Guiltiness

The worst day

Albus's blood ran cold. Everything he had experienced up until now seemed insignificant compared to the absolute horror that gripped him. He hurried down as fast as he could, but Scorpius was still surrounded by a cluster of students when he finally reached him.

They tried to help him, but Scorpius was lying on the ground unconscious and didn't seem to be breathing. His hair was streaked with blood, and he looked extremely pale.

In the meantime, the students came to help, and none preferred touching the boy who looked dead.

Albus knelt next to the lifeless body.

"Scorpius, please don't die! Can you hear me? Stay here with me, please. I love you!"

He kissed his forehead, and tears fell from his eyes, smearing the drying blood down Scorpius's face.

The students silently watched the scene, and no one thought to mock. They were in shock, worried for their friend, and many felt sorry for the ostracised Potter, who had been needlessly bullied at school and may now have lost his only friend.

Soon the teachers arrived, and they all whispered something to each other. They carried Scorpius somewhere and took Albus to the Hospital wing.

"Where's Scorpius?" he called desperately.

"Is he alive?"

The matron nodded.

"Let me go after him," he begged Madam Pomfrey.

"Albus, he needs some rest now. He's at St. Mungo's.'

"Will he get well?"

"We have to hope," said the matron.

"Is he awake yet?"

"Albus, I must not inform you about his health."

"That's not true; you would have told me if, if...." Albus's voice trailed off. "If it weren't so hopeless, you would have told me."

He burst into sobs. He was given a calming potion, and Madam Pomfrey made him lie in bed.

---

What could be worse than receiving the news that your only child is lying unconscious in the hospital, and it is not sure that he will survive? A distraught Draco was all alone at this news. There was no one to tell him that it would be okay, that they were with him, that they would help him. Draco knew he had made many mistakes but still held out a small hope that he could ever experience something good again. Now he saw that he was wrong, that no happiness awaited him in this world, and that he would always lose everyone he cared about. The entire content of the message brought to him by the owl in the late hours of the night did not reach his mind. As if operating on autopilot, he got dressed, packed the necessary things into his briefcase, and set off for St. Mungo. He must be brave, he must endure at least once more in his life.

He could tell from the staff's actions that his son was severely ill. Although no one had spoken to him about it, everyone treated him with the respect we show martyrs.

Scorpius lay in a room with constant surveillance. A motherly-looking nurse was watching over him, and you could tell she was crying all the time. His face was already clean, chalk white, and he was lying calmly with his eyes closed but looked utterly lifeless. Some pinkish potion was dripping into his vein. At St. Mungo's, they used old wizarding methods, but even here, some technological conveniences had already been introduced, namely some kind of device for monitoring brain functions. It looked menacing; a 3D model of Scorpius's brain was shown in the glass hemisphere, and green flashes constantly flashed in it, mapping the conduction of nerve impulses. Another, no less terrifying device, monitored heart activity. The heart model was ice blue, and blood flow was recorded in red.

Draco couldn't bear to look at the illuminated copies of his half-dead son's organs and looked away. He was afraid he would throw up or pass out.

"I'm sorry, Mr Malfoy," the nurse said, pointing her wand at the devices and calling, "Deferzo!" The menacing devices shrank, disappearing from Draco's line of sight, but he was not relieved.

He dropped onto Scorpius's bed, holding his son's hand, which felt completely icy, and sobbed softly. He didn't need to ask anything; he knew the answers would be evasive.

"Can I stay with him?"

"As long as you want."

"I'll be with him until the end," Draco growled. The nurse was silent, which only confirmed to him that there was no point in hoping for miracles.