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After the time-turning group had returned from Godric’s Hollow, 1981, Harry and Hermione had rushed Delphi to the custody of the Ministry, and Ginny and Draco brought Albus and Scorpius straight to the Hogwarts hospital wing.
Albus was in a numb daze, barely aware of his mum leading him by the hand through the dark castle and onto a hospital wing bed. The only thing he was aware of was making sure that Scorpius was still close by. Maybe he vocalized that he didn’t want them to be separated, or maybe the adults just knew, but they put them in a corner of the infirmary with the drapings set up around two beds instead of one.
Albus and Scorpius each sat on a bed facing eachother while their parents worried over them, and Pomfrey and her assistant came over and started checking them for physical injuries and effects from the curses and time travel. Albus answered the basic questions he was asked, but for the most part, he just stared at Scorpius while his mind replayed the events of the past 48 hours.
Every time he blinked, he saw flashes. A flash of green and Craig falling back dead. A flash of white and Scorpius drops to the ground in a screech of pain. More green and he feels his dad buckle next to him. Albus flinched as he felt his mum brush her fingers through his hair.
“Here,” she whispered, gently pressing a warm mug into his hands. “Drink this, it’ll help you sleep.” Albus broke his eye contact from Scorpius and looked down at the innocuous mug. He looked to his mum, and she gave a small encouraging smile, although her eyes still looked sad. “You’re going to be okay, Albus.”
He felt his eyes start to prickle. “Your promise?” He whispered, looking back down at the mug.
Ginny wrapped an arm around his shoulder and squeezed tightly. “I promise.”
Albus exhaled and let his tears fall. Then he drank the warm tea which he knew was mixed with sleeping drought. As soon as he finished the mug, his body was already giving way to exhaustion, the adrenaline finally flushing out of his body. He looked back at Scorpius, who was drinking a mug too while Draco rubbed his back. He met his eye and the two shared a look before Albus let his mum ease him back onto the bed. He felt her place a blanket over him and kiss his forehead, and then he was out.
***
Albus had no idea how much time had passed when he stirred awake, but it was still dark. Groggily, he tried to take stock of his surroundings. He was under the covers of a hospital wing bed. He had fallen asleep in his clothes, but he was now wearing the generic Hogwarts pajamas, meaning Pomfrey or his mum had magiced himself out of his clothes to replace them. Normally this would be embarrassing, but honestly he was still too drained to care.
He sat up a little and looked around. His clothes were neatly folded on the footboard bench, and in between his and Scorpius’ beds was an end table with a lit candle and both of their snapped wards. He looked at them sadly, vaguely wondering if his new wand would make him any better at magic.
Then he looked over to Scorpius, who was rolled on his side facing Albus. His hand was hanging off the edge of the bed, as if reaching out to Albus. Albus extended his hand until their fingertips were almost touching, but then pulled back. Looking at Scorpius’ face in the candlelight, he looked tense, his eyebrows pulled tight. Albus wondered if he was having a bad dream. He sighed, knowing he should let Scorpius sleep, but selfishly he wanted to talk to him. Make sure he was okay.
“Scorpius?” He whispered into the dark. He didn’t stir. Carefully, Albus got out of bed and walked over to the opposite side so he could wedge his body around Scorpius’ bent legs. He leaned over him and this time grabbed his hand for real. “Scorpius?”
Now Scorpius’ eyes flew open and he gave a jerk, so Albus dropped his hand.
“Argh, Albus,” Scorpius groaned, rubbing his eyes. “What a pleasant and… not scary way to wake up.”
“Payback?” Albus suggested, smiling at the memory of Scorpius yelling to wake up Albus (it felt like so long ago…)
“Fine,” Scorpius said, sitting up. The boys repositioned themselves to sit crisscross facing each other, their knees just brushing, although there was a layer of blanket between them.
“You okay?” Albus asked.
“I guess, all things considered. They said I might have some side effects from the cruciatus curse… tremors and shakes… maybe some depression and anxiety…”
“Oh no…” Albus said, heart sinking, a wave of guilt crashing over him.
“But I’ll be fine, Albus. The healers can deal with the physical effects. And I’ve already had my fair share of depression and anxiety, so it’s nothing I can’t handle.”
Albus bit his lip, understanding where Scorpius was coming from, but feeling horrible all the same.
Scorpius put his hands, wrists up, on his knees in the middle space between them. Not knowing what to say, Albus gently placed his hands on Scorpius’.
“Look,” Scorpius said, looking down at their hands. “We match.”
That’s when Albus noticed in the candlelight, rough marks on both their wrists. They looked a bit like rope burn—a physical remnant of Delphi’s binding spell.
Albus lightly grabbed onto Scorpius’ hand, rotating it to the other side, and sure enough, the burn went all the way around like a twisted friendship bracelet.
“Do you think they’ll fade?” Albus asked.
“I’m not sure,” Scorpius said. “Delphi was crazy powerful…”
“And… we survived,” Albus said, looking up at Scorpius, for the first time feeling a sense of hope. “That’s what a scar means, right? I survived.”
Scorpius looked up, his eyes suddenly glassy. “You’re right.”
Scorpius fiddled with Albus’s hands, Albus perfectly content to let him, enjoying the feeling of their fingertips and palms brushing together. A reminder that nothing could separate them anymore.
“Hey, Albus?” Scorpius asked timidly.
“Yeah?” Albus answered, leaning in slightly.
“Could I… tell you something?”
“Of course, anything.” He said, giving the boy’s hands a squeeze.
“Okay,” Scorpius said, taking a deep breath.
He moved his left hand to grab the cuff of his long-sleeved PJ top, and Albus gently let go of his hands, but kept them nearby on his knees. Then Scorpius pulled up the sleeve, a pained expression on his face. Albus didn’t understand, waiting for Scorpius to speak, but Scorpius just lay down his right forearm facing up, and looked down at it.
“Do we still match?” Scorpius said in the tiniest voice.
Albus looked down and froze. There were three long scars, horizontal against Scorpius’ forearm. He couldn’t tell if they were made by a blade or a spell from a wand, but he knew there was only one way someone could acquire scars like that.
“S-Scorpius…” Albus stuttered, his throat feeling tight. He tried to look at him, but Scorpius was still looking down. “Look at me,” he whispered, bringing his hands to Scorpius’ cheeks. Scorpius relented, tears glistening in his light blue eyes.
Not knowing what else to do, Albus hugged him, hard. He felt Scorpius start to cry properly, and let his own tears come too.
“I’m sorry,” he heard Scorpius say.
Albus pulled him back. “Why are you apologizing?” He asked incredulously, using his sleeve to wipe away Scorpius’ tears. “I’m the one that should be apologizing… When?”
Scorpius sighed and reached a hand up to grab Albus’s wrist and bring it to his lap. “After mum…” he sniffled. “Things got… really bad. I don’t know why I did it… I guess I just wanted to control the pain?”
Albus linked both their hands together again. He could understand the feeling of the inside pain feeling so bad it has to break its way out somehow. He’d be lying if he said he’d never thought about it himself, but something always stopped him. The thought of his siblings, his parents… or Scorpius finding out.
“But… I wanted to be strong for my dad. And be strong for you.” Scorpius admitted. “So I told myself once we went back to school, I would stop. And I did.” More tears fell. “Whenever I felt the urge, I would just cut into my wand, instead.” Scorpius leaned over and grabbed his now in two wand and dropped it between them.
Shakily, Albus picked up the bottom half of the wand and his stomach dropped. All around it were little markings. There were over a dozen. How had he never noticed before? Maybe he had just assumed it was part of the design?
“Oh, Scorpius,” Albus said, clenching the wand tight. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I wanted to, but… I didn’t want to upset or trigger you. You always had so much going on, I didn’t want to put this on you too.”
Albus felt horrible. He really was the most terrible friend.
“I… I’m sorry that you felt that way. Do you think… do you think if you feel that way again, you could tell me instead?”
The two boys looked at each other. “Are you sure?” Scorpius asked.
“Yes,” Albus insisted. “Please, let me be a better friend. I’ll be there for you this time. I promise.”
Fresh tears filled Scorpius’ eyes. “Okay,” he said.
Without thinking, Albus lifted Scorpius’ hand and arm, gently placing a kiss on the soft skin between the scars on his wrist and forearm. His heart burned in his chest, a second afraid he’d gone too far, but when he looked back to Scorpius, he had a small smile on his face, and a pink flush on his face, despite his cheeks being covered in tears again.
Albus rubbed his tears away. “Did you tell your dad?” He asked.
Scorpius shook his head. “No, it would kill him…”
“I get it… Maybe someday you can tell him. I’m sure he would just be happy you’re okay now. I could be with you, if you wanted.”
Scorpius huffed and smiled. “Maybe.”
Albus looked at the boy across from him. His silver hair a mess, his eyes bloodshot, lips chapped, and he still looked like the most beautiful boy in the entire world. All Albus wanted to do was lean in the few inches and kiss him. But now wasn’t the time. Tonight wasn’t the night. It would come, Albus was sure of it. If there was anything their “adventures” in time had taught him, it was how much he loved and treasured Scorpius Malfoy. He never wanted anything to hurt him again. He would do everything in his power to stop that from happening.
“Well… thank you for telling me,” Albus said, finally. “That was really brave.”
Scorpius blushed. “It just feels silly to have secrets between us now, you know?”
“Yeah.” Albus smiled, promising himself he wouldn’t keep his secret for long. “We should probably try to get some more sleep.”
“You’re probably right,” Scorpius agreed, putting his wand back on the side table and rolling down his sleeve. “Umm, could you… would you mind… staying here?”
Albus smiled. “Of course.”
Together, they snuggled up under the covers of the tiny hospital bed. “Do you think Pomfrey will be mad?” Scorpius whispered.
“Technically we almost died saving the wizarding world. I think she can deal.”
Scorpius giggled as Albus wrapped his arms around his best friend. They both laughed until their exhaustion got the best of them and they drifted into a peaceful sleep.