Saying you were done with drama was one thing, but staying true to that claim was something else entirely. Within the last day, Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy had been through a hell of a lot together. Between demons infiltrating the Black Lake as a result of poor maintenance and a literal attack on another student, the two boys would have to be insane to think matters would clear themselves up in only a few hours' time. And regardless of what Albus had told Scorpius, a part of him was still seething — though towards whom, he wasn't sure anymore.

A part of him was still very angry for what Scorpius had said to his cousin. But another part of him was angry at Rose for blackmailing him in the first place, ruining his life for such a long time when anyone else would've just said 'if you're not ready to tell him, you don't have to.' And this led him to be mad at himself, because his crush on Scorpius had lasted way longer than the blond's initial relationship with his cousin, and if he'd have just spoken up back then, none of this would've been happening now.

And still, he was sad for his cousin's sake. Assault, no matter the degree, was never something to be taken lightly. What if nobody had heard her screams? The things Bruno could've done to her... Albus was the most angry with Bruno, he decided, as that little German prat who didn't even belong in their year had spoken vulgarly about his cousin all year, had degraded women constantly and introduced and preached ideologies which hadn't been relevant since the 1900s - okay, maybe the early 2000s. He wished he knew what those Aurors had done with Bruno; he wished he had stepped up when he'd had the chance and punched him square in the nose. He wished he had done something other than cradle his cousin against his body and question everything around him in confusion.

He wanted to see Rose: he wondered if his aunt and uncle had come to collect her and take her away from this place yet. In a flash, he was dressed and ready to head out the doors of the Great Hall and towards the Hospital Wing, ignoring Scorpius' questions as he ran with complete disregard. He shoved the doors open and was relieved to see his cousin sitting upright in her bed, a bowl of oatmeal in her lap.

"Rose," he breathed, rushing forward and dropping into the seat beside her bed unceremoniously. Her eyes were wide and alert at this sudden rush of movement and the Slytherin winced as he hadn't taken into consideration the trauma she was most likely feeling. "I've been so worried about you."

"Albus," her voice was hoarse, sad. "I'm sorry, for everything. I know you don't want me to blame myself, but it was still wrong of me to blackmail Scorpius for so long – to blackmail him at all, actually. If I hadn't kept him from you, perhaps none of this would've ever happened..."

"I don't want to talk about that right now." He was quiet for a moment, trying to decide on how to phrase the question which was really on his mind. "Has McGonagall told you what's happened to Bruno? Where've they taken him? And where's your mum and dad?"

"They've been keeping him in custody until his parents can make their way to him. As for Mum and Dad, I'm sure they'll be here soon." No sooner had she finished her sentence then the doors were bursting open once more and familiar couple was walking briskly into the room. Aunt Hermione's hair was as wild and bushy as ever, a distressed look on her face as she searched the wing for her daughter for a moment before finally catching sight of her. Uncle Ron followed behind quickly, worry and anger flashing across his face like strikes of lightning in a thunderstorm.

"Oh, Rose!" Aunt Hermione cried, and no sooner had Albus risen from his seat then his aunt was hugging her daughter. Rose sobbed into her mother's shoulder and Uncle Ron moved to the other side of the bed, rubbing his daughter's back with a faraway look in his eyes.

When he finally noticed Albus, he asked through a cracking voice, "will you go and get Hugo?"

The Slytherin nodded, making his way out the door as the headmistress walked in. She gave him a curious look but he continued along his way, racing up the staircases and towards Gryffindor Tower, where he pounded and pounded on the portrait's frame, begging for someone to answer in spite of the early hour of the morning. The Fat Lady snapped at him repeatedly to stop it, but he continued until the portrait hole swung open abruptly and he fell to the ground.

"What do you want?" A familiar voice snapped, and Albus stood up and met his brother's eye without a single lick of patience left.

"James, now is not the time to be acting childish. Can you please just go and get Hugo?" He asked, and his older brother looked at him skeptically.

"And why would I do that? It's half six in the morning."

"Something's happened, and I don't really have time to get into it, but I'm sure you'll find out from someone at breakfast. But regardless, Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron are downstairs and they need Hugo now." Albus tried to explain but his brother only looked at him dumbly.

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's happened? Why are our aunt and uncle downstairs?"

Albus rolled his eyes, shoving past his brother and muttering how he didn't have time for this. "Hugo!" He screamed out. "Hugo, please!"

He felt a hand grip his shoulder tightly, and as he swung around, James only just seemed to register the panic in his eyes. "It's Rose, isn't it?"

Albus couldn't find the words to speak. The next minute, James was taking the stairs three at a time to reach the Third Year boys' dormitory, where he then collected a sleepy little red-headed boy from his bed and ran him down the stairs. Upon seeing him, Albus spoke up: "Hugo, your parents are downstairs. Something awful's happened to Rose... which I thought perhaps McGonagall would've alerted you to by now, but I guess she's trying to keep things hush-hush still... but we have to go. Now."

Without another word, the two Potters and the Weasley boy raced down the many staircases together, ignoring the Fat Lady's angered shouts as they went. Then, they reached the doors to the Hospital Wing and pushed themselves inside once more. Professor McGonagall, Madam Pomfrey, Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione were all crowded around Rose's bed, and the aforementioned girl herself looked positively green.

"What's wrong?" Hugo asked, stepping over to stand by his father and wipe the sleep from his eyes.

"I regret to inform you, Mr. Weasley, that your sister faced a horrible attack by another student yesterday. Although actions are being taken, I have just informed her that he will be returning to the school to collect his belongings before facing a permanent expulsion from all wizarding schools, a ban from the castle, and a ceremony in which his wand will be broken and he will be exiled. In contrast to those in the Muggle world, we take assault cases very seriously and show no mercy towards the assailants." The headmistress spoke, arms crossed over her chest and a stern look on her face. "I have called you down here because, under your parents' requests, you too shall be returning to Ottery St. Catchpole for the remainder of the school year."

Albus turned white. Bruno would be back in the school? But when? He felt a hand on his shoulder then and turned to see James staring at him with wide eyes. Without taking a second glance toward the very serious meeting taking place, the Potters excused themselves from the room. Outside, James turned to his brother: "Okay, tell me everything. From the beginning. Leave nothing out."

~△⃒⃘~

Scorpius Malfoy was very confused to see his boyfriend and James walk into the Great Hall together later that morning for breakfast. As the pair approached the Slytherin table, they parted ways and the blond swore he even saw the Gryffindor send a smile and a wink his way. He stared at Albus with wide eyes. "What happened?"

And so Albus began recounting his adventures of the morning, and by the time he mentioned the fact that Bruno would be returning to the school, Scorpius' eyes were so wide that he believed they would pop out of his head at any moment. "They'd really let rubbish like him back into the school after everything he's just done?"

"But weren't you listening?" Albus claimed. "They're taking away his magic! He's being exiled from the wizarding world!"

"But Albus, he's returning to the school. Don't you understand? Not many people know what's going on here, so when they see Bruno lugging a trunk out of the school, who do you think they're gonna question?"

"So? Let them question. I personally think the more people who know what an absolute scumbag he is, the bet–"

"You absolute fucking wanker!"

From the other end of the Great Hall, James Sirius Potter had stood up from his seat and was glaring intensely at the doors, his wand raised. That's when Albus noticed who had entered: Bruno.

In the next second, a spell was being hurled Bruno's way, but he managed to dodge it. And then Clayton Phillips was standing to join James; it was obvious he'd already filled his friends in on the terrible things the boy had done to his cousin. Scorpius' eyes widened as yet another of James' friends was standing and the teachers at the High Table were doing absolutely nothing to stop it. "Albus!"

But Albus was standing now too, remembering earlier how bad he'd wished he had done something to Bruno when he'd first harmed Rose. How he regretted just holding her instead of teaching him a lesson on not to mess with those he loved — because when it came down to it, he wasn't enraged at Bruno just for hurting Rose, but for the constant bullying he'd done to Scorpius over all these years as well. And he was firing spells: "Flipendo!"

"Depulso!"

And Scorpius had never seen such a fantastic display in his life. When driven by strong emotion, Albus' charms were impeccable — the hand movements, the intensity, the pronunciation; he couldn't help but glance toward Professor Flitwick who also seemed impressed by his work.

And Bruno could only dodge so many spells and hexes thrown his way by enraged students: he was battered, bloody, but he still held that arrogant smile on his face. He held no remorse for his actions, and perhaps that's what led Scorpius to standing up and firing as well, "Crucio!"

The German screamed in pure agony and fell to the floor, convulsing. Only then did the others cease fire and glance toward the young Malfoy. It had been a spell that everyone had been thinking, but nobody had been ballsy enough to use, and with Scorpius' record, nobody had believed he would be capable of using it either. To those who hadn't a clue what was going on, the situation looked very bad indeed. An even more shocking moment came as Scorpius bloody smirked. He was proud of what he'd done.

"Go after the ones I love again, and I'll kill you."

The doors to the Great Hall opened and the headmistress walked in. Upon seeing Bruno lying on the floor and the five students from Slytherin and Gryffindor stood tall with wands at the ready, it seemed to dawn on all of them how much trouble they might've just found themselves in. With a sigh, she turned and helped Bruno to his feet: "Mr. Holden, I do believe I asked you to wait in the Entrance Hall..."

"Professor," Bruno gasped, blood spurting from his nose and down his face. "They- they attacked me."

"Mm," she tutted, sounding rather unsympathetic. "It doesn't feel nice, does it?"

"But they used an Unforgivable Curse on me! The Cruciatus Curse, it was Malfoy! The pain I felt-"

"Is nothing compared to the pain you've caused, Mr. Holden." And this was the first real emotion to have erupted within the headmistress' voice within the last hour. "And really," she was laughing now as she turned back to glance at the Slytherins. "Do you believe Malfoy would be stupid enough to risk expulsion by using that spell? No, I do believe there's only one student being expelled today..."

Scorpius' mouth felt dry as the headmistress met his eyes. And perhaps it was the twinkling of sunlight on the windows, or the shimmering of a ghost floating past, but he could've sworn she winked at him. Then, she led the black-haired terror from the room and the five boys stepped down from the tables. The room was utterly silent, everyone's eyes on Scorpius.

"Well, what're you looking at?" He asked rather suddenly, a flush coating his pale cheeks. "Eat your breakfast and leave me alone."

"Scorpius," Albus muttered from beside him. "You- how did you-"

"It's over now, Albus. For real this time. Rose is going to be okay and Bruno's getting exactly what he deserves. I only wish I'd have chosen a different unforgivable curse to use..."

"I don't!" Albus' eyes were green and shimmering with tears, "because that means I would've lost you, and I really don't want that. A Cruciatus Curse is one thing – horrible, yes, but there's no way McGonagall would've let you off so easily if you would've killed him."

"It's over," Scorpius repeated, moving to cup Albus' face between his hands and forcing him to look into his eyes. "It's all over."

Albus breathed out slowly, shoulders sagging, and then he leaned his forehead against the blond's: "Don't you ever leave me, Scorpius Malfoy."

The blond smirked, showing off that perfect debonair smile that had everyone swooning. "I don't plan to."

THE END.