Fire // Dark!Scorbus

Year One - The Oddball Out

Albus Severus Potter was always the oddball out in his family, that included his extended family too.

He had always preferred to sit out of a Quidditch match, or a game of Exploding Snap. He wasn't shy, just not very outgoing like his siblings and cousins.

At first his parents brushed his un-Weasley/Potter-like behavior off, he was one of the youngest in the family, he was just shy and would eventually grow up and be more social.

It wasn't until Ginny watched Albus and Lily through the open kitchen window one fall day, that she started to worry. 10 year old Albus had a magnifying glass and was burning any bug he could find. He'd smirk evilly down at the burning bug while Lily screamed at him to stop.

"Albus, stop!" She cried, shoving his shoulder, "It didn't do anything to you!"

"It's just an ant, calm down," he'd reply in his quiet monotone voice.

It wasn't even a minute later a butterfly unknowingly landed at his tortuous death.

Lily spotted it first, it's pretty bright colors catching her eye, "Albus, don't hurt the pretty butterfly, please," she begged. She put her hands around it, blocking it from Al's view.

He ignored her and continued to burn another ant. Even from her vantage point, she could see Albus' evil smirk as the poor bug caught fire. Eventually Lily backed away from the butterfly, realizing Albus was humane enough to not to hurt the beautiful bug.

Ginny brought their lunch outside, three sandwiches on a little tray with some sparkling water. She set it down on the table and announced that they could come eat.

Lily jumped up and sat down next to her mum, grabbing a sandwich and stuffing her face.

Albus took advantage of her absence and kneeled down next to the butterfly who's wings were fluttering slightly. Ginny assumed the butterfly was injured, otherwise it would have flown away by now.

Albus adjusted his magnifying glass over the butterfly until a spot on it's wing started smoking. Ginny had to look away as the butterfly started squirming and tried to fly away but couldn't.

Lily was chattering away to Ginny and hadn't noticed Albus.

"-and Melanie wanted me to come over and play tomorrow," Lily said that through her sandwich.

"Albus come eat please," Ginny said, then turned back to her conversation with Lily, "Do you want to go over there?"

Lily nodded and opened her mouth to respond but then she spotted Albus and screamed.

"ALBUS!" she launched herself out of her chair, "NO!" she cried, shoving Albus away from the butterfly. She was full on sobbing as she tried to punch Albus, "I told you not to hurt the butterfly!"

The butterfly was laying lamely on the ground, half of one of its wings singed off. Ginny got up and pulled Lily off of Albus, and pulled Al to his feet by his shirt. Lily cried into her mums shoulder.

"Albus why'd you do that? She asked you not to hurt the pretty butterfly, and yet you still did. Say you're sorry," She glared down at her youngest son.

He stared blankly back up at her, "Beauty doesn't stop a killer, and I'm not sorry," he said emotionlessly, and walked inside.

Ginny gaped at her son then sat down and comforted her daughter. Ginny found the only way to make Lily stop crying was to suggest having a funeral for the butterfly.

That year at Lucy Weasley's 14th birthday, Albus sat alone on the couch reading a book about famous dark wizards around the world while everyone else laughed and talked around him.