Somebody That I Use to Know

Chapter 5

London, England - Present

Scorpius sat stoically at the island counter in the kitchen staring down at the papers Rose had left. He poured himself another serving of brandy without taking his eyes off the papers. Albus apparated at the door, hanging his ministry robe on the hook when he noticed his friend drinking alone.

"And here I thought the women had cleaned you out." He joked, sitting across from Scorpius, who still hadn't moved.

They sat in a shared silence, the only sound was Albus pouring himself a glass and taking a drink.

"What made you do it? Why did you get married?"

The question caught Albus off guard. He took another drink of the dark liquor and looked down at his glass before he answered.

"If I had to go through this life with one other person it's her."

Scorpius furrowed his brow like Albus had just asked him a riddle to solve. He'd felt the same for Rose, he thought she'd felt the same for him - why hadn't that been enough? Had they just been wrong about their feelings? Had he been wrong about her?

"My mum always said poetic things like that." He took another sip, still staring forward into the middle distance, "She loved him more than he loved her. She was just capable of more love you know?"

"Don't do this to yourself all over again, mate. Rose loved you."

"She loved that I loved her." Scorpius corrected, finished his drink.

"Off with that. She still fancies ya, mate. Why else do you think she kept this from you all this time?"

"Her pride kept this from me Albus. Her stubbornness kept it. As a matter of fact, your sister kept it from me - which is an entirely separate betrayal."

Scorpius tried to refill his glass, but the bottle dripped empty. He stood up from the stool to retrieve a new bottle, twisting off the cap and sitting it down next to the empty one.

Albus sighed, "Putting it off doesn't change anything. It's just going to make things worse between the two of you."

Scorpius poured yet another glass, but Albus took it from his hand and downed the shot in one gulp. "You should walk it off a bit, mate. Maybe go yell at my sister for a while. She's pretending not to be heartbroken too, it'll be a party."

Scorpius smirked, realizing that Albus was right. Somehow they were all in the same place they were four years ago. Albus and Charlotte happy as ever, Lily and Scorpius both gutted, Rose running off without notice.

Scorpius slipped off the stool and headed towards the front door, thinking he'd grab his broom, but realizing he was in no state to fly. Instead he spent that night simply walking through the streets of London, kicking at pebbles in his path, overthinking things he thought he understood.

The sun was starting to peak between the buildings when he stopped at the stoop he had spent that morning looking for. The young Malfoy let out a long exhale before knocking on the door. He shoved his hands in his pockets while waiting for someone to answer.

"Scorp? What are you doing over here? Is it about the pub? I'll apologize to Kit. Swear I will."

Scorpius found himself unwillingly smiling at the memory of Lysander's fist connecting with Kit Wood's jaw only a few days ago. Back then he had been the one comforting Sander about his misfortunes with Lily - though, standing in front of a shirtless Scamander it would seem those fortunes had changed.

"Kit's been sorted," He reassured his teammate, "I just need a moment with our Little Potter."

"Oh yeah." Sander seemed to suddenly remember who's doorway he'd been standing in when he stepped aside to let his captain into the flat.