Time After Everything || a Sequel to Saving Myself

XLV

Both Teddy and Erick spent a lot of time with Scorpius, trying to get him to eat regularly and without too much persuasion and doing their best to keep him from accidentally hurting himself too much. Erick didn't mention it to Scorpius, but told Teddy about his sister, telling him that he visited her a few days ago and telling him that Scorpius asked about her. But she had yet to come visit the blonde, making Teddy believe that she wasn't ever coming.

At first, Erick was nervous after accepting Teddy's proposal for his internship. He didn't really know about the different potions and spells, but Teddy was patient, teaching him and answering his questions. The most challenging thing for him, though, was remembering it all. Constantly, Teddy quizzed him, making sure he did his best to remember even if it took a while.

Scorpius found himself growing more comfortable around Teddy, who spent as much time with him as possible. But he was still apprehensive to tell Teddy about Draco and the voices he heard almost all of the time. Even with Teddy asking about them, he kept quiet when the subject was brought up, looking away almost every time, refusing to speak again until Teddy moved on. But he did his best.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

Scorpius paced in a small circle, one finger tapping his temple at a rapid rate while his opposite hand hit the side of his thigh a few times. He bit one of his knuckles, wincing at the metallic taste that filled his mouth.

Frowning at his hand, Scorpius walked into the little washroom, turning on the faucet and holding his hand under the frigid water. When he was younger, he used to be afraid of water, hardly wanting anything to do with it.

The blood, Scorpius noticed, had stopped flowing and his knuckle stung. Sighing, he sat on the edge of the bathtub, holding his head in his hands. Rubbing his face, Scorpius stood again, his head spinning.

He felt dizzy and nauseous, a familiar migraine pounding at one temple. He sat back down.

There wasn't anything he could really do to keep his mind busy besides counting the little specks in the tiles. He nearly had a heart attack when there was a knocking on the threshold of the bathroom door.

"Somebody call for a damn hetero?"

Scorpius lifted his head, a rare smile forming on his lips as he stood. Albus had his arms out in an inviting hug, which he never gave much of since he had turned nine.

He hugged his older brother tightly, his voice choked as he said, "I missed you."

Albus took a breath, saying, "I missed you too." He pulled away, his hands on Scorpius' shoulders. "Here, I'll sit down with you, yeah?"

Scorpius asked as he sat down, "Did you know that Erick works here now? Er, sorta."

Albus grinned as he sat on the edge of Scorpius' bed. "Yeah, he mentioned something like that."

Scorpius ran a hand through his hair. "I didn't think you would want to come."

Albus looked at him, asking, "What do you mean?"

Shrugging, Scorpius turned away. "Well, " he began, twiddling his thumbs and doing his best not to sound too childish. "You never really spoke to me at Hogwarts or. . .yeah. And I just thought that you wouldn't wanna see me."

"Of course I would want to come." Albus blinked and ran a hand through his hair. "I. . .you asked for me, didn't you?" When Scorpius nodded, he added, "You're my brother, Scorp."

"I know. But that didn't stop you from pretending you weren't."

"I'm sorry, " Albus told him softly. "I was full of myself, you know."