Constellations

Chapter 8

"I'm not a golden boy,"

We were lying on the ground, cuddled up to keep warm as the moon shined down on us. I'm not sure how long we've been lying here but the fact that Albus said that he loved me distracted me for a while from the fact that he had also called me a golden boy.

Albus laughed. "Yes, you are."

"How am I the golden boy? I'm a bloody Malfoy!"

"Yes, and you rose above everyone's expectations. Not to mention you're extremely smart. My dad always said that you have your mum's brain who could give Aunt Hermione a run for her money. Plus," he kissed my neck, "you're extremely handsome."

I laughed. "What does being handsome have to do with being a golden boy?"

"Because golden boys are always all-around perfect."

I blushed and smiled down at him as he reached up to kissed me softly.

"You know, you don't give yourself enough credit," I said, resting my forehead against his.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Come on, 'a troublemaker, adequate at magic,' none of that is true. Sure, you get into trouble every once in a while, but that's one of the things I love about you. You make me what to take more risks and you taught me to enjoy the adrenaline that comes from taking those risks. As for being adequate at magic, that's bullshit. You could spell the majority of our year under the table. The only thing that stops you is that you worry too much. When it's just the two of us practicing, you do extremely well, it's only when you're in front of a crowd that you psych yourself out. You shouldn't be so hard on yourself."

Albus sighed and rested his head in the crook of my neck. "How do you know me so well?" He whispered, his breath drifting over my skin, making me shiver.

"Because you're my best friend too," I said, kissing the top of his head fondly.

****

Since it was starting to get to the point that we couldn't meet up outside anymore, due to the cold, we decided to make the most of it. We met up every night for two weeks and tonight was the night that we decided would be our last, at least outside, for the time being. We've yet to find a replacement place to meet up.

And Albus was late. We agreed to meet at the edge of the Forbidden Forest at midnight because Al said that he wanted to show me something in the forest. It was now almost 1 am. I debated going back to our dorm and yelling at him whenever he bothered to show up. But I decided to wait until exactly 1 o'clock before leaving. An hour was more than enough time.

I was sitting on the grass, fiddling with my pocket watch when I heard it. A deep growl. I stumbled to my feet and turned to see a wolf standing mere feet from me. I reached for my wand but I wasn't fast enough. The wolf lunged at me and knocked my wand out of my hand. I saw a flash of its hazel, human-like eyes before it bit my shoulder.

I roared in pain. The wolf was on top of me, its claws digging deep gashes in my chest. My whole body felt as though I was on fire. I was pushing, fruitlessly, on its chest but it wouldn't budge. And I wasn't strong enough to fight.

Albus's POV

I heard him before I saw him. He was screaming in agony and I started sprinting. I broke through the trees to see Scorpius pinned to the ground by a wolf. The wolf's mouth was clamped down on Scorpius's shoulder and it tore away when it saw me. Pieces of Scorp's skin and shirt was hanging from his mouth and it growled at me.

"Stupefy" I shouted, my wand already pointed at the creature.

The wolf was thrown off of Scorpius but it didn't back down. It kept lunging and I kept throwing spells at it. This wasn't a normal wolf. A normal wolf wouldn't fight this much. It could only be a werewolf, and that terrified me.

"Incendio" I cried with so much force that the entire wolf burst into flames.

It yelped and bounded into the Black Lake. I was panting and sweating but I stumbled to Scorp's limp body. He was bleeding profusely, from his shoulder and his chest and he was deathly pale. I cast a quick bandaging spell over his upper body and checked for a heartbeat.

"Please, please" I whimpered and nearly burst into tears when I heard a pulse.

With some difficulty, I was able to get him over my shoulder. I was drained from the spell work but I forced myself into a light jog back towards the castle.

"You're going to be okay," I kept whispering, not sure if I'm doing it for his benefit or my own.

Jennifer Malfoy's POV

The kettle screeched as it started boiling. I pulled it off the stove and poured two mugs full. I was putting the tea bags in when arms wrapped around my waist.

"'Ello, beautiful," Draco murmured, kissing my neck.

I turned around to give him a proper kiss. "Hi, sweetie."

"I'm surprised you're not in bed yet."

I yawned. "I still have one more report to do. Did the mission go okay?"

"There were a few hiccups but overall fine." He shrugged then cupped my cheeks to examined my face. "You should really go to bed, you haven't been getting enough lately."

"I m'kay" I mumbled, my words slurring together.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Come on, we're going to bed."

He started pulling me toward the stairs but I dragged my feet.

"In a minute. I've just got one more report."

Draco was going to argue but at that moment, blue smoke zipped into the kitchen. It was shaped like a cat. McGonagall's Patronus.

"I'm so sorry to disturb you so late but it was urgent. Scorpius has been attacked, and we have reason to believe it was a werewolf. Scorpius is healing but I'm sure you'd like to see him. I will be awaiting your visit."

The cat disappeared and my heart dropped.

"Dear Merlin," I breathed, locking eyes with Draco. "A werewolf. Our son."