CHAPTER 1
"Albus." A hand shook him gently. "Albus, wake up."
Only one Slytherin in the world could be so gentle when trying to wake people up and Albus wasn't disappointed when he opened his eyes and saw Scorpius Malfoy staring back at him.
"Hmm," mumbled Albus. "Isn't it Saturday?"
"Yes," Scorpius said excitedly. He was already fully dressed but it was only regular since Scorpius always woke up early on Saturdays to go study in the library. "But this can't wait." He flashed a smile. "I need to talk to you."
"Why?"
He looked around, hesitated and leaned over the boy's head. "Not here. Come on, meet me outside."
Albus grunted but did as he was told. He put on a green shirt, jeans and tennis, reached for his glasses and buried them in his nose, and followed his best friend outside, not even bothering to look at his reflection in the mirror.
As soon as they were out of the Slytherin Common Room, they searched around for a deserted hallway until they reached one.
"Why do we need such secrecy?" Albus asked at last with amusement. "Are you proposing to me?"
Scorpius ignored him. His hands were shaking with excitement. "I found something," he said, with a twinkle in his grey eyes.
Scorpius was always overly enthusiastic with things, in deep contrast to Albus. Albus knew better than to raise his expectations.
Just like he was expecting, Scorpius stuffed his hand in the bag he was carrying and took out what seemed like a normal, dusty and gloomy looking book.
Albus eyed it with boredom. "Is that another History of Magic Extended Edition you found in the library? Because-"
"No, just look at it!" Cried Scorpius excitedly, and he opened the first page.
Nothing could have prepared Albus to what he saw next. Inside the page, there was a hole and inside it lay a long transparent flask inside which he could see a shiny, silver threaded line dancing.
"What is that?" He asked.
"But look, there's more." Scorpius turned the page and, magically, the second page bore another identical flask with another silver thread. Albus looked at the first page that had been turned down. It seemed to have restored the normal thickness of a normal book page.
"Wow, impressive," Albus admitted. "What are those things?"
"This is a memory diary," Scorpius said promptly. "Each thing you see here is a memory. I just found it in our dormitory"
"A diary in the Slytherin dormitory," Albus repeated incredulously. He was slowly understanding what his friend was trying to say to him.
"Like Tom Riddle's diary," Scorpius's eyes shone with excitement. "Can you imagine?"
Albus started processing what he had just found out. Was he that sure that he wanted to look into Lord Voldemort's memories? He caught again a glimpse of the page where the silvery thread danced, tempting him. What secrets lay behind it?
"We can't be sure it's his."
"Who else?" Asked Scorpius enthusiastically. Albus thought he was getting too carried away, but Scorpius's favourite subject was History of Magic and he truly loved learning new information. "We could actually take a peek at them if only we had a-"
A loud sound of a clearing throat made them jump. When they turned around, they saw a student at the entrance of the hallway with her arms crossed and eyeing them suspiciously.
"Rose?"
The boys looked at each other and swallowed hard. It was obvious they were up to something. Looking very pleased with herself, Rose started walking towards them, clearly enjoying their reaction to her. "What do you have there?"
Scorpius spat the book close and hid it behind his back.
"Nothing!" His voice was pitched, much higher than usual.
Rose raised an eyebrow. She was now really close to them and Scorpius, still looking frightened, started walking backwards. She leaned over to him to try to see what he was holding and suddenly Scorpius looked like he was about to faint. He tripped back but caught balance just in time to prevent a fall. Then he opened his mouth to speak.
Albus prepared for the worst. Nothing good ever came out of Scorpius's mouth when he was around Rose.
"You- smell of roses today. New potion?" He laughed nervously. Rose frowned at him. Albus rolled his eyes.
Scorpius talked again. "And- like Pumpkin Pasties, your favourite."
"How do you know they're my favourite?"
There was a small, awkward silence.
"Can't you go away?" Albus asked at once. Rose could be really tiresome sometimes and now she was enjoying teasing them. Instead of being upset, her resolute grew stronger and she stuck up her chin.
"Unless you want me to go running back to McGonagall, you will tell me what that is."
Albus glanced at Scorpius, who had turned a deep shade of scarlet. "I'm waiting." The colour now started drifting off his friend's face. Albus's hands were sweaty. Rose turned her back on them. "Suit yourself, then."
"Wait!" Scorpius flashed an apologetic look at Albus before stating nervously, "We've found something."
"I can see that." Rose approached them. Scorpius stopped hiding the book and her blue eyes drifted instantly to it. The spark of curiosity that was so characteristic of Scorpius was now also fuelled in Rose's blue eyes. "What is it?"
"A memory diary, apparently," said Albus.
"What?" When Albus got close to the others, the air was instantly impregnated with the smell of roses. No wonder Scorpius's eyes were glassy. "Where did you find it?"
"It was hidden under my bed, right under the floor."
Rose frowned. "Why would it be hidden in your dormitory?"
"I don't know."
Her eyes were twinkling. "The last diary that belonged to a Slytherin was-"
"We know."
Rose snatched the diary from an indignant Scorpius and turned the first page. Her eyes shone in the silver light of the thread. "Oh, it's killing me– We have to put it in a Pensievie!"
Scorpius cleared his throat. "I wish we could do that- but there's only one in the castle and if I recall correctly, it's in the Headmistress's office."
Rose sighed as well. "I'll think of something." Her eyes narrowed. "In the meanwhile, I should keep it."
"Hey!" Protested Albus at once. Rose raised an eyebrow, daring him to protest. He glared back. "We found it, we should have it."
"You?" She asked indignantly. "If I let you stay with it, I'm sure you'll just go on in adventures without me, like last year!"
Rose held a grudge against them because she couldn't understand how they had been the ones who had lived such an amazing adventure, the kind that she heard her parents, uncles and aunts talk about. She had considered them losers until then but after that she sometimes came to meet them and asked what they were doing, to make sure she didn't miss out on an epic journey.
Rose sneered like she did when she had an idea. "Why don't we let Scorpius decide, then?"
Albus looked at his friend, who was now turning scarlet again and who glanced nervously at both of them. "I- I-"
"That's such a low blow. I wonder why you're not in Slytherin," Albus said coolly. "You're too good at manipulating people."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"Also, if James, Roxanne or Lily see that, you know you don't stand a chance against them. Not only will you lose the diary, but I'm ready to bet that half the school will know about it by Monday. And of course, McGonagall will take it from us."
That seemed to work. Rose knew as well as Albus did that entering a jinx war with James was like committing suicide and she would have to give it to him if he found her with it. They also knew that Roxanne (who was always with James) couldn't keep a secret and that James believed in friendship too much not to tell her if he discovered the diary. Finally, she made up her mind and handed it quickly to Albus, like she was doing it before she could regret her decision.
"Fine," she conceded hastily. "But if I hear that you've been sneaking off without me-"
"We won't," Albus assured her. She turned her glare to Scorpius and he shook his head violently, the vivid scarlet still burning his cheeks.
"Good. Let me know if you come up with something, then."
She turned her back on them and left them staring at the diary.
Then Albus turned to Scorpius with a sneer.
"You smell like Pumpkin Pasties, your favourite."
Scorpius glared at him and Albus broke down with laughter. "Oh, shut up."
