A/N: Hi! Okay, so this is my first Harry Potter fic. Be nice. It's Next Gen because personally I love the books exactly the way they are and I wouldn't change a thing (except maybe saving Sirius and Dobby and Fred!) so I'll just have to have my fun with their kids.

Enjoy and Review!

Tress Blues

Spiralling
Tress Blues
Chapter One
Welcome To The Nightmare

"When are you going to learn boy?" sneered my grandfather. He idly flicked another non-verbal spell at the trembling mess that was my brother as he lay crumpled on the ground, furious and suffering.

"I guess...I'm just...a screw-up...Runs in the...family...doesn't it?" Scorpius wheezed and gasped in pain as he got another kick in the ribs for his trouble.

"You insolent little brat!" Lucius roared. "Crucio!"

I screamed, thrashing against the binds of my grandmother's curse. It should've been me there. Merlin Scorpius. It should've been me. Why wouldn't it just end?

"Silencio!" my grandmother hissed and my voice went cruelly empty. Malfoy Manor had never seemed so ugly to me as it did then. The tall, stony rooms, the luxurious dining table and sparkling silverware all sat as silent witnesses as they tore open my brother, my twin's flesh.

It felt like I was receiving each curse too as blood leaked onto the expensive Persian rug.

Scorpius arched off the ground, pain riddling every vein as he screamed. I called out to him, emptily. Vaguely, I think I heard my grandmother's cackling behind me. I felt like I should surrender. Maybe it would stop them. But I don't think Voldemort himself could've called my grandparents off as they tortured Scorpius. I don't think he would've wanted to.

After all, they were simply punishing a blood traitor. Where was the crime in that?

After what seemed like hours but was probably only minutes, Scorpius fell silent, his head hitting the stone ground with a sickening thwack! I stared, waiting for some sign he was still with me. My heart felt like it was going to shatter when he remained motionless.

My grandfather tossed Scorp's body aside, like a rag doll, letting it hit the wall and fall in a graceless jumble at the bottom. Still no movement. Come on Scorpius, I begged, mouthing the words. "You can't die..."

The silencing charm wore off and I hurled every curse, jinx and hex I knew, struggling as I always did with the wandless magic. Narcissa pushed me away from her, the Body Binding Jinx stopped. Her lip curled in disgust, her long, platinum blond hair looking wild and deranged and more like the portraits of my Great Aunt Bellatrix than I'd ever seen. Her eyes were too wide, too wild, too mad. Narcissa Malfoy had snapped.

"Oh how pathetic you two are. Such disappointments." She snarled as I nursed my burning wrist from the Flame Charm that began this whole mess. I just glared at her, wishing my wand was with me, wishing I could kill her.

"Go to hell, you psychotic bitch," I snapped back at her, rage-filled. Her face screwed up and a single word flitted from her lips:

"Crucio."

The red light hit me and I screamed and screamed but it wasn't enough. It would never be enough to convey that pain.

That earth-shattering, blood-spilling, furious, insatiable pain that felt like it was pulling me to pieces, drawing out each part to make it extraordinarily painful. I no longer understood who I was, where I lay, how many minutes this torture continued. I couldn't have felt anything but this wretched curse.

Finally, finally, they let me go and Merlin, I wanted to fade into that beautiful, welcoming darkness that reached tentatively for me. But it was only Mrs Malfoy, who was never quite as powerful as her husband so I stayed, agonisingly, awake. Scorpius, whose bloody, blonde-haired form I could see from the corner of my eye, still hadn't moved.

"You are a disgrace!" Narcissa shrieked, eyes still mad. "Two stains on the Malfoy legacy! If you hadn't been born, my son would still be here!"

"If you had died, he would still be here too, Grandmother." I hissed, my lungs heaving. I was trembling, the cold of the stone floor felt especially icy and slick as my fingers clutched spastically, seeking something to hold, something clutch on to. The only thing they found was my own blood.

Narcissa screeched wordlessly and two cuts appeared across my stomach, long but shallow gashes that bled eagerly. She continued shrieking, tossing her wand to the ground, pulling at her scalp until locks of blond hair floated to the ground and Grandfather collected her up in his arms and took her to the main foyer. Her haunting screams echoed back to me.

The ringing in my ears grew louder and louder, a sound like sirens and danger. I blinked away the tears which had been falling since dinner. Since I was stupid enough to risk everything important.

"Scorpius?" I whispered, hoarsely. Like leftover residue from a lightning strike, my body was still crackling with pain as I crawled past the debris of that horrific beating, struggling to my feet. Every movement ached. My feet felt like I was walking on knives.

I fell to my knees and slowly rolled Scorpius' head into my lap. I almost screamed when I saw the blood matted in his hair, dripping from his nose, gashes above his eyebrow, on his chin, across his cheek and one eye swollen shut. His limbs were littered with slashes- my grandfather had been cursing him for almost an hour now I realised.

His dark dress robes were in tatters and wet with blood. I doubted I looked much better. I had to take a few breaths before trying to wake him, knowing that I would start hyperventilating soon. Scorpius and I were twins- while we couldn't read each other's mind or anything silly like that, I was always aware of him. I always knew how he felt, whether he was angry or sad or happy or sick.

This pain was numbing- it throbbed at the fringe of my thoughts, right where my Scorpius Radar was. The idea that it was just a dull echo of what Scorp was feeling made me sick. He couldn't die. Scorpius was my everything- my brother, my twin, my best friend, my confidant, my worst enemy, my greatest ally. He was the only family I had ever known.

"Scorpius, please, don't leave me. Not like this." I whispered, feeling like I was six years old, calling out to my big brother to come chase away imaginary monsters. Except now those monsters were real, terrifyingly real. And we had to get out of their cave. Now.

I brushed the hair away from his face and shook him. He was hovering- not quite unconscious, not yet at least. I gritted my teeth, reaching behind me without a thought to the screaming muscles in my arm as I grabbed my grandmother's discarded wand.

I held it, half-disgusted by it, half-determined to use it. I needed to use it no matter how repulsed I was by the fact I was now carrying the wand that had inflicted so much pain. Well, I thought wryly, I'm not a blood traitor for nothing and flicked it twice. "Accio Lyra Malfoy's wand."

There was nothing and then my own wand appeared, hurtling down the corridor from my room. I dropped Narcissa's immediately and caught my own, a sense of knee-wobbling relief coursing through me. "Episkey!" I whispered over Scorpius' face and the flesh stitched itself back together.

The spell seemed to wake his senses. His eyes twitched under the dried blood. Suddenly I was looking at the pale, tempestuous eyes I'd known my whole life and I could've cried with relief. "Ly?" he mumbled, groggily. I hushed him, quickly glancing back to where my grandmother's screams were still echoing.

"We're leaving Scorp," I stated, firmly. "Tonight."

He squinted at me. "What? What happened to your face Ly? Did they do something?" Scorpius mumbled, angrily, like he was going to go do something about it.

"It doesn't matter Scorp- I- I think we have to go. Now. Or else, they'll come back worse." I whispered, slowly pushing him back down as he struggled to sit up.

Scorpius' eyes went darker as he took in my face, carefully reaching up to trace the two cuts running parallel across each of my cheeks. They were cursed and therefore exceedingly painful. "Help me up."

Slowly, trying to ignore the leftover ache of the Cruciatus Curse, we staggered to our feet and carefully began the trek away from the dining room. When we were out of immediate sight, I called for Twilly. She appeared with a crack! looking frightened and nervous, her huge blue eyes glowing in the dim light.

"Young Mistress called for Twilly?" she squeaked, hunched over. I coughed, my lungs heavy.

"Yes, we need help. Twilly, I need you to go and pack our trunks and meet us down here as quickly as possible." Scorpius stated, summoning his wand quickly. I felt a twinge of envy at the ease he called his wand to him. Wands were never allowed at dinner. Probably so we couldn't fight back.

Twilly wrung her hands. "Twilly is breaking rules of her Master and Mistress, oh yes, she will be punished, oh yes, Twilly will be scalded for helping the Young Master and Mistress." She nervously muttered. I barely contained a groan.

"Twilly, please, this is very important." I begged, politely. I always tried to make sure the House Elves knew Scorpius and I were on their side- they were a good ally to have.

Twilly nodded, bravely. "It is Twilly's duty Young Mistress Lyra so Twilly is being going Young Mistress, yes, Twilly will be back soon." The little House Elf disappeared in a crack!

Scorpius collapsed against a wall and there was a crash from the Invitational Room where Narcissa was probably tearing things apart in a mad rage. I wondered what Lucius was doing- whether he was simply watching her destroy the grandeur of the Malfoy Manor or helping her. I doubted he would've succumbed to the craziness that had already broken my Grandmother.

I felt my heart starting to break as I realised we were really leaving. We'd talked about it for years- every since our parents dropped off the face of the Earth, ever since we became sole patrons of the Malfoys instead of the Greengrasses. We'd always planned to run away. We just never knew where. And then there was the fact that despite the ugly happenings behind closed doors, Malfoy Manor was our home- the only place we'd really ever had...

Scorpius saw my face and growled. "No Lyra. Don't even think about it."

"Scorp, what if we just stuck to our side of the mansion?" I pleaded. "We're in Hogwarts most of the year anyhow."

"So they can hit you when I'm not looking in the summer? So they can burn your letters? Torment me? Clip your owl's wings and lock you in your room and arrange me into a pureblood marriage? So they can make your life miserable and try to turn me into the perfect heir? It's not worth it Lyra. It's just not." He pointed out, angrily.

I bit my lip. "I know. But will they even..."

"I know them. I know Al. They'll let us. They always said it was okay." Scorpius finished my thoughts, with certainty. His eyes drooped and I nudged his shoulder.

"Don't you dare fall asleep on me Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy. Don't even think about it." I growled at him, frightened.

Scorpius scowled. "Don't pull the middle name card with me Lyra Thea Malfoy." He snapped back faintly.

"I'm serious Scor, we need to get you help. You're a mess." I pointed out wryly. Scorpius pursed his lips, eyes half shut.

"Don't think I don't see those cuts on your stomach Lyra. Fix them up now." he ordered. I swallowed, ignoring the stabbing sensation of the cursed wounds.

"I don't think I'll be able to stay conscious afterwards. They're too long." I brushed them off. They were shallow- and my torn dress was red anyway.

Scorpius growled lowly just as Twilly ReApparated with two packed trunks next to her. I grimaced at her, my legs shaking as I tried to sustain Scorpius' weight. He tried to ease off me but I pulled on his arm til he hissed and glared at me. "Thankyou Twilly. And if our Grandparents ask who helped us, I want you to say it was my fault, that I used Mistress' wand, alright?" I didn't want her to get in trouble- I'd heard stories of the wall at my great grandparents house where the heads of all disobeying House Elves were mounted.

Twilly nodded, still fearful. "Yes Young Mistress."

I tore a section of my ruined dress off and handed it to her. Her eyes, already impossibly huge, got bigger. "If you want to leave, I am hereby freeing you Twilly. Thankyou."

She nodded, her eyes still massively large as she Apparated away.

We hobbled back into the dining room, over to the fireplace. Scorpius gripped his own trunk in one hand, my own hand in the other. I gritted my teeth and looked to the elegant black pot beside the fire, reaching inside...

And finding nothing.

"It's empty!" I whispered, horrified beyond belief. My hand scraped futilely across the bottom of the green pot. No Floo powder. Not even the tiniest trace of dust. They'd taken it all. They'd expected us. No. No, no, no! Scorpius did a double take, suddenly looking petrified as well.

"Do you hear that?" he whispered, even softer than my own voice. My teeth clenched together with an audible snap. There was no more howling from the Invitational Room. No more crashing. Oh Merlin...

I turned slowly and froze upon seeing my Grandmother, staring at us both from across the Dining Room.

"You can't leave." She hissed, deranged. "You can't leave me."

"Lyra," Scorpius whispered. "Get behind me." Despite myself, I rolled my eyes. Scorpius was barely two minutes older than me and had been playing protector his whole life. I was the baby sister. The younger one. The one that needed to be protected.

I shook my head, gripping my wand, my head plotting out an escape. "No. Hold onto the bags and my arm Scor," I murmured back to him, determinedly. His eyes bugged.

"Are you insane?"

"You can't leave." Narcissa Malfoy snarled, sounding more and more like an animal. Family had always been the sole purpose of her life. She defied the Dark Lord for my father; she weaselled her husband out of Azkaban; bribed a marriage to continue the line.

Narcissa's focus had always been family. And when my parents disappeared, leaving her with two insubordinate twins, one of whom would be a serious hassle to marry off, the other a disgrace to the Malfoy name, she kind of just...broke.

Narcissa Malfoy was crazy all right. And crazy people do crazy things.

"Protego. Absolutely bonkers Scorp but it's our only option. Hold on, okay?"

"Malfoys. Just. Can't...leave."

I took a deep breath as my Grandmother prepared to curse the living daylights out of both of us and turned on the spot, whirling my wand as I went, urging every bone in my body, urging every cell to scream for my destination. I thought about the wide, open fields, the elegant, understated mansion, the door with the golden lion knocker, the veranda where I'd spent past Easters, the lake where I'd swam in the dead of night under the stars...

I was so concentrated in my own longing, I didn't realise we were spinning, squeezing, pushing and twisting through the skies, magic propelling us along. The hook-behind-my-navel feeling made me falter for just a second and suddenly there was a jolt of pain in my chest, like something was being left behind in this twirling mess of magic.

And then I was face down, freezing and bleeding into the snow, Scorpius beside me, sprawled across the twin trunks.

I felt drained of everything. Honestly, at that moment, nothing would've made me happier than to have lied down in the snow and just sleep for eternity. Scorpius moaned weakly beside me and I realised that the pain was even worse than before. I didn't even care that much- it was just another reason to give up.

But my eyes caught something to my right, something bright and golden. I wanted to wrap my arms around the light, let it just sweep me away before my Apparation-addled brain recognised the golden lion's head door knocker near the light and the veranda and the door and windows...

I smiled, weakly. I'd done it. Probably left half of me back in Malfoy Manor but I'd done it. I staggered, my dress doing absolutely nothing against the cold, to my feet, the wind blowing snow and ice around me, sticking to my hair, my wounds, my bright scarlet dress. I grabbed Scorpius by the arms and lugged him out of the tangle of trunks. It was strange, as if my arms weren't connected to me anymore, only to the cold.

I looped my arms under his and tugged, crawling one step at a time up the stairs and reaching up to grasp the knocker's handle, which had magically lowered to within my grasp. I banged it three times, trying vaguely to understand why there were four sets of doors. The Lion roared thrice but there was no answer.

Please, I begged in my mind. Please just open up. Scorpius felt so cold in my arms. Numbly, I recognised that he could die if we didn't get inside. Not Scorp...please...not him...

Tears streaming down my face, I banged the knocker two more times. The Lion roared and suddenly fell away to reveal the very tall figure of my best friend.

"Albus," I croaked. He was in his pyjamas and hadn't put his glasses on yet but it didn't matter. Like it always did around him, I felt peaceful, at home. Safe. Scorpius and I were safe. I smiled weakly. He seemed to just stare, shell-shocked at us both for a second before turning yelling at the top of his voice: "DAD!"

"Al, do you know what time it is, bloody hell, let the rest of us slee- Lyra? Scorpius? Oh Merlin, what the hell happened?" came the voice of a very irate teenage girl. Albus bent down to help ease Scorpius up as my next best friend Rose Weasley came ploughing down the stairs in her dressing gown, blue eyes wide and stunned.

She swam in front of my vision like a mirage and for a second, I had the horrible thought that I was imagining her. "Rosey? Is that you?" I whispered as Scorpius' weight suddenly fell from my arms. I wanted to hold on but there was no longer any strength.

"Dear Lord Lyra, what happened to you?" Rose murmured, her warm skin brushing my own icy temperature. "What happened to both of you? Dad? UNCLE HARRY!"

"You have a loud voice," I muttered to her, tiredly. My ears were still ringing.

"Guys, it's way too late- What's going on here? Is that Scorpius? Al? Rose? What the hell is going on here?" the famed Harry Potter was beside Scorpius in an instant and suddenly I remembered the date for no reason at all. Christmas Eve. Which meant the entire Weasley Clan was-

"What's wrong?"

"Who's that?"

"Are those-"

"Is that-"

"Sweet Circe-"

"Clear out of the way!"

"My timing sucks," I mumbled. There was a blur of bright red hair suddenly filling up my vision and it reminded me of blood- blood seeping from Scorpius' head, onto the floor, from my stomach, staining his robes, my bright red dress which began this awful night-

Green. Suddenly, it was just green. The most beautiful, bright, emerald green anyone had ever seen. Dimly, I recognised I was no longer on the floor but being carried, quickly but oh so gently and then something soft as kitten's fur on my cheek. It didn't matter though.

It was all green.

There was a roar of voices but they didn't even register. There was nothing else in the world but those green, green orbs that always stayed close to me.

"Cruciatus Curse, most definitely-"

"Been kicked around a couple of times-"

"Cursed wounds across her stomach-"

"Major damage to his skull-"

"How did they even survive any of this? They're sixteen."

The words were so far away. "I'm tired," I whispered, really only mouthing the words. The green grew tense.

"Don't go to sleep on me now Lyra," said a soft voice, panicking. It was so nice. "Don't you dare."

I didn't listen. My bones ached. My eyes fluttered shut. "Goodnight Albus." And then I let the darkness overtake everything.

-''-''-''-

It's a little dark at the beginning, I gotta admit. *shrugs* Life isn't going to be a cakewalk with these guys, what can I say?

More coming soon.

Review...please? pretty please? Preeeeeeetty please?
Tress Blues