Albus Potter and the Cursed Legacy | Scorbus

42. A Waiting Game

Albus couldn't focus in any of his lessons. Not that that was unusual for him but this time his mind was in a completely different place. Instead of being empty, occupied mostly on trying not to fall asleep, this time it was racing with thoughts. Flitting with images of Magnolia fluttering her eyelashes, Lacero smiling wickedly, and a flash of sickening green light. Albus had seen that light once before and it sent a crawling feeling up his spine. He never wanted to see that spell again. No matter how many rows he had with his father, Albus would never wish him dead.

The fate of his father was resting on Albus' shoulders. Or, more so on Luella's shoulders--if owls even had shoulders. On a normal day, Albus would have leaned over to Scorpius to see if he had an answer to the random question--he was always overflowing with seemingly useless knowledge--but Albus didn't think it seemed like the right time. Owl shoulders didn't seem important enough to bother him about with everything else going on in their lives right now.

Every time he entered the Great Hall for a meal, he couldn't take his eyes off of the enchanted ceiling, praying for an owl to fly overhead. He could hardly stand the thought of touching his food, only going to the Hall to wait with his friends, who all seemed equally on edge. Whilst the rest of the school seemed to be as cheerful and chatty as usual, mealtimes were anything but pleasant to Albus and his friends.

Even Matthias, who'd taken to sitting with them now that his friends were gone, was starting to catch on. Not only had he been alerted by the overwhelmingly anxious aura they gave off but he'd quickly noticed the absence of his old friend group. He soon became frustrated when they refused to tell him what was going on. Albus didn't trust him enough. He may have apologised but he still wasn't in the clear. He'd still been friends with Silas and Ryker, now gone missing, which made him suspicious--even if he seemed completely clueless himself.

And Matthias wasn't the only one catching on to their uneasiness.

"No Magnolia again?" Professor Amatori had tutted, noticing her empty seat as she handed back marked papers to the class Tuesday afternoon. She hadn't said anything more but Albus swore he saw a flicker of worry when he met her eyes.

The hours dragged by with still no post for any of them in sight.

"We only just sent them off this morning, the owls might not have even delivered the letters yet," Rose had tried to be the voice of reason at dinner that night.

But when nothing had shown by Wednesday evening, the night before the said Retribution, panic started to set in.

"My dad's going to die and it's going to be all my fault," Albus choked on a sob, feeling as if his empty dormitory was starting to spin around him. The rushing of his blood filled his ears, so loud that he almost couldn't hear Scorpius trying to comfort him from where he sat across from him on his bed.

"Don't say that," Scorpius' lip quivered but he managed to put on a brave face. Neither of them would be much use if they were both blubbering. "He's not going to die! And none of this was your fault. It's Lacero's. She's the only one to blame." He wrapped Albus in a tight embrace, letting him cry into his shoulder.

"But I knew. I could have prevented this all." 

"And you don't know for sure that you haven't! Perhaps Harry just hasn't responded to the letter. Or it will arrive with the post tomorrow morning," He suggested although he didn't sound entirely convinced. "For all we know, Lacero could have been caught by the Aurors already."

Albus shook his head against the fabric of his boyfriend's jumper, "No, we would have heard back by now. Or read it in the Prophet. Or something." Albus just wanted a sign. Some slight confirmation that his father was going to be okay and that Lacero would be stopped. But as the countdown to The Retribution began, Albus was swiftly losing confidence.