The Next Generation

The Second to Last Day

The last weeks of school flew by for Albus, Rose, and Scorpius. At last, the time had come to leave for the year. But they weren't going to part ways with each other, seeing as Albus and Scorpius would be spending the beginning of summer together, and Rose was surely going to visit the Potters' home with her family. All in all, leaving Hogwarts was bittersweet. Their first year had certainly been eventful, even if not always in a good way. Now, they were going to try to sneak out of the castle undetected. James was planning to accompany them, but the four of them couldn't fit under the invisibility cloak at the same time, so he reluctantly stayed behind. They had hid out in the library until they were forced out by the librarian, then they moved to an empty classroom, where they stayed late into the evening. They wanted to make absolutely sure they wouldn't be stopped on the way out of the castle, so they waited until everyone should be in bed. Because Rose and Scorpius had snuck outside at night previously in order to rescue Albus from the forest, they knew that their best way out was simply through the front doors. Seeing as the coast was clear, the trio crept quietly from the classroom under the magical cloak, closing the door shut behind them. This was a mistake, since the old door creaked loudly when moved. They stood still as statues for a minute before continuing, nervous that they had given away their location. When nobody moved, they continued on towards the castle's entrance.

"Going somewhere?" a familiar voice called out from the dark space in front of them. They froze in their place, hearts hammering in their chests. "You aren't trying to escape, are you, Scorpius?" sneered Connell Parkinson, moving into the corridor where they could see him clearly. When nobody dared to reply, he continued. "When you didn't come back to the common room this evening, I thought there might be a problem. The others told me I was being ridiculous, that you were probably just roaming around the castle, clueless. After all, how could you know about our plan? But I thought I'd better check the castle just in case. And what do you know?" There was a pause.

"Run," Rose whispered frantically, "run!" But it was too late. Connell had aimed a stunning spell at the invisible spot where they stood, and it hit Albus square in the chest. As he fell backwards, the cloak slid off of them, and before Rose and Scorpius could raise their wands, Connell stunned Rose. Now, just Scorpius was left standing, petrified with fear. Taking advantage of Scorpius's failure to act, the older Slytherin shot a silent spell at him, binding him head-to-toe in ropes so he had no means of using his wand. He then dragged Rose and Albus into the nearest classroom and locked the door as he left. When he turned back to Scorpius, he saw him fighting against the restraints, and a slightly manic smile spread across the older boy's face. He dragged the pale boy through the castle and up to the Room of Requirement, all the while growing more eager. He was finally going to finish the kid off, and this time, no one could stop him.