The Next Generation

Rescue

"Albus!" he heard. "Albus!" Somebody was calling his name, somebody whose voice he recognized as Rose's. There was another voice calling his name as well, which he recognized as Scorpius's. As he lay on the ground, dazed, Albus heard the voices fading away, until they were barely audible. Then it dawned on him; he realized that Rose and Scorpius could rescue him, even if he himself had already given up hope.

He mustered all of his energy, and yelled "I'm here! Rose, Scorpius, I'm here. Help!" Silence. Then Albus's name was being called again, and the voices were growing louder and louder.

"Where are you? Albus, where are you?" Albus was now fully alert, and was once more hopeful that he might make it back to Hogwarts alive.

"Over here, I'm here!" Rose and Scorpius were now close enough that Albus could hear muffled footsteps running toward him.

Rose must have spotted him, because she yelled "Albus! Oh, Albus, you're hurt. But at least you're not..." her voice trailed off. The pair of them walked over to him.

"Can you walk?" Scorpius asked, looking concerned.

"I can try. Oh, I'm so glad you found me. I was good as dead until you both came. But how did you know I was here?"

"We'll tell you everything later, and you can also explain to us what happened, though we already have an idea. But right now, we need to get you back to Hogwarts." Rose offered Albus a hand, so she could help him stand up.

When she pulled him into a sitting position, Albus fell back, groaning in pain. "I'm fine, I'm fine, help me up again," he said. Rose hesitantly reached out her hand once more, pulling him up so that he was sitting. This time, he didn't fall back down, but Rose could tell he was in terrible pain. "Ok, help me up so I can stand." She lifted him up all the way, and Albus tried his best to not show how much pain he was in. Tears flooded his face as he tried to take a step, but it was just too much. Albus screamed and fell backwards, hitting the hard ground once more. He started sobbing, he couldn't help it, the pain was unbearable. "Help me up again," he demanded between sobs, desperate to get to Hogwarts where he could be healed. But Rose gently refused, with a very worried look on her face.

She exchanged glances with Scorpius, and said "Albus, we're going to go to Hogwarts and find help, we'll be back as soon as possible. You just can't walk."

But Albus shouted "NO! No, you're not going to leave me here. You can't both leave."

Albus, I promise we'll be quick. We'll be back before you know it," Scorpius said. But Albus wouldn't give in. He convinced them to not both leave, suggesting that one of them stay with him and the other go back and find help. Eventually, they agreed, but neither of them wanted to be the one to go back alone. It made perfect sense, after what had happened to Albus, but they didn't have much of a choice. Albus begged Rose to go back and get help, because he argued that she definitely knew the most defense spells, and probably knew much more about the forest and the creatures that lived here than Scorpius. Rose very reluctantly agreed to go, and hurried away as quickly as possible toward the castle. Albus and Scorpius were left alone, their only protection being their wands.

"Scorpius, tell me a story. To distract me from my pain." Albus was switching in and out of consciousness, and all he could think about was pain. He wanted Scorpius to talk to him, hoping that would help.

"Ok, what kind of story?" Scorpius asked.

"Anything. Tell me about what happened over Christmas break."

"Umm, how about something else? I want to wait until Rose is here too, so I only have to explain what happened once."
Albus met Scorpius's eyes. "Please, Scorp..."

"Ok, ok. The only reason I decided to go home over break was because I hoped that my father would be home, and because you guys were both going home..." Scorpius launched into story. He left out a couple of details, such as the crutiatus curse and his grandfather kicking him on the way out... maybe he would share those later. But he didn't think it really mattered what he was sharing and wasn't sharing, because he was pretty sure that Albus was only half listening. Once and a while he would groan, but Albus was still handling the pain really well. Scorpius could tell that he was really hurting. He wondered what was broken, if that's what was causing the pain. He didn't even know what had happened to Albus; he hadn't asked, understanding that Albus probably wouldn't want to talk about it.

Scorpius didn't even need to finish the story, since Albus had blacked out half way through, probably because the pain was too much. He was surprised that he and Rose hadn't encountered any troubles on the way there. However, he was growing increasingly scared now, since it would be up to him to defend both he and Albus if any creature came their way. He just hoped that Rose was doing alright, and that she would be back soon. What would he do if something happened to Rose? Would he be able to find help without something happening to him as well? Scorpius sat there, pondering what he would do in certain scenarios, until Rose finally returned. She walking briskly alongside several other figures Scorpius recognized as Madam Pomfrey, Headmistress McGonagall, and Hagrid. All four of them looked extremely worried. They hurried over to where Scorpius was sitting next to Albus, and Madam Pomprey knelt down next to Albus, carrying her wand in wand hand and a thick, green potion in the other. The healer examined Albus, and announced that his collar bone was broken, as well as four ribs.

She pointed her wand at Albus's collar bone first, saying "Brackium Emendo," and then moved onto each of his broken ribs. The sun was now rising, so it was much easier to see than before. With each bone fixed, Albus's muscles looked less tense, and his face looked more relaxed, Scorpius noticed. He thanked Madam Pomfrey, looking much happier than he had several minutes ago, and stood up. When she noticed all of the cuts on Albus's skin, Madam Pomfrey healed them as well, and Albus thanked her again.

Hagrid spoke for the first time, stating that they really oughta get back to the castle, so the five of them set of back toward Hogwarts at last. On the way back, Professor McGonagall began both questioning and lecturing Rose, Albus, and Scorpius.

"Potter, I understand that you didn't have a choice in the matter. As for you, Granger-Weasley, why didn't you come to me or another professor for help? It was foolish of you to venture into the forest without an adult. I would have expected better of you, your mother being as bright as she is. You're lucky to be alive. You too, Malfoy," she finished sternly.

When Albus told them about being attacked, Rose told him that it was a Hippogriff that had attacked him, and Hagrid nodded.

"Hippogriffs can be extremely dangerous, as you learned, if not greeted properly," he explained. "They're very proud creatures, and easily offended. However, they aren't at all bad creatures if treated properly. But, of course, you didn't know how to address one, which is completely understandable," Hagrid sympathized. After roughly a mile of walking, the woods became less crowded with trees, and at last, the castle was visible. Albus had managed to tell everyone what had happened while walking, and it seemed as if the group of 5th years would get into big trouble. Once in the castle, Rose, Albus, and Scorpius headed up to their separate common rooms for the remaining couple of hours before classes started. None of them managed to fall asleep, however, despite their exhaustion, for there was so much on their minds.