The doors clanged as they slammed shut.
The lift shuddered, and a high-pitched shriek sliced through the silence as the old thing ascended the building.
A pause.
"It'll be fine," Scorpius said to himself, so quietly he could hardly even hear it. He'd been reciting those words in his head all day, as though letting go for even a second would make them untrue. "We'll be okay."
He watched the numbers on the wall as the lift was raised up to the top floor of the building. The guards would be going up first to thoroughly examine the place and ensure Delphi wasn't up to anything. Then, the others would follow.
They'd planned it through very carefully. The aurors had plotted out every possible outcome, every potential problem. There was nothing that could go wrong and not have an immediate solution.
So why was he feeling so uncertain?
"Are you two ready?" said Ginny. She turned to face Albus and Scorpius, putting on a brave face. She reached up and combed a hand through her long red hair, offering a weak smile. As confident as she tried to appear, she couldn't hide the worry in her expression.
She'd been pacing back and forth in the dark room for the last hour or so, and gave an startled jump whenever someone began speaking to her. Harry, on the other hand, had kept himself busy by triple checking every last detail and repeating the exact sequence of events that would follow over and over and over. Albus was quickly growing sick of them both, and he had made that explicitly clear by his muttered comments over the last hour or so. Scorpius, however, had remained frozen in place, trying to make sense of it all. Even now, it felt unreal. He was so caught up in his thoughts that Ginny's question barely managed to pull him out of his trance-like state.
Albus nodded, but from the way his gaze was fixed to the floor, Scorpius was seriously doubting it. "It would be a little too late if I wasn't," he said quietly, trying to smile. Scorpius reached over and took his hand, and finally Albus looked up.
"It's not too late. You can still change your mind if you want to. No matter what you decide, I'll be here to support both of you -" a low beep interrupted Ginny's sentence. A voice came from the small device, muffled and buzzing. Whatever it said, Ginny must have understood. "That's our cue. I'll see you soon, alright?"
"Thank you, Ginny."
"Thanks, Mum," said Albus, in a very small voice. Scorpius felt a sharp pang of sadness strike his heart.
Ginny beckoned Harry over from his conversation with another auror. The small gray room fell silent for a moment except for the soft footsteps of people moving throughout the building. Ginny turned to leave, reaching into the pocket of her coat to put her wand away. After an entire two steps, she froze in place, hesitant. For a moment, she was completely still, as though she'd turned to stone.
"Mum?" said Albus, looking a bit confused. "Are you feeling alright? I think -"
Before he could finish his sentence, Ginny turned quickly and pulled her son into a bone-crushing hug. She whispered something that Scorpius couldn't hear, but whatever it was made Albus genuinely smile for the first time that day. By the time Ginny let go of him, some of the anxiety had eased, and Albus no longer looked like he was waiting for everything to go wrong.
Then Ginny turned to Scorpius. She held out her arms, and he quickly obliged. It wasn't the first time, but there was always an unnerving feeling that settled into his mind. It had been six years since his own mother had hugged him, and as much as it hurt to admit it, he missed that.
