CHAPTER 7
Xena wasn't one to sneak into common rooms of other houses, she only ever sneaked into the kitchens.
So why the hell in her right mind was she staring at the sleeping Fat lady's portrait right in front of her?
She clutched the piece of parchment Albus had given her with the password on it.
An amused voice asked "You ever going to go in there?"
She quickly turned around afraid that she had been caught only to find the portrait of Fred Weasley grinning at her, he grinned wider when she caught his eye.
He said examining his fingertips "You can stand there as long as you want, just hope peeves doesn't find you"
He winked and she swallowed trying to come up with an intelligent reply.
She said "I've never done this before"
He rolled his eyes "Obviously I knew that girl! Want to know something? The only way to conquer fear is to face it"
He stood straighter and cupped his hand around his mouth like he was getting ready to make a speech and cleared his throat "Ahem….In my time my brother and I did much more than sneak into common rooms. We two fierce, intelligent and handsome lads braving the threats of the night used to…."
Fred Weasley she assumed must have caused a lot of trouble in his time and if Xena stood there listening to the attractive ginger man she would never be able to enter the common room.
Xena reluctantly smiled "Thank you Mr. Weasley but I should go now"
He stopped in the middle of his sentence and glared "kids these days, no time for anything"
Then he indicated with his finger to come closer to his portrait.
She walked towards his portrait and he asked "Who are you meeting?"
She hesitated then said "Your nephew"
He rolled his eyes again "You must be more specific, haven't you seen the way my family breeds?"
Xena snorted and said "Albus"
Fred Weasley's eyebrows rose mischievously "I see…..interesting, picked the quietest one have you? Good, mustn't interrupt then…go on"
Xena drew away from the portrait blushing furiously.
She waved and received a wink in return.
She said to the fat lady "Leonis cor"
The snoring lady's portrait swung open and Xena hesitantly entered.
She stepped in as the portrait closed behind her with a finality in its close.
The place was a startling contrast to the Slytherin common room.
There was no air of aristocracy, detachment and superiority.
It was incredibly warm and toasty.
Xena felt a tug in her heart, she wished she came here every night.
The red and gold room seemed so much more familiar than the silver and green room she had spent so much of her time in.
When the open window creaked as a strong wind blew against it, Xena remembered what she had come to the common room for.
She quietly crept towards the boy's dormitories and climbed the stairs with hardly a sound.
She quickly made her way scanning the doors 1….2…..3…..4…..5…6, finally.
She reached her hand towards the brass knob but paused when her palm was right above it.
Taking a deep breath she set her palm tightly around the cool knob twisting it to hear the familiar click.
Slowly she pushed the door open, careful to not make any sounds.
The silence in the room was punctuated with the snores coming from the lanky boys on their respective beds.
The room smelt messy and of cologne, she could bet that if the lights were on she'd find clothes strewn across the room.
Now all she had to do was find Albus's bed.
Not wasting any time she moved swiftly between the beds trying to see who was who.
When she approached the last bed next to the window, she caught sight of the well-known messy black hair.
She unknowingly sighed.
He wasn't facing her but he was facing the window which had been thrown open.
Albus, in Xena's eyes seemed to be having troubled sleep.
His fore-head was beaded with pearls of sweat, his eyebrows were drawn in and his lips were tightly closed like he was gritting his teeth behind them.
His blanket was slipping off the edge of the bed and the sheets on his bed were all crinkled, like he'd continuously been pulling at them.
One arm was by his side clutching the sheets under him and the other was on his chest.
Xena felt extremely guilty seeing him this way, knowing that he was seeing dreams of her, subjected to varying degrees of torture.
She impulsively placed a hand on his fore-head.
She kept it there for a few seconds not moving it and slowly he calmed down, his hand let go of the fist of sheets, his fore-head smoothened out underneath her palm and his breathing came out deeper.
She knelt beside his bed and brushed his hair back absent-mindedly.
Watching his chest rise and fall, she slowly pulled his blanket with her free hand to cover him.
The reason why she had come was to talk to Albus about the memories that plagued her, but after seeing him in this state she couldn't bring herself to wake him up.
She slowly felt her eyelids getting heavy and almost fell asleep to the boy's snores, Al's breathing and the crickets outside the castle, but when she felt the hand on her shoulder she jumped up.
Scorpius stood there, with his hair a mess looking at Xena, he said in a whisper "It's going to be four, go back to your common room. I always wake up twice a night to check on him, don't worry"
Xena recovered from the initial shock and said disorientedly "Oh"
He yawned "Go on, I'm here"
She started "I….I…just…"
He shook his head "it's okay, I won't tell him. Listen you should leave now oaky?"
Xena nodded and with a last glance at l and a nod towards Scorpius she left the room, silently closing the door behind her.
Scorpius looked at the now peaceful Al, he seemed to look more at peace with his surroundings as he slept than he had in a while.
Scorpius sighed, his friend even in his subconscious state had completely fallen for this girl who was more mysterious than anyone he had seen in his life.
He could only hope that the outcome of this would be good.
Xena climbed back into her bed feeling exhausted.
Yawning she thought about Albus and how lucky he was to have a friend like Scorpius who cared so much about him.
She lay back, her brown hair splayed behind her head and her blue eyes staring guiltily up at the ceiling.
Could she be such a good friend to Albus?
She sure did want to, but emotions didn't come very easily to Xena and expressing them was even harder for her.
She closed her eyes and let the darkness lull her to sleep, she would try.
She might not be able to express her emotions outwardly but she would try.
Only because Albus was her dream come true and she would turn this dream into reality, if it was the last thing she'd do.
AN: I'm sorry I didn't update sooner! I had a lot going on!
I'll update the next chapter soon this time!
Thanks for reading!
SPHP20896:)