The Broken Families | Draco Malfoy [6]

Chapter 13 ~ New Explanations and Keeping Secrets

The next day, Harry sent me a Patronus, telling me that Albus was still in the Hospital Wing. After I decided to go visit them, I had informed McGonagall that I would be coming ahead of time so that she wasn't alarmed when I showed up.

I hoped that Albus would be okay. Seeing him collapse like that worried me. It made things worse when no one knew why he collapsed. Of course, Madam Pomfrey, who had been at Hogwarts for a very long time, knew what to do with Albus. There wasn't anything that Madam Pomfrey couldn't do.

I entered McGonagall's office through her chimney like before. I headed for the Hospital Wing, walking down the corridors and realizing that the school looked exactly the same as it did when I was taking classes as a teenager. Of course, in a way, that didn't surprise me. Even after the Battle of Hogwarts, when the castle was destroyed, it still looked the same the year before the battle. How anyone managed to restore it the same way it was before, I had no idea. But I was glad that it felt like I was coming back to the only home I ever had growing up after being away for so long.

When I got to the Hospital Wing, Albus was sleeping while Harry was sitting beside his bed, who looked like he was asleep as well.

I tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey," I said.

Harry stirred in his sleep a bit before opening his eyes and staring up at me. "Hey," he replied, stretching his arms. "When did you get here?"

"Just now," I answered. "How's Albus doing?"

Harry looked at his sleeping son. "He's fine. He's been out for twenty-four hours so that Madam Pomfrey could reset his arm. She said it was the strangest thing. It's like it was broken twenty-six years ago and allowed to set in the 'most contrary' of directions. But she said that he'll be fine."

I nodded my head. "That's good."

He huffed a sigh. "Yeah, it is. How's Scorpius?"

I looked down at my hands. "He's been better. I think he's still mad at me and Draco."

"For what?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Not understanding him, I guess. Draco and I don't seem to know Scorpius as well as we thought."

Harry ran a hand through his hair. "I wish all the teasing and bullying would just stop. It's probably why Albus and Scorpius ran away in the first place."

I pulled up a chair and sat next to Harry. "Maybe Scorpius is right. Hogwarts isn't what it used to be. Things really have changed."

"Max, the circumstances are different," Harry said. "It's a new generation of kids. They're not fighting a war. We were in the middle of one when we were here. Everyone saw us as heroes. We got away with stuff like doing magic outside of school. We were able to do things at a young age that no one else could do. Everyone just wants our kids to be like us when we were their age. James and Lily seem fine, but I don't know where it went wrong for Albus."

"What do you think we should do?" I asked him.

"I have an idea, but I don't think you're going to like it," Harry responded. "Maybe Albus and Scorpius should stay away from each other for a while."

"What? But, Harry, all they have is each other. They have no other friends. Plus, how can we keep them apart if they're cousins?"

"But what if what Bane said was right? What if these black clouds that he was talking about really could put everyone in danger? We could lose our sons. You do realize that, right?"

"Yes, I do realize that, but keeping them apart might not be the best thing. They need each other. Maybe Bane is wrong, did you ever think about that?"