Albus Potter is an Irrelevance

☾- S E V E N T E E N -☽

Albus enjoyed sitting in the Slytherin common room. Usually it was empty, and he would be sitting alone with Scorpius on the large green couch in front of the fireplace. The warmth soothing calming his nerves after long days of classes. Scorpius would always be reading or studying, occasionally grabbing sweets out of his pockets in between pages, reaching out his hand, offering some to Albus.

Now, Albus sat on the green couch without Scorpius, still deciding how he was going to save him. The fire no longer calmed him, feeling oddly cold and empty, he shuddered. He kept hearing Rose in the back of his mind, reminding him that she was there, reminding him that this job may be for the ministry and not for Albus alone. But Albus couldn't sleep at night, playing over possible results of different situations. He feared for his own life if he went but feared for Scorpius' if the ministry were to send people.

All he could picture in his head is failure, but at the end of the day, Albus would risk his own life to save Scorpius'. That was what he had decided. He knew Scorpius had more purpose in this world, he had so much possibility compared to Albus, who was already a failing disappointment. At least if Albus didn't make it, Scorpius would now have Rose. It wasn't ideal but at least he wouldn't be alone.

Albus hugged his knees and hid his head between them. It wasn't the most comfortable position, but it made him feel safe, and invisible to those around him, despite being perfectly visible. He heard footsteps of people crossing the floor and heading to the stairs and ignored them. He heard some whispers as the footsteps cautiously passed the couch he was sitting on before the sounds scurried away. At any other time, he would have been embarrassed but he didn't care anymore, there was no point.

He poked his head back up and looked around the now empty common room, and then, he heard Scorpius, or at least he thought he did. He was calling for Albus, shouting, yelling. And then what sounded like someone, maybe Scorpius, crying out in pain. Albus pushed the sounds away, believing he was making them up, a continuation of his failed ideas. Although, he had never actually heard Scorpius yell or shout or even be too loud and that frightened him. He dug his head back into his knees and shivered, trying to push the sounds out of his head, squeezing his eyes tightly shut. This all just felt like one big nightmare.

The sounds got louder to the point where Albus pressed his hands against his ears to try and block the sounds out, but they were all inside his head. Nothing worked. Albus groaned and pressed his ears even tighter to his head. The pressure made his head hurt and he winced, his eyes shut tight, tears were coming out. The pain was overwhelming, Albus felt like he was going to explode any minute. He hoped no one had come into the common room during this, but he was wrong. He felt a light tap on his shoulder and the sounds stopped.

Albus took his hands away from his ears and looked up to see Rose. "Rose? What are you doing here?"

Rose sat down beside him, worried. "Are you ok? You don't look or sound very well." She said, putting a hand up to his shoulder, almost as if she thought he would fall off the couch.

He wiped his eyes and shook his head, unfolding his legs so that his feet were touching the ground. Rose sighed and took her hand away, moving it to the other side in an almost hug like position. Albus leaned into her so that his head was leaning on her shoulder, no longer concerned with how she got into the Slytherin common room.

"What happened? Do I need to take you to the hospital wing?" Rose asked, looking down at her cousin with great concern.

Albus shrugged. "I can't stop it Rose. All I can hear is him, Screaming, shouting for me to help but I can't. I tried thinking about it, but nothing ends well. I don't know what to do." He croaked, tears coming out of his eyes again.