Hi,

So in this chapter there is a...wait for it...wait for it…A James Sirius Potter appearance. Okay not exactly, but sort of. There will be one soon though. I swear on my fangirl honor. Chapter 5 or 6 I think! There will also be bit of Maci Maya Marie in there to. Which we all know means some JACI action! My friend decided that that would be there ship personally I was in favor of Mames. What do you guys think?

Love,

TheWordsIWrite.

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Chapter 4

By the first week of October school was in full swing and everyone, especially the seventh and fifth years, was feeling it. At this point Albus wasn't sure how many of the prefects had come to him or Willow asking about how to deal with school related student breakdowns. 'Hell if I know.' Albus had thought. Despite that he still tried to give advice as best he could. Willow was better at it though. She patiently listened to each person no matter how flustered or frustrated they be. Then, once they were done, she would give them advice and, unlike Albus' rambled guidance, what Willow said always sounded well thought out and sensible.

This was one of the many little things Albus had started to notice about Willow in the past couple weeks. There were others. Like her fiery temper or her extreme sassiness or her, what seemed like constant, craving for coffee. (Which, in Albus' opinion, tasted like tar.) He attributed all of this noticing the fact that he and Willow were in such close proximity to one another these days. Between rounds, prefect meetings, classes and the fact that they practically lived together he probably saw Willow more than he saw Scorpius.

Thank goodness Addie was still spending most nights in Albus' room otherwise he might only see her in classes and at practice. This particular night Addie was sitting cross legged in the middle of the soft grey carpeting of Albus' floor. Papers were strewn out all around her, potions notes from the looks of it, and ink pots sat haphazardly, tilting at angles that made Albus worry about spillage. He had offered to help her with whatever project is was, but she had only snapped at him that she "was a big girl and she could do it herself."

Since then Albus had retreated to the comforter of his canopy bed, sitting cross legged just like his girlfriend. In his hand he held a few letters that had been delivered to him in the morning post, that he had not found time to look at until now. Flipping through them he saw that one was from his mother and father and one from James. Albus set aside the one from his parents and opened the one from his brother. James didn't write often, but when he did it was almost always something that would make Albus laugh and after all the stress he had been feeling lately Albus definitely needed a laugh.

He broke the seal and unfolded the parchment. James' familiar slanting scrawl filled the page.

Dearest Little Brother,

First off I hope you understand that I wrote that opener sarcastically and before you go off on some spiel about how it is impossible to actually write something sarcastically: Shut the hell up. So now that we have that out of the way I will get to why I am actually writing a letter to my prat of a little brother and the reason is actually quite fantastic. Great blackmail if mum or grandma were ever to find out if you ask me, oh and also Freddie, Chase and Dom. What is the fantastic reason and great blackmail you ask? Well my dear little Albie I happen to know that a certain girl (read: girlfriend) of yours is and has been sleeping in your room for that past, oh, month or so. Lily told us, well me and I decided to share the good news. Abusing those Head Boy privileges already are you Mr. Golden Boy, hmmm? Well I must say I am very very proud of you, however I am not so sure that mother of ours would feel the same way if she ever found out. So I am basically writing you this letter to tell you that FINALLY, after years of waiting, I have something better on you than that E you got on your Transfiguration mid-term fourth year.

From Your Extremefully Gleeful Brother,

James

P.S Maci says to ask you to tell Addie hello. Tell her I say hi to I guess.

P.S.S Maci also wants me to ask if you two want to meet us at Victoire's for lunch your next Hogsmede weekend.

Albus was torn between chuckling at his brother's strangeness and being terrified that now there was a high probability of his grandmother and mum finding out that Addie was sleeping in his room.

"Addie." Albus said. His girlfriend looked up, pushing one of her long fingered hands through her messy hair.

"What?" Obviously it was a question, but as the word came off Addie's lips it sounded more like a sigh. 'Man she must be tired,' Albus thought.

"James and Maci say hi and they want to get together at the Hogsmede weekend next week. Does that work for you?"
Addie scowled, "Couldn't you have waited to ask me that later, once I was done with this." She gestured, with the hand that was not in her hair, to the papers on the floor in front of her.

"I wanted to write James back now. So I don't forget."

Her cheeks puffed out and Albus knew she was frustrated. It was always like this at the beginning of the school year. Addie was stressed out up until she got the swing of things. And then mid-terms would come and she would stress out again. After that there were a few months off before finals came and the process would start all over again. After the past three years Albus had just learned to go with the flow.

"So?" He prompted her to answer.

"Yeah. Fine. Sounds good." Addie said shortly and then went back to her potions work with one last huff.

Albus gave her bowed head a wan smile as he grabbed a quill and piece of parchment from his nearby school bag. Pausing over the blank page Albus pulled his bottom lip between his teeth. It had been a habit of his since he was seven. Albus could still hear his mum's words echoing in his head, 'If you keep that up Al you're gonna put a dent right in your bottom lip.' He had ignored the advice and, as with most things, his mother turned out to be right. After years of abuse Albus had a dent in his lower lip the exact size and shape of his two front top teeth.

Coming back to the matter at hand Albus began to scrawl out a response to James.

Dear Older Brother Who Is Clearly Grasping At Straws,

The above greeting is probably to metaphorical for you to grasp. But I'm sure Maci will explain it to you if you ask. As to the "blackmail" you have obtained on me I have nine words for you: Maci. Head Girl. Her Dorm Room. All Seventh Year. Ring any bells Jamsie? Always remember that for every piece of blackmail you have on me, I will have ten more on you. That's the benefit of being the good child. Oh and Hogsmede is a yes. How about 12:00 at Victoire's Cafe. It'll be quieter there then at the Three Broomsticks.

From Your Always Victorious Brother,

Albus

Albus finished with his letter and carefully folded and sealed it, "I'm gonna run this up to the owlery," He told Addie who just waved at him as if to say 'Do what you want.' Choosing not to take offense to this Albus slipped out of his room, down the stairs and through the portrait hole. It was after curfew but that was one of the perks of being Head Boy, if he was caught he could simply say he was doing rounds. When he had told Roxanne this she had acted shocked. 'You? Breaking a rule and then using your power to lie about it! Albus I am ashamed of you.' They had both laughed over that. It wasn't like Albus was perfect or even a real rule follower. He didn't make as much trouble as James had in his time at Hogwarts, but he made his fair share of it. The difference between him and his brother was Albus never got caught. Roxanne knew this better than anyone else because, usually, she was Albus' accomplice.

When Albus got back to his room, a half an hour later, Addie was still on the floor. He saw the slouch of her shoulders and the deep creases in her brow and knew it was time for an intervention. Crossing to where she sat, Albus was careful not to knock any of the ink pots over. Without saying anything he bent down and scooped Addie up effortlessly in his arms.

"Hey!" She protested,squirming a little in Albus' arms, but he held on tight, "Albus I need to finish that. It's due on Monday."

Albus walked over to his bed and sat down, still cradling Addie, "It's Thursday Adds. You need sleep. It's 12am and you have classes in the morning and practice. The project will still be there in the morning." He said soothingly.

For a minute Addie looked like she was going to fight him on it but after a couple seconds passed the fight leaked out of her, "Okay." Closing her eyes and running a hand over her face, she nodded. "You're right Albus. Like always." Addie flashed Albus a wry smile before curling into his chest.

Pushing himself backwards, Albus arranged them in the bed without letting go of Addie. Neither of them had hanged out of their clothes from the day, but Albus didn't want to risk getting Addie up and moving again.

Just as he was on the brink of sleep Addie went stiff as a board in his arms, "Albus tomorrow is the day Professor. Ruby picks the partners for the semester Muggle Studies project. I haven't even thought about that project. I need to..."
Albus pulled her back down to him, gently stroking her hair, "Shh. It'll be there in the morning Addie." He soothed her and eventually she relaxed into him again.

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The next morning, as Albus sat in the front of the Muggle Studies classroom, he was debating whether his decision to halt Addie's desire for a late night study session was a smart one. He had barely glanced over his textbook for this year, let alone his syllabus. He had assumed, very stupidly now it seemed, that it would be an easy O like it was every other year.

"We have to do what?" Albus heard Scorpius ask from the back of the classroom, voicing exactly what Albus had been thinking.

Professor. Ruby, who was young compared to most of the teachers at Hogwarts, hopped up onto her desk before answering Scorpius' question, "As I just explained Mr. Malfoy, for the seventh years semester project I will be pairing you up into teams of two. Each team will be assigned a muggle play or book. You will have the remainder of the semester for you and your partner to summarize this play into a fifteen minute version of it's original self and then perform it in front of the class."

The class still looked at their teacher as if she was insane, but no one spoke up. Despite her youth Prof. Roby had shown that if complaints were issued she would not hesitate to heavy the work load. A smile spread across the woman's face and she clapped her hands together, "Okay. Now that's settled I guess I can tell you your partners. And then, I think, early dismissal. Merlin knows you seventh years have a lot on your plates."

'Yeah and you just added a hell of a lot more,' Albus thought, but obviously, he didn't say it. Instead he listened attentively till he heard his name, praying he got assigned to Rose or Addie or even Scorpius, even though Scorpius work ethic was about as good as centaur dung. As he watched each of his choices being paired up Albus grew less and less hopeful of his prospective partner being someone he actually knew or liked. Finally, the second to last pair to be called, he heard his name, "Albus Potter and Willow Anderson,"

It wasn't terrible, but Albus couldn't help but frown. Were teachers even allowed to pair the Head Boy and Head Girl together? Prof. Ruby seemed to think they were because she didn't hesitate, just said the last pair of names, "Arlene Doyle and Bradley Jetson."

Now that the pairings were done the Prof. slid off her desk, "Okay you lot. I'll owl you your assigned plays in the morning. Clear out. And I hope you use this extra time to work on homework."

Albus stood with the rest of the class and swung his bag over his shoulder. He turned, ready to go over to Scorpius, Rose and Addie, but before he could he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning he saw prof. Ruby behind him, "Albus could you please stay behind for a minute?" His teacher asked, "You too Willow."

Willow, who had already been halfway out the door, Dylan's arm slung around her shoulders, stopped. She said goodbye to Dylan with a quick kiss and then headed back towards Albus and the Professor.

"I know you two are rather confused as to why I paired you together." Prof. Ruby said once everyone else had left the classroom. Albus and Willow both started to protest, but their teacher held up her hand to stop them, "I could see it on your faces. So yes number on it is allowed to pair the Head Boy and Girl together on projects and two I paired you guys together because of the positions you have this year. Both of you have very busy schedules and I figured that it would probably be easier to get things done with someone you already have to spend a great deal of time with."

That made sense now that Albus thought about it and he found himself feeling grateful towards Prof. Ruby. None of their other teachers seemed to notice the strain Albus and Addie were under and a little reprieve was still a reprieve, "Thank you Prof. Ruby." Willow said and Albus nodded in agreement.

Their teacher gave them a kind smile, "No problem. I think you two will do well together on this project. Don't let me down."

"We won't." Albus assured her.

"Good. Now go. Catch up with your friends." She told them making shooing motions with her hands.

Albus and Willow both turned and headed out the door. They both found their friends waiting for them in the corridor, "What did Prof. Ruby want?" Addie asked him when Albus came up beside her, sliding an arm around her wait.

"Just to explain some stuff. It's not a big deal." He told her. They said their goodbyes to the rest of the group and headed off down the corridor towards the grounds. They both had a free period next class and Albus was hoping he could convince Addie just to relax by the lake with him for a little while.

"So," He began, grinning down at her, "How do you feel about having Scorpius as your partner?"

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Thank You So Much For Reading. Please Review And Make Me Forget About All The SAT Studying I Have To Do