More Actual Guidelines

There were rules, Albus knew. Rules to being his father's son. Rules to being a Potter. And these rules, unspoken though they were, were adamant, unbreakable and to be followed resolutely until death.

Heck, they were to be followed resolutely even after death. And should these unspoken rules be broken, Albus was at least 99.9 percent sure his family would disown him on the spot.

The rules were as follows:

Number One: Under no circumstances, including threat of death, are you to use Unforgivable Curses or Dark Magic of any kind.

Number Two: Always obey your mother. She knows what's good for you.

Number Three: Never think that you are better or in anyway superior to a Muggle simply because you are a Wizard.

Number Four: Don't pick fights with people younger than you. Especially not your siblings.

Number Five: Don't pick fights period, that kind of behaviors leads to solitude and loneliness and tends to result in the creation of evil groups...

And Number Six: Never EVER trust a Malfoy.

Now, Albus pondered this last rule as he headed across the deserted grounds of Hogwarts school, towards the Quidditch pitch.

It was, being the middle of winter-not to mention the dead of night-extremely cold outside, so Albus wasn't completely taken off-guard by the glare he received when he approached the lone figure sitting huddled up on the stands.

"Ahiateyurwkuts."

Albus blinked and shifted wrapping his arms tighter around himself. "S-sorry, wh-what d-did yo-you s-s-say?" he said through chattering teeth.

Scorpius Malfoy pulled his Slytherin scarf loose, and turned his head to glare at Albus. "I said I hated you!" He replied loudly, so that Albus could hear him clearly through the fabric.

"What for?" Albus asked indignantly as he pulled his own Gryffindor scarf higher up."It was your idea to meet out here!"

To this Scorpius said nothing, he merely shifted and turned away, mumbling something that Albus took to mean something along the lines of 'whatever'.

"..." Albus thought for a moment, toeing the frozen ground with the tip of his shoe. This was stupid. He was breaking school rules, and his parents rules, andfreezing in the process?

And to what? Was it to be friends with a guy who only seemed to give a crap about him when it was beneficial to himself? Or was it simply to break the rules? He was a Slytherin after all. And Gryffindors were never friends with Slytherins. And even worse, he was a Malfoy...

Albus's thoughts were interrupted when something tugged on his sleeve, and he looked up to see Scorpius standing next to him. The blonde wore a strange expression as he looked at him, but it only lasted for a second. In the next, he had taken hold of his arm and was dragging him away from the stands.

On instinct Albus resisted.

"Where are we going?" he asked, as Scorpius turned to look at him, with a half confused half annoyed expression.

He rolled his eyes, and tugged Albus forward. "Back inside, Potter." he replied as Albus allowed himself to be dragged along. After some time, and apparently much thought, Scorpius finally added curiously. "Where did you think we were going?"

Albus shrugged. "I dunno." he muttered, glowering resentfully down at the frozen ground. As this was the case, he was unaware that Scorpius had stopped walking and nearly ran right into him.

Taking a few steps back he opened his mouth to ask what was the matter when he saw how intensely he was gazing at him. "W-what?"

Something in the blonde's eyes shifted. "Don't you trust me?"

Albus's train of thought derailed momentarily, and he was unsure of what to do, but as he looked back at the Slytherin boy, a Malfoy who was and would always be his family's enemy, he knew the answer.

"Yes. I trust you."

Scorpius expression changed instantly to skepticism. "Are you serious?" He asked, the muscles in his mouth twitching as he tried to keep himself from showing just how hopeful he was.

Albus nodded though, and the Malfoy's restraint seemed to crack, a brilliant smile creeping slowly onto his pale face, making his eyes light up.

Then they shifted again, questioningly so. "You really trust me?" he asked again and Albus, feeling irritated by having been asked twice already, completely missed the anxious undertone.

"Malfoy, I just said I trust you. How many ti-"

But Scorpius interrupted. "Good, good," he said quickly, waving away Albus's question, before abruptly tightening his grip on his arm, and without warning, he slammed a hand over his mouth and flung them both to the side.

Albus let out a muffled scream as they hit the ground and rolled down the steep snow-covered slope at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. When they stopped, he quickly tried to pry the foreign hand away from his mouth.

"Shhhh!" Scorpius hissed, swatting his hand away. "Listen!" Blinking, as Scorpius looked up towards the top of the slope, he stopped moving and obeyed.

At first, he could hear nothing out of the ordinary, and was about to attempt to point this out when he heard it. The sound of crunching snow, under unusually heavy footsteps. The kind that came accompanied by something that was five times the size of a normal human...

"I think it's that Half-Giant." Scorpius whispered, as Albus slowly pride his hand lose.

"Hagrid?" He whispered back, just as said person's enormous shadow fell across them, but Hagrid didn't see either. He was walking along the edge, headed in the opposite direction, and humming happily to himself as he went.

Once he was far enough away, Scorpius slowly lifted himself off of the ground, and moved back towards the tree-line. Albus quickly followed suite, and together they made their way back towards Hogwart's castle.

In front of the entrance way, Scorpius halted. "It's a good thing you trust me," he said, turning to Albus and smiling, "or that might have ended horribly."

"Really boys? Because I think it still might."

All of the color drained from Albus' face, as a familiar women climbed up the stairs and stood before them. Scorpius' mouth dropped open and Albus opened and closed his several times trying to think of something to say. In the end he could think of nothing.

Minerva McGonagall stared down at them as she approached and waved her wand causing the doors to open by themselves. "Potter, Malfoy, come with me." she said sternly, her lips pulled into a thin line.

Scorpius and Albus exchanged looks, before turning and obediently followed her the Headmistress inside. As the doors slid closed behind them, she lead the two down the entrance hall towards the Slytherin dungeons. "I knew I would find the two of you doing something like this, eventually." she commented as they walked, her footfalls echoing loudly around the sleeping castle. "Though I hardly expected you to be doing it together."

There was silence for a moment before Albus managed to speak "Professor McGonagall, I-" however she cut him off.

"There is no need, I assure you Mr. Potter." She said, coming to a stop. "As this is your first offense, I will allow you to get by this once, however, should I catch the two of you breaking any more rules, there will be consequences."

Again the two exchanged looks, and Professor McGonagall smiled. "You're just like your father's. They too had a knack for breaking the rules. Though one more adept at it than the other." She said, reminiscing, before her smile faded abruptly and the stern look returned. "Now, I'll leave you hear Mr. Malfoy, I trust you know the way into your own common room?"

Scorpius nodded, and Professor McGonagall wasted no time in turning on her heel and walking away. "See ya." Albus said quickly, as Scorpius waved goodbye and quickly turned to follow.

They made their way up to the Gryffindor common room in silence, only speaking once they stood beyond the portrait of the fat lady.

"I'm really sorry Professor," Albus tried again as she turned to face him, but she waved his apology off once again.

"As I said, Potter, there is no need to apologize. I quite understand." She smiled again, "and as I said, you're just like your father. He seemed to view the rules as being more guidelines than anything. Just something that was to be considered, but not necessarily followed. Now if you would-"

"But Professor I-"

"Ah," Minerva interrupted, holding up a hand. "To bed Mr. Potter. Or I really will give you detention."

Albus nodded slowly. "Yes, Headmistress." he said, and quickly climbed the staircase to the boy's dormitory. Changing into his nightclothes, he lie down on his bed, and considered the rules once again.

Rolling over onto his side, he closed his eyes.

Perhaps he would see Scorpius in the morning. Maybe he would even talk to him in front of everyone else.

Because, after all, the rules really did see more like guidelines.

Finis

Authoress Note: It should probably be noted that I haven't actually FINISHED reading HP and the Deathly Hallows so eh...their personalities are probably way off. Anyway, it doesn't matter. It was just for fun and to celebrate the creation of my new community on LJ, the link to which can by found in my profile here on Yay!

Eh...it's five thirty am...must sleep now. leave reviews for my dream monsters.