The Corrupted One

The Corrupted One: I

The dementors settled in front of Scorpius.

"Albus. I feel so cold," he said.

"Scorpius!" Albus tried desperately to think of a way to help his friend.

"The fog. It's inside me. It's all around me. I can't breathe," he struggles to get the sentence out.

"Scorpius, listen to me, you have to fight it. You have to fight, think of good things: think of me, how much I'd miss you. Think of your dad and how much he truly loves you. How much he'd be destroyed if you were gone too, your mum, how much she'd want you to fight them," Albus pleaded. Scorpius felt he was getting weaker and his knees gave out from underneath him as they hit the grass.

"Albus, I can't," he breathed.

"Yes you can. I know you can. I believe in you. I always have," Albus thought quickly on his feet. He remembered his father telling him and his siblings the story of when he produced the patronus charm to save Sirius from dementors. 'Think of the happiest memory you have and concentrate on it, channel all your energy into it and let it fuel your might into the charm,' his father had told them. Harry's words replayed in his mind like a record and he drew his wand. He pulled in a quivering breath.

"Expecto Patronum!" He yelled confidently. At first nothing happened so Albus stepped forward and trained his eyes on the dementor who was still hovering over Scorpius. Then shouted again more loudly, "Expecto Patronum!" This time a burst of silvery blue light shot from his wand creating a shield between the dementor and Scorpius. Scorpius collapsed onto the grass; nobody knew if he was unconscious or worse. The dementors fled and the light faded from Albus' wand. He dashed to Scorpius' side.

"Scorp, Scorpius. Wake up!" Albus placed his hand on Scorpius' chest and tried to lightly shake him. Harry, Draco and Ginny ran towards their sons.

"What's happened here? What's wrong with my son?" Draco asked impatiently, kneeling down beside Scorpius' body.

"He won't wake up. They almost succeeded in giving him the dementor's kiss. But I-" Albus paused in a mild shock.

"Al, sweetie, what did you do?" Ginny asked, kneeling down and taking a shivering Albus into her embrace.

"I cast the Patronus Charm," he said. Everyone looked at him. Draco leaned down and put an ear to Scorpius' chest, trying to listen if his son had a heartbeat.

"He's still alive but just barely hanging on. He needs medical attention right now." He picked up the limp body and carried him toward the castle. The others followed right into the infirmary wing. Draco placed Scorpius on a cot and Madam Pomfrey came rushing towards them.

"What's happened to him?" She asked.

"Dementors kiss," Albus piped up. "They surrounded him and nearly sucked every ounce of his soul. And to my surprise as well as everyone else's, I produced a Patronus and saved that bit of soul he had left in him." Madam Pomfrey cast Lumos and the tip of her wand glowed a hazy white. She shined the light into Scorpius' cold steel eyes. Then her eyes grew wide and her face turned worried.

"I need all of you out at once. Now!" She said as she shoved the group into the hallway.

"Madam, is everything okay?" Draco asked.

"I'm afraid not, my dear. When Scorpius wakes up he'll be... different. Moodier, darker, he may lash out," Madam Pomfrey responded.

"But what's wrong with him? What did the dementors do to him?" Albus asked with pleading eyes.

"You see, dementors feed off of good, pure souls more so than they like evil souls. So when the dementor gave him the kiss, it sucked out the part of his soul that was good and pure. And when your boy, Harry, performed the Patronus Charm he saved the little bit of dark evil soul Mr. Malfoy had inside him," Madam Pomfrey said with sorrow laced in every word. "Now I must go tend to him. I'll alert you if he wakes up," and with that she closes the doors.

"What does she mean if he wakes up?" Draco exclaimed.