The Inevitable Fate

Chapter Sixteen: The Cursed Connection

Content Warning: Mentions of Self-Harm

Scorpius, rather unwillingly, drifted away from Albus, skimming out of their ardent embrace, his jaw still half-opened. Of course, he trusted Albus. He trusted him with his life, for goodness sake! But even so, it was still quite impossible to shake off that peevish voice in the back of his mind which kept heckling him to remain locked in their hug—to not draw away from him—to disobey Albus' cryptic orders.

Scorpius wasn't sure what Albus had planned. What was he was rambling about? It wasn't what Scorpius had feared, now was it? He wasn't really—he couldn't possibly be contemplating the unimaginable! Albus wasn't going to...to...hurt himself? Right now? In front of him? Surely, Albus knew better than to do that. Albus said he had everything solved. He said he figured out the final line of the Prophecy. That meant...that meant things would soon be okay. It meant everything would go back to the way things were. Then again, who was Scorpius trying to fool? Things could never go back to the way they once were. Everything was going to change now. Never mind now—things were already changing. Everything in Scorpius' life was transforming quicker than a werewolf during the first sight of a full moon. Before any of this, he was just Scorpius—Scorpius Malfoy. He was Scorpius dating Rose. Now he was Scorpius dating Albus. And his Dad—? His Dad knew he was gay. Delphi said she had controlled him. She used him as her puppet and invaded his thoughts. Before any of that happened—before he was taken over by Imperio—he did seem accepting of it all, didn't he? Things with his Dad...had always been a bit rocky, and even more so since his Mum had passed. But Scorpius had hope that their relationship would be solid as gold now—especially since Scorpius came out to him. That is what Scorpius was hoping for, at least. What terrified him the most was Harry Potter's reaction to it all. Harry always seemed to hate Scorpius since he set eyes on him. Actually scratch that last. Harry had hated Scorpius since he found out that Albus and he were best friends. More to that, Scorpius was never invited to their house—he had never set foot in Godric's Hollow. Not once. Even when Harry and Ginny came to the Manor to pick Albus up, Ginny would smile pleasantly at Scorpius while Harry would give him a pained and rather forced smile. Harry would probably spit at him if he knew he was in love with his son.

Scorpius tried to empty out his mind, but he found it quite difficult to do so. There were so many pressing issues attacking him relentlessly until his head was splitting with pain. Scorpius wished he could switch off such anxiety and raise his hands in surrender, beseeching for mercy. It was all too much. Fret after fret. Everything was changing by the mere minute. Surely, he would face each individual problem accordingly. What mattered most was the problem right in front of him. He needed them to stop. Scorpius needed Delphi and Rodolphus to leave them alone. To uncharm the cellar so they could escape. It was bad enough that they were trapped here. To make matters worse, they held his second best friend captive: Elfie. He could imagine her perky brown face meshed in a perplexed grimace while her pinkish, tanned ears drooped in misery. She was probably frightened by it all—having former Death Eaters stand on guard, their wands pointed hostilely at her. He could imagine it now. It was so cruel. He wanted to leave the cellar at once to find her. To assure her everything was going to be just fine.

Scorpius blinked, stealing a quick gaze from Albus, who appeared just as startled as he was. He hated that they were landed in such a situation. Scorpius didn't enjoy this one bit. What he craved—what he yearned for—was to be alone with Albus again. What he wouldn't give to have two minutes alone with him. Two minutes to hear the thumping of his heartbeat. To feel the ridges of his warm fingertips. To taste his honeyed lips. Scorpius felt like they were parting ways. Saying goodbye. Scorpius wasn't sure if he was going to make it out of this alive. If Albus was. Was this really how their story would end? They were just getting started. Scorpius wanted to protect him from all of this. He wanted to pretend that none of this terror, none of this anguish ever existed. He wanted nothing more than to kiss Albus' pain away.