Harry Potter: 19 Years Later

Chapter 35: Evacuation

Scorpius hated not knowing what was going on. Well, this could be said for everyone, really. Being told to evacuate the castle because of a mysterious fire in the Great Hall made Scorpius's heart sink. He'd just seen Rose and Holly in the Great Hall. What really freaked Scorpius out was when he couldn't find any of his friends outside of the castle.

The chaos initially started when Scorpius left the Great Hall after Rose reminded him that he needed to finish his essay. He'd made it up to the Gryffindor common room and managed to write one sentence on his parchment, and that's when a booming voice from out of no where yelled, "FIRE IN THE GREAT HALL! EVERYONE EVACUATE THE CASTLE!"

Everyone froze, and so did Scorpius. Fires rarely happened at Hogwarts. Small fires occasionally happened in Potions classes whenever someone's cauldron exploded or something, but Professor Slughorn always put out the flames with the Aguamenti spell immediately afterwards. The school hasn't ever caught on fire while Scorpius has been here, so he really wasn't prepared for this. No one was.

Then everyone broke into a sprint out of the portrait hole at once, panicking and yelling. Scorpius was sucked into the crowd and he couldn't break away. He thought he spotted Albus and Lily a few feet behind him, but he couldn't get to them. Rose and Holly were no where to be found. This really concerned Scorpius.

The closest exit was through the courtyard, so that's where the large group of students were evacuated. This wasn't the majority of the school, though, since most were still in the Great Hall having dinner. They'd probably exited through the main doors. Many scenarios reeled through Scorpius's mind. How did the fire start in the Great Hall?

Professor McGonagall made her way through the crowd of students and yelled over the voices that were still chattering, "Students! Please, can I have your attention?"

Everyone was still blabbering away, while some were shushing each other, making the noise level worse than before. Finally, Scorpius heard Lily, who was nearby, scream at the top of her tiny lungs, "SHUT IT!"

This instantly shut everyone up. (Haha I kinda copied the Quidditch tryouts scene in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince...oh well :p)

"Thank you, Miss Potter," McGonagall praised Lily, making Lily smirk with pride. "Anyways, you all are probably wondering what the situation is inside Hogwarts that made the entire school have to evacuate. There has been a fire located in the kitchens area and the Hufflepuff common room. We don't know the exact cause of the fire, but we will investigate it. For now, everyone needs to report to the Quidditch field and sit in the stands while we make sure the fire is put out completely. This is no ordinary fire, so it will take precise spells and charms to contain it. Now, everyone follow your house prefects to the Quidditch field stands."

Everyone immediately obliged, and made their ways towards the Quidditch field. Finally, Albus and Lily caught up to Scorpius, which was a huge relief. Not knowing where Rose and Holly were was making his mind buzz with anxiety.

"You know what happened exactly, mate?" Albus asked him, his nose very stuffy-sounding. He sneezed after he asked his question.

Scorpius shrugged. "I honestly have no clue. I was just told to leave the castle and that there was a fire." Then he added. "Have you seen Rose and Holly?"

Albus sniffled. He looked as distressed about this as Scorpius did. "Nope, I haven't. I'm worried sick about them."

"Relax, you two," Lily said. "They probably left the castle through the main exit. We'll see them at the Quidditch fields."

Scorpius hoped Lily was right.

After a long and tiring walk, and the majority of the time Albus leaned his head on Scorpius's shoulder due to exhaustion and sickness, the students finally arrived at the Quidditch fields. Lily ran off to search for Hugo and Fred, most likely, leaving Scorpius and Albus alone to panic and search for Rose and Holly. Where were they? Surely they were both alright.

Just when Scorpius was about to have a panic attack, he spotted a familiar head full of fluffy red hair. It was Rose, and she was running towards them. Scorpius could feel his heart start beating again. When Rose made it to him, he pulled her into his arms and buried his face into her hair. She smelled of smoke.

"Are you alright?" Scorpius asked, concerned. He looked her up and down to check for injuries. Rose just had what looked like dust in her hair.

Rose sighed. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just a little shaken up, though."

Scorpius held Rose close to him, stroking her hair. "I'm just glad you're not hurt, love. Did you see what happened?"

Rose pulled away from him and took a shaky breath. She didn't look into his eyes when she spoke. "I did. It was...strange."

"Strange how?" Scorpius asked.

"I can't really describe it," Rose replied. "Can we not talk about it?"

Wow, she must be really upset, Scorpius thought. Instead of replying, he wrapped his arms around Rose and tried his best to comfort her.

Albus, who had fallen asleep since they'd arrived at the Quidditch field, woke up and seemed to just now notice that Rose was there.

"Rose!" Albus gasped. "Are you alright? Are you hurt? Are you-" He paused, scrunching up his face in confusion. "Wait, where's Holly?

Scorpius was too caught up in his little reunion with Rose that he'd forgotten that she had come without Holly. Something wasn't right.

When Rose didn't reply, Albus asked again, this time more eager, "Rose? Where the bloody heck is Holly?"

Then, Scorpius felt a wetness on his shoulder. Rose was crying against him.

"Al, I-I don't know what happened. We were leaving the Great Hall and she said she didn't feel good. But I still made her come with me. Then, all of a sudden, she collapsed and the fire started...I-I think Holly started the fire," Rose explained, afterwards bursting into more tears on Scorpius's shoulder.

"Rose, where is she?" Albus demanded, and Scorpius could see that he was shaking. It looked like he was about to cry.

Rose held her face in her hands and cried, "The nurse and Professor Longbottom carried her off to safety after she fainted! I don't know what's wrong with her!"

Albus stood up quickly, which gave him a head rush and he had to put his hand on Scorpius's other shoulder for support. Albus muttered, "I have to go see her."

"Al, you can't," Scorpius told him. "We're not allowed to leave the Quidditch field until the fire is taken care of."

Albus glared at Scorpius. "Oh yeah? Watch me."

Then, just like that, Albus broke into a sprint and pushed his way through the crowd and the prefects who were guarding the exit. No one bothered chasing him, but they called his name to come back. Albus didn't listen.

Scorpius and Rose exchanged nervous glances, and they knew what they had to do. They climbed under the bleachers, (Scorpius remembered all the times him and Rose frequently sneaked away during breaks to talk and make out under there, and he instantly blushed) and made their way to a hole in the stands, where they could easily sneak out. Then they ran towards the castle after Albus.

~ ~ ~

Ah, more chaos and conflict! What the heck is wrong with Holly? Will Albus, Scorpius, and Rose get caught for sneaking away?

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