pass out;; open

[scorpius hyperion malfoy]

Scorpius stared at the canopy held high above his bed, his expression blank except for the small frown tugging at the corner of his mouth. How did he get here? This was the second night in a row he’d found himself unable to recall the night before. He couldn’t remember returning to his dorm or tumbling into his bed.. Yet here he was. The crease between his eyebrows deepened, as it always did when he fell into heavy thought. Minutes passed before he decided to shrug away the why’s and how’s. This wasn’t the first time he’d woken to find that he couldn’t remember his actions the night before and most definitely wouldn’t be his last. So what did it matter?

Reaching over, Scorpius tugged at the curtain around his bed, drawing it back slightly. He regretted it immediately, when the bright rays of the sun hit his eyes and a sharp, unforgiving pain sliced it’s way through his head. The pain pressed on behind his left eye in particular, irritating his ear in the process. Oh, how he hated hangovers.
Lifting an arm to shield his eyes from the light, the Slytherin blinked away the white spots that danced in his vision and glanced around the beds. His room-mates were still fast asleep and a glance at his watch told him that it was still early. 5:42 am to be exact. For a second, Scorpius considered going back to sleep. But between his aching head and Alfie’s monstrous snoring, he knew he wouldn’t be able to. ‘Fucking brilliant.’

Rubbing a hand over his face, he began to shuffle from his bed, kicking his sheets away as he went. The air in the room was cold without his quilt and it caused the hairs on his arms to raise. Ignoring the cold and the shiver that tickled it’s way up his spine when his bare feet touched icy concrete, Scorpius moved to the end of his bed and noiselessly opened his trunk. He dressed right there, switching his boxers for fresh ones. Since it was a Sunday morning and school robes weren’t a necessary he dressed himself in a pair of grey muggle sweat pants and a thin white cotton v-neck shirt that clung to his slim, lean build. He didn’t particularly care what he was wearing, just as long as he was dressed. Last of all he pulled on a pair of thick black socks and pushed up the sleeves of his shirt to the crease of his elbow.

Fully dressed yet still horribly hung over, Scorpius made his way from his room. He left the cold Dungeons that housed his common room and made his way up to the higher levels of the castle. The tall corridors were quiet, but Scorpius didn’t mind. Quiet was what he wanted right now. If he heard anything louder than a pin drop he'd snap, he was sure of it. He needed to get this hangover sorted. But of course he wouldn’t. Not yet at least. The pain would be punishment for allowing himself to slip so far again. This was the second morning in the last week that he’d woken with little memory of his activities from the night before. Scorpius knew that his behaviour was getting beyond ridiculous but he wasn’t quite sure how to stop. In fact he didn’t know if he wanted to stop anymore. Was there any point? What did he have to stop for? Who did he have to stop for? No one. The idea of carrying on down the path of self-destruction was heavily tempting. It always was. Except he shouldn’t. He couldn’t. Because he did have people to stop his destructive ways for. His mother would never forgive herself and his little sister would never forgive him.

The corners of his mouth twisted down into a frown and his head throbbed twice as hard. Thinking was not helping his aching head at all. ‘Fuck it.’ He couldn’t be arsed with the hangover. What was he, forcing himself to live through the pain, some sort of masochist? No. Pocketing his hands, he made a sharp turn, heading down a different corridor.
The Hospital Wing was empty but for one sleeping student he vaguely recognised as a fifth year Gryffindor by the name of ‘Gimmly.’ Grunting unintelligently to himself, Scorpius crossed over to an empty bed in the corner of the room and sat down on it’s edge. He dropped his head into his hands, rested his elbows down on his knees and closed his eyes. The nurse would turn up sooner or later.

[aspen calliope cooper]

Since her third year at Hogwarts, Aspen had made it a point to be awake every morning of the weekend to help out over at the Hospital Wing. When she was younger, it had mostly just been her sitting there, sorting through paperwork or cleaning linens, but now that she was older and actually had a good bit of experience, Aspen was able to help even more. The older healers generally weren't too fond of the early morning shifts, so they were more than happy to let Aspen be the one awake and in charge of the Hospital Wing at the odd hours of the morning. Of course, they were always on call if something major happened, but usually it was just the overly drunk students that needed a bandage for a cut or perhaps just a potion for a hangover, all things that Aspen was completely capable of managing on her own. It gave her experience, which would help when she went on to actually become a healer, and it gave the healer on duty a bit of a reprieve, so it worked out well for everyone.

That particular Sunday, Aspen had already been in the Hospital Wing and busying herself since midnight of that Saturday. It was the weekend, so she didn't have to worry about being up for classes and all she really had to do for the rest of her day was work, but that wasn't until the afternoon. Aspen usually didn't volunteer for such long hours, but she had been throwing herself increasingly into the job with the holiday season, as well as with what happened with Frankie. Though she couldn't directly help her friend with whatever had happened, she had been volunteering more and more at the Hospital Wing with the hopes that at least some of what she did would go on to benefit the other girl. She knew that she had no reason to feel responsible for what had happened, but as a friend, she did feel it was her duty to at least do her best to help in any way that she could. Of course, that was just how Aspen had always been, really.

For the most part, her shift at the Hospital Wing passed pretty slowly. She helped with a few potions that were brewing in the back, clipped plants and sorted medicines, pretty much anything helpful that she could do to pass the time. A few students trickled in over the night with requests for potions to rid the ailments of their drinking, but they were in and out fairly quickly and Aspen didn't get to interact a whole lot with them. Most of them just wanted to sleep after they were cured and had no desire to be stuck around Aspen and her incessant cheer. The only major catastrophe that came in was around four in the morning when a young Gryffindor came in with an odd bite. Aspen, having been around the Hospital Wing long enough, recognized it as fanged geranium, which the kid managed to confirm amidst his howls of distress.

Knowing that it was a simple enough fix, Aspen didn't awaken any of the healers and rolled over in her chair to the cabinet. Retrieving the antidote for the bite, as well as a bandage and salve to patch it up, Aspen quickly set about fixing the boy's injury. Satisfied when she had finished, Aspen bade the boy to stay in his place so that the healers could keep an eye on him when they returned, just in case. She could have sent him off without an issue, but she didn't want to be too sure of herself and let him leave with anything else wrong with him. Best that he stick around so she could keep an eye out for any symptoms that might arise, anyways. It would also be sort of nice to have a bit of company around for the next few hours, since she had more or less been on her own for the majority of her time there. Aspen wasn't very good at being alone.

Unfortunately for Aspen, the boy soon fell into a lull of sleep and she was once again left to her own devices. Wheeling her rolling chair back into the back room, Aspen went about brewing more of the hangover potion, since their stores had been marginally depleted over the course of the night. As it was the weekend, that was a pretty common occurrence. About twenty minutes later, Aspen returned into the main room to check on the small Gryffindor, who, much to her dismay, she found still asleep. She was about to turn back into the other room, when she was struck by the sight of another student that had apparently come in while she was still in the back room. A cheerful, almost excited, grin appeared on her face when she recognized the boy as none other than Scorpius Malfoy. Smiling when seeing someone in the Hospital Wing was probably not the most advisable reaction, but she was genuinely just glad to see a friend. Not so much that he was in pain, though.

Quickly moving over to his side, Aspen could tell that he was probably another student in need of the hangover potion. However, she was more than willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, since she was quite fond of him and didn't want to think anything but the best of him. "Hey, Scorpius, can I help you out with anything? The healers aren't due in for another hour or so, but I'm sure I could help," Aspen questioned, giving him a reassuring smile as she spoke. Anything that she could do to assist the boy would be absolutely thrilling for her, since she lived to help those that she considered friends. Scorpius was one of the people that she thought of as a rather good friend, at that, so being able to help him was that much more exciting. Usually she didn't see many people that she was close to there in the Hospital Wing, so it was quite the unexpected change.

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[scorpius hyperion malfoy]

The room was rocking. Scorpius squeezed his eyes shut and took in one long, ragged breath. He exhaled slowly but it didn't help the sharp stabbing pain that was mercilessly attacking his head. The pain had intensified so much after the past few minutes since he had sat down, that for a moment, Scorpius thought he might vomit. His hands pressed harder against his head, his fingers disappearing into his thick hair; he took another deep breath. The nauseous feeling that was churning his insides had barely ebbed when a voice spoke from above.

Slowly, almost as if it pained him, Scorpius dropped a hand and peered up at the girl stood before him. Aspen Cooper. It took a moment for his brain to process what it was she had just said and when he did piece together just why she was stood before him and what it was she wanted, he simply grunted and returned his head into his hands. "The Hangover cure. I need two of them. Now." He spoke between short breaths and didn't bother to lift his head again. He was too hungover, too sick to possibly say anything more, not unless Aspen didn't mind being covered in vomit. A grim smirk twisted his lips then, because he knew that she probably wouldn't mind at all.

[aspen calliope cooper]

It was quite obvious that Scorpius wasn't feeling well, which brought quite the concerned look to Aspen's face. Granted, she didn't think it was very serious from what she knew about the symptoms of a hangover, but she was concerned either way. It took a moment for the boy to respond, eventually grumbling that he did, in fact, need the hangover potion. Giving him a wide smile, Aspen nodded for a moment before quickly disappearing back into the other room. This was the most common thing that she ended up dealing with throughout the night, which she personally didn't approve of, but she supposed that it was only to be expected. There were a lot of people that were happy to go out partying and what have you, so Aspen was at least glad that they were there to get help, rather than suffering through the hangover themselves.

It didn't take Aspen long to get the potion into a glass for Scorpius and she also grabbed a glass of water for him to drink once he had taken the potion, just to wash it down. Returning to the other room with the glasses in hand, Aspen sat down on the bed across from Scorpius and handed the potion over first. "Here, take this one first," she said, softly, hoping that it would work quickly to relieve his pain. Aspen hated seeing the people that she cared about uncomfortable in any way and this definitely was hard to see. Aspen was the sort of person that saw the best in everyone, so when she saw people like this, she tended to assume that something was seriously wrong, rather than the usual case of just another party night gone wild. "Are you feeling any better?" she asked after he'd had a few moments to let the potion settle in, holding the glass of water out, just in case.

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[scorpius hyperion malfoy]

What must have been minutes felt like hours as Scorpius waited for Aspen to get the Hangover potion for him. When Aspen did finally return he sat up properly and took the potion she was holding out. He could feel the effects of the potion after the first swallow and quickly downed the rest of it in one large gulp. The potion didn't take long to work it's way into his system. The first thing it cleared was the ache in his head and then, a little more slowly, the nauseous feeling in his stomach. Flicking his tongue out over his dry lips, Scorpius rubbed his fingers into his eyes and then blinked them a couple of times, glad to see that the room was no longer rocking.

"Fucking fantastic." he croaked, his throat dry, and took the water from Aspens hands. He downed that too, letting out a refreshed breath when he'd finished. "Another one." he ordered, pushing the empty glass back into her hands. Rubbing a hand over his face again, Scorpius pushed a hand through his hair and took a few breaths to steady himself as the potion worked its last bit of magic. There was an awful after taste in his mouth, a mix of the potion he'd just necked and the alcohol he'd drunk the night before. "What are you doing here so late?" he asked. The rest of the hospital wing was empty bar himself, Aspen and the other student. It was unusual for a student to be working in the hospital wing so late at night. At least, he thought it was unusual. Of course he knew that Aspen wanted to be a nurse or whatever, but why she was here on a weekend night made him a little curious. He also thought it was kind of pathetic that she'd rather spend her time here, looking after drunks like himself instead going out and having some fun of her own.

[aspen calliope cooper]

Keeping a close eye on Scorpius, Aspen was quite relieved to see that he appeared to be doing better once he had downed the potion. Of course, she knew that it was going to work since she had brewed it herself, but it was always a relief when she saw people get better. There was always that little speck of doubt at the back of her mind that perhaps she had somehow managed to mess up and that perhaps the potion just wouldn't work, but that didn't seem to be the case at the moment. Taking the glass containing the potion from him once he finished, Aspen turned to put it on the tray near her so that she could clean it out later. Looking back to Scorpius as he finished off the first glass of water, she nodded at his request, taking out her wand to fill it back up quickly before handing it back over.

Though she knew that he was going to be fine, she couldn't get the look of concern off of her face. "Is that better?" she asked, hoping that a verbal confirmation would soothe her own nerves at least somewhat. His question caught her slightly off guard and her eyebrows furrowed a bit as she attempted to come up with some sort of reason for it. "I guess I just like helping," she replied with a shrug. It was a truthful answer, to a point, though there was certainly a lot more to it than just that simple fact. She felt responsible for a lot of things that had gone wrong and so she was there to make up for it as best she could. "I've been here all night...usually am," she admitted with a bit of a smile. She knew it wasn't something that most people would think normal, but Aspen was okay with that. She was there for a good reason and that was what mattered.

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[scorpius hyperion malfoy]

The second glass of water doesn't go down as fast as the first, Scorpius chooses to sip at this one, slowly, to soothe the raw scratched feeling at the back of his throat. He grunts a response at Aspen when she asks if he feels any better, his gray eyes staring across the room. He refuses to look at her because he doesn't like the way she's currently looking at him; with genuine worry and concern.
The way she always does, he's come to find, whenever he's gotten himself in some trouble and she's been around. It unerves him, that worried look on her face, makes him feel uncomfortable and vulnerable, like she can see straight through him. He hates it.

"Sounds fun." He mutters, his obvious tiredness taking the edge off his sarcasm. He glances at Aspen then, eying her from head to toe. Aspen Cooper is not an ugly girl. In fact, Scorpius thinks she was very good looking, beautiful even, on the days he allows himself to think that. It's just that she's such an annoying goody-two-shoes that it completely turns him off of her. He hates her for it. Hates her for being so pure and innocent because he's sure that if she keeps trying to hang around him that he'll corrupt her, ruin her innocence. And for some reason, some bizarre, uknown reason, he doesn't want that. Sometimes he thinks about breaking her, breaking her so badly that she'd never dare to come near him again. But sometimes, though he'd never ever admit it, he thinks that he likes having her around, which is a scary and daunting thought.

"I'm going to get some sleep." he stretches out onto the hospital bed, laying on his back, his fingers locking together underneath his head. "You won't kick me out, will you?" He knows that she won't and doesn't wait for an answer, he simply closes his eyes. But when he does, he still sees Aspen and he can't get rid of the worried look that marks her face. The thing that worries him the most is that a part of him doesn't want to. Which only irritates him further, causing his dislike for her to grow. The last thing he thinks of as he drifts off to sleep, is how to get Aspen to leave him alone for good.

Time passes and with a groan, Scorpius opens his eyes and stares up at the ceiling. For a moment he can't recall where he is and then he remembers Aspen's worried face and knows instantly. "Ugh.." Rubbing a hand over his face, he sits up and swings his legs over the side of the bed, before dragging his fingers through his hair. A glance at the window shows him that it's light outside, probably still early morning, he can't have slept very long. It doesn't surprise him, he's been having trouble sleeping lately and usually only manages four, maye five hours a night, if he's lucky. Sliding from the bed, he stretches his legs out and then looks around the large room with bored eyes. There's another nurse just entering and idly he wonders where Aspen is. Has she left already? But as soon as the thought enters his head he scowls. 'I really need to do something about her' having her popping up in his thoughts just won't do.