Lovely (a Scorbus story)

Part 33

The dormitory was empty, except for a lone pale figure, looking anxious.

"Oh, Albus, there you are."

"Sorry. I got a little sidetracked."

"No worries." Scorpius perched on his bed. "Look, Albus, I don't want to press you into talking, but I know...I know how hard it is to lose a parent, and I'm here if you need to talk."

"Thanks," Albus said quietly. He had forgotten, actually, about Scorpius's mom.

"Also, I think, if you're up for it—" Scorpius jerked his head in the direction of the common room. "We should go talk to Hagrid."

"Hagrid?" Albus was jolted out of memories with a start. "Why Hagrid?"

"He was really close to your dad. He probably needs someone to talk to right now, and...you were Harry Potter's son."

Albus nodded. "Okay. Okay. But...will you come with me?"

"Of course I will." Scorpius reached out, sliding his hand into Albus's, twining their fingers together. It wasn't even romantic, really, just a show of support that Albus was incredibly grateful for.

Albus turned suddenly, wrapping his arms around Scorpius. Scorpius paused for a second, then his arms wound around Albus, hugging him tightly.

"Thanks," Albus murmured.

They pulled apart, and Albus, feeling better, followed Scorpius into the common room.

Conversations halted. Whispers flew. Everyone looked at Albus with eyes full of pity and curiosity. A few people were weeping. Even Emma didn't know what to say, just looked at them together, their hands clasped loosely. Albus knew they weren't only thinking of Harry as his father, they were thinking of him as a symbol of the free wizarding world. A symbol that was gone forever.

Harry James Potter was gone, dead, and no one but those closest to Albus, Max and Aurélie knew what had happened in those woods.

As for Max, she had never reappeared. A team of Aurors was searching for her, but she and Delphi were gone without a trace.

"Let's go," Scorpius said, heading for the door. Albus walked next to him, and they left the common room in silence.

"Albus?"

It was Emma, and she seemed hesitant to approach Albus. Albus stopped and turned.

"Hey." Short. Trying not to sound like he was falling apart.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry," she said. "About your father. And this must be really difficult."

Unbidden, tears rose to Albus's eyes. He blinked them away quickly.

"Thanks," he said rustily.

Emma looked a bit unnerved. "Well—anyway..."

"I'll see you later," he said.

The door slid shut between them.

"Are you okay?" Scorpius asked.

"You know, I'm really not," Albus said. "But I can't hide in a corner," he echoed Lily. "So let's go."

They left the front doors. It was almost March, but snow was falling thick and fast, coating a heavy layer on the ground as they walked towards Hagrid's cabin.

Heavy barking greeted their arrival. A face popped its head out the door.

"Hey, Barkley." Scorpius leaned forward to scratch the boarhound's head. Barkly drooled happily on the sleeve of his robes.

"Who's there?" Hagrid grunted from inside.

"It's Albus and Scorpius," Albus called.

"Come on in, then."

Hagrid didn't look remotely cheerful as he stumped around the cabin, making tea in three enormous mugs. He slid a plate of rock cakes on the table. Wisely, Albus didn't take one.

"I wanted ter say, Albus—I'm sorry about yer dad," Hagrid croaked. "He was a real good friend o' mine, an' I miss him. He stopped by me cabin before the second task, ter say hi, ask how you an' Lily an' James were doin', and I said you were okay, but I hadn't seen you all that much."

Albus was now beginning to regret coming down here, remembering how much he did not want to talk about his dad.

You can't hide.

So he nodded, staring at the table, as Hagrid plunked oversized mugs of tea in front of him and Scorpius. Barkley, meanwhile, had decided Albus's foot was going to make a very good cushion, and his foot was rapidly falling asleep.

Hagrid pulled up a rickety wooden chair next to Albus. "It's an incredible loss fer the wizarding world," he said quietly. "An' for those closest to him. I knew him when he was jus' a baby, actually—pulled 'im out of the wreckage at his mum and dad's place after—well, you know what happened with You-Know-Who."

Tears glistened in his eyes and he mopped them with a handkerchief. "An' at school, he an' Ron an' Hermione were always up to summat, he ever tell you the time he went back in time and rescued Sirius Black an' a hippogriff?"

Scorpius made an oh sound, but Albus shook his head. "No."

"It was amazin'," Hagrid said reminiscently. "Dumbledore gave him and Hermione a Time-Turner, and they went back and saved a hippogriff the Ministry had sentenced ter death." He shook his head. "Great man, Dumbledore."

"What about Sirius?" Albus pressed. Scorpius sat up, looking interested.

"They caught Sirius out o' Azkaban," Hagrid explained. "Don't blame him—was in Azkaban meself for a short time—and the dementors were goin' ter give him the Dementors Kiss, but Harry—Harry broke him out, and he rode ter freedom on Buckbeak, the hippogriff."

Albus absorbed this newfound information about his father as Hagrid announced he had some animals to ready for his Care of Magical Creatures class, insisted they visit more often, and waved them out looking much more cheerful then he had when they arrived. The snow was knee-deep when they finally trudged their way back to the castle.

"You know, I think we made his day a little better," Scorpius said happily. "That stuff about your dad was really interesting, wasn't it?"

Albus thought about his father. How he never told him anything about his years at Hogwarts, only how he defeated Voldemort and saved the wizarding world, over and over and over.

"Yeah," Albus said finally, flatly. "It was really interesting."