Harry Potter: 19 Years Later

Chapter 24: A Much-Needed Reunion

Albus was currently vomiting heavily in a nearby trash bin, while his cousin and her somewhat mentally disturbed boyfriend were busy snogging in the lift. They've been at it for over five minutes. And it definitely wasn't helping Albus's condition. He completely forgot about the possible side-effects of the pain relief potion his nurse gave him before Rose showed up in his hospital room and when he decided to go on his run through the halls. It probably would have been helpful if Albus had actually listened to the nurse while she explained the potion to him. 

Well, it wasn't very smart of the nurse to try and explain medical terminology to a half-asleep patient in the first place. 

Anyways, after Albus finally quit heaving out his insides, he stood up and contemplated what he should do next. He could walk away and go back to his room, or he could find a way to get the two lovebirds' attention. Albus rolled his eyes as they kept making gross noises.

Albus glanced at the trash bin that contained his stomach contents. Whoever had to take the trash out in the morning was not going to be happy. So, much to his disgust, Albus picked up the trash bin and held it under his arm. His nose wrinkled at the smell. I'm so gross, he thought.

"Um, Al?" Rose said suddenly, snapping Albus out of his thoughts about his own vomit. 

When Albus glanced up, Rose and Scorpius were staring at him, both of them out of breath from their kiss and still holding each other. The couple was blushing like crazy. As much as they snogged, shouldn't they be used to awkward moments like this? 

Then Scorpius's mouth grew into a huge smile. Something told Albus that this was probably the first time  his best friend had smiled in a while. He crouched down with Rose to help her sit back down in her wheelchair, then stood up and said, "Good to see you, Al!"

Albus realized this was their first time reuniting in almost a year. He couldn't stop himself from smiling like an idiot as he rushed over to Scorpius, careful not to move too fast and upset his weak stomach, and embraced in him in a tight, manly hug.

If James knew about this, he'd never stop teasing Albus.

Albus pulled away, and he noticed he now had to look up even more to meet Scorpius's eyes, which were lined with dark circles from exhaustion. How the heck has he grown even more? Poor Albus was probably going to be short like his father. 

"Someone had a growth spurt," Albus said, chuckling. 

Scorpius looked down at himself, as if he just realized he grew an extra arm out of his stomach. "Huh. Guess I'm not quite done growing yet. I didn't expect a coma to change me that much. Mentally, yes. Physically, not really. Interesting." Scorpius chuckled, and Albus could've sworn he looked surprised after the laugh escaped his lips. 

Rose wheeled over to them and had to reach up quite a bit due to her boyfriend's height to put her hand on Scorpius's arm. "Wait, coma? You were in a coma?"

Scorpius nodded, now confusion etched his face. "Yeah, for about five and a half months from what I was told. Why, love?"

Albus saw Rose's face fall. He couldn't believe his ears. Five and a half months? From what Albus was told, he was in his coma for nine months. Until now, he didn't realize how long of a time that sounded. Then he thought of Rose and how she just woke up the day before. If he remembered the incident that put them all in their comas correctly, then that happened a few days after New Years. It was mid-January right now. Rose was in her coma for over a year.

Holy Merlin.

"Okay," Albus said, gathering up his thoughts. "So, we can establish now that all three of us have been in comas for several months. This is all because of what happened a few days after New Years a year ago at..." He snapped his fingers when he remembered the place a second later, then continued, "Malfoy Manor. The killing curses somehow didn't kill us."

"But that's impossible," Rose replied, shaking her head in disbelief. "The only known wizard who's survived the killing curse is your father, Albus. And that happened over 40 years ago!" 

The three of them were silent. Then a sudden thought occurred to Albus. "Holly. Guys, what about Holly?" 

They all knew about Holly's condition. Not about her coma, but her cancer. Surely the coma wasn't helping at all with her treatment. What if she wasn't going to recover? Holly could be dead for all they knew.

"Al," Rose put her hand on Albus's shoulder reassuringly. It was like she just read his mind. "I know what you're thinking and I want you to stop. We don't know yet. So stop telling yourself that she's dead. I think she's going to survive this like the rest of us." Rose's eyes were watering as she said this.

"She's right, you know. She's always right," Scorpius said, smirking and winking at Rose. This made Rose giggle and roll her eyes. Albus even cracked a smile too. 

"We're going to find her, Albus. We're all going to be okay and we're all going to return to our normal routines and go back to Hogwarts to learn more in no time!" Rose said excitedly. Of course she's eager to get to her textbooks again.

"Back to witches and wizards, and magical beasts," Scorpius sang under his breath. It was the lyrics to a song from a famous parody wizard musical known in the wizarding world from a theater group called Starkid. Albus remembered watching the musical that made fun of his father and other family members during their years at Hogwarts in 3rd year during summer break with Scorpius, Rose, and Holly. That was also the year when they found an old "Apple Mac" Muggle computer in Grandpa Weasley's shed, and also when they discovered "YouTube." It was a good summer for the four of them. (I really hope you guys got that Starkid reference omg XD) 

Rose let out a loud, high-pitched laugh, one she always did whenever Scorpius told a stupid joke, that echoed throughout the hallways, surely waking up some patients and doctors in their rooms. Rose immediately slapped her hands over her mouth, her big blue eyes widening and face turning beet red. Albus was expecting doors to be flying open and slamming shut at any moment now, only it never happened. After a few seconds of no noise except the sounds of the three best friends breathing heavily, they each burst out laughing. Albus hadn't laughed this hard to the point of tears in a long time. 

"What are you guys laughing about?" a soft, gentle, and very familiar female voice said, interrupting their hysterical laughter. When the three of them turned around, they weren't expecting to see who they saw emerge from the lift.

"What's the matter? You three look like you've got Nargles in your heads," Holly Longbottom said, grinning from ear to ear. 

~ ~ ~

Yay, happy chapter! :D Now the four best friends have reunited!

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