Must Have Done Something Right / Scorbus

Chapter 11 / Morion versus Malfoy: Part Two

The problem was, despite their growing friendship, they both had to maintain a strictly un-platonic and even somewhat hostile relationship when everyone else was around. So when Scorpius found himself at the victim of another of Albus' friends' cruel pranks, Albus himself stood helplessly nearby, unable to do anything.
This time, it happened in the fourth floor Charms corridor.
Scorpius had just left Charms and was heading to his Ancient Runes classroom, head down and walking swiftly, so as to get to his next lesson without having another incident occur. The fates, however, chose to strike then. Scorpius was not twenty steps out of the Charms room when he was very suddenly and very harshly pulled to the side by two pairs of large, bulging arms, into a small vestibule area that branched off the hallway.
"Hey!" he shrieked as he was forcefully hauled, knowing without a doubt it could only be the boys from the Quidditch team. Scorpius chose not to refer to them as Albus' friends anymore, because he couldn't associate Albus with these horrible people—not even mentally. "Stop it," he beseeched.
"Shut your hole, you homo," Paul Rockwell sneered, while Matt Morion laughed darkly.
"Let me go," Scorpius said, trying to shrug out of their grasp.
"'Let me go'," Morion mimicked in a high voice, and Scorpius resisted the urge to roll his eyes at their childish actions. This time, Rockwell laughed.
"Matt! Paul!" someone said from down the hallway. "Where'd you guys go?"
Scorpius heart sank when he realised that it was Albus' voice.
"Here," Matt responded loudly. "We've got the fag!"
There was silence for a few seconds before Albus gingerly rounded the corner into the vestibule, staring at his friends as they kept their tight hold on each of Scorpius' arms. Scorpius' heart started pounding wildly—if only Albus weren't here, it would be easier to deal with them. He wished Albus would leave.
"Let me go," Scorpius said once more, this time a lot quieter, with his eyes firmly on the ground. He was determined not to look at Albus.
"H-hey guys," Albus said abruptly, "We should go practice. Match is coming up ... we need to perfect the—"
"Later, later," Rockwell grunted, "After we're finished with this." He jerked Scorpius' arm so suddenly that he couldn't hold back the whimper of pain. It felt as if his arm was pulled out of his shoulder socket.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Rockwell said sardonically. "Did I hurt you? How about I make it better ..." He twisted the thin arm grasped in his hands cruelly. Scorpius tried to keep his mouth shut and not show any pain, but after a point he couldn't and began to say, \Stop it! Stop it ... hurts."
"Guys! I really think—" Albus tried frantically.
Matt spat in Scorpius' face. "Don't tell us when to stop! We'll go on as long as we like!"
Scorpius kept his head hung down, humiliated and in pain. How he wished Albus would just disappear. More than this to be over, Scorpius wanted his friend to leave.
"Albus, c'mere for a sec," Matt said.
Scorpius' eyes went wide. No, no, no, no ... don't bring him into this.
"Why?" Albus said, sounding a little unsure, taking tentative steps forward. Scorpius suddenly found that he afraid for Albus. Scorpius knew that Albus wouldn't be allowed to show any fear or hesitation, otherwise they'd know about their friendship, and then Albus, too, would be a victim. He quickly looked up at Albus, and they made brief eye contact—too quick for the others to register. But in that brief moment, Scorpius sent a message through his eyes: It's okay. I'm fine.
"Just come here," Rockwell said, once again tugging hard on Scorpius' arm.
"Find the fag's phone," Matt grunted.
What? Scorpius frowned. Why on earth would they want his phone? He wasn't given much time to ponder why because Matt's massive grubby hand suddenly reached up and painfully grabbed onto Scorpius' hair, pulling his entire head back, arching his spine. "Ah!" Scorpius winced. It felt as if Matt was pulling his hair out by the roots. Matt's grip got tighter and Scorpius felt his eyes prickle with wetness. His two captors seemed to find this very amusing, and kept him standing there like that while Albus began to search his bag for his mobile phone.
Scorpius quickly said. "It's not there."
Matt pulled his head back further, glaring threateningly into Scorpius' glistening eyes.
"It—It's not in my bag," Scorpius whispered, his breath coming in short gasps.
"Where is it?" Matt said in a low, calm voice.
A few seconds of terse silence passed and Scorpius contemplated whether he should tell them that his phone was currently in his jeans pocket.
Rockwell lost his patience and suddenly kicked Scorpius in the back of his knees painfully. His legs immediately folded in. He would have fallen down if Matt hadn't been pulling on his head. Sharp acute pain rang from both his knees and scalp, and he cried out.
"Where is it?" Rockwell spat.
Scorpius closed his eyes, which were now leaking. There was no way he could look at Albus now—not after this humiliation.
"WHERE IS IT, YOU DISGUSTING QUEER?" Matt screamed in his ear.
"It's in my pocket!" Scorpius cried out in terror, wanting this torture to end. "It's in my pocket!"
"Get it, Albus," Matt said.
Scorpius kept his eyes firmly shut as he felt Albus carefully feel his pockets and locate where his phone was. Then, quieter than the wind, and softer than silk, Scorpius felt, more than heard, Albus lean in close and whisper in his ear, "I'm so sorry," as he pulled out the gadget from his pocket. The other two hadn't heard, and when Albus stepped back with Scorpius' phone in his hand, they let go of him and he crumpled to the ground.
Scorpius prayed this was the end. He prayed they'd leave now, but that would be too good to be true. Albus made a beeline for the corridor, wanting to leave and hopefully encourage the others to as well.
But Matt and Rockwell didn't feel like leaving. "Wait a sec, Albus. One last thing," he said, grinning malevolently at Scorpius who was still on the ground.
Albus paused and turned.
And then suddenly, like the unstoppable force of an enormous wave, tho two bullies advanced on Scorpius, kicking, punching, pulling, ripping. It felt like the Cruciatus, but it was made worse knowing that Albus was watching. Scorpius could do nothing to withstand the barrage of attacks from the physically much bigger boys. He felt his ribs crack, his clothes tear, the wind forced out of his stomach, his eyes swell shut. He cried out in pain, screaming for them to stop, sobbing for relief, but they wouldn't stop. It was unending torture. Suddenly he saw red, as blood—his own blood—poured out through his nose and mouth, staining everything with its horrifying hue. Matt and Rockwell never ceased. They were relentless with their kicks, precise with their punches and Scorpius felt less than human when they spat on him. It hurt, it hurt so much.
When they stopped, Scorpius lay curled on his side, futilely shielding his trembling body from them and any other attacks. He couldn't move; his whole body felt broken. His eyes were closed, whether voluntarily or because they were too swollen, Scorpius wasn't sure. He just wished he would fall asleep, he just wished he would die, and never have to see them again. He heard their final farewell, their sneering, laughing voices burning his ears.
"Let that be a lesson to you, cocksucker!"
Laughing, they left him alone, crying and in agony.
Before his mind shut down completely, the last thing Scorpius realised was that Albus had left sometime during the attack. He remembered dimly that he had wanted Albus to leave; he had wished that Albus wouldn't watch.
But now, for some reason, the fact that Albus had left hurt more than anything else.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
He woke up in the Infirmary, but the view had had was only available through a tiny slit in his right eye—his left wouldn't open. He tried to move, but it hurt too much.
"Scorp?" a soft, tentative voice whispered.
Albus.
He was here. Despite his feeling of complete paralysis, his heart flipped.
Scorpius turned his head to the voice, but the effort was akin to swimming upstream, and the pain was almost unbearable.
"No, don't move," Albus quickly said. "Here ... I'll move." He leant over Scorpius into his limited line of sight. He was the picture of concern, Scorpius thought, as he took in Albus' wide green eyes, scrunched up forehead and his bitten lip which was currently held captive by his teeth.
Albus was staring fixedly at Scorpius with the same careful detail, it seemed, for he breathed, "Merlin, Scorp ... I ... I can't believe ..." He couldn't finish.
"Albus," Scorpius croaked painfully, as if his vocal cords were rubbing against sandpaper.
"Water, right," Albus mumbled, blinking furiously while moving away to the bedside table. He returned with a glass of water clutched in one hand. With the other, he gently slithered his arm beneath Scorpius' head and, while holding his breath, he carefully lifted it a small fraction and held the glass at Scorpius' lips.
Were the effort of drinking not so great, Scorpius would have gloried in this moment of having Albus hold him up. Just the feel of his arm around his head was electrifying, and he flushed from his neck down, as goose bumps danced on his skin.
After a few sips, Albus set him gently back down on the pillows, which, granted, were soft, but not as nice as Albus' hand.
"Thanks," Scorp muttered.
Albus made a funny noise in his throat and he shook his head. "No, please, don't say that," he said in a shaking voice. "Don't say thank you."
Scorpius wasn't sure what Albus meant or how to respond, so he said nothing. Instead, he stared at him. Albus' face was unsettled, uncertain and confused—Scorpius was sure he was silently warring with himself right now. His green eyes were looking everywhere, occasionally coming to rest on him with a look of ... pain, guilt and anger. Scorpius knew that he had a million things to say at once, but it seemed that he couldn't form the words.
Scorpius waited; waited for Albus' inner demons to leave him alone.
"Are you—" Albus' voice caught. "Are you alright?"
Scorpius considered his answer. He knew he was physically in a lot of pain; he knew he had broken bones; and he knew that he was terrified of everything and everyone, but he couldn't tell Albus. "It's over now," he said quietly. "And ... I'm glad you're here."
Albus looked at him. "Scorpius ..."
He knew he was going to apologise, so he jumped in. "Don't apologise. I was there, Albus, you didn't do anything to me. It was all ... them."
Scorpius wanted to scream in frustration. He couldn't talk to Albus about this at all! Not when it was his best friends who were to blame. He wanted to yell and cry and hate Morion and Rockwell out loud, but he couldn't ... because as far as he was concerned, and for reasons he would never understand, they were still Albus' friends. A part of him harboured anger and frustration at Albus for ever being friends with the people who landed him in the Infirmary in the first place, and for continuing to be their friends.
Albus looked like he was in pain, and suddenly he couldn't hold it in. "I don't know what to say, Scorpius! I don't know ... dammit! I don't know what to do! I hate what they did to you, I hate that you're here in this bed and that you're in pain! I hate that I can't make any promises to you because I'm so bloody scared for myself! I hate that all you do is sit there and take it all! You won't let me apologise for myself, and I can't apologise for Matt because what bloody difference would it make?"
Tears began to seep out of both their eyes. They were both breathing heavily.
Finally, Albus said, quieter this time, "And I hate myself most of all ... for reasons that I don't even know how to say." They stared at each other in pain and confusion.
"They hurt you, Scorp ..." Albus whispered, gently, carefully, taking his hand. "They hurt you ... when I saw you ... after they left ... Merlin I was terrified. You—you weren't moving ..."
Scorpius realised then that Albus had never left; he had only hidden out of sight, to be there when Matt and Rockwell left.
"... There was blood on the ground... everywhere ..." Albus clutched Scorpius' hand.
They remained quiet and still for some time. With the curtains closed around Scorpius' bed, no one bothered them.
Finally, however, Madam Pomfrey stuck her head in. "Mr Potter," she said in an old frail voice. "You must leave now. Mr Malfoy needs to take his potions and rest."
Albus didn't look up but nodded his acknowledgment. He straightened himself, and let go of Scorpius' warm hand which he had been holding for so long. They had no parting words for each other; enough had been said. So with a nod and a weak smile, Albus ducked out.
Long after Albus left, Scorpius' hand was still tingling, and his thoughts were still stuck on the other boy.