Working Through the Rest

Sleep On The Other Side

"It took me a long time to discover your weakness, Albus Potter," she continues. "I thought it was pride. I thought it was the need to impress your father. But then I realised your weakness was the same as your father's!" She almost screams the last word.

She walks toward me, grabbing my hood again and pulling me backwards. I land on my back, coughing slightly with the impact. She crouches over me, almost on top of me, her wand in my face. She's smirking. I don't breathe. I don't think I can. And then she murmurs, her heavy breaths echoing in my ears.
"Friendship."
"Get...get off..." I start to groan.
"Make me," Delphi's mouth stretches into a twisted grin and she leans down so that her lips are beside my ear. "Albus Potter."

Silence.

"You will do exactly as you're told," she relishes the words, "otherwise Scorpius. Will. Die."

I can feel her breath on my cheeks as she places her hands on my shoulders, still grinning. Somewhere, Scorpius is shouting, screaming, my name, but I can't respond. I can't breathe. I can only wait for the moment where she either kills me or him. Or Scorpius.
"Albus!"

The near-scream cuts through my thoughts and I sit up sharply, breathing heavily in the dark as a figure moves away from me. I back away, trying to get my bearings.

I'm not on the Quidditch Pitch. I'm in the dormitory.

And the person who was on top of me wasn't Delphi. It was Scorpius.

He moves towards me again and I try to scramble backwards, wincing as I hit the back of the bed. He stops, looking concerned.
"Albus?"
"You!" I stare at him, my heart still pounding. "You...she..."
"You were having a nightmare," Scorpius tries to explain.

I ignore him, almost throwing myself out the bed. I know what happened. I know it was a dream. But it was real. She did that to me. And now, in my head, it is no longer something that happened months ago. This happened minutes ago.

And it didn't.

And it did.

And it didn't

It did.

I scream out as my fists connect with the wall, again and again and again. Scorpius appears at my side, trying to put a hand on my shoulder, and I duck under his arm, walking towards the bathroom. I need a drink. I need to get some space. I need Scorpius to stop following me.
"Albus," he keeps coming. "Are you okay?"
"No," I mutter, "Please leave me alone, Scorpius."
"Albus..."
"Not now..." I shut the door behind myself, crossing to the sink and turning the cold tap on.

I am splashing water on my face, my lungs finally regaining to ability to take in air, when the door of the bathroom opens again and Scorpius slips through the door. I assume it's him. No one else is awake.
"I got you another shirt," his voice echoes through the silence.

I look down at myself, starting to realise that I am drenched in sweat and beginning to shiver. The icy water flowing over my hand doesn't help.
"Please leave me alone," my voice starts to shake.

I don't know why I'm so scared, especially of him, but I just need him to leave. Because, for a moment, I thought he was Delphi. And now I can't even look at him without shaking.
"Albus, please–"
"Go away!" I scream, my knees buckling beneath me. "Please! Just...just go!"

The door shuts again and I breathe out, curling up on the floor silently. I'm so scared. I'm still so scared.

I don't move again until people start filing in the next morning.