Breath-Drarry COMPLETE

Chapter 35

—Scorpius POV—

Maybe if Brady wasn't so stupid to drill holes in his neighbor's kayak, he wouldn't have to carry the weight of having killed a baby... I sighed, marking my page, closing the book, and rolling over in bed. People are so stupid...

Lettuce mewed, wiggling his butt and pouncing onto the bed, rubbing up against my thigh. I reached down absently to pet him, staring up at the ceiling.

"-happiest day of your life? Maybe that's what will trigger your magic."

I furrowed my brow, tilting my head slightly towards the door. Are they arguing about magic again?

"But Astoria-" at that I whipped my head up and around, staring at the door.

Lettuce had climbed his way to my face and tried to bite me in the nose, only for me to dodge it swiftly, grab him like a wild beast, and put him down from the bed. I scrambled down to the door, opening it slightly to listen. The feeling of softness followed by a blur of white in my periphery alerted me that Lettuce had squeezed through the crack between my leg and the doorframe.

"No... Lettuce," I hissed as low as possible, but the sly cat was too quick for my attempts to bend over and pick him up. Following the general direction I spotted a lizard on the wall by the staircase. Lettuce's tail jerked to the left, then right, his butt wiggling as his hind legs wound up and-

"She looked so sick..."  Why would my mum being sick be the happiest day of-

Before I knew it I was chasing after Lettuce as he jumped towards the lizard, who scampered away in alarm. In a single bound Lettuce chased it down the stairs, leaving me half-stumbling to stop the disaster that was sure to ensue if I left Lettuce to do what he wanted.

"Ah- got you." But the cat scrambled out of my hands before I could lift him to my chest, and ran.

We ran past Dad and Harry into the kitchens and onto the faux windowsill opening up from the dining to the living room, where Lettuce was now jumping onto the counters that Dad was always fussing about keeping clean and-

I scooped Lettuce up furiously as the chatter of a flower vase echoed throughout the room. Dad and Harry turned to me. Lettuce was still wiggling to get out of my grasp. I watched in slow motion as Dad's face morphed from surprise to painful understanding and then anger. So, I did what any reasonable and rational child would do.

I ran.

I slammed the door and all but dropped the cat below me, catching my breath as the sounds of Dad and Harry arguing became muffled in comparison to my heart in my ears and the excess adrenaline in my system dying out. The cat started rubbing up against my ankles as if he wasn't entirely the reason why I'd just gotten in trouble in the first place. Couldn't just mind yourself for one second, could you?

Lettuce purred and flopped over on my feet, belly exposed and staring at me wide-eyed. You're so innocent, aren't you... Maybe if I hadn't opened the door- no- maybe if Lettuce wouldn't have gone chasing after a lizard. I slid my feet out from under him, walking back to my bed, where my book had been discarded in the frenzy. Maybe dad won't be too upset. Maybe he didn't even think I was eavesdropping and I'm just imagining his anger-

But the door opened and, whatever it was about his look that I couldn't quite describe, I knew he was fully aware of what I had done. My anxiety was only momentarily calmed by the split second that Lettuce clawed at his pants in a disastrous greeting that distracted my dad enough to place all of his attention on the cat for just a few seconds. I watched in abject horror as he picked Lettuce up and put him outside, closing the door in Lettuce's wake, never taking his eyes off mine.