Harry Potter: 19 Years Later

Chapter 72: It Begins

Scorpius...Scorpius....

A sinister hiss made Scorpius wake up on Christmas Eve morning with a start. His eyes darted all over his and Albus's room, trying to find the source of the slithery voice. It sounded like whoever had called his name was right next to him, but nothing in the room appeared out of the ordinary. Albus was still fast asleep in his bed, seemingly not affected by whatever was disturbing Scorpius.

Scorpius Malfoy, the voice hissed again, their icy tone sending chills down Scorpius's spine. Then he realized the voice was coming from inside his head.

Salazar? Scorpius thought, hoping to Merlin it was the man in his head calling to him for whatever reason.

The voice let out a wheezy, dark laugh, and Scorpius swore the room became several degrees colder. Oh, I am not Salazar Slytherin...

Scorpius stomach lurched.

Then who are you? he questioned the voice, his body beginning to tremble with fear.

You will see soon enough...come to me...

The voice grew fainter, as if it were moving farther away. And the strange thing was, Scorpius could sense that it was moving. He was tempted to get out of bed and follow it, but decided against it. Although, something about the voice was almost persuasive, like it was luring him to it. He'd never heard anything like it before.

His curiosity getting the better of him, Scorpius crawled out of bed and headed towards the door. It was as if his body was moving on its own accord. Hissing filled his ears as soon as his hand grasped the doorknob...

"Scorpius?"

The sound of Albus's groggy voice snapped Scorpius out of his trance. Blinking rapidly, he let go of the doorknob.

"The strangest thing just happened," he muttered, walking back over to his bed.

"What was it?" Albus inquired, yawning deeply.

Scorpius shook his head, still trying to grasp what had just happened. "Some voice was calling to me, and I started to follow it. It was like I didn't know what I was doing for a second..."

"Weird," Albus agreed, now alert. "Are you sure it wasn't just Salazar bothering you?"

Scorpius thought about it for a second before shaking his head. "No, this wasn't Salazar this time. I'd know if it was him."

Albus frowned. "Then what do you think it was?"

"I wish I knew," Scorpius replied, worry dawning on him. Then something troubling occurred to him. "You don't think it has anything to do with the...?"

Albus's face paled significantly, his expression saying it all. Without further conversation, the boys quickly got dressed and headed straight to the Great Hall, searching for Rose and Holly.

* * *

"That is strange," Holly agreed after Scorpius recounted on what had happened to him earlier. Both girls looked as worried as he was.

"And you're positive it wasn't Salazar?" Rose asked him, her cheeks reddening slightly. This was the first time she'd spoken directly to Scorpius since he'd kissed her. He still wanted to crawl under a rock at the memory.

"I'm positive," he assured her, focusing his gaze somewhere behind her and not on her. Then he thought of something. "Now that I think about it, Salazar has been really quiet lately..."

Scorpius foraged his mind for the presence of the Slytherin man, but it was like Salazar was sleeping, shutting away their communication. This was not normal.