Work Text:
Albus felt the time turner twitching in his hand and, with a desperate leap, landed next to Scorpius on the ground and wrapped his arms around him. The whooshing sound of air spinning round and round him sped up, reaching an apex before he felt them slam onto the wet grass.
And then there was quiet.
Albus clung to his best friend, fingers twisting into his green jacket as he wept silently. Noises began to flood his senses, the familiar sound of Hogwarts covering his cries. There were now crowds around him, students in the early morning trying to go about their day, and Aurors already surveying the scene they had left from earlier. Albus’ stomach twisted as he thought of Craig, their good, innocent, Slytherin prefect and sobbed harder. His fault .
He was used to people watching him-they had been all his life- but never like this. Everyone seemed to be around them, calling out for teachers as they reported the news that the boys were back. It felt only half-true.
Albus could barely pick out any of the words, all of them only blurring into sounds and feelings. And the sounds of victory and relief in his ear, quickly turned to a scream, then shock and whispers of fear.
Because Scorpius was dead.
Albus turned and buried his face into Scorpius’ soft, grey jumper, shutting out the world. It was just him and Scorpius. And for a brief second, Albus could pretend that he was alive. It still smelled like Scorpius and it still felt like him and his soft clothes.
But there was no rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. And when he looked at him, he didn’t look like Scorpius anymore. His Scorpius, his best friend, his soulmate, was so full of life and light that sometimes it felt like you were standing next to an actual constellation. He shined brightly even through his smile.
This Scorpius, a ghost of the boy he once was, had the light extinguished. His face was blank and gone. Like his soul was a flame that had been snuffed out, leaving the world dark and Albus cold.
A hand landed on his back, slamming him further back to reality. There was no force behind it but he already felt like it was pulling him away, away from Scorpius.
“Albus…” his dad whispered near his ear.
He turned his head to his father, curling further into Scorpius’ side. For the first time in ages, he felt relief in seeing his dad’s face. Maybe he could fix it. His dad saved everyone, he always did. Except when you were a spare.
“She’s evil, Delphi, she’s evil! She lied to me!” His dad nodded, running a hand through his hair. “Scorpius, I…” Harry gasped lightly, eyes flicking to the blond boy for the briefest second. “She t-tortured him, and then…we were back in time, and we…I couldn’t leave him there! Not with her, not trapped in time. I couldn't leave him.” Albus cried, barely able to get the words out, as sobs of grief racked through him.
“It’s alright, it’s alright.” His dad whispered, not moving his hand away from his head for a second. “You’re safe, now.” Albus could only hold onto his best friend’s body with desperate need.
The crowd had previously been silent, watching the situation with tongues between their teeth and bated breath but now there was a commotion. The two Potters looked up and both felt dread pool in their stomach at the same time.
“Let me through, let me through!” Draco’s voice called out as he pushed through the rows and rows of students, before appearing in front of Albus and Harry. And Scorpius.
“That’s my son !” His eyes fell on his son’s lifeless body, and he stumbled forward a few steps before collapsing to his knees next to him. “That’s my little boy…”
Draco reached out to run a hand over his hair gently, uncontrollable tears streaming down his face. Albus had finally sat up slightly and joined everyone in watching the horror unfold, as broken cries started to escape him whilst he kept running his fingers gently through Scorpius’ hair and over his pale cheeks.
“Scorpius…wake up! Come on, baby, just open your eyes. Just… just open your eyes.” Draco pleaded, looking down at his son with a gentle, desperate, begging smile on his face, a contrast to the hot, wet tears spilling down his cheeks.
Of course, Scorpius remained still on the ground.
“Draco…” Ginny began, resting a hand on Harry’s shoulder whilst she crouched down to join them too. The man began furiously shaking his head.
“No, you’re fine, aren’t you, Scorpius. He’s fine, he’ll wake up, he’s fine!” He leant down to place a kiss onto his forehead, but it just seemed that as he made contact, another barrier broke.
Draco fully collapsed over Scorpius’ body and he muffled a loud scream amidst the sobs that were pulled from him. He was drowning in sorrow, unable to take a single breath. Unwilling to take a single breath, because what was his world if not with Scorpius?
It was quieter. The crowd had quickly been moved fully away, so voices were now few, leaving only the spare teachers from the search party and the gang of parents standing awkwardly. Ginny looked up at the last few departing and then back at Albus, desperate to take him away from it too. It was her job to shield him from this.
She reached round his shoulders, and he leaned into her touch. “Come on, sweetheart, this is not where you want to be right now.” Ginny gently tried to direct him away, but he fought back, staying firmly rooted to the ground. Opposite him, she knelt down.
“I’m not going.” He said firmly, looking back to his friend. “Mum, I’m not going, I’m not! He’s my best friend, I’m not leaving him!” Ginny nodded, sharing a helplessly concerned look with Harry over his head.
“Okay,” she began carefully. “Alright, okay. We’ll stay here, we won’t go.” His eyes were fixed on Scorpius’ lifeless face, shaking his head.
“I can’t go.”
“Okay.”
“I can’t go, I can’t…leave.” A new wave of tears came to the surface as he spoke quietly. “ He can’t go.”
Ginny tipped her head to the side, biting her lip. “Sweetheart…”
“Mum, h-he can’t go! He can’t leave me, it’s not, it’s not how it’s supposed to be. Scorpius is my person, Mum.” He buried his face in his hands, sobs beginning to overwhelm him again.
“I know he is.” She said sadly, watching helplessly as her son sank further and further into his grief. Ginny knew how much Scorpius meant-she saw it on his face every single time his name came up, and the way Albus lit up when Scorpius was around. She wanted to say that he would get through this and that one day things would be okay. But she couldn’t believe it.
Albus dropped his hands back into his lap, trying to stutter out his next thought. “I…I love him.”
“I know, Alb-”
“No, but you don’t understand, I love him! I love him, he’s my…I love him, Mum.” Ginny placed her hand over his, gently squeezing it.
“I know, it’s okay, sweetheart. I know.” Fingers interlinked, she pulled his hand close to kiss it softly. “We can let you take your time.”
She briefly glanced at Draco, who had his forehead pressed to Scorpius’, letting his tears fall on his cold cheeks and the hands cupping his face. It didn’t look like he was going anywhere, anytime soon.
“It’s my fault.” Albus whispered, pulling her attention back to him.
“Hey, no.” She shook his arm. “You can’t think like that, it’s not true. It’s not, Albus, it’s her fault. She was the one who did all of this, okay? You can’t take any responsibility for her actions. She got in your head and she used you. That isn’t your fault.”
“Why would she…why would she do that? She killed…” he paused, mouth trying to fumble over the words, “…people.” Ginny tried to wipe his tears away, but they were only replaced by more.
“I don’t know.”
“Mum,” Albus tried, but left a long pause. He leaned forward to whisper to her. “He…he’s dead.” The way he was looking at her was so pleading, hoping she would be able to say something that might oppose it, fix it, asking her for help, but she came up empty-handed.
“I’m so sorry, Albus.” That was all she could manage and he looked back down at his fingers, in defeat. His whole body was trembling.
Draco moved then, wiping his eyes on his sleeve as if he was still trying to maintain any air of composure. He sat up, gathering Scorpius up in his arms and holding him close, cradling his lifeless form. He was still muttering to himself over and over.
“Oh, no, it’s fine, isn’t it.” Draco whispered, stroking his son’s hair. “It’s fine, we’re just tired, just sleeping, aren’t we. Yes, that’s all, and…oh, it’s all going to be okay.”
Albus shuffled forward on his knees, his hand edging back to slip into Scorpius’ with uncertainty. Was he even allowed to touch him anymore, after all that he’d done? He held on tight and let the guilt pile on. Besides, Draco didn’t seem in any state to argue right now.
His eyes were glazed over, staring ahead as he held his son close and whispered babbles under his breath. “I’ll fix it, I can fix it. I’m not going to say goodbye.” Draco murmured, eyes wide and shaking his head as he rocked Scorpius back and forth. Harry and Ginny sent him sympathetic looks. They didn’t know how to help Draco anymore than he knew how to help himself, but there was one thing they were certain of. There was no way to fix this.
“I’m not…oh.” A smile came to his face, to everyone’s utter surprise. “I don’t have to, it’s going to be okay. It’s going to be okay.” An almost laugh seemed to escape him. Then, answering everyone’s question, he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a gleaming object, and stared at it. The time turner.
Harry’s eyes widened when he saw it, and he immediately put a hand up. “Woah, okay. I know what you're thinking, Draco, but you can’t…you can’t do this.”
“Yes, I can.” He whispered. “I can, I’m going to save him.”
“I can’t let you do that, I’m sorry. This isn’t an option. Just give it to me, please.”
Draco looked up at him then, eyes gleaming with fresh tears. “He is my son . I’m not going to let you take this away from me.”
Harry’s head tipped to the side. “I don’t want to, but…”
“NO!” Draco screamed suddenly, making everyone jump, before he buried his face into Scorpius’ hair. A soft ‘I love you’ was heard, whispered between kisses.
“Draco…” Ginny whispered, but he ignored her. “I’m so sorry.”
And suddenly, a hand from behind him managed to rip the time turner from his tight grasp. He gasped and looked above as it was handed over to Harry, then stared back at his empty hand as his breathing grew faster. Gently he laid Scorpius back down and stood up.
“Give it back, Potter.” He held his hand out firmly.
Harry had to look away. “No, I can’t. This has to be Ministry property now.” The words hung in the air, as Harry chewed on his lip. The tension ebbed. Suddenly, Draco leapt at him, making uncoordinated reaches towards the time turner. With only one hand, Harry tried to hold him back, before several other pairs of hands managed to pull him away.
Draco fought against them, screaming, in vain, but eventually stilled, a tidal wave of sadness crashing back over him. “Harry, please.” He begged quietly. “Please let me have it, please.”
Harry’s eyes flicked briefly to Albus, who was holding Scorpius’ hand like his only lifeline, as he used it to muffle his cries. There was the slightest glimmer of hope on his face, that his dad might be able to save everyone, like he was supposed to, and seeing that hope made it even harder for Harry to kill it. But he shook his head. “It doesn’t work that way, no matter how much we want it to. I can’t, I’m so sorry.”
“Please, please, Harry, I’ll do anything, I’ll… I’ll do anything, just let me have it back. He isn’t supposed to go, he’s fourteen! He’s my child, Harry. He’s my baby boy…” He broke off and Harry stared, his mouth open helplessly with no knowledge of what to say. “I won’t. I won’t let him go. Give it to me. Let me fix it, please, please…”
Draco’s eyes widened with relief when Harry held the time turner out, but it was once again shattered when it was placed in the hands of one of the Ministry officials instead. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. There’s nothing I can do, Draco.” He spoke over the sounds of protest coming from him as he watched it taken away.
“No, no, no, please, you can’t! You can’t take it away, not now! Give it back, please, please, don’t take it away from me. Don’t take him away from me! I can’t lose him, I can’t, I can’t…” His pleas were cut short as Hermione pulled him into a hug that he finally let himself submit to, accepting that the battle was lost.
The rest of the world looked on, quiet.
Hermione let Draco have his time to give what he needed at that moment. She waited for his breathing to even out, and then moved back to squeeze his hand. “It’s going to be okay, you’ll get through this, I promise. But we can’t do anything to change what’s happened, it’s too risky to go back that far.” Draco let out a heavy exhale, looking between Harry and Hermione.
“Harry…"
“Draco, I want to let you, more than anything, believe me. But there is no possible way to prevent this, without causing major damage, or creating a paradox or…”
“Then WHAT is the point? What is it!” The man took a few steps back, shaking his head and burying it in his hands. “He is my whole world.”
He once again fell to the ground with sobs, crawling closer to Scorpius and cupping his face in his hands. “I love you, Scorpius, I love you.” He ran his hand down to gently rest on his chest. It was still. Draco shook his head, curling his fingers round Scorpius’ jumper. “No, no. Maybe…maybe he’ll just wake up because it happened in the p-past, it just needs to reset, it won’t count.” He murmured, so full and devoid of hope.
Ginny sank down next to him, wiping a tear from her own cheek. “Draco…it’s over.” She gently pulled his hand away from where it was resting on Scorpius’ pulse point, taking it in hers. “He’s gone.” The words seemed so jagged and sharp, and indeed, he let out a cry of pain as if someone had just cut him.
Albus let out a soft cry too, and he and Draco suddenly made direct eye contact. He brought a hand out to his mouth. “I’m s-sorry.” Albus spat out, voice wobbly and hoarse. Despite it being mumbled and muffled, Draco had heard, and for the first time since he had gotten there, he properly looked at the other boy.
Holding his breath, Albus waited for the response. Draco had a right to be angry-Albus had taken Scorpius on this stupid journey and now he was gone. Because of him. Draco was surely angry with him, because that was his son and Albus was the reason he had lost him. Any anger, he knew, would come to him well deserved.
But Draco shifted close to Albus and immediately wrapped his arms tight around him. “It’s okay...” He whispered, with a bleak tone. “It isn’t your fault, Albus.”
They had barely spoken more than a few words together, only briefly in conversations led mostly by Scorpius. But Albus found himself sinking into the fatherly embrace like he had received it for years, muttering thousands of apologies, and crying and crying into Draco’s shoulder as he did the same. For they suddenly had a shared understanding, in the feeling of love for Scorpius, that now had nowhere to go.
“He was my whole world too.” Albus choked out, and as Draco held him tighter, he let go of Scorpius’ hand and wrapped his other arm around the man. They held each other tightly as they let their grieving tears fall to the ground.
And the world was quieter.