Harry Potter - Title: The Inconveniences of Being a Malfoy (14)

ðHgeocities.com/crystalangel0105//tiobam14.htmgeocities.com/crystalangel0105_/tiobam14.htm.delayedx¸WÕJÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÈð1Ë:OKtext/htmlïºLÜË:ÿÿÿÿb‰.HFri, 05 Oct 2007 22:23:38 GMT¿Mozilla/4.5 (compatible; HTTrack 3.0x; Windows 98)en, *µWÕJË: Harry Potter - Title: The Inconveniences of Being a Malfoy (14) Title: The Inconveniences of Being a Malfoy
Summary: Scorpius' life has never gone well, but lately it's really done a turn for the worse. He blames Albus.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter.

(14)

Scorpius propped his head up with one hand, dozing lightly at the Slytherin table during breakfast. His other hand was still holding his fork, albeit loosely, and he wasn’t aware of it, but there was still a piece of sausage on the other end of his fork.

Even without helping Reine, Scorpius didn’t get as much rest as he knew he should. He had far too much homework and studying he needed to do and he was quite aware of his family’s situation and reputation. Scorpius was determined to succeed in anything he did despite it, and he knew that getting good grades in school would help tremendously. He supposed he would just have to hope that his future employer would think more of his potential than his family name.

It really didn’t help that since his bag had broken, he’d been forced to carry everything, including his textbooks, papers, quills and inkbottles. It was beginning to put a strain on his muscles, and he was tired, grumpy, and a little bit sore, especially in his shoulders.

“Scorpius.” Albus’ voice cut through his daze, and he jerked in surprise before settling back into his original position, his head settling back comfortably in his hand.

“Mmgh,” Scorpius groaned as Albus began shake his shoulder in a continued attempt to wake him and he attempted to at least crack his eyes open. He saw the faint, blurry outline of Albus and Rose staring down at him, before his eyes drooped back down on its own accord.

“Come on,” Albus insisted, prodding Scorpius in the side and jostling him, much to Scorpius’ annoyance. “You study too much, you need a break and it’s the Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff game today, you’ve got to watch-”

“I’m not a Gryffindor or a Hufflepuff,” Scorpius muttered unhappily, squeezing his eyes firmly shut, determined not to let anyone disturb his rest, “Ergo, I don’t have to go. Besides, I haven’t gone to any of the other games either-”

“Exactly!” Albus interrupted impatiently, “You have to go to at least one game! It’ll be fun! Besides, there are no classes today, anyway. What else are you planning on doing?”

“Sleep,” Scorpius said flatly, squeezing his eyes shut stubbornly.

Albus groaned. “Scooooorpius,” he whined, “Please, please, pleeeeease?”

Rose laughed. “Oh, Scorpius, just come,” she said, amused, “Humor Al. Besides, I’m going, and I’m not in Gryffindor or Hufflepuff either.”

“You make your own choices; I’m going to make mine,” Scorpius grumbled, prying his eyes open to give the two of them his best glare.

This turned out to be a rather bad decision. The intensity of his glare was diminished by the combination of Albus’ pleading look and Rose’s wry, amused look. Scorpius scowled as he felt his resolve crumbling.

“No,” he said firmly, and then repeated it again, just for emphasis, “No.”

&&&&

Scorpius scowled darkly at the Gryffindor girl he was sitting next to, who was giving him a dirty look. Albus had the brilliant idea of not only dragging him to the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff game (which was pointless anyway, considering the fact James was Seeker and Lan was a Chaser, and, apparently, none of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team could play Quidditch to save their lives), but also seating all three of them right in the middle of the Gryffindor stands.

Scorpius was beginning to suspect that Albus was not good for his self preservation.

“Wood goes in for the kill – but, oh, look at that! Denly’s finally managed to do something useful! Hufflepuff in possession of the Quaffle now-”

Roars of approval from the students in the Hufflepuff stands echoed in the stadium as one of the Hufflepuff Chasers clasped the Quaffle tightly under one arm and shot towards the Gryffindor goals – only to be apprehended by a Bludger nearly knocking him off his broom. Disappointed groans filled the stadium instead.

Scorpius rolled his eyes. “Isn’t the Hufflepuff team usually much better than this?” he whispered to Albus.

“Well,” Albus whispered back, “Their team captain – Robert Bay, seventh year, I think – he’s a good guy, but he takes some of the things he hears a little bit too seriously.”

Scorpius gave him a blank look. “What in the world does that mean?”

Rose leaned forward to see Scorpius around Albus, who leaned back a little to accommodate her. “The entire team’s in the Hospital Wing,” she explained, “Salmonella poisoning.”

Scorpius winced.

“This is the hastily arranged reserve team,” Albus informed them, helpfully, and they all ducked simultaneously as a Bludger swooped in over their heads. Professor Skor shouted angrily at a Hufflepuff Beater about foolishness and the importance of aiming.

“I can see,” Scorpius grumbled, straightening up, “Why did you make me to watch this?”

Albus grinned at him sheepishly. “I think they’re getting better?” he offered optimistically as above their heads James nearly crashed into a very nervous looking Hufflepuff Chaser, who couldn’t be any higher than a third year.

Scorpius gave Albus a flat look, and received a cheerful smile in return. “Whatever you say,” Scorpius muttered.

“-Gryffindor possession of the Quaffle now, Hufflepuff Keeper Denly looking very apprehensive as Gryffindor Chaser Adlam approaches… oh! Another ten points for Gryffindor! The score is now 80 to 10, in Gryffindor’s favor!”

Rose put her head in her hands. “Oh,” she groaned, “This is so pathetic. I don’t think I can bear watching this anymore.”

Scorpius was inclined to agree, but Albus shrugged and cheerfully said, “I’m sure it could be worse.”

Scorpius opened his mouth to ask ‘how?’ but he was distracted as his scarf suddenly loosened and slid off, exposing his throat to the cool air of the chilly November climate. “Agh!” he grunted instead and grasped futilely for it, but it simply slipped through his fingers and a sudden, strong wind blew it down the stands. Scorpius scowled as he saw it blow around the corner and down the stairs that led back down to the grounds.

“Aren’t you going to get that?” the unfamiliar Gryffindor girl asked him suddenly, her snide tone betraying her disgust and impatience for him to leave her ever-so-precious personal space.

Scorpius, annoyed with her tone and general attitude towards him, sneered back at her. “As a matter of fact,” he said stiffly, his lip curling, echoing her disgust, “I am.”

Scorpius stood up, and felt strangely cold as he suddenly realized that he no longer stuck out like a sore thumb among the gold and scarlet sporting Gryffindors without his green and silver Slytherin scarf. The sudden irrational feeling of wrongness unnerved him, and he hurried after his scarf, muttering a quick, “I’ll be right back” to Albus and Rose.

The soles of his shoes had worn down considerably since Scorpius had first started wearing them, perhaps a year or two ago, and he could feel the hard stone steps through them and his toes were pinched by the now too small shoes as he accidentally scuffed his feet as he went down the stairs.

Scorpius wrinkled his nose when he reached the bottom of the stairs and located his scarf on the ground, lying on the dirty floor. He picked it up and grimaced to see the dirt stains on it, and attempted to brush off some off the grime without much optimism and finally just decided to accept he would have to get it properly cleaned. For now, Scorpius would just have to deal with the fact he wouldn’t have a scarf to help ward off the chill.

Scorpius shrugged away the irritation he felt, deciding it wasn’t that big of a deal, he’d just wash it. He began heading back to the flight of stairs that would lead him back to the Gryffindor stands and Albus. He had just reached the first step, when an arm wrapped around his neck from behind and he was yanked back roughly against a burly chest. Scorpius gagged as the arm around his neck tightened, and for the first time in months (since Albus) Scorpius felt frightened.

“Now, who do we have here?” a voice hissed into his ear.

Scorpius’ vision went white with fear (pale, long fingers wrapped around his throat, a wand trailing along his temple) before he realized that the voice speaking was not low and silky, but higher pitched with youth and coarse with spite.

“Reed,” Scorpius spat out in disgust when he finally placed where he recognized the voice from and the headlock he had been put in loosened enough for him to speak, “What, you’ve gotten bored with just taunting me and have decided to join the rest of your disgusting Gryffindor friends in abusing me as well.” Reed was one of the few that had never actively participated in the newest Gryffindor ‘sport,’ choosing instead to stand to the side.

“Is that what you think of me?” Reed asked sweetly, before the arm tightened again and Scorpius gasped for breath. “What about Albus?” he whispered into Scorpius’ ear as Scorpius clawed helplessly against the grip of the older – and stronger – boy’s arm, “Is that what you think of him as well? Beware, Slytherin, we Gryffindors take care of our own.”

Frustrated, Scorpius finally found an opening to drive his elbow into the bigger boy’s gut. Reed grunted and released him. Scorpius stumbled away to get some distance between them, and spat on the ground in front of Reed in contempt.

“Albus doesn’t need your protection,” Scorpius snapped, resisting the urge to rub his neck; it was weakness and he would not show weakness in front of Reed. “He’s worth at least ten of you, Reed, you coward, bullying a boy smaller and younger than you, just because of how he was born – and curse you, you stupid brute, I almost thought you were better than the rest of them, you never participated before, but look at you now.”

Reed sneered at him, though Scorpius saw that behind his tough demeanor, he was beginning to question himself – Scorpius wondered if someone had put him up to this. “Who are you to judge me, Malfoy?” Reed asked, his lip curling, “When everyone knows that your mother was just a common whore – who else could she be to allow herself to be touched by one of you?”

“Oh, please,” Scorpius said, condescendingly, “At least my mother doesn’t have to fake being proud of what she has to call a son.” It wasn’t until after he said it, that Scorpius considered the dangers of getting in the last word.

Scorpius watched Reed’s otherwise plain, but handsome, face contort in anger and the doubt disappear from his posture, and realized that he was at a severe disadvantage. Everyone was either still in the school or watching the game from the stands; he couldn’t possibly call for help, even if he would, and there was no way to get away from the steaming Gryffindor boy, who, at the very least, weighed twice as much as Scorpius, who had always been far from muscular and wasn’t particularly strong.

Scorpius inched away warily as Reed stalked toward him. Reed’s lips pulled back, baring his teeth, and he even growled at him, and Scorpius wondered irrationally if it were possible to contract rabies from a human bite.

He blinked in surprise when Reed stopped abruptly, his shoulders drooping as all the tension melted away from his body. The other boy blinked in confusion, his jaw dropping slightly, and Reed stared at Scorpius bewilderedly. Scorpius looked back, just as mystified.

“What-” Reed started to say, when his eyes glazed over and he lunged at Scorpius suddenly. Scorpius grunted in pain as his back connected painfully with the wall, and felt an explosion of pain in his abdomen where Reed’s shoulder pinned him painfully against the wall. He gasped in agony when he tried to shift away and quickly halted any sort of movement in an attempt to forestall any more hurt.

Reed moved away, and Scorpius slid down the wall, groaning and blinking as his vision filled with dark spots. The bigger boy’s face was slack with horror, and Reed began to babble incoherently, staring down at his own hands in revulsion.

A loud gasp caught both their attentions, and Scorpius’ head lolled toward the sound, only to see Jeannine Weasley standing there, her face pale and her hands clasped over her mouth.

“W-what,” Reed stammered, the color draining from his face, “This isn’t – I know what it looks like-”

“ISOLDE!” Jeannine screamed, and there was a clatter of footsteps from around the corner, and when Scorpius turned to look, he realized that there was a crowd of Gryffindors peering around the wall of the staircase and he wondered if the Gryffindors had finally sealed the deal and simply put the Hufflepuff team out of its misery.

Isolde arrived swiftly, Victoire Weasley at her heels, and she stopped abruptly. Victoire nearly ran into her back, and Scorpius stared straight towards where he suspected Isolde’s head was supposed to be – instead of her face, a black spot hovered, and… it seemed to be… expanding…

“Oh, my,” Scorpius heard Isolde gasp as the darkness took over his visions and he finally slipped into unconsciousness.

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