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Scorpius Malfoy had always known that an unexplainable force had existed in their universe; that there had been something tangible within his life which had remained just beyond his grasp. It had become a life long experience of him wandering the streets and humming along with the tune that the gravity itself provided. He could sense when older buildings were alive; when modern inventions couldn’t handle it when his father whispered old prayers near them. The worst cases were the loud wails of car alarms going off in the dead of night or the sound of glass shattering when someone’s temper overshadowed their calm demeanour. Scorpius knew that there had always been an extra layer of protection over him after his father and mother moved the family away from the Malfoy Manor on his third birthday.
He knew that his memories from before the move had been touched by the realm of impossibility, but before he was able to discuss them they had disappeared until he reached eighteen. How that worked, well, Scorpius still wasn’t sure. He just knew that when the world wanted him to know something it tended to let itself be known by going against nature for him to be able to listen.
He was cursed with a sensitive soul.
From the ghost-like brushes air-kissing his face when he walked by the old houses, to the streets where the leaves danced as they fell from the trees, Scorpius could feel that there was a lightness that came from those actions. That a type of happiness radiated when he noticed the cats that roamed around his block and backyard meowing in a code that his parents were able to translate with well-timed smiles in response. From even the very energy that consumed his oxygen Scorpius Malfoy knew that his life was more than what it appeared.
His father had never confirmed his suspicions and theories about how he thought the world worked outwardly, but Scorpius had been smart enough to see the clues his father gave him as compensation for all the years of hoarding the answers he wanted. It led to him realising that the world was far richer than what he had been able to see, of what he had so far been able to experience.
During his time at uni, Scorpius had a healthy routine of going to his classes and sitting near the middle section where he could get a clear view of both the room and board. He did his assignments in peace, with a good work ethic to get his work done and have plenty of time to eat snacks and binge-watch whatever he wanted to on his laptop. So far, his first term at uni had been calm. However, the calmness seemed to give him a sense of foreboding that something out of the ordinary was about to happen.
It started when he was walking away from his usual coffee shop and then out of nowhere he felt his limbs become stockier. His body was becoming denser, flooding with the force of energy that he recognised had the same readings as old buildings that were reportedly haunted.
Next thing he knew, Scropius' eyes were staring at the middle of what looked like a forest. He could smell the trees and the damp soil on his body which, and this part was the terrifying part, had become very large with wings. In his head he was yelling for help when he heard his voice become an inhuman squeal. His wings spread at the same his eyes frantically checked at his surroundings. The body reacted to his fright by springing up on his talons and digging deeper at the soil before losing taking to the sky. Somewhere between his episode, the reflection of the nearby lake made him see his head with green eyes and red golden wings.
Before he could scream again there was a loud snap from his ears.
His body fell to the ground (where he had his own feet and two arms again) and slammed into the pavement. His breathing didn’t get under control until a few minutes later as he contemplated whether his life choices of drinking too much coffee or reading one too many books during his free time had produced such a vivid daymare. Scorpius decided to cut down on some of his caffeine intake for the rest of the week, seeing that he didn’t know what to do with that brief moment of confusion and terror. He decided to leave it untouched when he didn’t get any more of those abnormal daydreams again.
By the next week, his father and mother had been chatting animatedly. Dinners with his great aunt, Andromeda and her grandson were rare but enjoyable nonetheless, as they had such radiant auras when they spoke to him compared to most of the people in his classes and neighbourhood had muted colours. Teddy’s was the most active and playful. A dancing comet that flew over his head when he came over with his brilliant smiles and hearty laughter. In the limited visitations, Teddy had been an opening that gave Scorpius a means of seeing that the universe was a lot louder than he had yet experienced.
From his shining eyes and constant hair changes, his cousin truly had been what helped him gain an understanding when the word, magic, had been spoken out from his lips. Well, in a hushed manner. Teddy’s childhood books that he kept under one shelve in his room or gave to Scorpius as presents later had often been fantasy-based, radically diverse and rich with a history no imagination could fully comprehend in one sitting. They were soaked in the answers Scorpius had thought were impractical for most people. Yet, for him, it had felt so right.
It had explained how crazy his life was meant to be when he remembered all of the stories he'd heard throughout his time with Teddy or in the libraries he sought out. He could still hear his cousin's soft warnings of never letting anyone know what he possessed, or of the subtle rules he read to himself when he used to recite them before going to bed. There had been a reason as to why Scorpius lived with a gift that felt like it had been stolen long ago, why the world whispered to him but he was unfortunately unable to understand it.
There had been something there preventing him from understanding everything. But it had also included for the boy he would eventually meet on that day to help him see everything fit together.
On a regular Wednesday night, when he had all his books and pages collected and buried inside his satchel with one hot cup of tea warming his palms, a strange sound from the alley made him stop. It was unmistakable that the aura of the cause of the disturbance wasn’t as menacing as the shadows had proclaimed. The large animal with a body of a lion and an eagle for a head—that, he had been staring for a tense minute, made him realize that he just witnessed the creature commonly recognized as a Gryphon. A very huge, very mythical beast that had been squished between two buildings from a narrow alleyway as if it had forgotten its own size when he saw it. Scorpius had a good view of its tail as it flickered in an unsteady rhythm he’d always associated with cats when they wanted to jump into higher grounds or boxes.
He had been just minding his own business when it became a ludicrous moment for him to randomly discover that mythical creatures such as Gryphons did exist in their world.
He didn't know what possessed him to open his mouth. But he did it anyway. He couldn’t recall what he said to the beast, but when it blinked and panicked as it shifted back to a human, he had been so shocked that he lost his balance as his knees buckled downward. His tea, dear Christ, had burned his hand and trousers. Not that he could have pay attention to that detail when the guy… the shapeshifter had been the exact same creature from that bizarre daydream. With the exact same shade of eyes and wings. As if, Scorpius had dreamt about using the same body on that day.
The pause between them had been tense. Peculiar. And far too surreal when the boy’s eyes were wide and obviously taken aback from having an audience.
In a hoarse and shy voice, Scorpius heard the guy mutter a curse under his breath. Then he took a step closer with one hand going inside his pocket.
“I’m sorry about this.”
Then a wooden stick came out with a flash of light before he could say anything about how familiar he had been to Scorpius.
He didn’t know how he ever made it back home, but that night after his memories had been shaken badly with nausea and a headache it didn't help him to walk completely upright without wincing in pain.When his parents took one look at him, they both had been furious about his apparent run-in with a mind spell. His father had rushed towards their fireplace and threw a clump of dark ashes at it until it blew up green flames as an image projected his great aunt.
In the background, his mother had sat him down by one of the couches from their sitting room and had tried her best to wipe his hair from his forehead as they watched his father step back and see Teddy and his great aunt come out from the fireplace. Again. Between his headache and urge to puke, Scorpius didn’t know where to focus on as the atmosphere of the whole room became thicker. If he had concentrated for a minute then he could have noticed how the walls became warmer, his couch fluffing itself and a cup of steaming hot tea popped up by the coffee table with sugar cubes falling gracefully. Teddy's hair went from a cheerfully yellow to a dark blue with stripes of red.
He knew that he had asked Teddy if he knew his hair changed colour. Or if he had been dreaming. Teddy sat down next to him while the rest of the grownups had started bringing up rules, wands and other political technicalities that involved a court case and blood status. The rest of the night had been rather tense and Scorpius didn’t know what to think when Teddy had pulled up a wooden stick that radiated the qualities that he could only explain that felt like it had been bathed by gravity and the Earth’s spirit.
Teddy's smile had been bittersweet. What with him asking him what he last remembered and how exactly he had been feeling. His answers were met with the wooden stick glowing in a soft green hue as it was placed in a few centimeters away from him. It hadn’t escaped his cousin when Scorpius’ eyes fluttered closed for thirty seconds, before Teddy whispered a strange string of words, like an old prayer his father sometimes said when his soul hurt.
When his memories came back it had been like a rushing flood, Scorpius hadn't liked how his nose bled from the reaction. Because he knew that sometimes the old prayers his parents and his great aunt said didn’t always bode well for his body. They had often felt like the gravity became denser as if it added new weights on top of his soul and made his blood thicker. The stronger the damage and intent made him queasy. It had led for an unspoken rule of Scorpius never wandering in certain sections of their flat and having to be mindful when certain acquaintances came over throughout the years.
That of course, went into the territory of how his parents with the added commentary of his great aunt and Teddy came about his parent’s real ancestries.
Which included the forbidden question about why he felt what he could but couldn’t have ever inherently put a name on it until now.
His mother had held him while his father’s eyes met his. There had been a sadness within them when he patted his cheek. But not one that completely overtook his father. Just a sip there, coming along his straight back and his eyes going to his mother’s before answering with one sentence.
“You’re a squib.”
The night had worn longer after that. About the difficult pregnancy they endured after getting married quite young after a war. From losing majority influence and wealth by both sides of his family after the war concluded and his mother enduring two curses. One from her bloodline and another by a malicious stranger that wanted her and his father dead when the war’s effects had still been fresh in everyone’s hearts.
An emergency procedure came forth in an attempt to save them, by removing him from her it resulted for the curse to latch onto his life force. Where it had been so close to his magical core that it drained most of his magic from his soul. It had left him somewhat hollow.
Half alive. Half complete.
It had been strange to know that because of one foul curse aimed at his parents it had created this new life for him. Where the universe wept for the hollowness that still embraced a section of his soul as he could not constantly fully embrace the world his parents and now soulmate had intimately known since they drew their first breaths. There had been instances when he could hear the earth sing, but it had been like watching from a glass room. Visible. But still not able to fully immerse himself.
The court had been biased in the end. His father and mother hadn't wanted to endanger him any longer once he proved that he could live outside the hospital. And thus, Scorpius’ life had been crafted into a limelight where magic had become a second thought. A fairy tale without any real dangers.
All until now.
His father and mother couldn’t use their wands until another few years as punishment, and neither could they step into the wizarding world since Scorpius hadn’t met his soulmate. (Another secret that had been revealed in that night.) He didn’t remember everything they told him, but he had known the bare minimum that until they were able to use their wands again for added protection and when he would meet his soulmate, who could probably help him out in case they were magical too, he would have to endure the presence of magic being a childhood fantasy and not his legacy.
It was Friday night and with a migraine coming on strong Scorpius didn’t like the fact that he had been sitting inside a diner where his food had been getting cold. It had led to a few patrons giving him a pity look after an hour of waiting for his guest of honour. It hadn’t been like he had been stood up from a date, but Scorpius couldn’t deny that he had been waiting for him. Earlier he had woken up to an owl by the window with a small letter attached to its leg. Automatically he knew it had been Teddy’s owl seeing as it had often sent messages to him when Teddy forgot cell phones were a means of corresponding with someone faster. His parents had eye-rolled it when Scorpius had petted and played with it before sending his responses when he had been younger, but it had been the exact penmanship that had made him reevaluate its content. It hadn’t been all of Teddy’s per-say.
The beginning it had been all Teddy. Thin, straight and legible, if a little slanted given there were no lines to help keep the content straight. Half the letter explained about Teddy being half furious about the mess Scorpius got into, but also to congratulate him from unknowingly finding his soulmate a few weeks prior and getting Obliviated. Teddy had connected the clues from Scorpius’ story and found the only known person who’s Animagus was a gryphon with red golden wings and green eyes.
(Which turned out to be none other than Teddy’s godbrother. And that had made Scorpius wonder if he had been lucky to have find out who they were so quickly or if the wizarding world was smaller than he expected.)
In the second half, it contained his soulmate and the very same person that placed a spell on him when he thought Scorpius had been a muggle that caught him changing into his Animagus form. It took a while longer to read his part since it had been narrow, cursive and thick as the ink bled through the paper. The letter’s simple request at the end made Scorpius underprepared when he had sat down inside the diner that had been across the street of the café he had been on Wednesday.
Although, Scorpius didn’t know what to do now since a messy top of black hair and ruffled clothes came barreling down by his booth. His cheeks were red and his chest heaving as if he had been running for some time now. He didn’t say anything but had waved for a waitress over as he shoved a menu towards his guests.
“You’re late.”
He was given a sheepish grin that was a half grimace. “I know. I'm sorry. My um—family emergency.”
“I see.” He didn’t really. But Scorpius could be kind enough to leave him room to explain it.
“He’s telling the truth cousin.” Scorpius tilted his head up to see Teddy casually wearing purple hair with blue and green scattered in there. “I hope you don’t mind but grandma sort of let it slip that James obliviated his soulmate. And—” he sat down next to him. “...let's just say tomorrow you’ll be meeting the rest of the Potter-Weasley Clan.”
He still had been getting used to the reintroduction of magic since he had learned of the secrets that were tightly kept from him (and he couldn't blame how his parents had been secretive about it) but amongst the new shift in his life, it meant that he was finally learning about his family’s past. From their regrets of how the world shaped their first mistakes to their simple childhood holidays and family heirlooms. Between finally seeing his parents as they truly were, formally meeting his soulmate had been a new whiplash.
Not completely awful. But this new challenge since that meant that his life would not be the same as before.
As a Malfoy, he had been told to hold family dearly and to always strive to overcome any obstacles that came his way. Considering how troublesome since meeting with James Sirius Potter, it meant that he was tied by magic again. It had been a different approach given that his soul had always known about the connection with James, but it had reawakened when he had been momentarily repositioned to feel James’ magic. In that experience it had made Scorpius know what the universe felt like.
The shade and width of it all had been enormous. Natural. And completely full of life itself.
He would never be able to articulate the wholeness he felt then, but it had sparked a curiosity to entrust himself into the side of his life that included his parent’s childhood and his soulmate’s normality. It only helped him to know that Teddy would be there too since he both knew James and himself. A middle man really, who would watch and half participate if needed.
Everything after he turned eighteen had become hectic. Looming. Expansive.
But.
When he looked at James as he joked around with Teddy, Scorpius couldn’t find it in himself to hate how the universe worked. It never intentionally hurt him like how people were capable of. It had never been vindictive or spitting up new tortures for his family since his parents had been shunned by their community. If anything, the magic that lingered by them had been a neutral force. He may not be able to reel in magic like the rest of his family, but his soul could pick up how the world worked, how in particularly relaxed and optimistic his soulmate was when he aimed a shy grin at him.
But he just somehow knew that they would be okay.
Because Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy would make sure of it as he felt the gravity between him and James melt into a softer breathable paradise.