Soldiers and Serpents //Scorbus

69 Imperio

Scorpius sat in the drawing room of Andromeda's home, his feet propped up on the table and a book of voodoo open in front of him. He looked up as Raven entered the room, dressed in light green and charcoal black. Her hair pulled up into a high braided bun. "I've been looking for you." She stuffs her phone into her pocket. Her blue eyes flick to the phone by Scorpius's feet. "You've been ignoring my calls." She realizes, crossing arms over her chest.

"Anyone else would take the hint." Scorpius turned the page, looking back to his book.

"Didn't you see what happened in the papers this morning?" Raven snapped. It's been two days since he and Teddy learned about Daniel's plans. Two days since he explained everything that was going on to Albus. Two days since he sat at his mother's grave with nothing to say to her.

"Azkaban was destroyed. The dementors freed the prisoners and then disappeared into the sky never to be seen again." Scorpius kept his eyes on the book as he spoke. "Nothing I can do about it. So I'm trying to find the spell to unleash instinctual magic in everyone other than me. Because that, that might actually give our small group a chance against the army that Daniel just released from prison."

Raven loudly sighs. "So you know what happened, but you haven't bothered talking to anyone about what's going on in the world. Even Teddy. He's under the bizarre impression that you've been hiding from him all morning as well."

"More successfully than I've been hiding from you." Scorpius grins at her. His sister wasn't amused. "Talking isn't going to change anything. So why bother?"

"Oh. You're in one of those moods." Raven's patronizing wasn't lost on him. Scorpius laid the book open on his chest as he put his full attention on her.

"Fine." He began to mock. "'Oh no Scorpius what are we going to do about all the murderers prowling the street?'"

"I don't sound like-"

"'I don't know Raven, if only there were people who's job told them to catch criminals.'" Scorpius gave a fake smile. "Great talk."

"Albus called me."

"And what did he want?" Scorpius picked his book up again.

"He called you too. You didn't answer."

"Maybe because I've been busy." Scorpius lifted the book a few inches up for emphasis.

"He's coming over with James and Rose later. You told him everything so now-"

"I didn't know it was a secret." Scorpius shrugged. Raven rolled her eyes.

"You knew James and Teddy had decided to keep it away from him."

"That's because James and Teddy see Albus as a weak wizard who couldn't stand up for himself against a bully." Scorpius defends the boy. "But he's not that person. He's a lot stronger than anyone gives him credit for. And he deserves to be part of what's going on. It's as much his business as it is James." Scorpius paused. "Actually it's more Albus's business than James."

"I don't get it." Raven's tone changed to the one where he was about to get a lecture. He groans aloud, not about to hide his annoyance. "He cheats on you and you just get over it? It hurt you so much initially-"

"I'm still hurt." Scorpius's voice was sharp. "But I tried keeping him out of my life. And I've accepted I can't. Or I don't want to."

"Well if Ashton-"

"We're very different people, Raven." Scorpius snapped, sitting up and pulling his legs off the table.

"If Ashton cheated on me, I would cut him out of my life. There wouldn't be any crawling back." She hissed. Scorpius felt anger build up in him, and forced down that instinctual magic that came with it. It was hard to keep from being harsh. To keep from saying something irreversible. But he had to. He had to contain that rage.