Leave Out All the Rest

Chapter 29: Mischief Managed

POV: Albus & Third Person

Freddie straightened out his back, adjusting a stack of note cards by tapping them over the rim of his forgotten bowl of porridge. He cleared his throat, and in his best game-show host voice he said, "On today's episode of To Graduate or Not to Graduate we have Seventh Year Dominique Weasley. Dom, good to have you here. Tell us a little about yourself."

"Fuck off, idiot," Dominique said with gritted teeth at our cousin, clenching fists over her nibbled toast. "Just help me study or I'll ring your neck in."

"Your reputation precedes you—OW!" Freddie grunted when Dominique's empty goblet hit his shoulder. "Oi! I'm trying to help you!"

"Need you make everything a damn joke?" she hissed at him. "This is important."

Freddie rubbed his shoulder, glaring. "Who even are you? You invented this game!"

"Yeah, when Louis was the one on the receiving end of my breathtaking wit! You, on the other hand, are not witty, nor will you leave this table with your life until you help me study, so I suggest you get to it!"

I grimaced along with all the other eavesdropping Gryffindors. Dominique's sharp attitude was famous throughout Hogwarts; professors, ghosts, students, and creatures alike knew you must always tread carefully around her or the chances of finding yourself missing a limb was high. Still, she had a decent heart and good humor, so the fact that she was completely demented evened out. Lately, however, it was like being around a ticking time bomb. We all knew Dominique was going to explode soon.

Freddie was reckless, but even he knew the danger of messing with Dominique. As such, he grudgingly asked, "What are the ingredients needed to brew a Polyjuice Potion?"

Dominique looked relieved at the question. "Fluxweed, knotgrass, lacewing flies, leeches, powdered unicorn—no, wait, powdered bicorn horn and powdered moonstone."

"Powdered moonstone?" There was a loud scoff from the other end of the table. Louis turned away from his own pile of notes and textbooks, forgetting all about how he and Dominique were not in speaking terms since Lily revealed details about her intimate life he never believed she had in the first place. 

"Easy mate," Freddie warned Louis. "Your last shouting match ended up with a dislocated shoulder and someone crying, all which were you."

Louis frowned at Freddie, but ignored the warning. "Powdered moonstone is not used in potions that alter the drinker outwards, but rather inwards, such as it being a key ingredient for the Drought of Peace, because it calms from within."

"Who taught you that? Your little nonexistent girlfriend, Corney McDonald?"

"Her name is Coral McLaggen and she is real," Louis input immediately when some of his fellow Gryffindors snickered at Dominique's comment, "and I learned that when you were shagging a Slytherin. Not only did you lose your dignity, but you also seemed to have lost the fact that you need shredded boomslang skin and, most importantly, you have to include the essence of the person the drinker wishes to turn into."

In unison, everyone currently in Dominique's swinging zone backed away, holding up plates like shields when her cheeks turned red and her fists started to shake. This was it. This was the day we all warned Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur would come: The Day Dominique Killed Louis.

Except, the ticking time bomb did not go off the way we thought it would. Instead of fury and blood, there was a loud sob. Dominique buried her face into the palms of her hands, crying loud enough to render some of the Hufflepuff table silent, too. 

Louis' frown melted into confusion at his sister's unusual state. 

"You broke her," Freddie murmured, leaning closer to Dominique, inspecting her like she was an abnormality that had appeared from nowhere. "You actually broke her, mate."

Roxy, who was sat beside her brother, elbowed him roughly in the ribs. "She will break you, Freds. Shut up."

"What is happening?" asked Lily as she, Liam, and James approached the Gryffindor table. "What's she rehearsing now? Those Muggle Studies kids need to stop asking her to take roles in their Jane Austen plays. She's not very good. We all saw Pride and Prejudice last year."

"She was actually very good," Roxy defended. "Her Mr. Bingley was great."

"It was not," I huffed. "She got too handsy with Jane Bennet. It ruined the play for me."

Lily rolled her eyes. "You're just saying that because Harper played Jane."

"No one saw that snog coming, eh?" Fred snickered. Despite his sister's warning, he still added, "but she's not rehearsing anything. Louis made her cry."

James rose a brow, picking up the closest fork near him. He used to it to poke Dominique on the back. It made her cry even louder. 

"Stop it," Freddie told James. "If you start poking holes, Uncle Bill might not be able to return her from where he got her."

The two started laughing as Rose and Scorpius joined the table, too. Rose left Scorpius' side almost instantly, pushing through our relatives to get to Dominique. She looked down at her, confused, but when she saw Freddie and James laughing, she smacked both expertly upside the head. They groaned, muffling their amusement. 

"What happened?" she demanded as she leaned over Dominique, rubbing her back as she put her other arm around her. "Dom, are you all right?"

"I'm failing, Rose," she blubbered from under her palms. "Failing at life. Merlin, this sucks."

Liam made an agreeing noise as he sat on an open spot. We all looked at him sadly, something he did not want us to do, but it was so hard to do otherwise. How do you look at someone who is mourning? How do you look at someone whose entire life will never be the same?

Fortunately the tornado of emotions circling the Gyrffindor table was interrupted by the cry of owls flying through the tallest window of the Great Hall. Through the crowd of winged creatures I spotted the family owl, carrying a beak-full of letters just as Hedwig, Lily's own owl, helped with a few packages. 

"We haven't seen this much mail since my First Year," Lily commented as Hedwig landed in front of her, immediately searching for a caress from her. 

"Ah, yes," grinned James happily, "the year I received more Howlers than Uncles Fred and George did in their seven years here."

"And not the last," I said to my brother as I picked up a smoking red envelope with an angry, slanted JAMES written on the front. "Isn't this number five this year?"

"Nine," James clarified with a grin as he took it from my fingers.

 Freddie looked at it with wonder. "What'd you do? And why didn't you tell us you did it?"

Louis blinked over at the Howler, but still seemed interested on Dominique sniffling in her seat as she and Rose whispered back and forth. 

James opened his mouth, ready to spill an elaborate tale on what misadventure he ended up on that made Mum furious, but Scorpius interrupted his exaggeration when he let out a curse, a fist banging on the tabletop. 

"Lost a few galleons in your Gringotts vault, mate?" asked James with a grunt. 

Scorpius ignored him as he turned to Liam. His cousin's attention was lost in the bowl of cereal he was trying to eat; Lily had to tap him gently on the shoulder to reel him back to the present. 

"My grandmother is now under Auror protection," Scorpius said to Liam, crumbling a letter with his other hand, silencing the scattered conversations among us. Rose turned from Dominique, her concern now on Scorpius. Before she or Liam could ask, he continued with, "Father said whoever is responsible for Uncle Alec's death—" we all grimaced along with Liam at the reminder of his father's passing, "is attacking all of the Scared Twenty-Eight."

"Why?" Rose questioned, moving to him now. She reached for his hand, her thumb rubbing his knuckles. 

I did not miss the way he let her.

"Dunno," Scorpius murmured to Rose. "Father says these demented aresholes are looking for something. They're going as far as hunting Purebloods around the globe. Last he knows they were in America—"

"Emily," interrupted James, frowning. "She has family there. She mentioned once that they were influential in New York and famous alumni of Ilvermorny."

I looked around the Gyrffindor table. Emily was not present. 

"They're trying to wipe us out, then," Liam muttered, spinning his spoon inside his bowl as he looked up through red, puffy eyes. "My dad first and now Cissy. Who's next?"

"Liam—"

"No, not Dad," he cut across Scorpius and Lily's sympathy and worry, "Dad might be...might've been the patriarch of the Greengrass family, but he wasn't the oldest. Grandfather Greengrass is still alive. In Azkaban, but he's alive. If they're looking for something, they'd go to him. They killed Dad to avenge Mum."

"Why do you say that, mate?" I asked.

"Mind your business, Albus," Scorpius hissed, using a tone he had never directed at me. There was a glint in his eye the bordered fury; he looked at me like I was going to harm Liam and he had no other choice but to protect him.

Except Liam was not threatened by me, nor did he want his cousin's protection.

"Mum was a blood supremacist," Liam muttered, clutching on to the spoon with more force. "She murdered people for her ideals. I don't know how many or how she was still involved with rogue Death Eaters—Dad never wanted to say because I was too young and he wanted to keep me far from all that Pureblood mania. All I know is she died during a duel. People say she was dueling an Auror, while others say she was dueling Dad."

"That's enough," Scorpius told him now, this time with a different type of anger. "Those people only wanted to turn you against Uncle Alec, but we all knew who he was. He was kind and just, Liam."

"I know that," Liam said a little loud. "He was my father. I know who he—"

"JAMES SIRIUS POTTER!" Liam's impending breakdown was interrupted by the red envelope in James' hand. It flew out of his fingers with a trail of smoke, zooming into the air. The booming voice of my mother echoed around the Great Hall, silencing every single person present. 

The sight and sound was not unfamiliar, so every expression seemed eager to hear what awaited James.

"Go for it, Mummy," said my brother, crossing his arms as he made himself comfortable.

"HOW DARE YOU BREAK INTO YOUR FATHER'S OFFICE? WE KNOW YOU STOLE IT! HOW STUPID DO YOU THINK WE ARE? DO I LOOK LIKE A BLOODY IDIOT?" My brother was about to open his mouth when, "DON'T ANSWER THAT!" then escaped the Howler.

James laughed to himself as Nia and Emily made their way over, their eyes locked on the Howler.

"What'd he do now?" Nia asked no one in particular and I wanted to answer her, but she did not look my way.

"YOUR FATHER KNOWS YOU TOOK IT! NO OTHER CHILD OF MINE IS DUMB ENOUGH TO STEAL FROM HIM! YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE CAPABLE OF SUCH BEHAVIOR! YOU BETTER HOPE YOUR FATHER RECEIVES HIS BELONGINGS BACK BY TONIGHT OR I'LL HEX YOU IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE—"

There was a pause and then someone else spoke through the Howler.  It was Uncle George. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'VE KNICKED IT FROM HARRY! I WAS CERTAIN HE BURNT IT—" 

"SEND IT BACK, JAMES POTTER, OR THE WALLS OF HOGWARTS WILL NOT PROTECT YOU!" 

With that final threat from our mother, the red envelope ripped itself to pieces.

I looked away from Nia, raising a brow at the remains of the Howler. "What the hell did you take from Dad?"

James grinned triumphantly as he reached into the pocket of his school robes. "Here you are," he proclaimed, placing an old, creased parchment square on the table.

Freddie and Louis' jaws dropped. Pride and wonder were in their eyes. The others were uncertain of what we were looking at, but I knew. Dad had showed it to each of his children before their First Year (surely a suggestion from Mum to keep us all in line during our time at Hogwarts).

James stole the bloody Marauders Map. Mum was going to kill him now. 

"Oh, yes," James said to us happily, "Mischief managed indeed."

X

Scorpius could already hear his Grandfather Lucius' voice as he walked down the empty corridor with his head down: A Malfoy is never anything but poised so raise your chin, boy. Never falter. 

Even at a young age, Scorpius had always found it funny how his grandfather could still say such things when he had been withering inside Azkaban. The man never lost the duty to uphold the family name to the indestructible glory he thought it still shone with, even up to the day he died in his grey, lonely cell.

Poised or not poised, Scorpius did not care that his distress was showing under the dim light of the castle. He had other pressing matters to worry about, and one of those being his cousin Liam. Scorpius could see him at the edge of a cliff, ready to dive toward the bottomless pit that was his depression. Scorpius couldn't really blame Liam for it, could he? Despite the shit he had to endure as a Malfoy heir, Scorpius did not know grief, sadness, and abandonment the way his cousin did. Scorpius had two loving parents and a world painted in gold (regardless of the shadows that followed his family). On the other hand, Liam had been mourning happiness since he was a child.  He tried his very best to let Liam know he was loved, cared for, protected, but unfortunately, it did not always translate well. 

Tonight had been one of those nights. Scorpius had attempted to comfort his cousin, but only made him angry when the former refused to talk about how his Uncle Alec had been murdered. Liam did not had to relive those horrible details, even if his mind was trying to make sense of it. Scorpius thought he was sparing him, protecting him, but Liam wanted the cutting details no one else was willing to talk to him about. Scorpius did not understand that, which made him frustrated and made Liam even more frustrated, too. 

Throughout the years, Scorpius had clashed with Harper too many times to count, but he had also been grateful for her among her insufferable moments. When Scorpius could not find the words to comfort Liam, Harper just had to show up and make everything better. She eased him. She was his other half, a half that knew Liam better than Scorpius ever could. He learned to accept that a long time ago.

And he also had Lily Potter now (Scorpius had to stop forgetting that). That girl was a wildfire that was willing to reduce everything to ashes for Liam. 

The thought almost made Scorpius smile, but the fragment of relief was washed away when he knocked into someone. 

"Sorry," he apologized instantly, "I wasn't watching where I was—" 

Scorpius stopped halfway through his poor excuse when a pair of stunning emerald eyes beamed under the ugly, faint yellow light of the corridor. Suddenly the world was bright—until he remembered how those same eyes had cried because of him. 

"Here, let me help you," he muttered,  extending a hand out to help Emily off the ground. For the longest second of his life, he was sure she was going to reject his help, but before he could convince himself of that, her hand was in his.

Emily offered him a small smile on her way up. "A Malfoy is always aware of his surroundings. Pay attention, boy."

Scorpius could not help the laugh that passed his lips. She remembered; she remembered everything that he ever said. That's when the laughter died, too. Among the recollections he shared with her, she must also remembered how cold he had been with her.

He squeezed her hand when she started to pull it away. "Don't go," he whispered something like a plea. 

"I have to," Emily replied, but she did not pull her hand away. It forced Scorpius to look at her. She still had that hint of a smile on her face. "I have Astronomy in a few minutes. Tonight we are applying Divination to the lesson, so Trelawney's a guest professor. You know I can't miss that."

He could have laughed again, but Scorpius did not feel like he deserved to. He hardly deserved to be standing right before her, he knew. 

Then she squeezed his hand.

"How did we get here?" Emily asked him in a delicate murmur. "Two strangers and not two best friends?"

Scorpius cringed, his heart cracking at the seams. He wanted to dissolve away from the hurt that he felt, but he could not apply another Malfoy lesson of always remaining unfeeling toward life's difficulties, especially when his hurt was Emily's hurt, too. He had to summon a courage to be better, to do better by her. 

"I'm an overprotective areshole," he began, "I've always kept you in a bubble, too afraid of the world hurting you, that when I started seeing that you were, I got angry and possessive. I forced Potter from you because I thought it was his fault, then when I saw Greyback circling, I tried to force him out of your life, too. I tried to force him out by any means I could because I was scared, so I said awful things and passed them off as friendship, but I never realized I was hurting you, too, Em."

He can't protect you from anyone, the voices in Emily's head awoke, not when you're the monster. 

"I hurt you, too," she told him, meeting his silver eyes without a flicker of fear like he was. She had always been honest—reserved, but honest. "You brought your bubble and I made you believe I was safe inside it. I kept you at a distance, all while making you open up your heart to me."

I wanted to open up my heart to you, too, she wanted to tell him, but then Emily would have to explain how the voices in her head did not accept him. He was one of the few people she most cherished in this cruel, cold world, but every fiber of her dark being fought her on their bond. 

For a fleeting second, Emily did not care what the voices demanded from her. When she looked at Scorpius she saw her best friend. She saw a brother. 

"But I meant it," she murmured again, still holding his hand as she took a step closer to him, "I still do."

"What is that?" he asked, afraid of what she was going to say next.

"I care about you," she told him, as if it had to be only obvious. "I care so much about you, Scor, but I had to put that distance between us. You pushed for my secrets and...and I just can't share them with you. Not when I know you'll hate me when you know them."

He took a harsher, more determined step toward her now, too. His hand let hers go, reaching to cup the sides of her face, instead. "I can never hate you, Em."

She closed her eyes, tears burning behind her lids.

"Look at me, please," Scorpius said. He had to wait a few seconds to see her tender shade of green. 

Although he could not forgive himself yet for how harsh he had been with her, Scorpius knew it did not matter anymore. He had Emily right there again, right before him when he had been missing her warm presence for so many weeks. 

From the moment they met, every good and bad moment in between, Emily had become someone vital in his life. She was important in a way no one came close to. She was much more than his best friend. Emily was his sister. 

He knew no matter what life had waiting for him, she would always be there to laugh or cry with.

"I love you, Scor," Emily told him, her tears rolling down her pink cheeks. "Please always remember that."

Scorpius reeled her in, holding her tight against his chest. The voices in her head were asleep, but they would not stay that way for long, so she clung on to him. 

"I love you, Em," he said back, the words echoing throughout the corridor.  "I will always love you. You're my family, okay? My sister. You please don't forget that."

Emily buried her face in his shoulder for another second before she started to tug away. "Scor," she said with a groan, "I'd suggest we go steal pudding from the house-elves, but I need to know what tea leaves can do for Astronomy now."

Scorpius laughed—really laughed this time, with relief, with love, with care. He ruffled her dark waves, making her frown as she swatted away his hand, pouting (just in a way a little sister would be annoyed with her older brother). 

"Oi," he snickered when she pinched his arm, "all right, you brute. Go learn. I'll see you tomorrow for breakfast."

"Gryffindor table?" Emily asked with a grin that alluded to more. 

Scorpius really wished the dim light of the corridor hid his blush (because a Malfoy is not foolish nor fanciful), but his best friend knew him better than the shadows of Hogwarts. He would have to tell her how he finally mustered the courage to kiss Rose Weasley and confess how she has always been the only girl for him, even if Emily already knew that since their First Year. 

The voices in her head were still lulled into silence, so Emily allowed herself to smile at the happiness seeping into her heart. She welcomed the sharp, cold wind of the night as she made her way out of the castle. There was a spring to her step—she could not wait for Lysander to see it, to gravitate toward it so she could tell him that, if even for tonight, friendship won over her darkness. 

She almost made it to the Astronomy Tower, but she was distracted by the full moon's light shining down on a lonesome Gryffindor.

"Rose?" Emily called as she quickened her steps. "You're not supposed to be out here this late. Are you okay—?"

The wind suspended strands of Rose's red hair, making them streams of fire contrasting against the darkness of their setting. It also wiped away the tears down her cheeks. When Emily instantly reached for her, Rose took a step back, yanking her wrist away from her fingers. 

"I was foolish for not paying attention to the signs," Rose said to Emily with shaky breaths. "They were always there, weren't they? He loved you from the beginning, but I still forced my way in."

"Who are you talking—?"

"You never said anything," Rose interjected, another sob rattling her bones. "You never said anything about him, so I thought you did not feel the same way as he did. But you never say anything about anything, so I should have known you loved Scorpius just as much as he loves you."

Emily's confusion transformed to understanding. "You saw us in the corridor."

Rose nodded, wiping away her tears that were free-falling now. "I was taking Artie to the Hufflepuff dormitories as a favor for Lucy. That's when I saw you. That's when...I heard him tell you he loved you."

"Rose, listen to me—"

"No," Rose sniffled, taking a step back from Emily, away from the clear comfort the latter wanted to provide. "I don't want to—I can't. I'm so stupid. How could I believe he felt the same as I did when we have spent the last six years at each other's throats, all while he held your hand?"

 Expertly, like she had been watching and studying her relatives during their Quidditch matches rather than reading the thick books she and her mother brought to help pass the time, Rose dodged Emily. With tears down her cheeks, she ran back to the castle.

"Rose," but Emily stilled yelled after her, "Rose, he's like my brother—!"

Her explanation was cut short when a hand slapped across her mouth, muffling her words and turning them into a scream. 

"I was wondering what was taking you so long," said a haunting, familiar voice in her ear, one that did not belong to her.

It belonged to Lance Greyback.

Emily screeched under his palm, fighting against his aggressive hold, but she was nothing compared to his strength. It did not matter how she clawed at his arms, Lance still effortlessly dragged her toward the line that separated the grounds of Hogwarts from the Forbidden Forest.

"Should've known it would be because of Malfoy," Lance hissed in her ear, giving her hair a harsh yank, sinking his own nails into her scalp, so she could look at his cruel, golden eyes. "I heard what happened to his uncle. Bit of a shame we did not get his blood traitor grandmother, too."

He threw Emily to the ground, making her land on stone and mud. She groaned from the impact, but started to turn over. That's when Lance kicked her back down.

"But I did not come here to talk about my Christmas holiday," he told her with a terrifying grin. "I came here to eat."

A scream died in her throat when the moonlight exposed his handsome face shifting to something Emily had refused to believe he really was.

A monster not only lived within her, but there was one before her, too.

It wasn't until she felt the weight of his transforming body against hers that she finally screamed into the night.