harry potter scenarios

scorbus - hanahaki disease (pt 2)

week 2:
Tuesday 8th December 2021
"Mr. Malfoy, may I ask why you're so interested on the subject of the Hanahaki disease?"
Scorpius let out a large breath he didn't realise he was holding, sitting back on his seat and fiddling with the ring on his right hand.
"I was just... asking for a friend." He mumbled, hoping McGonnagall would hear his silent plead for no more questions.
She seemed to, and let out a quiet sigh before turning to the blackboard behind her.
"The Hanahaki disease is an illness born of unrequited love, where the patient's throat will fill up with flowers or petals. One of the only ways the infection will disappear is if the feelings are returned, but it has to be genuine love - friendship doesn't apply." The professor stopped pacing the room for a moment, turning towards the engrossed, wide-eyed students.
"It can also be removed in surgery, though the feelings disappear along with the petals. If they choose not to have the surgery or the feelings aren't returned in time, the patient's throat will will up and they will eventually suffocate."
The room was dead silent.
"I assume that's enough information Mr. Malfoy? I must add that it is an old Japanese legend, many people do not believe it actually exists. Now, as I was saying-"
The next forty-five minutes of teaching were completely blocked out by two students - one being too overwhelmed with new information to concentrate on anything to do with Transfiguration, and one other friend watching silently from the back of the classroom, figuring out what was wrong with the boy biting his lip and fidgeting with the hem of his robes.

Are you sure it's just a legend?

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Thursday 10th December 2024
Scorpius' attitude changed dramatically since that Transfiguration lesson on Tuesday morning. He had become quiet, sometimes skipping lunch and breakfast, spending more time around the grounds and in the library. Even he wasn't sure why he was spending so much extra time in that musky room; he already had the information he needed.
Maybe he was just looking for some good news, even though his petals were getting more frequent and more painful. Usually about four or five a day, is what he would get now.
Scorpius had stopped sending owls back home to tell his father about how his week had gone, who won the Quidditch games and which new spell they had learned in Charms that day. Poor Draco was getting information from Albus, even though Albus didn't actually know what was going on with Scorpius.
No words had been said, no topics discussed. Every day dragged on, Albus would wake up with Scorpius' bed already cold and empty, not see him unless it was in lessons - in which Scorpius now gave his utmost attention to - see his pale face in dinner for about two minutes until Scorpius decided he had his full and would leave the table, not to be seen again until the next morning. An endless cycle.
However, throughout all this time, Albus didn't question. He didn't pry, he was aware of his boundaries. Albus already knew that Scorpius was a reserved person - no matter how he looked at it and how many things they would share over the years, there was always something being held back. He didn't mind, that was just the difference between them.
Rose, however, was a different story entirely.

"Scorpius! T-there you are... ahh-" The red-head leaned on her knees and tried to catch her breath after having run around the entire building only to find Scorpius in Hagrid's pumpkin patch. "What in Merlin's n-name are you doing here?"
He looked at her and she hardly recognised the happy, chatty boy she once knew, his previously glittering eyes now dull and grey.
"I was just... doing some gardening! Yep! These pumpkins need a good watering for next Halloween!" He waved his wand and the pumpkin seeds were practically drowned after whispering the incantation; Scorpius sighed as he looked at Rose's unimpressed expression, hands on hips. "Man you really look like your mother when you do thAT-" His hand was harshly gripped as Rose started running up the hill, back to the building with a trailing Scorpius behind her, tripping and slipping on the rocks and wet grass.

School shoes clicked and echoed along the corridors, Rose dragged Scorpius with her as she searched for a room, looking left, right, left, right. Finally, she found one that seemed to satisfy her needs and Rose pulled him in front of her, shoving him through the door and slamming it behind them both. The key clicked in the lock.
"What was that for?" He whined, rubbing his arm tenderly.
There was a short moment of silence. A clam before the storm.
"What was THAT FOR? Is that all you have to say?!" She growled, pushing Scorpius against a desk. "You've been worrying me ALL WEEK!! Not just me, Albus too! What the fuck do you think you're doing, leaving us in the dark like that? That is not fair on us, think about how your dad feels, suddenly being ignored by his OWN SON! WHAT IS GOING ON WITH YOU?!" Panting, she kicked the table leg next to him with a huff.

Scorpius refused to make eye contact, her piercing eyes too much for his to bear.

"If you don't tell Albus, at least tell me. I can't watch you cut yourself off from everyone." Calming down, the tone of her voice changed and she became less erratic, more serious.
Rose sat down on the table next to where Scorpius had sat during her outburst, leaving the quiet be for a while.

"...It's that disease you asked about, isn't it? You have it."
Scorpius' head dropped low. He should've expected this, Rose was too perceptive for this to be kept a secret. Even then, it's not as if he was trying particularly hard to be his normal self, it was pretty plain for everyone to see that he had changed.

"Yes." The short sentence came out as a cracks whisper, but loud enough for her to hear. He could hear her breathing steadily.

"Who?" Looking out of the window, she asked him her next question. "Who did you fall in love with?" Her voice matched his - worn and broken.

"Albus. I- I fell in love with him, Rose. I didn't mean to it just- it just happened."

"It's okay. You're okay."

The stillness that followed was peaceful, the two sat in the classroom for a while, skipping their next lessons. Rose felt this was more important than a few Herbology lessons would ever be, anyway. After another ten minutes or so, she asked her final question. The answer was short and simple.
"So.... when are you getting the surgery done?"
"I'm not."
"WHAT? Why not, Scorpius? You do realise the consequences, right-"
"Of course I do." His transparent answers only made her more infuriated, and more curious.
"Then... why?"
This answer took longer than the rest had, he thought about the words he was going to say.
"I just don't want to forget all of these new feelings! And I don't want to lose all of the memories I have with Albus. They're precious."
"But didn't Professor McGonnagall say that you don't forget the person, just the feelings?" She looked at him for the first time in the last half and hour as she asked, surprised to see real pain forming in Scorpius' face.

"My feelings  are because of the memories I have with him. If I forget my feelings, I forget my memories. and... subsequently... I forget him. I cant lose him too. This is the only way."

"...Are you sure?"

"Yes."