Harry Potter - Title: The Inconveniences of Being a Malfoy (15)

ðHgeocities.com/crystalangel0105//tiobam15.htmgeocities.com/crystalangel0105_/tiobam15.htm.delayedx¸WÕJÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÈð1†FOKtext/html€8»LÜ†Fÿÿÿÿb‰.HSat, 08 Mar 2008 22:16:20 GMTÀMozilla/4.5 (compatible; HTTrack 3.0x; Windows 98)en, *¸WÕJ†F Harry Potter - Title: The Inconveniences of Being a Malfoy (15) Title: The Inconveniences of Being a Malfoy
Summary: Scorpius' life has never gone well, but lately it's really done a turn for the worse. He blames Albus.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter.

(15)

Scorpius woke reluctantly to a smell typical of a sterilized area and, oddly, the scent of chocolate. He carefully began to open his eyes and groaned in pain as light flooded into his vision. Scorpius tried shifting slightly to get a better view of the room he was in and he grunted as his back cracked (how long had he been asleep?) and he rubbed his sore abdomen absently. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a blurry brown object near his right shoulder and he turned his head slightly and squinted at it.

It stubbornly stayed an inscrutable blob. Scorpius grimaced and rubbed at his eyes. He grumpily admitted to himself that he probably should have paid more mind to Rose’s continued admonitions about reading under dim lighting. Scorpius opened his eyes again to try to pick out any more details about where he was, but much to his chagrin, it seemed that everything was hazy.

“It seems that you’re awake now, Mr. Malfoy.” Scorpius jerked slightly in surprise as the brisk voice of Madam Davis broke the silence and he turned his head to see a tall, blurry figure moving towards him very quickly.

He let out an undignified squawk of surprise when the figure suddenly stopped beside him and an arm went around him to prop him up into a sitting position. “What are you doing?” Scorpius demanded, automatically beginning to struggle. He didn’t like the feeling of helplessness that he experienced from having someone do something for him.

“Calm down, Mr. Malfoy,” Madam Davis said almost directly into his ear as she ignored his squirming and finally maneuvered him so his back was resting against the headboard of the bed he was in. Scorpius scowled and crossed his arms, feeling abnormally childish and frustrated with everything.

A flask was pressed against his lips and Scorpius automatically swallowed the thick liquid that spilled into his mouth, fighting the urge to gag at the papery, bland taste. He squeezed his eyes shut as he drank, desperately trying to think of something, anything else. Finally, the flask was pulled away, but Scorpius firmly kept his eyes shut out of stubbornness.

“You can open your eyes now Mr. Malfoy,” Madam Davis said, sounding amused.

Scorpius opened his eyes, and to his immense relief, he could see where he was. He glanced around the hospital wing, feeling completely unsurprised as to where he ended up. He relished the ability to see clearly again, and took his time looking around. He noted, however, that his eyesight had deteriorated a bit and resolved to stop reading so late into the night; or, at the very least, find a more lighted area.

He looked up at Madam Davis’s kind face, and she smiled at him reassuringly. “You’ll be fine,” she said surely and patted him on the shoulder. Scorpius quickly squashed the urge to roll his eyes –honestly, he could have deduced that on his own– but he didn’t want to seem impolite or ungrateful, so he just gave her a rather forced smile in return.

The hospital wing door slammed open suddenly, and Madam Davis let out a squeak of surprise.

“…and why wasn’t I informed immediately of my son’s condition? I am his father - does that not get any sway around here?! I can’t believe this…”

“Father?” Scorpius gaped at the familiar face as his father marched through the entrance to the hospital wing, wearing the same fading black robes that Scorpius had last seen him in.

“Draco,” Madam Pomfrey’s voice said disapprovingly from behind his father, “I would have thought you would have learned to be more respectful when you walk into this place. Think of my other patients; it is not just your son whose health I am in charge of.” Scorpius saw Madam Davis quickly straighten her own robes and stand up a little bit straighter as Madam Pomfrey swept in after his rather distraught looking father.

“Hello, Madam Pomfry,” Madam Davis said, bowing her head slightly towards the older woman in deference.

Madam Pomfrey looked rather surprised, before her expression quickly turned resigned. “Oh, Tracey,” she sighed, “I’ve told you time and time again to simply call me Poppy. I am not your employer, I am your coworker.”

“Er,” Madam Davis seemed distinctly uncomfortable with this suggestion and quickly bobbed her head in affirmation.

Madam Pomfrey looked unsatisfied by this response, but she was interrupted by Scorpius’ father, who completely ignored their interaction and went straight to Scorpius’ side.

“Father, what are you doing here?” Scorpius asked, but Draco simply lifted up one of his arms and began to inspect him for injuries. “Hey!” he protested as Draco prodded him less than gently in a sore spot and he wiggled away indignantly, giving his father a wounded look. His father looked completely unsympathetic and continued to check him over.

“Draco!” Madam Pomfrey snapped, suddenly sounding very fierce, “Leave the boy alone, he’s been through quite a bit. And you should know better than to be so careless! Your son is in good hands.”

Scorpius was unprepared for Draco to suddenly let go of his arm, and he let out a soft ‘oomph’ in surprise as his slack arm fell unceremoniously into his lap.

“How could this happen?” Draco demanded as a line deepened between his eyebrows and his lips pursed tightly, “Aren’t there teachers? Prefects? Head Boys and Girls? Why wasn’t there anyone there to prevent something like this-” Draco waved his arm in Scorpius’ direction, his movements choppy with agitation “-from happening! Isn’t it your job-”

“Draco.” Scorpius glanced over to the door in surprise to see Professor McGonagall, who was standing just inside the open door of the infirmary, looking at his father sternly. To Scorpius’ bemusement, his father immediately silenced and his shoulders even slumped slightly in respect for her authority. “We could not have predicted something like this,” Professor McGonagall continued with a frown, though it seemed directed more inwardly than towards anyone else, “But if we had known anything about this -anything at all- we would have taken every step possible to prevent it-”

“A lot of good that does now,” Draco muttered bitterly under his breath, and immediately looked chagrined at Professor McGonagall’s sharp look. Scorpius bit his lip to keep from laughing; he didn’t want the same gaze to transfer over to him.

The laughter died in his throat as Professor McGonagall turned to him, her gaze softening. “Hello, Scorpius,” she said, kindly, “I trust you are doing better.” Scorpius nodded mutely, unsure of what to say. “Poppy,” the Headmistress said suddenly, “Would you mind giving me some privacy to speak to Mr. Malfoy?”

“Hey,” Draco began to protest heatedly, stepping forward in preparation to argue the point.

“As well as the other Mr. Malfoy,” Professor McGonagall added smoothly. Draco shut his mouth, grumbling under his breath but sated.

Madam Pomfrey nodded and gestured for Madam Davis to follow her. The younger woman started in surprise before hurrying after Madam Pomfrey, glancing over her shoulder at Scorpius as they left the room.

Professor McGonagall waited for a moment before she spoke again. “Scorpius,” she said, seriously, “I need to ask you something, and you must promise me that you are telling me the absolute truth.” The solemnity in her gaze unnerved him and gave him the strange, but undeniable desire to run and hide under a rock.

“Er,” Scorpius said, unsurely, “Alright?”

She nodded, accepting his word without question and smoothed the long sleeves of her clean, crisp robes in what seemed like a nervous gesture. “How much do you know,” Professor McGonagall asked slowly, “about the Imperius Curse?”

Scorpius heard his father inhale sharply in shock and he bit his lip, feeling as if some sort of weight had just been dropped onto his shoulders. “Some,” Scorpius admitted, feeling oddly embarrassed and avoiding his father’s gaze, “Professor Diggory has talked about it in class and I’ve read a little bit about it – but that’s the extent of my knowledge.”

“Ah,” Professor McGonagall said, pursing her lips. She appeared to be pondering something, before she spoke again. “I understand that you have just had a very harrowing experience, yet… Do you think you could try to describe how he acted?”

Scorpius didn’t even have time to think about it – his father, whose face had gone so pale he could probably pass as one of the school’s ghosts, stammered out, “T-the Imperius Curse?” Draco’s eyes were wide with shock and disbelief.

Professor McGonagall nodded her head sharply and said, “That is what we suspect.”

Draco gaped for a second before he frowned, his brow furrowing in concern. “What does this mean?” Scorpius noticed Draco’s face was still white as a sheet, and he wondered what his father was thinking of.

Professor McGonagall shook her head at Draco disapprovingly. “It does no good to jump to conclusions just yet, Draco,” she warned, “We know nothing for sure yet.” She turned back to Scorpius, who tried very hard not to feel very aware of the intense gaze that both she and his father were giving him. “Now, Mr. Malfoy,” Professor McGonagall said, nodding at Scorpius encouragingly, “Please, continue.”

“Um,” Scorpius said, thinking furiously, “Reed was talking to me, and he looked fine to me – I don’t know him very well-”

“Understandably,” Draco put in, his tone dark, but quickly shut his mouth at the severe look that Professor McGonagall sent him.

Scorpius coughed, slightly embarrassed and unsure of where to start now that he had been interrupted. “Well, so, he was talking –all right, threatening- me… and I don’t really know, but…” Scorpius felt his eyebrows draw together as he began to remember what had happened more clearly. “…then he paused and I think, for a second, he looked… confused.”

“Confused?” Professor McGonagall echoed.

Scorpius nodded. “Confused,” he confirmed.

Professor McGonagall’s eyebrows rose in surprise, but she gestured for him to continue. His father simply stood there, his arms crossed unhappily and the frown on his face deepening.

“After that, it was like something had taken over him,” Scorpius said slowly, trying to remember exactly what had happened – it felt as if every scrap of information he had to share was vital, and it needed to be right. “His eyes became slightly, um... unfocused. And then… then, you can guess what happened.” Scorpius gestured down at himself, scowling slightly again in annoyance at his situation.

Professor McGonagall fell silent again, her forehead creased in thought.

Scorpius shifted uncomfortably and nearly fell out of his hospital bed in surprise when his father suddenly took a step forward and nearly slipped. He quickly caught his balance, but his face was flushed and Scorpius automatically glanced away to spare him some pride.

When Scorpius looked back, Draco was kneeling over to pick something up, a perplexed look on his face. Draco snorted in amusement. “Scorpius,” he said wryly, “I think this is for you.” He moved to Scorpius’ side and placed the object he was holding onto Scorpius’ lap. Scorpius looked down at it curiously, and then had to suppress the urge to either smack himself in the face or feel slightly touched.

In his lap sat a small teddy bear with an obnoxiously large green bow tied around its neck. It was holding a small box and a slightly rumpled sign was tied around its neck, which proclaimed in Albus’ messy scrawl, “FEEL BETTER SOON, SCORPY. –ALBUS & ROSE.” In the bottom right corner, Rose’s neat handwriting added, “I told Al not to add the chocolate, but he insisted – it’s very good though, you should try it.” It must have been what he had seen earlier - Scorpius guessed it had fallen off the side of his bed during his useless struggle with Madam Davis.

Professor McGonagall chuckled. “It seems that you have some good friends who care very much about you,” she said.

Scorpius tried not to be too amused by the slightly pained, but proud look his father was giving him. “I suppose so,” Scorpius mumbled, hunching his shoulders, feeling slightly embarrassed.

Professor McGonagall seemed to be trying to suppress a smile, but it made her look like she was grimacing. “In any case,” she announced, “I must be off – and, Draco, I believe you are needed somewhere as well.” Scorpius watched bemusedly as a look passed between the two adults and information he was not privy to was somehow conveyed between them without words.

Finally, Draco nodded reluctantly and squeezed Scorpius’ shoulder, a quick, sincere smile his only goodbye. Scorpius nodded back mutely and watched his father leave. Professor McGonagall began to follow him, but Madam Pomfrey rushed out of her office and into the wing.

“Minerva,” she called, “Don’t be in such a rush.” Professor McGonagall paused and turned as Madam Pomfrey reached her. They conferred quietly in whispers, and Scorpius watched curiously as Madam Pomfrey pressed something he couldn’t see into Professor McGonagall’s hand. Professor McGonagall frowned but put it in her sleeve and without another word swept out of the room.

Madam Pomfrey stood there for a second, watching her leave, before seeming to suddenly realize that Scorpius was still in the room. She fussed over him for a second, checking over him again and then returned to her office. While she was inside, Scorpius carefully opened the box that had come with the teddy bear and carefully took out the single chocolate he found inside. It was small enough for him to easily pop the entire thing into his mouth. Rose was right; it was very good. Scorpius chewed slowly, trying to make it last as long as he could.

When he finally swallowed all of it, Scorpius suddenly felt incredibly… alone. It seemed like it had been forever since he had seen or talked to Albus or Rose – he grumbled to himself in annoyance; Scorpius couldn’t believe he missed them so much. He hadn’t realized how much of his life the two of them had begun to take up.

As if summoned, he heard familiar voices outside of the hospital wing.

“Albus, I can’t believe you got lost on your way to the hospital wing, haven’t you been here before?”

“Hey, I’ve experienced some personal trauma, I can’t be expected to function properly-”

“You ended up at the dungeons!”

“…Alright, I’ll admit that’s quite a bit of a mix up, but-”

“Oh, just stop it, Albus, I don’t want to hear it now – oh, look, we’re here-”

The door swung open and Albus and Rose walked in. They both blinked at him in surprise, evidently not expecting him to be awake. Scorpius stared back flatly.

“Scorpy!” Albus shouted, happily, breaking the silence. He bounded over to Scorpius’ bedside, already jabbering up a storm. “Did you like the bear? Rose transfigured it out of a bowl! I tried to do the same thing, but, um, it didn’t… er, turn out quite as well…”

Rose rolled her eyes, and positioned herself on the other side of the bed. “I’m glad you’re alright,” she said, with a relieved smile.

Albus took a deep breath and calmed down considerably. “Me too,” he informed Scorpius, “We were really worried, you know!”

Scorpius believed the both of them truly and completely. With some difficulty, he swallowed the lump in his throat. “Thanks,” Scorpius muttered under his breath, trying not to let his emotions get the better of him.

Albus grinned. “Yeah, yeah,” he said, “Anyway, did you hear about the replacement Hufflepuff Chaser? He filed a bully charge against James! For almost crashing into him during the game! Can you believe it? I think nearly everyone nearly crashed into him, including his own teammates, honestly…”

Scorpius relaxed as the conversation got going as if nothing strange had happened, and he felt immeasurably relieved.

For now, he needed nothing else but this, and he was content.

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