"We were supposed to be back an hour ago."
"Do you think they're looking for us?"
Rose shrugged. "How do I know?"
Albus looked at his cousin sharply, noting her tone. She sounded flip, but he knew she was just as nervous as he was. He looked around, trying to see through the dark past the trees, deciding which was the way back to the castle. He shivered, running his hands over his arms. "Are you cold, Rosie?"
"No, why?"
"Neither am I." He wasn't cold exactly, but he still shivered. He looked over his shoulder. "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what? All I hear is your whinging."
"I'm not whinging. I heard something. Didn't you hear it?" he whispered insistently.
She opened her mouth to reply but stopped suddenly, peering over his shoulder. He was afraid to turn around, but then the sound was there again. Crack. A twig. And then another, resonating through the still forest until it echoed over and over. Twigs cracking under now running feet. There was a flash of white hair. Albus thought it was a unicorn until the boy with the pale blond hair crashed into him, knocking him over.
"Thank Merlin, I found you," Scorpius cried out, hugging Albus as he lay on the ground. "Everyone's been so worried."
Albus pushed him off. "We're fine. We were just heading back."
Rose helped them both up. "All that racket you've made, Scorpius. You've turned us around. Which is the way back?"
His eyes widened and his shoulders slumped. He sat on the ground and Albus joined him in sulking.
"Did you bring your wand?"
"No. You?"
"Professor Longbottom wouldn't let us collect the mushrooms with magic."
"Are you cold?"
"No. You?"
"No."
"Rose, did you hear that?" both boys asked in unison.
Rose shook her head with a sniff and moved away from their whinging. She knew someone would find them. Eventually.