Scorpius could not will himself to shut his eyes that night, which beyond frustrated him. The more that he thought about it, he realized he hadn't slept much during the time he'd been hiding out in Malfoy Manor. The reason to why he was hiding, Scorpius didn't really have a good answer. He just wanted to get away from everyone. It was better that way.
Perhaps the best thing to do was to just go back to his friends and not worry about what they thought of him. But Scorpius was too much of a coward to do that. He was too broken now. It was a wonder that he still had his friends. Scorpius shook his head to rid of negative thoughts.
Maybe he just needed to eat something to help him sleep. Quietly, though he didn't really see the need of tiptoeing, he climbed out of bed and made his way into the dark, eerily quiet hallway. Scorpius didn't like how abandoned his home felt. There wasn't even one of his house elves in sight. He forced himself to keep his feet moving until he was downstairs in the kitchen.
Going in the living room and kitchen was painful. When he first arrived here a few days ago, Scorpius burst into tears as he suddenly remembered that this was the place where he and his friends almost died. Most of the time he avoided the first level of the manor, but he knew he had to eat. So Scorpius made himself a sandwich and scarfed it down in under a minute. His stomach growled in satisfaction.
Scorpius flinched when he thought he heard a creak from the living room. This house was old. It's just the house settling, Scorpius repeated to himself. You could say he was a bit paranoid ever since the incident. Scorpius immediately reached in his back pocket and pulled out his wand, ready to blast a possible intruder to smithereens.
"Show yourself," Scorpius called out in a bold voice. Well, as bold as he could make it, considering he was shaking like a teacup chihuahua. He cautiously stepped forward until he was almost to the doorway that led to the living room. Scorpius tried to control his breathing.
"I said show yourself," Scorpius repeated, becoming even more scared by the second. They were probably going to pop out and attack him like killers did in horror films. He stood in the doorway in the living room, ready to make a run for it through the kitchen and out the back door.
Scorpius didn't imagine it. Heavy footsteps thumped across the room, making their way towards him. There was someone in his house. Scorpius pointed his wand blindly at the darkness, hoping he'd hit the intruder if they decided to attack. The footsteps slowed, and a tall figure emerged from the darkness.
Scorpius dropped his wand.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Scorpius demanded, backing up from the monster who almost killed him.
Lucius Malfoy grinned menacingly. "I thought you'd be more happy to see me, Scorpius."
Scorpius gave him a disgusted look. He was joking, right? "Oh, bloody hell, no."
Lucius chuckled and replied, "Now, now, watch your language. Your mother wouldn't appreciate it, would she?"
Scorpius was close to picking up his wand by his feet and blasting the evil man through the wall. "What are you doing here, Lucius?"
"I came to visit you, of course," Lucius said, as if it were obvious. "Why can't a grandfather come visit his only grandson?"
"You are not my grandfather," Scorpius snapped. Then a thought occurred to him. "Where are my parents?"
Lucius began pacing around the room, looking at the various moving pictures on the walls. He said, "That, I do not know. But my guess is that they were captured by some of my followers who disobeyed me. Trust me, I would never hurt my own son and daughter-in-law."
Scorpius didn't quite believe that, but he ignored it. "Where can I find these followers of yours?"
Lucius shrugged, which really irritated Scorpius. "I haven't the faintest clue. They could be anywhere in the world, for all I know."
Scorpius was close to his breaking point. He pointed his wand at Lucius, ready to blast him off Malfoy Manor property. "If you don't know anything, then I suggest you get out of my house before I blast you off of it."
Momentarily shocked, Lucius replied, "Scorpius, listen to me. You don't want to do that. I just came to apologize to you. I've been a lousy grandfather and I want nothing more than to get to know my own grandson..."
"Oh shut up," Scorpius said bitterly, stopping Lucius before he could say any more lies. "I don't want to hear any apologies you have for me. Now get out."
Lucius nodded and muttered, "Of course," then Apparated out of the manor.
And with that, Scorpius collapsed on his knees and burst into tears.
* * *
Everyone was back at St. Mungos. Again. And Albus wasn't very thrilled about it. But it was necessary. Holly was right; they had indeed found Draco and Astoria Malfoy, as well as Neville and Luna Longbottom.
There was a small problem though.
All four of them were injured severely, with internal bleeding involved and concussions. The doctors confirmed that they'd all been hit with the Cruciatus Curse multiple times, which left after-effects in their bodies. They were each unconscious from all the pain potions they were given. Albus had heard of how painful the Cruciatus Curse was, and he couldn't imagine how painful it was being hit with it probably well over a dozen times. Who would do such a thing? That was also unknown.
Two hours before, Holly had showed up randomly at the Burrow and announced that the Malfoy and Longbottom had been found. Albus and Rose quickly woke everyone up and told them the news, and that they needed to go to St. Mungos. Albus's parents and Rose's parents ended up going with them.
Albus's job has mainly been comforting Holly and Rose. Which wasn't very fun. Holly was sobbing with relief that her parents were alive, but injured. Rose was upset that Scorpius wasn't there. There was no winning in this situation.
Yup, Albus was definitely tired of hospitals. He cringed everytime someone nearby coughed or sneezed. Albus thought he was free of this place forever, but he was wrong. Now he had weeping girls on both of his shoulders.
A doctor came into the waiting area and searched around. "Holly Longbottom? Your parents want to see you."
Holly nodded eagerly. "Yes, of course." Then she practically skipped to follow the doctor back to her parents.
Albus sighed. Now he was left with comforting Rose. Girls sure cried a lot.
"Hey, he'll come back," Albus told Rose. "It's not like you two won't ever see each other ever again. He loves you too much to leave you."
Rose lifted her head off of his shoulder and wiped the tears from her eyes. Albus couldn't tell if her eyes were bloodshot due to her crying or not getting enough sleep. "But what if he doesn't, Albus? It's been nearly a week!"
Albus honestly didn't know how to respond. What if Scorpius never came back? No, that wasn't gonna happen. Of course Scorpius would come back. He wasn't selfish enough to do that to his family and friends.
"All we can do is hope, Rosie," Albus whispered, patting his favorite cousin's frizzy hair.
~ ~ ~
There's chapter 29! Wow, I'm almost to THIRTY chapters!!
Thanks for reading! Vote and comment what you thought please :)