Scorpius' P.O.V

After a long day at school and doing all my homework and then work that I missed, I knocked on the door to the Potter's. Moments later Harry opened it looking very disheveled.

"Scorpius?" His eyes grew wide.

"Sorry, is this a bad time?" I asked and he shook his head slightly.

"No. We were just trying to get Albus washed. It was difficult but we got him cleaned and clothed in some fresh clothes."

"Okay."

"Come in." He opened his door wider and I walked in. "He's upstairs in his room."

"How did the erm evaluation go?" I asked and he sighed. We started to walk up the stairs that were in front of the door.

"He threw a fit and hid under the table. The doctor tried getting him to talk and asked him about... things that happened there."

"And he didn't talk?"

"No not yet." He sighed sadly. "He cried out and whimpered. Shook his head vigorously." We got to the top and made a turn around the banister. We stopped an open door and peered in. "Gin?"

"He won't come out from under the bed." She told him. She was sitting on the floor, her forehead resting against the twin bed.

"Albus, come out love. Someone wants to see you." Harry said. He looked at me and I got down on all fours so Albus could see me.

"Hey Albus, I missed you today." I told him. "I'm sorry, I had to go to school and then do some homework but I'm here now." I quietly said. I lied on my belly and peered in under bed. I could just make out his vibrant eyes. He blinked at me a bit before crawling out from under the bed. He glanced over to Ginny who smiled.

"Go ahead sweetheart." She assured and crawled quickly to me. He crawled onto my lap and snuggled into my chest.

"Hi Albus. Look at you, you're so clean." I cooed softly. "And your hair is so soft. And it smells so nice." I told him and he snuggled closer to me. "And these clothes look so nice on you, you must be so snuggly." For the first time he nodded his head. I looked up at his parents and they seemed shocked. "Did you have a good day back home Albus?" I asked. "I bet you did. You've been gone for a while but now you're home all safe and sound." I promised.

"Albus dear." Ginny started. He tensed but I ran a hand through his hair. He relaxed and then looked at his mum. "We'll leave you be okay? Your dad and I will be downstairs if you want us." She told him. Albus blinked at his mother once before nodding his head once. She smiled and pulled Harry out of the room.

"Alright Albus." I started to lift us up. "Let me put you on the bed." I told him and he panicked very briefly before relaxing. "Shh I won't hurt you." I told him and then walked over to the bed. I placed him down and he curled into ball. However, he allowed me to see his eyes. I sat on the edge of the bed near his head and peered out of window. The blinds were open letting sunlight in. I looked through the window and directly next to his, I could look in to my house. I squinted and noticed that the room was in fact mine. Then a thought hit me from when I moved in a few days ago. I could peer in and just barely make out the other room. It looked to be another boy's room but the window and blinds were closed. "Albus." I gasped softly. He was looking up at me with wide eyes. "Albus, you see that room next to your window?" I asked and he peered through the open window. He looked longingly at the window before back to me. He blinked once and then nodded. "That's my room." I told him. "It's where I sleep." I told him and his eyes snapped back to the room. "So if you ever need me and I'm not here, you can look through the window and I'll probably be at my desk." I told him and he blinked at the open window. He looked back at me and I smiled down at him. "And if I'm not paying attention, you can throw things at me so I look up." I said and for a second, it looked like he was going to smile. But a knock at the door made him tense and get ready to hide. I placed my hand on him to ground him and he relaxed. I looked at the door and it was James.

"Hey." He greeted and then looked nervously at his brother.

"Hello." I greeted back. "Hey Albus, it's your brother James, you know James." I told Albus softly. "You remember him?" James stepped closer but far enough to watch me. "James has been worried about you. Very worried. He's my friend so I know he won't hurt you. You're my friend too and I don't allow my friends to hurt my other friends." I told him. He swallowed hard before looking towards his brother.

"Albus." James spoke as soft as he could. "I've missed you so much you know? It got lonely without you here. I had no one to play games with." He spoke. Albus swallowed hard and then blinked at his brother.

"See you're okay Albus, they're not gonna hurt you. They love you." I told him. Then he did something I haven't seen before. He extended his hand to James who took it. Albus let out a soft whimper. "It's okay Albus, you're safe now." I promised. Albus snuggled with James' hand and James let out a small cry.

"I love you Albus." He told him and Albus blinked at him. James very slowly reached his hand out and touched Albus' hair. He jerked but allowed James to stay. James gently threaded his fingers through his clean hair and Albus was lulled to sleep. James sat down in a chair as I shifted to get comfortable. "Why do you reckon he hasn't spoken yet?" He asked me.

"I dunno. Something psychological probably." I answered.

"Do you think he forgot?"

"How to speak?" I asked and he nodded. "I don't think so." I pondered.

"Maybe not. It was just a thought." He told me and I nodded too. There was a knock at the door and I looked. It was Ginny.

"Sorry to interrupt but it's dinner time. Scorpius, will you be staying?" She asked.

"I'd have to ask my mum. Mind if I called her?" I asked and she shook her head. I called my mum who approved of me staying but she wanted me home at eight thirty. I checked the time and it was six sharp so I would have a few hours. "She said I could, um do you want me to wake Albus?" I asked. Ginny looked uneasy before bobbing her head to the side.

"You could try." She told me and I nodded. I put my hand on Albus' shoulder and gently shook him awake.

"Albus, wake up. We're gonna eat." I told him. "Come on." I shook him and he bolted up. He looked at me with wide frightful eyes that were filling with tears. "No tears. I won't hurt you." I told him and he blinked at me. He opened his mouth and I thought he was going to talk but he pointed to it. "Yes, we're gonna eat." I told him. He blinked at me before nodding once. I helped him up and held his hand. His grip on me was tight but he allowed us to walk out. Ginny led the way followed by James the Albus and me. His eyes were glued downward as we made our way down the stairs. He increasingly got closer to me and finally he hugged me burying his face into my chest. We walked to the table and Harry was setting it with Lily. "Um...?"

"He usually sits here." Harry spoke pointing to an empty seat. Lily was seated next to him and Harry on his other side.

"Okay Albus, I'm gonna put you at your seat." I told him and his grip tightened on me. "Shh, I'll be right here." I told him and tried to get his grip on me to loosen. He shook his head fast and cried out. "Okay Albus, I'm gonna sit next to you." I told him. James moved his seat to where Albus usually sat. This way we could take the two empty seats in front of us. I moved us and got him to sit. His face was finally visible as I took my seat right next to him. He stiffened and then looked wide eyed at the family. He let out a cry and then slid under the table. I looked under and he rocking back and forth in a ball. "Come on Albus." I assured but he cried out.

"Let him stay." Ginny suggested. "We're only having pasta." She told me. I felt my legs being embraced and I jumped at the contact. I looked again and Albus had grabbed my legs.

"Come Albus, come sit next to me." I told him and he shook his head. So I sighed and followed what my heart was telling me to do. I joined Albus under the table and allowed him to curl up on my lap. "I'm terribly sorry that I'm down here but I don't want him eating by himself."

"It's fine Scorpius. We appreciate you helping him." Harry told me. His head poked under the table and he handed us each a bowl. He gave us a fork but Albus used his hands. He grabbed a fistful of ziti and shoved it in his mouth. I let a surprised chuckled and he looked up at me. His mouth looked as if it was gonna speak. He opened it and moved his mouth but then shut it quickly. He then shoved more food into his mouth without a fork.

"You're too much Albus." I laughed and stroked his hair. And for the rest of the night, I ate food with Albus under that table and helped him clean up his face before I lulled him to sleep before slipping out.

The other day my professor just causally mentioned he was "buddies" with Mark Ruffalo then continued his lesson about our project...