Notes:
For the Word Count Game Challenge
Between 475-525 words word count 524
Word:ruin word:shadow emotion:nervous
It was a rare sunny day at Hogwarts. The sky stretched blue as far as the eye could see, and the sun hung round and yellow. Students were milling around outside. By the lake, two fourth years were sitting in the grass, focused on their charms homework. The dark-haired boy doing the writing was Albus Potter, and the blond one chattering beside him was Scorpius Malfoy.
Albus ran his hand through his messy hair. "Can we take a break now?" he whined, looking more interested in the pile of snacks next to the boys than the assignment he was supposed to be doing.
"Only if you want to fail," his friend replied, but Scorpius was also ready for a break and Albus could tell. He took a chocolate frog box and tossed another to Scorpius.
"I got Harry Potter!" Albus laughed, looking at his card. Scorpius opened up his box and took out his card. "I got Albus Dumbledore! Your namesake!" Scorpius exclaimed. The boys shared a look and laughed.
Once they had calmed down, Scorpius noticed Albus looking at him with a concerned look on his face. Confused, Scorpius opened his mouth to ask Al if he was alright when suddenly his friend jumped up.
"I'll be right back! You stay here!" he half shouted as he ran towards the castle, leaving Scorpius to contemplate the meaning of this.
Was this a joke? Scorpius knew that Albus had a lot of practical jokers in his family, but this didn't seem like their type. If it was a Weasley joke, Scorpius would have seen the humor by now.
If it wasn't a joke, the only other explanation was that Albus wanted to get away from him for some reason. But why? Everything was going so well. It was a beautiful day and it seemed as if nothing could ruin it. Scorpius felt a nervous shiver go through him despite the warm sun, and he tried to thing of what he could have done to make Albus want to leave. He had been gone for quite a while, and Scorpius was getting anxious.
Inside the castle, Albus ran into the Slytherin common room, and then his dorm. He opened his trunk frantically digging through, indifferent to the mess he was making as the floor became covered in clothes, books, and other things that filled most of his trunk but he hardly used.
"Where is it, where is it?" he asked himself, digging all the more frantically. For a moment, he thought someone had stolen the object he was desperately searching for.
"AH-HA! Found it!" panted Albus to no one in particular. He ran back outside and towards the lake, where thankfully, Scorpius was still sitting.
Scorpius heard heavy footsteps and saw the shadow of his best friend looming over him. Albus sat down, and Scorpius could see that he was holding a baseball cap with the Chudley Cannons logo on it. "My uncle Ron gave this to me, but you can have it," Albus said, putting the hat on Scorpius's head, smirking. "You're burning up out here, Scorp."