Seventh-Year: The Next Generation

Author's Note:

Hey there, Readers! Here's the next chapter. It gets more exciting with each installment, as the plot begins to move more and more. :) For those of you who care, NaNoWriMo is half done, and I am slightly ahead of time, and right on track! Yay! Anyways, enjoy.

Chapter 19: To the Castle

He sank below the surface. Going ever deeper down.

He felt like thousands of needles were being dug into his skin. The icy water seared him to his bones.

He tried to struggle, but it was simply no use. He had no control over his body. And he was running out of air fast, his lungs were screaming at him to be relieved, but there was nothing he could do.

He would die here, drowned. He wondered if anybody would ever find his body, and he felt bad for Albus, knowing his friend would probably want to kill himself with guilt when he found out. He figured that at least this way he wouldn't have to spend the rest of life in Azkaban. Way to look on the bright side at a particularly dismal time, Scorpius congratulated himself.

And then, his vision started to darken, and he knew he was on the edge of unconsciousness. Which would lead to death.

But just before the world gave way, a firm grip clasped the upper bit of his arm. He was heaved upward, and then he found himself tossed through the air.

He landed heavily on the snow covered ground, the cold wind grabbing at him in his wet clothes. He coughed up several mouthfuls of water, and his lungs sucked in desperately, longing for oxygen.

He heard the crunch of heavy footsteps in the snow behind him, and he whirled, fearing it was Driscoll again.

But it wasn't.

Standing over him was one of the tall men that he had met in the pub, and whose job was to watch over Hugo. Supposedly.

The man was wearing the Irish-green suit that Scorpius had seen him in before, and even though he must have been the person who saved Scorpius out of the water, he was completely dry.

"You better hurry," the man said.

"Hurry?" asked Scorpius in confusion, still surprised that this man had come out of nowhere to save him.

The man indicated something behind Scorpius. "The people you were chasing are getting away."

Scorpius looked over his shoulder to see Driscoll just disappearing up a narrow lane and into a forest he had failed to notice before.

"Drat," said Scorpius, as he scrambled to his feet.

"I would suggest not full out attacking them, this time. If I were you, I'd take your broom, and follow them under that Invisibility Cloak," advised Scorpius's rescuer.

"How did you know--" began Scorpius in surprise.

"He's getting away," said the man calmly.

Scorpius nodded. And without saying another word, he ran over to where his broom lay on the ground. Mounting it, he pulled out the sopping Invisibility Cloak, from his similarly soaked leather jacket. Tossing it over himself hastily, he flew down the path after the fleeing form of Driscoll.

Driscoll was on foot, and consequently a lot slower than Scorpius. So Scorpius trailed him, making sure he was a good twenty feet or so behind him, not wanting to alert his enemy to the fact that he was there.

If I don't stop my teeth from chattering so loudly, they're going to be the thing that gives me away, thought Scorpius in amusement. He quietly muttered a couple of drying and warming spells beneath his breath.

Finally, Driscoll went around a bend in the path, followed by Scorpius, and there they were.

Bulstrode seemed to be flexing his considerable muscles.

Zabini was leaning back against a tree, his arms crossed across his chest.

Babcock was sitting on a large stone, combing his fingers through his hair.

Lestraud was having a quiet, hurried discussion with her mother.

And Lily, well, Lily was bound and gagged by magical cords, and was sitting on the ground rather unceremoniously. She looked like she could cry, but was determined not too.

Scorpius knew that he should probably just walk over, shift the cloak so it covered both him and Lily, then release Lily, and have the two of them just walk right out of this mess. But he didn't. The urge to know what exactly was going on, what these people were up to, was too much for him. He decided to stay and figure out things on the fly. Well, because, that was how Scorpius did things. On the fly.

Lestraud's mother looked up as Driscoll strode around the bend. "It's about time," she snapped. "What took you so long to just get rid of a stupid kid?"

I am not a stupid kid, thought Scorpius strongly in her direction.

"I was teaching him a lesson," said Driscoll in his calm, cool voice.

One that you totally failed at, thought Scorpius mildly.

"Well, let's get out of here. Aubrielle brought the brooms for us all. At least someone can do things right," she glared at Bulstrode.

"What?" he asked every bit as stupidly as his son would have.

"Oh, never mind," said Lestraud's mother, throwing her arms skyward. "Here, everybody grab a broom." She handed them around. Scorpius supposed that Aubrielle must have miniaturized them and had them in the pocket of her robes or something. "Zabini, you good carrying her?" demanded Lestraud's mother, jerking her chin at Lily.

"Of course," said Zabini, scooping Lily up into his long arms, and mounting a broom.

"I can't believe we aren't just Apparating away," said Driscoll.

"Because, Aubrielle only turned seventeen in the summer, and didn't have a chance to get her license yet. And seeing as she is the only reason we're even out of Azkaban, I think you should be more grateful," hissed Lestraud's mother.

The only reason they're out of Azkaban is because of me, thought Scorpius irritably.

Everybody was now on they're brooms, and they took to the sky, followed by Scorpius.

It was a long flight, and Scorpius was no master at logistics, but as far as he could tell, they were following the coast north.

The tops of the trees below him flashed by as a large green smudge. The cold early-winter air whipped past him, chilling him considerably, but he continued on.

The trees soon turned to long, rolling hills, with an intermittent field here and there. And Scorpius wondered how far they were traveling.

They hugged the coast as they went, never passing out of sight of the water. Scorpius noticed the sea was more calm here. He assumed Azkaban just affected everything around it, being the miserable place it was.

Finally, Lestraud (her mother, but for the sake of my tired fingers, we'll just call the mother Lestraud, and the daughter Aubrielle from now on, okay? ;) cut across toward the sea, and soared out over it, bringing everybody else along with her.

About ten minutes later, when the coast was a little ways behind them, they came to an island. It wasn't very big, Scorpius estimated about a mile in diameter. At first glance, it seemed only to consist of a lot of trees, with one hill in the center. But as they flew around the hill, they found a castle snuggled into its far side.

It was black, and it was tall. It was set at the base of the hill, whose crest really was quite high, but the castle's towers spiraled upward, only just avoiding peeking over the top of the hill, so it remained hidden from view. The castle seemed to be mainly made up of sheer drops from spires that seemed almost to reach to the heavens.

The crew came down, and landed lightly on the top of the tallest tower.

Looking around, and seeing absolutely nothing of interest, Scorpius began to wonder what they were doing up there, when Lestraud tapped one of the stone tiles with the heel of her foot, and muttered, "Pure-blood Pride." A door appeared where the large stone tile had been but a moment before.

Well, that's an original password, thought Scorpius dryly.

The door swung up and outward with a wave of Lestraud's wand, revealing a staircase that disappeared into the castle.

"Where are our sons? Aren't they supposed to be here, welcoming us back?" asked Babcock.

Lestraud turned to Aubrielle, looking to her daughter for an explanation.

"They should all be below. Except for, well, the main issue is with Driscoll. He insisted that he wouldn't leave that stupid girl he's been dragging around after him," said Aubrielle.

Scorpius froze at the mention of who he assumed was Rose.

"He wouldn't just leave her. He was raving about the completion of something or other, and how it couldn't be pushed over the top. So he's going to be bringing her on broom, and should be here sometime a little later."

"Satisfied?" Lestraud asked of Babcock.

"Not exactly. What I want to know is why Driscoll's little son is risking everything, for some random little crush of his," demanded Babcock.

Driscoll's eyes were dark and angry. "My son always knows exactly what he's doing, and what his place is. Unlike your son, it would seem, Babcock. Did you notice that the Malfoy boy had the mark of the Culling on his face? If I remember correctly, it was your son who was charged with the keeping of that."

Babcock turned a furious red color, but didn't reply.

Scorpius reached up a gloved hand and traced the scar he could still feel on his face. Even though he wore a glove of heavy leather, he could feel the icy coldness of it through the material. Culling? Scorpius wondered, remembering the blade that Zabini had cut him with, and what Babcock had called it at the time, and how furious he had been with Zabini for using it.

"We can discuss this inside. In the warmth that the castle has to offer," snapped Lestraud. Without another word, she swept down the stairs that lead into the darkness. She was followed by her companions, Zabini still holding the bound form of Lily.

Scorpius followed last, and tried not to shiver with apprehension as the door slammed down above him, and turned back to stone.

***

Meallan stood on the crest of a small hill, in the shadow of a tree. From his viewpoint he could see Azkaban, the Dementors swooping furiously back and forth, and Aurors running back and forth, trying to figure out what had happened.

Lasair came striding up to him, his brow furrowed in anger.

"What, are you doing?" he demanded.

Meallan looked calm as he answered. "Standing under a tree, brother."

"Don't be smart with me. You saved that Malfoy boy, I know you did."

"Yeah? Are you going to condemn me for the saving the life of a young teenager? I always thought those types of acts were held up as heroism," said Meallan.

"We are here for Hugo, you know that. No one else."

"And just to leave others to die that we could easily save? I think not."

"It is not for us to say who lives and who dies. It was his rash acts that got him into that situation."

"You know it wasn't his time to die."

"Yes, but who knows how he was going to be saved. You may have altered the future because of your thoughtless act. Maybe he was supposed to have saved himself, and learned something through that."

"There was no way for him to get himself out of that situation, you know that. And I waited as long as I could, he was already on the brink of death when I stepped in. No one else was coming, brother."

Lasair shook his head. "We are here for Hugo, and Hugo only."

"And Hugo's fate is tied up with that of these others. They are joined closely together. Through being here for Hugo, we are here for the others as well," said Meallan, not looking at Lasair, but still watching Azkaban.

"I do not agree."

"And maybe that is for a reason. Maybe you are supposed to stick closer to Hugo, but I am supposed to watch out for the others." Meallan turned his blue, crystal-like eyes on his brother. They were shining even in the dimness.

Lasair shook his head. "We are not making that decision now. Maybe when the time comes I will see that you are right, but for now, I stand by what I said."

Meallan shrugged. "Shall we go, then? They should be almost at the school by now."

"Yes, let us go."

There were two sharp cracks, and suddenly the crest of the hill was void of any living soul.

***

"What do we do, what do we do, what do we do?" cried Albus, anxiously pacing the length of his dormitory.

Hugo was lying on one of the beds, and Monique was sitting on a trunk at the foot of another.

"We have to wait until the whats-their-names get here," said Monique.

Just then the door swung open, seemingly of its own accord. After a moment or two, it swung shut with a click, and then the two men, still in Irish-green suits, materialized out of thin air.

"We apologize for the wait," said one.

"It's no problem, we only just got here a couple of minutes ago," said Albus, ceasing in his relentless pacing.

"First off, I am Lasair, and this is my brother Meallan. In case you don't already know our names," said the one who hadn't apologized."

"Which one of you was it that saved us from the Dementors back there?" asked Hugo, pulling himself into a sitting position.

Albus caught Lasair shooting Meallan an annoyed look. "That would be me," said Lasair.

"Thanks," said Hugo.

"It's what we're here for," said Lasair dryly, shooting Meallan another look.

"What do we do ?" asked Albus.

"Forgive him, he's forgotten how to say anything else," said Hugo.

"He's really worried about his sister and Scorpius," said Monique, defending Albus.

"Yes, what to do..." said Lasair trailing off in thought. "Is there someone who would have influence with the Ministry, that you can trust?" he asked, looking at Albus.

Albus hesitated. "Yes, a couple actually. There's Scorpius's dad, but he's just an Auror, so he probably wouldn't have that much power. But Hugo's mom is Headmistress, and has quite a reputation. She could pull some strings. But what for? I mean, if we involve the Ministry, I could get sent to Azkaban. They'll want to know everything about what's happened, and then they'll know I broke everyone out. Can't we solve this on our own?"

"I don't think so. You all still have a large part to play, but it's over your heads. You won't be able to do it by yourself," answered Lasair.

"But, Azkaban..." said Albus hopelessly.

"Albus, maybe they'll understand. You didn't really have a choice in the matter, did you?" said Monique.

"Actually, that's what I want to know. What were you guys doing at Azkaban in the first place?" asked Hugo.

Albus sighed, and decided to unload his burden. "Aubrielle Lestraud told me she wanted her mother broken out. She blackmailed me to have me do it. Scorpius found out and insisted on helping me. That's why we were there. Aubrielle told me to break out all the prisoners, so that her mother could have better chance of escaping in the commotion. But it turned out that actually her mother wasn't the only one she wanted to get away, and those others were the people we were fighting with. Something bigger is obviously in the works here."

"See, maybe they'll understand that you were blackmailed," said Monique encouragingly.

"I doubt it. They'll probably just look at what happened," said Albus.

"Well, we don't know for sure, and we have to get someone involved in this, Albus," said Hugo. "You heard Lasair, we don't have a chance on our own. Besides, we don't even know where to start. They could be anywhere by now."

Albus nodded, looking rather bleak. "Anyways, it's for Scorpius and Lily. If I end up in Azkaban, but we save them, then it'll be worth it."

"That's the spirit," said Hugo, leaping up and clapping Albus on the shoulder. Albus grimaced.

"To Aunt Hermione, then?" asked Albus.

***

"What is going on?" muttered Hermione to herself, hastily shuffling through some papers on her desk. "A breakout of Azkaban on top of everything? Something big is going down. There's the feeling of something dark and heavy on the air. It reminds me of the days of Voldemort," she said, breaking off and remembering those days. Those days when her and Ron ran everywhere after Harry, supporting him and helping him as best they could in what he needed to do.

She leaned over her desk, and pulled a large, heavy tome toward her. Swinging it open to a place she had marked, she looked back down at the passage entitled: The Culling Blade.

Absentmindedly, she pursed her lips.

Suddenly the doorknob that lead out of her office glowed bright red.

Sighing, Hermione waved her wand, which would slid aside the statue of the gargoyle below.

There were several pairs of feet on the steps outside the door, and then it swung open, revealing her son Hugo, her nephew Albus, a girl she recognized as a student but didn't know, and two tall men in the brightest, most outrageous Irish-green suits she had ever seen.

"Well, what do you want?" she asked in surprise, her eyes roving from face to face. Albus was looking quite nervous, and was twisting his hands together. Hugo was scratching the back of his head, and refusing to make eye-contact with her. The girl and the two men just stood there, waiting.

"So, Aunt Hermione, I'm sure you've heard of the Azkaban break out that happened today?" asked Albus innocently.

Author's Note:

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