got to get everyone to the dormitory...†Before they left, Scorpius turned over his shoulder and was able to get a good look; he saw the professor splayed out on the floor like a corpse, his red blood pooled around him and soaked into his hair and clothes. Turning from the horrid sight, he followed his friends and their friends' father from the hall and to their common room. Professor Longbottom spoke the password briskly, and the Fat Lady promptly opened the doorway, taking his presence as a bad sign.
–Gather around, all of you,†he shouted over the slight noise as they filed in. People sat in the chairs in threes and on desks and the floor, staring up at the their Head of House, standing before a crackling fire.
–How many of you were there for the attack? I wasn't watching when it happened, sadly.†About a fourth of the group raised their hands, including Lily and Alaina. He pointed at Lily. –What did you see?â€
She stood slowly, her skin still a light hue. –I-it was Ian Zabini, s-sir. I watched him approach Professor Jamus, but didn't think anything of it. He shouted some sort of curse, something that started with an 's' - Septinpra? Sectumrepta? - I c-couldn't quite hear him over the general noise. I saw the professor fall, he was c-cut in so many places all over his chest and started screaming, and Ian ran for it... He was out the main doors before anyone could think twice about it, sir. A-and Professor Jamus, he was bleeding so terribly...†She let out a violent sob that racked her whole body. Albus, who had been seated beside her, stood and wrapped his arms around her, and she cried into his shoulder again.
–I saw it too,†Alaina stood, unsteady but a bit calmer than Lily. –Ian had gotten up from the Slytherin table, and some of the people surrounding him were yelling stuff at him - I didn't hear any of it, I was so far away at the time... He just walked up to Professor Jamus, who was in the middle of the hall talking to a student, and when the kid left, he pointed his wand at him, and... well, Lily said the rest.†By then, Lily and Albus had sunk back into their seat, one of the armchairs beside Professor Longbottom.
–Alright, thank you girls,†he said solemnly as Alaina took her seat again. His eyes were alight with fear and a thick layer of worry. –I haven't an idea in the slightest what Headmistress McGonagall will do, so we'll have to wait here until I receive word of her instructions, and of Professor Jamus' condition... I will let you all know what I've found. For now, I suggest you all separate into your respective dorms... The Common Room can get crowded enough as it is.†Scorpius, Albus, Rose, Thomas, Lily, and Alaina all got up hurriedly and were the first up the stairs, and entered the boys' dormitory. Tyler, Alexander, and George were directly behind them, and they moved off to the other side of the room to talk amongst themselves. The six others sat on Scorpius' (Scorpius, Rose, and Alaina) and Albus' (Albus, Lily, and Thomas) beds, staring around at each other in a depressed silence, aside from Lily's small whimpers every once in a while.
–I wonder how he is,†Thomas said quietly, breaking the heavy silence first. –He's a friend of Dad's, you know.†Alaina nodded slightly from her seat beside Rose, who put an arm around her. –He and his wife and his two kids, Lara and May, used to come around for dinner once a month.†He looked aghast for a moment. –I didn't even think about them! They're twins, both in their sixth years, Ravenclaw; I bet they're scared to death!†Scorpius glanced at Rose beside him as the silence fell again, hoping for reassurance. Instead he was met with a set of ocean-blue eyes glistening with tears; he knew Rose had favored Professors Longbottom and Jamus above the others, and she was one of his favorite students. He wrapped an arm around her, and she leaned into him, still holding Alaina with her other arm, who was leaned on her. Rose grabbed his hand in hers, and he could feel the sweat on her palms.
–Will they find him, do you think? Ian?†Albus asked then, still holding a shaking Lily with one arm.
–Hard to say,†Scorpius said, stroking Rose's soft hair without consciously realizing he was doing it. –You said he hightailed it out of there, right Lil?†She nodded slowly. –He could be anywhere in the castle or the grounds. He might have even gotten off the grounds... He won't be in any dorms, of course. Perhaps the Slytherin, they're all sick, slimy gits anyways.†His lip was curled and he spoke with a distaste that went far, further than just the barriers of the school, to his disgraced father and shunned but proud grandfather.
Just then, the door to the dorm slammed opened, and everyone jumped. They looked up to see Professor Longbottom standing in the doorway, his face splotchy and his eyes wide and disbelieving and a bloodshot-red.
–He's dead.â€
Never The Same by foreverandalways14
Chapter Notes: Review review review, guys! I want feedback, criticism, anythinggg. I feel like I spelt that wrong. Whoops. But yeah. Hope you all enjoy this! More in the works now!
Chapter Endnotes: Thanks for reading! I hope you "enjoyed" it, and there's more coming soon... Got a plan formulating in my brain as I type this. :)
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