Chapter Two

With his hands in his pockets and humming slightly to himself, Albus glanced casually down the hallway both ways and, after determining that it was deserted, he made his way over to a mirror hanging a few yards down the hall on the wall opposite the entrance to the library. With another covert glance over his shoulder, Albus pulled the mirror back from the wall and stepped into the small alcove there.

"Finally!" Fred exclaimed from where he was perched several feet in front of Albus on a rather large stone that was at the forefront of a pile blocking the rest of the passage that had once led to Hogsmeade. There were two brooms leaning against the rock next to him. "It took you long enough."

"I had to make sure the library was officially closed long enough so that by the time Madame Pince spotted me, she would be too impatient to leave to check to see if there was anyone else still there that she might have missed. Not that she would have, anyway, since I put a repelling charm on the corner of the library we were in." Albus informed him. "You Gryffindors are always so impatient."

"A word to the wise, little brother," James said, throwing an arm across his brother's shoulders and drawing him in even closer in the cramped space. "That's probably not the best thing to say when you're surrounded by Gryffindors; especially seeing as how you're a Slytherin, even if you are family."

"Now James," Roxanne admonished, "Al is almost as big as you, now; I wouldn't be calling him 'little' if I was you."

"Can we just get on with the plan?" Hugo demanded. "Some of us have essays due tomorrow morning that need to be written."

"Well maybe if you hadn't waited until last minute to write the essay Flitwick assigned a month ago you wouldn't be in this predicament right now, would you?" Lily stated.

"Back to the plan," Albus redirected the conversation, "I have kitchen duty—"

"How is it he ended up with the one good assignment?" Fred demanded suddenly.

"I thought we already made a point of the fact that I'm a Slytherin?" Albus said. "Clearly I'm just so sly and cunning that I was able to land the job of keeping the house elves busy tonight."

"Yeah, busy by waiting on you and your girlfriend hand and foot." Hugo pointed out.

"Have fun writing that essay." Albus grinned at the younger boy.

"Back on track again, people," James said, finally dropping his arm from his brother's shoulders. "Roxie, has she left yet?"

Roxanne, being the closest of the six to the door/mirror, pushed on the back of the mirror so that she had a view of the smallest sliver of the hallway outside. She had barely done this when she quickly pulled it back, just before Madame Pince made her way by the mirror.

"She just walked past." Roxanne said, pushing it slightly open once more, after a few seconds had gone by, "And no sign of Rose and Scorpius."

"According to the map, they're still in the library," Fred announced, studying the positively ancient piece of parchment in his lap.

"Excellent." James intoned. "Al, you'd better get going to the kitchens. Say 'hi' to Alice for all of us."

"Honestly," Albus said with a roll of his eyes as he stepped out from behind the mirror after Fred had given him the all-clear, "You lot all live with her and see her more often than I do, it seems like. And yet you all feel the need to have me talk about you whenever I'm with her."

"Strange one, that Potter kid," James said with a shake of his head once the mirror had swung shut again, "Must be something about living in the dungeons."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hugo asked, looking slightly alarmed. "I should probably remind you that we're all here right now because you thought it would be the best idea ever to set my sister up with a Slytherin."

"But Rosie and Scorpius are perfect for each other," James reminded the younger boy. "Besides, Al is my brother; he's supposed to be strange."

"So is that you admitting that you're strange too?" Roxanne asked, looking highly amused.

"You should probably start patrolling the windows outside, now." James said swiftly. "Fred, take the map with you; keep on the lookout for prefects and professors. For all we know, tonight is the night someone is going to start channeling Lucy."

"Aye, aye Captain!" Fred said, mock saluting James much the same way Albus had done to Rose earlier.

"Oi! I'm your Captain." Roxanne informed her brother, "And don't you forget it. Now c'mon, let's go."

After another cursory glance at the Marauder's Map, Fred and Roxanne disappeared down the hallway, brooms over their shoulders.

"If Al is keeping the house elves occupied so that Rose and Scorpius can't call them to let them out of the library, and Fred and Roxanne are going outside to keep a watch on the windows so that Rose and Scorpius can't get out that way," Hugo said, "What are we," Here, he indicated himself, Lily, and James, "Supposed to be doing again?"

"Forget that essay, Hugo." James told him. "We're giving you a practical in Charms. Right now."

Without the aid of the map, now, James blindly stuck his head out into the hallway and, seeing nobody, stepped out from behind the mirror, and gestured for Lily and Hugo to follow him. He walked a few feet down the hallway and stopped to face the closed door to the library.

"Madame Pince will have locked it," James told his sister and cousin, "But we're going to put a few sealing charms on it, too, so that Rose and Scorpius really can't get out."

"You do realize this is Rose and Scorpius we're talking about, right?" Lily demanded of her brother. "They're the two smartest students in the entire school, never mind the fact that they're still only in sixth year. Plus, look at who Rose has for a mother and add that to the fact that they're in the library. Are you really sure a sealing charm is going to do that trick and keep them in there?"

"It's going to be a special sealing charm." James informed his sister. "Now, here's what you do…"

Several minutes later, the three of them were admiring their handiwork, which had caused the library doors to glow slightly for a few seconds before returning to normal.

"That should hold them," James stated, satisfied. "Or, at least until they admit their undying love for each other and the door automatically unseals itself."

"But what if they don't?" Hugo asked now, worried. "Rose is going to kill us if Madame Pince comes in tomorrow morning and finds that Rose and Scorpius have been in there all night."

"No," Lily contradicted, "Madame Pince is going to be furious tomorrow morning when she can't get into her precious library."

"Guys, relax," James commanded. "Tomorrow is Madame Pince's day off. Let's head back to the mirror for now, though. We'll take turns keeping watch to see when they finally come out. And yes, Hugo," He continued when the younger boy opened his mouth to speak, "That means you can work on your essay now."