shy ↳ Scorpius Malfoy

Chapter Eleven

After the incident in the owlery, Scorpius has been clearly avoiding Alice every chance he can. Although they do not see much of each other anyways, he still ducks his head and stalks out of the room whenever she walks in or whenever he notices her. Alice wishes that he would not do this. She wishes that he felt comfortable enough with the girl to tell her what is going on.

It's been a tiring week for her. The professors are giving out excessive amounts of homework, even though the year is coming to a close. It doesn't seem fair to Alice.

The brunette skips down the stairs, taking them two at a time, to the Common Room. It's early morning, but there are a few students lingering by the fire. On a normal morning like this, Teddy would be seated by the fire with a group of his friends, engaging in an intense game of Exploding Snap or Wizards Chess. As Alice's eyes wander over the group, her eyebrows come together in confusion when she sees Teddy's group of friends, but no Teddy.

She makes her way over to the group, hoping not to disturb their precious game time. One of the boys, with dirty blonde hair and the brightest green eyes, looks up as the girl walks over, grinning at her.

"Hello, Alice," the boy says. The brunette smiles back, trying to remember the names of the four boys sitting in front of her, but she cannot recall a single one. She would feel guilty if she wasn't consumed with the wonder of where Teddy was.

"Hello, boys," she chirps, balancing back and forth on the heels of her feet. "I came over to ask— have any of you seen Teddy this morning?"

The boys exchange glances at one another, and Alice does not miss the way their smiles fall and the worry that appears in their eyes.

"What is it?" She asks, her voice thick with worry.

The dirty blonde haired boy looks at her from his seat at the table, fingers absently moving the cards in front of him.

"Um... we haven't seen him," he mumbles. This answer is not good enough for Alice. The knowing looks that they gave each other... they must know something.

"And?" Alice presses, raising an eyebrow and trying to use a scolding voice. These boys may be two years older than her and much taller than her, but that does not give them the right to keep secrets from her.

The blonde haired boy sighs. "Teddy... well, he was not in the dorms last night. I mean, he fell asleep in his bed, but when we all woke up, there was no sign of him."

Alice's throat goes dry. "W-what?"

"We've looked around and when we couldn't find him, we told the professors," the fifth year says. "They'll take care of it, Alice. They'll find him."

The girl feels panic settle in. She barely registers the boys' words of comfort. Suddenly, she rushes out of the common room and down the corridor, determined to find him. She vaguely hears Teddy's group of friends calling out for her but she ignores them.

Many different scenarios go through my head about what could have happened to Teddy, and none of them are good, at all.

She races down the corridor, her robes flopping behind her. A professor scolds her for running but she ignores them, hurrying even faster as she glances in every direction, eyes frantically searching for Teddy.

After about an hour with no luck, Alice eyes water and she tugs at her hair in frustration. Where could he have gone? Why didn't he say anything to anyone before he left?

The brunette sinks to her knees in the middle of the empty corridor and tries to fight back the tears threatening to spill. What if Teddy is lost or seriously injured? What if the professors cannot find him?

Alice is too absorbed in her negative thoughts and she does not hear the feet slowly dragging down the corridor, from the direction of the courtyard.

"Alice."

Her head jerks up at the sound of his voice. Her eyes widen and she stands up abruptly, breath becoming shaky at the sight of Teddy in this state.

His robes are torn and tainted with red, which Alice can only assume is blood. There are also a few scratches littering his hands and face.

"Teddy!" Alice exclaims, one of her hands moving up to cover her mouth. The boy takes another step towards her, attempting to keep all of his weight on one leg, which results in him limping.

"What... what..." she cannot even think of what to ask first, why he was not in the dorms last night, where he went and why he didn't say anything, or why he is covered in wounds.

"I fell," he says, as if that explains everything. He then smiles lightly, showing that he is joking. "You'll help me to the Hospital Wing, yeah?"

Alice nods frantically and moves forward, placing one of his arms around her shoulder so she can help him walk easier.

"Teddy, what happened to you?" She breathes, ignoring the stares of the students as they walk down the corridor. The only thing she should be worried about is getting him to the hospital wing, but she cannot resist asking when there is a chance he may answer.

"Honestly, I'm not really sure," he says, wincing as Alice accidentally grazes one of his wounds. "Let's just get to Madam Pompfrey. I promise I will explain everything to you later. Just... not right now. It's been a stressful night."

Alice nods slowly. "Alright, alright. To the hospital wing."

They arrive to the room and Alice does not leave Teddy's side until he is lying comfortably on one of the clean beds.

"Thank you," he says, readjusting himself. Alice shrugs, looking around and frowning when she does not see Madam Pompfrey.

"I'll be back later to check on you," Alice says, before leaving the room to search for Madam Pompfrey.