Taken by Surprise

Chapter 3

Harry sighed and rubbed his forehead. Now that he was about to talk about it, he found that he couldn’t get the words out. They were choking him, beating at his insides, making him want to bury his head in his hands and – cry. Not that he would ever do anything as childish as this; he never allowed himself to cry even when he was a child and he was not going to allow the stinging behind his eyes to get the better of him now; not like that and definitely not in front of his son’s best friend. He was not going to break down. It was stupid. It was bloody embarrassing. He was a grown man. He lived through the war. He was the Head of the Auror Department. He would not cry. It wasn’t even worth it.

‘Harry…’ said Scorpius, sounding as if he was speaking from another planet. ‘It can’t be that bad that you can’t even say it. Is it that I am not Al? Well, I’m pretty sure I can get some Polyjuice, though I’m afraid that the last of Al’s hair went down with that hoover-like spell you used.’

Harry went out of his stupor with a snort.

‘Are you always this funny or is it just for me?’ he asked.

Scorpius waggled his eyebrows.

‘Oh, Harry, you have no idea how funny I can be.’

Harry wondered just how drunk he was, sitting here with Scorpius Malfoy about to tell him that –

‘Ginny – my wife – decided that she doesn’t want to be with me anymore.’

In the end it was not so difficult to tell. Mainly, because there was not much to tell. It was it really. Harry didn’t understand. There were no arguments, no fights; just a simple family life with jobs and kids, holidays and occasional dinners with the Weasleys. And now she was out of love with him, packing her things and moving out. Harry looked around miserably. He didn’t know why and where and if there was someone else. He didn’t want to think or talk about it and getting drunk seemed like a good idea. He felt abandoned and betrayed; betrayed by her silence, by her refusal to tell him what had gone wrong and how he could fix it. He wanted to forget; to get rid of hurt and anger and bitterness that squeezed his throat and made it hard to breathe and think rationally. Why did it have to happen? Was it something he did? Was it the lack of excitement and adventure? He cast around for the change of topic.

‘So you don’t know when Al will be back?’ he asked and was pleased to note that while drunk to the point where his mind was pleasantly foggy and he didn’t care anymore who he was pouring his heart out to, his words were not slurred.

‘He won’t be back for a while.’ replied Scorpius.

Harry sighed.

‘I wish he chose something more to the purpose than – theatre. A real profession. I mean, what exactly is he going to do once he’s out of the Academy? It doesn’t seem like he’ll be doing much of anything. Roaming the country and giving shows, I suppose.’ he said sullenly.

‘More to the purpose?’ asked Scorpius, looking at Harry incredulously. ‘I wonder what you mean by that.’

‘I mean something that would be of – use. Something more meaningful. Like the rest of us.’

‘In other words you’d wish to see Al stuck at the Ministry, filing reports, confiscating illegal stuff and hunting down dark wizards?’

‘Exactly!’ replied Harry, glad that Scorpius caught on so quickly. ‘He could do so much better with his name and talent!’

Scorpius shook his head.

‘So it would make you happy whether he likes it or not as long as it matches your idea of something ‘more meaningful’?’ said Scorpius slowly, his voice growing colder with each word. ‘Well, I’m afraid I can’t agree with you there. And when you say ‘like the rest of us’, who exactly do you include into this category, because I don’t see most of Al’s family doing something to the purpose as you put it.’

‘What?’ asked Harry, wishing that his head wasn’t feeling all fuzzy.

‘We don’t even have to go very far – your wife is a fine example.’ ploughed on Scorpius, ignoring Harry’s wince.

‘She used to play Quidditch, didn’t she? And now she is a sport correspondent for the Daily Prophet? That’s a very meaningful job.’ he said with a sneer. ‘And her two brothers – they work in a joke shop, right? Then there’s a curse breaker and the guy who works with dragons and James – ‘

‘Fine!’ snapped Harry, annoyed. ‘What’s your point?’

His head was spinning now. He felt thirsty, but he didn’t care about moving around, because his body was stuffed with cotton.

‘I’m just saying that Al’s choice of profession is as good as any and maybe it’s not this that bothers you so, but the fact that you simply want to work side by side with him.’ Scorpius’s hand was back on Harry’s. ‘You miss him. It’s understandable. You were always close and you wanted him to follow in your steps. To work alongside you. Succeed you even. But you cannot make his choices for him; he’s got to make his own way and who knows maybe in a few years he’ll get sick of the stage and will come knocking on your department’s door.’

Harry, as slow as he was, wondered if it was his imagination or if Scorpius’s hand had started creeping up his arm in a sort of caress. He didn’t know if it was supposed to be soothing – it certainly did nothing to calm him down – it felt way too intimate.

‘I’m not feeling well.’ he said thickly. He tried to stand up and when he did – to his great astonishment – he wobbled awkwardly until Scorpius took him by the elbow for support.

‘Then let’s take a walk.’ he said. ‘You look peaky. I’m sure fresh air will do you good.’
Harry snorted.

‘Yeah? I think you told me something like that when you invited me here.’

Scorpius chuckled as he led Harry to the door.

‘What can I say? You are one stubborn man.’

Harry blinked.

‘And you are a very persistent one.’ he muttered, all the while wondering what was going on.

But Scorpius was right. The moment fresh air hit Harry’s heated face, he felt much better. He took it in great gulps like a starved man.

‘You said that I’d feel better if I go with you, but now I feel less like Apparating than ever and if I take the Floo or the Knight Bus I will be spilling my guts in no time.’ Harry told him accusingly. ‘But I guess I’ll rather go with the Floo as I have no wish to do it publicly. Do you have a broomstick? I’d love to fly.’ said Harry as an afterthought. His eyes darted to the sky that was blinking at him encouragingly. Flying always made him feel happier and more alive than anything else. Why didn’t he think of it before? Why did he have to go running to Al and getting sidetracked by Scorpius?

‘Who says anything about your going, Harry?’ said Scorpius, steering Harry forward and turning into a narrow side street that was completely dark. ‘I just happen to have to be somewhere.’

‘And what’s that got to do with me?’ asked Harry, squinting to see where they were going. He still felt rather unsteady and Scorpius’s arm that, if he was not mistaken, was now wrapped securely around his waist did not make him feel any steadier. He wasn’t that drunk. Really. Just because he couldn’t see where he was going, didn’t mean that he couldn’t actually walk. He tried to point that out to Scorpius several times, but his tongue got tangled with the words.

‘Like I said – you shouldn’t be left on your own and now that I know the reason behind your misery I am not letting you go until you’re sufficiently distracted.’

‘I am distracted just fine, Scorpius.’ said Harry.

‘No, you’re not. I can feel you still thinking about it.’

Harry harrumphed.

‘I wonder why. It’s not like my wife has just dumped me.’

‘See? That’s what I mean. I hate seeing your face twist into this bitter grimace again and again.’

‘Really, Scorpius, it’s too dark to see my face.’

‘I have a good imagination.’

‘I just bet you do. So, where are we going?’ asked Harry, giving up trying to reason with Scorpius.

‘Well, there’s a club just a few blocks from here, where some of my friends and I play once in a while. And today just happens to be a once in a while thing.’
Now Harry was really distracted. He stopped in his tracks and turned to look at Scorpius. They have just come across a spot of light from the moon that sailed from behind the clouds.

‘You play?’ asked Harry surprised.

‘Occasionally. It helps to take my mind off things. So, do you want to come?’ asked Scorpius, looking unusually self-conscious, possibly for the first time in his life.
Harry laughed.

‘Well, it’s a bit too late to be asking that now, seeing as how you’re dragging me with you – but, yeah, I’d love to come and watch you play.’

They set off again, a sense of adventure coiling in Harry’s gut.


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