Lovely (a Scorbus story)

Part 28

All too soon, it was late February, and the second task of the Triwizard Tournament was approaching within days.

The day after Christmas, Albus had told Emma that he couldn't date her. She had graciously accepted that and indicated that she gave her full approval if Albus wanted to go ahead and date Scorpius.

"But—I never said—" Albus had stammered.

"Yeah, the things you've never said could fill the script of a play, in two parts," Emma had pointed out. "Go date the boy or I shall feed you to the thestrals."

To no one's surprise, Albus and Scorpius were now the Hogwarts Inquirer-voted Slytherin "power couple" and Rose was delighted at the prospect of new gossip for her paper. Meanwhile, Albus struggled to prepare for the second task while working through his daily colossal mountain of homework.

"Max told me it was like some sort of scavenger hunt type thing," Albus muttered to Scorpius one night in the library, their heads bent low over Albus's Potions textbook.

"A scavenger hunt?" Scorpius said incredulously. "What are you supposed to find, a four-leaf clover? A unicorn hair?"

"If I knew, I would tell you." Albus set down his quill with a sigh, rolling up his essay on the proper uses of lacewing flies. "Okay, I think I'm done."

"You go ahead," Scorpius yawned. "I still have to finish that Transfiguration homework."

"I could wait," Albus suggested.

"It's okay. Go think about the second task. Get some sleep." Scorpius pulled his Transfiguration book out of his bag.

"You're sure?" Albus slid his Potions book to the edge of the table and scooped it into his bag.

"Go!" Scorpius flapped his hand towards the door. Grinning, Albus left the library, heading down to the dungeon.

Not looking where he was going, Albus stumbled forward and tripped directly into someone.

"Ouch," the person snapped.

"Sorry!" Albus lurched backwards, only to realize that he had walked right into Max. "Max, what are you doing here?"

"Looking for you. I have details."

"On the second task?"

"On her, you moron."

"Oh." Albus went cold.

"If Scorpius doesn't get him by the seventeenth, she's getting involved herself."

"Doesn't she have any more minions to do it for her?" Albus sniped. "Wait. The seventeenth? That's the day of the second task!"

"Is the damn task all you can think about?" Max shouted. Lowering her voice, she added, "The daughter of the Dark Lord is out to kill your father and you're concerned about the Triwizard—"

"My father can take care of himself. I'm concerned about protecting Scorpius, and you," Albus ranted. "And yes, I kind of have a binding magical contract to compete in this thing. So do you. So does Aurélie."

Max sighed. "I know. I know. And we just have to do our best."

"Max!" An accented voice echoed down the hall, and a petite blonde girl came hurrying towards them. "Madam Maxime told me," she panted.

"Good. You can tell Albus too," Max said pointedly.

Aurélie cast him a disparaging look.

"Aury."

"Fine." She turned away from Albus, pointedly ignoring him as she spoke quietly to Max. "They have already taken the person we will miss the most and hidden them," she said. "And we will have to follow des indices to find them."

"Des what?"

"Clues," Max translated. "What do you mean, they've already taken them?"

"I mean they are already hidden," Aurélie said. "So do not be surprised if they are not where you think they are."

Albus stiffened. "Scorpius."

Max glanced at him. "Albus, you can't—"

But Albus was gone, dashing down the hallway and back towards the library. He opened the door—and collided with Scorpius.

"Done!" Scorpius announced proudly. "Albus, hey, what's wrong?"

"I thought..." Albus stopped. "The second task. They're supposed to take the person I care about most."

"And you thought it was me?" Scorpius said, astonished, not questioning how he knew.

"Of course I did!" Albus threw up his hands. "If not you, who is it?"

"I don't know." Scorpius still looked slightly shell-shocked. "All I know is if I was the champion, it would definitely be you."

"It absolutely should be," Albus said firmly. "I'm glad it's not, but it should be."

"I wonder if it's Emma?" Scorpius tried to keep his tone bright.

"It's not Emma." Albus shook his head. "Not a chance."

"Maybe they think it is."

"Yeah. They could be wrong. Of course." Albus felt a million times better. "Of course they're wrong."

"Thanks," Scorpius said quietly.

They walked back to the Slytherin dormitories together.

"So...what's this about the second task?" Scorpius asked. "Did you know that's the same day I'm supposed to kill—"

"You're going to be fine," Albus said. "You're going to sit next to Professor McGonagall. Nothing will happen to you while she's there."

Scorpius laughed humorlessly. "She'll find me eventually. I can't hide in Hogwarts forever."

"No," Albus said. "But you can hide with my family. We'll protect you any day."

"You would?" Scorpius stared. "Your family would do that?"

"Of course they would." Albus grabbed Scorpius's hand. "It's not a death sentence. You're going to be okay. We'll protect you."

Scorpius nodded. Albus could tell he was fighting tears, and dropped the subject as they walked into the common room.

"Ready for the second task, Albus?" Polly called across the common room.

"No," Albus said honestly. "But I'll figure something out."

I have to.

The fate of the world relies on it.