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Albus Potter has never known death in his life.
Save for his long dead grandparents and friends and family that he heard his mum and dad talk about on stormy nights when they thought he was asleep, no one in his life had ever passed away. No one he knew, anyway.
Albus thinks maybe he’s making up for it now, when the person he loves most might die.
He’s sitting in an uncomfortable chair in the Hogwarts hospital wing, watching Scorpius’s chest rise and fall slowly. Every time it descends, Albus is sure it won’t rise again, but it always does. What can be seen of his face is even paler than usual, the rest covered by bandages.
Albus sits on his hands to prevent them shaking. His brain is flooded by thoughts, one standing out amongst the rest: It should’ve been me.
Because it should have, and it would have, had Scorpius not flung himself in front of Albus at the sight of the werewolf bearing down on them.
Albus suddenly can’t breathe. Scorpius is going to die, and it’s all his fault. Oh, God. Scorpius can’t die , he just can’t. He’s Scorpius Malfoy and he’s got the warmest smile Albus has ever seen from a boy everyone else thinks is so cold, and he always beats Albus at wizard chess, and he can fly faster than anyone else on the Slytherin Quidditch team and he can’t die and Albus can’t breathe-
“Albus!”
There’s a flash of flaming red hair and suddenly Albus is on his feet as his mum whirls into the hospital wing like a wildfire. He collapses into her arms, feeling tears that he hasn’t allowed to fall prick his eyes.
“Al,” Mum whispers, holding him tightly, and that’s it, Albus is full on sobbing in her embrace. “Mum, I-”
“Shhh, it’s okay, you’re okay…”
“No, I- it’s all my fault-”
“Shhh, shhh, it’s not your fault,”
Albus whimpers, holding her tightly like he’s a toddler and not a seventeen year old wizard. “All my fault…”
“Al.” His mum pulls away from him, staring him directly in the eyes. “None of this is your fault. Get that awful thought out of your head immediately, because none of this is your fault. Okay?”
“Okay,” he croaks, though he doesn’t believe it.
“Albus!”
Albus looks up to see Dad, James and Lily run into the hospital wing, and a fresh wave of tears threatens to fall at the sight of their concerned faces.
“Are you okay?” His dad asks, and Albus nods stiffly, before his dad whispers, “No you’re not,” and Albus flings himself on top of him for a hug.
He hears Uncle Ron come in, likely accompanied by Aunt Hermione. No doubt Rose and Hugo are here too, then.
They’re all talking to Mum; Albus can hear snippets of conversation.
“-sign of the werewolf that did it?”
“McGonagall’s got professors scouring Hogsmeade, but-”
“What were they doing out that late?”
“Collecting ingredients for potions, Professor Knowles had the whole class out, but no one else was injured, thankfully-”
“-doing the best she can, but we’ve contacted St Mungo’s-”
“Teddy knows some Healers, they’re on their way-”
“Teddy? Will he be here soon?”
“Hopefully, yes-”
Albus tunes them out. He doesn’t want to hear, doesn’t want to be awake. He wishes he could take some Dreamless Sleep, but he doesn’t want to ask.
He hears Madam Poppy screeching at the amount of people in the hospital wing, which is fair; there’s at least five people over the limit. No one clears out, though.
Dad pulls away at last and guides him back into the chair. He doesn’t let go of his hand, though.
Albus forces himself to look at his boyfriend. There’s so many bandages, too many-
“SCORPIUS!”
Everyone flinches at the yell as Draco Malfoy storms into the room, eyes flashing dangerously. Dad’s grip on Albus’s hand tightens.
“Move!” Draco practically snarls at Hermione, who moves reluctantly out of the way.
“Don’t speak to her like that-” Ron begins angrily, but Hermione places a hand on his shoulder. “Not now, Ron.”
Albus can pinpoint the exact moment Draco sees Scorpius; his face drops and he looks, for a moment, absolutely terrified. But then the cold Malfoy mask reappears and he reaches out a hand for his son.
“What happened?” Draco says, voice pained. Albus swallows. A hurt Draco is far more dangerous than an angry one.
“A werewolf attack,” Dad says quietly. Draco’s head snaps upward so fast Albus thinks he broke it. “Was he-”
“It’s not a full moon,” Harry says quickly, and Draco’s shoulders relax, though his face gives away no sign of relief. Dad stands up to talk to Mum, and Draco sinks into the chair next to Albus, looking every inch the tired man he is.
The other people in the room slowly resume conversation, once they seem sure Draco isn’t going to hex every one of them. To Albus, Draco looks like he couldn’t muster up the energy for a simple Leg-Locker curse.
“Are you alright?” Draco says softly to Albus, so quietly that no one else in the room can hear it.
Albus knows that he doesn’t really care if he’s alright, but Draco cares about Scorpius, and Albus cares about Scorpius, and Scorpius cares about both of them, so by association they care about each other, just a tiny bit.
Albus knows that if Scorpius lost his dad, he would be devastated, and Draco knows the same thing about Albus. So even if he’s only tolerating him for Scorpius’s sake, Albus knows that Draco genuinely wants Albus to be unharmed.
The room slips into silence, Lily and Hugo curling up on the floor together with Rose and James sitting beside them, talking and waving their hands around a lot; they’re very dramatic, those two. Mum is leaning against Dad, looking pale and drawn, and Ron has an arm around Hermione.
The door suddenly bangs and everyone spins around. Teddy is standing there with two people in lime green robes. They hurry over to Scorpius and begin casting spells, murmuring words under their breath and scribbling stuff on a clipboard floating beside them.
“Teddy,” James breathes, leaping to his feet.
The Healers are busy, but one of them, a young woman with long black braids, shoots Albus a kind smile. “He’ll be alright, don’t worry.”
Albus nods, swallowing hard. He kind of wants to bat these people away from his boyfriend and take Scorpius somewhere where no one can ever find them and they can live the rest of their lives in peace, but he can’t do that, obviously. He forces himself to sit still.
It’s at that moment Scorpius chooses to wake up, mumbling, “Wha- huh?”
It takes every ounce of willpower for Albus not to fling himself on top of his boyfriend. As it is, he grabs his hand, content to hold even part of him. Draco places a hand on his son’s shoulder; Albus is the only one who sees it tremble.
“You’re okay,” the female Healer says. “Do you remember anything that happened?”
“Um…” Scorpius blinks. “Werewolf. Werewolf!”
He tries to sit upright, but the male Healer pushes him gently down.
“Where’s Albus?” Scorpius gasps. “Is he alright?”
“I’m here,” Albus says, squeezing his hand. “Right here.”
Scorpius looks up at him, and Albus can see the love in his eyes. He blinks back tears.
“Are you okay?” Scorpius whispers.
“Yeah,” Albus says, feeling like they’re the only people in the room.
Scorpius relaxes, still clinging to his hand. The female Healer hands him a bottle. “Drink this, please. You need rest.”
Scorpius obeys. He yawns, his eyes slowly closing. “Dad?”
“Right here,” Draco murmurs, voice cracking.
“Love you,” Scorpius mumbles before sleep overtakes him.
Draco blinks, looking slightly stunned, before he catches sight of everyone staring at him. He pastes on a cold look. “What?”
“Nothing,” Ron says, and Hermione kicks him.
“Good!” Draco snaps. “Because I don’t want to hear a word about my son, do you hear me? I don’t even know why you’re here! He doesn’t need you lot. He has me.”
“And Albus,” Mum puts in calmly.
“Yes, but-” Draco glances at Albus.
“What?” Albus asks.
“Nothing, I-”
“No, what?” Albus demands. Seeing Scorpius like that, because of him- he’s itching for a fight, someone to take his anger out on. If Draco wants to attack him, Albus will snap right back. “You think he’ll stop loving me, because of these bites?”
“No,” Draco bites out.
“Do you think I’ll stop loving him ?” Albus snaps. “Because he’s going to be part werewolf, or whatever? I don’t care about that!”
“I know!”
“I love him!”
“So do I!”
“A bloody werewolf isn’t going to stop me!”
“Well, good!”
“Good!”
Albus glares for a few more seconds, and then Draco strides toward him. Mum pulls out her wand, but before she can open her mouth, Draco grabs Albus and hugs him.
Albus bursts into tears.
I should really stop crying so much, he thinks vaguely, but there’s a damp patch forming on his shoulder, so maybe he isn’t the only one.
“See?” Someone bursts out. “Albus doesn’t care that he’s part werewolf or whatever! He still loves him!”
Albus pulls away to see James glaring at Teddy. His brown eyes are glittering in the light of the hospital wing.
“That’s different,” Teddy says, jaw tightening. “Albus and Scorpius were dating before he was bitten. And there’s a chance that nothing will come of the bites-”
“Oh, don’t give me that bullshit, Teddy. You’re just trying to protect me, like you’ve been doing all my life!”
“Yes, because I care about you, Jamie, but-”
“No buts! I don’t care about the werewolf thing either, so stop being a stubborn bastard and-”
“James, it is not the time!”
“It’s never the time! You’ve been avoiding me for weeks!”
Teddy looks like he couldn’t decide if he wanted to punch James or kiss him. James looks much the same way.
“I’ve always thought you’re taking a foolish stand on this, Teddy,” Mum says softly.
“I’m not being foolish,” Teddy says, avoiding eye contact. “James deserves someone his own age, someone who’s not…”
“Your father never stopped living because he was a werewolf, Teddy,” Dad says, voice gentle. “He wouldn’t have wanted you to, either.”
Teddy’s face softens, and he looks back at James.
Ron glances at Hermione. “I just got the weirdest sense of déjà vu.”