A Stitch in Time

Chapter 23

Rose walked down the hall with happiness and glee in her heart. Maybe Scorpius actually liked her back! She spotted Teddy and decided to go chat with him, since she hadn't talked to him in a while.

"Hey John!" She said.

Teddy jumped a foot in the air and looked at her with wide eyes. He seemed as if he had been constantly stressed for the past few days. His wand was out and pointed straight at her heart.

Rose cocked her head. "Um, no magic in the corridor, remember?" She said.

"Oh yeah... I forgot." He said.

"What's up?"

"Not...not much."

Rose noticed that Teddy was on edge, even when he was talking.

"What's wrong? Why are you so nervous?"

Teddy's eyes darted from side to side, like an animal's when it's being hunted. "Its just Dana."

Rose nodded sympathetically. "I don't know what's wrong with him, why is he acting that way? I bet its just another one of his pranks. He did that one summer, he pretended that he-"

"Its not a joke! I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS UP WITH YOU PEOPLE! FIRST DUMBLEDORE, NOW YOU?! I'M NOT GOING INSANE, NOW AM I?" Teddy cut her off.

Rose looked taken back. "What?"

"I said, it's not a joke! It's real life!"

Rose thought about it for a minute, then looked at Teddy. "I get what you mean, I saw him with his congregation. I was getting scared about him too, but then I thought that if Uncle George was there too, then it had to be a joke. I mean, you know how well him and Uncle George get along. James owns his entire store practically."

Teddy shook his head impatiently. "You don't understand! He-"

Professor Lupin suddenly arrived. "There's my boy!" He said happily as he came towards Teddy with open arms.

Teddy closed his mouth, and gave his father a hug.

Rose signaled to him we'll talk later, then left the hall.

Teddy looked exasperated as Lupin walked with him. He needed to tell someone about James because he was practically killing the kids.
I'll talk with James after this. I'm sure the old James is in there, somewhere.

Scorpius wanted the earth to swallow him whole, and send him to Timbuktu. His blood was ice, and it was piercing him as it ran through his veins. He was sweating, his heart was beating at a rapid pace, and the adrenaline that was rushing through him was burning him.

Draco was still sitting next to him and had a smirk on his face, as if to dare him to answer.

Scorpius tried to see if he could make a fast getaway from Draco, but for some reason he couldn't move his eyes away from Draco's identical piercing gray ones.
Draco kept maintaining his grin as he continued to stare at him. Scorpius could sense that he was waiting for him to make up some excuse.

Finally, when Scorpius thought he could be capable of words again, he spoke.

"I have to l-leave." Scorpius was surprised at his own voice, which was actually somewhat steady. He started to walk towards the door, when Draco grabbed him.

"Oh no, no, no, no. You're not going anywhere until I get a satisfactory explanation on what is happening."

"Wha- nothing is happening."

Draco laughed. "You're not fooling me with that story, and you aren't fooling yourself with that story. So you should just stop that right now."

Scorpius kept looking back at the door. It was only a few more feet away, if he could only get away from Draco, he could sprint to the door and run to Snape's.

"I just dyed my hair." Scorpius said quickly.

"Why is it disappearing that quickly? Why are you shrinking? Why do the Spinks claim to not know you when you're their son?"

Scorpius looked down. "I don't know."

Draco sneered at him. "That's what I thought. I'm going to go STRAIGHT to Professor Snape and tell him you're a FRAUD! Then you can explain to him what you were thinking trying to trick Dumbledore and everyone, while I get a Special Services to the School Award! And then Father will be so proud of me! He will say I'm the best son ever!"

Scorpius looked up. "Wait, you're going to take me to Snape's?!"

Draco looked smug. "Yes, and plead all you want, but I'm still going to take you there. So I don't want to hear a word out of you!"

Draco grabbed Scorpius' wrist roughly and pulled him out of the common room. Soon, they reached Snape's office. Draco looked extremely satisfied with himself.
"I'll leave you to his rage." He smirked.

Snape opened the door. "Malfoy? Spink? What is going on?" Snape saw Scorpius' platinum blonde hair and almost pale skin, and realization came into his eyes.
"Malfoy? What is going on?"

Draco kept his smug expression. "Sir, he has lied to you! He's not really a Spink! Father called the Spinks and they said that they didn't have a son!"

Snape looked over at Scorpius. "Is what he's saying true?"Snape spoke so that scorpius knew he saw what was going on.

Scorpius didn't say anything, he looked at the floor. Snape glanced at Draco. "You are free to leave my presence Malfoy."

Draco's mouth shriveled up. It looked like he had swallowed a gallon of lemon juice all at once. "Wha-Wha-"

Snape sighed. "Was I not clear to you boy? I asked you to leave calmly Draco, and I won't ask you a second time."

Draco stood there, gaping. "B-but, don't I get an award-"

Snape snorted. "An award for what exactly? Tell me, what did you think you would get the award for? For nosing? I don't endorse that award for nosy people."
Draco seemed incapable of speech.

Snape let out an angry sigh. "Malfoy I would like you to leave now!"

Nothing Snape was saying seemed to be processing in Draco's brain, as he was still incapable of movement or speech. Draco gaped at Snape, as if he was unable to comprehend what Snape was trying to tell him.

"Must I repeat myself again, or will a detention speak your language?"

Draco stayed rooted in the same spot, still staring agape at Scorpius and Snape.

"DRACO!"

Draco kept the same gaping expression on his face, but slowly and robotically moved his feet out the door.

Snape watched Draco leave, and then shut the door behind him.

"You must be more careful! If that boy had reported that to his father, who knows what could happened?"

"I'm sorry sir. I was doing my homework and he approached me. It wasn't my fault."

"You really could have gotten caught, Scorpius, and your father could have found out who you were! Your cover would be blown! What would happen then? Honestly if you imbeciles thought even once, we would have had a significant loss of trouble!" With a flick of his wand Snape changed him back to his disguise.

Unknown to them was that Draco was standing outside with his ear pressed to the door, his eyes widening by the second.