"Don't do anything to embarrass me," James whispered to Albus as they both descended the flight of stairs that led to the dungeons.
"Fine," Albus hissed back at him, "then you don't do anything to embarrass me."
James rolled his eyes and gave Albus his usual how-could-I-ever-embarrass-you look, meaning that Albus had to try very hard not to throw some sort of glare back at him.
As they reached the final step on the staircase, he concentrated on staring at the jet-black candles lining the dark passageway ahead of them, hoping to distract himself from his brother's comments. He wasn't sure how exactly he was supposed to behave at a Deathday Party, but he was sure that it would be bad manners to walk through the door arguing with James.
James had been the one to invite Albus to this particular event, telling him that he had been invited by Nick the Gryffindor ghost, who now held the party almost every Hallowe'en to 'celebrate' the anniversary of his death.
Apparently, their father had been a guest when he was still a student at Hogwarts, and now Nick wanted to continue the tradition of inviting members of the Potter family.
Nick had told James to pass on the invitation to Albus, something that James had done very quietly and discreetly outside the entrance to the Slytherin common room.
Although Albus had been enthusiastic at the prospect of attending the party, he hadn't been able to shake off a feeling of suspicion about the whole thing. Not only had James been so discreet about passing on the invitation, but he had also made several suggestions that it would be better to keep the whole thing a secret and not tell any of the other students about it.
This had annoyed Albus as he had wanted to invite several of his friends, especially if attending the Deathday Party meant that he was going to miss most of the Hallowe'en Feast in the Great Hall.
When he mentioned this to James over breakfast two days before the party, his brother had rolled his eyes and muttered, "Fine, but just Rose and Scorpius, OK? I don't want half of Slytherin House showing up!"
Albus had relaxed slightly after hearing that comment, deciding that James's willingness to keep the whole thing a secret was probably out of fear of being outnumbered by the Slytherins.
However, his feeling of suspicion had returned a few days before the party when he walked past James in the school courtyard and stopped him so that he could ask him how many of the Gryffindors would be attending.
"None of them," James had replied, his eyes darting around shiftily the whole time. "I like going by myself."
To Albus, that statement had definitely seemed strange. James rarely went anywhere alone, especially at Hogwarts, where he usually had at least one other student in tow as he ran up and down the corridors or walked through the doorway to the Great Hall at mealtimes. Sometimes, he was surrounded by up to five students, because Erica and all four of the third-year Gryffindor boys often followed him wherever he went.
Albus had started to think that maybe they weren't really allowed to go to the party after all, and that James was being so secretive in the hope that nobody would find out and tell one of the professors...or worse, their parents.
Still feeling uneasy after the events of last Friday, and more recent events that had happened over the weekend, Albus had even sent a letter home to their dad, asking if it was definitely OK to attend.
His dad had sent his reply quickly; his letter consisted of one line that simply said: Of course you can go, have fun!
Albus had therefore calmed down and he had decided to stick by his usual belief that if he had his dad's approval to do something, then that automatically made it OK.
Instead, he had focused on finding Rose and Scorpius so that he could invite them, trying his best to ignore the twinge of guilt every time he walked past Fred on his way to class or the times Erica shot him a questioning glance from across the tables in the Great Hall. He felt especially bad about keeping the whole thing a secret from Erica, as it had somehow worked out that she and Rose had got into more trouble over the exploding potion incident than the Slytherins had.
As far as Albus was concerned, they had all been more or less equally responsible, but by Saturday morning the Heads of Houses had somehow found out about what happened and Professor Slughorn had been surprisingly lenient with the five boys, even though Neville Longbottom and Professor Flitwick had been really angry.
As a way of easing his guilt, Albus had promised himself that after he had been to the Deathday Party and he had seen for himself what it was like, he would try his best to persuade James to invite Erica and Fred to the next one.
As they walked further down the passageway, Albus felt himself shivering slightly, convinced that the air was getting colder by the second. He was secretly grateful that James had advised him to wear warm clothing and had allowed him to borrow one of his scarves, even though it was bright red and probably looked ridiculous next to his dark green jumper. But as James had reminded him in the Gryffindor common room, the ghosts wouldn't care about the colour of his clothes.
"When we arrive, don't ask them too many questions," James suddenly whispered, making Albus jump. "Some of them can be a bit sensitive, as I found out a couple of years ago…"
Albus glared at his brother, trying his best not to respond with some sort of comment about how James Potter was the last one to be giving out advice to anybody on tact and sensitivity.
As James glared back at him, Albus looked slowly from side to side, wishing that Rose and Scorpius were also standing next to him. He knew that he would feel more comfortable if they were with him and they could all arrive as a group. However, his brother had disagreed, telling Albus that as members of the Potter family, they were the 'guests of honour' and it would therefore look better if they arrived together, and also later than any of the other guests.
"Isn't Nick supposed to be the guest of honour?" Albus had muttered sulkily from one of the armchairs in the Gryffindor common room the moment Rose and Scorpius left for the party.
But James had simply dismissed that statement with a wave of his hand, before pointing out to Albus that he saw Rose and Scorpius every day, and it therefore wouldn't hurt him to spend fifteen minutes apart from his two best friends.
Albus had been reluctant to argue back, especially after James had gone to all the trouble of sneaking to the school kitchen to find food for their evening meal, and the four of them had sat there for at least half an hour, happily eating and talking in front of the fireplace in the empty Gryffindor common room.
The pasageway seemed to get a bit darker. Albus felt a familiar twinge of nervousness, even though he had been looking forward to the party all day. As they turned a corner and approached the doorway that had to lead to the Deathday Party, he started to worry about what could be waiting on the other side of the door.
"Is it scary in there?" he asked James.
"Don't be ridiculous!" James scoffed. "It's fun! Anyway, nothing's going to happen to you while I'm there, is it?"
Albus was about to roll his eyes or say something to disagree with that statement, but he stopped himself at the last second. In spite of their constant arguments, deep down, he knew that both he and Lily always felt better when their older brother was around to protect them.
A few seconds later, they both stopped outside the doorway, which seemed to be hung with black velvet drapes, although it was hard to tell for sure in the darkness.
Slowly, James pushed the door open, muttering the whole time about how Nick should have been waiting for them to arrive.
"Maybe we should have arrived earlier," Albus said quietly, trying not to grin as James snapped, "Very funny, Al!" sarcastically back at him.
James might have been hoping for some sort of elaborate greeting as they entered the room, but Albus was relieved that their arrival went almost unnoticed by the ghosts, who were too busy gliding around the room in various groups, deep in conversation or listening to the disjointed music played by an orchestra.
That was until James cleared his throat and shouted, "We've arrived!" before Albus had the chance to stop him.
The room went completely silent. As one, all of the ghosts turned to face the doorway. A few seconds later, they were floating towards them, smiling enthusiastically as they all tried to greet them at the same time. Albus noticed that James smirked smugly as he said hello to each and every one of the ghosts individually before he introduced Albus as his younger brother.
"I'm so pleased that you're here," Nick told them in a mournful tone, before he managed a faint smile.
Albus could only nod and grin, slightly taken aback by all the attention but definitely feeling calmer now that were actually at the party.
James seemed to be happy to speak for both of them; he was standing right in the middle of the group, enthusiastically telling all of the ghosts about his first few weeks as a third-year and his new role as Gryffindor Seeker.
As Albus looked slowly from his brother to the ghosts, who were hanging on to James's every word like he was some sort of star Quidditch player rather than a Hogwarts student, he suddenly realised why James had been so reluctant to invite any of the other students: At this party, James was the star of the show. And he didn't want to share the limelight with anybody.
After a few minutes, several of the ghosts moved away from the crowd as they went back to talking in their small groups.
Albus followed their lead, slipping away from the middle of the circle and towards the back of the room. He noticed that the Bloody Baron, the Slytherin ghost, was hovering in mid-air at a distance from the large group, looking reluctant to participate in the discussion. Albus felt like he could sympathise. As soon as he noticed Albus staring at him, the Bloody Baron nodded politely in his direction, his mouth twisting into what Albus supposed was a smile. Albus grinned and nodded back at him.
As he tried to find Rose and Scorpius, he took the opportunity to look around, taking in the huge chandelier above his head, which was filled with even more black candles, and the large table in the corner with all the rotting food displayed on top of it.
His eyes fell on the dance floor and he walked slowly towards it, watching in fascination as the ghosts moved in time to the music. He stayed still, leaning against the wall opposite the dance floor for at least ten minutes, his eyes trying to take in as much as possible.
There was something mesmerizing about the whole event, and he was surprised that his dad had never talked about Deathday Parties at home, as it seemed to Albus like something that the guests would talk about for a long time afterwards. He decided that this was how Rose must feel whenever she was given a new challenge to complete in class or how Scorpius must feel whenever somebody mentioned the word 'Muggle'. He was almost tempted to borrow Scorpius's usual phrase and shout, "This is so fascinating!" out into thin air.
Albus was briefly distracted by the sight of a large pair of eyes, and as he looked closely he realised that they belonged to the ghost of the cat he always saw in the corridors of an evening. The cat stopped and stared at him, as though it was trying to work out what he was doing in the dungeon. Albus stared back and the two of them regarded each other curiously. It wasn't really that scary, Albus eventually decided, as the cat took one final look at him before it headed off in the direction of a ghostly voice that was muttering something about Peeves and complaining about having to clean up all the mess after the party.
"Scorpius, you probably shouldn't ask them about how they died…"
Albus turned his head in the direction of the voice that could only belong to his cousin and he noticed a flash of red and blond hair on the other side of the room.
"Why not? They like talking about it!" he heard Scorpius respond as he walked towards them.
"I'm so glad you're both here!" Albus told the two of them in a whisper, meaning that they had to stop their debate about appropriate questions and turn to face him.
They both grinned as soon as they saw him.
"Are you having fun?" Rose asked as Scorpius shouted, "Isn't it fascinating?" at exactly the same time.
Albus only had time to nod in response before they both started talking again, enthusiastically telling him about everything that he had missed in the fifteen minutes before he and James arrived and about all of the ghosts that they had already spoken to.
Albus grinned back at them, unable to completely follow the thread of their conversation as they both talked so rapidly, simply feeling glad that they both seemed to be having a good time. He had spent the past few days worrying about the two of them, and also worrying that he was somehow responsible for getting them into trouble. First there had been Scorpius's Howler, then Rose had lost ten points from Ravenclaw after her Head of House noticed the remains of the exploding potion on her school robes.
Albus had taken the opportunity to check that Rose was OK when he sat next to her during a Gryffindor Quidditch training session on the previous Saturday afternoon. Surprisingly, she had grinned at him, told him not to worry about it and then told him that she had found the whole thing rather funny. She had even asked him to remind Scorpius to send her a copy of the picture that Erica had taken of them all in the dormitory.
Albus had agreed to remind Scorpius, even though he secretly hoped that Rose wouldn't try to send a copy of the photograph home to her parents. He had already decided that it would definitely be a good idea to be careful about what they told the adults, especially after he had received a letter from his own parents at the weekend.
At first glance, it had looked almost exactly the same as the letters they usually sent, with several pages of news about the family and information about things that were happening outside Hogwarts, and of course the usual reminders to stay out of trouble and to try to encourage James to do the same. However, towards the end of the letter, his parents had discreetly slipped in a line about Scorpius, hinting that they had heard about some sort of argument that he and Scorpius had supposedly had, and then ending the paragraph with the line: If it's true, Al, your mother and I would appreciate it if you could offer some sort of apology and at least try to be civil around each other.
That was the reason why Albus had spent his free time on Sunday afternoon sitting by himself in the Slytherin common room, writing a long response to his parents, as he tried to explain yet again that he and Scorpius were friends and that the whole thing had been a big misunderstanding. He had even put in a joke about how Scorpius was going to help him beat James at wizard chess, because he thought that his mother might find it funny, especially after she had spent hours jokingly complaining about James's competitiveness when it came to games like Quidditch and wizard chess before they started at Hogwarts.
Then, earlier on, he had been sitting next to Scorpius at breakfast when he suddenly muttered, "Oh no, I forgot to send that letter home to my mother! You know, the one that Rose helped me write? I'll have to try and send it today, although she might not receive it until tomorrow because she's apparently going to a Hallowe'en party tonight."
Albus had been torn between amusement at Scorpius's forgetfulness, and anxiety at the thought that his mother might still believe that her son had spent his first few weeks at Hogwarts arguing with him and Rose.
"Your mother won't still be angry with you, will she?" Albus had asked him in as casual a tone of voice as he could manage.
"I doubt it," Scorpius had replied with a confident grin. "She never stays angry with me for long, I'm her only child."
After that, Albus had decided that maybe James had a point when he constantly told him that he worried too much about everything and he had decided to just forget about it, at least until after Hallowe'en.
As a way of making light of the situation, Rose had suggested that they stage an apology scene with Scorpius in the hope that the teachers would overhear it. They had acted the scene out in the Entrance Hall that afternoon, pleased that Neville had chosen that moment to walk past them just before he left Hogwarts to spend Hallowe'en with his wife Hannah at the Leaky Cauldron. The three of them had tried really hard not to laugh as they apologised to each other, shook hands and promised to try and get along.
To their surprise, Neville had stood there laughing at them, telling them that they had obviously had no idea why the scene looked so bizarre. He had even told them to have fun at the Deathday Party, which had surprised Albus as he hadn't been aware that the teachers knew about it.
As soon as they had both finished telling a story about a group of nuns they had encountered at the party just before Albus arrived, Rose spotted the Ravenclaw ghost in the far corner of the room and headed over to talk to her, leaving Albus and Scorpius almost alone in a corner of the room, with the exception of the Bloody Baron, who had drifted over and was floating discreetly in the background as though he was keeping an eye on the two of them.
"It sounds like you're having a good time," Albus told Scorpius with a grin as Rose walked away. "Even though you've been annoying Rose by asking the ghosts inappropriate questions!"
Scorpius laughed before he spoke.
"Thanks for the invite," he told Albus, looking like he couldn't quite believe that Albus had thought to invite him.
Albus almost laughed at the expression on Scorpius's face. It seemed so ridiculous to him that Scorpius would be surprised by the invite to the Deathday Party. For Albus, it had now become almost second nature to include both Rose and Scorpius whenever he was invited anywhere at Hogwarts.
"It looks like James is having fun, too," Scorpius whispered to Albus.
Albus turned his head to look at James, who was still standing in the middle of a large circle of ghosts, boasting loudly about how Gryffindor was now in the lead for the House Cup.
"I have no idea who you're talking about," Albus replied with a wink as he turned away from his brother.
Scorpius laughed and opened his mouth to say something else, but they were both distracted by a loud cry of, "Leave me alone, Peeves!" from a few feet away.
Before they could look around to see who the voice belonged to, Albus felt a rush of cold air as a female ghost glided past him.
All of a sudden, she came to a halt in mid-air. She stayed still with her back to them for a few seconds before she slowly turned around and stared at the two of them with her eyes wide.
Albus shifted uncomfortably as the ghost of a girl who only looked a few years older than he did regarded him and Scorpius with a confused expression on her face as though she couldn't comprehend the scene in front of her.
Albus stared back at her, taking in her lank hair and thick glasses as he tried to work out whether he was supposed to know her from somewhere. Judging by the knowing expression on her face, she definitely seemed to know who he was.
He briefly considered the possibility that she had simply recognised him because she knew who his father was, but there was something about the way she was staring at Scorpius that told Albus that she wasn't solely focused on 'Harry Potter's son'.
Albus threw one of his usual confused glances over at Scorpius, in the hope that he might be able to explain what was going on, but Scorpius just shrugged back at him.
Eventually, her expression softened and the confused stare was replaced by a look of realisation.
"How time flies," she told them gently, as a smile crept to her face.
This time it was Scorpius who stared at Albus with confusion.
"How is your father doing?" Albus heard her ask. "I haven't seen him for years."
"He's fine," Albus replied automatically.
He was used to strangers asking about his father's wellbeing. Before he started at Hogwarts, it had happened at least once a month, and he had long since learned that it was easier to just tell them that his dad was fine and then change the subject or walk away.
However, to his embarrassment, he realised seconds after he spoke that the female ghost had aimed the question not at him but at Scorpius.
"He's fine…I suppose," Scorpius responded uncertainly as the ghost glared over in Peeves's direction.
"Are you OK?" they both asked her at the same time.
"I'm fine…now," she told them with another grin, looking flattered by their concern. "Peeves just thought that it would be hilarious to throw items of food at me. Again." She moved closer to Albus and Scorpius as she spoke. "As I've already told him, repeatedly, it wasn't funny twenty-five years ago, it wasn't funny last year, and it certainly isn't funny now!"
"But surely you wouldn't actually feel it, if somebody threw something at you?" Rose asked slowly as she re-joined the group, a hand on her hip and her head tilted to one side, looking like she was really thinking about it.
Albus tried not to laugh as the female ghost redirected her glare from Peeves to Rose. He found his cousin's blunt statements and straight-to-the-point comments funny, especially when they were used against his older brother. However, a lot of other people seemed to get easily offended by some of the things Rose said.
"Well, I suppose that makes it OK, then!" the ghost snapped at her. "Why don't I just let everybody throw things at me, because I'm-"
"Wait a minute, I know who you are!" Rose interrupted her; apparently completely unaware that she had said anything wrong. "You're Moaning Myrtle!"
If Rose had been hoping for a better reaction, then her hopes were about to be dashed. If anything, the ghost looked even more offended by that statement, and she glared pointedly from Rose to Albus and Scorpius, as though she was trying to tell her that she would prefer to continue the conversation alone with the two boys.
"I've heard about you," Rose continued hesitantly, only just realising that the ghost was insulted by her comment. "Everybody says that you're the one who causes all the floods in the bathrooms. The caretaker spent a whole week cleaning up the last one!" Myrtle's expression suddenly softened as Rose continued. "And the last time you threw a tantrum, we could hear you all the way up in Ravenclaw Tower, and we're really high up! You were making even more noise than Peeves!"
"Really?" Myrtle asked, grinning from ear to ear as though Rose had just paid her a huge compliment.
Somehow, Rose seemed to have won Myrtle's friendship. She gradually moved closer to Rose so that she was floating at an equal distance to all three of them. With Rose now included in the conversation, Myrtle started to ask questions about their time at Hogwarts, asking about everything from their fellow students to the other ghosts that they had seen around school.
When he thought about it, Albus was sure that he'd heard Myrtle's name mentioned before, usually by various aunts and uncles. Although if he remembered correctly, they usually followed the mention of her name with a roll of the eyes and a generally exasperated expression.
Yet as Myrtle nodded in agreement with one of Scorpius's comments, Albus decided that he liked talking to her, even if she did laugh a little too loud every time they made some sort of joke.
"Hi, Scorpius. Hi, Rose." James walked right into the middle of their small circle as he greeted Rose and Scorpius. He nodded politely at Myrtle, but the second she stopped looking at him, he jerked his head in her direction and then rolled his eyes at Albus, as though he was silently trying to ask him why he was even talking to her. Albus gave James a warning glance in response, hoping that he would take the hint and not say anything to offend Myrtle.
"All the ghosts think it's brilliant that I'm the new Gryffindor Seeker!" James told Scorpius with a grin. "I can't wait until the first Gryffindor match! I just know that we're going to flatten Ravenclaw!"
Rose folded her arms and glared at him.
James barely noticed Rose's reaction; he was too busy looking over at the raised platform, where Nick had started to make a speech, thanking all of the guests for attending.
"It's a great party, isn't it?" James asked the three of them, his eyes still focused on the stage. "I bet you're all really grateful that I thought to invite you!"
Albus was about to say something about how really, Nick had been the one to invite them, but Rose had already started speaking.
"Yes, it's a great party, James," she muttered. "Erica and Fred would have loved it…"
James rolled his eyes in her direction, before he turned away from her and Myrtle and towards Albus and Scorpius. Out of all of them, Scorpius was the only one who didn't appear to be looking at James with an expression of mild irritation. In fact, Albus had a sneaking suspicion that Scorpius actually found James's 'jokes' amusing. He secretly wondered how long that would last, especially if Scorpius started to spend time with his family outside Hogwarts during the holidays and he was around James all the time.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank you all once again for attending…"
"Right, it's my turn to give a speech next!" James whispered enthusiastically as Nick reached the end of his own speech.
"What do you mean you have to give a-" Rose started to ask, but James quickly interrupted her.
"Come and watch, Al!" James shouted over Rose's voice as he grabbed Albus's arm and started to lead him towards the platform, leaving a confused-looking Rose and Scorpius on the other side of the room with Myrtle.
Albus could only stare at his brother suspiciously as he ran up to the platform and cleared his throat loudly. He knew very little about speeches and formal events, but he was certain that technically, the only one obliged to give a speech was Nick, as it was his party. Albus concluded that James had probably decided for himself that it would be a good idea to give his own little speech as yet another way of getting even more attention.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I…I mean, my brother and I are very honoured to have been invited…"
Albus almost laughed as James continued his speech. Not because he was using what was obviously a rehearsed line about how terrifying Nick was as a ghost, but because in that moment, he reminded Albus so much of their dad.
Their dad hated giving speeches, but sometimes he had to as part of his job, and every now and again he allowed Albus and James to come along to events so that they could watch. It was definitely amusing to Albus, the idea of James sitting there watching intently as their dad spoke and then trying to imitate his mannerisms and tone of voice.
Eventually, James finished his speech, and all of the ghosts beamed proudly at him. Some of them even appeared to be trying to wipe silver tears away from their eyes.
"Excellent speech, James!" Nick shouted out with a smile, looking anything but terrifying.
"So, what did you think?" James asked Albus as he jumped down from the platform.
"Yeah, your speech was really good," Albus responded with a grin as Rose and Myrtle moved forward to stand next to him and James.
He turned around and saw that Scorpius was deep in conversation with several headless ghosts, who were holding their severed heads in their arms. Albus shuddered, deciding that he had no desire whatsoever to find out why their heads were not attached to their bodies.
"Al, I have to go," Rose muttered, interrupting his thoughts. "I promised Kate I'd go to the Great Hall in time for dessert. We can save seats at the Ravenclaw table for you and Scorpius, if you want?"
"OK, thanks," Albus replied, deciding that he probably wouldn't be able to stand the cold for much longer.
"You must come and visit me soon in one of the bathrooms!" Myrtle told them with a smile as Rose prepared to leave. "All of you," she added with a quick glance at Rose.
Rose smiled, looking delighted to have been included in the invitation, even though it was only an invite to go and talk with a ghost in a bathroom. Albus knew that his cousin often worried about being left out of things, mainly due to the fact that sometimes, James deliberately tried to exclude her from certain games. However, Albus was certain that the only reason why James did this was because deep down, he knew that Rose could easily beat him at any game if she put her mind to it, and James would never allow that to happen in front of his friends.
Rose smiled again and hugged Albus. She even managed to grab James for a quick hug before she headed out of the door.
"So," Albus asked his brother as soon as Rose had left, "are we allowed to attend next year or did we embarrass you too much?"
"I'm not the one who writes the guest list," James responded with a casual shrug. "But I think Nick likes having you all here. Just don't tell anyone else about it, OK?"
Albus laughed, deciding that that was probably the closest he would get to hearing James admit that he didn't mind if he showed up at the next party with Rose and Scorpius.
"Are you ready to go?" James asked him. "It's freezing in here!"
"Yeah," Albus replied. "We should try to find Scorpius, I can't see where he-"
"So tell me…"
Albus was instantly cut off by the sound of what was undoubtedly Scorpius's voice, his questioning tone full of curiosity. Albus had a feeling that he already knew what question Scorpius was about to ask.
"...how exactly…"
Albus's eyes must have widened slightly because James quickly looked at him and whispered, "Is he going to ask what I think he's going to ask?"
Albus nodded glumly as James rolled his eyes and strode across the room.
Albus found himself running after him, surprised that he and James were actually in agreement when it came to the issue of appropriate questions to ask ghosts at a Deathday Party.
"...did you di-"
"Come on, Scorpius, we're going now!" James hurriedly interrupted him, lightly grabbing onto the sleeve of his robe as he marched both him and Albus out of the room.
"See you all next year!" Nick called out to them jovially as they headed out of the door and towards the Great Hall.