Curse Of Pain

Chapter 24

Harry's POV

"So.... An old friend of dad's blames you guys for leaving him in a room on fire back at Hogwarts." Scorpius said registering it.

"One that he started and you tried saving him, but it was too late. Only to find out he's alive 11 years later." Teddy continued.

"And now is after you guys for revenge, which also may result in us getting hurt along with Ron, Hermione, Rose, and Blaise." Scorpius finished.

Draco and I nodded our heads at the two boys in front of us.

We decided it would be best to fill them in on what's happening. We've also decided to set some more rules, which they're annoyed about, but know it's for their safety and is only temporary. They're no longer allowed outside without one of us. They have to wait at the school doors instead of just wandering around everywhere until we show up and we need to take a look around before getting them and heading home. More wards are going up on the house and the four of us will pretty much be stuck like glue to each other.

The boys stood in silence. Almost like they were trying to believe what we told them, but just couldn't. They're eyes were wide as their minds worked over time. They knew that a lot more had happened during the war than they knew about, but they didn't expect a dead guy to come crawling back for revenge.

"That is the most insane thing I've ever heard!" Teddy yelled. "He blames you for something he did! That's literally ridiculous!" He yelled in irritation.

"He burned our house down because he's mad at something he caused. That's bull-"

"Language! Scorpius. That's not appropriate even if it's valid in this context." Draco pointed to Scorpius for his almost language mess up.

"Still. It's not fair! You guys didn't do anything wrong! It was all him!" Scorpius said in anger.

"I know, but he is a death eater and is extremely angry. He's not going to just sit around and do nothing. He's going to go after anyone that wronged him." I said to them both.

"Not cool. The guy's crazy." Teddy said, crossing his arms.

"We know." Draco said. "But the only thing we can do about it is to stay with each other and stay safe. Ok?" He asked.

Both boys nodded in complete understanding. They know how serious this situation is and I'm proud of them for taking it the way they did.

"Alright boys, I want you to finish your school work and then afterwards we'll all head out to do some shopping to replace some of the stuff from the fire. Ok?" I told them. They groaned before going into the dining area to finish up the school work they had. I also had some papers to grade before tomorrow, so I pulled them out and sat comfortably beside Draco to get them accomplished.

"Do you actually read through every essay?" Draco asked me as he looked down at the many essays in my hands.

"Yes. I have to if I'm going to be fair for each students grades." I replied while writing down some notes of improvement and compliments on parts the student did well on.

"Just seems like a lot of work." He replied.

"True, but I enjoy it and I certainly don't have as hard of a time as you do. Your job can be stressful and difficult, I could only assume."

"Yes, you're not wrong there, but I also don't have to take my work home with me, at least not all the time."

"Touche."

We went into a completely silent atmosphere that didn't have any awkwardness in it. The only sounds in the room were that of my quill scratching against parchment while Draco rested his head on my shoulder.

He hasn't had much sleep in the last few nights since the fire incident. He keeps having nightmares of him losing Scorpius in the fire or other cruel and horrible ways that Crabbe might pull to hurt the kids.

I don't blame him, of course. There are times when I find myself staring at absolutely nothing because my mind would completely wander to what ifs and other unexplainable possibilities that might result in either Draco or the kids getting hurt.

About an hour had passed, almost all of the essays were graded and Draco was sound asleep.
"We're done!" A voice called as Teddy and Scorpius came back into the room.

"All of it? I don't need to be getting another call from your teacher saying that you didn't finish the homework." Draco questioned, lifting his head off my shoulder and rubbing the tiredness out of his eyes.

"I promise it's done this time." Scorpius swore.

"He's telling the truth. I watched him do all of it." Teddy confirmed.

"Yeah see? If Teddy said I got it done then I did because he's like top of our class."

"You didn't just give him the answers, right Teddy?" I questioned with a rise of my eyebrow.

"Of course not! I did help him when he got stuck, but I'm not dumb enough to just give him the answers." He defended.

Scorpius crossed his arms over his chest and huffed. "You can say that again. He always makes me learn how to do it instead of just getting the answers."

Draco and I laughed slightly as Teddy just smiled widely at Scorpius. "Well that's good to hear. Now, lets get some shopping done and then we can eat out somewhere." I said standing up and setting the rest of the ungraded papers on the coffee table. I'll have to finish those when I get back.

The boys put their shoes on, while Draco and I grabbed our wands and our money before walking to the front door to also put on our shoes.

"Ready?" Draco asked.

"Good to go. Can we stop at George's shop before heading back home?" Teddy asked.

Scorpius' eyes lit up. "Can we? Please!"

"Alright fine, but only after we've gotten everything else we needed." I told the two boys who stood there giving us puppy dog eyes.

"Yes!" Scorpius shouted with excitement.

"I already know what I'm going to get." Teddy commented.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Scorpius asked.

"We aren't brothers for no reason, Scorp." Teddy said bluntly.

I rolled my eyes at their antics. "Let's go before it gets too late." I told them and we all left.

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Hey guys! Just an update. My surgery went well and I was able to leave a few days later. Recovery's been a bit rough since I'm exhausted all the time now, but it's getting better. I have three more weeks of recovery before I'm able to get active again, which I'm just itching to do since I've been trapped in my house since March.
Anyways, I hope everything is going well for everyone and you're all staying safe.
Also, I know this doesn't start till tomorrow, but Happy Pride Month!!! I'm sad that the festivities all got cancelled or moved virtually, but I'm excited to be celebrating it nonetheless. If you've heard about the Pride Fall, please be careful and whatever anyone tells you, don't believe them. You are perfect just the way you are and there's a lot of people in this world that will back you up on that as well. Don't let the haters hate.
If you're struggling or need some support, hmu. I'm always available and I'm usually really good at replying to your messages.

Thanks again and I hope you enjoyed this week's chapter!