Saturday

October 26th

12:43 pm

The sun shone through a clear blue sky over the frosted treetops of the Forbidden Forest, the frozen lake glinting in the sunlight. The October sun hit the walls and windows of an enormous castle standing on the edge of the lake, its many turrets and towers stretching up toward the sky. Inside the building, students and teachers alike lounged around on this crisp, autumn weekend, savoring the warmth of the common room fires retained by the thick stone walls of the castle.

Three students in particular were wandering sedately down a corridor toward the Great Hall for lunch…

"For goodness sake, Benjamin! – stop doing that with your hair!"

Ben Staglovich grinned at Kyra Dobsen, who was frowning heavily at the way Ben had swept his long, brown hair away from his eyes. Two passing girls giggled, staring raptly at him.

"If it bothers you," Ben swept his long bangs the other way, causing half of his face to be obscured by hair. Albus Potter, who was walking beside his two friends, laughed, but Kyra rolled her eyes. Ben's long hair had always been a major pet peeve of hers.

"Seriously, Ben, it looks awful – honestly, does he think it's cool?" Kyra added to Albus, who shrugged.

"Hark who's talking," Ben retorted, eyeing his friend's purple specs, "Hey Kyra, I think Rita Skeeter wants her glasses back."

Al laughed, but Kyra looked quite unabashed.

The trio reached the Great Hall just as Rose Weasley and her friends were walking out. Rose grinned at Albus and his friends – Ben smiled back at Rose, who blushed scarlet.

Albus waited until Rose and her group of chattering girls were gone before he groaned to his friend, "Seriously Ben – do you have to flirt with my cousin? It's weird enough with every single girl in the school being madly in love with you."

Kyra cleared her throat loudly and pointedly. Ben ignored her.

"Rose isn't in love with me, mate." He shook his head disbelievingly, "She just idealizes me… and who can blame her? Actually, I think she's a lot keener on –"

"Don't you dare bring that up again, Staglovich," Kyra quickly cut him off, causing the other two boys to laugh. "Rose Weasley is not in love with my big brother, okay?"

"Oh, I dunno Kyra," Al chuckled. "She is always asking me about him…"

"…And I heard her ask you if Kendall is coming with us to the Potter's for Christmas." Ben added, peering over at Kyra. She scowled.

"Well, he's not, so she can just bugger off," Kyra muttered grumpily. Al and Ben grinned at each other.

The three had just reached the Gryffindor table and had sat down for lunch when there was a small scuffle and an outbreak of girlish giggling from the Hufflepuff table behind them. Al, figuring they were another batch of Ben's admirers, ignored them… that is, until one of them approached him.

"Hi, are you Albus Potter?" A third-year girl with very curly red hair and dimples walked up to him and stuck out her hand. "My friend Marie told me you were him. I'm Stephaney. Stephaney Scott."

"Oh, er… hello," Al shook her proffered hand, slightly surprised. Why did it matter who he was?

"Is your father really Harry Potter?" Stephaney suddenly said very breathlessly, her hazel eyes bright and expectant, her brow raised hopefully. Al stared at her.

"Oh… well – his name is Harry and his last name is Potter…"Al said slowly, uncomfortably aware of Stephaney's gaze boring imploringly into his. What on earth was going on? But before Albus could explore Stephaney's odd interest in his family, she was dragged away by her other Hufflepuff friends, who were all giggling so much it ought to have been fined.

"What was that all about?" Ben frowned over at the group of girls.

"Dunno," Kyra turned back to her plate of food, looking unconcerned. "Girls are idiots, everyone knows that."

"You're a girl," Ben pointed out, also turning back to his steak and kidney pie.

"So? Doesn't mean we're not idiots," Kyra shrugged, taking a big bite of shepherd's pie. Ben snorted.

Albus slowly turned around to face his table again, frowning to himself. The weird thing was that that wasn't the first time someone showed unnatural interest in his father. When he had first come to Hogwarts, children would constantly whisper as he passed, the words 'Harry' and 'son' just audible, or else would point him out to their friends when they saw him. About a week ago, a painting of a strange knight in a tower room started shouting jubilantly the moment he noticed Albus: "Why, it is the noble Harry Potter's offspring! He who defeated the Un-Named One - a fine quest a young yeoman never saw! Huzzah, for the Brave Conqueror, Huzzah!" Only a few days ago, a second-year Slytherin named Sebastian Nott came up to Albus and accused Albus' father of destroying his father after the war. "What war?" Albus kept saying angrily until he was saved by a passing Professor McGonagall, who broke up the argument and told them sternly to go back to their common rooms.

Kyra and Ben were of no help. They kept insisting that Albus was imagining the people whispering about him, that Sir Cadogan was a known nut-job, and that Nott was from Slytherin, therefore mean and untrustworthy by default. James, with whom Al had also spoken to, admitted that he had had a weird feeling of people talking about him behind his back too when he first came to school.

"But it'll die down," James had assured his little brother. "The kids'll get used to having you around, and the staring will stop."

"Why though?" Al had asked, grimacing in frustration. "Why do they talk about us in the first place?"

"Search me," James had shrugged, pulling a Chocolate Frog out of his pocket and opening it. "But I'm not complaining… loads of people know me, and my status with the older kids is definitely better than most." He smirked, stuffing the Frog in his mouth and tucking the card into his pocket. Al had rolled his eyes before leaving his brother alone beside the common room fire…

"Al?" Kyra asked now, pulling on the sleeve of his robe. "Al? You still with us?"

"Yeah," Albus shook his head slightly before turning to face her. "Yeah. Sorry, I was just thinking about what that girl said."

"I dunno why you pay any attention to it, Al," Ben said, shaking his head. "It's stupid the way some people here act…"

"Hi Ben," a nearby voice suddenly cooed. A pretty Ravenclaw girl passing by gave Ben a dewy smile and wiggled her fingers at him cutely. Ben grinned back, causing Al and Kyra to roll their eyes at each other.

Twenty minutes later, the three kids made their way into the entrance hall. Ben told Albus and Kyra about an idea he had of visiting Hagrid in his cabin for the day, and they readily agreed. They all trouped back upstairs to grab their cloaks and scarves.

While they were walking along the third floor corridor, and Ben and Kyra began bickering about Ben's hair again, Albus noticed two Hufflepuff second-years pass them in the opposite direction. One of the boys, when he had spotted Albus, quickly nudged his friend and whispered urgently into his ear, his eyes fixed solely upon Albus.

Al pretended not to have seen this, and decided not to mention it to his friends; after all, they still believed the whispers about him to be a figment of his imagination.

Sometimes, he could not help but wish to believe it too.